| California shooter was not fully investigated before U.S. visa was issued Posted: 15 Dec 2015 12:44 PM PST  By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. authorities in Pakistan could have sought - but did not - a full background security investigation of San Bernardino shooter Tashfeen Malik before granting her a visa to enter the United States in 2014, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter. Under the U.S. "Visa Security Program," consular officials in American embassies overseas can ask U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents stationed in the embassies to produce a "Security Assessment Opinion," or SAO, before the consulate decides whether to approve a U.S. visa application.
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| UN meeting on Syria political transition to go forward Posted: 15 Dec 2015 11:41 AM PST  MOSCOW (AP) — Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart say that a group of foreign ministers will meet at the United Nations on Friday to discuss a political transition in war-ravaged Syria.
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| Los Angeles schools closed after credible terror threat: media Posted: 15 Dec 2015 07:37 AM PST (Reuters) - Los Angeles Unified School District schools were closed on Tuesday after the district received a credible terror threat, KTLA TV station reported, citing school officials and police. Media reports said a news conference was expected on Tuesday morning. (Reporting by Suzannah Gonzales; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama) |
| Ryan says to unveil U.S. spending deal on Tuesday, extension needed Posted: 15 Dec 2015 06:44 AM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan said that Republicans will unveil a deal for a $1.15 trillion spending bill on Tuesday, but will need to pass another short-term funding extension to allow for a vote on the measure on Thursday to avoid a government shutdown. Ryan, speaking to a breakfast sponsored by Politico, said he also would not rule out moving quickly on passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal if Republicans decide the agreement meets their goals. (Reporting By David Lawder; Editing by; Doina Chiacu)
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| Obama opens White House doors to forge CEO alliances Posted: 15 Dec 2015 04:29 AM PST  By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, who made few friends in corporate board rooms early in his first term as he pressed for tighter regulations on banks and remarked on the "fat cats" who helped precipitate the financial crisis, heads into his final year in the White House having built – or rebuilt – alliances with chief executives of the nation's biggest companies. The president and his top advisers have kept an open door for CEOs of Fortune 100 companies, keeping almost 1,000 appointments with them, a Reuters review of White House records shows. Of the hundreds of appointments listed, Obama himself was present at about half, ranging from intimate Oval Office gatherings to lavish state dinners.
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| Despite risks, U.S. border patrol tried to shorten polygraph tests for staff Posted: 15 Dec 2015 03:23 AM PST  By Julia Edwards WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Gil Kerlikowske, the head of U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, vowed at his Senate confirmation hearing in January 2014 to strengthen the integrity of the nation's largest law enforcement force amid persistent complaints of corruption and abuse within its ranks. Nearly two years on, he can point to several significant achievements, notably expanding the investigative authority of the agency's internal affairs unit and giving all agents new training on use of force to reduce the number of deadly incidents that have tarred its reputation. Reuters interviews with current and former CBP employees and congressional staff have found the agency has yet to implement certain recommendations to improve accountability, and it has quietly objected to a proposed reform that would give Congress oversight on how it handles complaints of misconduct.
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| Obama seeks ‘irreversible’ opening to Cuba Posted: 15 Dec 2015 03:05 AM PST |
| Knocking down Detroit to revive it comes at a price Posted: 15 Dec 2015 01:32 AM PST  By Dave McKinney DETROIT (Reuters) - Nowhere in America bulldozes derelict homes with Detroit's ferocity, as the city that has become a byword for U.S. urban decay seeks to engineer a recovery by tearing itself down. A year after the city exited the biggest-ever U.S. municipal bankruptcy, a plan to demolish half of its nearly 80,000 blighted or deteriorating structures -- nearly one in three city buildings -- is showing some signs of success. The number of fires - often caused by arson attacks on abandoned homes – dropped in October from a year ago, and deeply depressed property values have ticked higher in areas close to demolitions. The aim of the program is to stabilize home values and reduce foreclosures as the city of 680,000 people struggles with emptying neighborhoods, high crime and one of the worst unemployment rates in the country. But the federally backed program has been tainted by allegations that Mayor Mike Duggan favored demolition contractors who donated to his campaign and by a steep rise in costs. Federal and city probes into the allegations are underway.
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| U.S. police chiefs vulnerable as crime rates, media pressures rise Posted: 14 Dec 2015 10:18 PM PST  Four retired, three were fired and two left after unfavorable Justice Department reviews of the use of force in the departments they led. Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy became the latest chief to fall this month after angry protests over a video showing a police officer gunning down black teenager Laquan McDonald last year.
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| Shooter messaged Facebook friends about support for jihad: LA Times Posted: 14 Dec 2015 05:28 PM PST  The messages were recovered by FBI agents investigating whether she and her husband, Syed Rizwan Farook, had been in direct contact with foreign militant organizations and were directed to carry out the Dec. 2 attack in which 14 people were killed, the Times reported. The Times said the Facebook messages indicate for the first time that U.S. law enforcement and intelligence officials missed warnings on social media that Malik was a potential threat before she applied for her U.S. visa. One of the officials characterized the messages as "her private communications ... to a small group of her friends," according to the Times.
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| Trump at center stage, but Cruz in spotlight at GOP debate Posted: 14 Dec 2015 05:12 PM PST |
| U.S. soldier Bergdahl may face life sentence in court-martial over desertion Posted: 14 Dec 2015 04:55 PM PST  By Jon Herskovitz AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, who walked away from his post in Afghanistan and became a Taliban prisoner for five years, will face court-martial with a potential life sentence, the Army said on Monday. In ordering the court martial on Monday, Army General Robert Abrams did not follow the recommendation of a preliminary hearing which, according to Bergdahl's lawyer, called for Bergdahl to face a proceeding that could impose a potential maximum penalty of a year in confinement. Bergdahl's lawyer, Eugene Fidell, said the defense team "had hoped the case would not go in this direction." He also urged Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who has called Bergdahl a "dirty, rotten traitor," to "cease his prejudicial months-long campaign of defamation against our client." In a later interview on Monday, Fidell also criticized members of Congress for publicly saying they were closely monitoring the outcome of the case.
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| Seattle passes law letting Uber, Lyft drivers unionize Posted: 14 Dec 2015 04:39 PM PST  By Heather Somerville SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Seattle on Monday became the first major U.S. city to pass a law giving drivers for Uber and Lyft the right to unionize, the latest twist in a heated debate about how workers for app-based ride services should be treated. The law approved unanimously by the Seattle City Council recognizes the right of drivers for on-demand ride companies known as Transportation Network Companies, as well as taxi and other for-hire drivers, to collectively negotiate on pay and working conditions. Councilman Mike O'Brien, who proposed the law, said he expects Uber to sue the city to stop the measure.
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| Colorado movie gunman Holmes moved to specialized prison Posted: 14 Dec 2015 03:16 PM PST  Colorado cinema massacre gunman James Holmes was moved on Monday to a prison that specializes in holding convicts with mental-health conditions, and which will allow him to have more contact with other inmates, a prisons spokeswoman said. Holmes was moved from a transitional lockup to the San Carlos Correctional Facility in Pueblo one day after his 28th birthday, said Adrienne Jacobson, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Corrections. The prison, about 100 miles (160 km) south of Denver, houses about 250 inmates, but not all the convicts have mental-health issues, Jacobson said.
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