Senate cancels vote on Obama Social Security pick

Senate cancels vote on Obama Social Security pick
Dick Cheney refuses to call CIA's brutal interrogation techniques 'torture'
Thousands march nationwide against police slayings of black men
Families of Newtown massacre victims plan lawsuits
Deal reached at U.N. climate talks in Peru
For police reformers, California city shows a rough road
Texas lawmakers put new gun rights laws in their sights
Senate passes $1.1 trillion spending bil
45 arrested after police protests in SF Bay Area
Sony hackers promise to deliver large 'Christmas Gift'
Rev. Sharpton, families speak at D.C. march
Thousands rally across U.S. over police killings
Developments in Newtown 2 years after massacre

Posted: 14 Dec 2014 10:40 AM PST

President Barack Obama's pick to head the Social Security Administration has run into more trouble after Senate Democrats canceled a procedural vote on her nomination. Obama nominated Carolyn W. Colvin ...

Dick Cheney refuses to call CIA's brutal interrogation techniques 'torture'

Posted: 14 Dec 2014 07:24 AM PST

The former vice president refused to call the enhanced interrogation techniques detailed in last week's Senate Intelligence Committee report on the CIA's brutal handling of prisoners "torture."

Thousands march nationwide against police slayings of black men

Posted: 14 Dec 2014 01:25 AM PST

Demonstrators in New York and D.C. chant "I can't breathe" and "Hands up, don't shoot."

Families of Newtown massacre victims plan lawsuits

Posted: 14 Dec 2014 04:25 AM PST

By Richard Weizel NEWTOWN, Conn. (Reuters) - Parents of almost half the young children killed by a gunman at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, two years ago on Sunday have taken initial steps toward filing lawsuits tied to one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history. For a second straight year the leafy suburb has planned no public events to commemorate the massacre, which left 20 first graders and six educators dead at Sandy Hook Elementary School, an incident that inflamed the U.S. debate over gun control. The parents of eight of the children killed in the Dec. ...

Deal reached at U.N. climate talks in Peru

Posted: 14 Dec 2014 01:50 AM PST

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Climate negotiators salvaged a compromise deal in Lima early Sunday that sets the stage for a global pact in Paris next year, but rejected a rigorous review of the greenhouse gas emissions limits they plan.

For police reformers, California city shows a rough road

Posted: 14 Dec 2014 10:14 AM PST

By Dan Levine OAKLAND, Calif. (Reuters) - In 2000, police in Oakland, California became a symbol of the worst of American law enforcement after a band of rogue officers known as "The Riders" were accused of beating suspects, planting evidence and falsifying reports. Today, as an outcry over police killings and excessive force spreads across the country, Oakland's police are becoming known for something else: restraint and reform. Under scrutiny by a court-ordered external monitor and threatened with federal receivership, Oakland's 14-year journey from notorious law enforcement agency to reform-minded department illustrates the difficulty of changing the way police operate at time of national soul-searching over heavy handed police tactics. Using a new computer system to monitor police, Oakland may be an indicator of what lies ahead for Ferguson, Missouri, and other U.S. cities whose officers face mounting public mistrust and the perception that they operate with impunity in the shooting of black suspects.

Texas lawmakers put new gun rights laws in their sights

Posted: 14 Dec 2014 09:06 AM PST

By Jim Forsyth SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - Several proposed new gun laws await the new Texas legislature when it opens next month, including one to allow open carrying of handguns in public and another providing a sales tax holiday for firearms purchases. The Republican-dominated legislature will become even more conservative due the party's landslide win in the November election, with many members pledging to expanding firearms rights in the state often seen as an incubator of conservative policies nationwide. ...

Senate passes $1.1 trillion spending bil

Posted: 13 Dec 2014 08:52 PM PST

Congress cleared a spending bill for President Obama's signature late Saturday.

45 arrested after police protests in SF Bay Area

Posted: 14 Dec 2014 01:32 AM PST

Oakland police say the arrests followed a largely peaceful protest against police killings.

Sony hackers promise to deliver large 'Christmas Gift'

Posted: 12 Dec 2014 09:00 PM PST

Recently leaked files include Crackle details, along with emails about Ryan Gosling, Leonardo DiCaprio and Will Smith's kids

Rev. Sharpton, families speak at D.C. march

Posted: 13 Dec 2014 12:11 PM PST

Rev. Al Sharpton asked the families of African-American men who were killed by police officers to speak at the Justice for All March.

Thousands rally across U.S. over police killings

Posted: 13 Dec 2014 04:14 PM PST

Thousands of protesters paralyzed parts of New York and Washington on Saturday, stepping up demonstrations across the United States demanding justice for black men killed by white police. The rallies in the US capital, New York, Boston and in several Californian cities were among the largest in a growing protest movement sparked by the killing of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri on August 9. Grand jury decisions not to prosecute the white officers responsible for 18-year-old Brown's death and a fatal chokehold on New York father of six Eric Garner in July, have triggered weeks of protests. "I can't breathe" were the last words uttered repeatedly by Garner, as police wrestled him to the ground for allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes in New York's Staten Island.

Developments in Newtown 2 years after massacre

Posted: 13 Dec 2014 11:30 PM PST

As the second anniversary of the Newtown school shooting arrives on Sunday, local officials and others touched by the tragedy have been busy on many fronts as the town continues its recovery from the massacre of 20 children and six educators.