U.S. News Headlines

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A Sumatran tiger gave birth to an apparently healthy cub at the San Francisco Zoo over the weekend in a rare boost to the critically endangered subspecies, zookeepers said on Thursday. There are estimated to be as few as 400 Sumatran tigers in the wild, and zookeepers were monitoring the pair in …

SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - A former San Diego mayor accused of raiding her late husband's charity to cover high-stakes casino debts agreed with federal prosecutors on Thursday to pay more than $2 million in restitution and undergo treatment for her gambling addiction. Maureen O'Connor, who was mayor between 1988 and 1992, was …

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois (Reuters) - The Illinois state Senate approved a bill to legalize same-sex marriage on Thursday in a Valentine's Day vote spearheaded by Democrats, as gay couples around the country used the romantic day to dramatize their quest for the right to marry. The Illinois Senate, which is heavily Democratic, …

MOBILE, Alabama (Reuters) - A crippled cruise ship that lost power for more than four days in the Gulf of Mexico was pulled into a port in Mobile, Alabama, late on Thursday as passengers cheered the end of a "hellish" voyage marked by overflowing toilets and stinking cabins. Tugboats pulled the Carnival Triumph into port …

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. general nominated to oversee a vast region that includes Afghanistan on Thursday backed keeping Afghan forces at a peak strength of 352,000, contrary to current plans to shrink them after NATO declares the war over next year. General Lloyd Austin, nominated to lead the U.S. military's Central …

DECATUR, Georgia (Reuters) - President Barack Obama turned his State of the Union roadshow to the topic of education on Thursday with a trip to Georgia, where he touted proposals to provide preschool access to all four-year-olds across America. Obama proposed in his annual address to Congress on Tuesday that the federal …

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. spy agencies are making preparations for potentially sweeping budget cuts that could drastically limit their ability to respond to crises, the top U.S. intelligence official said on Thursday. In an interview, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told Reuters that cuts required under …

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With his successor's fate unclear, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta publicly pined for retirement on Thursday, saying he was packed up and ready to take his wife, Sylvia, home for Valentine's Day and "get the hell out of here." But the man nominated to replace the 74-year-old Panetta, former Republican …

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A judge paved the way on Thursday for federal authorities to seek the closure of a medical marijuana dispensary in California, dismissing a challenge by the city of Oakland to a federal crackdown targeting the facility, court papers showed. But the executive director of the Harborside Health Center …

GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - While the prisoners accused of plotting the September 11 attacks were in the Guantanamo courtroom this week, guards seized confidential legal documents, books, photos and even toilet paper from their cells, a prison camp lawyer testified on Thursday. Most of the seized items …

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) - Officials in Alabama's bankrupt Jefferson County approved a deal on Thursday with European Depfa Bank Plc to cut interest charges on about $162 million of the county's school debt. Although the "plan support agreement" saves only about $1 million a year for the county, which in 2011 filed …

DECATUR, Georgia (Reuters) - President Barack Obama turned his State of the Union roadshow to the topic of education on Thursday with a trip to Georgia, where he touted proposals to provide preschool access to all four-year-olds across America. Obama proposed in his annual address to Congress on Tuesday that the federal …

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) - Officials in Alabama's bankrupt Jefferson County approved a deal on Thursday with European Depfa Bank Plc to cut interest charges on about $162 million of the county's school debt. Although the "plan support agreement" saves only about $1 million a year for the county, which in 2011 filed …

MOBILE, Alabama (Reuters) - Reeking of rotting food and sewage from overflowing toilets, a crippled cruise ship carrying more than 4,200 people was limping into Mobile, Alabama, on Thursday as passengers awaited the end of a vacation voyage some described as hellish. The Carnival Triumph was being towed into port by tugboats …

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Chuck Hagel's nomination to be defense secretary went into political limbo on Thursday as Republicans stepped up blocking tactics and Democrats accused them of putting the country at risk by delaying the filling of a major security post. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made an impassioned appeal …

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois (Reuters) - The Illinois state Senate approved a bill to legalize same-sex marriage on Thursday in a Valentine's Day vote spearheaded by Democrats, as gay couples around the country used the romantic day to dramatize their quest for the right to marry. The Illinois Senate, which is heavily Democratic, …

SAN BERNARDINO, California (Reuters) - Sheriff's deputies who believed they had cornered a fugitive ex-cop in the mountains above Los Angeles did not purposely torch a cabin where a nine-day manhunt ended, but the deputies may have ignited the blaze by firing tear gas, officials said on Wednesday. Former Los Angeles police …

LIMA (Reuters) - The United States warned its citizens on Thursday to exercise caution in visiting Peru's famed Machu Picchu ruins through at least the end of the month and restricted State Department personnel from traveling there because of the threat of kidnappings. The U.S. Embassy in Lima said it had information a …