U.S. News Headlines

PORTSMOUTH, Virginia (Reuters) - Virginia's Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell on Wednesday abruptly shifted his stance on a hotly-contested bill requiring women seeking abortions to have an ultrasound, asking lawmakers to revise the legislation just before a scheduled vote. Virginia's House of Delegates by a vote of 65-32 approved …

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two U.S. military helicopters collided during a training exercise along the Arizona-California border on Wednesday, killing seven Marines, the Marine Corps said on Thursday. The aircraft, an AH-1W "Cobra" and a UH-1Y "Huey," were conducting night-time training operations when the accident occurred …

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Could history repeat itself? That is a question uppermost in the minds of many Americans as they warily watch gasoline prices at the pump rise week after week. After all, a spike in gasoline prices early last year helped nearly knock the economy back into recession. The answer, economists say, is …

(Reuters) - BP Plc and Anadarko Petroleum Corp are liable for civil damages under federal pollution laws over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, a U.S. judge ruled, exposing them to billions of dollars in potential fines. Wednesday's decision by U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans allows the U.S. government …

ANNAPOLIS, Maryland (Reuters) - Debate resumes on Thursday in the Maryland Senate on a bill that could make the state the eighth in the nation to legalize same-sex marriage, although opponents plan to introduce a number of amendments to the measure. The bill, which has been approved by the state's lower House of Delegates, …

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Years of economic setbacks have taken their toll on the nation's youngest residents, with another 1.6 million children living in high-poverty neighborhoods, according to one study that shows nearly 8 million children residing in poor areas in 2010. In 2000, 6.3 million children lived in high poverty …

(Reuters) - U.S. lenders made more auto loans in the most recent quarter, but took more risks and charged less interest to get the business, according to a report released on Thursday by credit reporting and market information firm Experian Automotive. Outstanding car loans increased nearly 4 percent to $658 billion at …

MIAMI (Reuters) - Nearly 1,200 people lined up at a downtown Miami conference center on Wednesday, holding onto mortgage documents and income statements in the hope of saving the homes they are struggling to pay for. Seated at rows of long tables were scores of loan processing agents for 19 lenders who hold 85 percent of …

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Virginia (Reuters) - A jury on Wednesday found former University of Virginia lacrosse player George Huguely V guilty of second-degree murder in the 2010 death of his ex-girlfriend, and recommended he serve 25 years in prison. The jury deliberated for about nine hours before finding Huguely, 24, guilty of …

TACOMA, Washington (Reuters) - A federal judge declared on Wednesday that a Washington state rule requiring pharmacists to dispense emergency contraceptives against their religious beliefs is unconstitutional. In a decision with national implications for the role of personal morality in the workplace, U.S. District Judge …

OAKLAND, California (Reuters) - A man shot and wounded by an Oakland police officer last weekend was a cousin of Oscar Grant, whose shooting death by a Bay Area transit officer sparked violent demonstrations in 2010, his attorney said on Wednesday. The officer shot Tony Jones, 24, in the back as he fled from a police car …

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An alleged al Qaeda operative from Maryland held at Guantanamo Bay has entered into a plea agreement with U.S. military prosecutors that calls for him to testify against other detainees, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday. In exchange for his testimony at the trials of other detainees, Majid …

INDIANAPOLIS (Reuters) - Police were investigating on Wednesday the possible drowning of a 1-year-old boy in a baptismal pool at a church in Indianapolis where he attended a day care center. The boy, identified as Juan Cardenas, was found on Wednesday afternoon in about two feet of standing water in the font used to perform …

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) - Two Alabama women were accused of murder on Wednesday for allegedly killing a young girl by forcing her to run for three hours without stopping, authorities said. The running was apparently a punishment for Savannah Hardin, 9, who died on Monday at Children's Hospital in Birmingham from dehydration …

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Wednesday ordered a Moroccan man to be held on charges that he planned a suicide bombing attack against Congress, believing he was working with al Qaeda militants when in fact his contacts were undercover agents. Amine El Khalifi, 29 and an illegal immigrant, was arrested …

(Reuters) - NuStar Energy shut a diesel pipeline north of Aberdeen, South Dakota after a spill on Tuesday and the ongoing clean-up could take up to 10 days, news website ksfy.com reported on Wednesday. The report quoted a NuStar spokesman saying the company's conservative original estimate on the spill was a maximum of …

(Reuters) - A boy in the third grade at a Washington state elementary school shot a female classmate on Wednesday, critically wounding the girl, authorities said. The girl, 8-year-old Amina Kocer-Bowman, was rushed by air ambulance to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle and wheeled into surgery for a gunshot wound to the …

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Republican lawmakers in California on Wednesday fully embraced Governor Jerry Brown's plan for overhauling public pensions and pressed his fellow Democrats, who control the state legislature, to back it as well. The legislature's Republican minority last year called for reforming the state's public …