Health insurers focused on 2018 unknowns for Obamacare market

NEW YORK (Reuters) - While attention is focused on Republicans' fight to pass a bill to repeal Obamacare starting in 2019, health insurers are busy struggling with decisions they need to make now about how to price premiums and what markets they can afford to be in next year.

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Families of San Bernardino shooting sue Facebook, Google, Twitter

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Family members of three victims of the December 2015 shooting rampage in San Bernardino, California, have sued Facebook, Google and Twitter, claiming that the tech giants permitted Islamic State to flourish on social media.

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Trump signs order letting tax-exempt churches be active in politics

(Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday that allows tax-exempt places of worship to participate actively in politics and could free religious organizations to deny their employees insurance coverage for birth-control pills.

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State Dept. seeks social media checks in tough new visa rules

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of State has proposed tougher questioning of visa applicants who it believes warrant extra scrutiny, according to a government document published Thursday, in a push toward the "extreme vetting" sought by President Donald Trump.

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Republicans predict victory as narrow U.S. healthcare vote approaches

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives predicted victory in a planned vote on Thursday to repeal Obamacare that would take a step toward achieving their seven-year quest to replace the healthcare law and hand President Donald Trump a major legislative victory.

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Chicago aviation chief apologies for United passenger removal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Chicago Aviation Commissioner Ginger Evans apologized Thursday for city employees' forced removal of a United Airlines passenger that prompted international condemnation.

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Rain threatens U.S. Midwest as flooding force hundreds from homes

(Reuters) - Unrelenting rain will drench the already saturated U.S. Midwest on Thursday and Friday, forecasters said, after floods in the region killed at least five people and forced residents in vulnerable areas to evacuate their flooded communities.

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Two dead, including suspect in Dallas-area college shooting: police

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A person who opened fire on Wednesday on a college campus in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas, has apparently killed one victim and committed suicide, Irving police said on a Twitter post.

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Active shooter at North Lake College in Dallas suburb of Irving: police

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - An active shooter was at North Lake College in the Dallas suburb of Irving, local police said on their Twitter feed on Wednesday, and the school was placed on lockdown.

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U.S. expected to announce no charges in Louisiana black man's shooting

BATON ROUGE, La. (Reuters) - U.S. Justice Department officials were set to discuss the fatal shooting last year of a black man in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Wednesday, following media reports that authorities had decided not to prosecute two white officers involved in the incident.

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FBI's Comey defends 2016 decision on Clinton email probe

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey on Wednesday defended his decision to announce last year that the agency had reopened an investigation into former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's emails, saying not doing so would have been "an act of concealment."

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Two Chicago police officers wounded in south side shooting

(Reuters) - Two Chicago police officers were shot and wounded in the city's south side on Tuesday evening, and police were searching for the gunman or gunmen, police said.

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NSA collected Americans' phone records despite law change: report

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. National Security Agency collected more than 151 million records of Americans' phone calls last year, even after Congress limited its ability to collect bulk phone records, according to an annual report issued on Tuesday by the top U.S. intelligence officer.

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Clinton says Comey's letter, Russian hackers cost her the election

(Reuters) - Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday she was on the path to victory in the 2016 presidential election until late interference by Russian hackers and FBI Director James Comey scared off some potential supporters.

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Florida LGBT rights push reflects changing times

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Reuters) - A Republican, a Democrat and a lobbyist for leading businesses in Florida huddled this spring at the state Capitol, mapping out the next move in a campaign to enact the first statewide LGBT anti-discrimination law in the U.S. South.

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U.S. lawmakers eye airline legislation, citing 'terrible' experiences

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Angry U.S. lawmakers threatened United Airlines and other carriers on Tuesday with legislation to force improvements as they expressed disgust after a passenger was dragged off an overbooked flight last month.

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Boston fans hurl racial taunts at black Orioles player Jones

BOSTON (Reuters) - Black Baltimore Orioles All-Star Adam Jones said he was subjected to racial taunting by Boston Red Sox fans during a Monday night game, prompting an apology from an angry Mayor Marty Walsh, who said the epithets did not represent the city.

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New York girds itself for Trump's first visit as president

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York is bracing for President Donald Trump's first trip back to his hometown since taking office in January in a Thursday visit that is expected to draw protests and snarl traffic in the United States' most populous city.

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U.S. lawmakers to grill United Airlines on passenger removal

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - United Airlines Inc executives will visit Capitol Hill on Tuesday to face lawmakers' questions about the forcible removal of a passenger on an overbooked flight last month, an incident that provoked international outrage.

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U.S. issues travel alert for Europe, citing threat of terrorist attacks

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department issued a travel alert for Europe on Monday, saying U.S. citizens should be aware of a continued threat of terrorist attacks throughout the continent.

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One person killed, three injured in University of Texas stabbing

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - At least one person was killed and three people were transported to hospitals with potentially serious injuries after a stabbing incident near a gym at the University of Texas in Austin on Monday, emergency officials said.

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Federal spending plan reimburses New York City for Trump security

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal spending agreement reached late on Sunday will reimburse New York City for money spent securing U.S. President Donald Trump and his family at Trump Tower in Manhattan.

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Afghans who helped U.S. forces get more visas under funding bill

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An extra 2,500 visas for Afghans who assisted American forces during the war in their country will be granted under the $1 trillion U.S. government funding deal reached on Sunday, preserving a program that had been at risk of shutting down.

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Trump questions why U.S. Civil War had to happen

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Donald Trump has shown a fascination with populist 19th-century U.S. president Andrew Jackson since he has occupied the Oval Office, hanging Old Hickory's portrait in the Oval Office, visiting his plantation in Tennessee and placing a wreath at his tomb.

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U.S. top court rejects 'gay conversion' therapy ban challenge

(Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday left intact California's ban on "gay conversion" therapy aimed at turning youths under age 18 away from homosexuality, rejecting a Christian minister's challenge to the law asserting it violates religious rights.

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May Day rallies across U.S. to target Trump immigration policy

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Labor unions and immigrant advocacy groups will lead May Day rallies in cities across the United States on Monday, with organizers expecting larger-than-usual turnouts to protest the immigration policies of President Donald Trump.

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