Sikh U.S. Army captain allowed to wear beard, turban in uniform

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Sikh U.S. Army captain has been granted a long-term religious accommodation to wear a beard, turban and uncut hair in uniform, a decision supporters hailed on Friday as a landmark that could help other religious Sikhs to serve in the military.


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FedEx fails to end New York lawsuit over illegal cigarettes

NEW YORK (Reuters) - FedEx Corp must face a second lawsuit claiming it shipped thousands of cartons of untaxed cigarettes in New York over roughly a decade, cheating the state and New York City out of tax revenue and undercutting their efforts to curb smoking.


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In new push, U.S. military trains dozens of Syrian fighters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Friday it had started training "dozens" of Syrian opposition fighters to battle the Islamic State as part of a revamped program that aims to avoid mistakes that doomed its first training effort in Turkey last year.











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New York nanny reportedly in coma after pushing baby stroller out of path of car

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A 62-year-old nanny was reportedly in a coma and being hailed as a hero after saving an infant in a stroller whom she had pushed out of the path of an oncoming car on New York's Long Island, a village spokeswoman said on Friday.











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U.S. April Fools' pranks include football robots, black eye for Google

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bogus ad campaigns, a failed prank by Google, Ivy League football robots and an attempt at humor on the fraught presidential campaign trail competed for attention in the United States on Friday, traditionally a day of hoaxes and spoofs.


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In war on Zika mosquitoes, Puerto Rico starting at 'square one'

SAN JUAN (Reuters) - The United States faces its first real challenge with the Zika virus on the island territory of Puerto Rico, a part of the nation that is perhaps least prepared to cope with what is expected to be its worst outbreak.











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Veteran Miami officer to lead Ferguson, Missouri police force

(Reuters) - The city of Ferguson, Missouri, where racially charged protests erupted after a white officer fatally shot an unarmed black teenager in 2014, hired a veteran black officer from Miami to lead its embattled police department through painful reforms, officials said on Thursday.


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