A groundbreaking new experiment is launching in four states that could make abortion dramatically more accessible by allowing women to obtain abortion-inducing drugs through the mail.
The program, which will be run as a pilot study out of four clinics in New York, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington state, is a first in the US – and one that its architects urgently hope to expand as the country’s abortion clinics close down at historic rates.
Abortion without the clinic on offer with revolutionary new US program
U.S. Oil Industry Giant Paid Millions To A Company At The Center Of Huge Corruption Scandal
The American engineering and construction firm KBR hired Unaoil — an obscure Monaco-based company now involved in a massive international bribery scandal — to help it win oil and gas contracts in Kazakhstan. KBR, which until 2007 was part of the oilfield services giant Halliburton, paid Unaoil millions of dollars from 2004 until at least 2009, according to thousands of internal documents obtained by The Huffington Post and Fairfax Media.
Halliburton and KBR have been in trouble for bribery in the past. After a years-long federal investigation, KBR pleaded guilty in 2009 to multiple criminal counts of violating U.S. foreign corruption laws by bribing Nigerian officials. KBR agreed to pay $402 million as part of a settlement. Halliburton and KBR also paid $177 million to settle SEC civil charges related to the same conduct. Three years later, Albert “Jack” Stanley, KBR’s former CEO, was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for his role in the scandal. As part of the deal with the Justice Department, KBR agreed to waive many of its legal rights if it was caught violating bribery laws again.
Supreme Court split over teachers' dues delivers win for unions
The Supreme Court split 4-4 Tuesday on a challenge brought by public school teachers who objected to paying union dues, delivering a big win for the unions – in the first major case where the late Justice Antonin Scalia’s vote would have proved decisive.
The California teachers in the case had challenged a state law requiring non-union workers to pay “fair share” fees into the public-employee unions to cover collective bargaining costs.
Drug company hikes price for end-of-life drug Seconal
The 80-year-old drug Seconal, a once widely used sleeping pill now often prescribed as an end-of-life treatment, has doubled in price as laws go into effect in several states this year permitting terminally ill patients to take their own lives.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals, which is among companies being investigated by Congress for price gouging, doubled the price of Seconal last year from $1,500 to $3,000 after acquiring the rights to it.
Millions at risk from man-made earthquakes; fracking primary cause
California isn't the USA's only earthquake hot-zone anymore.
7 million people in the central and eastern U.S. live where damaging man-made earthquakes are likely to occur, according to a first-of-its-kind report released Monday by federal scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey.
Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Colorado, New Mexico and Arkansas are the most at-risk states from man-made quakes, according to the report.
Georgia's Gov. Deal to veto 'religious liberties' bill
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal said Monday he would veto a controversial bill allowing faith-based organizations to deny services to gay people.
The Republican governor, who until 1995 was a Democrat, said HB 757 or the so-called "religious freedom" bill, opposed by gay rights advocates and businesses, "doesn't reflect the character of our state or the character of its people."
Detained child's disease 'went untreated for weeks' at US immigration center
Five-year-old Briany nibbled her nails as she peeked from behind her mother. Her eyes rimmed with dark circles, she continued to ask if she could go out to play. Her mother, Gladis, shook her head.
Briany is being treated for Shigellosis, a diarrheal disease caused by the Shigella group of bacteria, which according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is behind about 500,000 cases of diarrhea each year in the US. Briany lives with her mother as a detainee at the Berks County Residential Center in Leesport, Pennsylvania.
Legends of the Fall author and screenwriter Jim Harrison dies at 78
Jim Harrison, considered one of the great writers in contemporary American fiction, has died at age 78 at his home in Patagonia, Arizona.
Harrison, author of the novella Legends of the Fall, made a prolific career with his descriptions of outdoor life – often through the lens of history – and was unconcerned by the limits of genre. The outdoorsman and bon vivant published more than 30 books over 50 years – and penned poetry, essays, interviews, screenplays, criticism, and reviews in addition to his fiction.
'Maverick' assistant police chief in Alabama sentenced to 41 months in prison
A former Alabama assistant police chief was sentenced to 41 months in prison for beating a suspect and selling marijuana from the evidence room.
Chris Miles, 41, served in Tallassee, Ala. before pleading guilty on Nov. 17 to one count of deprivation of civil rights, two counts of false statements and one count of possession with intent to distribute.
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