Monster tornado kills at least 51 in Oklahoma town

MOORE, Oklahoma (Reuters) - A 2-mile-wide (3-km-wide) tornado tore through the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore on Monday, killing at least 51 people while destroying entire tracts of homes, piling cars atop one another, and trapping two dozen school children beneath rubble.

Erupting Alaska volcano spews ash, disrupts air travel

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - One of Alaska's most active volcanoes, which has been belching ash and spewing lava since last week, has forced regional flight cancellations and dusted some nearby communities with ash, scientists and local officials said on Monday.

Healthcare workers set to strike California public hospitals

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Nearly 13,000 healthcare employees at five University of California medical centers plan to strike on Tuesday in a move that threatens to back up emergency rooms and already has forced the postponement of elective surgeries.

Connecticut rail delays continue, seen repaired by Wednesday

WESTPORT, Connecticut (Reuters) - Connecticut rail commuters endured crowded and rerouted rides in to work on Monday, as Metro-North worked to repair the busiest U.S. rail line after a two-train collision and derailment injured more than 70 people late last week.

Pentagon to take over some CIA drone operations : sources

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's administration has decided to give the Pentagon control of some drone operations against terrorism suspects overseas that are currently run by the CIA, several U.S. government sources said on Monday.

Court orders prison to hand over files in Boston bomb case

BOSTON (Reuters) - A federal judge approved a request by accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's lawyers that his jailers hand over their files on him, including suicide watch logs and psychological data, according to court documents released on Monday.

U.S. panel votes to speed up airport fingerprinting of immigrants

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - High-tech systems for tracking the movements of immigrants and other foreigners when leaving the United States would be installed at major U.S. airports under a plan approved by a congressional panel on Monday.

Court orders prison to hand over files in Boston bomb case

BOSTON (Reuters) - A federal judge approved a request by accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's lawyers that his jailers hand over their files on him, including suicide watch logs and psychological data, according to court documents released on Monday.

Monster tornado flattens suburb of Oklahoma City

MOORE, Oklahoma (Reuters) - A huge tornado with winds of up to 200 miles per hour devastated the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore on Monday, ripping up at least two elementary schools and a hospital and leaving a wake of tangled wreckage.

Judge in NY 'stop and frisk' trial mulls cameras for police

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The federal judge who will rule in a class-action lawsuit accusing New York City police of racial profiling in their "stop and frisk" crime-fighting tactic expressed interest in having police officers wear cameras as the trial concluded on Monday.

Parents turn to Internet to help daughter charged with sex with girl minor

ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - Thousands of people have protested against the prosecution of an 18-year-old Florida high school senior after her parents launched an Internet petition claiming she was charged with sex crimes only because her lover, a then 14-year-old schoolmate, was another girl.

Jodi Arias denied mistrial in death penalty hearing

PHOENIX (Reuters) - An Arizona judge denied a defense attorney's request for a mistrial on Monday in the death penalty phase of Jodi Arias' sensational murder trial, after a long-time friend declined to testify as a character witness, citing threats.

U.S. charges 3 NYU researchers in Chinese bribery case

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. authorities brought criminal charges against three New York University researchers on Monday, alleging they conspired to take bribes from Chinese medical and research outfits for details about NYU research into magnetic resonance imaging technology.

US names envoy to combat anti-Semitism, warns of rising incidents

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Monday appointed a special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism as a new State Department report warned about incidents in Venezuela, Egypt and Iran.

Connecticut rail delays continue, seen repaired by Wednesday

WESTPORT, Connecticut (Reuters) - Connecticut rail commuters endured crowded and rerouted rides in to work on Monday, as Metro-North worked to repair the busiest U.S. rail line after a two-train collision and derailment injured more than 70 people late last week.

Chicago police arrest two dozen at school closing protest

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Chicago police arrested about two dozen people on Monday who were protesting against the planned closure of 54 schools in the country's third-largest school district, ahead of a planned Wednesday vote on the matter.

Supreme Court to hear case of disgruntled frequent flyer

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Monday to weigh whether federal law prevented a customer from suing an airline for kicking him out of its frequent flyer program for allegedly complaining too frequently about the service.

Tornado on the ground in Oklahoma City area

(Reuters) - A tornado was on the ground in the Oklahoma City metropolitan are on Monday, live television showed, and the National Weather Service warned of tornadoes in two counties of central Oklahoma.

Florida governor signs budget, but vetoes college tuition hike

TALLAHASSEE (Reuters) - Florida Governor Rick Scott signed the largest budget in his state's history on Monday while vetoing a college tuition increase and axing $368 million in projects he said did not meet his Republican criteria of job creation, education improvement and holding down the cost of government.

Powerful tornadoes strike in four central U.S. states

(Reuters) - A massive storm front swept north through the central United States on Sunday, hammering the region with fist-sized hail, blinding rain and tornadoes, including a half-mile wide twister that struck near Oklahoma City. News reports said at least one person had died.

Omaha police exploring possible link in two double homicides

OMAHA (Reuters) - Investigators in Omaha are looking at whether the murders discovered last week of a doctor and his wife are connected to the unsolved 2008 murders of a young boy and his family's housekeeper, police said on Monday.

Five killed, six injured from church group in Illinois van crash

ST. LOUIS, Mo (Reuters) - Five people were killed and six were injured Monday morning when a van carrying them home from a religious gathering in California rolled over off of Interstate 70 near Vandalia in southern Illinois, police said.

Vermont passes law allowing doctor-assisted suicide

(Reuters) - Vermont on Monday became the fourth U.S. state to end legal penalties for doctors who prescribe medication to terminally ill patients seeking to end their own lives.

U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear town meeting prayer case

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Delving into the controversial relationship between government and religion, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to consider whether a town in New York could allow members of the public, who in practice were nearly all Christian clergy, to open meetings with a prayer.

Portion of Houston Channel shut for search: Coast Guard

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Crude oil tanker ships were temporarily unable to reach the five Houston-area refineries on Monday after a seven-mile section of the Houston Ship Channel was shut by the U.S. Coast Guard for the search for a person who jumped or fell from a bridge over the waterway.

More poor people now live in U.S. suburbs than cities - study

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of people living in poverty in U.S. suburbs surpassed the number of poor in cities over the past decade, driven by strong growth in overall suburban populations, according to an analysis released on Monday.

Insight: The road to a greener America is littered with road-kill

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - In October 2004, then California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger rolled up to a pioneering fueling station at Los Angeles International Airport in a hydrogen-powered metallic blue Hummer loaned to him by General Motors Corp.

Supreme Court agrees to hear Fidelity whistleblower case

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a case involving whistleblowers at Fidelity Investments, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to consider whether mutual fund employees are subject to the same whistleblower protections as workers at publicly traded companies.

Severe Kansas tornado prompts stark National Weather Service warning

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A dangerous, half mile-wide tornado struck near Oklahoma City Sunday afternoon, part of an extreme weather system moving through the central U.S. and stretching from north Texas to Minnesota.

Supreme Court declines to hear Alaska climate change case

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an Alaskan village's claim that it should be able to sue oil companies and utilities for damages attributed to climate change.