National News - Boston.com

2 dead in Peacham, Vt., in apparent murder suicide

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 22:44:49 GMT

PEACHAM, Vt. (AP) — Vermont State Police believe a New Hampshire man showed up at his ex-wife's home Wednesday morning, shot her husband and then himself in an apparent murder-suicide.

NH police: 1 injured when pickup hit school bus

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 22:42:47 GMT

SALEM, N.H. (AP) — Police say one student was injured when a pick-up truck collided with a school bus carrying 22 elementary school children in Salem, N.H.

Obama making plans to tackle global warming

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 22:40:33 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is planning a major push using executive powers to tackle the pollution blamed for global warming in an effort to make good on promises he made at the start of his second term. "We know we have to do more — and we will do more," Obama said Wednesday in Berlin.

Mueller: FBI uses drones for surveillance

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 22:40:29 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI uses drones for surveillance of stationary subjects, and the privacy implications of such operations are "worthy of debate," FBI Director Robert Mueller said Wednesday.

Senate backs Froman as next trade representative

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 22:38:49 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senior White House economic adviser Michael Froman has been confirmed by the Senate to be the next U.S. trade representative.

New Colo. wildfire prompts evacuations of homes

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 22:36:38 GMT

DENVER (AP) — A new wildfire in the foothills southwest of Denver forced the evacuation of dozens of homes Wednesday as hot and windy conditions in much of Colorado and elsewhere in the West made it easy for fires to start and spread.

Russia could stand in way of Obama's nuke cuts

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 22:29:13 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — By saying he intends to bargain with Russia over new reductions in nuclear weapons, rather than make cuts on his own, President Barack Obama is asking for cooperation from a former Cold War foe in no mood to agree.

Man convicted in Phoenix's 'serial shootings' dies

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 22:27:09 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — An Arizona death row inmate convicted of killing six people in Phoenix's "serial shooter" attacks has died in prison.

Maine governor to stop talking to 3 newspapers

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 22:19:39 GMT

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The press secretary for Maine Gov. Paul LePage says it was her decision to put three newspapers on notice that she, the governor and other administration officials will no longer speak to them.

Pa. girl who fought for lung transplant improving

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 22:14:27 GMT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The mother of a 10-year-old Pennsylvania girl whose efforts to qualify for an organ donation led to debate over how organs are allocated says she's improving after her double-lung transplant.

Malloy signs Conn. campaign finance bill into law

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 22:13:46 GMT

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy says a campaign finance bill he has signed into law will make Connecticut a leader in requiring disclosure and transparency of campaign contributions.

AG: Elderly NH couple died of stab wounds

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 22:13:34 GMT

NASHUA, N.H. (AP) — Bill and Eleanor Grant had been married for more than 60 years and lived in their tidy Nashua home for the past quarter century — the same home where they were stabbed to death late Sunday night or early Monday morning.

Montana court says bison transfer legal

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 22:13:28 GMT

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The relocation of Yellowstone National Park bison to tribal lands in Montana can resume, under a Wednesday ruling from the state's Supreme Court that revives a stalled conservation initiative for the animals.

Cops: Disabled Pa. man dies after gruesome neglect

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 22:09:38 GMT

SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania woman and her two daughters were charged Wednesday with murder in the death of their 32-year-old son and brother, who had Down syndrome, after officials said he was severely neglected and underfed.

Fluffy cows: Old beauty practice gains attention

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 22:08:34 GMT

ADEL, Iowa (AP) — Grooming cows so they look like unusually large poodles is a well-known beautification practice in the show cattle industry.

Dem senator presses Pentagon on Guantanamo feeding

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 22:08:18 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The force-feeding of terror suspects at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, runs counter to international standards, medical ethics and the practices at American prisons, the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee said Wednesday in pressing the Pentagon to establish a more humane treatment.

Wynn bankrolls casino push in Everett

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 22:05:46 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — Las Vegas casino operator Steve Wynn is bankrolling an effort to convince Everett voters to support a proposed casino in the city, while nothing has been spent in opposition to the plan, according to campaign finance records.

FBI ends Michigan search for Hoffa's remains

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 22:03:01 GMT

OAKLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Beneath a swimming pool, under a horse farm and now a weed-grown field north of Detroit. For at least the third time in a decade, FBI agents grabbed shovels and combed through dirt and mud in the search for Jimmy Hoffa's remains or clues to the disappearance of the former Teamsters boss.

Police at Patriots tight end's home for 2nd day

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:59:16 GMT

NORTH ATTLEBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — State police returned to the home of New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez on Wednesday, two days after a body was found about a mile away.

RI's Twin River Casino begins table games

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:55:11 GMT

LINCOLN, R.I. (AP) — Las Vegas-style betting games like blackjack and craps are now underway at Rhode Island's Twin River Casino after state leaders held a ribbon cutting for expanded gambling Wednesday.

Biden calls for DC voting rights during tribute

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:52:14 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday used a tribute to 19th-century abolitionist Frederick Douglass to renew the call for equal voting rights for people who live in the nation's capital.

NH lawmakers negotiate health insurance rules

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:51:59 GMT

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — House and Senate lawmakers moved close to agreement Wednesday on a severely scaled-back version of a bill intended to align state insurance rules with President Barack Obama's health care overhaul law.

Blumenthal urges installation of RR safety device

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:48:24 GMT

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Sen. Richard Blumenthal is calling on Metro-North Railroad to quickly install technology to prevent more fatalities.

Oversight board concerned about NSA surveillance

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:45:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — In an interview this week with television talk show host Charlie Rose, Obama said he planned to meet with the oversight board and "set up and structure a national conversation" about the NSA's surveillance programs and also "about the general problem of these big data sets because this is not going to be restricted to government entities."

Feds make find at former home of NY mobster

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:39:54 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — An FBI excavation has turned up possible human remains at a home once occupied by a famed gangster who inspired Robert De Niro's character in the movie "Goodfellas," authorities said Wednesday.