The Hague Center for Strategic Studies, an independent research group of the Dutch Ministry of Defense, has released a ranking of countries based on their level of inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) service members in their armed forces. The global ranking is the first of its kind.
Countries were judged based on their level of inclusion, admission and tolerance of LGBT service members, and were penalized based on their level of exclusion or persecution of them.
US ranks low on LGBT military index
Oregon to stop defending gay marriage ban
Oregon will no longer defend a ban on gay marriage in the state, which was sued by four same-sex couples who argue the prohibition violates equality guarantees enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, the state's top law enforcement official said on Thursday.
The decision by Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum makes Oregon the third state in the past month to cease defense in federal court of gay marriage bans, as activists fight for legalization across the United States. The other states were Nevada and Virginia.
NYPD’s spying on Muslims is legal and part of counterterrorism: judge
A federal judge has ruled that the New York Police Department’s surveillance of Muslims in New Jersey was a lawful effort to prevent terrorism, not a civil rights violation.
In a decision filed Thursday in federal court in Newark, U.S. District Judge William Martini dismissed a lawsuit brought in 2012 by eight Muslims who alleged that the NYPD’s surveillance programs were unconstitutional because they focused on religion, national origin and race. The suit accused the department of spying on ordinary people at mosques, restaurants and schools in New Jersey since 2002.
Ukraine peace deal signed, opens way for early election
Ukraine's opposition leaders signed an EU-mediated peace deal with President Viktor Yanukovich on Friday, aiming to resolve a political crisis in which dozens have been killed and opening the way for an early presidential election this year.
Under pressure to quit from mass demonstrations in Kiev, Russian-backed Yanukovich made a series of concessions to his pro-European opponents, including a national unity government and constitutional change to reduce his powers, as well as bringing forward the poll.
Excessive tanning may be linked to mental disorders
Despite warnings that tanning brings a greater risk of skin cancer, many still tan to excess and U.S. researchers suggest mental health issues may play a role.
Lisham Ashrafioun, a Bowling Green State University doctoral student in psychology, and Dr. Erin Bonar, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Michigan Addiction Research Center and a BGSU alumna, showed some who engage in excessive tanning might also be suffering from obsessive-compulsive and body dysmorphic disorders.
Obama to drop less generous retiree payments from budget
Bowing to pressure from liberal groups and angry seniors, the Obama administration on Thursday dropped from its forthcoming proposed budget a plan to trim back cost-of-living adjustments for Social Security recipients.
President Barack Obama angered Democrats and seniors last year by including a proposal favored by Republicans called the Chained Consumer Price Index, which involves a less generous way of making cost of living adjustments and thus reduces the budget hit for these payments to retirees.
New York High Court Rules Some Police Lies to Suspects are Unfair
Police can lie when interrogating suspects, but when the lies become "patently coercive," any confession cannot be used as evidence, New York's highest court ruled Thursday.
Ruling unanimously, the Court of Appeals threw out the murder conviction of 31-year-old Adrian Thomas, whose infant son died with a head injury and infection in 2008, and ordered a new trial without the Troy man's purported confession.
Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman wrote that Troy investigators' lies became "a set of highly coercive deceptions" as they tried for hours to coax a confession from Thomas.
Lawsuit brings to light secrecy statements required by Halliburton & KBR
One of the nation’s largest government contractors requires employees seeking to report fraud to sign internal confidentiality statements barring them from speaking to anyone about their allegations, including government investigators and prosecutors, according to a complaint filed Wednesday and corporate documents obtained by The Washington Post.
Attorneys for a whistleblower suing Halliburton Co. and its former subsidiary, Kellogg Brown & Root, said the statements violate the federal False Claims Act and other laws designed to shield whistleblowers.
Boeing Paid No Federal Income Tax Last Year
One of the largest recipients of federal government contracts paid nothing in taxes last year, according to an analysis from the Center for Effective Government, a left-leaning think tank.
Boeing reported an $82 million tax refund last year, but made $5.9 billion in U.S. pre-tax profits during the same period, the analysis of the company’s recent government filings found. That means Boeing paid a federal tax rate of -1.4 percent. At the same time, the company won 4.4 percent of all federal contracts last year, according to the report.
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