National

National

Deepwater Horizon Trial Enters Second Phase

6:50pm October 07, 2013

The second phase of the BP oil spill trial is under way in New Orleans. Last week, the court heard arguments about how BP responded to the Deepwater Horizon accident in 2010. The judge will now hear testimony about how much oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico. BP and the federal government have differing numbers and at stake are billions of dollars in potential fines under the Clean Water Act.

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President Obama arrives to speak about the government shutdown at the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Response Coordination Center on Monday.

Raids Project Presidential Power Amid Shutdown's Gridlock

6:50pm October 07, 2013

by Ari Shapiro

The special forces operations against terrorism targets in Libya and Somalia over the weekend came at a time when President Obama badly needed something to go his way. It's a reminder that counterterrorism is the unusual arena where Obama can decide on a course of action — and execute it.

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A helicopter is unloaded from an LC-130 in Antarctica last December. Researchers on this mission were studying the Pine Island Glacier, one of the fastest-receding glaciers on the continent.

Even Antarctica Feels Effects Of The Government Shutdown

6:50pm October 07, 2013

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

Scientists who study the remote, rugged continent at the bottom of the world are on edge as funding for research there remains in jeopardy. It hasn't been decided yet if Antarctic operations for the research season will be allowed to continue.

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The Supreme Court opens its new term this week.

Despite Shutdown, Supreme Court Opens Its Doors For New Term

11:09am October 07, 2013

by Nina Totenberg

The docket this year has nothing quite as riveting as last year's same-sex marriage cases, or the challenge to President Obama's health care overhaul from the term before. But once again, the court is facing hot-button social issues and questions of presidential and congressional power.

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The Wright Brothers Flyer lifts off in Kitty Hawk, N.C., on Dec. 17, 1903. Now 110 years later, a thriving aviation industry is looking to fill jobs in high-tech manufacturing.

Wanted: A New Generation Of High-Tech Aviation Workers

10:53am October 07, 2013

by Jeff Tiberii

Millions of U.S. factory jobs have been lost in the past decade. Now, in North Carolina, high school students are being encouraged to think about taking manufacturing jobs. But this isn't the furniture-making or textile labor of generations past — it's a new kind of highly technical work in aviation.

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Sasha Ballen and Dee Spagnuolo (far right) are party to two of five lawsuits filed since the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage in June. Attorney Robert C. Heim (left) is helping to represent them.

National

Holdout Pennsylvania Pelted With Gay Marriage Lawsuits

5:47pm October 06, 2013

by Emma Jacobs

When the Supreme Court overturned part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act in June, it granted federal benefits to many couples married in states that have legalized same-sex marriage. This set off phase two of litigation: a flurry of lawsuits in Pennsylvania and other states which have not.

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Lita and her son, Myke, now live in Houston together. She still works as a nanny and Myke is an interior designer. Lita's two daughters have also immigrated to the United States.

To Care For U.S. Kids, Filipinas Leave Their Own Behind

4:53pm October 06, 2013

by Ashley Westerman

Tens of thousands of Filipinas work as nannies in U.S. households. Many leave their own children in the care of relatives back home, a wrenching but often unavoidable decision in the impoverished Southeast Asian nation.

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Pardit Pri was excited to learn the new health insurance exchanges could help her.

Back To Work After A Baby, But Without Health Insurance

9:13pm October 05, 2013

by Sarah Varney

Pardit Pri left her job as a legal assistant when she had a baby. She thought she'd be able to find a new job with health insurance, but so far has found only contract work with no benefits. She's not sure if her state's new health exchange will make sense for her, given her uncertain income.

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Herman Wallace (left) and his legal team discuss his trip home to New Orleans after his release from prison on Tuesday. Wallace died on Friday.

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Angola 3 Inmate Tastes Brief, 'Bittersweet' Freedom

6:36pm October 05, 2013

by Arun Rath

Herman Wallace was released from prison in Louisiana on Tuesday after more than 40 years in solitary confinement. A judge overturned his conviction on the grounds that Wallace had been denied a fair trial. Wallace died just three days later.

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What Furlough? GOP Lawmakers Choose How Much Burden To Bear

12:20pm October 05, 2013

by Ailsa Chang

Even as hundreds of thousands of federal workers stay home, some members of Congress have kept most or all of their own staffs working. With no end to the government shutdown in sight, that's put Republicans on the defensive.

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