WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says the Pentagon will begin the process to extend health care, housing and other federal benefits to the same-sex spouses of military members as soon as possible.

Wednesday’s Supreme Court decision opens the door for married gay couples to get federal benefits.

Defense officials estimate there are 18,000 same-sex couples in the active duty, National Guard and Reserves. It’s unclear how many of those are married. The court ruling also …

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Yesterday, President Obama announced his new Climate Action Plan in a nationally televised speech.

He described the emerging climate crisis and its impacts–both past, present and future, while be suffered the heat of an abnormally warm June day in Washington, DC. His arguments for climate action were compelling and hard to argue with. Unfortunately his actions do not match his words.

Unlike Bill McKibben, I do not believe that “the solutions agenda [Obama has] begun …

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The Supreme Court handed down a decision Tuesday morning that’s gotten considerably less attention than this term’s blockbuster battles over same-sex marriage and voting rights. But Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management District will likely prove a historic property-rights ruling, with far-reaching implications for the leverage local land-use agencies may use to extract concessions from property owners and developers for the common and environmental good.

The question lurking behind the case – how much …

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Mexico broke its silence on the United States immigration reform debate this week, declaring that “walls aren’t the solution.”

US lawmakers are considering extending the border fence as part of the added security measures that would accompany plans to provide legal status to more than 11 million immigrants, the majority of them Mexican.

Foreign Minister José Antonio Meade said the legislation would benefit Mexico’s countrymen in the US. But he also warned that the proposed fence extension …

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WASHINGTON — Search engine companies should more clearly distinguish on their Web pages between advertising, paid content and the results of an Internet search, the Federal Trade Commission told two dozen search engine providers on Tuesday.

The commission made the statements, which update guidelines first laid out in 2002, in a letter it sent to seven general search engine companies including Google, Bing and Yahoo, as well as to 17 specialized search sites that focus …

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Twelve cities across Canada participated in solidarity actions Tuesday in support of activists who took over a pumping station north of Hamilton, Ontario last Thursday morning.

The takeover was part of the Idle No More campaign called Sovereignty Summer.

Dubbed Swamp Line 9 because the Enbridge Westover pumping station is located close to Beverly Swamp, the action aimed to prevent construction on Line 9 and block the transport of tar sands through Ontario and Quebec.

The 2,400-hectare …

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NEW ORLEANS—With an ad blitz and a tersely worded letter, BP is mounting an increasingly aggressive campaign to challenge what could be billions of dollars in settlement payouts to businesses following its 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

In letters that started going out Tuesday, BP warns lawyers for many Gulf Coast businesses that it may seek to recover at least some of their clients’ shares of the multibillion-dollar settlement if it successfully appeals …

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Childhood lead exposure is costing developing countries $992 billion annually due to reductions in IQs and earning potential, according to a new study published today.

The report by New York University researchers is the first to calculate the economic cost of children exposed to lead in Africa, Asia, Latin America and other developing regions. The researchers found that, despite major declines in exposure in the United States and Europe, lead is still harming brains and …

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Apparently there aren’t enough Asian actors around — or at least none that wanted to sign on to be the newest nemesis to those lovable reptilian warriors, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. None? Apparently not, because the producer of the 2014 Ninja Turtles flick has now been forced to whitewash the part of Shredder (aka Oruku Saki.) After weeks of speculation, it’s been confirmed that the part will be filled by William Fichtner, whom by …

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Barack Obama is a “war criminal” and a “hypocrite,” an Irish politician has said in a damning attack on the US president. The MP slammed the Irish treatment of Obama during his G8 visit as akin to ‘prostituting’ Ireland for a “pat on the head.”

Irish MP Clare Daly took no prisoners in her heated attack on the visit of the Obama family to Ireland during this year’s G8 summit, which was held in the five-star …

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