NowMyNews

U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska publicly backed gay marriage on Wednesday, becoming the third Republican senator to do so as she spoke out ahead of potentially landmark rulings from the Supreme Court on the issue. Murkowski, 56, wrote in an essay posted on her Senate website that her decision was swayed, in part, by meeting a lesbian couple from Anchorage, one of whom was in the National Guard, who had adopted four children.   "This first-class Alaskan family still lives a second-class existence," Murkowski said in her essay. Her announcement comes as the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on a challenge to California's ban on gay marriage and a separate lawsuit targeting a provision of federal law that denies same-sex couples certain benefits. She joins Republican Senators Rob Portman of Ohio and Mark Kirk of Illinois who earlier this year joined dozens of Democratic senators who support gay marriage. Twelve of the 50 U.S. states and the District of

A day after the American Medical Association classified obesity as a disease, U.S. lawmakers introduced bipartisan bills in the Senate and House of Representatives that would require Medicare to cover more obesity treatment costs. The Treat and Reduce Obesity Act, spearheaded in the Senate by Tom Carper, a Democrat from Delaware, and Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, would aim to curb costs for obese patients by requiring Medicare to cover treatments such as prescription drugs for weight management, and make it easier to receive weight-loss counseling.   Representatives Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican, and Ron Kind, a Democrat from Wisconsin, introduced the companion legislation in the House. There is no immediate word on when action might be taken on the bills. Medicare, the federal healthcare program for the elderly and the disabled, covered almost 50 million people in 2012, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. "As a physician, I have personally seen the imp

The United States and Cuba have agreed to resume regular migration talks in a possible sign of thawing relations after more than three years of tensions over Cuba's jailing of a U.S. government contract worker. The announcement of the talks Wednesday came as Cuban and U.S. officials met in Washington for discussions exploring the restoration of direct mail service between the two countries after a 50-year ban.   The new round of migration talks on July 17 "do not represent a significant change in U.S. policy towards Cuba," a State Department official said on condition of anonymity. Migration between the two countries has long been a thorny issue. Diplomatic relations have been frozen since soon after Cuba's 1959 revolution led by Fidel Castro, and hundreds of thousands of Cuban exiles fled their homeland for South Florida in the decades that followed. Migration talks were suspended in 2003 by President George W. Bush. The talks were briefly revived by the Obama

The United States uses drones for surveillance in some limited law enforcement situations, FBI Director Robert Mueller said on Wednesday, sparking additional debate about President Barack Obama's use of domestic surveillance. The acknowledgement came in response to questions from U.S. senators who said they wanted to know more about the federal government's increasing use of unmanned aircraft.   "Does the FBI use drones for surveillance on U.S. soil?" Republican Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa asked during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. "Yes," Mueller said, adding that the use was in "a very, very minimal way and very seldom." Mueller did not go into detail, but the FBI later released a statement that said unmanned aircraft were used only to watch stationary subjects and to avoid serious risks to law enforcement agents. The Federal Aviation Administration approves each use, the statement said. The FBI used a drone during a hostage-ta

The Senate on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved White House international economic affairs adviser Michael Froman to be the next U.S. trade representative, sending him into the fray of two huge trade negotiations in Asia and Europe. _0"> Froman, a longtime friend of President Barack Obama, has already played a major role in shaping U.S. trade policy over the past four years from his post in the White House.   Now he is moving from that behind-the-scenes work to a prominent role in Obama's Cabinet, where other big jobs will include managing difficult trade relationships with China and India and breathing life into moribund world trade talks. "Mike is smart. He knows the issues. Very importantly, he has the trust of the president," former U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, a Republican, said on Wednesday in a speech at the Wilson Center, a foreign policy think tank. Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, was among the few to vote against

Prospects for U.S. Senate passage of an immigration bill with strong bipartisan support brightened on Wednesday when a group of Republican and Democratic negotiators reached a tentative deal on ways to shore up border security, senators said. After days of intensive negotiations, a small group of senators had hit upon a compromise that was being floated more broadly in order to gauge support, Republican Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee told reporters.   "I think we've overcome the issues that have separated the group in negotiations. I think we're together now," Corker said. It was unclear how the new package might be received by senators who are considered to be undecided and Corker did not want to reveal details of the potential compromise. A positive response could mean that the Senate next week would approve a sweeping immigration bill by a huge margin, giving it greater chances of success in the House of Representatives. A Senate aide familiar with the talk

More than a dozen FBI agents are assigned to a criminal probe into Internal Revenue Service scrutiny of conservative political groups, FBI Director Robert Mueller said on Wednesday. "It's a high-priority investigation and it needs to be handled with care, but it also needs to be pushed aggressively," he told the Senate Judiciary Committee at a hearing. Mueller spoke as Tea Party conservatives rallied outside the U.S. Capitol in the sixth week of a controversy that prompted President Barack Obama to fire acting IRS Commissioner Steve Miller.   At least 1,000 protesters gathered at an "Audit the IRS" event organized by the Tea Party Patriots, an umbrella group of the anti-Washington movement whose members favor lower taxes and less government spending. Republican Representative Dave Camp of Michigan told the crowd that the IRS investigation will take time, but it will get answers. "We will hold those responsible accountable," he said. Carol Bolli