AP: Nigeria lawmakers have passed a bill banning gay marriage, setting prison terms of up to 14 years. The country’s House of Representatives passed the bill Thursday in a voice vote. The Senate previously passed the bill in November 2011.
If there are no differences between the House and Senate versions, the bill goes immediately to President Goodluck Jonathan to potentially be signed into law.
The Daily Beast: Sen. John McCain on Monday became the highest-ranking U.S. official to enter Syria since the civil war there began more than two years ago. McCain made the unannounced visit across the Turkey-Syria border with Gen. Salem Idris, the leader of the Supreme Military Council of the Free Syrian Army. He stayed in the country for several hours before returning to Turkey.
Obama marks Memorial Day with ceremony, speech
NBC News: US President Barack Obama has marked Memorial Day by laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery and urging Americans to remember the soldiers still in Afghanistan.
With troop withdrawal under way, Obama noted that next year should mark the final Memorial Day of the war in Afghanistan.
Until then, he said, Americans have a duty to remember there are still 60,000 troops serving in Afghanistan.
Photo: President Barack Obama positions a commemorative wreath during a ceremony on Memorial Day at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery on May 27, 2013 in Arlington, Virginia. (Mark Wilson / Getty Images)
Reuters: The US Senate’s Judiciary Committee has approved legislation that could bring about the biggest changes in the country’s immigration policy in a generation.
By a vote of 13-5, the panel approved the bill that could put 11 million on a 13-year path to citizenship while further strengthening security along the southwestern border with Mexico.
The full Senate will tackle the issue next month.
CNN Political Ticker: US President Barack Obama has announced that Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has requested and accepted the resignation of the acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service in the wake of its handling of requests by conservative groups for tax-exempt status.
Obama called the “misconduct” detailed in a report about the IRS response to those requests “inexcusable.”
AP:
The US Senate has passed a bill that could end tax-free shopping on the Internet for many shoppers.The Senate voted 69 to 27 Monday to pass the bill, sending it to the House where it faces opposition from some lawmakers who regard it as a tax increase.
Under current law, states can only require retailers to collect sales taxes if the merchant has a physical presence in the state. As a result, many online sales are tax-free.
AP:
Rhode Island senators put the state on the path Wednesday to becoming the 10th state to allow same-sex couples to marry.
The gay marriage legislation easily passed the Rhode Island House in January, and the Senate vote was seen as the true test. The bill passed 26-12, and now returns to the House for a largely procedural vote, likely next week, before going to Gov. Lincoln Chafee, who supports the legislation.
Charges dropped against man in ricin letters case
AP:
Charges were dropped Tuesday against the Mississippi man accused of sending ricin-laced letters to President Barack Obama and others, while authorities searched at another man’s home in connection with the case.The surprising move was announced in a brief document filed in federal court in Oxford hours after Paul Kevin Curtis was released from custody.
Photo: Federal agents wearing hazardous material suits and breathing apparatus inspect the home and possessions in the West Hills Subdivision house of Paul Kevin Curtis in Corinth, Missippi, Friday, April 19, 2013. (Rogelio V. Solis)
Background check compromise falls 6 votes short
NBC News: A measure to expand background checks for gun purchases was defeated in the US Senate Wednesday. The vote on the amendment was 54 to 46. Sixty votes were needed for the amendment to be adopted.
“All in all, this was a pretty shameful day for Washington,” President Barack Obama said after the vote, urging backers of gun control to continue the fight.
The measure would have extended existing background check rules to gun sales made online and at gun shows.
Photo credit: Mandel Ngan / AFP - Getty Images
NBC News: A bipartisan US Senate group on Tuesday will reveal sweeping legislation to overhaul the country’s immigration system. The plan outlines an emphasis on shifting legal immigration towards more skilled workers, sets goals for surveillance and security along the country’s southern border, and offers undocumented immigrants a process towards legalization and eventual citizenship.
The proposal, drafted by four Democrats and four Republicans, represents the first major attempt to comprehensively address the subject since a bipartisan bill stalled in the Senate in 2007.
Obama speaks out against GOP threats to filibuster gun control
TPM: US President Obama was in Connecticut Monday to deliver an speech aimed at mobilizing public support for gun control — and speaking out against Republican senators who are on record threatening to filibuster legislation to address gun violence.
“This is not about me. This is not not about politics,” he said to the crowd, which included families of victims of the Sandy Hook shooting. “This is about doing the right thing for families like yours that have been torn apart by gun violence, and families going forward.”
Photo credit: Charles Dharapak/AP
Sanford wins GOP runoff election for vacant congressional seat
Politico: Former Gov. Mark Sanford has won in the GOP runoff election for a vacant South Carolina congressional seat. With 75 percent of precincts reporting, Sanford led his opponent, Curtis Bostic, 56 percent to 44 percent, according to the Associated Press. Sanford will face Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch, a university administrator and sister of comedian Stephen Colbert, in the May 7 general election.
Four years ago, Sanford lied about and then admitted to having an affair with an Argentine woman. He’s been billing himself as a figure of repentance and redemption and saying he has learned from his mistakes.
CNN: Julia Pierson has been sworn in as the first female director of the Secret Service in its 148-year history. She took the federal oath administered by US VP Joe Biden and President Obama holding the Bible in the Oval Office.
Pierson has been the chief of staff to the director since August 2008. Her career began in 1983 when she served as a special agent in the Miami field office.
“Julia’s reputation within the service is extraordinary. She’s come up through the ranks, she’s done just about every job there is to do at the Secret Service,” Obama said.
Clashes, riot police at French anti-gay marriage protest
AP:
Paris riot police fought back crowds who pushed their way onto Paris’ landmark Champs-Elysees avenue as part of a huge protest against a draft law allowing same-sex couples to marry and adopt children.
Hundreds of thousands of people — conservative activists, children, retirees, priests — converged on the capital Sunday in a last-ditch bid to stop the bill, many bused in from the French provinces.
Photo: Demonstrators sing around a fire during a protest on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris on March 24, 2013 against France’s gay marriage law in an attempt to block legislation that will allow homosexual couples to marry and adopt children. (Thomas Samson / AFP - Getty Images)
Small town in Maine rejects mandatory gun ownership law
Reuters: Voters in a small Maine town unanimously rejected a proposal on Monday that would have required every household to own a firearm and ammunition.
More than 60 residents of Byron, Maine, packed into the tiny Coos Canyon Schoolhouse and quickly voted to make the symbolic measure the first order of business during the town’s annual meeting.
After a brief discussion, residents elected to skip debate and vote. Not even Bruce Simmons, the resident who originally came up with the proposal, voted to support it.
Photo: Residents of Byron, Maine, vote against a proposal that each household be required to own a firearm (Herb Swanson / EPA)
