In the news

President Barack Obama will press Congress to reinstate long-term unemployment benefits for 1.3 million Americans when he returns to Washington from his Hawaii vacation, the White House said.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who vowed months ago to renounce his Canadian citizenship by the end of 2013, is still a dual citizen, prompting Vancouver-based immigration attorney Richard Kurland to wonder what’s taking so long given that renouncing citizenship is a quick process.

Rosie Pate, 68, a Memphis grandmother, was charged with domestic assault and making a 911 call in a nonemergency situation, on accusations of slapping her granddaughter when the granddaughter wouldn’t buy beer for Pate, leading Pate to dial 911 seeking “police assistance in getting a beer.”

David Waddell, who is mounting a write-in campaign against Democratic U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan, used the Klingon language from Star Trek to write his letter of resignation from the Indian Trail Town Council in North Carolina, which Mayor Michael Alvarez called unprofessional.

Randy Majors, 58, a Colorado junior high school teacher, was arrested on eight felony counts related to sexual exploitation of children, accused of asking female students to send him topless photos.

Gerhard Albert Becker, 49, a German architect, pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter in the death of Glen Allen, a Los Angeles firefighter crushed in the collapse of a ceiling during a February 2011 fire at a luxury home the architect designed and built in the Hollywood Hills.

Steve Tran, a Northern California delivery driver, stepped forward as the second of two winners of the $636 million Mega Millions jackpot after remembering that he had visited San Jose, where the winning ticket had been purchased, and fumbling through a pile of lottery tickets on his dresser.

Dominique Bertinotti, France’s social-affairs minister, confirmed a plan was under consideration to allow divorces by mutual consent without a judge.

Manmohan Singh, 81, India’s prime minister for 10 years, announced he would step aside after this summer’s general election, saying Rahul Gandhi, the 43-year-old heir to India’s Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty, should replace him if the ruling Congress Party stays in power.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 01/04/2014

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