World/Nation

Obama to remove Cuba from terror list

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama will remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, the White House announced Tuesday, a key step in his bid to normalize relations between the two countries.

The terror designation has been a stain on Cuba's pride and a major stumbling block for efforts to mend ties between Washington and Havana.

In a message to Congress, Obama said the government of Cuba "has not provided any support for international terrorism" over the last six months. He also told lawmakers that Cuba "has provided assurances that it will not support acts of international terrorism in the future."

Cuba will officially be removed from the terror list 45 days after the president's message was sent to Congress. Lawmakers could vote to block the move during that window, though Obama would be all-but-certain to veto such a measure.

Video shows officer using car to ram suspect

TUCSON, Ariz. - Dramatic dash-cam video released Tuesday shows a police officer in a Tucson suburb using his cruiser to ram an armed suspect, sending him flying in the air before the car smashes into a wall.

The man survived the Feb. 19 crash, and prosecutors cleared the officer of any wrongdoing.

The video, now getting attention across the U.S., comes at a time of heightened tension over the use of force by police across the country.

The man who was hit, Mario Valencia, 36, faces several felony charges, including assault on a police officer. His attorney, Michelle Cohen-Metzger, has not responded to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

Marana police Sgt. Chris Warren said Valencia robbed a convenience store in Tucson, broke into a church, invaded a home and stole a car. Valencia drove the stolen car to Marana, just north of Tucson, where he stole a rifle from a Wal-Mart.

White House gives in on right to reject pact

WASHINGTON - Bowing to pressure from Republicans and his own party, President Barack Obama on Tuesday relented to a compromise empowering Congress to reject his emerging nuclear pact with Iran.

The rare and reluctant agreement between the president and the Republican-led Congress came after the White House maintained for weeks that congressional interference could jeopardize sensitive negotiations with Tehran. But lawmakers refused to back down from their insistence that Congress have a formal role in what could be a historic deal to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee unanimously approved the compromise bill shortly after White House spokesman Josh Earnest conveyed the president's decision to sign it.

"Maybe they saw the handwriting on the wall," House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said after the White House dropped its opposition.

Both houses of Congress are now likely to pass the bill, which cleared the committee 19-0. It's expected to come before the full Senate as soon as next week.

Hillary Clinton opening 2016 campaign in Iowa

MONTICELLO, Iowa - Hillary Rodham Clinton declared herself a "champion" for struggling families Tuesday, offering a full-throated embrace of economic and good-government policies promoted by liberal Democrats at the first formal event of her young presidential campaign.

"I think it's fair to say that as you look across the country, the deck is still stacked in favor of those already at the top," Clinton said during a discussion with students and teachers at a community college in rural Iowa. "There's something wrong with that."

After a morning stop at a coffee shop in the Mississippi River town of LeClaire, Clinton arrived in this town of a few thousand people to lay out four pillars for her candidacy: a need to build "the economy of tomorrow, not yesterday," strengthen families, fix a dysfunctional government and protect the country from threats at home and abroad.

Police: Shooting investigated as a hate crime

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - A former community college student dismissed from a work-study program for too many absences is accused of fatally shooting his former supervisor, who was gay, and police are investigating the campus slaying as a possible hate crime.

Kenneth Morgan Stancil III, 20, was arrested without incident early Tuesday while sleeping on a Florida beach, about 500 miles from Wayne Community College in Goldsboro, N.C. Stancil made his first court appearance later in the day, saying in a profanity-laced and unsubstantiated tirade that the man he killed had molested a relative.

Police say Stancil shot 44-year-old Ron Lane on Monday morning at the college. Lane, the school's print shop director, had been Stancil's supervisor in a work-study program before Stancil was let go in early March. It wasn't clear how long they had worked together.