Mass. Senate OKs measure to expand transgender rights

Mass. Senate OKs measure to expand transgender rights

BOSTON

The Massachusetts Senate approved a bill Thursday aimed at banning discrimination against transgender people in public accommodations such as restaurants, malls and other locations.

The bill also would let transgender people use bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity. It expands a 2011 state law that already bans discrimination against transgender people in the workplace and housing.

The debate now heads to the Massachusetts House. If the bill becomes law, Massachusetts would join 17 states and the District of Columbia that have banned discrimination against transgender people in public accommodations.

Missile-defense site opens in Romania

DEVESELU, Romania

A U.S missile-defense site in Romania aimed at protecting Europe from ballistic-missile threats became operational Thursday, drawing an angry reaction from Russia, which opposes having the advanced military system in its former area of influence.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg tried to reassure Russia as he spoke at a ceremony attended by U.S., NATO and Romanian officials at the Soviet-built base, located in a remote village 110 miles southwest of Bucharest. Romania became a NATO member in 2004.

The NATO missile defense site “in no way undermines or weakens Russia’s strategic nuclear deterrent. This site in Romania, as well as the one in Poland, are not directed against Russia,” Stoltenberg said at the opening ceremony.

Official: 4 Kurdish rebels die in blast

ISTANBUL

A Turkish official said four Kurdish rebels were killed while loading explosives onto a truck in southeastern Turkey on Thursday, hours after a separate blast targeting the military in Istanbul wounded eight.

The explosion that killed the Kurdish rebels occurred in the province of Diyarbakir in the Sarikamis district, and it wounded 10 others, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak to the media.

In Istanbul, a car bomb targeting the Turkish military exploded, wounding eight people, officials said.

Oil leak in Gulf

NEW ORLEANS

The U.S. Coast Guard says about 88,200 gallons of oil have leaked from a Shell flow line into the Gulf of Mexico about 90 miles off the coast of Louisiana.

Chief Petty Officer Bobby Nash says the leak has been secured, and cleanup crews will be dispatched. The leak was reported Thursday. Officials were investigating the cause of the leak.

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement says there have been no reports of injuries.

Officials say Shell Offshore Inc. reported the spill and also said it had shut the wells flowing into the line.

3K bags miss flights

PHOENIX

More than 3,000 checked bags missed their outbound flights in Phoenix on Thursday because of a problem with a screening system at Sky Harbor International Airport, officials with Transportation Security Administration said.

“TSA is experiencing significant, unprecedented technical issues with its computer server allowing the automated screening of checked bags for explosives,” TSA spokesman Nico Melendez said in a statement.

Melendez didn’t elaborate on the problem, which began about 6:45 a.m. and affected only Sky Harbor.

Associated Press