By Zach Howard (Reuters) - Vermont's legislature on Monday approved a bill that would decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana, a measure the state's governor expects to sign into law in the coming weeks. The move sets up the New England state to be the 17th in the United States to remove criminal penalties for having small amounts of pot. It does not go as far as Colorado and Washington, which in November became the first states to legalize possession, cultivation and use of marijuana by adults for recreational use. ...

DETROIT (AP) — The first report by Detroit's emergency manager declares that the city is broke and at risk of running completely out of money — a financial meltdown that could mean no paychecks for workers, no pension benefits and even deeper cuts in services.

By Jeff Mason and Thomas Ferraro WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama sought on Monday to neutralize two crises that threatened his second term agenda, calling the apparent targeting of conservative groups by tax officials "outrageous" and an uproar over his response to American deaths in Libya a "sideshow." At a news conference with visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron, Obama tried to put his stamp on the two issues, which are overshadowing other policy priorities just months after he took the oath of office. ...

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. (AP) — A military judge found Army Sgt. John Russell guilty of premeditated murder Monday in the 2009 killings of five fellow service members at a combat stress clinic in Iraq.

(Reuters) - New Orleans police on Monday released photos that they said show a suspect in the shooting at a Mother's Day parade in which 19 people, including two children, were wounded. The image singling out the suspect does not clearly show the face, and police, who released the photographs on YouTube, asked for the public's help in identifying and finding the person. Ten men, seven women and a girl and a boy, both 10 years old, were hit when one or more people opened fire at the parade on Sunday. ...

CENTENNIAL, Colo. (AP) — One of James Holmes' lawyers asked a judge on Monday to change his plea to not guilty by reason of insanity in the Colorado theater shootings. Such a plea is seen as his best hope of avoiding the death penalty in the killings of 12 people at a packed midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises" in Aurora. Changing the plea still carries risks for Holmes but moving in that direction now allows them to challenge some of the problems they see with Colorado's laws on insanity and the death penalty.

CENTENNIAL, Colo. (AP) — Lawyers for the Colorado theater shooting suspect told a judge Monday he wants to change his plea to not guilty by reason of insanity, but the judge won't immediately rule on whether to allow it.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama on Monday denied Republican criticism that his White House was trying to cover up information about the deadly assault in Benghazi, Libya last year, as undeterred GOP lawmakers pressed ahead with their investigation.