Mental health bill OK'd in Senate

The Senate passed legislation last night that would require equal health insurance coverage for mental and physical illnesses when policies cover both. The bill, passed by unanimous consent, moves advocates one step closer in their quest for mental health parity. "This new legislation will bring dramatic new help to millions of Americans who today are denied needed mental health care and treatment," said Senator Edward Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts. (AP)

A US Marine company commander who led the unit that killed as many as 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha, Iraq, has had all criminal charges against him dismissed nearly two years after the shootings occurred. Captain Lucas M. McConnell no longer faces two counts of dereliction of duty for allegedly not investigating the Nov. 19, 2005, shootings and not reporting up his chain of command, the Marine Corps said yesterday. Three senior officers above McConnell received administrative punishments this month for their role after the incident. (Washington Post)

Larry Craig returned to the Senate floor yesterday for the first time since public disclosure of his guilty plea in a restroom sex sting. The Idaho Republican voted on two bills and lunched with GOP colleagues. He said there is no change in his plans to resign at month's end barring a court reversal of his guilty plea. (AP)

BALTIMORE - The state's highest court yesterday upheld a law defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman, ending a lawsuit by gay couples who said they were denied equal protection under the law. Maryland's 1973 ban on gay marriage does not discriminate on the basis of gender and does not deny any basic rights, the Court of Appeals ruled in a 4-to-3 vote. (AP)