World/Nation
• Late health plan enrollees get 1-day extension
CHICAGO - Anticipating heavy traffic on the government's health care website, the Obama administration extended Monday's deadline for signing up for insurance by a day, giving Americans in 36 states more time to select a plan.
It was the latest in a series of pushed-back deadlines and delays that have marked the rollout of the health care law.
But federal officials urged buyers not to procrastinate.
"You should not wait until tomorrow. If you are aiming to get coverage Jan. 1, you should try to sign up today," said Julie Bataille, a spokeswoman for the federal agency in charge of the overhaul.
Bataille said the grace period - which runs through today - was being offered to accommodate people from different time zones and to allow for any technical problems that might result from a last-minute rush of applicants.
• Hundreds of gay couples flock to wed in Utah
SALT LAKE CITY - A federal judge on Monday allowed gay marriage to continue in Utah, rejecting a request to put same-sex weddings on hold as the state appeals a decision that has sent couples flocking to county clerk offices for marriage licenses.
Judge Robert J. Shelby overturned Utah's ban on same-sex marriage Friday, ruling the voter-approved measure is a violation of gay couples' constitutional rights. The state then asked him to put a stop to the weddings, but he rejected the request.
Shelby's ruling is far from the end of the legal wrangling on the topic. The state quickly filed a request with the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to put gay marriage on hold, and that court could rule as soon as today. The same court, in Denver, likely will hear the full appeal of the case several months from now.
In the meantime, the rush on marriage licenses continues for gay couples around Utah.
Nearly 700 gay couples have obtained marriage licenses since Friday, with most coming in the state's most populous county.
• Freezing rain, ice taper, but still affect U.S. travel
AUGUSTA, Maine - Parts of the country socked by a wild weekend storm will be covered with ice and without power through Christmas and beyond thanks to a steady diet of freezing rain and cold temperatures.
The first full day of winter, Sunday, brought a mix including snow in the Midwest and balmy temperatures along the Mid-Atlantic. Rain and melting snow led to swelling creeks and streams, closed roads and flooded underpasses in Indiana, Ohio and other Great Lakes states.
More than 390,000 homes and businesses were without power Monday in Michigan, upstate New York and northern New England, down from Sunday's peak of more than half a million. Most were in Michigan, whose largest utilities said it'll be days before power is restored because of the difficulty of working around broken lines.
• Canadians, Brits, Australians still trapped in Sudan
NAIROBI, Kenya - British, Canadian and Kenyan citizens are among 3,000 foreigners trapped in a South Sudan city experiencing bouts of heavy machine gun fire, one of the most violent areas of a weeklong conflict that has likely killed more than 1,000 people, a top U.N. official said Monday.
Australians, Ugandans and Ethiopians are also among 17,000 people seeking protection at a U.N. base in Bor, a city that could see increased violence in coming days, said Toby Lanzer, the U.N.'s humanitarian coordinator.
The death toll from a week of violence in South Sudan has likely surpassed 1,000 people.
- The Associated Press