National News at a Glance

New York State Health Department Plans to Recommend Legalizing Marijuana

A study commissioned by Gov. Andrew Cuomo will recommend that “a regulated, legal marijuana program be available to adults in the state,” the New York state health commissioner said Monday. The announcement by Howard Zucker comes after a fast evolution in Cuomo’s thinking. He said as recently as last year that marijuana was a “gateway drug.” In recent months, however, Cuomo has said that “facts have changed” around the drug, and in January he commissioned a report with the mission of determining the consequences from legalization efforts in New Jersey and Massachusetts, and “what would that do to New York because it’s right in the middle.”

Trump Orders Establishment of ‘Space Force’ as Sixth Military Branch

President Donald Trump said Monday that he would direct the Pentagon to establish a sixth branch of the armed forces dedicated to protecting U.S. interests in space, an idea that has troubled lawmakers and even some members of his administration, who cautioned that the action could create unnecessary bureaucratic responsibilities for a military already burdened by conflicts. During a speech at the National Space Council, Trump announced plans to protect U.S. interests in space through monitoring commercial traffic and debris, initiatives he said would be “great not only in terms of jobs and everything else, it’s great for the psyche of our country.”

Deputy Accused of Molesting 4-Year-Old and Threatening to Deport Her Mother

A sheriff’s deputy in San Antonio was charged with felony assault Sunday after being accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting a 4-year-old girl, authorities said, and threatening her mother with deportation if she reported him. Saturday night, the girl’s mother decided to take her daughter to a fire station to report Deputy Jose S. Nunez, after the girl “made an outcry” about the abuse, officials said at a news conference Sunday. Nunez, 47, was arrested around 3:30 a.m. Sunday and charged with super aggravated sexual assault of a child, a first-degree felony because of the girl’s age, said Javier Salazar, the Bexar County sheriff.

New Charges in a Massive CIA Breach

Federal prosecutors have charged a former software engineer at the center of a huge CIA breach with stealing classified information, theft of government property and lying to the FBI. Joshua A. Schulte, 29, of New York, had been the main suspect in one of the worst losses of classified documents in the spy agency’s history. Investigators suspect that he provided WikiLeaks with a stolen archive of documents detailing the CIA’s hacking operations. In the indictment, prosecutors accused him of repeatedly violating the Espionage Act. Prosecutors also charged him with transmitting malicious computer code and improperly gaining access to a delicate government computer system.

Extreme Heat Rolls Across U.S., but Relief Is Coming

An extreme heat wave that washed over Midwest and Northeast states the past few days is shifting eastward, but relief in the form of a cold front may arrive Tuesday. On Monday, after 18 states and Washington were put under heat advisories, the National Weather Service announced dangerous heat conditions would shift eastward. Public school classes were canceled in many districts across the region. But as the heat leaves the Midwest, a cold front Tuesday is expected to offer the Northeast region some relief, said Andrew Orrison, a meteorologist at the Weather Service. By Wednesday, all heat advisories are expected to be canceled.

Judge Rejects Kansas Law Requiring Voters to Show Proof of Citizenship

A restrictive law on voting in Kansas championed by Kris W. Kobach, the secretary of state, was struck down Monday by a federal judge who said Kobach had failed during a trial to show evidence of widespread voter fraud. The ruling was a blow to Kobach, a Republican who has emerged as a national figure on voting limits. Experts on election law say there is no evidence that voter fraud is a pervasive problem. U.S. District Judge Julie A. Robinson said in her ruling that while there was evidence of a “small number of noncitizen registrations in Kansas, it is largely explained by administrative error, confusion, or mistake.”