In brief: Judge strikes down Colorado gay marriage ban

DENVER – A federal judge in Denver has declared Colorado’s gay marriage ban unconstitutional, but he issued a temporary stay of the ruling to give the state a chance to appeal.

Six gay couples filed a lawsuit July 1 after the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver ruled against Utah’s gay marriage ban but put the ruling on hold pending an appeal.

U.S. passport, visa system crashes

WASHINGTON – The State Department said a computer glitch caused major delays in its passport and visa issuance operations at its embassies around the world, potentially leaving millions of people awaiting U.S. travel documents in the lurch.

Spokeswoman Marie Harf said the problem is worldwide and not specific to any country, document or visa category. She said it was first discovered on Saturday, has yet to be resolved and has stalled the issuance of U.S. passports, visas and reports of Americans born abroad.

Man pleads guilty in sensor smuggling try

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A Chinese national accused of trying to smuggle sensors made for the U.S. military has pleaded guilty to violating the Arms Export Control Act.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Albuquerque announced Wednesday that 28-year-old Bo Cai also pleaded guilty to violating the International Traffic in Arms Regulations by scheming illegally to export defense articles to China.

Court documents say Cai and his cousin, 29-year-old Wentong Cai, were arrested on charges of smuggling goods and violating the Arms Export Control Act, which makes a license necessary to ship certain items to China, Syria and Sudan.

Bo Cai faces 20 years in prison.

10 million gain coverage with ACA

WASHINGTON – A new study estimates that more than 10 million adults gained health insurance by midyear as the coverage expansion under President Barack Obama’s signature law took hold in much of the country.

The study published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine found that the share of Americans ages 18 to 64 without insurance dropped by a little more than 5 percentage points.

States that embraced the law’s Medicaid expansion saw significant coverage gains among low-income uninsured people. About half the states have expanded Medicaid.

The law offers subsidized private insurance for middle-class people who don’t have access through their jobs and expanded Medicaid for low-income adults.

The latest study results are in line with findings by Gallup and with estimates from the Congressional Budget Office.