SEATTLE (Reuters) – The unidentified U.S. soldier at the centre of the massacre in which 16 Afghans, mostly women and children, were killed over the weekend may not be charged by U.S. authorities for weeks, his defence lawyer said on Thursday.

John Henry Browne, a prominent Seattle defence attorney who represented notorious serial killer Ted Bundy, told reporters that charges against his client would be filed “probably not sooner than a few weeks.”

LAKEWOOD, Washington (Reuters) – Around the home base of the American soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians there is a sense of dedication to a tough job, but stress from years of battle in repeated tours in the “sand box” of Iraq and Afghanistan is eating away at troops.

“A lot of the guys, especially those with a lot of deployments, have built up a numbness to people being killed or hurt,” said one veteran of six tours abroad, including Iraq and Afghanistan, describing his own reaction to the weekend shooting. “The people who hate us are going to put a bad spin on us no matter what we do.”

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – A company owned by billionaire Larry Ellison that is hosting the 2013 America’s Cup sailing race has cut back plans for developing the San Francisco waterfront, citing financial risks.

Catamarans 40 meters (131 feet) high will dash across San Francisco Bay next year in the 34th America’s Cup event, although city hall has not signed off on final terms of the deal with the group led by Ellison. The team run by the chief executive of Oracle Corp, the world’s No. 3 software maker, won the last race four years ago and now is defending the Cup, first awarded in 1851.

MESA, Arizona (Reuters) – For years, Nora Castaneda watched her Mormon community grow and grow as it drew converts from a burgeoning Hispanic population in Mesa, Arizona. Then, in 2010, it all went into slow motion.

It turned out the author of Arizona’s tough illegal immigration law, then State Senator Russell Pearce, was a Mormon. As word got around, the dark-suited missionaries who’d been having great success in this Phoenix suburb were suddenly having doors slammed in their faces.

MESA, Arizona (Reuters) – For years, Nora Castaneda watched her Mormon community grow and grow as it drew converts from a burgeoning Hispanic population in Mesa, Arizona. Then, in 2010, it all went into slow motion.

It turned out the author of Arizona’s tough illegal immigration law, then State Senator Russell Pearce, was a Mormon. As word got around, the dark-suited missionaries who’d been having great success in this Phoenix suburb were suddenly having doors slammed in their faces.

SAN FRANCISCO/MACAU, China (Reuters) – It’s never good for the candidate when a big donor runs afoul of the law – as President Barack Obama learned this week: his campaign returned large donations from Chicago’s Cardona brothers after it was reported that a third brother is a fugitive from U.S. drug and fraud charges.

Some Republican candidates for president could find themselves similarly embarrassed if criminal investigations against casino mogul Sheldon Adelson’s Las Vegas Sands for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act come to fruition before November.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – An appeals court on Tuesday found California’s gay marriage ban unconstitutional in a case that may lead to a showdown in the Supreme Court.

Supporters of the ban said they would appeal the judgment, calling it “out of step with every other federal appellate and Supreme Court decision.” Their appeal is likely to keep gay marriage in the state on hold pending future proceedings.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday found California’s gay marriage ban unconstitutional in a case that is likely to lead to a showdown on the issue in the U.S. Supreme Court.

The 2-1 decision from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals featured two judges appointed by Democrats ruling against the ban, while a Republican-appointed judge dissented.