Health insurers focused on 2018 unknowns for Obamacare market

NEW YORK (Reuters) - While attention is focused on Republicans' fight to pass a bill to repeal Obamacare starting in 2019, health insurers are busy struggling with decisions they need to make now about how to price premiums and what markets they can afford to be in next year.

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Families of San Bernardino shooting sue Facebook, Google, Twitter

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Family members of three victims of the December 2015 shooting rampage in San Bernardino, California, have sued Facebook, Google and Twitter, claiming that the tech giants permitted Islamic State to flourish on social media.

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Trump signs order letting tax-exempt churches be active in politics

(Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday that allows tax-exempt places of worship to participate actively in politics and could free religious organizations to deny their employees insurance coverage for birth-control pills.

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State Dept. seeks social media checks in tough new visa rules

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of State has proposed tougher questioning of visa applicants who it believes warrant extra scrutiny, according to a government document published Thursday, in a push toward the "extreme vetting" sought by President Donald Trump.

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Republicans predict victory as narrow U.S. healthcare vote approaches

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives predicted victory in a planned vote on Thursday to repeal Obamacare that would take a step toward achieving their seven-year quest to replace the healthcare law and hand President Donald Trump a major legislative victory.

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Chicago aviation chief apologies for United passenger removal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Chicago Aviation Commissioner Ginger Evans apologized Thursday for city employees' forced removal of a United Airlines passenger that prompted international condemnation.

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Rain threatens U.S. Midwest as flooding force hundreds from homes

(Reuters) - Unrelenting rain will drench the already saturated U.S. Midwest on Thursday and Friday, forecasters said, after floods in the region killed at least five people and forced residents in vulnerable areas to evacuate their flooded communities.

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Two dead, including suspect in Dallas-area college shooting: police

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A person who opened fire on Wednesday on a college campus in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas, has apparently killed one victim and committed suicide, Irving police said on a Twitter post.

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Active shooter at North Lake College in Dallas suburb of Irving: police

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - An active shooter was at North Lake College in the Dallas suburb of Irving, local police said on their Twitter feed on Wednesday, and the school was placed on lockdown.

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U.S. expected to announce no charges in Louisiana black man's shooting

BATON ROUGE, La. (Reuters) - U.S. Justice Department officials were set to discuss the fatal shooting last year of a black man in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Wednesday, following media reports that authorities had decided not to prosecute two white officers involved in the incident.

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FBI's Comey defends 2016 decision on Clinton email probe

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey on Wednesday defended his decision to announce last year that the agency had reopened an investigation into former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's emails, saying not doing so would have been "an act of concealment."

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Two Chicago police officers wounded in south side shooting

(Reuters) - Two Chicago police officers were shot and wounded in the city's south side on Tuesday evening, and police were searching for the gunman or gunmen, police said.

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NSA collected Americans' phone records despite law change: report

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. National Security Agency collected more than 151 million records of Americans' phone calls last year, even after Congress limited its ability to collect bulk phone records, according to an annual report issued on Tuesday by the top U.S. intelligence officer.

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Clinton says Comey's letter, Russian hackers cost her the election

(Reuters) - Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday she was on the path to victory in the 2016 presidential election until late interference by Russian hackers and FBI Director James Comey scared off some potential supporters.

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Florida LGBT rights push reflects changing times

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Reuters) - A Republican, a Democrat and a lobbyist for leading businesses in Florida huddled this spring at the state Capitol, mapping out the next move in a campaign to enact the first statewide LGBT anti-discrimination law in the U.S. South.

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U.S. lawmakers eye airline legislation, citing 'terrible' experiences

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Angry U.S. lawmakers threatened United Airlines and other carriers on Tuesday with legislation to force improvements as they expressed disgust after a passenger was dragged off an overbooked flight last month.

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Boston fans hurl racial taunts at black Orioles player Jones

BOSTON (Reuters) - Black Baltimore Orioles All-Star Adam Jones said he was subjected to racial taunting by Boston Red Sox fans during a Monday night game, prompting an apology from an angry Mayor Marty Walsh, who said the epithets did not represent the city.

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New York girds itself for Trump's first visit as president

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York is bracing for President Donald Trump's first trip back to his hometown since taking office in January in a Thursday visit that is expected to draw protests and snarl traffic in the United States' most populous city.

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U.S. lawmakers to grill United Airlines on passenger removal

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - United Airlines Inc executives will visit Capitol Hill on Tuesday to face lawmakers' questions about the forcible removal of a passenger on an overbooked flight last month, an incident that provoked international outrage.

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U.S. issues travel alert for Europe, citing threat of terrorist attacks

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department issued a travel alert for Europe on Monday, saying U.S. citizens should be aware of a continued threat of terrorist attacks throughout the continent.

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One person killed, three injured in University of Texas stabbing

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - At least one person was killed and three people were transported to hospitals with potentially serious injuries after a stabbing incident near a gym at the University of Texas in Austin on Monday, emergency officials said.

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Federal spending plan reimburses New York City for Trump security

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal spending agreement reached late on Sunday will reimburse New York City for money spent securing U.S. President Donald Trump and his family at Trump Tower in Manhattan.

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Afghans who helped U.S. forces get more visas under funding bill

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An extra 2,500 visas for Afghans who assisted American forces during the war in their country will be granted under the $1 trillion U.S. government funding deal reached on Sunday, preserving a program that had been at risk of shutting down.

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Trump questions why U.S. Civil War had to happen

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Donald Trump has shown a fascination with populist 19th-century U.S. president Andrew Jackson since he has occupied the Oval Office, hanging Old Hickory's portrait in the Oval Office, visiting his plantation in Tennessee and placing a wreath at his tomb.

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U.S. top court rejects 'gay conversion' therapy ban challenge

(Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday left intact California's ban on "gay conversion" therapy aimed at turning youths under age 18 away from homosexuality, rejecting a Christian minister's challenge to the law asserting it violates religious rights.

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May Day rallies across U.S. to target Trump immigration policy

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Labor unions and immigrant advocacy groups will lead May Day rallies in cities across the United States on Monday, with organizers expecting larger-than-usual turnouts to protest the immigration policies of President Donald Trump.

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Beer-drinking gunman opens fire poolside in San Diego: media reports

SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - A man drinking a beer from one hand and brandishing a gun in the other opened fire beside a pool at a San Diego apartment complex on Sunday, wounding several people before being shot dead by police, according to local media accounts.

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Armed couple arrested after deadly shooting spree near Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Police have arrested an armed couple they say fit the description of a man and woman sought in a weekend shooting spree near Los Angeles that left one man dead and at least three other people injured, authorities said on Sunday.

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U.S. service member killed near Mosul identified as infantry officer

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. service member who died when an improvised explosive device detonated while he was on patrol outside the northern Iraqi city of Mosul was identified on Sunday as 1st Lieutenant Weston Lee.

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Trump could target 'carried interest' tax loophole: official

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration's push to overhaul tax laws might soon target a loophole used by some financial managers to lower their tax rates, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said on Sunday.

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UPS air maintenance workers threaten strike ahead of shareholders meeting

(Reuters) - A union representing 1,200 U.S. air maintenance workers at United Parcel Service Inc  turned up pressure on the company on Sunday to settle a three-year contract dispute, saying it would seek clearance to strike.

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Toned-down White House press dinner carries on without Trump

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House press corps gathered on Saturday for its annual black-tie dinner, a toned-down affair this year after Donald Trump snubbed the event, becoming the first incumbent U.S. president to bow out in 36 years.

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25 years after Los Angeles riots, progress and distrust live side by side

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Twenty-five years after deadly riots erupted in Los Angeles when four white police officers were acquitted in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King, an undercurrent of distrust pulses in a city that says it has worked hard at police reforms.

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U.S. service member killed in blast near Mosul, Iraq

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. service member died of wounds caused by an explosive device outside the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Saturday, the U.S.-led military coalition said.

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Torrential rains, damaging winds on tap for U.S. midsection

(Reuters) - A dangerous storm front will thrash the U.S. midsection over the weekend with torrential rainfall, damaging winds and large hail that will leave behind the threat of flooding throughout the region, the National Weather Service warned.

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Climate protests to mark Trump's 100 days in office

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - For the second time in a month, tens of thousands of protesters are expected to turn out in Washington on Saturday to voice concern over climate change in a mass demonstration marking the 100th day of Donald Trump's presidency.

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Trump pledges fealty to NRA gun lobby

ATLANTA (Reuters) - President Donald Trump pledged to uphold Americans' right to possess guns on Friday in a speech that he used to revisit some 2016 election campaign themes from his vow to build a border wall to dismissing a Democratic senator as "Pocahontas."

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Two arrested on charges of illegal exports to Russia get time served

(Reuters) - Two Russian nationals arrested in the United States last October on charges of conspiring to export sensitive military technology from the United States to Russia were sentenced to time served on Friday, a spokesman for U.S. prosecutors said.

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Florida eye doctor found guilty of scamming Medicare

(Reuters) - A U.S. jury on Friday found a Florida eye doctor guilty of defrauding Medicare by as much as $105 million by using false claims, including charging for eye tests of blind patients, local media reported.

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Exclusive: 'If there's a shutdown, there's a shutdown,' Trump says

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump downplayed the severity of a potential government shutdown on Thursday, just two days shy of a deadline for Congress to reach a spending deal to avert temporary layoffs of federal workers.

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Coughing, convulsing and calls for probe after Arkansas execution

(Reuters) - A lawyer for an executed Arkansas death row inmate asked the state on Friday to investigate why his client coughed and convulsed on a death chamber gurney, saying a lethal injection drug may have been the cause.

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U.S. spy agency stops gathering some messages from Americans: sources

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. National Security Agency has halted a form of surveillance that allowed it to collect the digital communications of Americans that mentioned a foreign intelligence target without a warrant, three sources told Reuters.

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United Airlines chief executive set to testify before Congress

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chief executive of United Airlines Inc will testify before a House panel on Tuesday in the aftermath of the forced removal on April 9 of a passenger from a Chicago flight, an incident that drew international condemnation.

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More Americans say race relations deteriorating: Reuters poll

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tiffany Cartagena said she was eating with her mixed-race girlfriend at a restaurant in Ohio last month when she heard nearby diners remark about the "monkey" at the next table.

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United Airlines reaches settlement with passenger dragged from plane

CHICAGO (Reuters) - United Airlines and the passenger who was dragged from a Chicago flight earlier this month have reached a settlement for an undisclosed sum, they said on Thursday, in the carrier's latest step to contain damage from an incident that sparked international outrage.

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Number of U.S. visas to citizens of Trump travel ban nations drops

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States issued about 40 percent fewer temporary visas in March to citizens of seven countries covered by President Donald Trump's temporary travel bans than it did in an average month last year, according to a Reuters analysis of preliminary government data released on Thursday.

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Arkansas nears fourth execution in about a week

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Reuters) - Arkansas plans to end its series of April executions by putting to death on Thursday an inmate convicted of murdering a cheerleader and who escaped from prison and killed two other people before being captured again.

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Trump's plan to slash business taxes seen as 'guidepost' by congressional Republicans

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump unveiled a one-page plan on Wednesday proposing deep U.S. tax cuts, many for businesses, that would make the federal deficit balloon if enacted, drawing a cautious welcome from fiscal conservatives and financial markets.

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Berkeley braces for unrest despite Ann Coulter cancelation

BERKELEY, Calif. (Reuters) - Police at the University of California at Berkeley braced for potential clashes between militant left-wing and right-wing activists on Thursday, despite conservative commentator Ann Coulter dropping plans to address students at the campus.

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U.S. chief justice alarmed at Trump administration immigration case stance

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts took issue on Wednesday with the Trump administration's stance in an immigration case, saying it could make it too easy for the government to strip people of citizenship for lying about minor infractions.

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Survivalist sentenced to death for murder of PA state trooper

MILFORD, Pa. (Reuters) - A survivalist convicted of killing a Pennsylvania state trooper in a 2014 sniper attack that launched a massive manhunt was sentenced to death on Wednesday by jurors.

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Uber driver charged with raping California woman in car

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - An Uber driver accused by prosecutors of having sexually assaulted a female passenger after she sought a ride home from a gathering in the upscale seaside city of Newport Beach, California, was charged with rape on Wednesday.

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Florida Senate apologizes for abuse, deaths at reform school

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (Reuters) - The Florida Senate formally apologized on Wednesday to victims who suffered brutality, sexual abuse and even death after being sent as boys to a reform school with a history of troubles long denied by the state.

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Trump seeks to shrink federal role in education with new order

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Wednesday ordered Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to review the U.S. government's role in school policy, which supporters cheered as the first step in creating more local control in education and critics worried could lead to lower quality schools in poorer neighborhoods.

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Ann Coulter cancels her speech at UC Berkeley

(Reuters) - Conservative commentator Ann Coulter has canceled her speech planned for this week at the University of California's Berkeley campus after a dispute with school officials, who feared violent protests, over whether a safe venue could be found.

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Trump slams federal court ruling on funding for 'sanctuary cities'

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Wednesday attacked a federal judge's ruling that blocked his executive order seeking to withhold funds from "sanctuary cities" for illegal immigrants, vowing to appeal it to the U.S. Supreme Court.

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Fox News anchor, others hit network with race bias claims

(Reuters) - Fox News is facing renewed legal claims that it mistreated non-white employees, including a television anchor who said he was depicted as "the racist caricature of a black entertainer."

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Exclusive: A New York hotel deal shows how some public pension funds help to enrich Trump

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Public pension funds in at least seven U.S. states have invested millions of dollars in an investment fund that owns a New York hotel and pays one of President Donald Trump's companies to run it, according to a Reuters review of public records. That arrangement could put Trump at risk of violating an obscure constitutional clause, some legal experts say.

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Giant rabbit dies on United Airlines flight to United States

LONDON (Reuters) - A 3-foot giant rabbit has died on a United Airlines flight from London, prompting a review at the Chicago-based airline which faced a global backlash this month over its treatment of a passenger who was dragged from his seat.

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Trump tax plan slashing business rates to test support in Congress

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will release a tax plan on Wednesday proposing some deep rate cuts, mostly for businesses, including a slashed corporate income tax rate and steeply discounted tax rate for overseas corporate profits brought into the United States, officials said.

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ACLU sues Los Angeles police over public records requests

(Reuters) - The American Civil Liberties Union along with a journalist, a professor and an activist on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Police Department, accusing the agency of violating California's open records law, local media reported.

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Trump administration to review dozens of U.S. national monuments

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday will order a review of national monuments created over the past 20 years with an aim toward rescinding or resizing some of them - part of a broader push to reopen areas to drilling, mining and other development.

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Palantir settles U.S. lawsuit charging bias against Asians

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The data analytics and security company Palantir Technologies Inc has agreed to pay nearly $1.7 million to resolve charges it discriminated against Asian applicants for engineering jobs at its Palo Alto, California, office, the U.S. Labor Department said on Tuesday.

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Lawyers for ex-NFL star Hernandez seek to toss murder verdict post-suicide

BOSTON (Reuters) - A week after one-time National Football League star Aaron Hernandez killed himself in his prison cell, lawyers asked a Massachusetts judge to vacate his 2015 conviction for murdering an acquaintance.

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Former Trump adviser Flynn likely broke law with Russia trip: lawmakers

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn likely broke the law by failing to get permission to be paid for a trip to Russia in 2015, the leaders of a House of Representatives committee said on Tuesday.

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New York City subway faces two lawsuits over disabled access

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Most of New York City's huge, aging subway system is inaccessible to disabled people, and its operator illegally discriminates against them by failing to fix the problems, disability rights advocates said in two lawsuits on Tuesday.

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Lawyer urges Trump to press Iran on jailed U.S. father and son at nuclear talks

VIENNA (Reuters) - The lawyer of an American-Iranian father and son jailed in Iran called on U.S. President Donald Trump to get his officials to press for the men's release at nuclear talks with Tehran on Tuesday.

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Police say 'minimal but necessary force' used on United passenger

(Reuters) - A police officer said "minimal but necessary force" was used to remove a United Airlines customer from a plane in what has become a public relations disaster for the company.

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Police say 'minimal but necessary force' used on United passenger

(Reuters) - A police officer said "minimal but necessary force" was used to remove a United Airlines customer from a plane in what has become a public relations disaster for the company.

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Waymo testing self-driving car ride service in Arizona

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Alphabet Inc's Waymo autonomous vehicle group will begin testing a self-driving car program for hundreds of families in Phoenix, Arizona and is buying 500 Chrysler minivans to do so, the companies said on Tuesday.

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Democratic state attorneys general decry student loan rework by Republicans

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has been reworking student lending since her appointment in February, raising concerns among Democrats that she will undo former President Barack Obama's overhaul of college financial aid.

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Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush staying in hospital few more days

(Reuters) - Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush will remain for a few more days in a Houston hospital where he was being treated for pneumonia, the hospital said on Monday.

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Obama makes no mention of Trump in first major post-presidential appearance

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Barack Obama, making his first major appearance since leaving the White House, made no mention on Monday of his successor, Donald Trump, but urged young people to get more involved in their communities at a time of stark political divides.

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Trump pushes Democrats on border wall as government shutdown looms

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump tried to press Democrats on Monday to include funds for his controversial border wall with Mexico in spending legislation as lawmakers worked to avoid a looming shutdown of the federal government.

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UC Berkeley sued over Ann Coulter's planned visit

(Reuters) - Two groups that invited conservative commentator Ann Coulter to speak at the University of California at Berkeley sued school officials on Monday, saying the school's decision to postpone her appearance violated their free speech rights.

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New Orleans removes first of four statues deemed racially offensive

(Reuters) - New Orleans on Monday removed a statue that the mayor said glorified a 19th-century attack on police by white supremacists, the first of four monuments that the city will relocate to send a message of "diversity, inclusion and tolerance."

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Trump talks about Mars mission on call with record-breaking astronaut

(Reuters) - U.S. astronaut Peggy Whitson broke the 534-day U.S. record for cumulative time in space on Monday and marked the occasion by speaking with President Donald Trump about plans for human trips to Mars.

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U.S. top court will not review Houston police shooting 'waistband' defense

(Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court, turning down a chance to test the limits of police use of force, declined on Monday to revive an unarmed suspect's lawsuit accusing a Houston officer of unconstitutional excessive force for shooting him in the back after he reached for his own waistband.

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Funeral set for former NFL star Aaron Hernandez

BOSTON (Reuters) - The funeral of former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez will take place on Monday, five days after he was found hanged by a bed sheet in a Massachusetts prison in what state officials have ruled a suicide.

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St. Louis wins U.S. approval to explore airport privatization

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Transportation Department said on Monday it has granted preliminary approval to St. Louis to explore putting its city-owned airport under private management.

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Arkansas plans to execute two convicts Monday

(Reuters) - The state of Arkansas plans to execute two inmates on Monday evening, which would make it the first U.S. state in 17 years to put a pair of convicts to death on the same day.

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Small children among five dead in New York house fire

(Reuters) - Five people, including small children, died on Sunday in a house fire in the New York City borough of Queens, the city's deadliest such blaze in two years, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

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Florida evacuation orders lifted as rain quells wildfires

(Reuters) - Florida officials on Sunday lifted evacuation orders for about 2,000 homes threatened by wildfires in drought-stricken central and southwestern parts of the state, after rainfall helped firefighters battle the blazes.

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CNN anchor alleges Fox News ex-CEO Roger Ailes also harassed her

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Television journalist Alisyn Camerota said on Sunday she was a target of sexual harassment by Roger Ailes when she worked at Fox News, joining other former colleagues at the cable channel who have accused their ex-boss of inappropriate behavior.

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Sweet home Chicago: Obama re-emerges in city where it all began

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday makes his first major appearance since leaving office, having chosen Chicago, the city where his political career started, to emerge from a three-month hiatus from the public eye.

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Trump's 'big announcement' on tax to be broad principles: official

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's promised "big announcement" next week on overhauling the U.S. tax code, a top campaign pledge, will consist of "broad principles and priorities," an administration official said on Saturday.

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Trump says to visit wounded U.S. veterans at Washington-area hospital

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he would visit wounded U.S. veterans at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, the armed forces hospital located in Bethesda, Maryland, outside Washington.

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American Airlines' employee suspended after row with passengers

(Reuters) - American Airlines has suspended an employee after a video showed an altercation on one of its planes involving crew, several passengers and a crying woman carrying a young child.

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U.S. scientists to protest Trump policies at Earth Day rally in Washington

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. scientists will stage an unprecedented protest on Saturday, a March for Science provoked by steep cuts President Donald Trump has proposed for science and research budgets, and growing disregard for evidence-based knowledge.

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American Airlines' employee suspended after row with passengers

(Reuters) - American Airlines has suspended an employee after a video showed an altercation on one of its planes involving crew, several passengers and a crying woman carrying a young child.

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U.S. states realign in legal battle over Trump's travel ban

SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's travel ban on citizens of six Muslim-majority nations faces its second challenge at a U.S. appeals court next month, and this time more Republican states are backing the measure, while one Democratic state attorney general dropped out of the legal fight this week.

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Social media outrage as Sessions calls Hawaii 'island in the Pacific'

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Social media did not take kindly to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions referring to the country's 50th state of Hawaii as just "an island in the Pacific."

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Accused Fresno gunman’s arraignment delayed after courtroom outburst

(Reuters) - A man accused of murdering a motel security guard and gunning down three white men in a racially motivated Fresno, California shooting spree was ordered to undergo a psychiatric exam on Friday after entering a courtroom yelling "let black people go!"

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Ex-NFL star Hernandez's family wants death scene evidence preserved

(Reuters) - The family of former National Football League star Aaron Hernandez will ask a judge on Friday to order prison officials to preserve evidence collected after he was found dead in his cell on Wednesday from an apparent suicide.

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San Francisco power outage hits 90,000, business district affected

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A power outage on Friday morning in San Francisco affected around 90,000 people, stalling work in the technology and finance center as a vast swath of the financial district lost electricity.

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Trump, Republicans face tricky task of averting U.S. government shutdown

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans who control Congress face their first major budget test next week, with the threat of a U.S. government shutdown potentially hinging on his proposed Mexican border wall as well as Obamacare funding.

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Ex-Illinois Governor Blagojevich's 14-year prison term upheld

(Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Friday rejected former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's bid to shorten his 14-year prison sentence in a public corruption case.

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Arkansas executes inmate after U.S. Supreme Court gives go-ahead

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Reuters) - Arkansas executed its first inmate in 12 years on Thursday after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the inmate's request to halt the lethal injection in a late-night ruling.

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U.S. judicial panel finds Texas hurt Latino vote with redrawn boundaries

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Reuters) - A special federal judicial panel ruled for the second time in two months on Thursday that the Republican-led Texas Legislature deliberately redrew political boundaries so as to unfairly diminish voter clout of the state's growing Latino population.

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Accused gunman in Fresno shooting spree charged in motel murder

(Reuters) - A suspect nicknamed Black Jesus who police say killed three white men during a racially motivated shooting spree in downtown Fresno, California, was charged on Thursday with the murder of an unarmed Motel 6 security guard days earlier.

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Arkansas nears first executions in 12 years after court decisions

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court denied petitions to halt the execution of an Arkansas murderer, allowing the state to proceed with its first execution in 12 years on Thursday after Arkansas' top court approved the use of a drug in its lethal injection mix.

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Ex-NFL star Hernandez's brain to be returned to family: state

BOSTON (Reuters) - Massachusetts officials on Thursday were preparing to release the brain of New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez to his family for scientific study the day after he was found hanged in his prison cell, a death investigators formally ruled a suicide.

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Group sues Trump for repealing U.S. wildlife rule in rare legal challenge

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An environmental group sued President Donald Trump's administration on Thursday over the repeal of a U.S. rule intended to protect wildlife, in the first court challenge to a law being used by Republicans to ease federal regulation.

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Virginia governor spares convicted murderer from execution

(Reuters) - A Virginia death row inmate will spend his life in prison instead of being executed for the 2001 murder of his ex-girlfriend after the state governor commuted the sentence on Thursday, saying it was flawed.

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Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush to remain in hospital

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush will remain in a Houston hospital at least through Thursday night as he recovers from his second bout of pneumonia this year, a family spokesman said.

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Man gets 25-year sentence in shooting death of ex-NFL player

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Cardell Hayes, the 29-year-old tow truck driver convicted of manslaughter in the shooting death of retired NFL player Will Smith last April, was sentenced to 25 years in prison, a Louisiana judge ruled on Thursday.

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Former Tennessee teacher in kidnapping case captured, girl safe

(Reuters) - A former Tennessee high school teacher accused of abducting a 15-year-old student in March was arrested on Thursday in northern California where the teenager was also safely recovered, authorities said.

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UC Berkeley cancels Ann Coulter speech; she says she will do it anyway

(Reuters) - Conservative commentator Ann Coulter says she will proceed with an anti-immigration lecture next week at the University of California, Berkeley, although school officials have told organizers to cancel the event over safety concerns.

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Arkansas determined to fight legal challenges to executions

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Reuters) - Arkansas has said it will appeal a court ruling that bars the U.S. state's use of a lethal injection drug and effectively puts a stop to its plans to execute eight prisoners in 11 days.

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Killing of three white men in California city racially motivated: police

(Reuters) - A black man accused of shooting three people to death in Fresno, California, wanted to kill as many white men as possible because he expected to be arrested for another shooting, police said on Wednesday, calling the incident a hate crime.

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Exclusive: Putin-linked think tank drew up plan to sway 2016 U.S. election - documents

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Russian government think tank controlled by Vladimir Putin developed a plan to swing the 2016 U.S. presidential election to Donald Trump and undermine voters’ faith in the American electoral system, three current and four former U.S. officials told Reuters.

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Trump extends program allowing some veterans to use local doctors, hospitals

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Wednesday moved a step closer to fulfilling his campaign promise to reform the troubled Veterans Affairs department, but some veterans groups are concerned that the administration may be working toward privatizing their healthcare.

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Ex-NFL star Hernandez hangs self in prison; family seeks probe

BOSTON (Reuters) - Former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez hanged himself on Wednesday in a prison cell where he was serving a life sentence for murder, prison officials said, and his family called for an immediate investigation into the circumstances.

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Ex-drug executive Shkreli wins separate fraud trial

(Reuters) - Martin Shkreli, the former drug company executive who drew public outcry when he raised the price of a life-saving drug by 5,000 percent, will be tried for securities fraud separately from a lawyer charged alongside him, a Brooklyn federal judge ruled Wednesday.

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U.S. justices sympathize with church in key religious rights case

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Supreme Court justices on Wednesday appeared sympathetic to a church that sued Missouri for denying it state taxpayer funds for a playground project in a closely watched religious rights case involving public money going to religious entities.

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U.S. top court to hear key religious rights case involving Missouri church

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear a closely watched dispute over supplying taxpayer money to religious entities in which a church accuses Missouri of violating its religious rights by denying it state funds for a playground project.

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Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush hospitalized in Houston

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush has been readmitted to a Houston hospital for treatment of a mild case of pneumonia, his second bout of that respiratory illness in three months, but "is going to be fine," his spokesman said on Tuesday.

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Company sues Arkansas, charging fraud over lethal injection drugs

(Reuters) - U.S. drug wholesaler McKesson Medical-Surgical Inc sued Arkansas a second time on Tuesday, saying the state acted fraudulently in obtaining a drug it intends to administer in a record number of executions this month and demanding it not use the batch to kill people.

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Suspect in Facebook video murder kills self in Pennsylvania: police

ERIE, Pa. (Reuters) - A murder suspect who police said posted a video on Facebook of the killing of a Cleveland man fatally shot himself after a "brief pursuit" by Pennsylvania State Police officers on Tuesday, police said.

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Three killed in Fresno, California, shooting spree, suspect arrested

(Reuters) - A gunman with an apparent dislike of white people and government killed three people in downtown Fresno, California, on Tuesday, before he was taken into custody while shouting "Allahu Akhbar," police said.

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Lawsuit against Trump over foreign payments expands

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A nonprofit watchdog expanded a lawsuit accusing U.S. President Donald Trump of violating the Constitution by letting his hotels and restaurants accept payments from foreign governments.

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Trump to seek changes in visa program to encourage hiring Americans

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday will sign an executive order directing federal agencies to recommend changes to a temporary visa program used to bring foreign workers to the United States to fill high-skilled jobs.

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Arkansas attorney general, governor vows to pursue executions

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Reuters) - Arkansas' attorney general and governor are vowing to pursue a series of executions scheduled over the next two weeks even after the state's Supreme Court halted the first two lethal injections hours before they were to take place.

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Suspect in Washington state mall shootings found dead in cell

SEATTLE (Reuters) - The gunman accused of killing five people during a shooting rampage last year inside a Washington state shopping mall has been found dead in his jail cell, a local official said on Monday.

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Arkansas prepping for lethal injections despite halt from courts

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Reuters) - Arkansas has not called off its plans to begin an unprecedented series of executions on Monday despite federal and state court rulings that temporarily halted the lethal injections of eight death row inmates.

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Cleveland police widen manhunt for Facebook murder suspect

(Reuters) - The manhunt for a murder suspect who police said posted a video of himself on Facebook shooting an elderly man in Cleveland widened Monday as authorities asked the public for help and pleaded with the suspect to turn himself in.

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U.S. top court leaves intact ruling against Central America asylum seekers

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court sidestepped a turbulent debate over illegal immigration on Monday, turning away an appeal by a group of asylum-seeking Central American women and their children who aimed to clarify the constitutional rights of people who the government has prioritized for deportation.

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Gorsuch era on U.S. high court begins with his first three cases

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court, back at full strength after being shorthanded for 14 months, gets down to business on Monday with President Donald Trump's appointee Neil Gorsuch hearing arguments in his first three cases as part of a restored conservative majority.

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United Air removes engaged couple traveling to wedding from plane

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An engaged couple flying on United Airlines from Houston, Texas, to their wedding in Costa Rica were removed by a federal law enforcement officer from the flight on Saturday amid disputed circumstances, according to media reports.

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Cleveland police seek man who broadcast killing on Facebook

(Reuters) - Cleveland police were searching for a suspect they said broadcast video of himself on Facebook killing a person on Sunday and claiming that he had murdered others.

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Massachusetts police arrest suspect in jogger's murder

(Reuters) - Massachusetts police have arrested a man in connection with the August killing of woman who had been out jogging in the woods, a case that closely resembled a second daylight murder in New York City less than a week earlier.

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Nine wounded in shooting at Ohio party hall

(Reuters) - Nine people were wounded by gunfire on Sunday at an after-hours club in Columbus, Ohio, with injuries ranging from minor to life-threatening, police said.

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Three dead in Colorado mountain home in apparent triple homicide

DENVER (Reuters) - Two men and a woman were found dead from traumatic injuries inside a mountain home in Colorado on Saturday in a suspected triple homicide, police said.

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Thousands at U.S. rallies demand Trump release tax returns

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of people marched through midtown Manhattan and dozens of U.S. cities on Saturday to demand that President Donald Trump release his tax returns and to dispute his claim that the public does not care about the issue.

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Right, left-wing protesters clash in Berkeley, California park

BERKELEY, Calif. (Reuters) - Right and left-wing protesters clashed on Saturday at a park in downtown Berkeley, California, exchanging blows and throwing bottles and cans as police in riot gear sought to separate the two camps, using explosive devices at one point.

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Long-awaited giraffe born in New York zoo to global audience's delight

NEW YORK (Reuters) - At long last, April the giraffe gave birth on Saturday to a long-overdue calf, to the delight of hundreds of thousands of people who have been monitoring a live cam feed from her pen in a New York zoo in anticipation of the grand event.

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Former NFLer Heap kills daughter in accident in Arizona: media

(Reuters) - Former NFL star player Todd Heap hit and killed his 3-year-old daughter on Friday while he was moving his truck in his driveway at his Arizona home, media reported.

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Auburn University cancels speech by avowed white nationalist

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Alabama's Auburn University on Friday canceled a campus speech by Richard Spencer, a white U.S. nationalist best known for drawing Nazi-like salutes at a party to celebrate President Donald Trump's election last year, citing safety concerns.

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Arkansas Supreme Court grants stay of execution for one condemned inmate

(Reuters) - The Arkansas Supreme Court on Friday granted an emergency stay of execution to one of two inmates scheduled to die by lethal injection on Monday, court documents show.

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Wisconsin man captured 10 days after manifesto sent to Trump

(Reuters) - A Wisconsin man accused of stealing an arsenal of weapons from a gun shop and sending an anti-government manifesto to President Donald Trump has been arrested after a massive manhunt, authorities said on Friday.

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Trump administration drops North Carolina 'bathroom bill' lawsuit: report

(Reuters) - The Trump administration dropped a lawsuit accusing North Carolina of discriminating against LGBT residents on Friday in response to the state’s decision to undo its “bathroom bill,” according to the Associated Press.

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Drug companies ask court to block Arkansas execution

(Reuters) - Two pharmaceuticals companies asked a federal court to block Arkansas from using their drugs for upcoming executions, claiming that doing so would violate contractual controls and create a public health risk, court documents showed.

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California judge to hear arguments on sanctuary city order

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A California federal judge is set to hear arguments on Friday in a case brought by two large counties requesting the suspension of President Donald Trump's executive order that seeks to withhold federal funds from so-called sanctuary cities for immigrants.

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Four shot at Atlanta rail station, suspect held: transit authority

(Reuters) - Four people were shot on Thursday at an Atlanta rail station and a suspect was in custody, the city's transit authority said.

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Detroit doctor charged with female genital mutilation of seven-year-olds

(Reuters) - U.S. authorities have charged a Detroit doctor with performing genital mutilation on 7-year-old girls in what is believed to be the first case brought under a law prohibiting the procedure.

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Separate mothers and children: How a Trump threat deterred illegal migrants

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump has won the first major battle in his war on illegal immigration, and he did it without building his wall.

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Passenger dragged from United Airlines plane likely to sue, his lawyer says

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The passenger dragged from a United Airlines plane in Chicago in an incident that sparked international outrage and turned into a public relations nightmare for the carrier, will likely sue the company, his attorney said on Thursday.

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Improperly stored raw meat among violations found at Trump's Mar-a-Lago

(Reuters) - Restaurant inspectors found 13 violations at Mar-a-Lago, the exclusive Florida resort owned by President Donald Trump, the Miami Herald reported.

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Insight: Ballooning bills - More U.S. hospitals pushing patients to pay before care

(Reuters) - Last year, the Henry County Health Center in Iowa started providing patients with a cost estimate along with pre-surgery medical advice.

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Liberal U.S. lawyers, states mull legal fight over Obamacare

WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - To stop President Donald Trump from undermining Obamacare, Democratic Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey is considering an approach that has worked against the administration on immigration: using Trump's own words against him.

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For families of radicalizing U.S. youth, a help line

BOSTON (Reuters) - Melvin Bledsoe felt helpless as he watched his son transform - becoming distant, converting to Islam and changing his name from Carlos Bledsoe to Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad.

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Jurors due to deliberate Nevada case of Bundy ranch standoff

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - A jury is due to begin deliberations after closing arguments conclude on Thursday in the trial of six men accused of acting as gunmen for cattle rancher Cliven Bundy in a tense 2014 standoff with federal law enforcement officers.

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United States' first female Muslim judge found dead in Hudson River

(Reuters) - A groundbreaking black jurist who became the first Muslim woman to serve as a U.S. judge was found dead in New York's Hudson River on Wednesday, police said.

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Nevada case that pitted U.S. against ranchers wrapping up in closing arguments

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Six followers of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy used "armed force, threats and intimidation" against federal law enforcement officers during a tense 2014 standoff, prosecutors said, wrapping up their conspiracy case against the men on Wednesday.

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Denver to pay $1 million to family of girl, 17, slain by police

DENVER (Reuters) - The city of Denver will pay $1 million to the family of a teenage girl who police shot to death two years ago as she sat behind the wheel of a stolen car, both sides said on Wednesday.

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Florida police officer arrested in shooting of unarmed black man

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (Reuters) - Prosecutors charged a Florida police officer on Wednesday in the shooting last July of an unarmed black man who was seen on cellphone video lying in a street with his hands in the air at the time he was shot in the leg.

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Seattle 'duck boat' reported problems days before crash: lawyer

SEATTLE (Reuters) - One of the drivers of an amphibious "duck boat" that collided with a bus in Seattle in 2015, killing five international students, told mechanics days earlier there was something wrong with the craft, a plaintiff's attorney said on Wednesday.

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Wall Street's 'Charging Bull' artist challenges 'Fearless Girl' sculpture

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The sculptor of Wall Street's "Charging Bull" statue is seeing red over New York City's decision to keep in place the "Fearless Girl" sculpture that now stares it down, saying the adjacent art has changed the meaning of his work and violated his legal rights.

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Doctor tells U.S. court drug not suitable for Arkansas executions

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Reuters) - A surgeon told a federal court in Arkansas on Wednesday a sedative the state plans to use in its lethal injection mix is not suitable for surgery and should be prohibited when Arkansas holds an unprecedented series of executions later this month.

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Civil liberties groups sue U.S., seek details on travel ban

BOSTON (Reuters) - Civil liberties groups on Wednesday said they were filing a series of lawsuits against the U.S. government seeking details on how federal agencies enforced President Donald Trump's ban on travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries.

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Widow of nightclub gunman pleads not guilty in Florida court

(Reuters) - The widow of the gunman who killed 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to aiding her husband in the June 2016 killings.

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Spicer says he let Trump down with comments comparing Assad and Hitler

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - White House spokesman Sean Spicer said on Wednesday he was personally and professionally pained by his comments comparing the atrocities of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Adolf Hitler, saying he had made a mistake and let down the president.

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UK's Daily Mail to pay Melania Trump damages over modeling claims

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Daily Mail agreed on Wednesday to pay Melania Trump an undisclosed sum and issue an apology after the news group published an article about her previous professional work as a model.

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Rolling Stone, University of Virginia admin agree to end defamation case

(Reuters) - Rolling Stone magazine and the administrator at the University of Virginia have reached an agreement which ends a defamation case over the publication's retracted story about an alleged gang rape at the school, court documents filed on Tuesday showed.

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U.S. judges pulled from Mexico border as crossings by women, children fall

WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Two U.S. immigration judges recently sent to the Mexico border to process asylum requests from migrant women and children are being recalled as they have so few cases to hear, according to two people familiar with the matter.

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Detained immigrants launch hunger strike in Washington state

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Hundreds of detainees at an immigration holding center in Washington state began refusing meals in a hunger strike to protest conditions at the facility and delayed immigration hearings, activists said on Tuesday.

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New York rolling out free tuition plan for many students

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sotiris Charalampous spent the past two years juggling school and work in an effort to save enough money to pay for his college tuition.

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Sessions visits U.S.-Mexico border to push migrant crackdown

Nogales, Ariz. (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions traveled to the U.S.-Mexico border on Tuesday to make his case for increased prosecutions of illegal immigrants, pressuring U.S. attorneys to prioritize cases against criminal migrants.

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Trump hotel, chef settle suit over canceled Washington restaurant

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's family business has reached a settlement with a second celebrity chef over a canceled deal for a restaurant at Trump's hotel in Washington, the two sides said.

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Police probe motives behind fatal San Bernardino classroom shooting

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Police in San Bernardino, California, sought more clues on Tuesday to the marital discord they believe led a gunman to walk into an elementary school class taught by his estranged wife and open fire, fatally shooting her and a student before killing himself.

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New York City settles with U.S. over denying job to HIV-positive man

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City's police department will pay an HIV-positive man $85,000 and offer to hire him as a dispatcher to settle a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice claiming the city illegally revoked a job offer because of his condition.

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U.S. judge finds Texas voter ID law was intended to discriminate

(Reuters) - A Texas law that requires voters to show identification before casting ballots was enacted with the intent to discriminate against black and Hispanic voters, a U.S. federal judge ruled on Monday.

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Groups sue to obtain White House visitor logs

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A coalition of nonprofit groups on Monday sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to obtain logs of visitors to President Donald Trump's homes.

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Alabama governor, facing possible impeachment, to resign: lawmaker

(Reuters) - Alabama Governor Robert Bentley will resign later on Monday, as a state legislative committee began hearings that could have led to his impeachment on allegations stemming from his relationship with a former adviser, a state representative said.

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Daily News, ProPublica win Pulitzer Prize for public service

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York Daily News and ProPublica won the Pulitzer Prize for public service journalism on Monday, and the Charleston Gazette-Mail took the award for investigative reporting, the Pulitzer board announced.

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Symantec attributes 40 cyber attacks to CIA-linked hacking tools

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Past cyber attacks on scores of organizations around the world were conducted with top-secret hacking tools that were exposed recently by the Web publisher Wikileaks, the security researcher Symantec Corp said on Monday.

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At least four people shot at California elementary school: police

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - At least four people were hit by gunfire in a classroom shooting on Monday at a Southern California elementary school, police and fire officials said, and a local NBC News television affiliate reported two fatalities.

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Passenger dragged from United Airlines flight

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A doctor trying to return home to his patients was dragged by his hands from an overbooked United Airlines flight, according to social media, embroiling the carrier in its second public relations nightmare in less than a month.

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Alabama governor faces start of impeachment proceedings

(Reuters) - Impeachment proceedings against Alabama Governor Robert Bentley over a relationship with a former aide were scheduled to begin on Monday, one day after leaders of the Alabama Republican Party called for his resignation.

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South Carolina church shooter to plead guilty to murder in state court

CHARLESTON, S.C. (Reuters) - The white supremacist sentenced to death in federal court for the 2015 shooting massacre at a historic black church in South Carolina is expected to plead guilty to separate state murder charges on Monday.

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Fox to investigate sexual harassment claim against O'Reilly

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Fox News parent Twenty-First Century Fox Inc said on Sunday it will investigate a sexual harassment claim against TV anchor Bill O'Reilly, who has seen several companies pull their ads from his top-rated news show in the past week.

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Second victim dies in Florida fitness center shooting

(Reuters) - A second victim has died after a disgruntled fitness instructor opened fire on his former coworkers inside an upscale gym outside Miami before shooting himself, police said on Sunday.

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Manhunt for armed Wisconsin man shifts to protection of churches

(Reuters) - Police hunting a Wisconsin man considered armed and dangerous planned to step up patrols on Sunday at churches near his home, because of anti-religious views in a manifesto he sent to President Donald Trump, officials said.

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Computer hack sets off 156 emergency sirens across Dallas

(Reuters) - A computer hack set off all the emergency sirens in Dallas for about 90 minutes overnight in one of the largest known breaches of a siren warning system, officials in the Texas city said on Saturday.

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Shooter wounds two at Florida gym before he is killed: media

(Reuters) - A gunman opened fire inside a gym at an upscale shopping mall outside Miami on Saturday afternoon, wounding two people before he was killed, Miami-Dade County police told local media.

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Two inmates charged with killing four others at South Carolina prison

(Reuters) - Two South Carolina prisoners admitted to killing four fellow inmates at the state prison where they were both serving life sentences for murder, local media reported on Saturday.

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U.S. soldier killed in Afghanistan amid operations against Islamic State: U.S.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. soldier was killed while conducting operations against Islamic State in Afghanistan late on Saturday, a U.S. military spokesman said in a message posted on Twitter.

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Seattle mayor denies child sex abuse claim, vows to stay in race

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Seattle Mayor Ed Murray on Friday denied as "simply not true" allegations in a civil lawsuit that he once paid a homeless, drug-addicted teenager for sex in the 1980s, and he vowed to press on with his re-election campaign.

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Alabama court allows release of evidence against governor

(Reuters) - An Alabama state court on Friday rejected Governor Robert Bentley's request to block a legislative committee from releasing evidence about wrongdoing stemming from his relationship with a former aide to be used for impeachment proceedings.

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California governor declares end to drought emergency

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - One of the worst droughts in California history has officially ended, Governor Jerry Brown declared on Friday, but not before it strained the state's farm economy and threatened water supplies for millions of residents.

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State Department memo shows unconstitutionality of Trump travel ban: ACLU

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Internal State Department instructions to implement President Donald Trump's temporary travel ban on citizens of six Muslim-majority nations help demonstrate that the ban violates the constitution, the American Civil Liberties Union argued in court filings late on Thursday.

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Atlanta storm halts thousands of Delta Air flights

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Delta Air Lines Inc said it had canceled nearly 3,000 flights this week after a severe storm hit its hometown of Atlanta, Georgia and apologized for its response to the "unprecedented" weather.

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Drones barred over U.S. military bases due to security risks: agency

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Flights of nearly all unmanned aircraft, or drones, have been banned over 133 U.S. military facilities due to security concerns over the use of unauthorized drones, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on Friday.

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Texas expands Zika recommendations ahead of 2017 mosquito season

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Texas health officials are expanding testing recommendations for pregnant women in South Texas as the advent of warm weather increases the risk for local transmission of the mosquito-borne virus that has been shown to cause severe birth defects.

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California lawmakers approve fuel tax hike for $52 billion road plan

(Reuters) - California lawmakers on Thursday approved legislation to increase gasoline taxes and other transportation-related fees for the first time in decades, to fund an ambitious $52 billion plan to repair the state's sagging infrastructure.

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U.S. South, not just Mexico, stands in way of Rust Belt jobs revival

MOBILE, Ala. (Reuters) - In the years since the 2008 financial crisis, this southern U.S. port city has attracted a new Airbus factory, seen its steel industry retool, and gained thousands of jobs building the Navy's new combat vessel.

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Man sues Seattle mayor, claiming sexual abuse as a teen

SEATTLE (Reuters) - A 46-year-old man sued Seattle Mayor Ed Murray for sexual abuse and child prostitution on Thursday, claiming that Murray paid him for sex when he was a homeless, drug-addicted teenager in the 1980s.

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Twitter sues U.S. over demand for records on anti-Trump account

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Twitter Inc said in a lawsuit on Thursday that it had received a demand from U.S. officials for records that could reveal the user behind an account opposed to President Donald Trump and that it was challenging the demand in court.

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Man convicted in 1979 N.Y. missing child case loses bid for new trial

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York state judge on Thursday rejected a request from a former delicatessen worker to throw out his February conviction for murdering Etan Patz, a 6-year-old boy whose disappearance in 1979 became one of the country's most infamous missing child cases.

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Accused New York, New Jersey bomber seeks to move trial to Vermont

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An Afghan-born U.S. citizen, charged with setting off bombs last September in New York and New Jersey, is seeking to move his upcoming trial from Manhattan to Vermont, arguing he cannot get a fair trial in the city where he is accused of injuring 30 people.

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Astronaut John Glenn laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery

(Reuters) - John Glenn, the first American to orbit the earth who later became the world's oldest astronaut and a longtime U.S. senator, was laid to rest on Thursday at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

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Forty percent of Americans more cautious with email after election hacking: Reuters/Ipsos poll

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Forty percent of Americans say they are more cautious about what they write in emails since last year's cyber attacks against the Democratic Party, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Thursday.

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Century-old posters of U.S. WWI entry are timely in Trump's America

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Fear-mongering can be a thing of beauty.

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Abortion rights activists rally at Texas Capitol against restrictions

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Hundreds of abortion rights activists rallied at the Texas Capitol on Wednesday, saying a raft of proposed legislation placing restrictions on the procedure in the most populous Republican-controlled state would endanger millions of women.

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Octogenarian tied to Boston art heist to plead guilty to gun charge

(Reuters) - An 81-year-old accused mobster who prosecutors believe knows the whereabouts of paintings stolen in the largest art heist in U.S. history is due in a Connecticut courtroom on Thursday to plead guilty to charges related to an illegal gun sale.

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Ten states to feel brunt of proposed border tax: report

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Seven U.S. Republican states carried by President Donald Trump would be among the hardest hit if a Republican-backed border adjustment tax became law as part of a broad tax reform, according to a report from conservative groups that oppose the tax.

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New York, other states challenge Trump over climate change regulation

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A coalition of 17 U.S. states filed a legal challenge on Wednesday against efforts by President Donald Trump's administration to roll back climate change regulations, deepening a political rift over his emerging energy policies.

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Arkansas' hurried execution plan sparks concern for prison staff

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - The last time a U.S. state tried to execute two inmates on the same day, a poorly secured intravenous tube popped out, lethal injection chemicals sprayed in the death chamber and staff said the pressure of dual executions exposed flaws in the protocol.

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U.S. judge warns Uber in Waymo self-driving car case

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Wednesday warned Uber Technologies Inc it could face a court injunction that would bar a key Uber executive from working on its self-driving car project, in a high-profile case filed by Alphabet Inc's Waymo unit.

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New York transit disruption puts brakes on Wall Street workers

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street workers who make fortunes with quick deals and fearless trades faced a threat to their fast-paced work style on Wednesday that could not be negotiated: the New York area public transit system.

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Nightclub gunman's widow will be sent to face charges in Florida

(Reuters) - The widow of the gunman who killed 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, has agreed to return to the state from California to face federal charges, her lawyer said on Wednesday.

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U.S. Air Force's F-16 jet crashes in Maryland, pilot safe

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Air Force F-16 fighter jet crashed near National Harbor, Maryland on Wednesday morning and the pilot ejected safely, two U.S. officials said.

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Illegal migration at U.S. border at lowest point in 17 years: Kelly

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly told a Senate panel on Wednesday that apprehensions of undocumented immigrants along the U.S.-Mexico border was below 17,000 in March, marking the least migration since at least 2000.

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U.S. Southeast, Midwest face threat of severe storms, potential tornadoes

(Reuters) - A dangerous weather system packing severe thunderstorms was expected to roll through the U.S. Southeast and parts of the Midwest on Wednesday, bringing with it the threat of tornadoes, forecasters said.

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Ferguson mayor re-elected in his first election after shooting

(Reuters) - Ferguson Mayor James Knowles III was re-elected on Tuesday in his first election bid since a white police officer fatally shot an unarmed black teen in his Missouri city that became a paradigm of racial profiling and police use of deadly force.

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U.S. office vacancy rate flat in first quarter: Reis

(Reuters) - U.S. office vacancy rate was flat at 15.8 percent in the first quarter of 2017, compared with the fourth quarter of 2016, according to real estate research firm Reis Inc .

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Messages show New York police surveillance of Black Lives Matter

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Documents released by the New York Police Department and published by a newspaper on Tuesday shed new light on how undercover officers surveilled organizers from the Black Lives Matter movement who were protesting police tactics.

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U.S. court rules 1964 civil rights law protects LGBT workers from bias

(Reuters) - For the first time ever, a U.S. appeals court on Tuesday ruled that federal civil rights law protects lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees from discrimination in the workplace.

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Activists fear federal review of U.S. police agreements could imperil reforms

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Trump administration's decision to review federal agreements with troubled police departments nationwide could imperil ongoing reform efforts, particularly in Baltimore and Chicago, civil rights advocates said on Tuesday, even as city officials vowed to continue pursuing improvements.

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Suspect in Ohio nightclub shooting dies: police

CLEVELAND (Reuters) - One of two men suspected of opening fire in a crowded Cincinnati nightclub, killing one person and injuring 16 others, died on Tuesday as a result of gunshot wounds suffered in the shootout, police said.

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Most Americans unwilling to give up privacy to thwart attacks: Reuters/Ipsos poll

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A majority of Americans are unwilling to share their personal emails, text messages, phone calls and records of online activity with U.S. counter-terrorism investigators - even to help foil terror plots, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Tuesday.

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White House exploring new value-added tax and carbon tax: report

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House is exploring a value-added tax and a carbon tax as part of a planned tax code overhaul, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday, citing an unidentified administration official and a person briefed on the matter.

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Massachusetts challenges immigration detention in state court

BOSTON (Reuters) - The state of Massachusetts on Tuesday asked its top court to find that state authorities lack the authority to detain illegal immigrants who come in contact with the legal system to buy time for federal authorities to take them into custody.

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NCAA again weighing North Carolina as host after bathroom law repeal

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (Reuters) - The National Collegiate Athletic Association said on Tuesday it will again consider allowing North Carolina to host championship games after the state replaced a law that it said discriminated against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.

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Pennsylvania man who eluded manhunt goes on trial in trooper ambush

EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. (Reuters) - A Pennsylvania survivalist accused of killing a state trooper in a 2014 sniper attack goes on trial on Tuesday, in a case that had put the state's Pocono Mountain region on edge when the suspect evaded capture for weeks by hiding deep in the woods.

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Justice department asks for 90 days to review agreement with Baltimore

(Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department on Monday asked a federal court for 90 days to review an agreement reached with Baltimore for the city to enact a series of police reforms in how officers use force and transport prisoners, court documents showed.

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U.S. appeals court sets May hearing on revised Trump travel order

(Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court said on Monday it would hold a hearing in May over a Hawaii federal judge's order that blocked President Donald Trump's revised travel restrictions on citizens from six Muslim-majority countries.

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Kansas House fails in attempt to override Medicaid veto

(Reuters) - Lawmakers in Kansas on Monday failed to override Republican Governor Sam Brownback's veto of a bill expanding eligibility for Medicaid for the poor under the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA).

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U.S. Homeland Security announces steps against H1B visa fraud

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced steps on Monday to prevent the fraudulent use of H1B visas, used by employers to bring in specialized foreign workers temporarily, which appeared to fall short of President Donald Trump's campaign promises to overhaul the program.

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Three killed, four hurt, in explosion at St. Louis box factory

(Reuters) - A boiler explosion at a cardboard box plant in St. Louis on Monday killed three people and injured four more, fire officials said.

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New York, other states challenge Trump over energy efficiency

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A coalition of U.S. states and municipalities has begun legal action against President Donald Trump's administration, accusing it of violating federal law by delaying energy efficiency standards for several consumer and commercial products.

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Another train derails at New York's Penn Station, one injured

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New Jersey Transit train derailed during rush hour at New York's Penn Station on Monday, forcing passengers to be evacuated from cars in the second such incident at the Midtown Manhattan hub in less than two weeks, officials and a witness said.

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New York man convicted of murdering police officer to be sentenced

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York judge on Monday will sentence a man convicted of first-degree murder for gunning down a police officer in 2015, a case that angered city officials because the killer was on the streets after a drug charge despite a history of offenses.

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Cosby in criminal court on Monday as fight over evidence continues

(Reuters) - Comedian Bill Cosby was due back in a Pennsylvania courtroom on Monday where his lawyers and state prosecutors will wrangle over what evidence can be admitted at his trial in June on criminal charges of sexual assault.

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Chicago teen arrested in Facebook Live sex assault, others sought

(Reuters) - Chicago police have arrested a 14-year-old boy and expect to charge a second youth in connection with the sexual assault of a teenage girl by multiple young men that was seen on Facebook Live in March, officials said on Sunday.

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Two people killed in Louisiana mobile home hit by possible tornado

(Reuters) - A toddler and her mother were killed when a possible tornado flipped over a mobile home in Louisiana, authorities said on Sunday, as forecasters warned of a dangerous weather system that could bring hail and severe thunderstorms to parts of the U.S. South.

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College league ends North Carolina boycott after bathroom law revoked

(Reuters) - The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), a major collegiate athletic league, said on Friday it has restored North Carolina's eligibility to host championship sporting events after the state repealed restrictions on bathroom access for transgender people.

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Child killed, 12 people injured by carbon monoxide in Michigan motel

(Reuters) - A 13-year-old boy was killed and 12 people were taken to hospitals for treatment due to a carbon monoxide leak in a Michigan motel on Saturday, police and hospital officials said.

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Connecticut may become first U.S. state to allow deadly police drones

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Connecticut would become the first U.S. state to allow law enforcement agencies to use drones equipped with deadly weapons if a bill opposed by civil libertarians becomes law.

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Fiery interstate bridge collapse in Atlanta needs lengthy repairs

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Georgia officials inspecting the fiery collapse of a major interstate highway bridge in Atlanta said on Friday the repair timetable was unclear but expect a "time-consuming event."

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South Carolina church gunman to plead guilty to murder charges, paper reports

(Reuters) - Dylann Roof, convicted and sentenced to death in federal court for the 2015 massacre at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina, will plead guilty to related state murder charges, the Post and Courier newspaper reported on Friday.

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Mother watches as her two sons, two others gunned down in Chicago: media

(Reuters) - A mother watched on Thursday as a man approached the Chicago south side restaurant where she works and opened fire, killing her two sons and two other men in a shooting that police described as gang-related retaliation, media reported.

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Fire collapses portion of interstate highway in Atlanta

(Reuters) - A portion of the Interstate 85 highway collapsed in Atlanta on Thursday due to a fire under the bridge, the city's fire and rescue agency said.

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U.S. judge views $25 million Trump University settlement favorably

SAN DIEGO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge on Thursday said he was leaning toward approving a $25 million settlement of fraud claims against President Donald Trump and his Trump University real estate seminars but deferred a final decision to a later date.

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SpaceX launches first recycled rocket in test of cost-cutting model

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - A recycled SpaceX rocket booster recovered at sea from its first flight nearly a year ago blasted off again on Thursday from Florida on a satellite-delivery mission, then returned to land successfully on a floating platform at sea.

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Green groups sue Trump administration for approving Keystone pipeline

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Six environmental groups filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Thursday to challenge its decision to approve construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline.

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Fourth-quarter economic growth revised higher, boosted by consumer spending

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. economic growth slowed less than previously reported in the fourth quarter as robust consumer spending spurred the largest increase in imports in two years.

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Volkswagen settles 10 U.S. state diesel claims for $157 million

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Volkswagen AG said on Thursday it has agreed to pay $157.45 million to settle environmental claims from 10 U.S. states over its excess diesel emissions, as the world's largest automaker looks to move past the scandal.

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Kansas Governor Sam Brownback vetoes Medicaid expansion bill

(Reuters) - Kansas Governor Sam Brownback on Thursday vetoed a bill expanding eligibility for Medicaid under the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA), saying he could not support legislation that provided tax dollars to Planned Parenthood.

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North Carolina lawmakers to vote on repeal of transgender bathroom law

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (Reuters) - North Carolina legislators were set to vote on Thursday on a deal to repeal a law prohibiting transgender people from using restrooms in accordance with their gender identities, a measure that has prompted boycotts by companies and sports leagues.

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Trump says 'we must fight' Freedom Caucus, Democrats

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump had fighting words on Thursday for conservatives in his own Republican Party who helped block a healthcare bill last week, saying he would oppose House Freedom Caucus members in 2018 elections if they did not get on board.

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Federal judge in Hawaii extends court order blocking Trump travel ban

HONOLULU (Reuters) - A federal judge in Hawaii indefinitely extended on Wednesday an order blocking enforcement of President Donald Trump's revised ban on travel to the United States from six predominantly Muslim countries.

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North Carolina lawmakers reach deal to repeal transgender bathroom law

(Reuters) - North Carolina Republican lawmakers said late on Wednesday they had reached a deal to repeal the state's controversial law prohibiting transgender people from using restrooms in accordance with their gender identities.

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California to seek death penalty in salon massacre

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California's attorney general said on Wednesday his office would press ahead in seeking the death penalty for a man who pleaded guilty to killing eight people in a 2011 shooting rampage, even though local prosecutors were sanctioned for acting improperly.

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Seattle sues Trump administration over threat to 'sanctuary' cities

SEATTLE (Reuters) - The city of Seattle sued U.S. President Donald Trump's administration on Wednesday over its executive order seeking to withhold federal funds from "sanctuary cities," arguing it amounted to unconstitutional federal coercion.

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Multiple fatalities after Texas church bus crash

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Several people were killed when a church van carrying senior citizens heading home from a retreat had a head-on collision with another vehicle on Wednesday about 80 miles (130 km) west of San Antonio, Texas, law enforcement officials said.

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U.S. judge to consider objection to Trump University settlement

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. judge will hear arguments on Thursday over whether to grant final approval to a $25 million settlement of fraud lawsuits against President Donald Trump over his Trump University real estate investment seminars, with at least one former student objecting to the deal.

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State Department employee to face charges in FBI probe: officials

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. State Department employee is expected to appear in federal court in Washington on Wednesday to face charges in a FBI counterintelligence investigation, two U.S. officials told Reuters.

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Montana tribe sues Trump administration for lifting coal moratorium

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Native American tribe in Montana filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Wednesday, challenging its decision to lift a moratorium on coal leases on public land without first consulting with tribal leaders.

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Activists who filmed Planned Parenthood workers charged in California

(Reuters) - Two anti-abortion activists were charged in California with filming Planned Parenthood workers without their consent while the pair posed as representatives of a fake company seeking to buy fetal tissue, prosecutors said.

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Police open fire after driver strikes patrol car near U.S. Capitol

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Capitol Police officers opened fire after a woman drove into a police cruiser near the Capitol and then tried to run over officers on Wednesday, and a police spokeswoman said the incident did not appear related to terrorism.

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Four dead, about 200,000 without power after Texas, Oklahoma storms

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Four people were killed and nearly 200,000 customers were without electric power on Wednesday morning after overnight storms pounded Texas and Oklahoma, bringing tornadoes, torrential rain and hail to large parts of the states.

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TSA workers hurt by possible hazardous material at New York airport: media

(Reuters) - Three Transportation Security Administration workers suffered minor injuries on Wednesday at LaGuardia Airport in New York after exposure to a possible hazardous material, local media reported.

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Christie associates to be sentenced for New Jersey bridge scandal

(Reuters) - Two former associates of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie are scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday for their roles in the "Bridgegate" lane closure scandal that eventually torpedoed the Republican's White House ambitions.

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Police union warns Trump 'sanctuary city' cuts could risk safety

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Leaders of the largest police union in the United States have warned President Donald Trump that he could endanger public safety if he follows through with cuts in federal grants to immigrant "sanctuary cities," the union's director told Reuters after a White House meeting.

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Trump tells lawmakers he expects a deal 'very quickly' on healthcare

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump told a group of senators on Tuesday that he expects lawmakers will be able to reach a deal on healthcare.

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California immigration town hall to highlight state's red-blue divide

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) - Liberal California was set to square off against conservative elements in the state at a town hall meeting on immigration on Tuesday night featuring the director of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.

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North Carolina close to losing NCAA events over bathroom law: official

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (Reuters) - The NCAA will deny North Carolina lucrative hosting duties for college sports championship events through 2022 if the state does not change a law that restricts bathroom access for transgender people by Thursday, a local sports official said on Tuesday.

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Fourth body found following Oakland building fire

(Reuters) - The body of a fourth victim was found on Tuesday in the rubble of an Oakland, California residential building destroyed by a fast-moving fire, the local sheriff's office said.

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Uber discloses workforce diversity numbers

(Reuters) - Uber Technologies Inc disclosed workforce diversity numbers for the first time on Tuesday, as the ride hailing services company looks to repair its tarnished image following a series of embarrassing setbacks.

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Secret Service investigating suspicious package on White House grounds

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Secret Service is investigating a suspicious package on the grounds of the White House, a spokeswoman for the agency said on Tuesday.

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Trump to sign order sweeping away Obama-era climate policies

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Tuesday to undo a slew of Obama-era climate change regulations that his administration says is hobbling oil drillers and coal miners, a move environmental groups have vowed to take to court.

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Trump touts expected Ford announcement on plant investments

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump touted Ford Motor Co's expected announcement later on Tuesday about investments and jobs at its U.S. plants, saying the automaker would be making a major investment in three Michigan facilities.

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At least two dead in fire at Oakland residential building

(Reuters) - At least two people died in a four-alarm fire that swept through a residential building in Oakland, California, on Monday, officials said.

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How two teens in leggings became a PR mess for United Airlines

(Reuters) - A bystander who touched off a social media furor after she saw United Airlines stop two teenage girls dressed in leggings from boarding a flight admitted on Monday that she did not fully grasp the situation when she started tweeting her indignation.

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Florida man kills one, wounds five in 'horrific' shooting: police

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (Reuters) - A man killed his girlfriend and wounded five other people, including two children and a high school student at a bus stop, during a shooting spree in central Florida on Monday, police said.

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Two remain critically wounded from deadly Ohio nightclub shooting

(Reuters) - Two victims of a weekend nightclub shooting in Ohio that left one person dead and 15 hurt remain in critical condition, with three other victims listed as stable, a hospital spokeswoman said on Monday.

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United Airlines bars teenage girls in leggings from flight

(Reuters) - At least two girls wearing leggings were barred from boarding a United Airlines flight on Sunday because they were not in compliance with a dress code for passengers, the company said in a statement on Twitter.

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White House threatens to bypass hardline conservatives on tax reform

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fresh off a defeat on U.S. healthcare legislation, the White House warned rebellious conservative lawmakers that they should get behind President Donald Trump's agenda or he may bypass them on future legislative fights, including tax reform.

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Angry over U.S. healthcare fail, Trump voters spare him blame

NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. (Reuters) - The day after the flaming out of U.S. President Donald Trump's first major legislative initiative, his supporters across America were lashing out - at conservatives, at Democrats, at leaders of his Republican Party in Congress.

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One killed, at least 14 wounded in Ohio nightclub shooting: police

(Reuters) - One person was killed and at least 14 people were wounded in a shooting at a nightclub in Cincinnati, Ohio, early on Sunday, police said.

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Fights erupt at pro-Trump rally in California

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (Reuters) - Supporters of President Donald Trump holding a rally on a popular southern California beach clashed with counter-protesters on Saturday.

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Planned Parenthood sees brief reprieve after healthcare bill yanked

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Planned Parenthood, the national health organization that would have lost federal funding under sweeping healthcare overhaul legislation, views the withdrawal of the bill on Friday as a temporary reprieve, not the end of a threat to its existence.

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Obamacare exploding? Maybe just a slow burn

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that Obamacare was "exploding" after Republican lawmakers shelved legislation that would have dismantled the healthcare law.

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California sets vehicle pollution rules after Trump brakes U.S. plan

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (Reuters) - California on Friday approved vehicle pollution targets that the Trump administration last week put on hold, setting up a potential face-off between federal and state regulators that could be expensive for automakers and a headache for consumers.

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North Dakota governor approves concealed guns without a permit

(Reuters) - North Dakotans will no longer need a permit to carry a concealed weapon after Republican Governor Doug Burgum signed legislation lifting restrictions, a victory for gun rights advocates that came a week after South Dakota's governor vetoed a similar bill.

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Virginia court rules for Trump in travel ban dispute; order still halted

(Reuters) - A U.S. federal judge in Virginia ruled on Friday that President Donald Trump's travel ban was justified, increasing the likelihood the measure will go before the Supreme Court as the decision took an opposing view to courts in Maryland and Hawaii that have halted the order.

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Republicans scramble for health bill votes after Trump ultimatum

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Republican lawmakers struggling to overcome differences over new healthcare legislation confronted a stark choice after President Donald Trump delivered an ultimatum: pass the bill on Friday or keep Obamacare in place.

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Amtrak train derails at N.Y Penn Station, no one reported hurt

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An Amtrak Acela train derailed at New York City's Penn Station during Friday morning's rush hour but no injuries were reported immediately, according to rail officials and local media.

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Trump administration grants permit for Keystone XL pipeline: TransCanada

(Reuters) - The United States has issued a presidential permit for TransCanada Corp's Keystone XL oil pipeline, the Canadian company said on Friday, ending a years-long battle between environmentalists and the industry over whether Washington should approve it.

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Exclusive: Trump to approve Keystone XL at meeting with TransCanada CEO - official

(Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will announce the approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline at the White House on Friday, alongside the chief executive officer of builder TransCanada Corp, according to a senior administration official.

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Chicago police officer charged with 16 new counts in shooting case: media

(Reuters) - A white Chicago police officer accused of murder in the shooting death of a black teenager was charged on Thursday with 16 new counts of aggravated battery, in a case that sparked national debate over police use of force against minorities.

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Obamacare supporters rally against congressional repeal efforts

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Supporters of Obamacare staged rallies across the country on Thursday denouncing efforts by President Donald Trump and Republican congressional leaders to repeal the landmark law that has extended medical insurance coverage to some 20 million Americans.

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Police detective, three others victims identified in Wisconsin shooting

(Reuters) - Authorities on Thursday identified four victims, including a veteran police officer, who were killed during a shooting spree in central Wisconsin sparked by a domestic violence incident.

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Texas A&M, Rick Perry clash on election of gay student body president

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Texas A&M University said on Thursday it respectfully disagreed with comments U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry made a day earlier when he criticized an election at his alma matter that led to the school's first openly gay student body president.

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State Dept. to approve Keystone pipeline permit: Politico

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department will approve by Monday the permit needed to proceed with construction of the Canada-to-United States Keystone XL oil pipeline, a project blocked by former President Barack Obama, according to Politico.

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Uncertain fate of Obamacare causes some hospitals to halt projects, hiring

(Reuters) - Uncertainty surrounding the Republican plan to replace Obamacare is forcing some U.S. hospitals to delay expansion plans, cut costs, or take on added risk to borrow money for capital investment projects, dealing an economic blow to these facilities and the towns they call home.

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U.S.-Israeli teen arrested in Israel over bomb threats to Jewish centers

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A man was arrested in Israel on Thursday on suspicion of making bomb threats against Jewish community centers in the United States, Australia and New Zealand over the past three months, police said on Thursday.

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Exclusive: U.S. embassies ordered to identify population groups for tougher visa screening

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has directed U.S. diplomatic missions to identify "populations warranting increased scrutiny" and toughen screening for visa applicants in those groups, according to diplomatic cables seen by Reuters.

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High stakes for Trump in vote on healthcare plan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump may face his first major legislative hurdle on Thursday: a do-or-die vote in the House of Representatives on a plan that would roll back the signature healthcare law of former President Barack Obama.

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Exclusive: Lead poisoning afflicts neighborhoods across California

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Dozens of California communities have experienced recent rates of childhood lead poisoning that surpass those of Flint, Michigan, with one Fresno locale showing rates nearly three times higher, blood testing data obtained by Reuters shows.

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Police officer, three others killed in Wisconsin shooting: reports

MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - A police officer and three other people were killed in a string of shootings that unfolded three small communities in central Wisconsin, local media reported on Wednesday.

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Security tightened at UK sites in New York after London attack

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York police ramped up security at British sites across the city on Wednesday after an assailant fatally stabbed a policeman outside Britain's parliament and was then shot and killed by police.

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U.S. justices reject Gorsuch in win for disabled student

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected legal reasoning used by President Donald Trump's high court nominee Neil Gorsuch in his role as an appellate judge, ruling in favor of an autistic student who said he was denied an adequate education.

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Florida nightclub shooting victims sue gunman's employer, widow

TAMPA, Fla. (Reuters) - More than 50 victims and survivors of the June 2016 massacre at a Florida nightclub sued the gunman's employer and widow on Wednesday, blaming them for failing to prevent the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

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White man who wanted to 'harm' blacks arrested after NYC stabbing

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A white man who traveled to New York City to harm black people turned himself in with knives in his pocket at a Manhattan police station on Wednesday, police said, a day after police say he fatally stabbed a black man in an attack on a sidewalk.

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Pharmacist guilty of racketeering in deadly U.S. meningitis outbreak

BOSTON (Reuters) - The co-founder of a now-defunct Massachusetts compounding pharmacy was found guilty of racketeering and fraud but cleared of murder on Wednesday for his role in a 2012 meningitis outbreak that killed 64 people across the United States.

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U.S. existing home sales fall from 10-year high

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. home resales fell more than expected in February amid a persistent shortage of houses on the market that is pushing up prices and sidelining potential buyers.

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