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Harvard accused of bias against Asian-Americans at trial

Harvard University discriminates against Asian-American applicants in order to limit how many it admits, a lawyer for a group suing the school said on Monday at the start of a trial that could have wider implications for the role of race in U.S. college admissions. The case could eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court, giving the newly cemented five-member conservative majority a chance to bar the use of affirmative action to help minority applicants get into college, legal experts say. In previous rulings on affirmative action, which aims to offset historic patterns of racial discrimination, the Supreme Court has allowed colleges to include race as one factor among others in assessing applicants.

Trump meets hurricane survivors in devastated Florida Panhandle

Trump and first lady Melania Trump passed out bottles of water at an aid center in Lynn Haven, a city of about 18,500 people near Panama City in northwestern Florida, after taking a helicopter flight from Eglin Air Force Base about 100 miles (160 km) to the west. "To see this personally is very tough - total devastation," said Trump, who later traveled to neighboring Georgia to see storm damage there. At least 18 deaths in four states have been blamed on Michael, which crashed into the Panhandle last Wednesday as one of the most powerful storms on record to hit the continental United States.

U.S. government, but not Trump, can be sued over climate: judge

The decision by U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken in Eugene, Oregon, came just days before the case is scheduled to go to trial in federal court on Oct. 29. Twenty-one children and young adults, who were between eight and 19 when the lawsuit was filed in 2015 against the Obama administration, accused federal officials and oil industry executives of violating their due process rights by knowing for decades that carbon pollution poisons the environment, but doing nothing about it. Aiken said the case revealed a delicate balance of power between the judicial and other government agencies.

Senator, mocked by Trump as Pocahontas, cites DNA test

For years, Trump, a Republican, has mocked the Massachusetts lawmaker's assertion that she has Native American ancestry, calling her "fake Pocahontas" at political rallies. In Montana in July, Trump said, "I will give you a million dollars to your favorite charity, paid for by Trump, if you take the test and it shows you're an Indian." On Monday, Warren, a former Harvard Law School professor, released the results of a DNA test https://bit.ly/2OqLmUz that offers "strong evidence" that she does have Native American heritage, though only a small amount and going back many generations. Warren also sent a series of Twitter attacks against Trump that called him out on his pledge, saying, "Please send the check to the National Indigenous Women's Resource Center." Trump denied having made the dare.

Most F-35 jets resume flights after engine inspections: Pentagon

More than 80 percent of Lockheed Martin Co-made F-35 fighter jets in the United States and around the world have cleared engine inspections and are now approved for flights, the Pentagon said on Monday. Last week, all U.S. and international F-35 fighter jets made by Lockheed Martin were grounded so that fuel tubes could be examined. The Pentagon said it is working closely with United Technologies Corp's Pratt & Whitney, the maker of the F-35's engine, to rapidly procure more parts to minimize the time it will take for remaining repairs.

Honduran migrant group grows, heading for United States

A growing group of more than 1,500 Honduran migrants headed for the United States moved toward the Guatemalan border on Sunday, witnesses and organizers said. The migrants, who included families of adults and children, and women carrying babies, began a march on Saturday from the violent northern city of San Pedro Sula, days after U.S. Vice President Mike Pence called on Central America to stop mass migration. The U.S. Embassy in Honduras said it was deeply worried about the group and that people were being given "false promises" of being able to enter the United States.

Hopes fade for more survivors of Hurricane Michael

The hunt for missing people in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael early Sunday is turning into a search for the dead, as hope of finding more people alive fades in the Florida Panhandle, U.S. officials said. "We're going into recovery mode, unfortunately," said Fire Chief Alex Baird of Panama City, one of the coastal Florida communities clobbered by the hurricane that made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 storm, packing more than 140 mph winds and deadly storm surges. "At sunrise, we'll start again on our search," Baird said.

In Tennessee, a Democrat scrambles to turn out voters as polls show slide

Polls showed Bredesen, the state's 74-year-old former governor, in a surprisingly tight race with Republican U.S. Representative Marsha Blackburn to replace retiring Republican Senator Bob Corker. The Oct. 6 confirmation of President Donald Trump's polarizing Supreme Court pick, Brett Kavanaugh, injected new energy into Republicans, say Republican party leaders.

Trump says family separations deter illegal immigration

Trump also claimed, without providing evidence, that immigrants were "grabbing children and they're using children to come in to our country in many cases." 

Crowbars, cadaver dogs in search for survivors, bodies after Florida hurricane

Search and rescue volunteers have located hundreds of people reported missing in the Southeast after Hurricane Michael tore through their Florida Panhandle.

Honduran migrant group treks north as U.S. calls for tighter borders

Recent attempts at group crossings from Central America to the United States have tested U.S. President Donald Trump's "zero tolerance" stance on illegal immigration, as people fleeing violence and poverty defy threats of deportation. "I believe we'll get to the United States. There's no work in Honduras, and you live in fear that they're going to kill you or your children," said Fanny Barahona, 35, an unemployed teacher who walked with her nine-year-old son and carried a two-year-old daughter.

Florida wild cat sanctuary caught in hurricane's path

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (Reuters) - "Saint" the mountain lion was pacing nervously in his pen and crying days before Hurricane Michael cut a path of destruction through the Bear Creek Feline Center, a refuge for 23 wild cats near Florida's Panama City. "They were very agitated," said Bertie Broaddus, who runs the center with her husband Jim Broaddus, as she inspected the damage from the powerful storm that killed at least 17 people and tore up Florida's Panhandle coastline. The endangered animals at the refuge -- rescued African servals, jaguarundi, bobcats, Siberian lynx, mountain lions and panthers -- were unharmed.

Without captions, warnings about Hurricane Michael failed to reach disabled

Matlin drew attention to emergency communication glitches with disabled people earlier in the week, when she tweeted on Tuesday about the Weather Channel’s failure to include closed captioning in reports about the approaching storm. Thank you," Matlin wrote. The Weather Channel did not respond on Twitter and was not immediately available for comment.

Rescuers find first body in town worst hit by hurricane Michael

Searchers on Friday uncovered the first body in the rubble of the Florida town of Mexico Beach, which was nearly obliterated by Hurricane Michael, as the toll from the historic storm rose to at least 18 and was expected to climb further. Rescue teams, hampered by power and telephone outages, used cadaver dogs, drones and heavy equipment to hunt for hundreds of people unaccounted for in devastated communities across the Florida Panhandle. "I've watched on television, thinking of what others have experienced, like in the Carolinas and Texas," Mexico Beach Mayor Al Cathey told reporters referring to earlier hurricanes.

Volunteer search teams born of prior disasters reactivated in Florida

By Friday, two days after Michael plowed into Florida's Panhandle as one of the fiercest hurricanes ever to strike the U.S. mainland, there was no official word on the number unaccounted for in beachfront communities affected by the storm. Loved ones reported the majority unaccounted for, while a smaller number found themselves stranded and sought help, group co-founder Matthew Marchetti said. Most of the search effort focused on Bay and Gulf counties, which took the brunt of the storm while Panama City and Mexico Beach, the towns nearest Michael's landfall accounted for the largest numbers reported missing, he added.

Texas desert tent city for immigrant children balloons in size

A tent city in the west Texas desert set up to hold immigrant children has expanded its capacity by nearly 10 times to 3,800 beds.

'Praise God!': Parents of U.S. pastor rejoice at Turkey's release of son

A court in the western Turkish town of Aliaga on Friday sentenced Andrew Brunson, who had been charged with links to Kurdish militants and supporters of a U.S.-based Muslim cleric, to more than three years in prison but said he would not serve any further time because he had already been detained since October 2016. Pamela Brunson, 75, the mother of the pastor, was at her home in Black Mountain, a town in North Carolina near Asheville, when she learned of the news from a Reuters reporter calling about the court's decision. In Turkey, witnesses said Brunson wept as the decision was announced.

New Jersey sports betting activity nearly doubles in September

On-site sports wagers placed at casinos and racetracks rose by $5.1 million to $79 million in the month of September, a 7 percent increase, data from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement showed. Everyone from casinos and professional sports leagues to media companies and technology providers are watching New Jersey as a test case to see how large the nascent U.S. sports betting industry could ultimately grow. A U.S. Supreme court decision in May threw out a 1992 prohibition against the activity, opening the door to any state that wants to legalize, regulate and tax sports wagering.

Hurricane Michael's U.S. death toll rises to 16 as search goes on

The U.S. death toll from Hurricane Michael rose to 16 on Friday, law enforcement officials said, as rescue crews began searching hardest-hit communities in the Florida panhandle rendered nearly inaccessible by storm damage. Three additional deaths were reported in Marianna, in Jackson County, Florida, Sheriff Lou Roberts told a news conference. The number of fatalities was expected to rise further as no deaths have been reported from oceanfront communities, such as Mexico Beach, Port St. Joe and Panama City, that bore the brunt of the storm's wrath.

'Old Florida' town known for healing springs faces recovery task

Panacea, on the Florida Panhandle, takes its cure-all name from the area's natural springs. The tiny beachside town known for its oysters and crabs will need some of that mystique as it recovers from Hurricane Michael. Jasmine McMillan, 42, went back to her family-owned holiday campground in Ochlockonee Bay to find it covered in two feet (0.6 meters) of debris and seaweed.

U.S. intelligence watchdog says it will encourage whistleblowers to come forward

"It's really important we encourage whistleblowers to come forward and that they feel comfortable doing so and if there are allegations of reprisal then we take that very seriously," Storch said in an interview with Reuters last week. The spy agency has experienced a series of embarrassing leaks over the past five years, beginning with Edward Snowden's 2013 high-profile exposure of secret NSA surveillance programs. Getting more staff to come forward and report concerns internally through Storch's office could reduce the number of leaks, said intelligence community historian Steven Aftergood.

Harvard bias trial to spotlight use of race in college admissions

A lawsuit challenging the use of race as a factor in U.S. college admissions will go to trial in Boston on Monday, when Harvard University will face accusations that it discriminates against Asian-American applicants. The lawsuit, backed by the Trump administration, could eventually reach the Supreme Court, giving the newly cemented five-member conservative majority a chance to bar the use of affirmative action to help minority applicants get into college. "The case is critically important as it's really about diversity at colleges all across the country," said Nicole Gon Ochi, an attorney at Asian Americans Advancing Justice–Los Angeles who supports Harvard in the case.

U.S. archbishop criticized over sex abuse resigns with papal praise

The archbishop of Washington D.C. stepped down over the handling of sex abuse cases but received fulsome praise from the pope, drawing criticism from campaigners who said it showed the Catholic Church cared more for its leaders than abuse victims. Cardinal Donald Wuerl, a loyal ally of Pope Francis, was criticized in a U.S. grand jury report in August for failing to halt abuse in his previous role as archbishop of Pittsburgh. In a glowing letter of support, Francis made clear that he accepted Wuerl's resignation reluctantly, at Wuerl's insistence, and believed he was not guilty of trying to conceal abuse.

Regulator ties pipeline work to deadly Massachusetts gas explosion

A NiSource Inc affiliate failed to require contract repair crews to relocate pressure sensors during natural-gas pipeline work, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said on Thursday, resulting in overpressured lines that caused explosions and fires in three Massachusetts communities last month. Overpressurized gas poured through Columbia Gas Co of Massachusetts' distribution system in Lawrence, North Andover and Andover, flooding into homes and businesses and sparking explosions and fires that killed one person and injured 21. Critical valves controlling the gas flow were not shut for nearly 3-1/2 hours after the first alarm was raised at Columbia Gas's monitoring center, NTSB said in a preliminary report.

Washington state's top court bans death penalty as biased, arbitrary

After the court decision, Democratic Governor Jay Inslee tweeted, "Equal justice is a hallmark of democracy and assuring equal justice is the state’s responsibility. Capital punishment has been on the decline in the United States for several years, but the Administration of Republican President Donald Trump has said it is considering expanding its use for some federal crimes.

Pfizer settles New York probe into 'deceptive' copay coupons

Pfizer Inc on Thursday settled charges by New York's attorney general that it misled consumers in its drug copayment coupon program into thinking they would pay far less to fill prescriptions than they ended up having to shell out. Pfizer's coupons said consumers would "PAY NO MORE THAN" $15, $20 or $25 for Estring to treat vaginal atrophy, Quillivant XR and Quillichew ER for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and Flector patches for acute pain from minor injuries. New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood said this was "deceptive" because Pfizer buried limits on the total savings in the small print, and that thousands of consumers ended up paying much more.

Walmart to pay $65 million to settle lawsuit over seating for cashiers

Walmart denied any wrongdoing in the nine-year-old case, which was scheduled to go to trial later this year, in a filing in federal court in San Francisco on Wednesday. In addition to the payout, the company said it would begin providing seating to its cashiers in California.