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Florida college braces for protests over white nationalist's speech

By Zachary Fagenson GAINESVILLE, Fla. (Reuters) - Hundreds of police officers wearing bulletproof vests were deployed at the University of Florida on Thursday to guard against unrest over a speech by a white nationalist that was expected to draw thousands in protest. Richard Spencer's event at the university in Gainesville, which prompted the governor to declare a state of emergency to prepare for possible violence, comes about two months after rallies by neo-Nazis and white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia, led to a deadly clash with counter-protesters. The violence on Aug. 12 sparked a national debate on race, and Republican President Donald Trump came under fire for blaming both sides for the melee.

Rubio urges Congress to adjust disaster aid bill for Puerto Rico

Republican Senator Marco Rubio urged the U.S. Congress on Thursday to make changes to a disaster relief bill so that cash-strapped Puerto Rico can quickly access funds it needs to respond to the basic needs of its 3.4 million residents. After meeting with Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello, Rubio said the territorial government is at risk of shutting down in the next 30 to 45 days because it has no money.

Trailers could house those displaced by fires in California wine country

By Dan Whitcomb and Alex Dobuzinskis LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Residents of Northern California's wine country left homeless by the state's deadliest-ever wildfires could be temporarily housed in federal government trailers, officials said on Wednesday, as the death toll from the blazes rose to 42. Since erupting on Oct. 8 and 9, the blazes have blackened more than 245,000 acres, (86,200 hectares) and destroyed an estimated 4,600 homes along with wineries and commercial buildings. Many are returning to find nothing left, forcing them to seek housing in emergency shelters or with family and friends.

Las Vegas hotel guard says he heard drilling, then hail of bullets

Mandalay Bay security guard Jesus Campos, the first person to confront gunman Stephen Paddock, gave "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" his first public account of how he responded to the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Contradictory statements from police and the hotel about what time Campos arrived at Paddock's room have raised questions about the police response. Campos himself came under increased scrutiny last week after he skipped out on scheduled television interviews.

Death toll rises to 42 in California wildfires

By Dan Whitcomb LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The death toll from more than a dozen major wildfires still burning across Northern California's celebrated wine country rose to 42 on Wednesday, after search and rescue teams picking through burned out neighborhoods found another victim. Few details were available on the latest person confirmed to have died in the so-called North Bay fires, already the deadliest in California history. Law enforcement officials said only that the individual had died in the Fountain Grove section of Santa Rosa, a city of about 175,000 people north of San Francisco that has seen nearly 5 percent of its homes destroyed.

Texas judge postpones execution of 'tourniquet killer'

A Texas judge, acting on requests from prosecutors, halted the planned execution on Wednesday of a man known as the "tourniquet killer" for the grisly method used to murder five girls and young women in the Houston area whom he also raped. The order from Harris County Judge Maria Jackson to put a 90-day stay on the execution was issued a few hours before Anthony Shore, 55, was set to be put to death by lethal injection at the state's death chamber in Huntsville at 6 p.m. (2300 GMT). District attorneys in Harris County, which includes Houston, and neighboring Montgomery County, requested the stay to examine Shore's claim that another death row inmate tried to persuade him to take the blame for a murder for which the other inmate had been convicted.

Gunman kills three at Maryland company, suspected in Delaware shooting

An employee of a Maryland kitchen countertop company fatally shot three co-workers and critically wounded two others on Wednesday and is being sought for a later shooting in nearby Delaware, authorities said. A manhunt was on for the suspected gunman, Radee Prince, 37, who entered Advanced Granite Solutions in Edgewood, Maryland, just before 9 a.m. and fired multiple shots from a handgun, Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler told reporters. Gahler called the shooting a "targeted attack." Asked about the gunman's possible motive, he said: "We believe he's tied into a relationship here at work." Prince had worked for Advanced Granite Solutions for the past four months and had been scheduled to work on Wednesday, the sheriff said.

Trump and NFL at odds on how to get players to stand for anthem

By Jonathan Allen NEW YORK (Reuters) - The National Football League rejected U.S. President Donald Trump's calls to punish players who kneel for the national anthem to protest racism but said on Wednesday players "should" stand and it hopes the demonstrations will stop. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell made clear he will take a more patient approach than the one urged by the president: Rather than using discipline, the league will continue to nurture players' efforts to fight racial disparities in the criminal justice system, believing this would make the urge to protest fade. "We have about six or seven players that are involved in this protest at this point," Goodell told reporters after a two-day meeting with team owners and the players' labor union in New York City, saying he hoped that number would eventually be zero.

ACLU, North Carolina governor reach agreement in transgender bathroom lawsuit

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (Reuters) - Transgender people would be allowed to use public restrooms in North Carolina that match their gender identity under a settlement agreement filed on Wednesday that aims to resolve the federal lawsuit over the state's widely criticized bathroom law. The consent decree proposed by Governor Roy Cooper, the American Civil Liberties Union and transgender people who sued the state would remove some of the law's harmful effects, civil rights groups said. The consent decree says that under current state law, transgender people are not prevented from using public facilities that match their gender identity rather than the sex on their birth certificates.

Ford to recall 1.34 million trucks in North America for door latch fix

Ford Motor Co said on Wednesday it would recall 1.34 million 2015-17 Ford F-150 and 2017 Ford Super Duty trucks in North America to add water shields to side door latches at a cost of $267 million. The No.2 U.S. automaker said the safety recall is due to a frozen door latch or a bent or kinked actuation cable in the affected vehicles, that may result in a door not opening or closing. A Ford spokeswoman, Elizabeth Weigandt, said customers would be notified next month but did not have a timetable for when parts will be available.

Former Penn State coach Sandusky denied new child sex abuse trial

By David DeKok HARRISBURG, Pa. (Reuters) - A Pennsylvania judge on Wednesday denied a request by former Penn State University football coach Jerry Sandusky for a new trial on charges that he sexually assaulted pre-teen and teenaged boys for 15 years. Sandusky, 73, was convicted in 2012 of exploiting his position in the top-flight football program to sexually assault 10 boys. Centre County Court of Common Pleas visiting Judge John Foradora struck down all Sandusky's claims of sub-par legal work by his trial attorney, Joseph Amendola, and two other lawyers.

Guilty verdict in Boston Islamic State beheading plot

A Boston-area man was found guilty on Wednesday of conspiracy to commit acts of international terrorism and supporting Islamic State for a 2015 plot to attack police and behead a conservative blogger who organized a "Draw Mohammed" contest. David Wright, 28, was found guilty of five criminal charges for planning with his uncle and a friend to behead blogger Pamela Geller. The plot fell apart after Wright's uncle said he wanted to kill law enforcement officers instead and was shot dead by police.

Las Vegas hotel guard says he heard drilling, then hail of bullets

Mandalay Bay security guard Jesus Campos, the first person to confront gunman Stephen Paddock, gave "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" his first public account of how he responded to the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Contradictory statements from police and the hotel about what time Campos arrived at Paddock's room have raised questions about the police response. Campos himself came under increased scrutiny last week after he skipped out on scheduled television interviews.

Second federal judge blocks Trump's curbs on travel to U.S.

A second U.S. federal judge has blocked parts of President Donald Trump's latest travel ban on people entering the United States from eight countries, dealing another legal blow to the administration's third bid to impose travel restrictions. U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang in Maryland, in a ruling issued overnight, said the policy as applied to six majority-Muslim countries likely violates the U.S. Constitution's prohibition on religious discrimination.

Las Vegas gunman's estate could offer rare redress for victims

By Tina Bellon NEW YORK (Reuters) - Victims of mass shootings in the United States often win little or no damages from perpetrators but the Las Vegas massacre may be different because the shooter is thought to have been a wealthy man, lawyers said. While there are often few assets to collect from the young men who typically carry out these killings, Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock, 64, is thought to have had multi-million-dollar investments in buildings across Texas and California. "It definitely depends on the assets in the estate whether you pursue that claim," said Theida Salazar, a Los Angeles attorney who represented one of the victim's families in the 2015 shooting in San Bernadino, California.

U.S. senators reach bipartisan deal on Obamacare, Trump indicates support

By Yasmeen Abutaleb and Richard Cowan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two U.S. senators on Tuesday reached a bipartisan agreement to shore up Obamacare for two years by reviving federal subsidies for health insurers that President Donald Trump planned to scrap, and the president indicated his support for the plan. The deal worked out by Republican Senator Lamar Alexander and Democratic Senator Patty Murray would meet some Democratic objectives, including reviving the subsidies for Obamacare and restoring $106 million in funding for a federal program that helps people enroll in insurance plans. In exchange, Republicans would get more flexibility for states to offer a wider variety of health insurance plans while maintaining the requirement that sick and healthy people be charged the same rates for coverage.

Kentucky city removes two Confederate statues

The city council in August voted to remove the statues of Confederate General John Hunt Morgan and John C. Breckinridge, a U.S. vice president and Confederate secretary of war, the Lexington Herald Leader reported, showing video of the removal work that began without advance notice. The Kentucky vote came soon after a rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where white nationalists angered at the planned removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee clashed with counter-protesters.

CIA says mistakenly 'shredded' Senate torture report then did not

By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Central Intelligence Agency thought for months that it had mistakenly shredded a massive U.S. Senate report on its use of waterboarding and other "enhanced interrogation techniques" before suddenly discovering that its copy had not been lost after all, an agency official said on Tuesday. "It's embarrassing and I have apologized," Christopher Sharpley, the acting CIA Inspector General, told the Senate Intelligence Committee during his confirmation hearing as President Donald Trump's nominee for the position. Championed by Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein when she chaired the Senate panel, the "torture report," as it is known, is the result of a six-year investigation into so-called enhanced interrogation techniques used by the CIA after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, during the administration of Republican President George W. Bush.

NFL policy on anthem kneeling unchanged, despite Trump rebuke

By Jonathan Allen NEW YORK (Reuters) - National Football League officials weighed the fervor of players protesting racism against U.S. President Donald Trump's anger at their autumn meeting on Tuesday with supporters of the players kneeling outside in solidarity. The NFL did not seek commitments from its players to stop kneeling during pregame renditions of the U.S. national anthem but rather focused on helping them in their political activism. About issues in our communities to make our communities better," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told reporters.

Crews push to contain California fires, search for bodies

By Jim Christie SANTA ROSA, Calif. (Reuters) - Crews fought their way across rugged, steep terrain on Tuesday in a push to gain full control of the deadliest wildfires in California history, as search-and-rescue teams picked through an ashy moonscape of destroyed homes looking for victims. "There are still some concerns that if the west winds come up or we get some erratic winds they could push our lines, but as of right now we're looking pretty good," Steve Crawford, a fire operations chief, told reporters at a briefing in Sonoma County in the heart of California's celebrated wine country. Already 41 people have been confirmed killed in the fires, which erupted last week and were driven by dry, hot winds into Northern California communities, giving residents little or no chance to escape.

Las Vegas gunman's estate could offer rare redress for victims

By Tina Bellon NEW YORK (Reuters) - Victims of mass shootings in the United States often win little or no damages from perpetrators but the Las Vegas massacre may be different because the shooter is thought to have been a wealthy man, lawyers said. While there are often few assets to collect from the young men who typically carry out these killings, Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock, 64, is thought to have had multi-million-dollar investments in buildings across Texas and California. "It definitely depends on the assets in the estate whether you pursue that claim," said Theida Salazar, a Los Angeles attorney who represented one of the victim's families in the 2015 shooting in San Bernadino, California.

Chicago Aviation Dept fires two officers involved in dragging man off flight

The Chicago Department of Aviation has fired two security officers for their roles in the forcible removal of a passenger on a United Airlines flight in April, an incident that provoked international outrage. The firings were included in a report on the incident released on Tuesday by the Chicago Office of the Inspector General. David Dao, a 69-year-old Vietnamese-American physician, was hospitalized after aviation officers dragged him from a United Airlines plane to make space for four crew members on the flight from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport to Louisville, Kentucky.

White man charged with hate crime in black Army officer's murder in Maryland

Sean Urbanski, 22, of Severna Park, Maryland, had already been indicted by a grand jury on a murder charge for the death of Lieutenant Richard Collins, 23. An investigation of digital material, including Urbanski's phone and computer records, prompted prosecutors to seek the hate crime charge, Angela Alsobrooks, the state's attorney for Prince George’s County, told a news conference.

Trump's drug czar nominee withdraws from consideration

The U.S. lawmaker who was President Donald Trump's pick for drug czar withdrew on Tuesday after it became public he spearheaded a bill that hurt the government's ability to crack down on opioid makers flooding the market with the addictive painkillers. Trump had pegged Representative Tom Marino, a Republican from Pennsylvania, to lead the Office of National Drug Control Policy, as the administration faces an epidemic of opioid overdoses that is killing tens of thousands of Americans annually. Trump wrote on Twitter: "Rep. Tom Marino has informed me that he is withdrawing his name from consideration as drug czar.

Sixteen inmates charged with murder in Delaware prison uprising

A Delaware grand jury has indicted 16 prison inmates for first-degree murder over a February uprising during which a guard was killed and others taken hostage, prosecutors said on Tuesday. Prisoners seized Lieutenant Steven Floyd, two other corrections officers and a counselor during the Feb. 1-2 uprising at the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center. A New Castle County grand jury handed up charges against a total of 18 inmates that include assault, kidnapping, riot and conspiracy, Delaware's Justice Department said in a statement.

U.S. safety board criticizes FAA, pilot on deadly U.S. balloon crash

The National Transportation Safety board on Tuesday faulted U.S. aviation regulators and the pilot in the July 2016 Texas balloon crash that killed 16 people, the deadliest U.S. aviation accident in more than seven years. The hearing comes after the Federal Aviation Administration said earlier this year no new balloon regulations were needed, despite a long-standing push by the board to require more oversight of the operations. It was the deadliest crash ever involving a hot air balloon in the Western Hemisphere, according to the Balloon Federation of North America.

U.S. Justice Dept will review new law's impact on DEA powers: official

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said on Tuesday he was very concerned about a report that said new legislation has undermined the Drug Enforcement Administration's ability to crack down on opioid dealers and said the Justice Department would review the law.

GM to test self-driving cars in N.Y. in early 2018: Gov. Cuomo

(Reuters) - General Motors Co plans to test vehicles in fully autonomous mode in New York state in early 2018, according to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. The planned testing by GM and its self-driving unit, Cruise Automation, will be the first by a Level 4 autonomous vehicle in the state, Cuomo said in a statement. A level 3 car still needs a steering wheel and a driver who can take over if the car encounters a problem, while level 4 promises driverless features in dedicated lanes.

Search suspended for worker missing after Louisiana oil platform explosion

The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended the search for a worker missing from an oil production platform in Louisiana's Lake Pontchartrain that exploded and caught fire late on Sunday. Missing is Timothy Morrison, 44, of Katy, Texas, the Coast Guard said in a statement. "The decision to suspend a search is never an easy one," Commander Zac Ford said in the statement.

Florida governor declares emergency before white nationalist's speech

Rallies by neo-Nazis and white nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August led to violent street clashes with counter-protesters. "This executive order is an additional step to ensure that the University of Florida and the entire community is prepared so everyone can stay safe," Scott said in a statement. Scott said in the order there was a need to implement a coordinated security plan among local and state agencies before the speech by Richard Spencer on Thursday in Gainesville.

Senate Republicans gain moment on tax reform budget measure

By David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Republicans on Monday gained crucial support for a vote on a budget resolution that is vital to President Donald Trump's hopes of signing sweeping tax reform legislation into law before January. Two Republican lawmakers, once seen as potential 'no' votes, said they would likely support the measure. A third, Senator Rand Paul, may vote 'yes' depending on what the final resolution looks like.

Trucker in deadly Texas immigrant case pleads guilty, faces life sentence

The driver of a truck packed with immigrants, 10 of whom died due to sweltering Texas heat in July, pleaded guilty on Monday to human smuggling charges and could face up to life in prison, prosecutors said. James Bradley Jr., 61, pleaded guilty at a federal court in San Antonio to one count of conspiracy to transport aliens resulting in death and one count of transporting aliens resulting in death, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas said in a statement. Bradley told investigators he was caught by surprise when he opened the trailer doors outside a Walmart store in San Antonio on July 23, only to be knocked down by a group of "Spanish" people pouring out of the rig, according to the criminal complaint filed in the case.