US
ReutersColorado prosecutors set to charge man for murdering family
(This August 20 story corrects spelling of Shanann in fourth paragraph) By Keith Coffman DENVER (Reuters) - Colorado prosecutors said they plan to formally file murder charges on Monday against a man accused of killing his pregnant wife and their two young daughters, days after he told police they
- Reuters
Man charged with murder in case of missing Iowa woman
(Reuters) - A 24-year-old man was charged with murder on Tuesday after the body of a woman, believed to be that of a college student who went missing a month ago, was found in a cornfield in rural Iowa, state investigators said.
- Reuters
California prosecutors team up in 'Golden State Killer' case
A former policeman accused of a string of murders, rapes and home invasions attributed to a serial predator dubbed "the Golden State Killer" will stand trial in Sacramento in an unprecedented consolidation of cases from six counties, prosecutors said on Tuesday. A single, amended criminal
ReutersTrump's EPA unveils weaker alternative to Obama power plant rule
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposal would require states to submit plans for improving efficiency of coal-fired power plants. The federal government will set carbon emission guidelines, but states will have the leeway to set less-stringent standards, taking into account a facility'
ReutersPolice seek protesters who toppled Confederate statue in North Carolina
Protesters pulled the statue down with rope, cheering as it lay face down in the mud, its head and back covered in dirt. The university system's board chair, Harry Smith, and president, Margaret Spellings, denounced the toppling of the statue in a joint statement. North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper
ReutersFDA extends EpiPen expiry date to combat shortage
The decision comes at a time when the shortage has come under focus at the start of back-to-school season, and applies to specific lots of 0.3 milligram EpiPen products, after the regulator reviewed data provided by Mylan. The shortage has largely been due to ongoing manufacturing issues at a Pfizer
ReutersColorado man hears murder charges as victim's dad weeps
Chris Watts, 33, barely spoke and did not formally enter a plea to the charges at a hearing in Greeley, about 60 miles (100 km) north of Denver. In their account, Watts said he killed his wife because she had strangled their two daughters after an argument. The case began in the nearby community of
ReutersRussian hackers targeted U.S. Senate, think tanks: Microsoft
The world's biggest software company said late on Monday that it last week took control of six web domains that hackers had created to mimic websites belonging to the U.S. Senate, two conservative think tanks and Microsoft's OneDrive cloud storage service. The domain takedowns represent Microsoft
ReutersProbe cites multiple causes for Puerto Rico's fiscal free fall
Short-term fixes, deficit financing and political pressures helped drive Puerto Rico into a fiscal catastrophe that landed the U.S. commonwealth in bankruptcy court last year, according to an investigative report released late on Monday. The 600-page report commissioned by the island's federally
ReutersU.S. deports accused former Nazi guard to Germany
The White House said Jakiw Palij had served as a guard at the Trawniki Labor Camp, where about 6,000 Jewish men, women and children were shot dead on Nov. 3, 1943, in one of the single largest massacres of the Holocaust. The United States had been trying to get Palij out of the country since the issue
- Reuters
Russia denies Microsoft allegations it targeted U.S. think tanks: Ifax
The Russian authorities deny allegations from Microsoft that hackers linked to Russia's government tried to target the websites of two right-wing U.S. think-tanks, the Interfax news agency reported on Tuesday. Interfax cited an unnamed Russian diplomatic source on Tuesday as describing Microsoft
- Reuters
Kremlin says it does not understand Microsoft's U.S. hacking allegations
The Kremlin said on Tuesday it did not understand allegations from Microsoft that hackers linked to Russia's government had tried to target the websites of two right-wing U.S. think-tanks. The software giant said it had thwarted the Russia-linked attempts last week, which it suggested showed Moscow
ReutersPope vows no more cover ups on sexual abuse in letter to Catholics
Pope Francis, facing sexual abuse crises in several countries, wrote an unprecedented letter to all Catholics on Monday, asking each one of them to help root out "this culture of death" and vowing there would be no more cover ups. In a highly personal letter addressed to "the people of
ReutersStudy cites longer dry spells as fueling U.S. wildfires
Less rain and longer droughts are the major cause behind larger and more intense wildfires in the U.S. West, not higher temperatures and early snowmelt as previously thought, according to research released on Monday. The findings by the U.S. Forest Service and University of Montana could help scientists
ReutersColorado man charged in murder of family claims wife strangled kids
Chris Watts, who had been involved in an extramarital affair with a co-worker, said during a police interrogation that his wife, Shannan, strangled their daughters Bella and Celeste after he announced that he wanted a separation, according to an arrest affidavit filed in the sensational case. "
ReutersFather sues St. Louis police in 2015 shooting death of his son
Dennis Ball-Bey filed the action against the city of St. Louis, its former police chief and two officers involved in the shooting death of Mansur Ball-Bey. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in St. Louis on Friday, seeks unspecified damages, court records showed. The lawsuit alleged that the officers
ReutersGeorgia candidates decry plan to close voting sites in mostly black county
The two-member local elections board is expected to vote on Friday on a proposal to shutter seven of nine polling sites in rural Randolph County, located in southwest Georgia, where roughly 60 percent of the 7,800 residents are black. Both Stacey Abrams, the Democratic nominee who is seeking to become
- Reuters
South Carolina woman walking dog killed by alligator
A witness called police to report an alligator was attacking a woman at a lagoon on Hilton Head Island, a popular tourist destination, the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. Police recovered her body and identified the victim as Cassandra Cline of Hilton Head Island. The alligator
ReutersU.S. health secretary says agency can eliminate drug rebates
Such rebates are negotiated in the United States by pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs) to lower the cost of medicines for their clients, including large employers and health plans that cover tens of millions of Americans. Drugmakers say they are under pressure to provide rebates to the few PBMs that
ReutersExclusive: Pentagon raises alarm about sharp drop in Iraqi refugees coming to U.S.
The Pentagon is concerned that not providing safe haven to more of the Iraqis, many of whom interpreted and did other key tasks for U.S. forces, will harm national security by dissuading locals from cooperating with the United States in Iraq and other conflict zones, the officials said. In a closed-door
ReutersUSA Gymnastics ex-doctor moved from prison after alleged assault
Nassar was at a federal transfer facility in Oklahoma City after being removed from a penitentiary in Tucson, Arizona, Federal Bureau of Prisons records showed. Last year, Nassar, 55, was given an effective life sentence by a Michigan court for sexually abusing young female gymnasts entrusted to his
- Reuters
Fire that prompted closure of parts of Yosemite Park is contained
More than 3,000 personnel have battled the Ferguson Fire, which ignited on July 13 and has burned through nearly 97,000 acres (39,250 hectares) of steep slopes and bone-dry terrain southwest of the park, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, said. Two firefighters were
ReutersU.S. Catholics 'sickened' by sex abuse report, stand by their faith
Many churchgoers said they were sickened and saddened by a grand jury report detailing widespread sexual abuse by hundreds of priests in Pennsylvania but they would not let the Roman Catholic Church's cover-up dissuade them from their faith. Nearly 200 parishioners filled almost all the pews for
ReutersTrans students: A test of identity for U.S. girls schools
As students who are openly transgender or non-binary - those who identify as neither male nor female - have become more visible at girls schools in recent years, educators are re-defining policies on admission, retention and other issues. The challenge, experts say, is to create policies that support
ReutersVigil held in Colorado town for slain pregnant woman and daughters
Shanann Watts, 34, and her daughters Bella, 4, and Celeste, 3, were reported missing from their home in Frederick, 25 miles north of Denver, by a family friend on Monday afternoon, touching off an exhaustive search by law enforcement agencies. Chris Watts was taken into custody on Wednesday on suspicion
