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Death toll in suspected Texas human smuggling case rises to nine

By Jim Forsyth SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Reuters) - At least nine men were found dead on Sunday alongside dozens of people discovered inside a sweltering tractor trailer parked at a Walmart store in San Antonio, Texas, in what authorities called a case of "ruthless" human trafficking. Thirty people, many in critical condition and suffering from heat stoke and exhaustion, were removed from the trailer, which lacked air conditioning or a water supply, San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood said. Temperatures outside the vehicle topped 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 Celsius).

Firefighters gain on California wildfire, some evacuees return

By Alex Dobuzinskis LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A wildfire in central California was contained enough on Saturday for authorities to consider allowing more people back to their houses, a day after evacuation orders were lifted for a gold rush era town that was previously threatened. The Detwiler Fire just outside Yosemite National Park has scorched 75,500 acres (30,550 hectares)and destroyed more than 120 structures, including 60 homes, since it broke out on Monday, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire). The blaze, 40 percent contained as of Saturday afternoon, was named after a road near where it erupted in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Evacuation orders lifted but California wildfire rages on

(Reuters) - Residents of a historic gold-mining town in central California began returning home on Friday as evacuation orders prompted by a massive wildfire were lifted, but some 1,500 structures remained threatened by the flames. Around 2,000 residents of the town of Mariposa, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, fled their homes on Tuesday as the so-called Detwiler Fire bore down on them. The blaze, which has blackened more than 75,000 acres, destroyed 125 structures, 61 of them homes, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Firefighters gain ground on Central California wildfire

By Alex Dobuzinskis LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A wildfire in central California was contained enough on Saturday for authorities to consider allowing more people back to their houses, a day after evacuation orders were lifted for a gold rush era town that was previously threatened. The Detwiler Fire just outside Yosemite National Park has scorched 75,200 acres (30,432 hectares) and destroyed 60 homes since it broke out on Monday, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire). Authorities have since lifted evacuation orders for the town.

Senator McCain's daughter says went for hike with father

Thank you all for your best wishes!," the senator's daughter said in a tweet that included a picture showing the backs of two unidentified people sitting on a bench overlooking countryside resembling the senator's home state of Arizona. McCain, 80, a veteran senator and former Republican presidential candidate known as a strong and sometimes fiercely independent voice on defense and security issues, was found to have an aggressive form of brain tumor, glioblastoma, after surgery last week for a blood clot above his left eye. McCain's doctors said he was recovering from surgery well, and praised his underlying health as excellent.

U.S. Army sergeant indicted in Hawaii on charges of trying to help Islamic State

Ikaika Erik Kang, 34, is being held in jail and is scheduled to appear in court in Honolulu on Monday to face charges. Islamic State, a militant group that has claimed responsibility for suicide bombings and other attacks on civilians around the world, controls territory in Syria and Iraq.

U.S. abortion support groups put on more public face

    The Kentucky Health Justice Network, where she volunteers, is one of dozens of non-profit U.S. abortion funds providing money for procedures or covering travel costs to help women obtain abortions, particularly in states where Republican-backed laws have narrowed options.     For years, such organizations kept a low profile to avoid being targeted by abortion opponents.     The anti-abortion movement won a victory with the election of President Donald Trump, who has promised to appoint U.S. Supreme Court justices who would overturn the Roe v. Wade decision protecting a woman's right to abortion.

Evacuation orders lifted but California wildfire rages on

(Reuters) - Residents of a historic gold-mining town in central California began returning home on Friday as evacuation orders prompted by a massive wildfire were lifted, but some 1,500 structures remained threatened by the flames. Around 2,000 residents of the town of Mariposa, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, fled their homes on Tuesday as the so-called Detwiler Fire bore down on them. The blaze, which has blackened more than 75,000 acres, destroyed 125 structures, 61 of them homes, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Minneapolis police chief resigns after Australian woman's shooting

(Reuters) - Minneapolis police chief Janee Harteau resigned on Friday at the request of the city's mayor, who said that she had lost confidence in Harteau following the fatal police shooting of an unarmed Australian woman. The death of Justine Damond, 40, from a single gunshot wound to the abdomen fired through an open window of a police patrol car, has outraged her relatives and the public in Australia. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called it "shocking" and "inexplicable." Mayor Betsy Hodges said in a statement that she and Harteau agreed during discussions on Friday that Harteau would step aside.

U.S. fines American, Delta, Frontier for consumer rule violations

Frontier Airlines, American Airlines and Delta Air Lines have been fined for violating U.S. Transportation Department airline consumer protection rules, the department said on Friday. Frontier Airlines was fined $400,000 for violating oversales and disability rules, American Airlines $250,000 for failing to make timely refunds to passengers, and Delta Air Lines $200,000 for filing inaccurate baggage reports, the department said in a statement.

Al Qaeda suspect makes first appearance in U.S. federal court

Damache was indicted in 2011 in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on one count of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and one count of attempted identity theft to facilitate an act of international terrorism.

Trump orders review to strengthen U.S. defense industry

By Mike Stone and Ayesha Rascoe WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday initiating a government-wide review of the U.S. defense industry and suggest changes to strengthen it. The review is intended to identify and address potential weak points in the defense manufacturing base including companies that could go out of business and leave gaps in the supply chain for U.S. weapons systems, said Peter Navarro, the White House National Trade Council director. The executive order asked for recommendations on possible legislative, regulatory and policy changes that would improve and support the defense industry, calling it a "significant national priority".

Flow of asylum seekers crossing into Canada from U.S. rises in June

The number of asylum seekers walking across the U.S. border into Canada rose in June after dropping in the previous two months, according to government figures released on Friday. There were 884 refugee claimants who crossed the border between formal crossings and were picked up by Royal Canadian Mounted Police last month, bringing the total for the first half of 2017 to 4,345, the data showed. The vast majority, 88 percent, of June's crossers went to the province of Quebec, a marked contrast from previous months where upwards of 100 a month went to the prairie province of Manitoba.

Kentucky found liable for legal fees over same-sex marriage suit

Kentucky must pay the legal fees of lawyers who represented couples denied marriage licenses in 2015 by a county clerk in the state, a federal judge ruled on Friday in a same-sex marriage case that garnered world attention. U.S. District Judge David Bunning ruled that county clerk Kim Davis herself was not liable to pay the more than $224,700 in fees and associated costs accrued by plaintiffs. In the days after the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage, Davis, the Rowan County clerk, announced that she would no longer issue marriage licenses to any couple because same-sex marriage conflicted with her Apostolic Christian beliefs.

U.S. warship crew found likely at fault in June collision: official

The crew of the USS Fitzgerald was likely at fault in the warship's collision with a Philippine cargo ship in June and had not been paying attention to their surroundings, according to initial findings in an investigation, a U.S. defense official told Reuters on Friday. Multiple U.S. and Japanese investigations are under way into how the USS Fitzgerald, a guided missile destroyer, and the much larger ACX Crystal container ship collided in clear weather south of Tokyo Bay in the early hours of June 17. The collision tore a gash below the Fitzgerald's waterline, killing seven sailors in what was the greatest loss of life on a U.S. Navy vessel since the USS Cole was bombed in Yemen's Aden harbor in 2000.

Lawsuit says North Carolina bathroom law still harmful

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (Reuters) - Transgender people still face discrimination and threats to their safety in North Carolina despite lawmakers replacing a measure that restricted their access to many public bathrooms, advocacy groups said in a new federal court action on Friday. The law thrust the state into the center of a national debate over equality, privacy and religious freedom last year by requiring transgender people to use restrooms in state-run buildings that matched the sex on their birth certificate rather than their gender identity. "When legislation fails to protect us, when it leaves us in limbo, it sends a message that our lives are expendable," plaintiff Joaquín Carcaño, a transgender man who works at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, told reporters.

Activists, executives tell Texas Senate to ditch bathroom bill

By Jon Herskovitz AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Transgender activists and business leaders urged a Texas Senate panel on Friday to scrap legislation that would limit bathroom access for transgender people, saying it was a discriminatory measure that would hurt the state's economy. More than 250 civil rights activists, executives and others registered to speak to the Republican-dominated Senate as it began consideration of the measure, the most closely watched item on the state's agenda during a 30-day special session. Ashley Smith, a transgender woman and San Antonio architect, said transgender women suffer more violence than the general public, and a bathroom bill would make her more fearful.

Evacuation order may be lifted Friday as California wildfire grows

(Reuters) - Some residents of a historic gold-mining town in central California may be able to return on Friday after they fled their homes amid a spreading wildfire nearby that has destroyed dozens of houses over the past week, fire officials said. About 2,000 residents of the town of Mariposa, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, evacuated their homes on Tuesday as the so-called Detwiler Fire approached. "Even though the fire has grown in one area, there's containment in other areas and those are safe for the owners to go back," Cal Fire spokesman John Clingingsmith said on Friday.

Australian woman 'didn't have to die': Minneapolis police chief

The death of Justine Damond, 40, from a single gunshot wound to the abdomen fired through an open window of a police patrol car, has outraged her relatives and the public in both Australia and the United States. "Justine didn't have to die," Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau told reporters on Thursday in her first news conference about the shooting. Harteau said she apologized to Damond's fiance for the loss of life, adding that the action taken by Officer Mohamed Noor, who fired the fatal shot, reflected "one individual's actions." She said the body cameras of the two officers on the scene should have been activated.

Judge refuses to remove block on Trump sanctuary city order

U.S. District Judge William Orrick III in San Francisco ruled that a recent memo from the Justice Department that appeared to narrow the scope of Trump's executive order on sanctuary cities did not remove the need for a court-ordered injunction. Orrick wrote that the memo is not binding and the attorney general can revoke it at any time.

O.J. Simpson granted October release from Nevada prison

By Steve Gorman CARSON CITY, Nev. (Reuters) - O.J. Simpson was granted parole on Thursday and will be released from a Nevada prison in October, following an emotional hearing that centered on the botched armed robbery of his own mementos at a Las Vegas hotel that landed him behind bars for nine years. A four-member panel of the Nevada Board of Parole Commissioners voted unanimously to release the 70-year-old former National Football League star turned TV pitchman and actor, now best remembered as the defendant in a sensational double-murder trial that gripped America two decades ago. Simpson participated by video feed from Lovelock Correctional Center, about 100 miles (160 km) from the parole board's offices in Carson City, sitting at a wooden table next to his attorney dressed in a prison-issue denim shirt and dark pants.

Five lawsuits aim to get Texas to enforce air quality laws

By Emily Flitter NEW YORK (Reuters) - Green groups sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday to force Texas to toughen its stance on air pollution by using stricter language in permits it issues to oil refineries and power plants. Five separate lawsuits have asked a federal court in Washington to force EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to respond to petitions by the groups, including the Environmental Integrity Project and the Sierra Club.

California wildfire burns 45 buildings near Yosemite

By Alex Dobuzinskis LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A raging wildfire in central California that has forced more than 5,000 people from their homes spread rapidly on Thursday after destroying dozens of buildings not far from Yosemite National Park, fire officials said. The Detwiler Fire, which is menacing the former gold rush town of Mariposa in the Sierra Nevada foothills, is only 10 percent contained, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, said on its website. "We're doing everything we can to protect that town and all the other communities in that area," Amy Head, a spokeswoman for Cal Fire, said by telephone.

Chipotle shares fall on Norovirus, rodent incidents

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc shares fell to a four-year low on Thursday after testing confirmed Norovirus in a customer who ate at one of the chain's Virginia restaurants and a video of rodents crawling on the floor of a Dallas shop went viral. Chipotle has worked to win back customers and rebuild the reputation of the once-high flying chain, whose stock traded well above $700 before it was connected to E. coli, Salmonella and Norovirus outbreaks in 2015. Testing confirmed Norovirus in one customer who ate at the Virginia Chipotle restaurant that was briefly closed this week following reports of diners falling ill, said Victor Avitto, environmental health supervisor for the Loudoun County Public Health Department, which has jurisdiction over the restaurant.

Musk touts approval of New York-Washington 'hyperloop'

SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk on Thursday said he had received "verbal" approval to start building an ultra-high-speed underground transport system linking New York and Washington that would cut travel time between the cities to about half an hour. Musk, the chief executive of electric car maker Tesla Inc and rocket company SpaceX, is seeking to revolutionize transportation by sending passengers and cargo packed into pods through an intercity system of giant vacuum tubes known as the "hyperloop." Officials in Washington and New York said they had not approved any project, and under federal rules Musk would need extensive environmental and building permits to mount such an ambitious project. Musk recently started an enterprise called the Boring Company to build transport tunnels for the system, which he says would be far faster than current high-speed trains and use electromagnetic propulsion.

Mexico marines kill eight suspected gangsters in Mexico City

At least eight suspected gang members died on Thursday in a gun battle with Mexican marines in Mexico City, which has largely been spared the worst of the country's drug violence. Mexico's Navy said in statement that a patrol of marines in Tlahuac, in the southeastern part of the capital, was attacked by suspected gang members, sparking the gunfight. The Navy said that among the dead was Felipe de Jesus Luna, whom it described as the head of a violent criminal organization.

Illinois man charged with Chinese scholar kidnapping pleads not guilty

An Illinois man charged with kidnapping a female Chinese scholar who has been missing for more than a month pleaded not guilty during an appearance in a U.S. court on Thursday. Brendt Christensen, 28, is accused of abducting Yingying Zhang, a 26-year-old visiting scholar at the University of Illinois from southeastern China, who disappeared on June 9. Zhang, who had been studying photosynthesis and crop productivity, was last seen when a security camera recorded her getting into a black car that authorities linked to Christensen, according to court records.

UAW talking to GM about impact of car sales slump on U.S. jobs

"We are talking to (GM) right now about the products that they currently have" at underused car plants such as Hamtramck in Michigan and Lordstown in Ohio, and whether they might be replaced with newer, more popular vehicles such as crossovers, Dennis Williams told reporters. GM has cut shifts at several U.S. plants this year as inventories of unsold cars have ballooned. GM is reviewing whether to cancel at least six passenger cars in the U.S. market after 2020, including the Chevrolet Volt hybrid, which could be replaced in 2022 with a new gasoline-electric crossover model, Reuters has learned from people familiar with the plans.

Revenge led driver to hit mourners at S. Carolina cemetery -police

The man who plowed his car into mourners at a South Carolina cemetery targeted the graveside service as an act of revenge toward the state mental health agency that had employed the woman being laid to rest, police said on Thursday. James Kester, 64, injured 12 people when he intentionally drove his car into a crowd at Greenlawn Memorial Park in Columbia, the state capital, on Wednesday, police said.

Ex-Akebia employee faces losing bail in insider trading case

Schultz Chan, who had been the director of biostatistics at the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biopharmaceutical company, has been free on $250,000 bond since arrest last year on charges brought by federal prosecutors in Boston. Cabell had ordered the weekly check-ins less than two weeks ago after prosecutors said that Chan's wife had booked airline tickets for herself, Chan and their daughter to fly to China. Frank told the magistrate on Thursday he was increasingly concerned that Chan may be a danger to himself and others, saying he has made threatening comments to his probation officer and the prosecution.

Baltimore to review about 100 cases of officers in suspected drug planting

"This is a matter of public safety and we are laser-focused on this particular incident," Mosby said in a statement. The union for Baltimore City police was not immediately available for comment. The incident was another black eye for a police department under a U.S. Justice Department consent decree to overhaul operations that includes changes in training and the use of force after officers were found to have routinely harassed minorities.

Delta proceeds with New York's LaGuardia $4 billion project without Goldman

Transportation officials on Thursday approved a revised $4 billion plan from Delta Air Lines to renovate its terminal at New York's LaGuardia Airport after Goldman, Sachs & Co , a financial partner in the project, exited the deal. Delta now plans to pay for nearly the entire project by itself, although the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will still contribute up to $600 million as previously agreed. "Following a period of fiscal review, Delta has opted to directly fund and finance the costs of its LaGuardia redevelopment project, an arrangement that Delta and Goldman Sachs agree is in the best interest of both parties," Delta told Reuters in a statement.

Abortion rights groups sue Texas to block procedure ban

Abortion rights groups filed a lawsuit on Thursday seeking to block a Texas law that bans the most common method of second-trimester abortion which critics argue erodes women's rights. The challenge, which came six weeks after the state's governor signed the law, was the latest salvo in a battle over state laws enacted by Republican-controlled state legislatures that advocates say limit access to abortion. "The law we challenged today in Texas is part of a nationwide scheme to undermine these constitutional rights and ban abortion one restriction at a time," Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement.

NBA: Warriors to require 30-year commitment for season tickets

(The Sports Xchange) - The Golden State Warriors are bringing the personal seat license to the NBA, and the fans interested in purchasing them will be asked for a 30-year commitment. While pricing of the licenses has not been revealed, ESPN cited a team official as saying that the number of seats dedicated for season-ticket holders will decrease from 14,500 at Oracle Arena in Oakland to approximately 12,000 at Chase Center in San Francisco. The privately financed $1 billion Chase Center is scheduled to open in 2019.

Burundi teenage robotics team goes missing after U.S. contest: police

By Ian Simpson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Six teenagers from a Burundi robotics team have been reported missing after an international competition in Washington and two of them were seen entering Canada, police said on Thursday. The four males and two females were last seen late on Tuesday afternoon when the robotics contest ended at the FIRST Global Challenge, police said. Authorities issued missing persons photographs of the six on Wednesday.