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Investigators work to determine cause of blast at Wisconsin refinery

Investigators on Friday searched for the cause of a blast at a Husky Energy refinery that injured at least 10 people and rocked a northern Wisconsin city, sending smoke billowing into the sky and prompting tens of thousands to evacuate. A massive explosion shook Superior, Wisconsin, a city of about 27,000 people, at about 10 a.m. local time on Thursday, local authorities said. After an initial blaze was extinguished, a storage tank was punctured, and a second fire erupted, Husky Energy spokesman Mel Duvall said.

In Alaska, soldiers relish role in U.S. missile defense

Two hours south of Fairbanks, Alaska, near the starting point of the Alaska highway, sit row upon row of missile silos embedded in the frozen ground in the shadow of snow-capped mountains.     The missiles and a few dozen National Guard soldiers will form the first line of defense should North Korea, or any other country, fire an intercontinental ballistic missile at the United States. In recent months, North Korea has said it has developed a missile that can reach the United States mainland.

Migrants in caravan at U.S. border bide time ahead of crossing

Central American migrants from a caravan through Mexico languished in shelters in the border city of Tijuana on Thursday, waiting for promised legal advice ahead of a planned crossing together to the United States to seek asylum. A few minutes walk from the U.S. border, dirt-smeared children in a packed migrant shelter carved out spaces to play amid bundles of clothes. Many were exhausted by a month-long journey through Mexico that drew the ire of U.S. President Donald Trump, who pressured Mexico to stop the migrants before they reached the border.

NBC's Tom Brokaw denies allegation of sexual impropriety in 1990s: reports

(Reuters) - A woman who once worked as a war correspondent for NBC News has accused Tom Brokaw, the United States' top-rated television newsman for much of his career, of sexual impropriety in the 1990s, the Washington Post and Variety reported on Thursday. Brokaw, 78, denied the allegations to the publications in a statement issued by NBC News, which has also come under fire for its handling of staff complaints against former "Today" show host Matt Lauer. Former NBC News correspondent Linda Vester told the publications Brokaw made unwanted advances toward her and tried to forcibly kiss her two separate times.

In #MeToo era, Cosby team's attacks on victims may have backfired

Lead attorney Tom Mesereau called Andrea Constand, the victim in the case, a "con artist" and "pathological liar" and grilled another woman on her past drug use. The withering tone and inflammatory words of the defense may have backfired with the jury of seven men and five women, which voted unanimously on Thursday to convict Cosby, 80, of drugging and sexually assaulting Constand at his home in 2004.

Grilled by U.S. lawmakers, Trump's EPA chief calls ethics scandals lies

By Valerie Volcovici and Richard Cowan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt on Thursday rejected a litany of ethics complaints against him as lies intended to derail President Donald Trump's agenda, and put much of the blame for any agency missteps on his staff. During two tense congressional hearings, Pruitt faced tough questions from Democrats and even some fellow Republicans in marathon high-stakes testimony as he seeks to avoid becoming the latest in a long list of Cabinet members and senior White House officials to have either been fired by Trump or quit.

White House doctor steps back from Trump veterans job after controversy

By Steve Holland and Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's physician Ronny Jackson on Thursday withdrew from consideration to head the Veterans Affairs department after allegations that he had been lax with prescription drugs and drank alcohol on the job. The allegations, which Jackson categorically denied as false, had prompted the Senate to put a hold on his hearing for the job of leading the federal government's second largest department. The upset was the latest chaotic personnel decision to rock Trump's White House, which has been roiled by an unusually high number of firings and resignations.

At least 10 hurt in blast at Wisconsin oil refinery: officials

NEW YORK/HOUSTON (Reuters) - An explosion at Husky Energy's refinery in Superior, Wisconsin, injured at least 10 people, sent smoke billowing into the sky and prompted an evacuation of tens of thousands of residents, local and medical officials said on Thursday. After an initial blaze was extinguished, a storage tank was punctured, and a second fire erupted, Husky Energy spokesman Mel Duvall said. There were no reports of fatalities, and all of the refinery's workers have been accounted for, Duvall said.

Trump distances himself from his personal lawyer as probe moves forward

By Brendan Pierson and Doina Chiacu NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump distanced himself from his longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen on Thursday, hours before a judge ruled that documents seized from Cohen by the FBI should be reviewed by an independent court-appointed official. The appointment of former judge Barbara Jones as a "special master," to review the documents and decide which ones prosecutors should be allowed to see, was essentially a compromise that both prosecutors and Cohen's lawyers had said they would be open to, even though that option was not their first choice. The FBI raided Cohen's office and home on April 9, infuriating Trump.

Genealogy websites helped lead investigators to Golden Gate Killer suspect

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) - Investigators in California narrowed in on the Golden State Killer suspect by using the genetic profile of a relative on ancestry websites that solicit DNA samples from users, a Sacramento County prosecutor said on Thursday.

Grilled by U.S. lawmakers, Trump's EPA chief calls ethics scandals lies

By Valerie Volcovici and Richard Cowan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt on Thursday rejected a litany of ethics complaints against him as lies intended to derail President Donald Trump's agenda, and put much of the blame for any agency missteps on his staff. During two tense congressional hearings, Pruitt faced tough questions from Democrats and even some fellow Republicans in marathon high-stakes testimony as he seeks to avoid becoming the latest in a long list of Cabinet members and senior White House officials to have either been fired by Trump or quit.

Parents sue North Korea, saying Warmbier 'tortured and murdered'

The wrongful-death suit was filed in U.S. District Court at a diplomatically delicate time, weeks ahead of an expected meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump. “Otto was taken hostage, kept as a prisoner for political purposes, used as a pawn and singled out for exceptionally harsh and brutal treatment by Kim Jong Un," his father Fred Warmbier said in a statement. Warmbier, from Wyoming, Ohio, died at age 22 after being imprisoned in North Korea from January 2016 until he was returned to the United States in June 2017 in a coma.

Toyota to invest $170 million in Mississippi plant, create 400 jobs

Toyota Motor Corp will invest $170 million in an existing plant in Mississippi to build the next generation of its Corolla sedan, the Japanese automaker said on Thursday. The investment will lead to the creation of 400 jobs over the next 12 months at Toyota's Blue Springs, Mississippi, plant.

'Our Schools Deserve More!' - Arizona, Colorado teachers in walkouts

Tens of thousands of teachers in Arizona and Colorado walked out of public school classrooms on Thursday to demand better pay and more education funding, in the latest revolt by educators that has spread to the U.S. West. Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, a Republican, has offered a cumulative 20 percent pay rise by 2020 to be largely paid for by growth. "We've all been listening - but now, it's time to act," Ducey said in a statement, as he pushed lawmakers to fund his plan.

Bill Cosby, once beloved 'America's Dad,' convicted of sexual assault

(Language in fourth and 31st paragraphs may be offensive to some readers) By David DeKok NORRISTOWN, Pa. (Reuters) - Comedian Bill Cosby was convicted on Thursday of drugging and sexually assaulting a onetime friend in 2004, marking the first such conviction of a celebrity since the #MeToo movement that has brought down rich and powerful men for their treatment of women. After maintaining decorum throughout the trial, Cosby exploded following the verdict when prosecutors asked the judge to take him into custody, saying he was a flight risk in part because he owned a plane. "He doesn't have a plane, you asshole!" Cosby responded in a booming voice as he leapt to feet.

Boston to take former baseball team owner's name off street

The Boston Red Sox, under the ownership of Thomas Yawkey, were the last team in Major League Baseball to field a black player, in 1959, a dozen years after Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Boston's Public Improvement Commission voted on Thursday to change Yawkey Way back to its original name, Jersey Street.

White House doctor steps back from Trump veterans job after controversy

By Steve Holland and Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's physician Ronny Jackson on Thursday withdrew from consideration to head the Veterans Affairs department after allegations that he had been lax with prescription drugs and drank alcohol on the job. The allegations, which Jackson categorically denied as false, had prompted the Senate to put a hold on his hearing for the job of leading the federal government's second largest department. The upset was the latest chaotic personnel decision to rock Trump's White House, which has been roiled by an unusually high number of firings and resignations.

Johnson & Johnson wins appeal to overturn $151 million hip implant verdict

Johnson & Johnson on Wednesday secured a favorable U.S. appellate court ruling, overturning a verdict that had awarded $151 million to five people who blamed injuries they suffered on the company's Pinnacle hip implant devices. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said two of the plaintiffs' defective marketing claims were legally insufficient and a new trial was required overall in the case because of a judge's evidentiary rulings and "deceptions" by their lawyer. U.S. Circuit Judge Jerry Smith, writing for the three-judge panel, said U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade in Dallas erred in allowing the hip implant recipients' lawyers to present certain "inflammatory character evidence" about J&J. Smith said the "most problematic evidence" were bribes J&J paid to "henchmen" of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, allegations stemming from the company's agreement in 2011 to pay $70 million to resolve U.S. foreign bribery probes.

Trump lawyer Cohen will invoke 5th Amendment rights in Stormy Daniels case

In a filing in Los Angeles federal court, Cohen said he decided to assert his constitutional right after the FBI raided his home, office and hotel room two weeks ago. "Based on the advice of counsel, I will assert my 5th Amendment rights in connection with all proceedings in this case due to the ongoing criminal investigation by the FBI and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York," Cohen wrote in the filing.

Ex-Minnesota policeman to argue self-defense in Australian woman's shooting death-newspaper

Mohamed Noor, 32, who has been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the fatal shooting of 40-year-old Justine Damond, will next appear in court on May 8, online court records showed. Minnesota's Star Tribune newspaper reported it obtained a court filing in the case made on Wednesday that said Noor intends to claim he used “reasonable force” when he shot Damond, a spiritual healer from Sydney, should the case go to trial.

Liberals on top U.S. court ask if Trump travel waivers just 'window dressing'

By Mica Rosenberg and Dan Levine NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Liberal U.S. Supreme Court justices sought assurances on Wednesday that the Trump administration's policy for granting medical or other exceptions to a ban on travelers from several Muslim-majority countries amounted to more than window dressing. Immigration attorneys and visa applicants from countries covered have complained about the scarcity of waivers granted and the lack of transparency around a process intended for applicants with serious medical needs or significant personal and business ties to the United States. The four-month-old ban, Republican President Donald Trump's third attempt to restrict travel from countries he says pose a threat, is the latest to face court challenges.

Former California policeman arrested in 'Golden State' serial killer case

By Fred Greaves SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) - An elderly ex-policeman has been arrested and charged with four murders attributed to the Golden State Killer, a serial criminal responsible for dozens of rapes and slayings that terrorized parts of California during the 1970s and 1980s, authorities said on Wednesday. The suspect was identified by authorities at a Sacramento news conference as Joseph James DeAngelo, 72, in a case officials said was finally solved by DNA evidence two months after gaining renewed attention in the bestselling book "I'll Be Gone in the Dark." Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones credited the book with helping to generate new tips but added, "There was no information extracted from that book that directly led to the apprehension." The Federal Bureau of Investigation has previously said that the man sought in the 40-year-old case was tied to 12 slayings, 45 rapes and more than 120 burglaries in and around Sacramento, the eastern San Francisco Bay area and two Southern California counties.

Trump lawyer Cohen says will take 5th in Stormy Daniels case

In a filing in Los Angeles federal court, Cohen said he decided to invoke his constitutional right after the FBI raided his home, office and hotel room two weeks ago. The FBI search was partly a referral by the Office of Special Counsel, Robert Mueller, who is investigating alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign. Russia denies meddling in the election and Trump has denied any collusion.

Supreme Court clears way for Texas to execute convicted murderer

The U.S. Supreme Court denied a last-minute appeal from a Texas death row inmate on Wednesday, clearing the way for the state to execute the man convicted of firing into a children's birthday party, killing a woman and her 5-year-old granddaughter. The decision was released less than 15 minutes before Texas planned to put Erick Davila, 31, to death by lethal injection at 6 p.m. at its execution chamber in Huntsville. If the execution goes ahead, it will be the ninth this year in the United States and the 550th in Texas since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, the most of any state.

Russell Simmons and accuser agree to dismiss rape lawsuit

Hip hop producer Russell Simmons and an aspiring documentary filmmaker have agreed to dismiss her civil lawsuit claiming that Simmons raped her at his Los Angeles home in 2016, court documents filed on Wednesday showed. The case, filed in January in U.S. Court in Los Angeles, was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be filed again. The filmmaker, Jennifer Jarosik, had accused Simmons of forcing her to have sex with him after she refused his advance.

U.S. regulator sues LendingClub over hidden fees

A U.S. regulator sued online lender Lending Club Corp on Wednesday for allegedly overcharging consumers and misleading them on hidden fees. LendingClub also allegedly deducted payments automatically from consumers' bank accounts even when they had paid off their loans, or had canceled automatic payments, according to the complaint. Some consumers were allegedly charged double payments, the complaint said.

Former South Carolina prison workers charged with smuggling contraband

The charges were unsealed little more than a week after seven inmates were killed in a riot sparked by a fight among prison gangs over turf and contraband at South Carolina's Lee Correctional Institution. "These investigations have been going on a while and they continue," U.S. Attorney Beth Drake said at a news conference in Columbia, the state capital.

Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush out of intensive care

The 93-year-old former president "is alert and talking with hospital staff, family and friends, and his doctors are very pleased with his progress," spokesman Jim McGrath said in a statement. Bush, a Republican who served a single term from 1989 to 1993, is expected to continue his recovery in the hospital for several more days, McGrath said. Bush was admitted to the Houston hospital on Sunday, a day after he attended the funeral of his wife, Barbara, a former first lady who died on April 17.

In #MeToo's shadow, Cosby awaits verdict in sexual assault trial

The case against Bill Cosby, the man once known as "America's Dad," is now in the hands of a jury charged with deciding whether the comedian is guilty of drugging and molesting a onetime friend at his Pennsylvania home more than a decade ago. It is the second time that Cosby, now 80, has faced the charges that he sexually assaulted Andrea Constand in 2004. With the rise to the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, the outcome of Cosby's second trial may hint at whether jurors are now more willing to believe women who say they were victims.

Flowers and grits as Waffle House reopens after Nashville killings

The Waffle House restaurant in Nashville where a gunman killed four people reopened on Wednesday for the first time since the weekend attack, filling up with customers ordering breakfasts as a makeshift memorial of flowers piled up outside. Eric Puschmann, a pastor at the nearby Free Will Baptist church, joined staff for prayers before the restaurant opened, he said. The suspect in the shooting, Travis Reinking, used an AR-15 rifle to kill two people inside and two people outside the restaurant before a bystander knocked him down, sending him fleeing, police said.

Puerto Rico's governor says power should return within a month

Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo Rossello on Wednesday said he expects electricity to be restored across the U.S. territory within a month, but warned that the island's infrastructure needed to be strengthened ahead of the upcoming hurricane season. "The expectation is that ... within the next month we'll be able to reach that normalcy," he told CBS News. Puerto Rico has struggled to recover after Hurricane Maria wiped out power across the territory about seven months ago.

U.S. Supreme Court leans toward upholding Trump's travel ban

Conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices on Wednesday signaled they are likely to uphold President Donald Trump's travel ban on people from several Muslim-majority countries, one of the most contentious policies of his presidency. Both Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Anthony Kennedy, a frequent swing vote on the nine-justice court, indicated they were unwilling to second-guess the president on the national security justifications for the policy. The challengers led by the state of Hawaii have argued the policy was motivated by Trump's enmity toward Muslims and that it violates federal immigration law and the U.S. Constitution's prohibition on the government favoring one religion over another.

Arizona Republican takes early lead in tight race for House seat

By David Schwartz PHOENIX (Reuters) - Republicans were heading for victory in an Arizona election for a U.S. House of Representatives seat, early results suggested on Tuesday, after a tight race that may still bolster Democratic momentum heading into November’s midterm vote.    Republican Debbie Lesko was leading Democratic Hiral Tipirneni, a former emergency room doctor, by about 9,100 votes with about 10,500 votes still to be counted at 11 p.m. local time, according to the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office. "I want to promise you that I am going to continue to work hard for the people of my district and continue to represent you with the values that have continued to make our nation great," Lesko told her supporters in a speech.