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Mourners remember U.S. student held prisoner by North Korea

By Ginny McCabe WYOMING, Ohio (Reuters) - Thousands of friends and family members gathered in suburban Cincinnati on Thursday to say goodbye to an American student who died days after returning to the United States in a coma following 17 months in captivity in North Korea. Otto Warmbier, 22, was arrested in the reclusive communist country while visiting as a tourist. He was brought back to the United States last week with brain damage, in what doctors described as state of "unresponsive wakefulness," and died on Monday. ...

U.S. top court sets higher bar for stripping citizenship

The Supreme Court handed a setback to the Trump administration on Thursday by making it harder for the government to strip immigrants of U.S. citizenship in a case involving an ethnic Serb woman who lied about her husband's military service after Yugoslavia's collapse. The justices ruled 9-0 that a naturalized American citizen cannot be stripped of citizenship if a lie or omission on immigration forms was irrelevant to the government's original decision to grant entry into the United States. The justices sided with Divna Maslenjak, who had her citizenship revoked and was deported to Serbia after being convicted of breaking immigration law by falsely stating her husband had not served in the Bosnian Serb army in the 1990s.

Obamacare replacement bill takes center stage in U.S. Senate

By Richard Cowan and Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A seven-year push by U.S. Republicans to dismantle Obamacare and kill the taxes it imposed on the wealthy will reach a critical juncture on Thursday when Senate Republican leaders unveil a draft bill they aim to put to a vote, possibly as early as next week. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his lieutenants have worked in secret for weeks on the bill, which is expected to curb Obamacare's expanded Medicaid help for the poor and reshape subsidies to low-income people for private insurance. The subsidies are expected to be linked to recipients' income in the Senate bill, a "major improvement" from a measure approved last month by the U.S. House of Representatives that tied them solely to age, Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine said.

For thousands of U.S. auto workers, downturn is already here

Wall Street is fretting that the U.S. auto industry is heading for a downturn, but for thousands of workers at General Motors Co factories in the United States, the hard times are already here. Matt Streb, 36, was one of 1,200 workers laid off on Jan. 20 - inauguration day for Republican U.S. President Donald Trump - when GM canceled the third shift at its Lordstown small-car factory here. Sales of the Chevrolet Cruze sedan, the only vehicle the plant makes, have nosedived as U.S. consumers switch to SUVs and pickup trucks.

Oil to keep flowing in Dakota line while legal battle continues

Oil will continue to flow through the Dakota Access Pipeline through the summer while authorities conduct additional review of the environmental impact, after a judge on Wednesday ordered more hearings in coming months. Last week, U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg in Washington ruled in favor of Standing Rock Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux tribes, who said more environmental analysis of the Dakota Access line should have been carried out. On Wednesday, Boasberg set out a schedule of hearings that will decide what will happen to the line while additional review is completed.

Four die from heat in sweltering U.S. Southwest: reports

By Dan Whitcomb LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Four people, including a homeless person and two hikers, have died from the record-breaking heat in the U.S. Southwest, media reports said, where triple-digit temperatures have driven residents indoors and canceled airline flights. The first two fatalities recorded in the three-day heatwave took place on Monday in Santa Clara County, California, south of San Francisco, and included a homeless person found in a car, the San Jose Mercury News reported. "It is tragic when someone dies of hyperthermia since in most every case it could have been prevented," Dr. Michelle Jorden of the Santa Clara County Coroner’s Office told the newspaper.

Anti-abortion activists lose bid to dismiss California privacy case

Two anti-abortion activists charged with felony eavesdropping for secretly filming abortion providers in California lost their bid for dismissal of the case on Wednesday, but the judge ordered prosecutors to amend a criminal complaint he deemed too vague. San Francisco County Superior Court Judge Christopher Hite gave the state attorney general's office until mid-July to file a revised complaint that describes the accusations in greater detail, including specific dates, alleged victims and circumstances. Hite ruled the identities of alleged victims would remain under court seal and admonished lawyers to keep that information confidential, after the defense team for one defendant, David Daleiden, was found to have posted videos and other identifying material online.

Oil to keep flowing in Dakota line while legal battle continues

Oil will continue to flow through the Dakota Access Pipeline through the summer while authorities conduct additional review of the environmental impact, after a judge on Wednesday ordered more hearings in coming months. Last week, U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg in Washington ruled in favor of Standing Rock Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux tribes, who said more environmental analysis of the Dakota Access line should have been carried out. On Wednesday, Boasberg set out a schedule of hearings that will decide what will happen to the line while additional review is completed.

FBI says probing Michigan airport stabbing as 'act of terrorism'

By Ben Klayman and Christinne Muschi DETROIT/MONTREAL (Reuters) - The Federal Bureau of Investigation said on Wednesday it was investigating as an act of terrorism the stabbing of a police officer inside the main terminal of a small airport in Flint, Michigan. "I will tell you that we are investigating this incident today that happened at about 9:45 this morning as an act of terrorism," David Gelios, special agent in charge of the Detroit division of the FBI, told reporters outside Bishop International Airport. The U.S. Department of Justice identified the suspect as Amor M. Ftouhi, 49, of Quebec, Canada.

Bill proposes letting U.S. lawmakers carry guns anywhere except Capitol

Warning that members of Congress have a "bull's eye on our backs," a U.S. lawmaker said on Wednesday he had introduced a bill to make it legal for senators and representatives to carry guns anywhere in the country, except the U.S. Capitol building. Representative Jody Hice of Georgia said his proposal was an important step to ensure the personal safety of lawmakers "in light of recent events," an apparent reference to an attack last week in which a gunman opened fire on Republican members of Congress practicing for a charity baseball game. "Personal protection and being able to defend oneself against an assailant is part of the fabric of our Constitution, which is why I am an ardent believer in the Second Amendment," Hice said in a statement, referring to U.S. legal guarantees of the right to keep and bear arms.

Michigan fires contractor doing Enbridge oil pipeline risk analysis

By Nia Williams CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Michigan said on Wednesday it has fired a consultant after state officials discovered a conflict of interest with an employee of the company conducting an independent analysis on the risks of an oil spill from Calgary-based Enbridge Inc's Line 5 pipeline in the Great Lakes. The company, Det Norske Veritas Inc, was to produce a risk analysis by the end of June on Enbridge's 540,000 barrel per day Line 5 pipeline, which travels underwater through the Straits of Mackinac.

New York City settles with former tennis star roughed up by cop

By Peter Szekely NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City agreed on Wednesday to create a new position with a watchdog agency that hears complaints against the police as part of a settlement with retired tennis star James Blake, who was roughed up by a plainclothes officer in 2015. Instead of a monetary award, the settlement creates a fellowship in Blake's name with the Civilian Complaint Review Board to help people with complaints against the police. "It has been my intention since Day One to turn a negative situation into a positive and I think this fellowship accomplishes that goal," Blake, 37, said in a joint statement with the city announcing the agreement.

Ex-Milwaukee police officer found not guilty in fatal shooting

Dominique Heaggan-Brown, who is also black, was charged with first-degree reckless homicide in the death of Sylville Smith, 23, following a foot chase that was captured on a police body camera. People were heard in a courtroom video stream crying and yelling after Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey Conen read the jury's verdict. Heaggan-Brown was fired from the police force in October over unrelated sexual assault charges.

U.S. judge urged to halt Iraqi deportations due to persecution fears

DETROIT/NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. judge heard arguments on Wednesday to halt the deportations of around 100 Iraqis arrested by immigration authorities in the Detroit area because many belong to minorities and could face torture or religious persecution in their homeland. In a coordinated sweep in recent weeks, immigration authorities moved to detain Iraqi immigrants around the country who had final deportation orders and convictions for serious crimes. The roundup followed Iraq's agreement to accept deportees, as part of a deal that removed the country from President Donald Trump's temporary travel ban signed in March.

In N.Y. Penn Station fracas, Amtrak says repairs could cost $40 million

Amtrak's summer repair program at New York's Pennsylvania Station will cost the national passenger rail company $30 million to $40 million in wages, materials and other expenses, it said on Wednesday. The disclosure came in a letter from Chief Executive Officer Wick Moorman decrying any plans for New York transit officials to stop making the state's regular lease payments to Amtrak.

Ohio county claims top spot in America’s opioid death spiral

Scott Weidle is struggling with the death of his son Daniel, who died from a heroin overdose 18 months ago, one day after Christmas. Weidle, a sand and gravel contractor in Montgomery County, Ohio, said he could never have imagined his son becoming a statistic in the United States' growing opioid crisis. Opioid drugs, including prescription painkillers and heroin, killed more than 33,000 people in the United States in 2015, more than any year on record, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Four arrested at Trump inauguration sue DC over 'police abuse'

More than 200 people were arrested in Washington in January after some black-clad activists among those protesting Donald Trump's swearing-in clashed with police a few blocks from the White House, in an outburst of violence rare for an inauguration. The lawsuit against the Metropolitan Police Department, the District of Columbia and individual officers claims the plaintiffs broke no laws at the protests and endured abuses including being pepper-sprayed and denied food and water for hours.

For thousands of U.S. auto workers, downturn is already here

Wall Street is fretting that the U.S. auto industry is heading for a downturn, but for thousands of workers at General Motors Co factories in the United States, the hard times are already here. Matt Streb, 36, was one of 1,200 workers laid off on Jan. 20 - inauguration day for Republican U.S. President Donald Trump - when GM canceled the third shift at its Lordstown small-car factory here. Sales of the Chevrolet Cruze sedan, the only vehicle the plant makes, have nosedived as U.S. consumers switch to SUVs and pickup trucks.

New Girl Scout badges focus on cyber crime, not cookie sales

Armed with a needle and thread, U.S. Girl Scouts who master the required skills can attach to their uniform's sash the first of 18 cyber security badges that will be rolled out in September 2018, Girl Scouts of the USA said in a press release. The education program, which aims to reach as many as 1.8 million Girl Scouts in kindergarten through sixth grade, is being developed in a partnership between the Girl Scouts and Palo Alto Networks (PANW.N), a security company.

Investigator faults Oakland, California over police sex scandal

The mayor of Oakland, California, failed to thoroughly look into a scandal at the city's police department after it was revealed that some officers had sex with a teenage sex worker, according to a report filed in court on Wednesday. Three Oakland police chiefs resigned in quick succession last year after the East Bay Express newspaper reported that numerous officers in Oakland and elsewhere sexually exploited the teenager. Seven current and former San Francisco Bay Area law enforcement officers, including five from Oakland police, were criminally charged last year in connection with the sex scandal, including some charges of sex acts with a minor.

White House pressures State Department over refugee costs: sources

By Warren Strobel and Arshad Mohammed WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two studies President Donald Trump hopes will buttress his case to cut the number of refugees are at the heart of a fight between senior White House adviser Stephen Miller and career U.S. government officials over immigration policy, four current and former officials said.     Trump in March ordered the U.S. State Department and other agencies to tally only the costs of resettling refugees but not the benefits that policy experts said refugees can also bring, including tax revenues, professional skills and job creation. A current official said Miller had convened meetings with State Department staffers to discuss the refugee cost reports. When department specialists proposed including refugees' economic contributions in the studies to produce a more balanced assessment, Miller rebuffed the idea, one current and one former U.S. official said.

Anthem to reduce Obamacare offerings in Wisconsin, Indiana

The largest U.S. health insurer, which sells Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in 14 states including New York and California, for months has said that uncertainty over the payments used to make insurance more affordable could cause it to exit markets. The subsidies are available to low-income Americans who buy individual health insurance on the exchanges created under the 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA), former President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law, popularly known as Obamacare.

Trump lawyers make final Supreme Court pitch on travel ban

By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration on Wednesday made its final plea to the U.S. Supreme Court to allow its proposed ban on travelers from six Muslim-majority countries to go into effect as the justices weigh how to handle the hotly contested dispute. The court papers filed by President Donald Trump's administration complete the briefing on the government's emergency application asking the justices to block lower court injunctions in favor of challengers to the ban. In the court papers, Acting Solicitor General Jeff Wall said the lower courts had wrongly second-guessed the president on national security policy when reviewing the March 6 executive order.

Gunman made no threats to Congress before Virginia shooting: FBI

The gunman who shot at Republican lawmakers practicing for a charity baseball game did not post online any threats against or references to members of Congress before the attack, the FBI said on Wednesday. James Hodgkinson, 66, of Belleville, Illinois, opened fire last Wednesday at the baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia, wounding Republican leader Steve Scalise, authorities say. Hodgkinson's social media accounts indicated strong anti-Republican views and an FBI agent said on Wednesday items found on his body included a piece of paper with the names of six members of Congress but no context attached.

Missouri sues opioid manufacturers, joining two other U.S. states

(Reuters) - Missouri on Wednesday became the third U.S. state to accuse major drug manufacturers of fraudulently misrepresenting the risks of opioid painkillers now at the center of a national addiction epidemic.

Former homeland secretary says FBI delayed notification of cyber hack

Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson told a congressional panel on Wednesday that there was a delay between the time the FBI first made contact with the Democratic National Committee about Russia hacking its servers and the time he was notified at the Department of Homeland Security. Johnson, who served under President Barack Obama, was testifying about alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The Department of Homeland Security issued warnings about hacking into voter registration databases, but Johnson said the notices did not get the attention he would have liked.

Tropical Storm Cindy to hit U.S. Gulf Coast late Wednesday

Tropical Storm Cindy is expected to make landfall on the Gulf Coast near the Texas-Louisiana border on Wednesday, threatening to bring flash floods from Texas to Florida, according to the National Hurricane Center. Cindy's wind speed weakened on Wednesday and the storm center was located about 170 miles (270 km) south of Morgan City, Louisiana, with maximum sustained winds of 50 miles (85 km) per hour, the NHC said. The storm was moving northwest at nearly 10 miles (17 km) per hour, and forecasters said they expect this motion to continue and landfall to be made along the Texas-Louisiana border, home to some of the nation's largest refineries.

Iraqi migrant trains at U.S. border patrol academy

By Ben Gruber and Lucy Nicholson ARTESIA, N.M. (Reuters) - At a training facility in the middle of a desert in New Mexico, aspiring border patrol agent Stevany Shakare sprinted laps in 103-degree Fahrenheit weather as her instructors shouted at her to run faster. Shakare, a 23-year-old from Iraq, is one of three women in a class of 20 at the U.S. Border Patrol Academy in Artesia, New Mexico.

Oscar Health files to expand insurance coverage in several states

Despite uncertainly over the future of U.S. healthcare that has prompted major health insurers to pull out of several markets, upstart provider Oscar Health on Wednesday said it has filed to sell health insurance to individuals through Obamacare exchanges in a total of six states in 2018. In a blog post on its website, Oscar Health said it was looking to expand or begin coverage in parts of Ohio, Texas, New Jersey, Tennessee and California and had also filed to continue selling health insurance to businesses, individuals and families in New York in 2018. The announcement comes as the U.S. Congress is working to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) popularly known as Obamacare.

Death of U.S. student held by North Korea shocks fellow ex-detainees

Like student Otto Warmbier, he visited North Korea with a tour group and was taken into custody at the airport when trying to leave. Warmbier, 22, died at a Cincinnati hospital on Monday, just days after he was released from captivity in a coma. "Otto Warmbier’s death was a sudden tragedy for all of America," Fowle said in a telephone interview on Tuesday.

Parole hearing for O.J. Simpson's robbery sentence set for July 20

Simpson, famously acquitted in a sensational double-murder trial that gripped America two decades ago, was sentenced to as much as 33 years in prison for a bungled 2007 attempt in Las Vegas to recover memorabilia from his storied sports career. Simpson, 70, will appear for the hearing through a video feed from the Lovelock Correctional Center, about 100 miles northeast of Carson City, the state capital. If the four parole commissioners who are scheduled to conduct the hearing cannot agree unanimously on whether to release Simpson, the remaining three members will be contacted immediately to review the case and vote until there is a majority for approval or denial.

U.S. Attorney General Sessions hires private attorney

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has become the latest senior Trump administration official to hire a private attorney, a Justice Department spokeswoman said on Tuesday. Sessions has retained Washington-based lawyer Charles Cooper, whom spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores described as a long-time friend of the former senator. Cooper was present at Sessions' confirmation hearing and again when he testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee earlier this month.

Ferguson settles lawsuit over black teen killed by police in Missouri

Brown's death triggered sometimes violent protests in Ferguson and around the United States, fueled by later police killings of unarmed black men in other cities. Terms of the wrongful death settlement between Ferguson and Brown's parents, Michael Brown Sr. and Lesley McSpadden, were not disclosed. U.S. District Judge E. Richard Webber approved the settlement and ordered it sealed.

Supreme Court ruling threatens massive talc litigation against J&J

New Jersey-based J&J has been battling a series of lawsuits over its talc-based products, including Johnson's Baby Powder, brought by around 5,950 women and their families. The company denies any link between talc and cancer. A fifth of the plaintiffs have cases pending in state court in St. Louis, where juries in four trials have hit J&J and a talc supplier with $307 million in verdicts.