Shreveport

U.S. states, cities sue to block Trump 'conscience' rule for healthcare workers

Two dozen U.S. states and municipalities sued the Trump administration on Tuesday to stop it from enforcing a rule that would make it easier for doctors and nurses to avoid performing abortions on religious or moral grounds. A lawsuit led by New York Attorney General Letitia James said the expanded "conscience" protections could undermine the ability of states and cities to provide effective healthcare without jeopardizing billions of dollars a year in federal aid. Sterilizations and assisted suicide are other procedures that might be impeded, according to a complaint filed by New York and 22 other states and municipalities in federal court in Manhattan.

California sues Trump administration over withholding high-speed rail funds

California and its high-speed rail authority filed suit on Tuesday to prevent the Trump administration from canceling a nearly $1 billion federal grant awarded in 2010 for a "bullet" train project hobbled by extensive delays and rising costs. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in San Francisco, claims the U.S. Transportation Department lacks authority to withhold the $929 million in question, which the Obama administration allocated nearly a decade ago but has remained untapped. The state also plans to petition for an immediate temporary restraining order to prevent the department's Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) from redirecting the money to other projects.

Oklahoma reels, Missouri declares state of emergency from storm, floods

Rescue crews using boats pulled at least 50 people from rising water as heavy downpours inundated roads and homes, Oklahoma Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Keli Cain said, although there were no reports of deaths or serious injuries. Only the tops of cars engulfed by water were could be seen in video footage of roadways near Oklahoma City, and some houses were entirely surrounded by floods. "It's real dangerous," said Ross Reuter, a spokesman for Canadian County, where 10 people were rescued.

California sues Trump administration over withholding high-speed rail funds

The state later on Tuesday plans to seek a temporary restraining order request asking a judge to prevent the U.S. Transportation Department from repurposing the money for other transit projects, the governor's office said. The state argues that the withholding is aimed at punishing California for opposing President Donald Trump's proposed wall along the southern U.S. border. The suit also names Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)and FRA chief Ron Batory.

Half of American adults expect war with Iran 'within next few years': Reuters/Ipsos poll

While Americans are more concerned about Iran as a security threat to the United States now than they were last year, few would be in favor of a pre-emptive attack on the Iranian military. Historically tense relations between Washington and Tehran worsened in May after U.S. President Donald Trump hardened his anti-Iran stance and restored all sanctions on Iranian oil exports following his decision a year ago to pull the United States out of a 2015 international nuclear accord with Tehran.

Hundreds rally at U.S. Supreme Court, calling state abortion bans as step backward

Abortion-rights campaigners, including Democrats seeking their party's 2020 presidential nomination, rallied at the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to protest new restrictions on abortion passed by Republican-dominated legislatures in eight states. Many of the restrictions are intended to draw legal challenges, which religious conservatives hope will lead the nation's top court to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that established a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy. "We are not going to allow them to move our country backward," U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, one of the two dozen Democrats running for president, told the crowd through a megaphone.

U.S. garlic growers profit from trade war as most farmers struggle

Unlike millions of other U.S. farmers, garlic growers are profiting from the trade war with China and have cheered President Donald Trump's latest economic attack accordingly. Sales of California-grown garlic are now increasing after decades of losing ground to cheaper Chinese imports. Sales are poised to get even better as Chinese garlic faces even higher tariffs, with no end to the trade war in sight.

U.S. senators urge Volkswagen to end delay in Tennessee union vote

Three Democratic U.S. senators on Tuesday questioned a decision by Volkswagen AG's U.S. unit to delay a union election for workers at its Tennessee assembly plant. Earlier this month, the largest German automaker won its bid to put off a union vote for 1,700 workers at the Chattanooga plant until its challenge to a smaller United Auto Workers bargaining unit at the factory is settled. The National Labor Relations Board, in a 2-1 decision on May 3, granted Volkswagen's motion to stay an election petition filed by some of its workers last month.

McDonald's faces 25 new sexual harassment complaints from workers

The cases announced by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the labor group Fight for $15, and the Time's Up Legal Defense Fund cover alleged misconduct at McDonald's locations in 20 U.S. cities, including groping, indecent exposure, propositions for sex, and lewd comments. McDonald's is one of the world's most recognizable brands, and the cases make the fast-food chain a primary target of a campaign to extend the #MeToo movement, which sprung from sexual harassment cases in Hollywood, to the workplace. More than 90 percent of the locations are franchised, and McDonald's has long maintained it should not be liable for how employees in franchised restaurants behave.

Trump expected to tap ex-Virginia attorney general for immigration post: official

U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to pick former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli for an immigration policy position at the Department of Homeland Security, a White House official said on Tuesday. Cuccinelli met with Trump on Monday, and the announcement of his appointment could come as early as this week, the official said. News outlets have reported over the last two months that Trump was searching for an "immigration czar" to coordinate policy across the federal government.

Trump appeals ruling allowing Congress to see his financial records

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday appealed a federal judge's ruling against his attempt to block a House of Representatives committee from seeking his financial records, according to a court filing. Lawyers for Trump and his company filed the appeal in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia one day after a U.S. district judge backed the House Oversight Committee's subpoena for Trump's financial records from his accounting firm Mazars LLP. The House Oversight Committee has said it needs Trump's financial records to examine whether he has conflicts of interest or broke the law by not disentangling himself from his business holdings, as previous presidents did.

With shelters at 'max' California border agents drop migrants at bus station

U.S. Border Patrol in the El Centro area of southern California said it began to drop migrants off at San Bernardino's Greyhound Station on Wednesday after it ran out of room to hold them. "It was a decision that was made because they couldn’t take any more families and obviously we cannot keep them in custody for much longer because we are at capacity," said Miguel Garcia, acting assistant chief patrol agent. Apprehensions of migrant families in California's El Centro sector rose 383 percent in the seven months through April from a year earlier as record numbers of mainly Central Americans crossed the border, Border Patrol data shows.

Rural Iowans ponder Trump alternatives as China trade war drags on

The world's two largest economies have been locked in a 10-month trade war that has roiled global supply chains and rattled financial markets. U.S. farmers, who helped carry Trump to his surprise 2016 election win, have been among the hardest-hit as China has imposed tariffs on imports of U.S. agricultural products, including soybeans, pork and grain sorghum in response to U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods. Now, increasing frustrations over the prolonged dispute are prompting some rural residents in Iowa, home of the first presidential nominating contest in February, to consider candidates other than President Donald Trump in the 2020 election.

Supreme Court gives Merck another shot to avoid Fosamax lawsuits

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday gave Merck & Co a new opportunity to avoid lawsuits accusing the company of failing to properly warn patients of debilitating thigh-bone fractures from taking its osteoporosis drug Fosamax, throwing out a lower court decision that had revived the litigation. The nine justices unanimously directed the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider its decision to let the lawsuits proceed even though the Food and Drug Administration had rebuffed Merck when the company sought to add a warning to Fosamax's label about fracture risk.

White House does not need a 'strongman,' Hickenlooper says in 2020 policy speech

"I think history clearly demonstrates that when you have a so-called strongman - a dictator - you don't have rule of law," Hickenlooper said when asked at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs if that was a better approach to foreign policy than multilateralism.

U.S. Supreme Court sides with Native American elk hunter

The Supreme Court on Monday ruled in favor of a Native American elk hunter, citing an 1868 treaty between his tribe and the U.S. government as it revived his legal challenge to a conviction for hunting out of season in Bighorn National Forest in Wyoming. It found that the treaty, which gave tribe members hunting rights on "unoccupied" lands, is still in force even though it was signed before Wyoming became a U.S. state in 1890. Conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch, who has a record of backing tribal rights, sided with the court's four liberals, with the other four conservative justices in dissent.

Missouri governor expected to sign eight-week abortion ban into law

Missouri's Republican governor could sign a law as early as this week banning most abortions in the Midwestern state after the eighth week of pregnancy, part of a wave of restrictions aimed at driving a challenge of abortion to the U.S. Supreme Court. Republican Governor Mike Parson told reporters on Friday he planned to sign the bill, which was approved by the Republican-controlled state legislature last week and would enact one of the United States' most restrictive bans. The state is one of eight where Republican-controlled legislatures this year have passed new restrictions on abortion.

U.S. Supreme Court rejects Iraqi man's torture-related deportation challenge

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a bid to avoid deportation by a Christian Iraqi immigrant who argued he would be tortured if sent back to his home country for a drug conviction after more than three decades in the United States. The justices declined to hear an appeal by Amir Shabo, who was detained in 2017 during a sweep targeting hundreds of Iraqi immigrants who had prior criminal convictions and had been ordered deported as part of by President Donald Trump's push to intensify immigration enforcement. Shabo, 51, had challenged a lower court ruling that went against him.

U.S. Supreme Court takes no action in Indiana abortion cases

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday took no action on appeals seeking to revive two restrictive Republican-backed abortion laws from Indiana, even as debate rages over a new measure in Alabama that would prohibit the procedure almost entirely. Neither Indiana case was on the list of appeals on which the court acted on Monday morning. If the nine-justice court takes up either case, it would give the conservative majority an opportunity to chip away at the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide and recognized a right under the U.S. Constitution for women to terminate pregnancies.

Billionaire pledges to pay off Morehouse students’ debt

Video footage of Smith's remarks show mouths falling agape before students rise to their feet to cheer and applaud as the pledge is made. "This is my class, 2019, and my family is making a grant to eliminate their student loans," Smith said during his speech, pointing towards hundreds of students dressed in black robes and mortarboards.

Kamala Harris proposes equal pay measure to close gender gap

Harris' proposal aims to shift the burden from workers, who now must prove pay discrimination by employers, to corporations, which would have to show they eliminated pay disparities between men and women doing work of equal value. In 2017, full-time, year-round working women earned 80% of what male counterparts earned, the U.S. Census Bureau says, and minority women earned even less. At a college rally in Los Angeles on Sunday, Harris decried the pay gap between men and women.

Trump may pardon military men accused or convicted of war crimes: New York Times

U.S. President Donald Trump has asked for files to be prepared on pardoning several U.S. military members accused of or convicted of war crimes, including one slated to stand trial on charges of shooting unarmed civilians while in Iraq, the New York Times reported on Saturday. Trump requested the immediate preparation of paperwork needed, indicating he is considering pardons for the men around Memorial Day on May 27, the report said, citing two unnamed U.S. officials. Assembling pardon files normally takes months, but the Justice Department has pressed for the work to be completed before that holiday weekend, one of the officials said.

Suspect arrested in Detroit murder that sparked serial killer fears

Detroit Police Chief James Craig told reporters at an impromptu afternoon news conference that minutes earlier detectives had taken the suspect, James Quill Cockerham, into custody in the death of 26-year-old Elizabeth Candice Nichole Laird. "I appreciate our friends in the media for really dispelling a horrible rumor that was circulating across the city that there was a serial killer and that he had dumped five bodies in dumpsters across the city," Craig said.

Bernie Sanders proposes U.S. education overhaul in appeal to black voters

Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders unveiled an education policy proposal on Saturday designed to pump billions of dollars into the public schools system, in a bid to appeal to black voters who shunned the U.S. senator during his previous presidential run. The 10-point plan Sanders detailed in a speech in South Carolina aims to end racial disparities in the public education system. America's education policy debate has long been steeped in discussions of race and racial discrimination.

U.S. embassy issues Indonesia security alert ahead of election results

The U.S. embassy in Jakarta has issued a security alert ahead of election results due on Wednesday, as Indonesian authorities have arrested nearly 30 suspected militants, including some who police say are able to detonate bombs using Wi-Fi networks. The embassy advised U.S. citizens to avoid areas where large demonstrations may occur in Jakarta, and in other cities including Surabaya in East Java and Medan in North Sumatra, in a statement that was dated on Friday, May 17. Indonesian authorities have said they are heightening security ahead of May 22, when the official result of last month's presidential election will be announced.

Migrant families being flown to San Diego from Texas in U.S. border crisis

Hundreds of detainees from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facilities in Texas and elsewhere are being flown to San Diego for processing beginning on Friday, the agency said. This is making it difficult to process and release family units within 20 days of their arrival at a detention center, as required by law, the CBP said in a statement. U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this year declared the immigration influx a national emergency, which allowed him to circumvent Congress to redirect more than $6 billion in funding to start building the border wall that he campaigned on in the 2016 presidential election.

Nearly 180 former Ohio State University students claim sexual abuse by doctor

Dr. Richard Strauss was accused of abusing at least 177 male students when he worked as a physician for the university's athletic department and the student health center from 1978 to 1998, the report said, detailing the findings of a year-long independent investigation. Staff members knew of the abuse as early as 1979, but complaints were never elevated to administrators and senior officials of the athletics or student health departments until 1996. At that time, the school suspended and ultimately removed Strauss after a "very limited investigation" into a student's claim that the doctor fondled him during an exam, the report said.

Former 'slave' in New York sex cult says founder ordered naked meetings

The former "slave," Lauren Salzman, told jurors in federal court in Brooklyn that the group's leader, Keith Raniere, would preside over the meetings fully clothed. When he was unable to attend the meetings in person, the women would take a naked photo and text it to him - making sure he could see where they had been branded with his initials, Salzman said. "We were to look uniform and happy," said Salzman, 42.

Detroit police deny 'serial killer' rumors sparked by woman's murder

The whispers apparently stem from the murder of 26-year-old Elizabeth Candice Nichole Laird, whose body was found in a dumpster outside an apartment building on the city's east side on Wednesday. "There is false information circulating on social media that there is a serial killer at large in downtown Detroit, and that five to six female victims have been found in dumpsters prior to the May 15 homicide ... and that Detroit Police have failed to communicate this information to the public," police officials said on Facebook.

As Fed seeks policy advice, officials visit a struggling New Jersey city

CAMDEN, N.J./PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Two top Federal Reserve officials went to Camden, New Jersey, on Friday, taking a different reading of the pulse of the U.S. economy by visiting what is by one measure the country's lowest-income city, as the central bank seeks advice on how to do a better job. Patrick Harker, president of the Philadelphia Fed, and Federal Reserve Vice Chair Richard Clarida spent the morning in Camden, which squats in the shadows of Philadelphia's downtown skyscrapers but has the lowest median household income among U.S. cities. The dichotomy of Philadelphia's gleaming office buildings and destitute people on the streets of nearby Camden underlines the limits of Fed policy, even as most policymakers see the central bank's dual mandate of price stability and maximum employment as having been met.

California utility in big 2015 gas leak had failed to probe leaks for decades

Because Southern California Gas, a unit of Sempra Energy, had failed to investigate and analyze leaks since the 1970s, the consequences of such corrosion were not understood, leading to the 2015 incident, the report found. The report was commissioned by two state regulatory agencies, the California Public Utilities Commission and the Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources, and conducted by a third party, Blade Energy Partners. More than 60 casing leaks occurred since the 1970s at the Aliso Canyon gas storage facility and were not investigated, the report found.

Illinois governor eyes $41.5 billion plan to rebuild state's infrastructure

Illinois would spend $41.5 billion over six years to rebuild roads, bridges, schools and other facilities that have fallen into "dire shape," under a preliminary plan floated by Governor J.B. Pritzker on Friday. The Democratic governor's plan, which was distributed to lawmakers and seen by Reuters, would be funded in part with $17.8 billion of bonds even as Illinois pays the biggest yield penalty among states to sell debt. A huge $133.5 billion unfunded pension liability and chronic structural budget deficits have helped push Illinois' credit ratings down to a notch or two above the junk level.

Nearly 180 former Ohio State University students claim sexual abuse by doctor

Dr. Richard Strauss was accused of abusing at least 177 male students when he worked as a physician for the university's athletic department and the student health center from 1978 to 1998, the report said, detailing the findings of a year-long independent investigation. Staff members knew of the abuse as early as 1979, but complaints were never elevated to administrators and senior officials of the athletics or student health departments until 1996. At that time, the school suspended and ultimately removed Strauss after a "very limited investigation" into a student's claim that the doctor fondled him during an exam, the report said.

Detroit police deny 'serial killer' rumors sparked by woman's murder

The whispers apparently stem from the murder of 26-year-old Elizabeth Candice Nichole Laird, whose body was found in a dumpster outside an apartment building on the city's east side on Wednesday. "There is false information circulating on social media that there is a serial killer at large in downtown Detroit, and that five to six female victims have been found in dumpsters prior to the May 15 homicide ... and that Detroit Police have failed to communicate this information to the public," police officials said on Facebook.

Corporations, events face boycott threats over U.S. abortion laws

A day after Maryland and Colorado officials told staff not to travel to Alabama to protest its abortion law passed Tuesday, people took to Twitter to say they were cancelling convention visits and beach vacations in the state. Hangout Fest, a May 16-19 music festival in Gulf Shores, Alabama was targeted, with activists urging radio station SiriusXM to stop advertising the event and artists such as Cardi B, Travis Scott, Khalid and The Lumineers to boycott it.

Former 'slave' in New York sex cult says founder ordered naked meetings

The former "slave," Lauren Salzman, told jurors in federal court in Brooklyn that the group's leader, Keith Raniere, would preside over the meetings fully clothed. When he was unable to attend the meetings in person, the women would take a naked photo and text it to him - making sure he could see where they had been branded with his initials, Salzman said. "We were to look uniform and happy," said Salzman, 42.

Trump says 'good chance' Democrats will back his immigration, border plan

A day after unveiling a plan to shift to a "merit-based" immigration system, the Republican president said there was a "good chance" that Democrats would back him and provide funding to manage record migrant flows along the U.S.-Mexico border. "The Democrats now realize that there is a National Emergency at the Border and that, if we work together, it can be immediately fixed. Such talk of bipartisan cooperation on the explosive immigration issue for years has ended in failure and finger-pointing.

Second U.S. appeals court rules Trump cannot end protections for 'Dreamers'

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, said in its ruling that the 2017 rescission of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program violated administrative law because the policy change was not adequately explained. The ruling reversed a decision by a federal court in Maryland, and sent the case back for further proceedings. Republican Trump's Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama, began DACA in 2012.

Architect I.M. Pei dies at age 102: New York Times

Pei, whose portfolio included a controversial renovation of Paris' Louvre Museum and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, died overnight, his son Chien Chung Pei told the newspaper. Ieoh Ming Pei, the son of a prominent banker in China, left his homeland in 1935, moving to the United States and studying architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. The Louvre, parts of which date to the 12th century, proved to be Pei's most controversial work, starting with the fact that he was not French.

Alabama boycott builds as states retaliate against abortion law

A day after the southern state passed the country's most restrictive abortion law, Maryland's Democratic Comptroller Peter Franchot said he would advise his state's $52 billion pension fund to divest from Alabama, and urged other states to follow suit. Colorado's Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold called for a boycott of Alabama and urged the Election Center, an organization that trains election officials from across the country, to move out of the state. The hashtag #BoycottAlabama gained momentum online, with activists calling for boycotts of products ranging from Mercedes-Benz cars to broiler chickens that are produced in Alabama.