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Most F-35 jets resume flights after engine inspections: Pentagon

More than 80 percent of Lockheed Martin Co-made F-35 fighter jets in the United States and around the world have cleared engine inspections and are now approved for flights, the Pentagon said on Monday. Last week, all U.S. and international F-35 fighter jets made by Lockheed Martin were grounded so that fuel tubes could be examined. The Pentagon said it is working closely with United Technologies Corp's Pratt & Whitney, the maker of the F-35's engine, to rapidly procure more parts to minimize the time it will take for remaining repairs.

Trump, first lady to tour hurricane-ravaged Florida Panhandle

The president and first lady were to arrive at Eglin Air Force Base in the Panhandle, Florida's northwestern region, and were scheduled to return to the White House on Monday evening, the White House said. Trump was expected to hold a briefing with Florida Governor Rick Scott, a fellow Republican, at the base located about 100 miles (160 km) west of where Hurricane Michael came ashore on Wednesday as one of the most powerful storms on record to make landfall in the continental United States. Insured losses for wind and storm surge from Hurricane Michael will run between an estimated $6 billion and $10 billion, risk modeler AIR Worldwide said.

Harvard discriminates against Asian-Americans, lawyer says at trial

Harvard University discriminates against Asian-American applicants in order to illegally limit how many it admits, a lawyer for a group suing the school said on Monday at the start of a closely watched trial. The non-jury trial before U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston pits the Ivy League school against Students for Fair Admissions, whose 2014 lawsuit challenges the use of race as a factor in college admissions decisions. SFFA, which is headed by anti-affirmative action activist Edward Blum, claims that Harvard illegally engages in "racial balancing" that artificially limits the number of Asian-American students at the elite school.

Senator Warren, mocked by Trump as 'Pocahontas,' releases DNA test

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren has released a DNA test that shows "strong evidence" she has Native-American heritage, a smackdown of President Donald Trump's ridicule of her as "fake Pocahontas" while she signals a possible 2020 presidential run. Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, said last month she would take a "hard look" at running for the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican Trump in 2020.

Honduran migrant group grows, heading for United States

A growing group of more than 1,500 Honduran migrants headed for the United States moved toward the Guatemalan border on Sunday, witnesses and organizers said. The migrants, who included families of adults and children, and women carrying babies, began a march on Saturday from the violent northern city of San Pedro Sula, days after U.S. Vice President Mike Pence called on Central America to stop mass migration. The U.S. Embassy in Honduras said it was deeply worried about the group and that people were being given "false promises" of being able to enter the United States.

Hopes fade for more survivors of Hurricane Michael

The hunt for missing people in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael early Sunday is turning into a search for the dead, as hope of finding more people alive fades in the Florida Panhandle, U.S. officials said. "We're going into recovery mode, unfortunately," said Fire Chief Alex Baird of Panama City, one of the coastal Florida communities clobbered by the hurricane that made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 storm, packing more than 140 mph winds and deadly storm surges. "At sunrise, we'll start again on our search," Baird said.

In Tennessee, a Democrat scrambles to turn out voters as polls show slide

Polls showed Bredesen, the state's 74-year-old former governor, in a surprisingly tight race with Republican U.S. Representative Marsha Blackburn to replace retiring Republican Senator Bob Corker. The Oct. 6 confirmation of President Donald Trump's polarizing Supreme Court pick, Brett Kavanaugh, injected new energy into Republicans, say Republican party leaders.

Trump says family separations deter illegal immigration

Trump also claimed, without providing evidence, that immigrants were "grabbing children and they're using children to come in to our country in many cases." 

Crowbars, cadaver dogs in search for survivors, bodies after Florida hurricane

Search and rescue volunteers have located hundreds of people reported missing in the Southeast after Hurricane Michael tore through their Florida Panhandle.

Honduran migrant group treks north as U.S. calls for tighter borders

Recent attempts at group crossings from Central America to the United States have tested U.S. President Donald Trump's "zero tolerance" stance on illegal immigration, as people fleeing violence and poverty defy threats of deportation. "I believe we'll get to the United States. There's no work in Honduras, and you live in fear that they're going to kill you or your children," said Fanny Barahona, 35, an unemployed teacher who walked with her nine-year-old son and carried a two-year-old daughter.

Florida wild cat sanctuary caught in hurricane's path

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (Reuters) - "Saint" the mountain lion was pacing nervously in his pen and crying days before Hurricane Michael cut a path of destruction through the Bear Creek Feline Center, a refuge for 23 wild cats near Florida's Panama City. "They were very agitated," said Bertie Broaddus, who runs the center with her husband Jim Broaddus, as she inspected the damage from the powerful storm that killed at least 17 people and tore up Florida's Panhandle coastline. The endangered animals at the refuge -- rescued African servals, jaguarundi, bobcats, Siberian lynx, mountain lions and panthers -- were unharmed.

Without captions, warnings about Hurricane Michael failed to reach disabled

Matlin drew attention to emergency communication glitches with disabled people earlier in the week, when she tweeted on Tuesday about the Weather Channel’s failure to include closed captioning in reports about the approaching storm. Thank you," Matlin wrote. The Weather Channel did not respond on Twitter and was not immediately available for comment.

Rescuers find first body in town worst hit by hurricane Michael

Searchers on Friday uncovered the first body in the rubble of the Florida town of Mexico Beach, which was nearly obliterated by Hurricane Michael, as the toll from the historic storm rose to at least 18 and was expected to climb further. Rescue teams, hampered by power and telephone outages, used cadaver dogs, drones and heavy equipment to hunt for hundreds of people unaccounted for in devastated communities across the Florida Panhandle. "I've watched on television, thinking of what others have experienced, like in the Carolinas and Texas," Mexico Beach Mayor Al Cathey told reporters referring to earlier hurricanes.

Volunteer search teams born of prior disasters reactivated in Florida

By Friday, two days after Michael plowed into Florida's Panhandle as one of the fiercest hurricanes ever to strike the U.S. mainland, there was no official word on the number unaccounted for in beachfront communities affected by the storm. Loved ones reported the majority unaccounted for, while a smaller number found themselves stranded and sought help, group co-founder Matthew Marchetti said. Most of the search effort focused on Bay and Gulf counties, which took the brunt of the storm while Panama City and Mexico Beach, the towns nearest Michael's landfall accounted for the largest numbers reported missing, he added.

Texas desert tent city for immigrant children balloons in size

A tent city in the west Texas desert set up to hold immigrant children has expanded its capacity by nearly 10 times to 3,800 beds.

'Praise God!': Parents of U.S. pastor rejoice at Turkey's release of son

A court in the western Turkish town of Aliaga on Friday sentenced Andrew Brunson, who had been charged with links to Kurdish militants and supporters of a U.S.-based Muslim cleric, to more than three years in prison but said he would not serve any further time because he had already been detained since October 2016. Pamela Brunson, 75, the mother of the pastor, was at her home in Black Mountain, a town in North Carolina near Asheville, when she learned of the news from a Reuters reporter calling about the court's decision. In Turkey, witnesses said Brunson wept as the decision was announced.

New Jersey sports betting activity nearly doubles in September

On-site sports wagers placed at casinos and racetracks rose by $5.1 million to $79 million in the month of September, a 7 percent increase, data from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement showed. Everyone from casinos and professional sports leagues to media companies and technology providers are watching New Jersey as a test case to see how large the nascent U.S. sports betting industry could ultimately grow. A U.S. Supreme court decision in May threw out a 1992 prohibition against the activity, opening the door to any state that wants to legalize, regulate and tax sports wagering.

Hurricane Michael's U.S. death toll rises to 16 as search goes on

The U.S. death toll from Hurricane Michael rose to 16 on Friday, law enforcement officials said, as rescue crews began searching hardest-hit communities in the Florida panhandle rendered nearly inaccessible by storm damage. Three additional deaths were reported in Marianna, in Jackson County, Florida, Sheriff Lou Roberts told a news conference. The number of fatalities was expected to rise further as no deaths have been reported from oceanfront communities, such as Mexico Beach, Port St. Joe and Panama City, that bore the brunt of the storm's wrath.

'Old Florida' town known for healing springs faces recovery task

Panacea, on the Florida Panhandle, takes its cure-all name from the area's natural springs. The tiny beachside town known for its oysters and crabs will need some of that mystique as it recovers from Hurricane Michael. Jasmine McMillan, 42, went back to her family-owned holiday campground in Ochlockonee Bay to find it covered in two feet (0.6 meters) of debris and seaweed.

U.S. intelligence watchdog says it will encourage whistleblowers to come forward

"It's really important we encourage whistleblowers to come forward and that they feel comfortable doing so and if there are allegations of reprisal then we take that very seriously," Storch said in an interview with Reuters last week. The spy agency has experienced a series of embarrassing leaks over the past five years, beginning with Edward Snowden's 2013 high-profile exposure of secret NSA surveillance programs. Getting more staff to come forward and report concerns internally through Storch's office could reduce the number of leaks, said intelligence community historian Steven Aftergood.

Harvard bias trial to spotlight use of race in college admissions

A lawsuit challenging the use of race as a factor in U.S. college admissions will go to trial in Boston on Monday, when Harvard University will face accusations that it discriminates against Asian-American applicants. The lawsuit, backed by the Trump administration, could eventually reach the Supreme Court, giving the newly cemented five-member conservative majority a chance to bar the use of affirmative action to help minority applicants get into college. "The case is critically important as it's really about diversity at colleges all across the country," said Nicole Gon Ochi, an attorney at Asian Americans Advancing Justice–Los Angeles who supports Harvard in the case.

U.S. archbishop criticized over sex abuse resigns with papal praise

The archbishop of Washington D.C. stepped down over the handling of sex abuse cases but received fulsome praise from the pope, drawing criticism from campaigners who said it showed the Catholic Church cared more for its leaders than abuse victims. Cardinal Donald Wuerl, a loyal ally of Pope Francis, was criticized in a U.S. grand jury report in August for failing to halt abuse in his previous role as archbishop of Pittsburgh. In a glowing letter of support, Francis made clear that he accepted Wuerl's resignation reluctantly, at Wuerl's insistence, and believed he was not guilty of trying to conceal abuse.

Regulator ties pipeline work to deadly Massachusetts gas explosion

A NiSource Inc affiliate failed to require contract repair crews to relocate pressure sensors during natural-gas pipeline work, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said on Thursday, resulting in overpressured lines that caused explosions and fires in three Massachusetts communities last month. Overpressurized gas poured through Columbia Gas Co of Massachusetts' distribution system in Lawrence, North Andover and Andover, flooding into homes and businesses and sparking explosions and fires that killed one person and injured 21. Critical valves controlling the gas flow were not shut for nearly 3-1/2 hours after the first alarm was raised at Columbia Gas's monitoring center, NTSB said in a preliminary report.

Washington state's top court bans death penalty as biased, arbitrary

After the court decision, Democratic Governor Jay Inslee tweeted, "Equal justice is a hallmark of democracy and assuring equal justice is the state’s responsibility. Capital punishment has been on the decline in the United States for several years, but the Administration of Republican President Donald Trump has said it is considering expanding its use for some federal crimes.

Pfizer settles New York probe into 'deceptive' copay coupons

Pfizer Inc on Thursday settled charges by New York's attorney general that it misled consumers in its drug copayment coupon program into thinking they would pay far less to fill prescriptions than they ended up having to shell out. Pfizer's coupons said consumers would "PAY NO MORE THAN" $15, $20 or $25 for Estring to treat vaginal atrophy, Quillivant XR and Quillichew ER for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and Flector patches for acute pain from minor injuries. New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood said this was "deceptive" because Pfizer buried limits on the total savings in the small print, and that thousands of consumers ended up paying much more.

Walmart to pay $65 million to settle lawsuit over seating for cashiers

Walmart denied any wrongdoing in the nine-year-old case, which was scheduled to go to trial later this year, in a filing in federal court in San Francisco on Wednesday. In addition to the payout, the company said it would begin providing seating to its cashiers in California.

Hurricane Michael rips apart Florida towns, seven dead

Michael smashed into Florida's northwest coast near the small town of Mexico Beach on Wednesday with screeching 155 mile per hour (250 kilometer per hour) winds, pushing a wall of seawater inland. It was so scary you’d poo yourself,” said retiree Tom Garcia, 60, who was trapped inside his Mexico Beach home as water poured in to waist height. Cheryl Shipman, 72, pointed to a few broken red wooden boards, saying "this used to be my three storied house." Michael, the third most powerful hurricane ever to hit the U.S. mainland, weakened overnight to a tropical storm.

Trump's lawyers preparing answers to questions in Russia probe: source

President Donald Trump's lawyers are preparing answers to questions for the U.S. special counsel probing Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday. The development, first reported by CNN, appears to show progress after several months of talks between the special counsel, Robert Mueller, and Trump's legal team in connection with the president answering questions in the investigation. Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani said last month that Mueller wanted the president to commit to a follow-up interview to any written questions, a position Trump's legal team was resisting.

Georgia lawsuit is latest blow in U.S. fight over voting rights

Kemp is the Republican nominee for governor in one of this year's highest-profile state races, in which Democrat Stacey Abrams is seeking to become the state's first black governor. The lawsuit brought by a coalition of state civil rights groups accused Kemp of attempting to depress minority turnout to improve his chances of victory. It was the latest legal development this week involving voting rights that could influence the Nov. 6 elections in states, including North Dakota, Arkansas and Ohio.