Reuters US Domestic News Summary

09/08/2016 19:53

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

U.S. Marine trainers may be prosecuted after suicide of Muslim recruit

A Marine Corps investigation into the suicide of a recruit in South Carolina has uncovered abuse by drill instructors, in a case that could result in military prosecution or discipline of 20 training personnel, officials said on Thursday. The probe into the death in March of Raheel Siddiqui, who was Muslim, at Marine Corps Recruit Depot in Parris Island has led to revelations that other recruits also were mistreated. Siddiqui was 20 years old, according to media reports.

Chipotle settles sick customers' claims, avoiding court battles

Chipotle Mexican Grill has agreed to financial settlements with more than 100 customers who fell ill after eating at its restaurants last year, lawyers for the consumers said, as it attempts to move on from a string of food-safety problems. The burrito chain's strategy of resolving claims out of court, which has not previously been reported, shows it wants to avoid drawn-out public battles over foodborne illnesses that battered the company's stock price and reputation.

Texas schoolgirl shoots fellow student then kills herself: sheriff

A 14-year-old girl shot and wounded a fellow student at Alpine High School in rural West Texas on Thursday and then died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the Brewster County sheriff told reporters. The wounded girl, thought to be 16, was taken to a local hospital and is expected to survive. No names have been released and no motive has been given for the incident in the town of about 6,000 people, Sheriff Ronny Dodson said.

U.S. drops corruption charges against former Virginia governor, wife

U.S. prosecutors on Thursday dropped corruption charges against former Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell and his wife, bringing to a close a case that tarnished the once-rising star of the Republican Party. "After carefully considering the Supreme Court's recent decision and the principles of federal prosecution, we have made the decision not to pursue the case further," the U.S. Justice Department said in a statement.

Curbs on excessive force proposed for Cleveland police

Cleveland police would face new limits on the use of force under proposals issued on Thursday by a group charged with monitoring the city's police department, after a U.S. Justice Department report highlighted abuses by some of its officers. The report came just weeks after Tamir Rice, aged 12, was shot and killed by a rookie Cleveland police officer in November 2014, triggering national outrage over another case involving a young African-American who died at the hands of police.

U.S. FAA advises passengers not to turn on Galaxy Note 7 phones in flight

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said on Thursday it strongly advises passengers not to turn on or charge their Samsung Electronics Co Ltd Galaxy Note 7 smartphones or stow the phones in checked baggage, due to concerns over the phone's fire-prone batteries.

New York to allow late-term abortions for health at-risk women

New York will allow late-term abortions for women whose pregnancies endanger their health, a move that brings the state into federal compliance and ends decades of confusion faced by patients and providers of the procedure, state officials said. State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman issued an opinion publicly on Thursday to clarify that New Yorkers have all the protections afforded to women in the United States under the Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade and are not beholden to the state's more-restrictive abortion law.

Appeals court rejects Michigan woman's lawsuit over Catholic hospital care

A federal appeals court on Thursday rejected a woman's appeal in a lawsuit that alleged a Roman Catholic hospital in Michigan denied her adequate treatment during a painful miscarriage because of a policy banning even the discussion of abortion as an option. Tamesha Means said she went to a Mercy Health Partners facility in Muskegon, Michigan, the only hospital within 30 minutes of her home, when her water broke after only 18 weeks of pregnancy, according to the lawsuit filed against the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2013.

Cincinnati Zoo, site of gorilla slaying, evacuated over suspicious device

Cincinnati police found nothing on Thursday after receiving a phone threat of a suspicious device at a zoo where a gorilla was shot earlier this year to protect a child who had fallen into its enclosure. The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden was evacuated in the afternoon as police and bomb-sniffing dogs searched the area, the police department said. "No credible threats found at the Cincinnati Zoo," the department tweeted about an hour later.

Ex-San Francisco 49er charged with assault of elderly man, son

Former San Francisco 49er Bruce Miller was charged on Thursday with seven felonies including assault with a deadly weapon, described by prosecutors as a cane, in connection with a fight that sent an elderly man and the man's son to a hospital. Miller, 29, who was released by the National Football League team after the incident, was arrested early on Monday after he tried entering a hotel room near the city's Fisherman's Wharf district where a 70-year-old man was staying with his 66-year-old wife, according to San Francisco police.

09/08/2016 19:53