Reuters US Domestic News Summary

09/01/2016 19:50

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Uber files $8 million building permit for new Oakland headquarters

Uber Technologies Inc has filed an $8 million building permit with the City of Oakland to undergo heavy-duty renovations on the old Sears building that will house its new corporate headquarters. The ride-services giant filed the permit on Tuesday, according to BuildZoom, a company that compiles construction and remodeling contractor data. Uber must still receive approval from the city.

Pakistani man sentenced in U.S. for trying to export military equipment

A Pakistani man was sentenced on Thursday to 33 months in a U.S. prison for attempting to export military equipment for the Pakistani military without a license, the U.S. Justice Department said. Syed Vaqar Ashraf had previously pleaded guilty to trying to procure gyroscopes and illegally ship them to Pakistan so they could be used by the Pakistani military, the Justice Department said in a news release. He was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Arizona.

N.Y. man pleads not guilty to killings of imam, associate

A New York man pleaded not guilty on Thursday to charges that he shot dead a Muslim cleric and his associate last month on the street after they left a mosque in Queens, prosecutors said. Oscar Morel, 36, is facing murder and weapons charges.

Hermine strengthens into hurricane, barrels toward Florida coast

Winds from strengthening Hurricane Hermine lashed at Florida's northern Gulf Coast late on Thursday, forcing residents to evacuate some coastal areas and stock up on provisions ahead of what the state's governor warned would be a lethal storm. Hermine, expected to be the first hurricane to make landfall in the state in more than a decade, also posed a Labor Day weekend threat to states along the northern Atlantic Coast that are home to tens of millions of people.

Florida finds first local mosquitoes with Zika virus

Florida officials on Thursday said they have trapped the first mosquitoes that tested positive for the Zika virus in the Miami area, further confirming reports of local U.S. transmission of the illness that can cause severe birth defects. Three mosquito samples tested positive from a small area in Miami Beach where increased trapping and intensified mosquito control measures are being implemented, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services said.

Dallas police chief who managed response to sniper attack to retire

The Dallas Police chief who gained national prominence for his leadership after five officers were killed in a sniper attack during a protest march against police violence, unexpectedly announced his retirement on Thursday. Chief David Brown, 55, said he would step down on Oct. 22 on his 56th birthday, after serving more than three decades as a police officer.

Weak Mylan board fosters EpiPen 'debacle': New York comptroller

New York City's comptroller on Thursday criticized what he said are "exorbitant" price increases for Mylan NV's allergy auto-injector EpiPen and said weak board oversight of management decisions had undermined the company's reputation and its stock price. Scott Stringer said the price hikes, six times what the device cost when Mylan took it over in 2007, have prompted a public backlash and are partly responsible for a nearly 10 percent decline in Mylan's share price in the past month alone. Stringer manages about $163 billion in pension funds for the city, including 1,059,357 shares of Mylan common stock worth about $45 million, he said.

Rocket explodes on launch pad in blow to Elon Musk's SpaceX

An explosion destroyed a Falcon 9 rocket belonging to Elon Musk's SpaceX and its cargo during preparations for a routine test firing at Cape Canaveral in Florida on Thursday, two days before it had been due to blast off and place a satellite in orbit. SpaceX said there were no injuries and that an "anomaly" during the static fire test resulted in the loss of the rocket and a communications satellite owned by Israel-based Space Communication which was going to be used by Facebook to expand internet access in Africa.

Melania Trump sues Daily Mail, blogger over 'defamatory' stories

Melania Trump, the wife of U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, sued the Maryland-based publisher of the Daily Mail Online and a blogger on Thursday over stories about her past she believes were "tremendously damaging," her attorney said in a statement. A Daily Mail story last month cited a Slovenian magazine's report that a modeling agency that Trump worked with in New York in the 1990s also served as an escort business, linking wealthy clients with women for sexual services.

U.S. concerned for welfare of Houston woman as China sets spy trial date

China has set a Sept. 19 trial date for a U.S. businesswoman accused of spying, charges her husband in Texas said on Thursday were false, and the U.S. State Department said it was concerned about her welfare. Sandy Phan-Gillis, who was born in Vietnam and has Chinese ancestry, was arrested on suspicion of spying by Chinese authorities in March 2015 while visiting the country as part of a trade delegation from Houston.

09/01/2016 19:50