Reuters US Domestic News Summary

09/15/2016 8:58

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Snowden backers press Obama for pardon before presidency ends

Three rights groups launched a campaign on Wednesday to try to persuade President Barack Obama to pardon former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden on U.S. theft and espionage charges before Obama leaves office in January. The American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said the time was right to rally support for a pardon for Snowden, who leaked documents about top-secret U.S. surveillance programs to journalists in 2013, fled to Hong Kong and was granted asylum in Russia. The ACLU provides legal representation for Snowden.

Arrest made in arson at Florida mosque where gunman prayed

A Florida man who investigators say posted anti-Islamic material on social media was arrested on Wednesday on charges of setting fire to a mosque attended by the gunman who committed the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, police said. The case is being prosecuted as a hate crime under Florida law, and the suspect, Joseph Michael Schreiber, 32, faces at least 30 years in prison if convicted of committing Monday's arson attack, according to the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office.

Transgender patients face fear and stigma in the doctor's office

Tanya Walker had lung cancer and was coughing up blood, but she says her emergency room doctor kept asking about her genitals. "It seemed like they weren't going to treat me unless I told them what genitals I had," Walker, a 53-year-old transgender woman, activist and advocate, said about her 2013 experience in a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in New York. "I felt cornered."

Muslim woman set on fire in New York not targeted due to faith: police

New York police investigating an attack in which a Muslim woman's clothing was set alight are no longer probing the case as a hate crime after linking the suspects to similar assaults on non-Muslims, authorities said on Wednesday. A man who was part of a group set fire to the 35-year-old woman's traditional Islamic attire as she window shopped outside a luxury clothing store in Midtown Manhattan on Saturday, police said in a statement. The victim quickly patted out the flames and was unharmed.

Storm Julia weakens into a depression, meandering off of U.S. coast

Tropical Storm Julia weakened into a depression and is expected to meander off the coast of Georgia and South Carolina for the next few days, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Thursday. Julia is located about 60 miles (95 km) south-southeast of Charleston, South Carolina with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph (55 kph), the Miami-based weather forecaster said.

Pandora launches new radio service 'Pandora Plus'

Online radio service Pandora Media Inc launched "Pandora Plus," its new subscription service, on Thursday as it looks to gain market share amid stiff competition from Apple Inc , Spotify and Amazon.com Inc. The new service, which will replace the existing "Pandora One" service, will allow users to listen to music offline.

United Airlines flight diverted after unspecified security concern

A United Airlines flight from Newark, New Jersey, to San Diego was diverted to Denver on Wednesday because of an unspecified security concern, the airline said. United Flight 1243 landed safely at about 9:30 p.m. local time at Denver International Airport, where passengers got off the plane, an airline spokeswoman said.

Police in Ohio fatally wound suspect armed with BB gun: media

A teenage boy was fatally wounded by police in Columbus, Ohio, when he pulled out a weapon that authorities later learned was a BB gun as officers tried to apprehend him, police told local media on Thursday. Tyree King, 13, was shot by a police officer in an alley east of downtown when he displayed what appeared to be a gun during a confrontation with police on Wednesday, authorities told an NBC affiliate in Columbus.

U.S. among nations set to unveil sanctuaries to protect oceans

The United States on Thursday will join more than 20 countries to announce the creation of 40 new marine sanctuaries around the world to protect the world's oceans from the threat of climate change and pollution. The sanctuaries, set to be unveiled at a high-level conference in Washington, will include the first such U.S. monument in the Atlantic Ocean. The protected areas are meant to limit commercial development and human impacts on ocean ecosystems.

Missouri lawmakers override gun, voter ID vetoes

Missouri lawmakers pushed through bills on Wednesday eliminating the need for permits to carry concealed weapons and requiring voters to show a photo identification before casting a ballot, overriding Democratic Governor Jay Nixon's vetoes of the bills. Both votes by the Republican-controlled state House and Senate reached the two-thirds majority required to enact legislation over the governor's veto.

09/15/2016 8:58