Reuters US Domestic News Summary

07/25/2016 19:54

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

U.N. body overturns rejection, accredits press freedom watchdog

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) was granted consultative status at the United Nations on Monday after the U.N. Economic and Social Council overturned an earlier decision rejecting the press freedom watchdog's application. The CPJ reports on violations of press freedom in countries and conflict zones around the world, reporting and mobilizing action on behalf of journalists who have been targeted. Consultative status grants the group access to U.N. headquarters and allows participation in many U.N. events.

One of New York City's busiest subway lines to shut for 18 months

One of New York City's busiest subway lines will cease running between Manhattan and Brooklyn for 18 months starting in 2019, transit officials said on Monday, creating a massive service disruption in an already overtaxed system. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said it will close a tunnel underneath the East River that carries the L train to fix extensive damage caused by flooding during Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

Suspects sought in Florida nightclub shooting that left two teens dead

Florida police said on Monday they had taken three people into custody but were searching for additional suspects in connection with a shooting outside a nightclub just after midnight that left two teenagers dead and more than a dozen people wounded. The shooting took place shortly after 12:30 a.m. EDT (0430 GMT) on Monday in the parking lot of Club Blu, which was hosting an event open to teenagers, the Fort Myers Police Department said.

Texas cemetery agrees to halt decades-long segregation

A Texas cemetery has agreed to end its segregationist policy of only burying white people after it was sued for discrimination by a woman who claimed the operators refused to bury her Hispanic husband, court papers showed on Monday. The town of Normanna, population 113, about 75 miles southeast of San Antonio, Texas, has maintained two cemeteries for decades, one for Latinos and one for whites, according to court documents.

Michael Jordan speaks against both police killings, targeting of police

Basketball legend Michael Jordan spoke out on police violence on Monday and announced two $1 million grants, to civil rights group NAACP's Legal Defense Fund and to a group that works on improving police relations with communities. "I can no longer stay silent," Jordan wrote in a statement sent to the media. The retired sports star and business magnate is known for his reticence to address social issues, though he has made political donations in the past.

Florida man admits helping funnel 2012 foreign political contribution

A Florida man pleaded guilty on Monday to working with another man to illegally funnel $80,000 in foreign contributions to U.S. President Barack Obama's joint fundraising committee in 2012 so that a foreign national could attend a campaign event. William Argeros, 57, pleaded guilty in federal court in Newark, New Jersey, to charges that he knowingly and willfully made foreign contributions and donations and made a false declaration to a federal grand jury, prosecutors said.

Man shot by Chicago police officers wants cops fired

A man who was shot by Chicago police last year said on Monday he wants the officers fired from the department, days after the city's law enforcement watchdog issued a rare finding that the shooting was unjustified. "I want them to step down," Antwon Golatte told a news conference. "They knew they were wrong for what they did and they're not just going to keep hurting innocent people out there."

Los Angeles-area wildfire spreads, motorist found dead

A huge wildfire in the Los Angeles area spread another 2,000 acres overnight and appeared to have killed a motorist whose remains were found in a charred vehicle in the fire's path, officials said on Sunday. This brought to 22,000 acres -- or 34 square miles -- the total area enveloped by the wildfire, which has forced hundreds of evacuations and is casting a dark haze over parts of Southern California.

New York City police upgrade gear after Texas, Louisiana shootings

The New York City Police Department has acquired $7 million in military-style protective equipment for patrol officers in response to recent shooting attacks on police in Baton Rouge and Dallas earlier this month, officials said on Monday. "You name it, we're buying it," Police Commissioner William Bratton told a news conference. "There's not a police department in America that is spending as much money, as much thought and interest on this issue of officer safety."

Behind Democrats' email leak, U.S. experts see a Russian subplot

If the Russian government is behind the theft and release of embarrassing emails from the Democratic Party, as U.S. officials have suggested, it may reflect less a love of Donald Trump or enmity for Hillary Clinton than a desire to discredit the U.S. political system. A U.S. official who is taking part in the investigation said that intelligence collected on the hacking of Democratic National Committee (DNC) emails released by Wikileaks on Friday "indicates beyond a reasonable doubt that it originated in Russia."

07/25/2016 19:54