Reuters US Domestic News Summary

08/31/2016 8:55

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

McCain, Rubio win Republican nod in U.S. Senate races

Republican U.S. senators John McCain and Marco Rubio won their party's nominations on Tuesday to seek re-election in Arizona and Florida in November, as both of the high profile politicians saw off insurgent challengers. McCain, the 2012 failed Republican presidential candidate, now faces a spirited challenge in Arizona from Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick, who has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2011 and wants to move to the Senate.

Storm bears down on Florida, hurricane threatens Hawaii

Forecasters issued a tropical storm warning on Wednesday for the Florida Gulf Coast, where preparations were being made for life-threatening flooding and fierce winds, while residents of Hawaii's Big Island were warned of an encroaching hurricane. Some local governments in Florida have begun distributing sandbags as the unnamed tropical depression heads toward the state's Gulf Coast where as much as 15 inches of rain could fall from Indian Pass on the panhandle along the Gulf of Mexico to north of Tampa, the National Hurricane Center said in an early morning advisory.

Senators press Mylan on 'exorbitantly expensive' EpiPen

Democrat Elizabeth Warren and 19 other U.S. senators voiced concern to the chief executive of Mylan NV about the high cost of its EpiPen on Tuesday, calling the device used in the case of life-threatening allergies "exorbitantly expensive." Mylan has been under fire for steadily raising the price of the device from about $100 in 2008 to about $600 currently.

First U.S.-Cuba scheduled flight in decades set to depart

The first regularly scheduled commercial flight between the United States and Cuba in more than half a century is set to depart on Wednesday, starting a new chapter in the Obama administration's bid to open trade and travel with the former Cold War foe. The first of several U.S. carriers to begin serving Cuba in the coming months, JetBlue Airways Corp will fly from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Santa Clara, a city in the center of Cuba known for its monument to revolutionary Che Guevara.

Five Chicago officers face firing over slaying of black teen

The chief of Chicago's police department recommended on Tuesday that five officers be fired over their role in the 2014 shooting death of a black teenager, an incident that heaped national scrutiny on the nation's second largest police force. Superintendent Eddie Johnson recommended to the Chicago Police Board that officer Jason Van Dyke, who shot Laquan McDonald 16 times, be fired, along with another four officers.

Three new cases of local Zika transmission in Florida: officials

Florida health officials on Tuesday said they were investigating three new Zika virus cases likely stemming from local mosquito bites in Miami-Dade County, including two cases outside of the known areas of active transmission. The new infections bring the state's total of non-travel-related cases to 46, according to the Florida Department of Health. Only one of Tuesday's three new cases was linked to Miami Beach, which is known to be an active area for local Zika transmission.

Brush fire prompts evacuation of 700 people east of Los Angeles

A "human-caused" brush fire flared quickly out of control and prompted the evacuation of some 700 people on Tuesday from a mobile home park and nearby community in Southern California's Riverside County, state fire officials said. The blaze erupted shortly before 12:30 p.m. local time (1730 GMT) and charred about 700 acres of drought-parched vegetation within five hours as flames roared through canyons and foothills in the Cherry Valley area, about 75 miles (120 km) east of Los Angeles.

New Jersey Governor Christie vetoes minimum wage hike to $15/hr

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on Tuesday vetoed a bill to raise the state's minimum wage to $15 per hour over the next five years. The legislation would have made New Jersey the third state to adopt a $15 per hour minimum wage, Christie said in a statement.

Novartis bid to sell new biosimilar crimped by U.S. court battles

Novartis has won U.S. approval for a copy of Amgen's blockbuster arthritis drug Enbrel, but the Swiss drugmaker's bid to muscle in on the medicine's $4.7 billion in annual U.S. revenue remains blocked by court battles. Novartis's Sandoz unit said on Tuesday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Erelzi, its biosimilar copy of Enbrel, for rheumatoid arthritis, plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis and other diseases.

Obama shortens prison sentences of 111 convicts: White House

U.S. President Barack Obama shortened the prison sentences of 111 convicts serving time for drug-related offenses in his second round of clemency grants this month, the White House said on Tuesday. Obama has now granted a total of 673 commutations during his presidency, more than the number granted by the 10 previous presidents combined, as he seeks to reform the criminal justice system, it said.

08/31/2016 8:55