National News

U.S. House of Representatives Democratic committee chairmen on Thursday sought documents related to Trump administration firings of top Department of Homeland Security officials, saying they were concerned the dismissals were prompted by the officials' refusal to break the law.

Nouman Raja, 41, was fired from the Palm Beach Gardens Police Department shortly after he killed Corey Jones, 31, and was convicted last month by a jury of manslaughter and first-degree murder. Relatives read statements describing Jones, a professional drummer, as a religious man and dedicated musician, and calling on the judge to give Raja the maximum sentence. Raja appeared in prison overalls, his head bowed and his hands clasped in front of him during testimony from both his relatives and the victim's.

Federal prosecutors on Thursday charged a Massachusetts judge and court officer with conspiracy and obstruction, saying they blocked an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer from arresting an illegal immigrant at a 2018 court proceeding. The charges mark the latest skirmish over immigration enforcement between President Donald Trump's administration and local governments who have resisted his crackdown.

NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) told reporters Elon Musk's rocket company continues to investigate the cause of the 'anomaly' during a test of engines designed to propel the crew to safety at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Orange smoke was seen rising above SpaceX's facilities by a photographer working for local newspaper Florida Today. The capsule, which conducted a six-day test flight to the International Space Station in March, was one of at least six models SpaceX has in production.

President Donald Trump approved payment of a $2 million bill presented by North Korea to cover its care of comatose American Otto Warmbier, a college student who died shortly after being returned home from 17 months in a North Korean prison, the Washington Post reported on Thursday. The Post said an invoice was handed to State Department envoy Joseph Yun hours before Warmbier, 22, was flown out of Pyongyang in a coma on June 13, 2017. Warmbier died six days later.

"Its not a new incident but (the subpoena) is enough to shake off some of the more skittish bulls on the story," said Maxim Group analyst Stephen Anderson. Over the past three years, the company has faced a number of subpoenas regarding sicknesses linked to its restaurants following an E. Coli, salmonella and norovirus outbreaks at the company's outlets dating back to late 2015 that affected hundreds across several states. The latest subpoena is the fourth and is part of an ongoing criminal investigation being conducted by the U.S. Attorney's office for the Central District of California.

Farm supplier CHS Inc has dozens of loaded barges trapped on the flood-swollen Mississippi River near St. Louis - about 500 miles from the company's two Minnesota distribution hubs. The barges can't move - or get crucial nutrients to corn farmers for the spring planting season - because river locks on the main U.S. artery for grain and fertilizer have been shuttered for weeks. High water presents a hazard for boats, barges and lock equipment.

(Reuters) - A chemical spill in a small Illinois village north of Chicago on Thursday sent at least 31 people to hospitals and forced nearby residents to shut their windows and shelter in place, authorities said.

Kushner is expected to present the comprehensive plan next week to President Donald Trump, who will decide whether to adopt it as his official position or send it back for changes, the sources said. The plan does not propose ways to address young people who came to the United States illegally as children who were protected by former President Barack Obama in the 2014 program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), or those people who have Temporary Protected Status, the sources said. Democrats, whose support the White House would need to advance any kind of immigration legislation through Congress, have insisted that the DACA recipients be protected.

The woman, who accused Kelly of repeatedly having sex with her when she was 16 years old, filed the case in Chicago in February, a day before Kelly was arrested on 10 charges of sexual abuse. A Chicago judge on Tuesday entered a default ruling against Kelly, according to court records, after he did not respond to the lawsuit and missed the hearing. Kelly's criminal defense attorney, Steve Greenberg, said he was not involved in the civil litigation and declined to comment.

America's opioid epidemic, especially damaging in rural areas where Trump is popular, has been a focus for the Republican president. On Tuesday, the government charged drug distributor Rochester Drug Co-operative Inc and company executives for their role in fueling the epidemic.

Larry Hopkins, 69, whose group of self-styled citizen border cops drew condemnation from civil liberties advocates, suffered broken ribs in the beating by fellow inmates on Tuesday at the Dona Ana County Detention Center in Las Cruces, New Mexico, according to his attorney, Kelly O'Connell. Hopkins was arrested on Saturday by the FBI on an outstanding warrant accusing him of being a felon in illegal possession of firearms, a charge dating back to a 2017 search of his home. The detention facility, about 200 miles south of Albuquerque, confirmed that Hopkins was "the alleged victim" of a Tuesday night attack and said the incident was under investigation.

John William "Bill" King, 44, was put to death by lethal injection and pronounced dead at 7:08 p.m. (0008 GMT Thursday) at the state’s death chamber in Huntsville, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said in a statement. King, along with Shawn Berry and Lawrence Brewer, was accused of kidnapping Byrd while he hitchhiked in Jasper, Texas, on June 7, 1998.

The United States has confirmed 695 measles cases so far this year, the highest level since the country declared it had eliminated the virus in 2000, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday. The resurgence, which public health officials blamed in part on the spread of misinformation about the safety of vaccines, has been concentrated mainly in Washington state and New York with outbreaks that began late last year. "The longer these outbreaks continue, the greater the chance measles will again get a sustained foothold in the United States," the CDC warned in a statement.

The United States has confirmed 695 measles cases so far this year, the highest incidence recorded since the country declared it had eliminated the virus in 2000, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday. The resurgence of the contagious disease is linked mainly to large outbreaks in Washington state and two in New York that began late last year, the agency said in a statement. "The longer these outbreaks continue, the greater the chance measles will again get a sustained foothold in the United States," the agency's statement warned.