Norwalk

U.S. says Macau billionaire hoped U.N. bribery would cement legacy

By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - Ng Lap Seng's dream of "fame and more fortune" drove the Macau billionaire to bribe United Nations officials to win support for a multibillion-dollar conference center he hoped to build, a U.S. prosecutor said on Tuesday near the end of Ng's criminal trial. In her closing argument in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Assistant U.S. Attorney Janis Echenberg said Ng bypassed the rules of international diplomacy to try to construct the "Geneva of Asia," and "cement his legacy." But a lawyer for Ng, Tai Park, accused prosecutors of spinning a "spider web of inferences and suppositions" to transform activity the defendant was asked to do by diplomats into crimes. Prosecutors said he hoped the Macau center would regularly host events for developing countries as well as fuel the expansion of his real estate empire through the nearby construction of luxury housing, hotels, a shopping mall, marinas and a heliport.

U.S. appeals court blocks D.C. law restricting gun rights

A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday blocked a regulation in Washington, D.C., that limited the right to carry a handgun in public to people with a good reason for self-defense, handing a victory to gun rights advocates. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit's 2-1 ruling struck down the local government's third major attempt in 40 years to limit handgun rights in the U.S capital. The decision cited what it said was scant but clear guidance from the U.S. Supreme Court on the right to bear arms.

Massachusetts ex-priest convicted in abuse scandal to leave prison

A defrocked U.S. Roman Catholic priest who was one of the first to be convicted when the church's worldwide sex abuse scandal was first exposed more than a decade ago is due to be released from prison, a Massachusetts prosecutor said on Tuesday. The now 86-year-old priest, Paul Shanley, was convicted in 2005 of repeatedly raping a boy over a period of years in the 1980s and was sentenced to 12 to 15 years in prison. State regulations forbid disclosing Shanley's date of release, according to a spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections, who said he remains in custody at the Old Colony Correctional Center in Bridgewater, Massachusetts.

California governor signs climate policy extension into law

By Dan Whitcomb LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law on Tuesday a package of bills that use market forces to cut greenhouse gas emissions, extending by a decade the state's signature plan to combat climate change. The legislation puts California at the forefront of plans by mostly Democratic governors to reduce carbon emissions and adhere to the goals of the Paris climate change accord even after Republican President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the pact.

Trump speech to Boy Scouts raises ire of parents, former Scouts

By Jonathan Allen NEW YORK (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's campaign-style address to the Boy Scouts of America touched off a firestorm of criticism on Tuesday as parents and former Scouts decried a speech peppered with partisan attacks and ridicule of "fake media." The youth organization's Facebook page filled with complaints from former Scouts and parents of Scouts that Trump's remarks in West Virginia on Monday evening were out of keeping with the values of the Boy Scouts. A minority of those who commented on the speech, delivered at the organization's National Jamboree, argued that exposure to politics is an important part of a Scout's community engagement. "I'm another American offended and disturbed by Trump's breath-takingly inappropriate campaign rally yesterday," wrote Jim Schakenbach, who described himself as a former Scout leader.

New York state tax collections down $1.2 billion in first quarter of FY18

New York State's tax collections of $18.6 billion for the first quarter of its fiscal year were $1.2 billion, or 6.1 percent, lower than the same period last year, the state's top fiscal officer said on Tuesday. Collections were also $315.7 million below projections, said State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. "We're three months into New York's fiscal year and personal income tax collections are falling short of what was expected," DiNapoli said.

Two members of missing Burundi robotics team found, U.S. police say

By Ian Simpson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two members of a teenage robotics team from Burundi who went missing after a competition in Washington last week have been located and are safe, the city's Metropolitan Police Department said on Tuesday. The teens, Don Ingabire, 16, and Audrey Mwamikazi, 17, were spotted last week crossing the border into Canada. The Metropolitan Police Department would not say on Tuesday where or when they were found, citing department procedures for missing persons.

Appeals court rules for NBC in defamation suit over 'bomb' segment

A federal appeals court on Tuesday said NBC News did not defame an Oregon sporting goods company by characterizing its exploding rifle targets as "bombs" in a report on the "Today" show. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York said Tannerite Sports LLC did not show that NBCUniversal, part of Comcast Corp, made false statements about its targets, which contain chemicals that detonate when mixed together and shot with high-velocity bullets.

VW executive charged in U.S. emissions probe to plead guilty: court

A Volkswagen AG executive charged in the automaker's diesel emissions scandal plans to plead guilty on Aug. 4 in U.S. District Court in Detroit, a court spokesman said on Tuesday. Oliver Schmidt, who was chief of Volkswagen's environmental and engineering center in Michigan, has been held since January when he was arrested trying to return to Germany. Schmidt is one of eight current and former executives charged in the U.S. emissions probe.

In secret control center, N.Y.'s Penn Station moves fewer trains as repairs proceed

In a secret midtown Manhattan location lies the heart of operations for the busiest train hub in the Western Hemisphere, New York's Pennsylvania Station, which is undergoing a massive emergency repair. Staffed 24 hours a day, the control center is housed in a nondescript office building within a block of the station.

Fire crews battle to halt spread of Montana blaze, largest in the U.S.

(Reuters) - More than 600 firefighters in Montana on Tuesday battled to halt the spread of the biggest wildfire in the United States after it torched buildings, raced through forests and drove scores of people from their homes. The Lodgepole Complex fire was 20 percent contained after laying waste to 250,000 acres of timber, brush and range land near the Missouri River, according to the National Interagency Coordination Center. Data on the center's website showed Lodgepole was the biggest of 38 large wildfires burning in the western United States.

U.S. judge halts deportation of more than 1,400 Iraqi nationals

By Steve Friess DETROIT (Reuters) - A federal judge in Michigan halted on Monday the deportation of more than 1,400 Iraqi nationals from the United States, the latest legal victory for the Iraqi nationals facing deportation in a closely watched case. U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith granted a preliminary injunction requested by American Civil Liberties Union lawyers, who argued the immigrants would face persecution in Iraq because they are considered ethnic and religious minorities there.

Republican Senator McCain will return Tuesday for healthcare vote

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Republican Senator John McCain, who has been recuperating in Arizona after being diagnosed with brain cancer, will return to Washington for a vote on healthcare reform on Tuesday, his office said in a statement on Monday. "Senator McCain looks forward to returning to the United States Senate tomorrow to continue working on important legislation, including health care reform, the National Defense Authorization Act, and new sanctions on Russia, Iran and North Korea," the statement said. (Reporting by Susan Cornwell; Writing by Eric Beech; editing by Diane Craft)

Driver in Texas denies he knew immigrants were in stifling truck

By Jim Forsyth SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Reuters) - The man accused of smuggling at least 100 illegal immigrants inside a sweltering tractor-trailer, 10 of whom died, has said he was unaware of the human cargo he was hauling until he took a rest stop in Texas, court papers showed on Monday. James Bradley Jr., 60, was arrested on Sunday after police said they discovered dozens of undocumented Mexican and Guatemalan nationals, some unconscious in the back of the truck, others staggering around the vehicle in the parking lot of a Walmart store in San Antonio. Authorities called to the scene found the bodies of eight illegal immigrants, along with 30 to 40 others who survived the ordeal but were suffering from dehydration and heat stroke, some of them as young as 15.

Trump pleads with Republicans to roll back Obamacare

President Donald Trump made a last-ditch plea to U.S. Senate Republicans on Monday to "do the right thing" and fulfill seven years of campaign promises to repeal and replace former President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law. The Senate will vote on Tuesday on whether to open debate on an overhaul of the law, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell promising an open amendment process and a "robust" debate. "To every member of the Senate I say this: The American people have waited long enough.

Woman admits to killing fiance in kayak incident on Hudson River

A woman who once reported her fiance missing after his kayak capsized on a frigid Hudson River pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide on Monday, admitting she pulled the plug on his kayak so it would fill with water, prosecutors said. Angelika Graswald, 37, also admitted that she knew he was not wearing a life vest or wet suit and that the locking clip to his paddle was missing, putting her husband-to-be in grave danger, Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler's office said in a statement. The body of Vincent Viafore, 46, was eventually recovered from the river near the site of the incident, about 50 miles (80 km) north of New York City.

'Pharma bro' Shkreli says he will not testify in securities fraud trial

Shkreli's statement to U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto came after jurors had been dismissed for the day in the middle of testimony from U.S. prosecutors' last witness in the case, a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent who investigated Shkreli. Shkreli, 34, outraged patients and U.S. lawmakers by raising the price of the anti-infection drug Daraprim to $750 a pill, from $13.50, in 2015, when he was chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals.

Wells Fargo asks court to require client information be returned

Wells Fargo & Co has asked judges in New York and New Jersey to require a lawyer representing a former employee to immediately return reams of client information the bank mistakenly sent to the attorney, a bank spokeswoman said on Monday. In response to a New Jersey court case involving a dispute between ex-Wells Fargo employee Gary Sinderbrand and his brother who also worked there, the bank disclosed tens of thousands of client names, Social Security numbers, account balances and more, a lawyer for Sinderbrand wrote in a letter to the court.

California teen driver arrested after fatal crash she reportedly livestreamed

Obdulia Sanchez, 18, of Stockton, was booked into the Merced County Jail for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs causing injury and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. The California Highway Patrol said in a statement that she was driving two 14-year-old girls on Friday near Los Banos, California, around 6:40 p.m. Merced County Sheriff Deputy Daryl Allen confirmed that the girl who died, Jacqueline Sanchez, was the driver's sister.

Durst kicked man in face at party before wife disappeared: testimony

Real estate scion Robert Durst, whose ties to three slayings were portrayed in the HBO series "The Jinx," kicked a man in the face without provocation in 1981, breaking a bone, the man testified on Monday ahead of a highly anticipated murder trial. Los Angeles county prosecutors have accused Durst of first-degree murder, saying he shot to death his friend Susan Berman, a writer and the daughter of an organized crime figure, in Los Angeles in 2000 because of what she knew about the unsolved disappearance and presumed slaying of his wife Kathleen. Durst, 74, has pleaded not guilty to Berman's murder and was never charged with killing his wife.

Montana blaze rages as California crews gain ground on wildfire

The biggest U.S. wildfire torched buildings and parched grassland forcing evacuations in eastern Montana while California firefighters gained ground on a massive blaze near Yosemite National Park on Monday, authorities said. The two-blaze Lodgepole Complex in Montana, the biggest wildfire in the United States currently, was only 5 percent contained on Monday after racing through 226,000 acres (91,500 hectares) of timber, brush and range land near the Missouri River, according to the National Interagency Coordination Center.

Massachusetts cannot hold immigrants so U.S. can detain them: state top court

By Scott Malone BOSTON (Reuters) - Massachusetts police do not have the authority to detain illegal immigrants solely to buy time for federal law enforcement officials to take them into custody, the state's top court ruled on Monday. The decision amounts to a rejection of requests by the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency for courts and law enforcement agencies to hold illegal immigrants, who are facing civil deportation orders, in custody for up to 48 hours after their cases are resolved. The Supreme Judicial Court ruled that doing so amounts to a fresh arrest of the person that is not authorized by state law, in the first such ruling to apply to an entire state, according to Massachusetts' attorney general.

Tearful parents of UK baby Charlie Gard agree to let him die

The parents of Charlie Gard tearfully gave up their legal battle to keep their terminally ill baby alive on Monday, saying his condition had deteriorated too far for any possible recovery, in a case they said had touched the world. "Charlie did have a real chance of getting better. Charlie has a rare genetic condition causing progressive muscle weakness and brain damage and his parents had sought to send him to the United States to undergo therapy, in a campaign backed by U.S. President Donald Trump and Pope Francis.

U.S. allows fast processing again for some H-1B visa applications

President Donald Trump campaigned on a promise to crack down on immigrants, whom he said were taking jobs from U.S. citizens, and signed an executive order in April calling for a review of the H-1B program. The visa allows foreigners with certain skills to work temporarily in the United States. On April 3, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) suspended "premium processing" of the visas for up to six months.

California crews hold wildfire in check, let more residents go home

California authorities battling a massive wildfire near Yosemite National Park lifted evacuation orders on Sunday for more residents but said firefighters may need almost two more weeks to fully contain the blaze. The Detwiler Fire was 45 percent contained, a slight improvement from Saturday, after burning 76,250 acres (30,857 hectares) and more than 130 structures, including 63 homes, since it broke out on Monday, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said. Evacuation orders were lifted by midday Sunday for much of the historic gold rush era town of Coulterville and nearby areas as firefighters completed firelines to contain the blaze, Cal Fire said in a statement.

Death toll in suspected Texas human smuggling case rises to nine

By Jim Forsyth SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Reuters) - At least nine men were found dead on Sunday alongside dozens of people discovered inside a sweltering tractor trailer parked at a Walmart store in San Antonio, Texas, in what authorities called a case of "ruthless" human trafficking. Thirty people, many in critical condition and suffering from heat stoke and exhaustion, were removed from the trailer, which lacked air conditioning or a water supply, San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood said. Temperatures outside the vehicle topped 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 Celsius).

Firefighters gain on California wildfire, some evacuees return

By Alex Dobuzinskis LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A wildfire in central California was contained enough on Saturday for authorities to consider allowing more people back to their houses, a day after evacuation orders were lifted for a gold rush era town that was previously threatened. The Detwiler Fire just outside Yosemite National Park has scorched 75,500 acres (30,550 hectares)and destroyed more than 120 structures, including 60 homes, since it broke out on Monday, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire). The blaze, 40 percent contained as of Saturday afternoon, was named after a road near where it erupted in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Evacuation orders lifted but California wildfire rages on

(Reuters) - Residents of a historic gold-mining town in central California began returning home on Friday as evacuation orders prompted by a massive wildfire were lifted, but some 1,500 structures remained threatened by the flames. Around 2,000 residents of the town of Mariposa, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, fled their homes on Tuesday as the so-called Detwiler Fire bore down on them. The blaze, which has blackened more than 75,000 acres, destroyed 125 structures, 61 of them homes, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Firefighters gain ground on Central California wildfire

By Alex Dobuzinskis LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A wildfire in central California was contained enough on Saturday for authorities to consider allowing more people back to their houses, a day after evacuation orders were lifted for a gold rush era town that was previously threatened. The Detwiler Fire just outside Yosemite National Park has scorched 75,200 acres (30,432 hectares) and destroyed 60 homes since it broke out on Monday, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire). Authorities have since lifted evacuation orders for the town.

Senator McCain's daughter says went for hike with father

Thank you all for your best wishes!," the senator's daughter said in a tweet that included a picture showing the backs of two unidentified people sitting on a bench overlooking countryside resembling the senator's home state of Arizona. McCain, 80, a veteran senator and former Republican presidential candidate known as a strong and sometimes fiercely independent voice on defense and security issues, was found to have an aggressive form of brain tumor, glioblastoma, after surgery last week for a blood clot above his left eye. McCain's doctors said he was recovering from surgery well, and praised his underlying health as excellent.

U.S. Army sergeant indicted in Hawaii on charges of trying to help Islamic State

Ikaika Erik Kang, 34, is being held in jail and is scheduled to appear in court in Honolulu on Monday to face charges. Islamic State, a militant group that has claimed responsibility for suicide bombings and other attacks on civilians around the world, controls territory in Syria and Iraq.

U.S. abortion support groups put on more public face

    The Kentucky Health Justice Network, where she volunteers, is one of dozens of non-profit U.S. abortion funds providing money for procedures or covering travel costs to help women obtain abortions, particularly in states where Republican-backed laws have narrowed options.     For years, such organizations kept a low profile to avoid being targeted by abortion opponents.     The anti-abortion movement won a victory with the election of President Donald Trump, who has promised to appoint U.S. Supreme Court justices who would overturn the Roe v. Wade decision protecting a woman's right to abortion.

Evacuation orders lifted but California wildfire rages on

(Reuters) - Residents of a historic gold-mining town in central California began returning home on Friday as evacuation orders prompted by a massive wildfire were lifted, but some 1,500 structures remained threatened by the flames. Around 2,000 residents of the town of Mariposa, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, fled their homes on Tuesday as the so-called Detwiler Fire bore down on them. The blaze, which has blackened more than 75,000 acres, destroyed 125 structures, 61 of them homes, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Minneapolis police chief resigns after Australian woman's shooting

(Reuters) - Minneapolis police chief Janee Harteau resigned on Friday at the request of the city's mayor, who said that she had lost confidence in Harteau following the fatal police shooting of an unarmed Australian woman. The death of Justine Damond, 40, from a single gunshot wound to the abdomen fired through an open window of a police patrol car, has outraged her relatives and the public in Australia. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called it "shocking" and "inexplicable." Mayor Betsy Hodges said in a statement that she and Harteau agreed during discussions on Friday that Harteau would step aside.

U.S. fines American, Delta, Frontier for consumer rule violations

Frontier Airlines, American Airlines and Delta Air Lines have been fined for violating U.S. Transportation Department airline consumer protection rules, the department said on Friday. Frontier Airlines was fined $400,000 for violating oversales and disability rules, American Airlines $250,000 for failing to make timely refunds to passengers, and Delta Air Lines $200,000 for filing inaccurate baggage reports, the department said in a statement.

Al Qaeda suspect makes first appearance in U.S. federal court

Damache was indicted in 2011 in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on one count of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and one count of attempted identity theft to facilitate an act of international terrorism.

Trump orders review to strengthen U.S. defense industry

By Mike Stone and Ayesha Rascoe WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday initiating a government-wide review of the U.S. defense industry and suggest changes to strengthen it. The review is intended to identify and address potential weak points in the defense manufacturing base including companies that could go out of business and leave gaps in the supply chain for U.S. weapons systems, said Peter Navarro, the White House National Trade Council director. The executive order asked for recommendations on possible legislative, regulatory and policy changes that would improve and support the defense industry, calling it a "significant national priority".