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U.S. farmers receive $7.7 billion in trade aid to date: USDA

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Department of Agriculture has paid out $7.7 billion so far to farmers, William Northey, Undersecretary for Farm Production and Conservation, said on Friday, in aid designed to offset the negative impact of tariff imposition.

War memorial or religious symbol? Cross fight reaches U.S. high court

There was nothing about it that made me think it was anything other than a Christian cross," Edwords, 70, said in an interview. Edwords and two other plaintiffs filed a 2014 lawsuit challenging the cross as a violation of the U.S. Constitution's Establishment Clause, which prohibits the government from establishing an official religion and bars governmental actions favoring one religion over another. While the Establishment Clause's scope is a matter of dispute, most Supreme Court experts predict the challenge to the Peace Cross will fail, with the justices potentially setting a new precedent allowing greater government involvement in religious expression.

U.S. judge weighs expanding lawsuit over family separations to cover more children

The Office of Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said in a report published earlier this year that the agency had identified many more children in addition to the 2,737 included as part of the class action lawsuit challenging family separations brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) last year. In response to the lawsuit, Sabraw ordered the families identified through a court process to be reunited with their children.

Trump, adult children urge dismissal of marketing scam lawsuit

U.S. President Donald Trump and his adult children on Thursday urged a federal judge to dismiss a racketeering lawsuit accusing them of using the family name to promote sham marketing opportunities to vulnerable, financially struggling investors. Calling the lawsuit "implausible," the Trump family said in a filing in federal court in Manhattan that the four plaintiffs failed to prove there was fraud or intent to cause harm, or that any statements by Donald Trump caused losses. The lawsuit said the Trumps deliberately conned victims into believing Donald Trump stood behind the investments and thought they would pay off, when the real goal was to enrich themselves.

Trump, adult children urge dismissal of marketing scam lawsuit

U.S. President Donald Trump and his adult children on Thursday urged a federal judge to dismiss a racketeering lawsuit accusing them of using the family name to promote sham marketing opportunities to vulnerable, financially struggling investors. Calling the lawsuit "implausible," the Trump family said in a filing in federal court in Manhattan that the four plaintiffs failed to prove there was fraud or intent to cause harm, or that any statements by Donald Trump caused losses. The lawsuit said the Trumps deliberately conned victims into believing Donald Trump stood behind the investments and thought they would pay off, when the real goal was to enrich themselves.

North Carolina elections board orders new U.S. House election

The bipartisan board's 5-0 decision came after Republican candidate Mark Harris requested a new vote, telling the panel that evidence of possible ballot fraud had undermined confidence in the election. In the televised hearing, board Chairman Bob Cordle said "the corruption" and "absolute mess" with the election's absentee ballots had cast doubt on the fairness of the contest.

U.S. Coast Guard officer accused of terror plot could face more charges

A U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant accused of amassing a cache of weapons and plotting to attack Democratic politicians and journalists was ordered held for two weeks on Thursday while federal prosecutors consider charging him with more crimes. Chris Hasson, 49, appeared in a burgundy jumpsuit but did not speak during a brief hearing in federal court in Greenbelt, Maryland. "There is an intent to murder innocent civilians," U.S. Attorney Jennifer Sykes told Judge Charles Day.

Army landlords agree to expand tenant rights, curb fees in latest reform after Reuters reports

Executives from seven real estate companies, which manage some 87,000 Army housing units at more than 40 bases, pledged a series of reforms following a Pentagon meeting earlier this week with the Army’s three senior leaders – Secretary Mark Esper, Chief of Staff Mark Milley and Sergeant Major Daniel Dailey. In one story, the news agency described how military families lack basic tenant protections in disputes with their landlords over vermin, mold and other hazards. Local inspectors generally lack enforcement authority on military bases, and base command staff said they had limited power to intervene under the companies’ 50-year contracts.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals defends $375,000 drug price after Bernie Sanders rebuke

Sanders, a vocal critic of high drug prices, had written to Florida-based Catalyst earlier this month, asking it to justify its price for Firdapse, a medication for a rare neuromuscular disease that affects about one in 100,000 people in the United States. It was also one of the campaign promises made by President Donald Trump in the 2016 elections. Last month, the Trump administration proposed a rule to overhaul the industry's system of rebates, or discounts, while Sanders unveiled legislation aimed at lowering drug prices.

Philadelphia sues seven big banks, alleges municipal bond collusion

The city of Philadelphia has filed an antitrust lawsuit accusing seven major banks of conspiring to inflate interest rates for a type of bond used by cities, towns and other public entities, costing them potentially billions of dollars. In a complaint filed on Wednesday night, Philadelphia accused Bank of America Corp, Barclays Plc, Citigroup Inc, Goldman Sachs Group Inc, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Royal Bank of Canada and Wells Fargo & Co of secretly manipulating rates for tax-exempt bonds known as VRDOs, or variable-rate demand obligations.

Former Trump campaign chief Manafort to be sentenced March 8

Manafort, 69, could spend the rest of his life in prison for charges stemming from his work as an international political consultant and lobbyist. Mueller is urging a federal judge in Virginia to impose a prison sentence of up to 24 years and a fine of up to $24 million, after a jury found Manafort guilty of trying to hide millions of dollars he earned as a consultant for pro-Russian leaders in Ukraine, and lying to banks to secure loans to fund his lavish lifestyle after that income dried up. Manafort is also due to be sentenced on March 13 in a parallel federal case in Washington.

Trump urges U.S. telecommunications companies to step up 5G systems

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday called on U.S. telecommunications companies to boost their work to build faster 5G wireless communications networks, saying they were lagging and at risk of being left behind other countries' efforts. "American companies must step up their efforts, or get left behind," Trump said in a pair of tweets. Representatives for the White House could not be immediately reached for comment.

Johnson & Johnson receives federal subpoenas related to baby powder litigation

The disclosure in Johnson & Johnson's annual report on Wednesday is the first time that the company disclosed it had received subpoenas from federal agencies regarding its talc powder products. The Justice Department declined to comment and the SEC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

New York City settles U.S. claims over Superstorm Sandy

New York City reached a $5.3 million settlement on Wednesday to resolve charges it improperly billed the U.S. government for damage to city vehicles caused by Superstorm Sandy in October 2012. The accord resolves claims that the city falsely certified to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in May 2014 that the storm had damaged Department of Transportation (DOT) vehicles beyond repair, entitling it to funds for replacements. According to the federal government, many of the 132 passenger, commercial and heavy equipment vehicles covered by the certification had been damaged or left inoperable long before Sandy and were therefore ineligible for indemnification.

Woman who joined Islamic State cannot return to U.S., Pompeo says

Hoda Muthana, 24, traveled to Syria over four years ago to join Islamic State, also known as ISIS. In media interviews this week from a detention camp in Syria, Muthana said she was sorry for her actions and wanted to return to her family in Alabama with her toddler son. Pompeo said Muthana was not a U.S. citizen and would not be admitted into the United States.

U.S. Coast Guard officer who planned mass attack arrested -prosecutors

U.S. authorities have arrested a U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant who described himself as a white nationalist and had amassed a cache of weapons to "murder innocent civilians on a scale rarely seen in this country," according to court documents. Christopher Paul Hasson, who is assigned to the Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington and lives in a Maryland suburb, was arrested on Friday on weapons and drugs charges, prosecutors said in court documents. The Office of the Federal Public Defender in Maryland did not immediately respond to a request for comment and the Coast Guard could not immediately be reached for comment.

In U.S., pope's summit on sex abuse seen as too little, too late

In the study of his home outside Washington, victims’ advocate Tom Doyle searched a shelf packed with books to find the thick report that led him to stop practicing as a priest and devote himself to helping those who had been sexually abused by clergymen. The 1985 report was one of the first exposes in a sexual abuse scandal that has plagued the Catholic Church. Pope Francis has called senior bishops to meet for four days starting on Thursday to discuss how to tackle the worsening crisis.

North Carolina Republican's son says warned father about operative's past

A state probe into the election for the 9th Congressional District has uncovered the fraudulent scheme by a consultant working for the campaign of candidate Mark Harris. The probe could lead to a new election to fill the seat, which has remained vacant since state officials refused to certify Harris' apparent victory over Democratic rival Dan McCready by 905 votes out of 282,717 ballots cast. The five-member State Board of Elections heard evidence this week that the political consultant, Leslie McCrae Dowless, hired workers to solicit and collect absentee ballots from voters in violation of state law.

Constitution's 'excessive fines' ban bolstered by U.S. high court

The nine justices ruled unanimously in favor of an Indiana man named Tyson Timbs who argued that police violated his rights by seizing his $42,000 Land Rover vehicle after he was convicted as a heroin dealer. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, back on the bench for a second straight day after undergoing lung cancer surgery in December, wrote the court's opinion, which clarified the applicability of the "excessive fines" prohibition contained in the Constitution's Eighth Amendment. "For good reason, the protection against excessive fines has been a constant shield throughout Anglo-American history.

Snow, sleet threaten U.S. East Coast, hinder hundreds of flights

A winter storm bore down on the U.S. East Coast on Wednesday, threatening to snarl New York City's evening commute after hindering air travel along the East Coast and prompting the shutdown of federal offices in Washington. Snow turning to sleet slickened roadways in the New York metropolitan area by the early afternoon and was blamed for a rash of fender benders and traffic jams. The widespread weather system piled as much as 6 inches (15 cm) of snow across the Washington area before turning to sleet, said meteorologist Bryan Jackson of the National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.

Trump 'fear-mongering' fuels rise of U.S. hate groups to record: watchdog

The SPLC, which has tracked hate groups since 1971, found there were 1,020 operating in the United States in 2018, breaking the 1,018 record set in 2011. The group blamed Trump, whose administration has focused on reducing illegal and legal immigration into the United States. "The words and imagery coming out of the Trump administration and from Trump himself are heightening these fears," Heidi Beirich, director of the SPLC's Intelligence Project, told reporters on a conference call.

'El Chapo' lawyers may challenge conviction over juror remarks

Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman may file a motion challenging his conviction on 10 criminal counts, after a juror told Vice News that jurors read media coverage of the case and discussed it with one another while the trial was going on, one of Guzman's lawyers said on Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan had instructed jurors not to read media coverage of the case or discuss it with one another at the end of every day during the nearly three-month trial that led to Guzman's convictions in Brooklyn federal court last week. "The jury clearly ignored the judge's daily admonitions against not only looking at the press but also had inappropriate communications with each other," said lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman.

Charter school battle extends West Virginia teacher strike

Although the charter school bill was defeated on Tuesday in the state House of Delegates, the strike continued, closing most of the state's 700 schools in an effort to stop lawmakers from reviving the bill, union officials said. Union officials have complained that wealthy organizations from outside the state are pushing for charter schools, which are funded by taxpayers but operate independently of public school systems.

Trump plans to nominate Jeffrey Rosen as Justice Dept. No. 2: senior official

By Steve Holland and Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump plans to nominate Jeffrey Rosen as the next deputy U.S. attorney general, the White House said on Tuesday night, the latest shuffle in the Justice Department at a time when it faces close scrutiny over its Russia investigation. Rosen, currently deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, would succeed Rod Rosenstein, who appointed a special counsel to investigate possible ties between Russia and President Donald Trump's campaign. ...

Teen in Lincoln Memorial protest sues Washington Post for $250 million

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Kentucky by Covington Catholic High School student Nicholas Sandmann, 16, seeks $250 million in damages, the amount that Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com and the world's richest person, paid for the Post in 2013. The lawsuit claims that the newspaper "wrongfully targeted and bullied" the teen to advance its bias against President Donald Trump because Sandmann is a white Catholic who wore a Make America Great Again souvenir cap on a school field trip to the March for Life anti-abortion rally in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 18. The Washington Post's Vice President for Communications Kristine Coratti Kelly said: "We are reviewing a copy of the lawsuit and we plan to mount a vigorous defense." In a photo that went viral from the incident, Sandmann is seen standing face to face with Native American activist Nathan Phillips.

Colorado man beat fiancé to death with bat, burned body: police

A Colorado man accused of murdering his fiancé last November beat the young mother to death with a baseball bat before burning her body, a homicide investigator told a hearing on Tuesday, a court official said. The gruesome details emerged at a day-long preliminary hearing in Teller County District Court in Cripple Creek, Colorado, to decide if there was probable cause to try Patrick Frazee for the disappearance and slaying of 29-year-old Kelsey Berreth. Gregg Slater, an agent with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, testified that Frazee blindfolded Berreth and beat her to death by hitting her on the head with a baseball bat, Jon Sarche, a public information officer with the Colorado Judicial Branch, confirmed to Reuters.

U.S. agency to cancel $929 million in California high-speed rail funds

California Governor Gavin Newsom said last week the state will dramatically scale back a planned $77.3 billion high-speed rail project that has faced cost hikes, delays and management concerns, but will finish a smaller section of the line. The Transportation Department's Federal Railroad Administration said in a letter it wanted to halt funding because the state had "failed to make reasonable progress." It cited Newsom's announcement to scale back the project.

Trump signs directive in step to create U.S. Space Force

Republican U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed a directive to start the lengthy process of creating a new branch of the military dedicated to handling threats in space, the U.S. Space Force. Space Policy Directive 4 sets the foundation for a legislative initiative to establish a new force under the aegis of the Air Force, the branch currently responsible for space, comparable to the Marines under the U.S. Navy. The Trump administration has said it plans to usher in the force by 2020.

Trump confident he will prevail against lawsuits over emergency declaration

The group of states, including California and New York, has charged the president and top officials in his administration with taking away taxpayer funds for their communities to fulfill a promise from his 2016 campaign to curb illegal immigration and the flow of drugs. The White House declined to comment on the filing late on Monday, but Trump's remarks to reporters in the Oval Office suggested he was not concerned or surprised by the legal challenges. "I think, in the end, we're going to be very successful with the lawsuit," Trump said.

Teen in Lincoln Memorial protest sues Washington Post for $250 million

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Kentucky by Covington Catholic High School student Nicholas Sandmann, 16, seeks $250 million in damages - saying that was the amount Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com and the world's richest person, paid for the Post in 2013.