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Trump may pardon military men accused or convicted of war crimes: New York Times

U.S. President Donald Trump has asked for files to be prepared on pardoning several U.S. military members accused of or convicted of war crimes, including one slated to stand trial on charges of shooting unarmed civilians while in Iraq, the New York Times reported on Saturday. Trump requested the immediate preparation of paperwork needed, indicating he is considering pardons for the men around Memorial Day on May 27, the report said, citing two unnamed U.S. officials. Assembling pardon files normally takes months, but the Justice Department has pressed for the work to be completed before that holiday weekend, one of the officials said.

Bernie Sanders proposes U.S. education overhaul in appeal to black voters

Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders unveiled an education policy proposal on Saturday designed to pump billions of dollars into the public schools system, in a bid to appeal to black voters who shunned the U.S. senator during his previous presidential run. The 10-point plan Sanders detailed in a speech in South Carolina aims to end racial disparities in the public education system. America's education policy debate has long been steeped in discussions of race and racial discrimination.

U.S. embassy issues Indonesia security alert ahead of election results

The U.S. embassy in Jakarta has issued a security alert ahead of election results due on Wednesday, as Indonesian authorities have arrested nearly 30 suspected militants, including some who police say are able to detonate bombs using Wi-Fi networks. The embassy advised U.S. citizens to avoid areas where large demonstrations may occur in Jakarta, and in other cities including Surabaya in East Java and Medan in North Sumatra, in a statement that was dated on Friday, May 17. Indonesian authorities have said they are heightening security ahead of May 22, when the official result of last month's presidential election will be announced.

Migrant families being flown to San Diego from Texas in U.S. border crisis

Hundreds of detainees from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facilities in Texas and elsewhere are being flown to San Diego for processing beginning on Friday, the agency said. This is making it difficult to process and release family units within 20 days of their arrival at a detention center, as required by law, the CBP said in a statement. U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this year declared the immigration influx a national emergency, which allowed him to circumvent Congress to redirect more than $6 billion in funding to start building the border wall that he campaigned on in the 2016 presidential election.

Nearly 180 former Ohio State University students claim sexual abuse by doctor

Dr. Richard Strauss was accused of abusing at least 177 male students when he worked as a physician for the university's athletic department and the student health center from 1978 to 1998, the report said, detailing the findings of a year-long independent investigation. Staff members knew of the abuse as early as 1979, but complaints were never elevated to administrators and senior officials of the athletics or student health departments until 1996. At that time, the school suspended and ultimately removed Strauss after a "very limited investigation" into a student's claim that the doctor fondled him during an exam, the report said.

Former 'slave' in New York sex cult says founder ordered naked meetings

The former "slave," Lauren Salzman, told jurors in federal court in Brooklyn that the group's leader, Keith Raniere, would preside over the meetings fully clothed. When he was unable to attend the meetings in person, the women would take a naked photo and text it to him - making sure he could see where they had been branded with his initials, Salzman said. "We were to look uniform and happy," said Salzman, 42.

Detroit police deny 'serial killer' rumors sparked by woman's murder

The whispers apparently stem from the murder of 26-year-old Elizabeth Candice Nichole Laird, whose body was found in a dumpster outside an apartment building on the city's east side on Wednesday. "There is false information circulating on social media that there is a serial killer at large in downtown Detroit, and that five to six female victims have been found in dumpsters prior to the May 15 homicide ... and that Detroit Police have failed to communicate this information to the public," police officials said on Facebook.

California utility in big 2015 gas leak had failed to probe leaks for decades

Because Southern California Gas, a unit of Sempra Energy, had failed to investigate and analyze leaks since the 1970s, the consequences of such corrosion were not understood, leading to the 2015 incident, the report found. The report was commissioned by two state regulatory agencies, the California Public Utilities Commission and the Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources, and conducted by a third party, Blade Energy Partners. More than 60 casing leaks occurred since the 1970s at the Aliso Canyon gas storage facility and were not investigated, the report found.

Illinois governor eyes $41.5 billion plan to rebuild state's infrastructure

Illinois would spend $41.5 billion over six years to rebuild roads, bridges, schools and other facilities that have fallen into "dire shape," under a preliminary plan floated by Governor J.B. Pritzker on Friday. The Democratic governor's plan, which was distributed to lawmakers and seen by Reuters, would be funded in part with $17.8 billion of bonds even as Illinois pays the biggest yield penalty among states to sell debt. A huge $133.5 billion unfunded pension liability and chronic structural budget deficits have helped push Illinois' credit ratings down to a notch or two above the junk level.

Nearly 180 former Ohio State University students claim sexual abuse by doctor

Dr. Richard Strauss was accused of abusing at least 177 male students when he worked as a physician for the university's athletic department and the student health center from 1978 to 1998, the report said, detailing the findings of a year-long independent investigation. Staff members knew of the abuse as early as 1979, but complaints were never elevated to administrators and senior officials of the athletics or student health departments until 1996. At that time, the school suspended and ultimately removed Strauss after a "very limited investigation" into a student's claim that the doctor fondled him during an exam, the report said.

Detroit police deny 'serial killer' rumors sparked by woman's murder

The whispers apparently stem from the murder of 26-year-old Elizabeth Candice Nichole Laird, whose body was found in a dumpster outside an apartment building on the city's east side on Wednesday. "There is false information circulating on social media that there is a serial killer at large in downtown Detroit, and that five to six female victims have been found in dumpsters prior to the May 15 homicide ... and that Detroit Police have failed to communicate this information to the public," police officials said on Facebook.

Former 'slave' in New York sex cult says founder ordered naked meetings

The former "slave," Lauren Salzman, told jurors in federal court in Brooklyn that the group's leader, Keith Raniere, would preside over the meetings fully clothed. When he was unable to attend the meetings in person, the women would take a naked photo and text it to him - making sure he could see where they had been branded with his initials, Salzman said. "We were to look uniform and happy," said Salzman, 42.

Trump says 'good chance' Democrats will back his immigration, border plan

A day after unveiling a plan to shift to a "merit-based" immigration system, the Republican president said there was a "good chance" that Democrats would back him and provide funding to manage record migrant flows along the U.S.-Mexico border. "The Democrats now realize that there is a National Emergency at the Border and that, if we work together, it can be immediately fixed. Such talk of bipartisan cooperation on the explosive immigration issue for years has ended in failure and finger-pointing.

Second U.S. appeals court rules Trump cannot end protections for 'Dreamers'

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, said in its ruling that the 2017 rescission of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program violated administrative law because the policy change was not adequately explained. The ruling reversed a decision by a federal court in Maryland, and sent the case back for further proceedings. Republican Trump's Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama, began DACA in 2012.

Architect I.M. Pei dies at age 102: New York Times

Pei, whose portfolio included a controversial renovation of Paris' Louvre Museum and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, died overnight, his son Chien Chung Pei told the newspaper. Ieoh Ming Pei, the son of a prominent banker in China, left his homeland in 1935, moving to the United States and studying architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. The Louvre, parts of which date to the 12th century, proved to be Pei's most controversial work, starting with the fact that he was not French.

Alabama boycott builds as states retaliate against abortion law

A day after the southern state passed the country's most restrictive abortion law, Maryland's Democratic Comptroller Peter Franchot said he would advise his state's $52 billion pension fund to divest from Alabama, and urged other states to follow suit. Colorado's Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold called for a boycott of Alabama and urged the Election Center, an organization that trains election officials from across the country, to move out of the state. The hashtag #BoycottAlabama gained momentum online, with activists calling for boycotts of products ranging from Mercedes-Benz cars to broiler chickens that are produced in Alabama.

U.S. Speaker Pelosi opens door to more funds for border migrant crisis

Pelosi was not talking about money for the border wall Trump wants, which Democrats oppose. Republican Trump on May 1 requested $4.5 billion for programs that house, feed, transport and oversee record numbers of Central American families seeking asylum and straining capacity at migrant shelters in border cities. Democrats initially questioned whether the administration was seeking more funding to expand the detention of migrants entering the United States illegally.

Missouri Senate passes bill to ban abortions after eight weeks

The vote came a day after Alabama's governor signed into law the country's most restrictive abortion bill, outlawing nearly all abortions, absent a medical emergency. The Missouri bill now goes back to the state House of Representatives, where it originated, for final legislative action. The Alabama and Missouri measures, along with similar legislation proposed in more than a dozen other states, represent the latest efforts by political conservatives to challenge Roe v. Wade, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that established a woman's right to terminate a pregnancy.

Ex-soldier and WikiLeaks source Manning returned to jail for defying grand jury subpoena

A federal judge found former U.S. soldier and WikiLeaks source Chelsea Manning in contempt of court and ordered her back to jail on Thursday for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury, a law enforcement official and her legal team said. Manning was convicted by Army court-martial in 2013 of espionage and other offenses for leaking an enormous trove of military reports and State Department cables to WikiLeaks while she was an intelligence analyst in Iraq. Former President Barack Obama later reduced Manning's sentence and she was released in May 2017.

Judge orders former U.S. soldier and WikiLeaks source Manning back to jail

A U.S. judge on Thursday found former U.S. soldier and WikiLeaks source Chelsea Manning in contempt of court for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury and ordered her back to jail, a law enforcement official said. U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga also ruled that if Manning does not comply with the grand jury subpoena after 30 days she will be fined $500 a day, the official said.

U.S. cancels $929 million in California high speed rail funds after appeal rejected

The U.S. railway regulator, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), said on Thursday it had canceled the funding awarded in a 2010 agreement after it said the state had "repeatedly failed to comply" and "failed to make reasonable progress on the project." In a statement, the FRA said it was still considering "all options" on seeking the return of $2.5 billion in federal funds the state has already received. The decision is the latest salvo in an ongoing battle between the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump and California over a series of issues including immigration, vehicle emissions standards and internet policy. The largest U.S. state has repeatedly sued the Trump administration and officials expect the state will sue over the rescinding of rail funding.

U.S. Speaker Pelosi opens door to more funds for border migrant crisis

Pelosi was not talking about money for the border wall Trump wants, which Democrats oppose. Republican Trump on May 1 requested $4.5 billion for programs that house, feed, transport and oversee record numbers of Central American families seeking asylum and straining capacity at migrant shelters in border cities. Democrats initially questioned whether the administration was seeking more funding to expand the detention of migrants entering the United States illegally.

Democrats read Mueller report aloud in U.S. Capitol hearing room

The reading began at noon EDT (1700 GMT) and was expected to take 12 to 14 hours. For those who could not make it to the Capitol hearing room to listen, it was being broadcast on C-SPAN and lawmakers plan to release a podcast version.Representative Mary Gay Scanlon, one of the top Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee, started the reading and nearly two dozen of her colleagues were to take part. "There [are] a lot of average people who have not seen the Mueller report," Representative Sylvia Garcia, another Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said ahead of Scanlon kicking off the reading.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio becomes 24th Democrat to seek White House

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio entered the crowded 2020 presidential race on Thursday, arguing that his record of progressive accomplishments in the country's biggest city positioned him as the perfect foil to President Donald Trump. De Blasio, 58, launched his candidacy with the central campaign message, "Working People First," becoming the 24th Democrat seeking to take on Trump in next year's election. In a video released on Thursday, de Blasio returned to the theme of income inequality that had animated his first mayoral campaign in 2013, when he emerged as a leading voice for the burgeoning left wing that has since reshaped his party.

Five more U.S. states sue OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma over opioid epidemic

Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, West Virginia and Wisconsin joined 39 states to file lawsuits targeting Purdue Pharma and its leaders, including former president Richard Sackler and his family. Officials accused Purdue Pharma of repeatedly making false and deceptive claims that opioids, including OxyContin, were safe for a wide range of patients seeking to reduce pain. The lawsuits were announced six days after a North Dakota judge dismissed that state's lawsuit accusing Purdue Pharma of overstating the benefits and trivializing the addiction risks of prolonged opioid use.

Rapper Pras plugs his album while proclaiming innocence in election fraud case

Former Fugees rapper Prakazrel “Pras” Michel appeared in court on Thursday and told reporters he is innocent of criminal charges that he conspired to funnel foreign funds into Barack Obama's 2012 presidential re-election, while also plugging his upcoming album. Michel said he has no plans to take a plea deal if offered one and that "every issue and everything that has been said around here" will be addressed on his new nine-track extended-play album. "I'm totally innocent and my lawyer's going to handle the whole trial and we're in full compliance," he said after appearing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Democrat Warren targets Pentagon contractors, calls industry corrupt

Warren wants to limit the ability of former Pentagon officials to work for contractors or foreign governments and to make public the documents of private companies working with the Defense Department, she outlined on Thursday in a post on Medium. Warren is one of more than 20 Democrats vying for her party's nomination to challenge Republican President Donald Trump in the November 2020 election. Warren has distinguished herself in the field as the candidate with the most prolific series of policy proposals on a myriad of topics.

U.S. Democratic hopeful Inslee unveils second climate change plan

This is the second plank of Inslee's broader "Climate Mission" agenda, which sets a goal of achieving 100 percent zero-emission electricity by 2035. The 38-page plan calls for $300 billion in average annual federal spending to leverage around $600 billion more each year to invest in industries and manufacturing, infrastructure, and skilled labor, which it estimates would create 8 million jobs.

Tennessee to execute man convicted for wife's murder three decades ago

Donnie Johnson is set to be put to death by lethal injection at 7 p.m. (0000 GMT) at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. Johnson's co-worker Ronnie McCoy, an inmate on work release, testified that he left the couple alone in an office for about 15 minutes. When he returned, he found Connie suffocated, according to his court testimony.

Trump pardons ex-media mogul Conrad Black

President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed a full pardon for former media mogul Conrad Black, who was convicted in 2007 of fraud and obstruction of justice and spent 3-1/2 years in prison. Black, 74, a Canadian-born British citizen, once ran an international newspaper empire that included the Chicago Sun-Times, Britain's Daily Telegraph and the Jerusalem Post. "Lord Black's case has attracted broad support from many high-profile individuals who have vigorously vouched for his exceptional character," the White House said in a statement announcing the pardon.

U.S. anti-abortion groups plot course from state capitals to Supreme Court

Anti-abortion campaigners have been seeking to overturn a woman's constitutional right to an abortion ever since the U.S. Supreme Court found they had that right in the 1973 decision Roe v. Wade. The momentum has picked up since Republican President Donald Trump appointed two justices to the nine-member Supreme Court in the past two years. State legislatures with Republican majorities are passing laws they know will face legal challenge, hoping the Supreme Court will eventually decide to hear one that could overturn Roe.

PG&E lines blamed for deadliest wildfire in California history

State fire investigators have formally determined that Pacific Gas & Electric Co transmission lines caused the deadliest and most destructive wildfire on record in California, a blaze that killed 85 people last year, officials said on Wednesday. The wind-driven blaze, dubbed the Camp Fire, erupted in the drought-parched Sierra foothills 175 miles (280 km) north of San Francisco in November 2018 and raced with little warning through the town of Paradise, incinerating much of that community. Nearly 19,000 homes and other structures were destroyed, and the death toll stands as the greatest loss of life from a single wildfire in California history.