Great Smoky Mountains fires leave three dead, ‘scene of destruction’
(Reuters) – Local officials said on Tuesday that “the worst is over” for two small Tennessee resort towns in the Great Smoky Mountains where wildfires killed three people, destroyed or damaged more than 100 homes, forced thousands to flee and threatene…
North Carolina man pleads guilty to plotting Islamic State attack
(Reuters) – A 20-year-old North Carolina man accused of murdering his neighbor and offering to pay someone to kill his own parents pleaded guilty on Tuesday to plotting mass shooting attacks in the name of Islamic State.
Accused South Carolina church shooter, acting as own lawyer, helps pick jurors
CHARLESTON, S.C. (Reuters) – The man accused of killing nine people at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina, last year helped choose jurors on Tuesday for his federal death penalty trial after being allowed to serve as his own lawyer.
Trade group sues TV’s Dr. Oz over his claims of fake olive oil
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A trade group representing olive oil importers sued television personality Dr. Mehmet Oz on Tuesday under a largely untested Georgia food libel law, objecting to his claims that much of the imported extra virgin olive oil sold in…
Ex-NFL star Sharper sentenced to 20 years in prison in drug, rape cases
(Reuters) – Former National Football League star Darren Sharper was sentenced on Tuesday to 20 years in prison after admitting to drugging and raping two women in California, concluding a string of sexual abuse cases that spanned several states.
Agnelli heir Elkann faces charges in New York over false kidnap claim
NEW YORK/MILAN (Reuters) – Lapo Elkann, grandson of late Fiat patriarch Gianni Agnelli, is facing charges in New York for falsely reporting he had been kidnapped, law enforcement sources said on Tuesday.
U.S. appeals court to hear gay workplace discrimination case
(Reuters) – A U.S. appeals court takes up a closely watched gay rights case on Wednesday in which an Indiana college professor who says she lost her job because she is a lesbian is arguing that federal civil rights law should protect gay people from wo…
U.S. justices sympathetic to death row inmate on intellectual disability
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A majority of U.S. Supreme Court justices on Tuesday appeared ready to side with a man sentenced to death for a 1980 Houston murder who is challenging how Texas gauges whether a defendant has intellectual disabilities that would …
Trump taps Obamacare critic to revamp health system
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. President-elect Donald Trump named a vociferous critic of Obamacare and a health policy expert on Tuesday to help him repeal and replace President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare program.
Data Dive: U.S. hate incidents rise sharply after Trump win: civil rights group
(Reuters) – The number of hate and bias incidents reported across the United States spiked in the 10 days following Donald Trump’s presidential election victory, according a report released on Tuesday by a civil rights advocacy group.
