Know about Kavanaugh accuser, Keystone XL pipeline route, Ordering opioids online

U.S. Senate's Grassley sets Saturday deadline for Kavanaugh accuser: NY Times

U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley set a Saturday afternoon deadline for a woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault to decide if and how she will testify, the New York Times reported. The Committee had delayed a vote on Kavanaugh's confirmation after California professor Christine Blasey Ford's allegations emerged last week, and her lawyers and committee staff were negotiating the conditions of her testimony.

Keystone XL pipeline route would not harm the environment: State Department

The U.S. State Department on Friday issued an environmental assessment of a revised route for the Keystone XL crude pipeline that concluded it would not harm water or wildlife, clearing a hurdle for the project that has been pending for a decade. Even if the pipeline spilled crude oil along its revised route through Nebraska, a top concern of environmentalists, there would likely be no impact to groundwater, the nearly 340-page draft review said.

Ordering opioids online? Mail carrier may also deliver handcuffs

He looked like a regular mail carrier, dropping off an unremarkable package at an upscale New York City apartment tower, but neither the man nor the package was quite what they seemed. The mail carrier was really a federal agent, conducting a so-called controlled delivery, a tactic the U.S. government employs to help stem the flow of heroin, prescription painkillers and other opioids fueling the nation's epidemic of fatal overdoses.

South Carolina communities race to beat dangerous flooding

South Carolina communities along waterways near the Atlantic coast were racing on Saturday to prepare for the possible onslaught of dangerous flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence, which has killed at least 40 people. Towns and cities across the state were filling thousands of sandbags, finalizing evacuation plans and organizing rescue crews as they nervously watched swollen rivers rise near or beyond their flood stages, a week after Florence dumped some three feet of rain on the region.

The U.S. backs protecting Yellowstone’s northern gateway from mining

New mining claims should be banned for 20 years on more than 30,000 acres north of Yellowstone National Park to preserve scenery, wildlife habitat, waterways, and outdoor recreation that fuels tourism in nearby Montana towns, the U.S. Forest Service said Friday. The recommendation to withdraw 30,370 acres of the Custer Gallatin National Forest from mineral development comes after two large gold-mining operations were proposed near Yellowstone, sparking opposition from conservationists and local businesses in an area known as Paradise Valley.

Three infants, two adults stabbed at New York City daycare center

A female worker stabbed three babies, two of whom are less than a month old, at a home-based daycare center in New York City on Friday before slashing her own wrists and being taken into custody, police said. The unidentified woman, age 52, who also stabbed two adults in the predawn incident in the borough of Queens, was in stable condition, Juanita Holmes, assistant chief of patrol for the New York City Police Department, said at a news conference.

Fugitive New Mexico priest pleads not guilty to abuse charges

A former Catholic priest who fled the United States after allegations he sexually abused a child in the 1990s has been extradited from Morocco and faced charges in New Mexico on Friday, U.S. officials said. The Catholic Church worldwide is reeling from crises involving sexual abuse of minors, deeply damaging confidence in the Church in the United States, Chile, Australia, and Ireland where the scandal has hit hardest, and elsewhere.

Texan running 3-D printed guns company ordered to leave Taiwan

A Texan running a 3-D printed guns company who flew to Taiwan as police investigated an accusation he had sex with an underage girl was detained in Taipei on Friday and ordered to leave the island after his U.S. passport was annulled, officials said. Cody Wilson, 30, was taken to immigration authorities in the capital by officers from Taiwan's Criminal Investigation Bureau, according to officials.

FCC chairman ramps up a defense of net neutrality repeal

With a federal appeals court preparing to consider the Trump administration's reversal of Obama-era U.S. net neutrality regulations, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission is ramping up his defense of the decision. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has this month also criticized California's legislature for approving a state measure to guarantee open internet access and said "bad behavior" on the part of internet service providers (ISPs) could be prevented by the FCC's new transparency requirements.

Sexual assault probe of California physician, girlfriend expands

At least a dozen more women have come forward with allegations against a California surgeon and reality TV personality arrested last week with his girlfriend on charges of drugging and raping two women, the Orange County prosecutor said on Friday. Grant Robicheaux, 38, and Carissa Riley, 31, were arrested last week on charges of rape by use of drugs, oral copulation by a controlled substance, and sexual assault involving two women - one who the couple allegedly met at a Newport Beach bar and the other at a restaurant.

(With inputs from Reuters)