All about: California wildfire, Obama rebukes Trump, Migrant families

Former U.S. President Barack Obama assailed President Donald Trump and Republicans on Friday.

Obama rebukes Trump and Republicans for 'abuses of power,' urges Democrats to vote

Former U.S. President Barack Obama assailed President Donald Trump and Republicans on Friday, urging Democrats to deliver a check on the administration's "abuses of power" and restore a sense of sanity to politics by voting in November's elections. In an unusually blistering attack on his successor, Obama said Americans were living in dangerous times and accused Republicans of threatening democracy, dividing the country, undermining global alliances and cozying up to Russia.

Crews battle for the third day to outflank Northern California wildfire

A fierce wildfire that has forced the closure of an interstate highway in Northern California raged for a third day on Friday through explosively dry mountain timber in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, as crews battled to outflank the flames. The Delta Fire has scorched nearly 25,000 acres (10,000 hectares) in the Cascade range since erupting on Wednesday in a forest canyon along the Sacramento River, about 250 miles (402 km) north of San Francisco, fire officials said.

Hundreds arrested in multi-day protests of Supreme Court nominee

U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing in the Senate this week was frequently disrupted as protesters were removed from the hearing room by police, with more than 200 people arrested. In an unusually intense episode of civil disobedience on Capitol Hill, the four-day Senate Judiciary Committee hearing was targeted for "creative resistance" by liberal activist groups, said Linda Sarsour, Women's March board member.

Lawyer in $550 million U.S. disability fraud sentenced to more prison

A disbarred Kentucky lawyer who was sentenced to 12 years in prison for his role in a record $550 million disability fraud scheme on Friday was ordered to serve an additional 15 years after he fled to Honduras to avoid incarceration. Eric Conn, who ran one of the largest disability practices in the United States, was sentenced to the additional prison term by U.S. District Judge Danny Reeves in Lexington, Kentucky, the U.S. Justice Department said.

Migrant families separated by the U.S. are refusing reunification over dangers: ACLU

Immigrant parents separated from their children by the Trump administration and returned to their homes are refusing to be reunited with their children because their countries are so dangerous, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union told a court on Friday. "We've had very difficult conversations with the parents this week," Lee Gelernt of the ACLU told a federal judge in San Diego. "As much as they want to be with their child, and it's heartbreaking, they feel it's too dangerous."

U.S. judge orders 32 Florida counties to help Puerto Ricans vote

A federal judge on Friday ordered 32 Florida counties to provide sample Spanish language ballots that could help more than 30,000 Puerto Ricans, including many displaced by last year's Hurricane Maria, to cast votes in the November election. Chief Judge Mark Walker of the federal court in Tallahassee, the state capital, said failing to help eligible voters would likely violate the federal Voting Rights Act, which blocks states from conditioning the right to vote on an ability to understand English.

North Carolina challenges 'unreasonable' U.S. subpoenas for voter data

North Carolina's elections board voted on Friday to challenge federal subpoenas seeking years' worth of voter information from state and local officials, saying the timing, scope and unknown nature of the inquiry were cause for concern. The U.S. Justice Department on Aug. 31 issued the subpoenas on behalf of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to the state board and as many as 44 county elections boards in eastern North Carolina.

Two health scares at U.S. airports tied to Mecca pilgrims: U.S. officials

Two major health scares at U.S. airports involving inbound flights are related to pilgrims returning from the Hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, which ended in late August, U.S. health officials said on Friday. On Wednesday, U.S. health officials sent an emergency response team with mobile diagnostic equipment to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York after they were told that more than 100 passengers aboard an Emirates airlines flight from Dubai were experiencing flu-like symptoms.

The lawsuit by ex-University of Michigan student accused of sexual assault is revived

The University of Michigan must face a former male student's claims that it wrongly refused to let him cross-examine a female student who accused him of sexual misconduct, as well as other adverse witnesses, at a disciplinary proceeding. In a decision on Friday, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court judge's dismissal of claims by the male student, known as John Doe, that the school violated his due process rights and Title IX, a U.S. law barring gender discrimination by schools that receive federal funds.

U.S. man to admit to sending threatening letters to Trump's sons

A Massachusetts man has agreed to plead guilty to charges he mailed threatening letters containing a suspicious powder to several prominent people, including U.S. President Donald Trump's sons, federal prosecutors in Boston said on Friday. Daniel Frisiello, 25, could face seven years in prison for sending the letters, including one sent to Donald Trump Jr.'s Manhattan home that warned "you are getting what you deserve," which caused Trump Jr.'s wife, Vanessa, to be taken to the hospital after opening it.

(With inputs from Reuters)