US News Roundup

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Texas set to execute two convicted murderers this week

Texas plans to conduct two executions this week, starting on Wednesday when it is set to put to death a man convicted of drowning a woman in a bathtub 20 years ago and dumping her cement-encased body in a remote area. Troy Clark, 51, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection at the state's death chamber in Huntsville at 6 p.m. (2300 GMT). On Thursday, Texas plans to execute Daniel Acker, 46, who was convicted of kidnapping and murdering a woman in 2000.

Suspect arrested in bludgeoning of seven California men, 3 of them fatal

A man who fled to California from Texas after being questioned in the disappearance of two Houston relatives was arrested on suspicion of bludgeoning seven men, three fatally, in a string of Los Angeles-area attacks on mostly homeless victims, police said on Tuesday. Ramon Escobar, 47, an El Salvador native and convicted felon who has been repeatedly deported from the United States, faces three counts of murder and four counts of attempted murder in a case investigators plan to present to prosecutors on Wednesday, authorities said.

Dwarf goats make the party scene in Los Angeles

Spanky and Pippin are literally party animals in the Los Angeles nightlife scene. The Nigerian Dwarf goats are professional party-goers, bringing their special brand of magic to city celebrations and starry soirees.

Waterways rise in South Carolina, residents told to leave

Authorities urged thousands of people to leave their homes around the city of Georgetown, South Carolina as water dumped by long-departed Hurricane Florence surged down rivers and threatened to bring devastating floods. Water levels were still rising early on Tuesday, said emergency services there, more than a week after the storm first made landfall on the U.S. Atlantic coast and killed 46 people mostly in North Carolina.

Kavanaugh's accuser offers four people to back accusation: documents

A woman who has accused President Donald Trump's U.S. Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, of sexual assault will present senators with sworn declarations from four people to corroborate her allegations, according to copies of the statements released by her lawyers on Wednesday. The declarations, first reported by USA Today, include signed documents from Christine Blasey Ford's husband and three friends that her lawyers sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee. The panel is scheduled to hold a hearing on Thursday on the accusations, ahead of a vote Friday on Kavanaugh's nomination.

Man who served in U.S. Army Reserves accused of being agent for China

A Chinese citizen was arrested in Chicago on Tuesday on charges that he covertly worked for a high-ranking Chinese intelligence official to help try to recruit engineers and scientists, including some who worked as U.S. defense contractors, the Justice Department said. Ji Chaoqun, 27, first came to the United States in 2013 to study electrical engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology, and in 2016 enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves.

U.S. Senate hopefuls in Tennessee spar on partisanship, avoid Trump

A popular former Tennessee Democratic governor positioned himself as a centrist in a race that will help determine control of the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, while his Republican rival strove to paint him as a mere follower of Washington Democrats. Former Governor Phil Bredesen and U.S. Representative Marsha Blackburn are locked in an unexpectedly close race in deeply conservative Tennessee. Democrats see the race as an opportunity to win one of the two additional seats they need to wrest control of the Senate from Republicans and gain the power to slow or stop elements of U.S. President Donald Trump's populist conservative agenda.

Delta lifts U.S. groundstop after restoring computer systems

Delta Air Lines Inc said it has restored all its systems after a technology issue grounded some flights that had not yet taken off, briefly disrupting travel for its passengers across the country on Tuesday evening. "All groundstops have been lifted," Delta said in a statement.

Bill Cosby, in cuffs, imprisoned for up to 10 years for sexual assault

Bill Cosby was marched out of court in shackles on Tuesday after a judge branded him a "predator" and sentenced him to between three and 10 years in prison for sexual assault, capping the downfall of the once-beloved comedian known as "America's Dad." Cosby, 81, was found guilty in April of three counts of aggravated indecent assault for the drugging and sexual assault of his one-time friend Andrea Constand, a former Temple University administrator, at his Philadelphia home in 2004.

Democrats have leads in Rust Belt states that Trump won: Reuters poll

An Indiana U.S. Senator seen as one of the chamber's most vulnerable Democrats has a slight edge while four of his Rust Belt Democratic colleagues have solid leads in states President Donald Trump won in 2016, a Reuters poll found. A Reuters/Ipsos/UVA Center for Politics Poll released on Wednesday found that a majority of likely voters in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan and Indiana disapprove of the Republican president and more than one-third were "very motivated" to back someone who would oppose his policies.