US News Roundup: California mandates female board directors; Hurricane Rosa loses strength and more

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

California state law mandates female board directors by 2019

California will require publicly listed companies with headquarters in the state to have at least one woman on their boards of directors by end of 2019, under a bill signed into law on Sunday. The law would mandate at least two female directors by the end of 2021 if the company has five directors and three women if the company has six or more directors. Violators face fines of at least $100,000 and up to $300,000 for multiple violations of the statute.

Overshadowed by Kavanaugh drama, new Supreme Court term looms

The U.S. Supreme Court begins its new term on Monday in an awkward position, down one justice as the fierce fight unfolds in the Senate over the confirmation of President Donald Trump's nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to a lifetime job as a justice. With eight justices rather than the usual nine, the court was set to hear arguments in two cases as it opens its nine-month term, according to tradition, on the first Monday of October.

White House adviser Conway: 'I'm a victim of sexual assault'

Kellyanne Conway, an adviser to President Donald Trump, said on Sunday that she was the victim of sexual assault and that women who survive such experiences should be heard. "I feel very empathetic, frankly, for victims of sexual assault and sexual harassment and rape," Conway told CNN while defending the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, who has been accused of sexual assault by one woman and sexual misconduct by two other women.

Hurricane Rosa loses strength as it spins toward California

Hurricane Rosa dwindled to a Category 1 storm as it spun in the Pacific Ocean towards Baja California early Sunday and was forecast to become a weaker tropical storm later in the day, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. Rosa, with maximum sustained winds of 85 miles per hour (140 kph), dropped down from a Category 2 storm overnight, coming down another notch on the five-step Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.

Officials suspend search in Alaskan waters for helicopter crash victims

The U.S. Coast Guard suspended its search on Sunday for three missing people from a helicopter crash in the frigid waters near Lituya Bay, about 116 miles (187 km) northwest of Juneau, Alaska. Authorities searched 788 square miles (2,041 square km) over a period of more than 36 hours, a Coast Guard statement said.

FBI probe is the next battle in war over Kavanaugh

Democratic U.S. senators expressed concern on Sunday over reports the White House was working with Republicans to narrow the scope of an FBI investigation into sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. President Donald Trump bowed to pressure from moderate members of his Republican Party on Friday and ordered the probe after Christine Blasey Ford, a university professor, detailed her allegations at a Senate hearing that Kavanaugh assaulted her in 1982 when the two were in high school.

Tropical Storm Rosa will still pack a punch to southern California, Arizona

Tropical Storm Rosa diminished from a Pacific hurricane over the weekend, but will still bring strong winds and dangerous rip currents to Southern California on Monday, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. It could also bring life-threatening flash floods to central Arizona over the next few days, the NHC added.

California governor signs gun control bills into law

California Governor Jerry Brown signed several gun control bills into law on Friday, including one measure that raises the minimum age for buying rifles and shotguns from 18 to 21. The new laws come seven months after a gunman opened fire with a semiautomatic assault-style rifle at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, killing 14 students and three adults, the second-deadliest mass shooting at a public school in U.S. history.

Trump uses Kavanaugh delay as rallying cry for midterm elections

U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday used the stalled nomination of his Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh as a rallying cry for Republican voters in November congressional elections. At a West Virginia rally, Trump did not say a word about the testimony of university professor Christine Blasey Ford who detailed her sexual assault allegation against Kavanaugh at an extraordinary hearing on Thursday.

U.S. sues after California governor signs 'net neutrality' law

The U.S. Justice Department late on Sunday filed suit after California Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation to restore open internet protections known as net neutrality in the state after the Trump administration repealed the rules in December 2017. This marked the latest clash between the Trump administration and California, which have sparred over environmental, immigration and other hot-button issues.