US News Roundup: Justice Department probes Catholic Church sex abuse; North Dakota's Heitkamp apologizes

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Justice Department probes Catholic Church sex abuse in Pennsylvania

The U.S. Justice Department has opened an investigation into child sex abuse by priests in Pennsylvania, six Roman Catholic Church dioceses said on Thursday. The investigation is the first statewide probe by federal authorities of allegations of sex abuse and cover-up by the Catholic Church in the United States, according to groups representing abuse victims.

After ad gaffe, North Dakota's Heitkamp apologizes in Senate debate

North Dakota Democratic U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp, facing a tough re-election fight, opened her debate on Thursday with Republican challenger Kevin Cramer by apologizing for a recent ad that named sex assault survivors without their consent. The ad, intended to highlight her support of women following the brutal debate over a U.S. Supreme Court nominee accused of sexual assault, was an untimely gaffe for Heitkamp as she struggles to hang on to her seat in next month's election in a state that Republican President Donald Trump won by a landslide in 2016.

Judge orders the U.S. to review asylum for separated migrant families

A federal judge ordered the U.S. government on Thursday to begin processing asylum claims for dozens of migrant parents and children that had been separated at the southern border under the Trump Administration's zero-tolerance immigration policy. The order directs the government to begin the process of reviewing asylum claims for about 60 detained parents and children, even if their claims had previously been denied.

Florida's Republicans feel the brunt of a hurricane in the upcoming election

Two days after Katherine Shimonis returned to her home in the Florida Panhandle to find it destroyed by Hurricane Michael, she went to her local post office, which was empty and without power, and shouldered her way through the front door. To her shock, the 69-year-old retired teacher found her mail-in absentee ballot sitting in her post office box in the town of Port St. Joe.

U.S. Mega Millions jackpot nears $1 billion hours before drawing

The U.S. Mega Millions lottery reached nearly $1 billion on Friday, the day of the drawing of what is now the second-largest lottery in U.S. history. New Yorkers queuing up to buy tickets for Friday's lottery said they would use the prize money to go on a shopping spree, quit their jobs and donate to charity. Still, with winnings from the largest-ever $970 million Mega Millions jackpot, they might have a lot left over.

Thousands in U.S. South may not be able to cast ballots in early voting

Thousands of voters in Tennessee were at risk of being blocked from casting regular ballots when early voting opened this week, as officials struggled to process a surge of new registrations ahead of Nov. 6 elections to determine control of the U.S. Congress. The delay disproportionately affected the area around Memphis, a majority African-American city, leading activists to charge the Republican-controlled state government has not done enough to protect the rights of young and minority voters.

Pennsylvania law to make hazing punishable as a felony

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf is expected to sign legislation on Friday raising the maximum penalty for fraternity hazing to a felony, carrying up to seven years in prison. Named the "Timothy Piazza Anti-Hazing Law" after a Penn State freshman who died during hazing activities at the Beta Theta Pi fraternity house in February 2017, the bill unanimously passed the Legislature.

Trump praises U.S. congressman from Montana who body-slammed reporter

President Donald Trump on Thursday heaped praise on a U.S. congressman from Montana who body-slammed a reporter during a campaign for a special election in 2017. Trump, who has called the media the enemy of the American people and regularly derides journalists as "fake news," made his latest remarks during a campaign rally in Montana.

Factbox: Over 124,000 homes without power in Florida, Georgia after Hurricane Michael

More than 124,000 homes and businesses in Florida and Georgia were still without power on Friday in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael, power companies said. In total, more than 3.3 million customers lost power from Florida to New York after Michael struck the Florida Panhandle on Oct. 10 as a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 155 miles per hour (250 kph).

Texas police hunt woman who left toddler at stranger's door

A woman is suspected of child abandonment for hoisting a two-year-old boy by the arm to the house of a stranger in a northern Houston suburb, ringing the doorbell and running away, authorities said on Thursday. Neither woman nor child has been identified in the incident that unfolded in less than 30 seconds on surveillance video, the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office said.