US Domestic News Roundup: Caitlyn Jenner slams Trump, package bombs, Kentucky supermarket shooting

The U.S. Coast Guard searched through the night for a civilian aircraft that went down in the Atlantic off the coast of South Carolina on Thursday en route to the Bahamas, the agency said.

U.S. Coast Guard searches through the night for a downed plane

The U.S. Coast Guard searched through the night for a civilian aircraft that went down in the Atlantic off the coast of South Carolina on Thursday en route to the Bahamas, the agency said. The Piper PA-31 aircraft went off the radar at about 11.30 a.m. EDT about 110 miles (177 km) east of Charleston after reporting an emergency to air traffic controllers, the Coast Guard said in a statement.

U.S. Democratic campaigns target healthcare as Republican weak spot: Reuters poll

Democratic candidates for the U.S. Congress are closing out the campaign season with an ominous warning: telling voters millions of Americans could lose their health insurance or be forced to pay significantly more if Republicans win. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Friday shows why they are hammering the message: 58 per cent of likely voters want to keep former President Barack Obama's signature legislative achievement, the Affordable Care Act.

Special Report: How Republicans are using immigration to scare voters to the polls

The commercial opens with an appeal to fear: a hoodie-wearing man prowling an alley, knife in hand. His face remains hidden but the ad makes it clear: He's an illegal immigrant. "We need tough immigration enforcement to keep dangerous criminals out," says the ad by a national conservative political group, part of an effort to help a Republican challenger, Mike Braun, oust a Democratic incumbent in Indiana and capture a U.S. Senate seat in November's congressional elections.

Victims of Kentucky supermarket shooting identified by police

A black man and woman were identified by police on Thursday as the two people shot dead at a Kentucky supermarket by a white male suspect who is reported to have told an armed bystander not to shoot him as "whites don't kill whites." The suspect, identified as Gregory Bush, 51, was in custody and facing multiple charges including two counts of murder and 10 counts of first-degree wanton endangerment, Jeffersontown Police said in a statement.

Caitlyn Jenner slams Trump says transgender people 'relentlessly attacked'

Caitlyn Jenner, America's best-known transgender celebrity, said on Thursday that she had been wrong to support President Donald Trump, saying he had insulted the transgender community and turned them into political pawns. Jenner, 68, who announced her transition from Olympic gold medalist Bruce Jenner to Caitlyn in 2015, voted for Republican Trump in the 2016 presidential election despite criticism from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

U.S. Pacific islands brace for a long recovery after 'catastrophic' typhoon

Authorities in the Northern Mariana Islands called for urgent supplies and equipment on Friday and were preparing for weeks without power after being hit by their most powerful typhoon in half a century, killing one woman and causing widespread destruction. Super Typhoon Yutu, a category five storm, struck the U.S. Western Pacific territory overnight on Wednesday, pulling down hundreds of electricity poles, damaging homes and commercial properties and the international airport on Saipan, located about 6,000 km (3,700 miles) west of Hawaii.

As states chase sports betting gold, addicts left in the cold

On the day Jeff Wasserman's decades-long gambling addiction came to a head, the Delaware lawyer found himself parked outside a convenience store with three agonizing options: end his life, flee the country or come clean and get help. "I raised the white flag in my own mind," Wasserman, 63, said of the day he decided to seek help for a problem that had secretly consumed hundreds of thousands of dollars, his retirement savings and his career. "I knew that it was D-day."

FBI focuses on Florida in the hunt for the sender of package bombs

Federal authorities investigating the pipe bombs sent to prominent Democrats and critics of U.S. President Donald Trump are focusing on Florida, where they believe at least some of 10 packages originated. A police bomb squad and canine units joined federal investigators on Thursday to examine a sprawling U.S. mail distribution centre at Opa-Locka, northwest of Miami, Miami-Dade County police said.

Two decades after brutal killing, Matthew Shepard to be laid to rest

Two decades after Matthew Shepard was kidnapped and killed, turning him into an inspirational symbol for the fight against violence targeting gay people, his remains will be interred on Friday at the Washington National Cathedral. The Episcopal cathedral will host a service for the public, followed by a private interment ceremony in its crypt. Attendees are expected to fill the 2,500-seat nave and spill onto the front lawn.

Judge orders Durst of 'The Jinx' to stand trial in the murder case

Robert Durst, the subject of an HBO documentary, "The Jinx," must stand trial in the 2000 murder of his longtime friend, a judge ruled on Thursday at a hearing interrupted at times by outbursts from Durst. Durst, a 75-year-old multi-millionaire, was arrested in 2015 and charged with murder in the shooting death of his confidante Susan Berman.

(With inputs from Reuters)