US News Roundup: Georgia to continue review of governor's race; US judge to hear CNN White House lawsuit

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Air Force pilot killed, another injured in crash in Texas: Air Force

A U.S. Air Force pilot was killed and another injured when their supersonic jet crashed in Texas, the Air Force said on Wednesday. The T-38C Talon crashed at Laughlin Air Force Base in Del Rio, Texas at 7:40 p.m. local time (0140 GMT), the air base said on Facebook. The plane is a twin-engine, high-altitude, supersonic jet trainer, it said on its website.

National Guard to help search for remains from California's deadliest wildfire

National Guard troops were due to arrive on Wednesday to help search for more victims in the charred, ash-strewn ruins where the northern California town of Paradise stood, before it was erased in the deadliest, most destructive wildfire in state history. The Guard contingent, about 100 military police trained to look for and identify human remains, will reinforce the coroner-led recovery teams, cadaver dogs and forensic anthropologists already scouring the ghostly landscape of a fire that has killed at least 48 people.

House Democrat to probe census citizenship question

The lawmaker expected to head the powerful House Oversight Committee in the new U.S. Congress says one of his first priorities will be investigating why President Donald Trump's administration decided to ask about citizenship on the 2020 census questionnaire. Democratic Representative Elijah Cummings told Reuters he had not yet prioritized all the issues his committee would examine when his party takes over leadership of the House of Representatives in January.

U.S. top court to review Virginia voting districts in race case

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday said it will review for a second time whether Republican legislators in Virginia drew electoral districts in the state in a way that unlawfully diluted the clout of black voters. The high court will hear an appeal by the Republican-led state House of Delegates of a June ruling by a federal three-judge panel that said the 11 state House districts in question all violated the rights of black voters to equal protection under the law under the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment.

U.S. safety board to hold hearing on fatal Southwest engine explosion

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is set to hold an investigative hearing on Wednesday about a midair incident in April during which an engine on a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 exploded over Pennsylvania, killing one passenger. Dallas-based Southwest has been under intense scrutiny in the months since an engine on a flight headed from New York to Dallas blew apart, shattering a plane window, flinging shrapnel and killing passenger Jennifer Riordan, one of 149 people aboard.

U.S. anti-Semitic hate crimes spiked 37 per cent in 2017: FBI

Hate crimes in the United States jumped 17 per cent in 2017, with a huge 37 per cent spike in anti-Semitic attacks, marking the third year in a row that such attacks have increased, according to FBI data released on Tuesday. The release of the data comes just weeks after a gunman burst into a Pittsburgh synagogue and shot dead 11 worshippers while shouting "All Jews must die."

Ohio family charged with murdering eight people in child custody feud

Four members of a family face the death penalty after a grand jury charged them with the April 2016 execution-style shooting deaths of eight members of another rural Ohio family, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced on Tuesday. Four members of the Wagner family were charged with murdering seven members of the Rhoden family and a fiancée of one of the victims, DeWine told a news conference in Pike County, where the killings took place.

U.S. judge to hold a hearing on CNN White House lawsuit

A federal judge said he would hold a hearing on Wednesday on CNN's lawsuit against the Trump administration seeking the speedy reinstatement of press credentials for White House correspondent Jim Acosta, a frequent target of President Donald Trump. In its lawsuit filed on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Washington, the cable news network said the White House violated the First Amendment right to free speech as well as the due process clause of the Constitution providing fair treatment through the judicial process. The network asked for a temporary restraining order.

U.S. court orders Georgia to continue review of governor's race

Georgia voters will wait until at least Friday for the final word on who will be their next governor after a U.S. federal judge ordered state election officials to review provisional ballots cast in last week's election. In an order late on Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Amy Totenberg urged county election officials to conduct a "good faith" or "independent" review of ballots cast by voters on a provisional basis in the race between Democrat Stacey Abrams and Republican and former Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp.

Man convicted on terrorism charge in 2017 Michigan airport stabbing

A man accused of stabbing a police officer at a Michigan airport last year was convicted in U.S. federal court on Tuesday of charges including terrorism, a court official said. A jury in Flint, Michigan, found Amor Ftouhi, 51, of the Canadian province of Quebec, guilty on charges of committing an act of violence at an international airport, interference with airport security and committing an act of terrorism, the court said.

(With inputs from agencies.)