US Domestic News Roundup: Top U.S. general urges Google to work with military; Trump's EPA proposes looser carbon limits on new coal plants

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

CDC says nine more people added to E.coli infection investigation

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday an additional nine people are being investigated in connection with the multistate outbreak of E. coli infections related to romaine lettuce. This brings the total number of people who have reported infections from 15 states to 52. [https://bit.ly/2Dzorjd ]

Top U.S. general urges Google to work with military

The top U.S. general said on Thursday that it was "inexplicable" that technology giants like Alphabet Inc's Google did not want to work with the Pentagon even as they seek out business with China, where companies have less freedom than in the United States. "We are the good guys and it's inexplicable to me that we would make compromises in order to advance our business interests in China where we know that freedoms are restrained, where we know that China will take intellectual property from companies," Marine General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during an event.

Body of former President George H.W. Bush carried to Texas burial site

The body of former U.S. President George H.W. Bush was carried to the burial site at his presidential library in College Station, Texas, on Thursday after a funeral at a Houston church where he was remembered by family members who knew him best as "Gampy." Bush's casket was carried to his grave behind his library by a military honor guard in a ceremony overseen by his son and former President George W. Bush.

U.S. Supreme Court appears wary of expanding 'double jeopardy'

U.S. Supreme Court justices on Thursday expressed skepticism about putting limits on criminal charges being brought against people for the same offenses by both federal and state prosecutors in a case involving an Alabama man charged with illegally possessing a gun. Depending on how the court rules, the case could have implications for Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election and any coordination between Moscow and Republican Donald Trump's campaign.

In bipartisan test, Senate grapples with criminal justice overhaul

Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Senate scrambled on Thursday to save an effort to overhaul America's prison policies and criminal sentencing standards, seen as a bipartisan win just weeks ago, but now up against a major obstacle. Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who controls the chamber's agenda, has not brought up the legislation for a vote, even though it is backed by President Donald Trump and perhaps more than 70 senators, depending on who is counting.

Trump's EPA proposes looser carbon limits on new coal plants

The Trump administration on Thursday proposed rolling back an Obama-era rule requiring new U.S. coal plants to slash carbon emissions, a move that could crack open the door in coming years for new plants fired by the fossil fuel. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's acting administrator, Andrew Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist, announced the proposal. It would allow new coal plants to emit up to 1,900 pounds (862 kg) of carbon dioxide per megawatt-hour of electricity, up from 1,400 pounds now.

U.S. proposes looser protections for a bird, to boost drilling, mining

The U.S. Interior Department on Thursday proposed easing Obama-era protections for a bird, the greater sage grouse, to boost oil drilling and mining across Western states, a win for energy companies but a setback for conservationists. The proposal, announced by the department's Bureau of Land Management, fits within the Trump administration's broader plan to increase energy production on federal lands by rolling back environmental regulation.

Defense rests in Virginia murder trial of white nationalist

The defense rested its case on Thursday in the trial of the man who killed a counterprotester at a white nationalist rally last year by plowing his car into a crowd, after the defendant's lawyers called witnesses that suggested he was driven by fear. Lawyers for the 21-year-old defendant, James Fields, presented testimony on Thursday by a self-styled anti-fascist who guarded counterprotesters at the rally. The witness said he had warned Fields shortly before the fatal car-ramming incident to leave the area immediately.

U.S. military air crash off Japan coast kills one Marine, five missing

One U.S. Marine was killed and rescue teams were searching for five others missing after two Marine Corps aircraft collided in mid-air and crashed into the sea off the coast of Japan during a refueling exercise, officials said on Thursday. Japanese and American officials said they had so far found two of the seven Marines who had been aboard the aircraft, an F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet and a KC-130 Hercules.

Houston residents, by the thousands, mourn President George H.W. Bush

Thousands of Houstonians turned up on Thursday to pay their respects to late President George H.W. Bush, a U.S. Northeast transplant who had made Texas his home, laying flowers at makeshift memorials and lining up to catch a glimpse of his funeral motorcade. Along with his wife Barbara, who died in April, the late president had embraced the city that became their home in 1958. Bush ran energy businesses from Houston, and in 1966, was elected to U.S. Congress as a Republican.

(With inputs from Reuters)

(With inputs from agencies.)