US News Roundup: Texan Republicans to vote on ousting Muslim county party leader; Cruise ship returning early to Florida after 277 sickened


Devdiscourse News Desk | Updated: 11-01-2019 05:41 IST | Created: 11-01-2019 05:22 IST
US News Roundup: Texan Republicans to vote on ousting Muslim county party leader; Cruise ship returning early to Florida after 277 sickened
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Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Trump threatens to use emergency power to build wall, end shutdown

Flanked by border agents who are going without paychecks during a government shutdown, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Thursday to use emergency powers to bypass Congress to pay for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump flew to the Texas border with Mexico to try to bolster his case for the border wall as a partial U.S. government shutdown tied to the issue stretched into its 20th day with no sign of new talks to resolve the impasse.

'We want our pay!' furloughed U.S. workers shout at White House

Hundreds of furloughed federal employees chanting "We want our pay!" marched on the White House on Thursday, the 20th day of a partial government shutdown over U.S. President Donald Trump's demand for border wall funding. "Stop the shutdown!" protesters shouted in the bitter cold at the union-organized demonstration that started at the AFL-CIO headquarters and ended in front of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, where they hoisted signs reading "Trump: End the Shutdown" and "Not a strike - we want to work."

Texan Republicans to vote on ousting Muslim county party leader

Republicans in and around Forth Worth, Texas, will vote on Thursday on whether to oust a vice chairman of the county party from his post because he is a Muslim, a move opposed by Republican elected officials in the state. The Tarrant County Republican Party's executive committee voted to make Shahid Shafi, a trauma surgeon, a vice chairman last July in a nearly unanimous vote, according Jeremy Bradford, the county party's executive director.

'El Chapo' computer whiz tells court of 'nervous breakdown' after helping FBI

Self-described computer whiz Christian Rodriguez told jurors on Thursday how he had a nervous breakdown from the stress of cooperating with the FBI to hack into the secure communication system he built for accused Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. On trial in U.S. federal court in Brooklyn since November, Guzman, 61, was extradited to the United States in 2017 to face charges of trafficking cocaine, heroin and other drugs into the country as leader of Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel.

Tough-on-crime record trails U.S. attorney general nominee into Senate hearings

President Donald Trump's nominee for U.S. attorney general is expected to tell a Senate panel next week that he supports a new law easing prison sentences for some criminals, even though he advocated for decades for just the opposite. William Barr for much of his career championed a get-tough approach to crime that has recently lost favor, culminating last month in Trump signing into law the biggest overhaul of the criminal justice system in a generation.

Cruise ship returning early to Florida after 277 sickened

A cruise ship will return to Florida a day early after 277 guests and crew suffered from gastrointestinal illness since departing on Sunday, Royal Caribbean Cruises said on Thursday. All guests aboard the Oasis of the Seas, which will return to Port Canaveral on Saturday, will receive full refunds, Royal Caribbean Cruises spokesman Owen Torres said in an emailed statement.

Sen. Sanders, Rep. Cummings introduce bill to lower U.S. drug prices

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Elijah Cummings introduced legislation on Thursday aimed at lowering the cost of prescription drugs for American consumers, critiquing President Donald Trump administration's efforts to curb medicine prices. Democrats have been critical of efforts by the Trump administration to bring down drug prices after Trump, a Republican, promised to do so during his 2016 campaign and since being elected. They have said administration proposals let big drugmakers off the hook and did not do enough to help Americans.

Trump has no right to withhold emergency funds from California: Pelosi

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday rebuked President Donald Trump for threatening to block disaster aid for California, a state recently ravaged by deadly, destructive wildfires whose mostly Democratic political leaders often spar with the Republican president. "How shocking it is that this president would say he's going to withhold funding to meet the disaster needs of people in California," said Pelosi, a Democrat representing a California district, referring to Trump's tweet on Wednesday that he would stop the emergency funds until the state changes its forest and fire management.

Wisconsin lawsuit challenges Republican moves to curb incoming Democrat

A coalition of left-leaning Wisconsin groups filed a lawsuit on Thursday seeking to throw out several laws passed by the Republican-led legislature after the November election that weakened the powers of the newly elected Democratic governor. The groups, including the state League of Women Voters and other advocacy organizations, said the unusual lame-duck session was illegally convened, which would make any legislation approved during the session unlawful.

California to spend big on education, healthcare in $144 billion budget

California Governor Gavin Newsom capped a busy first week in office on Thursday by proposing $144.2 billion in general fund spending for the most populous U.S. state, highlighted by increased expenditures in healthcare and education. Newsom's fiscal blueprint assumes continued economic growth of at least 3 percent a year but cautions a recession could transform an existing budget surplus of more than $21 billion left by his predecessor and fellow Democrat, Jerry Brown, into a $40 billion deficit over three years.

(With inputs from agencies.)

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