US Domestic News Roundup: Judge rejects citizenship question for 2020 US census; Shutdown bites US economy


Devdiscourse News Desk | Updated: 16-01-2019 06:15 IST | Created: 16-01-2019 05:24 IST
US Domestic News Roundup: Judge rejects citizenship question for 2020 US census; Shutdown bites US economy
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Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Shutdown bites economy, U.S. Coast Guard as Washington talks stall

The U.S. economy is taking a larger-than-expected hit from the partial government shutdown, White House estimates showed on Tuesday, as contractors and even the Coast Guard go without pay and talks to end the impasse seemed stalled. The shutdown dragged into its 25th day on Tuesday with neither Trump nor Democratic congressional leaders showing signs of bending on the topic that triggered it - funding for the wall Trump promised to build along the border with Mexico.

Los Angeles parents support striking teachers despite chaos at home

Elizabeth Rietz says it hasn't been easy taking care of her daughter at home during the first two days of a strike by Los Angeles teachers, while she and her husband try to start their own clothing line. But she believes it's the right thing to do. Like many parents Rietz, whose daughter is a 4th grader at Ivanhoe Elementary School in the middle-class Silver Lake neighborhood, has taken on the extra burden in solidarity with 30,000 teachers demanding higher pay, smaller class sizes, more staff and less testing.

U.S.-bound Honduran migrant caravan grows as Trump argues for wall

A new U.S.-bound caravan of Honduran migrants grew to nearly 1,000 people as it neared the Guatemalan border on Tuesday, a Honduran official said, while U.S. President Donald Trump seized on news of the group to try to drum up support for a border wall. Honduran Deputy Foreign Minister Nelly Jerez told reporters that there were between 800 and 1,000 people traveling together and headed toward the Agua Caliente border crossing into Guatemala.

Judge rejects citizenship question for 2020 U.S. census

A federal judge on Tuesday invalidated the Trump administration's addition of a U.S. citizenship question to the 2020 census, the first ruling in a handful of lawsuits that claim the query will hurt immigrants. U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman in Manhattan said Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross concealed his true motives in adding the question last March.

Alabama judge overturns law protecting Confederate monuments

An Alabama judge has voided a 2017 state law preventing the removal or alteration of historic memorials, saying it infringed citizens' free-speech rights and effectively enshrined a pro-Confederacy message in the southern U.S. state. The ruling was the latest blow in an ongoing national fight over memorials to the pro-slavery Confederacy, which lost in the 1861-1865 U.S. Civil War. Backers of the monuments call them a tribute to history and heritage, while opponents decry them as powerful tributes to institutionalized racism.

Confederate monument's pedestal ordered removed at university in North Carolina

The pedestal for a Confederate monument called Silent Sam that has been a flashpoint for demonstrations at a North Carolina university will be removed, the school's president said on Monday, nearly five months after protesters toppled the statue. The plan to remove the statue's base and commemorative plaques was outlined by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill chancellor Carol Folt, in a statement that also said she would resign after this academic year's graduation ceremonies.

Carol Channing, Broadway's iconic 'Dolly,' dead at 97

Carol Channing, who won over audiences with her giddy, guileless charm in signature roles in Broadway's "Hello, Dolly!" and "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," died in her California home on Tuesday at the age of 97, according to her publicist. Channing died of natural causes in Rancho Mirage after having suffered multiple strokes last year, publicist Harlan Boll said.

Family behind Purdue Pharma pushed opioid marketing, Massachusetts says

Members of the wealthy Sackler family behind Purdue Pharma LP pushed it to boost sales of OxyContin and other opioids even as questions emerged about the extent its painkillers were being abused, Massachusetts' attorney general alleged on Tuesday. Attorney General Maura Healey filed an amended lawsuit against Purdue and current and former officers and directors of the drugmaker that drew on years of internal records to reveal new details about the family's involvement in the company.

Spike Lee joins The Killers for protest video over Trump's planned wall

Rockers The Killers have teamed up with film director Spike Lee to make the music video for their latest song, "Land Of The Free", a protest against President Donald Trump's planned wall on the U.S.-Mexican border. The "Do the Right Thing" and "Malcom X" director was given full creative rein to make the video for the track, which the Las Vegas band describes as "a heartfelt lament inspired by current events and recent national tragedies in the United States".

U.S. Justice Dept broadens restrictions on internet gambling

The U.S. Justice Department will effectively prohibit online gambling and lottery businesses, experts said on Tuesday, after it decided to broaden its interpretation of rules governing interstate sports gambling to other forms of betting. The department's Office of Legal Counsel said in a November 2018 opinion, not released until late Monday, that a 1961 law called the Wire Act does in fact apply to interstate online poker and casino games, not just sports bets.

(With inputs from agencies.)

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