Reuters US Domestic News Summary

The blaze, one of dozens to erupt across several western states in a fire season that got off to an early start, forced the closing earlier this week of Sequoia National Park and left a dense layer of smoke in the area early on Friday. Biden admin looks to revive Trump-era order on migrant expulsion The Biden administration on Friday moved to revive an order put in place by then-President Donald Trump directing the expulsion of migrant families caught crossing the U.S.-Mexico border amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a day after a U.S. judge blocked it.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

'Threats of violence' at U.S. Capitol pro-Trump rally, police warn

Police warned of threats of violence at a planned Saturday rally at the U.S. Capitol by Donald Trump supporters, and the National Guard put 100 troops on standby to provide support, after the building was breached during a Jan. 6 riot. Hundreds of far-right demonstrators are expected in Washington for the "Justice For J6" rally, in support of the more than 600 people arrested on charges of joining the storming of the Capitol by Trump supporters in an attempt to stop certification of President Joe Biden's election victory.

Real estate heir Robert Durst convicted of murder in California

A California jury on Friday found multimillionaire real estate heir Robert Durst guilty of murdering his best friend Susan Berman in 2000, the first homicide conviction for a man suspected of killing three people in three states over the past 39 years. Durst, 78, faces up to life in prison. Superior Court Judge Mark Windham, who oversaw the trial, will set a date for sentencing.

WhatsApp instructions, Mexican struggles: How Haitians ended up in Texas camp

Haitians camped out under a Texas bridge followed instructions circulated on WhatsApp to get there, according to a dozen migrants who said the tips delivered to their phones helped them evade checks by Mexican authorities. Over 10,000 migrants, most of them Haitians, were as of Friday sleeping on the ground in a squalid camp under the Del Rio International Bridge connecting Ciudad Acuña, Mexico to Del Rio, Texas, hoping to apply for U.S. asylum.

U.S. FDA advisers recommend COVID-19 boosters for 65 and older after rejecting broad approval

Advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted on Friday to recommend COVID-19 vaccine booster shots for Americans 65 and older and those at high risk of severe illness, after overwhelmingly rejecting a call for broader approval. The panel also recommended that the FDA include healthcare workers and others at high risk of occupational exposure to the virus that causes COVID-19, such as teachers.

Some U.S. hospitals forced to ration care amid staffing shortages, COVID-19 surge

Surges in coronavirus cases in several U.S. states this week, along with staffing and equipment shortages, are exacting a mounting toll on hospitals and their workers even as the number of new admissions nationwide ebbs, leading to warnings at some facilities that care would be rationed. Montana, Alaska, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Kentucky experienced the biggest rises in new COVID-19 hospitalizations during the week ending Sept. 10 compared with the previous week, with Montana's new hospitalizations rising by 26%, according to the latest report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Sept. 14.

COVID-19 victims remembered on Washington's National Mall with 650,000 white flags

An exhibition of white flags representing Americans who have died of COVID-19 opened on Friday, covering more than 20 acres of the National Mall in Washington. Last year, artist Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg created an outdoor installation in Washington comprised of more than 267,000 white flags - one for every person in the United States who had died from COVID-19.

As California fire nears, crews protect world's largest tree in special wrap

Fire crews in California have resorted to wrapping the bases of some giant sequoias in fire-resistant coverings in a desperate effort to save the towering specimens, including the General Sherman, the world's largest tree, the National Park Service said on Friday. The blaze, one of dozens to erupt across several western states in a fire season that got off to an early start, forced the closing earlier this week of Sequoia National Park and left a dense layer of smoke in the area early on Friday.

Biden admin looks to revive Trump-era order on migrant expulsion

The Biden administration on Friday moved to revive an order put in place by then-President Donald Trump directing the expulsion of migrant families caught crossing the U.S.-Mexico border amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a day after a U.S. judge blocked it. The U.S. Department of Justice filed an appeal with a Washington-based appellate court of Thursday's ruling https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-judge-blocks-expulsions-migrant-families-under-title-42-order-2021-09-16 by U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan, who said the public health law the policy is based on, Title 42, does not authorize the expulsion of migrants.

U.S. says Kabul drone strike killed 10 civilians, including children, in 'tragic mistake'

A drone strike in Kabul last month killed as many as 10 civilians, including seven children, the U.S. military said on Friday, apologizing for what it called a "tragic mistake". The Pentagon had said the Aug. 29 strike targeted an Islamic State suicide bomber who posed an imminent threat to U.S.-led troops at the airport as they completed the last stages of their withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Manhattan's first whiskey distillery in over 100 years open for business

Curls of smoke blanket a glass filled with bourbon whiskey and ice inside a 28,000-square-foot whiskey distillery in the trendy NoHo neighborhood in lower Manhattan. Great Jones Distilling Co. is the New York City borough's first and only whiskey distillery since Prohibition, which ended a little over 100 years ago.