Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

NHC says 70% chance of cyclone formation in next 48 hours off Louisiana coast

An area of low pressure located about 125 miles (200 km) south of the coast ​of southeastern Louisiana has about a 70% chance of forming into a cyclone in the next 48 hours, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on ​Sunday. "A short-lived tropical depression or tropical storm could form before the system reaches the Upper Texas or ‌southwestern Louisiana ​coasts Tuesday or Tuesday night," the NHC said.

Apple may change 'Lake Ontario' to 'Lake America' soon after talk with Trump, U.S. Interior Secretary says

U.S. President Donald Trump has spoken to Apple about changing the name of "Lake Ontario" to "Lake America" and the company may soon alter its maps, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said on Monday. Trump announced on Thursday that he was changing the name of the smallest of the five Great Lakes, part of an escalating trade feud with Canada that has prompted the two countries ‌to impose reciprocal tariffs on billions of dollars in goods.

US expected to approve expanded biofuel waivers as early as Monday, sources say

The Trump administration is expected as early as Monday to approve an expanded volume of exemptions for U.S. oil refiners from biofuel blending requirements, according to two people familiar with the matter, as part of efforts to ease upward pressure on gas prices. Farm-state lawmakers had pressed the White House not to expand the waivers above amounts flagged at the start of this year, although refiners have sought them as a means to lower fuel production costs. Farmers fear the waivers would reduce demand for their crops, while the two sides disagree on whether the expansion can ‌actually cut gas prices significantly.

Analysis-Depleted US oil stash loses potency as Iran war grinds on

Six months into the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, Washington may find it harder to calm jittery oil markets after U.S. presidents drained the aging Strategic Petroleum Reserve over the last five years. The SPR, which Washington created after the oil crises ‌of the 1970s, holds crude in a series of 60 underground salt caverns along the coasts of Texas and Louisiana. After years of releases by former President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump, the reserve is at its lowest level since 1982, holding just 289.7 million barrels.

Judge deals blow to Trump moves to deport pro-Palestinian activists

A federal judge on Friday ruled that laws that President Donald Trump's administration used to cancel visas and initiate deportation proceedings against noncitizen college students based on their pro-Palestinian advocacy and criticism of Israel are unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Noel Wise in San Jose, California in a blistering ruling chastised the U.S. State Department and U.S. Department of Homeland Security for how they had deployed provisions of federal immigration law to target non-citizens for deportation for expressing views they wanted to suppress.

Trump to host oil executives ⁠after accusing refiners ​of gouging consumers

President Donald Trump has accused U.S. oil refiners of gouging Americans, called for a ⁠Justice Department investigation and urged companies to use their bumper earnings to bring down gasoline prices that spiked amid the ongoing conflict with Iran.

On Tuesday, he is expected to host many of those companies at the White House to celebrate efforts to keep the market well supplied in hopes of managing gasoline prices currently averaging over $4 a gallon.

NASA launches powerful Roman Space Telescope, a spy satellite turned to ⁠the stars

NASA began a new mission to probe some of the biggest mysteries in astrophysics and cosmology with the launch on Sunday of the U.S. space agency's new flagship astronomical observatory, a repurposed spy satellite that will capture panoramic views of the cosmos. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, a roughly $4 billion project, was carried aloft from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, ​Florida, aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket through blue skies just after sunrise. Its mission is planned for five years, though NASA said the telescope may have enough fuel for five additional years.

British far-right commentator Milo Yiannopoulos detained by ICE

British far-right commentator Milo Yiannopoulos, who has called for ICE checkpoints at ⁠supermarkets in the United States, with summary deportation of anyone failing to prove legal U.S. residency, has been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, agency records showed on Friday. Yiannopoulos, 41, was arrested on Thursday at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport and is subject to a final order of removal from the U.S., ICE's parent agency, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement describing him as "an illegal alien ⁠from ​the United Kingdom."

Google Maps now show 'Lake America' in US, not 'Lake Ontario'

Google Maps has changed the name of "Lake Ontario" to "Lake America" for U.S. users to reflect President Donald Trump's executive order renaming the lake, according to a Google statement. Trump announced on Thursday that he was changing the name of the smallest of the five Great Lakes, part of an escalating trade feud with Canada that has prompted the two countries to impose reciprocal tariffs on billions of dollars in goods.

Hungry bears wander into US West homes, shops in record numbers

Matt Errico was sitting on the toilet when he heard noises in his Colorado home. The roofer got up and found two young bears about ⁠the size of golden retrievers standing in his hallway. After a staring match, they bolted out of the front door.

Polymarket stands ready to fight misconduct as US midterms loom, intel chief says

Prediction market company Polymarket is fully prepared to police trading on its platform as the approaching U.S. midterm elections test the industry's ⁠controls, the company's new global head of investigations and intelligence told Reuters. Polymarket is also working ⁠to keep U.S. users off its international platform, as required by an enforcement settlement it reached with U.S. regulators in 2022, said Shana Bautista, a former Coinbase analyst and FBI investigator.

Jury to hear closing arguments in Tupac killing trial

Closing arguments are set for Monday in the trial of an ex-gang leader accused of masterminding the drive-by killing of hip-hop legend Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas, a cold case that became emblematic of violence permeating 1990s rap culture. Duane "Keffe D" Davis, 63, is ‌charged in Nevada's Clark County with a single count of ‌murder using a deadly weapon. He has pleaded not guilty. Davis is accused of leading a group of men to kill Shakur, 25, who was one of rap's ​most commercially successful and influential artists, in retaliation for the beating of his nephew.