Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. 'Bomb cyclone' fizzles to rain across U.S. Midwest

Runways were cleared, the lights came back on and stranded motorists and airline passengers were back on the move on Thursday as the blizzard that pounded the U.S. Rocky Mountain and Plains states shoves eastward and fizzled to rain. Shortly after midnight, four of the six runways at Denver International Airport had been cleared, spokeswoman Emily Williams told Reuters. 'Full House' actress out on bond after U.S. college entrance scam exposed

"Full House" actress Lori Loughlin appeared in federal court in Los Angeles on Wednesday to face charges of taking part in a scheme in which dozens of wealthy parents are accused of paying for their children to cheat their way into prestigious U.S. universities. U.S. Magistrate Judge Steve Kim ordered Loughlin, one of several high-profile figures from entertainment and business caught up in the scandal, released from federal custody on $1 million bond following a brief hearing. Ex-Trump aide Manafort charged with mortgage fraud in New York

Paul Manafort has been charged in New York with residential mortgage fraud and other felonies, as state lawmakers move to ensure that U.S. President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman can be prosecuted even if he receives a presidential pardon. The 16-count indictment was announced by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance on Wednesday less than an hour after Manafort, 69, was given his second federal prison sentence this month, for a combined term of 7-1/2 years. U.S. looks to test ground-launched cruise missile in August

The United States aims to test a ground-launched cruise missile with a range of about 1,000 km (620 miles) in August, a Pentagon official said on Wednesday, after Washington announced last month it plans to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. Last month, the United States said it would withdraw from the INF treaty in six months unless Moscow ends what Washington says are violations of the 1987 pact. Federal landlord blames Congress for FBI HQ delay, change

The U.S. agency in charge of federal buildings is blaming Congress for delays and a sudden change in plans for a new FBI headquarters, an issue that lawmakers are investigating as a possible conflict of interest for President Donald Trump. Before Trump was elected, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, currently based near the Trump International Hotel in central Washington, was headed for a new home in the suburbs; its crumbling headquarters, for the wrecking ball. But that all changed abruptly in 2017. Alleged Gambino crime boss shot, killed outside Staten Island home

The reported crime boss of the New York Mafia's Gambino family, Francesco "Franky Boy" Cali, was gunned down in front of his Staten Island home late Wednesday, police and media said. Cali, 53, was fatally shot multiple times to his torso shortly after 9 p.m. (0100 GMT on Thursday) in front of his home, police said. California governor halts death penalty: 'I couldn't sleep'

California Governor Gavin Newsom on Wednesday imposed a moratorium on the death penalty as the possibility of the first executions in the state in 13 years loomed, causing him a crisis of conscience. Statistics suggesting that at least one of the 737 inmates on the state's death row was innocent sealed the deal. U.S. college bribery scandal grates on those who missed the cut

The U.S. college bribery scandal has unleashed angst and fury among parents, students and admissions experts, as an unprecedented criminal investigation draws attention to the privileges afforded to wealthy Americans. Hollywood actors and business executives are among 50 people charged with taking part in the largest college admissions scandal in U.S. history, which involved getting students into elite, highly selective universities by paying bribes and cheating the admissions process. Self-help guru Raniere faces U.S. child porn charges; associate pleads guilty

Federal prosecutors on Wednesday unveiled child pornography charges against self-help guru and accused sex trafficker Keith Raniere, just hours after a former top associate pleaded guilty to engaging in a criminal conspiracy with him. In a superseding indictment unsealed in Brooklyn federal court, prosecutors accused Raniere, founder of the Albany, New York-based organization Nxivm, of coercing a child to engage in sexual conduct to produce visual depictions of it, and of possessing child pornography between 2005 and 2018. Empire actor Smollett due in court Thursday over Chicago 'hate crime'

"Empire" actor Jussie Smollett is due to appear in court in Chicago on Thursday to face charges in a 16-count indictment accusing him of falsely reporting to police that he was the victim of a hate-crime assault. In an indictment returned by a grand jury last Thursday, Smollett, 36, who is black, openly gay and plays a gay musician on Fox's hip-hop drama, was charged with 16 felony counts of disorderly conduct alleging he gave false accounts of an attack on him to police investigators.