US News Roundup: Measles outbreak spreads further; bill banning abortion in Alabama

Trump seeks extra $1.6 billion in NASA spending to return to moon by 2024

The Trump administration asked Congress on Monday to increase NASA spending next year by an extra $1.6 billion as a "down payment" to accommodate the accelerated goal of returning Americans to the surface of the moon by 2024. The increased funding request, announced by President Donald Trump on Twitter, comes nearly two months after Vice President Mike Pence declared the objective of shortening by four years NASA's previous timeline for putting astronauts back on the moon for the first time since 1972.

U.S. measles outbreak grows with 75 new cases, mostly in New York

U.S. health authorities recorded 75 new cases of the measles in the latest week, mostly in New York state, bringing the nationwide total to 839 cases in the country's worst outbreak of the virus since 1994, federal health officials said on Monday. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a 9.8% increase in measles cases as of May 10, a resurgence that public health officials have attributed to the spread of misinformation about the measles vaccine. Data are updated every Monday.

Alabama Senate to vote on bill banning abortion

Alabama's state Senate was due to vote on a bill on Tuesday that would outlaw nearly all abortions, but will first consider whether to allow the procedure for women and girls impregnated by rape and incest. Debate on the strictest anti-abortion bill in the United States was set to begin in the Republican-controlled chamber at 4 p.m. CDT (2100 GMT). It would be the latest in a procession of anti-abortion bills across the country that activists are hoping will result in the issue going before the U.S. Supreme Court.

At least four dead in mid-air seaplane crash in Alaska, but 10 survive

Two seaplanes collided in mid-air on Monday over southeastern Alaska, killing at least four of those aboard, injuring 10 and leaving two people missing, U.S. Coast Guard and Federal Aviation Administration officials said. The two aircraft went down over water about 25 to 30 miles (40-48 km) northeast of Ketchikan, according to Coast Guard Petty Officer Jon-Paul Rios.

Shooting in St. Louis kills three, wounds two: media

Three men were found shot to death and two wounded by gunfire late on Monday at a home on the north side of St. Louis, Missouri, media said, citing police officials. Police responding shortly before 9 p.m. arrived to find one victim on the porch and four inside, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper said online.

Massage parlor footage of Patriots owner suppressed in Florida case

Hidden-camera footage of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft at a Florida massage parlor cannot be used as evidence in his trial on charges of soliciting prostitution, a judge ruled on Monday in a victory for the billionaire. Attorneys for the owner of the reigning Super Bowl champions had asked the Florida judge to suppress the video, calling it governmental overreach from an illegally obtained search warrant.

California jury hits Bayer with $2 billion award in Roundup cancer trial

A California jury on Monday awarded more than $2 billion to a couple who claimed Bayer AG's glyphosate-based Roundup weed killer caused their cancer, in the largest U.S. jury verdict to date against the company in litigation over the chemical. The large punitive damages award is likely to be reduced due to U.S. Supreme Court rulings that limit the ratio of punitive to compensatory damages to 9:1. The jury awarded a total of $2 billion in punitive damages and $55 million in compensatory damages.

PG&E proposes court order for CEO, board to tour town destroyed by wildfire

PG&E Corp on Monday submitted a proposed order to a U.S. District Court judge that would require the power provider's chief executive and board to visit the California town of Paradise by July 15, to see the destruction caused by a wildfire in November that may be linked to the company's equipment. The order, agreed to by the U.S. Justice Department and U.S. Probation Officer, awaits U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup's signature.

Federal probe launched into fatal collision of Alaska tourist planes

Federal investigators are due in Alaska on Tuesday to try to find out why two sightseeing planes collided in mid-air over open water during daylight hours, killing at least four tourists. The National Transportation Safety Board investigators are expected to arrive in the southeast Alaska town of Kethikan, near where Monday's crash happened, during the afternoon, an NTSB official said.

New York police weigh officer's conduct in 2014 'I can't breathe' death

The disciplinary trial of the New York City policeman who fatally choked an unarmed black suspect in 2014 opened on Monday with the officer's lawyer shredding a copy of the autopsy report that concluded the man, Eric Garner, was killed by a chokehold. The trial of the white officer, Daniel Pantaleo, comes nearly five years after widely seen video of Garner's death sparked a national outcry about the treatment of black suspects by law enforcement. The clips, recorded on the cellphones of bystanders, showed Garner saying "I can't breathe" 11 times before he died.