US Domestic News Roundup: Democrat Buttigieg proposes expanded national service plan to unify country

Democrat Buttigieg proposes expanded national service plan to unify country

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg is proposing a massive expansion of national service programs in a bid to help unify Americans and bring people from different backgrounds together. Buttigieg, 37, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and a military veteran is due to unveil the plan during a speech on Wednesday in Iowa, where the Democratic nominating contest kicks off in February.

Trump administration retreats on census citizenship question

In a stinging defeat for President Donald Trump, his administration ended its effort to add a citizenship question to the 2020 U.S. census, saying that it will begin printing forms that do not include the contentious query. But, nevertheless, Trump later indicated he would still try to get the "most vital" question included in the questionnaire.

U.S. border surge eases but detention conditions grim

The record surge of Central American families at the U.S. southwest border has begun to ease after tougher enforcement efforts in Mexico but conditions in migrant detention facilities remain dire, according to Mexican and U.S. officials. The U.S. government's internal watchdog on Tuesday said migrant holding centres in Texas' Rio Grande Valley were dangerously overcrowded, publishing graphic pictures of cells holding twice as many people as they were built for.

Four people injured in San Francisco-area shopping mall shooting

Police in the San Francisco suburb of San Bruno, California, said on Monday they were on the scene of a shooting, which local media reported occurred at a shopping mall and left several people injured. Few official details of the shooting were immediately available.

Alert level raised for Hawaii volcano due to rumbles, quakes

The Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii has been hit by at least 50 small earthquakes since October of last year, scientists said on Tuesday, prompting U.S. geologists to raise its alert level to yellow. An eruption of Mauna Loa, the world's largest active volcano, did not appear to be imminent. The increased seismic activity indicated a shift in the "shallow magma storage system" under the mountain, the Hawaii Volcano Observatory (HVO) said in an advisory.

Biden's support from black voters cut in half after debate: Reuters/Ipsos poll

Former Vice President Joe Biden, the early front-runner for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, has lost support among African-Americans after taking the heat on racial issues during the party's first debate, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll. The survey, conducted from Friday to Monday in the days following the debate in Miami, found 22 percent of adults who identify as Democrats or independents said they supported Biden, down 8 percentage points from a similar poll conducted earlier in June.

Free birds: Bald eagles stir U.S. patriotism as web-cam stars

On the brink of extinction a half-century ago, the bald eagle is thriving in the internet age, fascinating a devoted corps of Americans who regularly monitor the majestic birds of prey via web-cams set up at more than a dozen nests in the wild. The bald eagle, designated as the national emblem of the United States in 1782, has long symbolized the American ideal of freedom. For people like Kevin Fossett, a U.S. Navy veteran who likes to check up on a nest in Florida, the sight of the birds stirs feelings of patriotism, especially with the approach of Independence Day.

'Help, 40 days here': Photos show migrants crammed into U.S. border facilities

Government investigators warned of dangerous overcrowding at more migrant facilities on the southwest U.S. border, publishing photos on Tuesday of packed cells in Texas' Rio Grande Valley where some children have no access to showers or hot meals. A report issued by investigators for the Department of Homeland Security said supervisors raised concerns for the health and safety of detainees and agents, warning that the overcrowding represented a "ticking time bomb."

Military jury weighs sentence for U.S. Navy SEAL for posing with the dead prisoner

A military jury was set to decide on Wednesday whether to punish a U.S. Navy SEAL platoon leader who was acquitted of murdering a captured Islamic State fighter but convicted of unlawfully posing for pictures with the detainee's dead body. The seven-member jury found Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher, 39, not guilty on Tuesday of most of the charges against him, including allegations he fatally stabbed the badly wounded Iraqi captive in the neck and shot at unarmed civilians, two of them wounded by gunfire from a sniper's perch.

Crew confusion, engine trouble recorded in final seconds of doomed flight, NTSB says

A plane that crashed in suburban Dallas and killed 10 passengers and crew had trouble with its left engine, according to the last few seconds of a cockpit voice recording, officials said on Tuesday. Just after the plane took off on Sunday, the crew's comments were "consistent with confusion" about 12 seconds before the recording ends, National Transportation Safety Board officials said at a news briefing.