US News Roundup: Man arrested for trying to join IS; capital punishment sentiment in US and more

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

U.S. officials arrest man who wanted to take ship to join Islamic State

A Connecticut man was arrested as he tried to reach a ship to travel to the Middle East to fight alongside the Islamic State, federal prosecutors said on Monday. Federal prosecutors in Connecticut said they arrested Ahmad Khalil Elshazly, 22, on Sunday on charges of attempting to provide material support to Islamic State, which U.S. authorities have designated a foreign terrorist organization. He faces up to 20 years in prison.

Number of U.S. executions and support for capital punishment decline in 2019: report finds

The number of executions carried out in the United States dropped in 2019 and public support for the death penalty fell to nearly a five-decade low, according to a report released on Tuesday. Twenty-two executions were carried out during the year, down from 25 in 2018. Texas conducted nine executions, while Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia conducted three apiece in 2019.

At the noisy town hall, a vulnerable U.S. Democrat says 'yes' to impeach Trump

Democratic Representative Elissa Slotkin, co-author of a column that helped launch the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump, ended months of uncertainty on Monday by telling voters at a noisy town hall meeting that she will vote for impeachment. The cheers - along with chants of "Impeach Slotkin, keep Trump!" - that greeted her decision underlined the wrenching partisan pressures that vulnerable Democrats in swing districts have faced ahead of this week's planned House vote on impeaching the Republican president.

Democrats to float bill to tackle greenhouse gas emissions on public land

U.S. House Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday will unveil a bill that aims to zero out emissions from drilling, mining, and other activities on federal land and waters by 2040. The bill reflects the ambitious climate agenda of Democrats who view global warming as an urgent threat but is unlikely to become law unless the party gains ground in the Republican-controlled Senate and unseats Republican President Donald Trump in next year's election.

Funeral set for New Jersey officer killed in shooting rampage

Funeral services are scheduled on Tuesday for a northern New Jersey police detective, the first of six people to die last week in a shooting rampage that authorities have labeled an act of domestic terrorism. Six people, including the man and woman who carried out the attack, died in a series of events on Dec. 10 that ended in a police shootout in Jersey City, just across the Hudson River from New York City.

Vaping increases the risk of lung disease by a third: U.S. study

Using e-cigarettes significantly increases the risk of developing chronic lung conditions such as asthma or emphysema, U.S. researchers said on Monday. The study, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, is among the first to show the potential long-term harms of using e-cigarettes, which are often promoted as a safer alternative to tobacco and a means of helping smokers quit.

U.S. spending deal would raise tobacco age, deny some Trump border wall money

Congress would raise the U.S. tobacco purchasing age to 21 and permanently repeal several of the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) taxes under a massive government spending bill unveiled on Monday. Republican and Democratic lawmakers hope to pass the $1.4 trillion spending bill before current government funding runs out on Saturday, to avoid a partial government shutdown and head off the kind of messy budget battle that resulted in a record 35-day interruption of government services late last year and early this year.

U.S. Supreme Court leaves in place ruling barring prosecution of homeless

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear Boise's defense of its policy of sometimes prosecuting homeless people for sleeping in public after a lower court found ordinances in Idaho's capital violated the U.S. Constitution's bar on cruel and unusual punishment. The justices left in place a 2018 ruling by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that fining or jailing homeless people for staying outside or in unauthorized places if a bed at an emergency shelter is not available is unconstitutional. The city had appealed that ruling, arguing that the decision threatened public health and safety.

Tornadoes sweep across the southeastern U.S., killing at least three: officials

Tornadoes swept across swaths of the southeastern United States killing at least two people in northern Alabama and one person in Louisiana, tearing roofs off buildings, splintering trees and downing powerlines, officials said. Most of the tornado and storm damage was reported in parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Texas starting early Monday, sheriff's officials told local media.

Judge rejects claims by Trump ex-adviser Flynn of FBI misconduct

A U.S. judge on Monday flatly rejected a last-ditch bid by President Donald Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn to get the criminal charge to which he already pleaded guilty dropped, brushing aside his claims of misconduct by prosecutors and the FBI. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan ordered Flynn to appear for sentencing on Jan. 28, concluding that the retired Army lieutenant general had failed to prove a "single" violation by the prosecution or FBI officials for withholding evidence that could exonerate him.