US News Roundup: Trump frequently paid no federal income taxes in years leading up to presidency; Positive COVID-19 test rates top 25% in some U.S. Midwest states and more

Former Trump campaign manager hospitalized after threatening self-harm: ABC News Bradley Parscale, the former campaign manager for President Donald Trump's re-election campaign, was hospitalized Sunday after his wife told police he was threatening to harm himself, ABC News reported.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Trump frequently paid no federal income taxes in years leading up to presidency: New York Times

President Donald Trump paid just $750 in federal income taxes in both 2016 and 2017, after years of reporting heavy losses from his business enterprises to offset hundreds of millions of dollars in income, the New York Times reported on Sunday, citing tax-return data. In a report that Trump dismissed as "fake news," the Times said the Republican president also paid no federal income taxes in 10 of the previous 15 years through 2017, despite receiving $427.4 million through 2018 from his reality television program and other endorsement and licensing deals.

Positive COVID-19 test rates top 25% in some U.S. Midwest states

The number of tests coming back positive for COVID-19 is topping 25% in several states in the U.S. Midwest as cases and hospitalization also surge in the region, according to a Reuters analysis. North Dakota's positive test rate has averaged 30% over the past seven days compared with the prior week. The positivity rate has risen to 26% in South Dakota, up from 17% the previous week, according to the analysis using testing data from The COVID Tracking Project.

'Take home' lawsuits over COVID infections could be costly for U.S. employers

U.S. businesses with COVID-19 outbreaks are facing an emerging legal threat from claims that workers brought coronavirus home and infected relatives, which one risk analysis firm said could cost employers billions of dollars. The daughter of Esperanza Ugalde of Illinois filed in August what lawyers believe is the first wrongful death "take home" lawsuit, alleging her mother died of COVID-19 that her father contracted at Aurora Packing Co's meat processing plant.

Trump's Operation Warp Speed document shows big military involvement: Stat News

The Trump administration's Operation Warp Seed vaccine programme is a highly structured organization in which military personnel vastly outnumber civilian scientists, health news website Stat News reported on Monday citing an organizational chart from July 30. The document shows that roughly 60 military officials, including at least four generals, are involved in the leadership, the report https://bit.ly/3n0HFm3 added, saying that many of them have never worked in healthcare or vaccine development.

Former Trump campaign manager hospitalized after threatening self-harm: ABC News

Bradley Parscale, the former campaign manager for President Donald Trump's re-election campaign, was hospitalized Sunday after his wife told police he was threatening to harm himself, ABC News reported. The Fort Lauderdale, Florida, police department confirmed in a statement that a man identified as Parscale was detained after they received a report from his wife.

U.S. Supreme Court nominee Barrett would have final say on recusal calls

Democrats are urging U.S. Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett to recuse herself from any election-related cases because of President Donald Trump's comments that he expects the justices to potentially decide the outcome, but there is no way to force her to do so. Although U.S. law requires justices to step aside when there is a conflict of interest or genuine question of bias, it leaves the individual justice to decide whether such a conflict exists. Aside from direct financial and personal conflicts, they rarely do so.

Kentucky legislator urges police to drop charges against her and fellow Breonna Taylor protesters

A Kentucky legislator who was arrested during demonstrations over the Breonna Taylor case accused Louisville police of detaining her and about 20 allies on false pretenses on Sunday and called for charges to be dropped. State Representative Attica Scott, the only Black woman in the Kentucky legislature, was arrested along with her 19-year-old daughter, prominent activist Shameka Parrish-Wright and others on Thursday during protests against a grand jury decision on Wednesday to clear police of homicide charges in the shooting death of Taylor.

California wine country wildfire forces evacuation of hospital, hundreds of homes

A wind-driven wildfire erupted on Sunday in the heart of northern California's Napa Valley wine country to spread across nearly 2,000 acres (809 hectares), forcing the evacuation of a hospital and hundreds of homes, authorities said. Fire crews were out in force, scrambling to fend off flames threatening neighborhoods and vineyards at the northern end of the famed wine-growing valley and surrounding hillsides, about 75 miles (120 km) north of San Francisco.

Duke, Starbucks, others to show diversity data: NYC's Stringer

Top U.S. corporations including Duke Energy Corp, Starbucks Corp and Wells Fargo & Co will make public detailed workforce diversity statistics, following calls from activists who say the information will help judge companies' progress in hiring and promoting minorities. The commitments by 34 companies in the S&P 100 were set to be announced on Monday by New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer, who oversees retirement assets and sought the data in July.

Threat to evacuate U.S. diplomats from Iraq raises fear of war

Washington has made preparations to withdraw diplomats from Iraq after warning Baghdad it could shut its embassy, two Iraqi officials and two Western diplomats said, a step Iraqis fear could turn their country into a battle zone. Any move by the United States to scale down its diplomatic presence in a country where it has up to 5,000 troops would be widely seen in the region as an escalation of its confrontation with Iran, which Washington blames for missile and bomb attacks.