US Domestic News Roundup: Michael Avenatti arrested, Mississippi bus crash, 'El Chapo'

Michael Avenatti arrested in Los Angeles on suspicion of domestic violence

Attorney Michael Avenatti, who represents adult film star Stormy Daniels in her legal battles with U.S. President Donald Trump, was arrested in Los Angeles on Wednesday on suspicion of domestic violence, a police spokesman said. Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Jeff Lee said no further details were immediately available, but he said Avenatti was released on bail after he was formally booked in the case.

Citizenship query will not cause U.S. census undercount: official

The U.S. Census Bureau's top scientist on Wednesday insisted the bureau can get a full count of American residents during the 2020 census, despite the Trump administration's addition of a question on citizenship. The agency's chief scientist, John Abowd, made the comments in testimony in federal court in New York, where a group of U.S. states, cities and civil rights groups have sued the administration to remove the question, arguing it could dissuade non-citizens from participating in the decennial census.

Cadaver dogs lead the grim search for victims in California fire

A shaggy male Australian shepherd named IC darted nervously through the charred remnants of a house in Paradise, California, sniffing for victims of the deadliest blaze in the state's history. "He's getting an overload of scent," said his handler, Trish Moutard, a volunteer with CARDA, the California Animal Rescue Dog Society, while searching properties on Forest Glen Road in Paradise. "It's a new experience for him."

Two killed, dozens injured in Mississippi bus crash

Two people were killed and more than 40 others injured on Wednesday when a tour bus overturned on an icy roadway in northern Mississippi just across the state line from Memphis, Tennessee, officials said. The accident took place along Interstate 269 about 1:30 p.m. CST (1930 GMT). Two of the people hurt were sent to local trauma centres with critical injuries and a third was listed in serious condition, said Ayoka Pond of Baptist Memorial Hospital.

Brother of Sinaloa Cartel leader testifies against 'El Chapo'

Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was a top leader of Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel along with drug lord Ismael Zambada for years and personally invested in massive cocaine shipments to the United States, Zambada's brother told jurors on Wednesday. The testimony from Jesus Reynaldo Zambada, 57, came on the second day of Guzman's drug trafficking trial in Brooklyn federal court.

Exclusive: U.S. troop levels at Mexico border likely at peak - commander

The number of U.S. troops at the border with Mexico may have peaked at about 5,800, the U.S. commander of the mission told Reuters, noting he would start looking next week at whether to begin sending forces home or perhaps shifting some to new border positions. The outlook by Lieutenant General Jeffrey Buchanan, while not definitive, suggests that the high-profile military mission could soon achieve its goal of helping harden the border ahead of the expected arrival of caravans of Central American migrants in the coming weeks.

Texas executes Mexican who killed his family 26 years ago

Authorities in Texas executed a Mexican man on Wednesday for bludgeoning to death his 42-year-old wife and two children, using a sledgehammer at their home in 1992, the state said. Robert Moreno Ramos, 64, was given a lethal injection in the state's death chamber in Huntsville, and pronounced dead at 9:36 p.m., state corrections officials said.

After 2,000 miles they crossed the U.S. border; then tragedy struck

The 911 emergency call came into the U.S. Border Patrol's Tucson station around midnight. Joselino Gomez Esteban's voice crackled through an older cell phone from somewhere in Arizona's the Sonoran Desert, the final stretch of a 2,000-mile (3,218 km) migration from Guatemala.

Troops search for 130 missing in California wildfire, death toll climbs to 56

U.S. National Guard troops scoured the ruins of the town of Paradise on Thursday for any sign of 130 people still missing in California's deadliest wildfire on record as authorities said the death toll had risen to 56. The "Camp Fire" blaze obliterated the Sierra foothills town of Paradise, once home to 27,000 people, last Thursday. Most of those still missing in and around town, which lies about 175 miles (280 km) north of San Francisco, is above the age of 65.

DNA firm schooled in war zones helps ID California fire victims

The remains of victims charred beyond recognition in the California wildfires are being identified by a pioneering DNA analysis company that primarily works in war zones and crime scenes. ANDE, the only Rapid DNA analysis company approved by the FBI for work on military, forensic, homeland security and intelligence projects, was hired by the Butte County Sheriff's office to identify remains of some of the 56 people killed in northern California's Camp Fire.

(With inputs from Reuters)