Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Since early this week, state officials have been attempting to debunk misinformation on social media that has blamed both left-wing and right-wing groups for the fires that have killed at least six people in Oregon this week.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Search crews scour charred Oregon landscape, residents return to rubble as wildfires burn

Search and rescue teams, with dogs in tow, were deployed across the blackened ruins of southern Oregon towns on Sunday as smoldering wildfires continue to ravage the U.S. west and officials warn of mass casualties. A blitz of wildfires across Oregon, California and Washington has destroyed thousands of homes and a half dozen small towns this summer, scorching more than 4 million acres and killing more than two dozen people since early August. Trump signs new, expanded executive order to lower U.S. drug prices

President Donald Trump signed a new executive order on Sunday aimed at lowering drug prices in the United States by linking them to those of other nations and expanding the scope of a July action. "My Most Favored Nation order will ensure that our Country gets the same low price Big Pharma gives to other countries. The days of global freeriding at America’s expense are over," Trump said in a Twitter post. Venezuelan media name alleged U.S. spy arrested near refinery complex

Pro-government media in Venezuela on Sunday named an alleged U.S. spy who President Nicolas Maduro said was captured last week near the country's largest oil refinery complex. Outlets close to the ruling Socialist Party identified the detainee as a former marine, John Heath Mattew, and said he was arrested on Thursday with three other people including a sergeant major in Venezuela's National Guard as they drove between Falcon and Zulia states in northwestern Venezuela. U.S. Gulf Coast prepares for second hurricane in a month

Tropical Storm Sally strengthened off the west coast of Florida on Sunday and was poised to become a hurricane, bringing the threat of dangerous storm surges and high winds to the U.S. Gulf Coast, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. The storm track was disrupting oil production in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico for a second time in less than a month. The Miami-based NHC said the storm was likely to reach hurricane strength on Monday, and approach the north-central Gulf Coast late on Monday and Tuesday. Facebook removes posts linking Oregon wildfires to activist groups

Facebook has started removing false claims that the deadly wildfires in Oregon were started by various left-wing and right-wing groups, a spokesman for the social media company said on Saturday, after the rumors left state officials inundated with queries for information. Since early this week, state officials have been attempting to debunk misinformation on social media that has blamed both left-wing and right-wing groups for the fires that have killed at least six people in Oregon this week. Trump to hold campaign rally indoors despite coronavirus concerns

President Donald Trump will hold a campaign rally indoors on Sunday despite public health professionals' warnings against large indoor gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic. Trump, a Republican, has faced criticism for his response to the coronavirus outbreak, which has killed more than 193,000 people in the United States. He played down the virus in its early stages and has alternately embraced and disregarded advice from public health experts, who encourage mask-wearing and maintaining social distance to prevent the virus' spread. U.S. CDC reports 193,195 deaths from coronavirus

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Sunday reported 6,467,481 cases of the new coronavirus, an increase of 40,423 cases from its previous count, and said the number of deaths had risen by 807 to 193,195. The CDC's tally of cases of the respiratory illness known as COVID-19, caused by a new coronavirus, was of 4 p.m. EDT Sept. 12 versus its previous report a day earlier. Billionaire Bloomberg to spend $100 million in Florida to help Biden

Michael Bloomberg, who spent $1 billion of his own money on a failed 2020 presidential bid, will inject at least $100 million to help Democrat Joe Biden's campaign against President Donald Trump in Florida. The billionaire's decision comes at a critical moment in the final 51 days of the race, with polls showing a close race in the battleground state and no financial advantage for the sitting president as voting gets under way later this month. Gunman wounds two Los Angeles County deputies in ambush attack on their car

A gunman shot and critically injured two Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies as they sat in their patrol car late on Saturday in an attack that was captured on video. Footage of the incident released by the sheriff's department showed the suspect approaching the parked vehicle on foot in the city of Compton and firing with a handgun through the passenger side window before running away. 'There are just no words': Oregon family returns home to find pile of ash

Tracy Koa, a high school teacher in Oregon, was in her classroom last Tuesday preparing for the first day of school - which would be online due to COVID-19 - when her 13-year-old daughter called in alarm: A fire was coming, and they had to evacuate, now. Koa raced home. From the driveway of her house in Talent, Oregon, she watched the cloud of smoke from the nearby wildfire turn to black from gray, a sign she knew meant homes were aflame. Within minutes, Koa, her partner David Tanksley and her daughter Seneca had packed their car with camping gear and their cat and joined a crawling line of traffic to evacuate.