Reuters US Domestic News Summary

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg dies at age 87 from pancreatic cancer Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a stalwart liberal on the U.S. Supreme Court since 1993, died on Friday at age 87, the court said, giving President Donald Trump a chance to expand its conservative majority with a third appointment at a time of deep divisions in America with a presidential election looming.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg dies at age 87 from pancreatic cancer

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a stalwart liberal on the U.S. Supreme Court since 1993, died on Friday at age 87, the court said, giving President Donald Trump a chance to expand its conservative majority with a third appointment at a time of deep divisions in America with a presidential election looming. Ginsburg, a champion of women's rights who became an icon for American liberals, died at her home in Washington of complications from metastatic pancreatic cancer, the court said in a statement. She was surrounded by her family, the court said. California's wildfire death toll rises as showers bolster crews in Oregon

A firefighter has perished in a blaze that was ignited two weeks at a gender-reveal party, the U.S. Forest Service reported on Friday, as welcomed thundershowers brought some relief to weary fire crews in western Oregon. The firefighter's death on Thursday in the San Bernardino National Forest east of Los Angeles raised the death toll to at least 35 in the catastrophic spate of wildfires raging across the western United States in recent weeks. Biden challenges Trump on the economy in Minnesota face-off, early voting begins in four states

Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden criticized President Donald Trump's handling of the U.S. economy on Friday as the two rivals headed to the election battleground state of Minnesota, one of four states where early voting was getting underway. Trump trails Biden in national opinion polls ahead of the Nov. 3 election, but is trying to make up ground in Minnesota, a state he lost by about 1.5 percentage points to Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016. Trump says he expects to have coronavirus vaccine for every American by April

President Donald Trump said on Friday he expects to have available enough doses of a coronavirus vaccine for every American by April. "Hundreds of millions of doses will be available every month, and we expect to have enough vaccines for every American by April," Trump told a news conference. U.S. Gulf Coast tourism, already stung by pandemic, slammed by Hurricane Sally

Hurricane Sally made a direct hit on the U.S. Gulf Coast this week, dealing a blow to a popular tourist destination already reeling from the coronavirus pandemic. In the storm's aftermath, many bar and restaurant owners were breathing a sigh of relief the damage was not worse. Sally bulled its way through this stretch of beach towns and condos in Alabama and Florida, making landfall on Wednesday as a powerful Category 2 hurricane and bringing extensive floods that destroyed numerous piers and caused two riverboat casinos under construction to break free of their moorings. U.S. House Speaker Pelosi discusses aid with airline CEOs: sources

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke on Friday afternoon with the chief executives of the country's top airlines, who are urging Congress to approve another $25 billion in assistance to keep tens of thousands of U.S. workers on the payroll past Sept. 30, sources said. The call with Pelosi, House Transportation Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio and the CEOs followed one with labor, where the speaker voiced support for additional aid, according to Association of Flight Attendants-CWA International President Sara Nelson. Kamala Harris stars in new comic book birthday gift

A day after her birthday, Kamala Harris is getting her own comic book, chronicling her path from childhood to her historic nomination as U.S. vice president. "Female Force: Kamala Harris," part of Tidalwave Productions' Political Power series, is set for release on Oct. 21, a day after she turns 56. That is less than two weeks before the Nov. 3 U.S. election. Michigan court rules that late arriving ballots must be counted

A Michigan judge ruled on Friday that mailed ballots postmarked by Nov. 2 must be counted in the state as long as they are received within two weeks after the Nov. 3 election, the latest move by a U.S. court to protect voting rights in the pandemic. Michigan Court of Claims Judge Cynthia Diane Stephens made the ruling in a case brought by the Michigan Alliance for Retired Americans, and supported by Marc Elias, an elections lawyer working with Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's campaign. U.S. reverses COVID-19 testing guidance again: exposed without symptoms need tests

The Trump administration reversed guidance Friday on COVID-19 testing for a second time, urging those exposed to people with the virus to get tested even if they are not displaying symptoms. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) sparked widespread outcry among state public health officials and experts in late August when it said that people who do not have symptoms may not need to get tested. U.S. House panel asked to postpone whistleblower deposition on Homeland Security

A congressional panel has been asked to postpone a closed door deposition with a former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) intelligence chief because of delays in obtaining access to classified records and approval of security clearances for his lawyers. But Adam Schiff, the Democrat who chairs the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, said on Friday his panel was "rejecting the Department’s attempt to limit the scope of its investigation" into the DHS intelligence office, which would-be witness Brian Murphy formerly headed.