NY judge strikes down policy tying funds to immigration compliance

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

U.S. to conduct additional Keystone XL pipeline review

The U.S. State Department will conduct another environmental review of TransCanada Corp's long-pending Keystone XL oil pipeline, a U.S. official said on Friday, a move that could lead to additional delays of the project. The so-called supplemental environmental impact statement was ordered by Judge Brian Morris of the U.S. District Court in Montana in his ruling on Nov. 8 that blocked construction of the pipeline planned to bring heavy crude from Canada's oil sands to the United States.

N.Y. judge strikes down policy tying funds to immigration compliance

The Trump administration cannot compel states and cities to cooperate with federal immigration authorities as a condition for receiving millions of dollars in federal law enforcement funds, a New York federal judge ruled on Friday. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos in Manhattan is a victory for New York City and the states of New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Virginia and Washington, which had sued the administration over the conditions in July. Ramos is at least the fourth federal judge to rule against U.S. President Donald Trump's administration on the issue.

Former President George H.W. Bush dead at 94

Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, who presided over the end of the Cold War and routed Saddam Hussein's Iraqi army but lost a chance for a second term after breaking a no-new-taxes pledge, died on Friday at the age of 94. Bush, the 41st president of the United States, who lived longer than any of his predecessors and possessed one of the most impressive resumes in American political history, died peacefully at his home in Houston, according to a source close to the family.

Powerful quake rattles Anchorage, hitting roads, bridges hardest

A powerful earthquake jolted southern Alaska on Friday morning, buckling roads, disrupting rush-hour traffic and jamming telephone service in and around Anchorage, the state's largest city, but there were no reports of serious injuries. The 7.0 magnitude quake struck about 8 miles (13 km) north of Anchorage, a city of 300,000 residents accounting for about 40 percent of Alaska's population, and was followed by dozens of aftershocks that continued to rattle nerves throughout the day.

Pentagon appears poised to extend Mexico border deployment

The Pentagon received a request on Friday from the Trump administration to extend its deployment of troops to the U.S. border with Mexico beyond a Dec. 15 authorization date to the end of January, officials said. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who is expected to sign off on the extension of the mission, strongly hinted earlier this week that such a request by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was in the works.

Ex-Dallas officer who shot man in his home charged with murder

A former Dallas police officer was charged with murder on Friday for shooting an unarmed black neighbor whose apartment she said she mistakenly entered instead of her own, prosecutors said. Amber Guyger, 30, surrendered to authorities after a grand jury indicted her on a charge of murder in the Sept. 6 death of Botham Jean, 26, Dallas County District Attorney's spokeswoman Kimberlee Leach said by phone.

U.S. judge gives preliminary OK to $48 million Volkswagen investor settlement

A U.S. judge in California has granted preliminary approval to a $48 million settlement for investors who said Volkswagen AG made false and misleading statements over its excess diesel emissions. Lawyers for the investors, who include police and other municipal pension funds, had estimated that the maximum they could have recovered was $147 million. But Judge Charles Breyer said the settlement agreed in August appeared "fair, adequate and reasonable."

Caravan migrants in Mexico fill new border shelter after rains force exodus

Hundreds of mostly Central American migrants poured into a new shelter on Friday as bus loads fled a filthy, flooded sports complex on the eve of a presidential inauguration in Mexico that could recast the border crisis with U.S. President Donald Trump. Earlier in the day, streams of migrants laden with heavy backpacks, tents and blankets, much of it soaking wet, loaded buses leaving their original migrants shelter within sight of the border.

Hymns then blood: victims testify at Charlottesville rally trial

Before the car hit him, there was an upbeat atmosphere among those protesting a white nationalist rally in Virginia last year, a student recalled in court on Friday. The next thing Aubtin Heydari, 22, remembered was being soaked in blood and wondering why he could not walk.

List of missing in California's deadliest wildfire drops sharply

Two days after authorities in Northern California ended their search for human remains from the deadliest wildfire in state history, the number of people listed as missing was reduced on Friday to fewer than 50, down from the nearly 200 last tallied. The confirmed death toll from the Camp Fire stood unchanged from the past few days at 88, but the newly revised roster of people still unaccounted for came as welcome news three weeks after flames ravaged the Sierra foothills town of Paradise.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)