US Domestic News Roundup: Biden attacks Warren, Sanders over cost of healthcare plans in Democratic debate

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

PG&E reaches $11 billion settlement relating to wildfire claims

Power producer PG&E Corp said on Friday it has reached an $11 billion settlement agreement with entities representing about 85% of insurance subrogation claims relating to 2017 and 2018 wildfires. The company said these claims were based on payments made by insurance companies to individuals and businesses with insurance coverage for wildfire damages.

Biden attacks Warren, Sanders over cost of healthcare plans in Democratic debate

Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden clashed with progressive challengers Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders on healthcare in a debate on Thursday, defending Obamacare and pushing them to be honest about the cost of their plans. With the top 10 Democratic candidates sharing the debate stage for the first time, they focused more on their shared opposition to Republican President Donald Trump and pared back some of the bickering that marked the first two debates this summer.

Democrats back on campaign trail after third presidential debate

The Democratic presidential contenders head back to the campaign trail on Friday after a debate that reinforced former Vice President Joe Biden's front-runner status and left his rivals searching for a formula to knock him out of the top spot. The candidates who participated in Thursday's debate in Houston, and those scrambling to try to qualify for next month's debate in Ohio, have less than five months to plead their case to voters before the first nominating contest in Iowa on Feb. 3, 2020.

Biden maintains grip on 2020 Democratic race after third debate

Those expecting Joe Biden's presidential candidacy to flame out any day now will have to keep waiting. The former U.S. vice president survived another Democratic debate on Thursday largely unbloodied and unbowed, leaving those on the margins of the race for the party’s 2020 nomination wondering if their time to gain ground on the front-runner is running out.

Georgia man fights for gay rights in Supreme Court 'Hotlanta' case

Months after joining the gay-friendly Hotlanta Softball League, Gerald Bostock was out of a job in a Georgia county government office and was convinced he had become the victim of workplace discrimination based on his sexual orientation. Proud of his job as an advocate for children caught up in the juvenile justice system in Clayton County in suburban Atlanta, Bostock said he was shocked when he was abruptly fired in 2013, an action that figures prominently in a major LGBT rights fight coming before the U.S. Supreme Court next month.

Protesters greet Trump in Baltimore after his tweets blasting city

Dozens of protesters gathered in downtown Baltimore on Thursday as President Donald Trump made his first visit to the city since he blasted it as "disgusting" and "rodent-infested" in hotly debated tweets in July. Trump gave a speech to Republicans from the House of Representatives holding an annual retreat in the predominantly black city, after protesters greeted his motorcade with signs depicting Trump as a rat and telling him to return to the swamp.

New storm hits hurricane-ravaged Bahamas, could become tropical storm

A new storm brought rain and wind to the hurricane-ravaged Bahamas early Friday, with the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) warning it could turn into a tropical storm. Early Friday, it was a tropical disturbance over the central Bahamas, packing winds of 30 mph (45 kph) and was expected to drop two to four inches of rain through Sunday, the NHC said.

Trump trade-war aid sows frustration in farm country

The U.S. government is paying Texas cotton farmer J. Walt Hagood $145 an acre for losses related to U.S. President Donald Trump's trade policies. But Minnesota soybean farmer Betsy Jensen will get just $35 an acre. Both farmers' sales have taken heavy blows in Trump's trade war with China. Neither understands why the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is giving Hagood so much more than Jensen - who grows the nation's most valuable agriculture export crop, of which China had been the biggest buyer.

Exclusive: While battling opioid crisis, U.S. government weighed using fentanyl for executions

The U.S. Department of Justice examined using fentanyl in lethal injections as it prepared last year to resume executing condemned prisoners, a then untested use of the powerful, addictive opioid that has helped fuel a national crisis of overdose deaths. The department revealed it had contemplated using the drug in a court filing last month, which has not been previously reported.

Actress Felicity Huffman heads to court for U.S. college scandal sentencing

Actress Felicity Huffman, the first parent to be sentenced in a wide-ranging college admissions scandal, faces prison time on Friday for admittedly paying to rig her daughter's entrance exam. Prosecutors recommended U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani sentence Huffman to one month behind bars after she pleaded guilty in May to conspiracy related to her payment of $15,000 to have someone secretly correct her daughter's answers on the SAT test, according to court documents.

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