Reuters US Domestic News Summary
Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.
U.S. charges target alleged Chinese spying at Harvard, Boston institutions
A Harvard University department chair and two Chinese nationals who were researchers at Boston University and a Boston hospital were charged on Tuesday with lying about their alleged links to the Chinese government. The charges are part of an aggressive effort by U.S. authorities to block what they say are Chinese attempts to steal American scientific and technological advances.
Background checks and bump stock bans: 2020 Democrats on gun control
With more than 15,000 people killed by gun violence in the United States last year - not counting suicides - Democrats running for their party's presidential nomination are pointing to inaction in Washington as evidence they should be chosen to run against Republican President Donald Trump. Here is a look at gun control positions taken by Trump and the Democrats vying to unseat him.
Waitress turned model expected to take the stand at Weinstein's rape trial
A woman who has claimed Harvey Weinstein lured her into his home under the pretense of reading a script and then raped her is expected to take the stand in the former Hollywood producer's sexual assault trial on Wednesday. Tarale Wulff, a model and former cocktail waitress, is not one of the two women Weinstein is charged with assaulting. But she is one of three women who prosecutors are calling to bolster their case against Weinstein by trying to provide evidence of his motives or methods.
Senate to begin questions for legal teams in Trump impeachment trial
The U.S. Senate on Wednesday will begin up to two days of questioning the prosecution and defense in President Donald Trump's impeachment trial ahead of a crucial vote later in the week on whether to call witnesses. The questions, which will alternate between Republican and Democratic senators, will be submitted in writing and read aloud by U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts, who is presiding over the trial to determine if Trump should be removed from office.
Harvey Weinstein's New York rape trial moves on after explosive testimony
Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein's New York rape trial is expected to continue on Tuesday, following explosive testimony from two women who have accused him of sexual assault. Weinstein, 67, has pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting Mimi Haleyi and Jessica Mann. Haleyi has already testified against him, as has another woman, actress Annabella Sciorra.
Man convicted of killing ex-wife and her boyfriend set to be executed in Georgia
A Georgia man convicted more than two decades ago of shooting and killing his ex-wife's boyfriend and then bludgeoning her to death with the shotgun he had used is scheduled to be executed in Georgia on Wednesday. Donnie Cleveland Lance, 66, is set to be executed by lethal injection at 7 p.m. EST (0000 GMT) at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson, 21 years after he was convicted of killing his former wife, Sabrina "Joy" Lance, and her boyfriend, Dwight "Butch" Wood, in Jackson County.
Final moments of Kobe Bryant's fatal helicopter crash revealed by investigators
Moments before Los Angeles basketball great Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter and the seven others perished in a helicopter crash, the pilot had tried to climb out of layer of clouds, but the aircraft then banked sharply and lurched toward the ground. The twin-engine Sikorsky S-76B slammed into a hillside 60 seconds later and burst into flames, killing all nine people on board, according to details of Sunday's crash revealed on Tuesday by federal aviation safety officials.
House Democrats call for $760 billion in infrastructure spending over five years
U.S. House Democrats on Wednesday will unveil a proposed $760 billion infrastructure spending bill over five years that aims to rebuild sagging roads and bridges and reduce carbon pollution. The proposal is also intended to get U.S. President Donald Trump to return to the bargaining table. Trump campaigned in 2016 on boosting infrastructure spending by at least $1 billion over a decade but focused first on tax cuts and health care reform after taking office.
Biden's final Iowa drive sweeps through rival territory
When U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden went to an Iowa university to campaign this week, one thing was in short supply: students who support him. "What's an old guy like you going to do to get the young people to come out and vote," a person at a University of Northern Iowa (UNI) town hall asked Biden on Monday, noting "there's not very many here."
White House holds off on suspending China-U.S. flights amid virus outbreak
The White House on Tuesday opted not to suspend flights from China to the United States as it discussed ways to deal with the coronavirus outbreak, sources briefed on the matter told Reuters. The Trump administration told U.S. airlines after a meeting that it was not taking the step of canceling flights, airline and government officials told Reuters.
