Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.
Missouri orders lone abortion clinic to close; judge keeps it open for now
Missouri health officials on Friday refused to renew the license of the state's only abortion clinic, but the facility will remain open for now as a judge left in place an injunction blocking its closure. At a brief state circuit court hearing on Friday, Judge Michael Stelzer said it might be days before the court would come to a decision on whether the state could shut its only abortion clinic, which is operated by women's healthcare and abortion provider Planned Parenthood.
Trump's half-cocked and loaded tweet draws barrage of reaction
U.S. President Donald Trump, whose Twitter malaprops often set off a deluge of social media criticism, was targeted on Friday for a linguistic misfire involving the phrase "locked and loaded." In a series of tweets on Friday morning Trump outlined why he said he had decided to call off a military strike on Iran he had planned in response to its having shot down a U.S. drone. He said he decided the estimated death toll of 150 would be a disproportionate response.
California governor proposes a $21 billion wildfire fund
California Governor Gavin Newsom has proposed helping utilities create a fund of up to $21 billion to compensate future victims of wildfires sparked by the companies' equipment or employees, an aide said on Friday. The proposal by the Democratic governor follows the bankruptcy filing earlier this year of San Francisco-based utility PG&E Corp, which anticipates $30 billion in liabilities from wildfires that have been blamed on its equipment, including the state's deadliest blaze which killed more than 80 people last year.
U.S. psychoanalysts apologize for labeling homosexuality an illness
The American Psychoanalytic Association (APsaA) apologized on Friday for previously treating homosexuality as a mental illness, saying its past errors contributed to discrimination and trauma for LGBTQ people. It may be the first U.S. medical or mental health organization to issue such an apology. Although psychiatrists declassified homosexuality as a disorder in 1973 and psychoanalysts came around nearly 20 years later, the APsaA says it is unaware of any related professional group that had apologized."It is long past time to recognize and apologize for our role in the discrimination and trauma caused by our profession and say, 'We are sorry,'" said a statement by Dr. Lee Jaffe, president of APsaA. The group uses that abbreviation to distinguish it from the American Psychiatric Association (APA).
Body of auto journalist recovered from northern California river: sheriff
The body of a well-known U.S. automobile journalist who went missing in mountainous northern California after taking a motorcycle for a test-drive is believed to have been recovered, a local sheriff said on Friday, following an apparent accidental drowning. Davey Johnson, 44, from Sacramento, had been missing since June 5 when he was testing a Honda CB1000R for an article in Motorcyclist magazine in the rugged and cold terrain near Mokelumne Hill, California.
Prosecutors won't drop charges against Navy SEAL despite medic's stunning admission
Prosecutors said on Friday they will not drop premeditated murder charges against a Navy SEAL charged with stabbing to death a teenaged Islamic State militant in Iraq in 2017 after another SEAL told a court martial he killed the prisoner. Navy SEAL medic Corey Scott told the court on Thursday the fighter was breathing through a tube when Navy SEAL Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher stabbed him in the neck.
Massive Philadelphia refinery fire threatens facility's future
A massive fire at Philadelphia Energy Solutions Inc's oil refinery on Friday damaged the largest U.S. East Coast plant to the point that it could remain shut for an extended period, according to Philadelphia city officials and company sources. As of late afternoon, the fire was "confined and contained," but could not be put out entirely, because a connection line feeding fuel to the tank where a combination of propane and butane was burning could not yet be shut, Philadelphia Deputy Fire Commissioner Craig Murphy said in a press conference.
Special prosecutor to examine Jussie Smollett case in Chicago
A Chicago judge on Friday ordered a special prosecutor to examine the handling of actor Jussie Smollett's discredited claim that he was the victim of a hate crime, setting up the possibility he could be criminally charged a second time, a police spokesman said. Smollett, who is black and gay and at the time had a role on the television show "Empire," ignited a firestorm on social media after he told police on Jan. 29 that he was attacked on a street outside his Chicago home.
FDA approves drug for loss of sexual desire in women
The U.S. drug regulator on Friday approved Palatin Technologies and Amag Pharmaceuticals' drug to restore sexual desire in premenopausal women, the latest attempt to come up with a therapy that some have dubbed as "female Viagra". The therapy, Vyleesi, will compete in a market which has seen previous attempts fail. Analysts have said that a drug that safely and effectively treats loss of sexual desire in women could eventually reach annual sales of about $1 billion.
Citing racial bias, U.S. high court tosses black man's murder conviction
The U.S. Supreme Court, confronting racial bias in the American criminal justice system, on Friday threw out a black Mississippi death row inmate's conviction in his sixth trial for a 1996 quadruple murder conviction, finding that a prosecutor unlawfully blocked black potential jurors. The court, in a 7-2 ruling written by conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh, found that the prosecutor's actions violated the right of Curtis Flowers, 49, under the U.S. Constitution to receive a fair trial. The ruling does not preclude Mississippi from putting Flowers on trial for a seventh time.
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