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USA: Ex-Philadelphia cop charged in fatal shooting of Black man

(AP) --- A white former Philadelphia police officer was charged Friday with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of a Black man after a high-speed car chase nearly three years ago.

Former Officer Eric Ruch Jr. shot and killed Dennis Plowden Jr., 25, only seconds after Plowden crashed his car at 77 mph (125 kph), stumbled out of it and fell to the ground, authorities said.

USA: California fire investigators seize utility equipment

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Fire investigators looking into what caused a wildfire that killed four people in far Northern California have taken possession of equipment belonging to Pacific Gas and Electric, the utility reported Friday.

PG&E said in a filing with the Public Utilities Commission that investigators with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection seized some of its electrical equipment near where the Zogg Fire started Sept. 27.

USA: Trump’s Columbus Day proclamation includes stark warnings

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s proclamation Friday commemorating Columbus Day veered from a typical White House holiday announcement, with stark warnings of “radical activists” seeking to tarnish the explorer’s legacy.

Native American advocates have pressed states for years to change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day over concerns that Christopher Columbus helped launch centuries of genocide against indigenous populations in the Americas.

Trump official says vaccine expected starting in January

(AP) --- A Trump administration official leading the response to the coronavirus pandemic says the U.S. can expect delivery of a vaccine starting in January 2021, despite statements from the president that inoculations could begin this month.

And a growing, bipartisan chorus of lawmakers, experts and public health officials says the country is ill prepared for a projected winter surge of COVID-19.

Twitter tightens limits on candidates ahead of US election

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Twitter is imposing tough new rules that restrict candidates from declaring premature victory and tighten its measures against spreading misinformation, calling for political violence and spreading thoughtless commentary in the days leading up to and following the Nov. 3 U.S. election.

The social platform will remove tweets that encourage violence or call for people to interfere with election results. Tweets that falsely claim a candidate has won will be labeled to direct users to the official U.S. election results page on Twitter.

USA: McConnell tries to salvage Senate majority with court vote

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell spent a year prepping his Republican colleagues for this moment, telling them the confirmation of a Supreme Court justice is the “most important” vote they will take as senators, the chance to make “seismic change” that will stay with the nation for generations to come.

Now, three weeks before Election Day, the GOP leader needs this moment more than ever.

USA: Anti-government groups shift focus from Washington to states

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — The alleged foiled plot to kidnap Michigan’s governor is a jarring example of how the anti-government movement in the U.S. has become an internet-driven hodgepodge of conspiracy theorists who have redirected their rage from Washington toward state capitols.

That’s in contrast to the self-styled “militia” movement that took shape in the 1990s — loosely connected groups whose primary target was the federal government, which they considered a tyrannical force bent on seizing guns and imposing a socialist “new world order.”

Trump restarting campaign with White House, Florida events

WASHINGTON (AP) — Looking to shove his campaign back on track, President Donald Trump and his team laid out an aggressive return to political activities, including a big White House event on Saturday and a rally in Florida on Monday, a week after his hospitalization for a virus that has killed more than 210,000 Americans.

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