USA: Jacksonville shooter killed Black shoppers with legally purchased guns

WASHINGTON, Aug 27 (Reuters) - The white gunman who shot and killed three Black people at a Dollar General store in Jacksonville, Florida on Saturday was a 21-year-old who bought his guns legally and had no criminal history, local law enforcement said on Sunday.

The shooter, Ryan Christopher Palmeter, lived with his parents in a suburb of Jacksonville, Sheriff T.K. Waters told a news conference. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

8 US Marines remain in a hospital after a fiery aircraft crash killed 3 during drills in Australia

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Eight U.S. Marines remained in a hospital in the Australian north coast city of Darwin on Monday after they were injured in a fiery crash of a tiltrotor aircraft that killed three of their colleagues on an island.

All 20 survivors were flown from Melville Island 80 kilometers (50 miles) south to Darwin within hours of the Marine V-22 Osprey crashing at 9:30 a.m. Sunday during a multinational training exercise, Northern Territory Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said.

USA: Judge to hear arguments on Mark Meadows’ request to move Georgia election case to federal court

ATLANTA (AP) — A federal judge in Atlanta is set to hear arguments Monday on whether Mark Meadows should be allowed to fight the Georgia indictment accusing him of participating in an illegal scheme to overturn the 2020 election in federal court rather than in a state court.

USA: A House impeachment inquiry of President Biden is a ‘natural step forward,’ Speaker McCarthy says

PHOENIX (AP) — Speaker Kevin McCarthy suggested Sunday that an impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden was becoming more likely, calling it “a natural step forward” as Congress soon ends its summer break and House Republicans seek to expand their investigative powers.

McCarthy, R-Calif., has so far avoided committing to an impeachment vote or offering a timeline for possible action. Some House Republicans are eager to go after Biden over claims of financial misconduct involving his son Hunter, but the Democratic president has not been shown to have done anything wrong.

Trump lawyers back in DC court as two sides differ over trial date in election subversion case

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawyers for Donald Trump are due back in court Monday as a federal judge considers radically conflicting proposals for a trial date in the case accusing him of working to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the run-up to the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

USA: DeSantis cancels SC campaign travel, returns to Florida facing tropical storm and shooting aftermath

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis canceled a day of presidential campaign appearances to deal with crises at home as his state mourns a racist fatal shooting in Jacksonville and prepares for a tropical storm.

Pope Francis laments "reactionary," politicised, US Catholic Church

VATICAN CITY, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Pope Francis has lamented what he called a "reactionary" Catholic Church in the United States, where he said political ideology has replaced faith in some cases.

In the 10 years since his election, Francis has been criticised by conservative sectors of the U.S. Church who are opposed to reforms such as giving women and lay Catholics more roles and making the Church more welcoming and less judgmental towards some, including LGBT people.

A Russian who worked at a US consulate is accused of collecting information for US diplomats

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s top domestic security agency said Monday that a detained former employee of the U.S. Consulate in Vladivostok is accused of collecting information about Russia’s action in Ukraine and related issues for U.S. diplomats.

USA: Tropical Storm Idalia is expected to become a hurricane and move toward Florida, forecasters say

MIAMI (AP) — Tropical Storm Idalia intensified early Monday and was expected to become a major hurricane before it reaches Florida’s Gulf coast, the National Hurricane Center said Monday, warning of an increasing risk of life-threatening storm surge and dangerous hurricane-force winds in Florida as soon as late Tuesday.

Heavy rainfall in western Cuba could produce flooding and landslides, forecasters said, and hurricane-force winds were expected later Monday.

US raises concerns by Micron, Intel with China as export control meeting set to launch

BEIJING, Aug 28 (Reuters) - U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo discussed concerns about restrictions on American businesses including Intel (INTC.O) and Micron (MU.O) with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao on Monday in a meeting where the two countries also agreed to launch an export control enforcement information dialogue.

The pair also discussed China's restrictions on gallium and germanium exports in wide-ranging and candid talks that lasted more than two hours, followed by a two-hour lunch, according to a brief comments from Raimondo and the Commerce Department.

USA: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to call on Democrats to codify ‘Obamacare’ into state law

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will call on state lawmakers this week to pass legislation proactively protecting key provisions in the Affordable Care Act, including no-cost preventive services, as the nation’s health law continues to face legal challenges in federal court.

Whitmer, who is in her second term and working for the first time with a Legislature under complete Democratic control, will call for a plan to codify the Affordable Care Act during a speech Wednesday where she will outline her legislative priorities for the second half of the year.

Ukraine: Zelenskiy says elections could happen under fire if West helps

KYIV, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, responding to calls by a US senator this week to announce elections in 2024, said on Sunday voting could take place during wartime if partners shared the cost, legislators approved, and everyone got to the polls.

Elections cannot currently be held in Ukraine under martial law, which must be extended every 90 days and is next due to expire on Nov. 15, after the normal date in October for parliamentary polls but before presidential elections which would normally be held in March 2024.

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