US HEADLINES

Gunman in Oregon college massacre committed suicide

By Courtney Sherwood and Emily Flitter ROSEBURG, Ore. (Reuters) – The gunman who killed his English professor and eight others at an Oregon community college committed suicide after a shootout with police who arrived within five minutes and exchanged fire with him almost immediately, authorities said. Investigators had previously said the 26-year-old shooter was killed by the officers who raced to the rampage at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, which

Life ring from missing cargo ship found as hurricane threatens Bermuda

By Harriet McLeod CHARLESTON, S.C. (Reuters) – U.S. Coast Guard pilots found a life ring from the cargo ship El Faro on Saturday, the first trace of the vessel since it went missing two days earlier with 33 mostly American crew members on board, as powerful Hurricane Joaquin moved toward Bermuda. A search-and-rescue crew found the life ring in waters to the northeast of Crooked Island in the Bahamas, about

Supreme Court tackles hot social issues as 2016 election looms

By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The nine justices of the U.S. Supreme Court are set to wade into contentious social matters in their new term beginning on Monday including affirmative action, union powers and voting rights, and could add major cases involving abortion and birth control. The justices, five appointed by Republican presidents and four by Democrats, often divide along ideological and political lines on pressing social issues. In

Obama pledges probe into fatal airstrike on Afghan hospital

President Barack Obama has promised a full investigation into an apparent US air strike on an Afghan hospital that killed 19 people, a bombing which the UN said could amount to a war crime. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said patients burned to death in their beds during a raid that continued for more than an hour early Saturday, even after US and Afghan authorities were informed the hospital had been

UN slams 'inexcusable' Afghan hospital air strike that kills 19

A suspected US air strike on a hospital killed 19 people Saturday in the Afghan city of Kunduz, medical charity MSF said, a bombardment that the UN condemned as “inexcusable, and possibly even criminal”. Dozens more were seriously wounded at the facility, a key lifeline that has been running “beyond capacity” during fighting that saw the Taliban seize control of the northern provincial capital for several days. The strike early

Oregon college shooting victims identified

The nine people killed after a gunman opened fire on an Oregon community college campus Thursday took different paths to the small rural college, ranging from teens starting college for the first time to adults who were seeking a second career. One was an assistant professor of English at the college.