US Domestic News Roundup: New York AG launches investigation on oil industry over gas price gouging - CNN; A day after the shooting attack, New York's subway thrums with riders and more

The settlement was the first court-enforced consent decree to require overhauls at a police department reached with a city since Attorney General Merrick Garland in April 2021 rescinded a policy implemented under the Democrat Biden's Republican predecessor Donald Trump that sharply curtailed their use. New York subway shooting suspect faces initial court appearance The man suspected of injuring 23 people by setting off smoke bombs and spraying the inside of a New York City subway car with gunfire was due to make an initial court appearance on Thursday to face a federal charge of violently attacking a mass transit system.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

New York AG launches investigation on oil industry over gas price gouging - CNN

New York Attorney General (AG) Letitia James has launched an investigation to determine whether the oil industry has engaged in gas price gouging, CNN reported on Thursday, citing a person familiar with the matter. Crude prices have hit 14-year highs this year in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and subsequent sanctions on Moscow.

A day after the shooting attack, New York's subway thrums with riders

On busy subway platforms across the city, New Yorkers checked their phones, read books, and glanced impatiently at the countdown clocks as they waited for trains on Wednesday, a day after a man fired a handgun at passengers on a subway car. In interviews, riders said they were upset by the highly unusual attack in which the man began shooting after setting off smoke canisters in a subway car, leaving 10 people with non-life-threatening wounds.

Kentucky lawmakers block abortion access with new law, effective immediately

Kentucky effectively suspended legal abortion access on Wednesday as the legislature enacted a sweeping anti-abortion law that took effect right away and forces providers to stop offering abortions until they can meet certain requirements. The impact of the law makes Kentucky the first U.S. state without legal abortion access since the 1973 Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade established the right to end a pregnancy before the fetus is viable, abortion providers say.

Eight facts about suspect in New York subway shooting

The man suspected of setting off smoke bombs and shooting 10 passengers on a New York City subway car was arrested on Wednesday after a 30-hour manhunt and faces federal criminal charges. The following are eight facts about the man:

State securities regulators order virtual casino firm to stop selling NFTs

Securities regulators in the U.S. states of Texas and Alabama on Wednesday ordered an online casino developer to stop selling non-fungible tokens (NFTs), alleging the firm was illegally offering unregistered securities and defrauding the public. Cyprus-based Sand Vegas Casino Club and co-founders Martin Schwarzberger and Finn Ruben Warnke allegedly offered 11,111 NFTs in a "high-tech fraudulent securities offering" to fundraise to build virtual casinos in the metaverse. They also erroneously told potential buyers the tokens were not securities, the Texas State Securities Board said in a statement.

U.S. settles with Black Lives Matter protesters violently cleared from White House park

U.S. law enforcement agencies have agreed to change some of their policies for responding to demonstrations on federal property, part of a partial settlement agreement reached with Black Lives Matter protesters who were violently cleared from a park near the White House in June 2020. The Justice Department has settled claims in four civil lawsuits brought by racial justice demonstrators who said their rights were violated in Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C., according to a Justice Department press release https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-civil-settlement-lafayette-square-cases issued on Wednesday.

Biden lets U.S. Capitol riot panel have more Trump White House records

U.S. President Joe Biden has authorized the release of a new tranche of records from Donald Trump's presidency to the congressional committee probing last year's attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to a government letter released on Wednesday.

In the letter, U.S. National Archivist David Ferriero said Biden had declined to use a presidential power known as an executive privilege to keep the Trump records confidential.

Oscar-winning actor Cuba Gooding Jr. pleads guilty to forcible touching

Cuba Gooding Jr. pleaded guilty on Wednesday to a misdemeanor count of forcibly touching a woman at a New York nightclub in 2018, as part of an agreement with prosecutors that spares the Oscar-winning actor any immediate jail time. The guilty plea, in which Gooding also admitted in court to subjecting two other women to "non-consensual physical contact" in 2018 and 2019, came three years after he was arrested, the Manhattan district attorney's office said in a statement.

Massachusetts city agrees with U.S. Justice Department to reform police

The city of Springfield, Massachusetts has agreed to carry out reforms to resolve claims that its narcotics officers routinely used excessive force, the U.S. Justice Department said on Wednesday, in the first settlement of its type under President Joe Biden. The settlement was the first court-enforced consent decree to require overhauls at a police department reached with a city since Attorney General Merrick Garland in April 2021 rescinded a policy implemented under the Democrat Biden's Republican predecessor Donald Trump that sharply curtailed their use.

New York subway shooting suspect faces an initial court appearance

The man suspected of injuring 23 people by setting off smoke bombs and spraying the inside of a New York City subway car with gunfire was due to make an initial court appearance on Thursday to face a federal charge of violently attacking a mass transit system. Frank Robert James, 62, was arrested on Wednesday in lower Manhattan, capping a 30-hour manhunt for the lone suspect wanted in an attack that unnerved riders of the largest and busiest U.S. metropolitan rapid rail network and renewed calls for greater subway security.

(With inputs from agencies.)