Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

New Mexico presses opioid case vs Walgreens after settling with Walmart, Kroger

The state of New Mexico on Tuesday urged a judge to hold Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc responsible for fueling the opioid crisis in the state, delivering a closing argument in the latest of several trials around the country against the pharmacy chain.

"The state has proven that the opioid crisis existing in New Mexico was a foreseeable consequence of Walgreens' conduct," Dan Alberstone, a lawyer for the state, told Judge Francis Matthew in the 1st Judicial Circuit of New Mexico in Santa Fe.

Coronavirus pandemic prompts Biden to focus on biological threats

U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday set in motion a plan to counter biological threats and prepare for the next pandemic after the COVID-19 coronavirus caused more than 1 million deaths in the United States. Biden signed three documents on biodefense security aimed at establishing a strategy and an implementation plan to gird for the next time a virus spreads widely in the United States.

Biden pledges law on abortion rights if Democrats keep Congress

U.S. President Joe Biden, under pressure over high inflation, sought to mobilize his left-leaning base on Tuesday by promising to sign a law to codify abortion rights in January if Democrats control the legislature next year. Biden's Democrats could lose control of the House of Representatives, and possibly the Senate too, in the November elections. The president is trying to rally the party and its supporters around abortion rights, which were sharply curtailed by the Supreme Court's decision nearly four months ago to overturn the landmark Roe v Wade ruling.

'Person of interest' in Oklahoma dismemberment case arrested in Florida

A salvage yard owner who authorities consider a "person of interest" in the murder of four men whose dismembered bodies were found in an Oklahoma river has been arrested in Florida on unrelated charges, police said on Tuesday. Joe Kennedy, 67, was taken into custody in Daytona Beach Shores while driving a car that had been reported stolen in Oklahoma, police in the Oklahoma city of Okmulgee said in a statement.

Oath Keeper wanted U.S. Congress to 'be afraid' of certifying Biden win

A Florida member of the far-right Oath Keepers testified on Tuesday that he had been ready to use violence to stop the U.S. Congress from certifying Republican Donald Trump's election defeat, saying he wanted lawmakers to "be afraid." Jason Dolan, a 46-year-old retired Marine, who last year pleaded guilty to taking part in the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol, testified at the criminal trial of the group's founder, Stewart Rhodes, and four associates, who face charges of seditious conspiracy for their role in the violence.

Biden approval stuck at 40%, a dark sign for Democrats in midterms -Reuters/Ipsos

Three weeks from the U.S. midterm elections, President Joe Biden's approval rating stayed close to the lowest level of his presidency as Americans worried about inflation, a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll completed on Tuesday found. The two-day national poll found that 40% of Americans approve of Biden's job performance, unchanged from a week earlier.

Amazon workers reject union in NY state in blow to organizing effort

Amazon.com Inc workers rejected organizing a New York state warehouse by a nearly two-to-one margin on Tuesday, handing another defeat to the fledgling labor union that had aimed to build momentum in its cross-country campaign. At ALB1, the retailer's fulfillment center in Castleton-on-Hudson near the state's capital Albany, employees voted 406 to 206 against joining the Amazon Labor Union in the company's fourth such contest of the year. Turnout was more than 64%.

Ex-classmate convicted of murdering long-missing California student Kristin Smart

A former classmate of Kristin Smart, the California college freshman whose 1996 disappearance long stood as one of the state's most sensational unsolved crimes, was found guilty on Tuesday of murdering her, prosecutors said. The guilty verdict against Paul Flores, who was arrested and charged with Smart's death in April 2021, almost a quarter-century after she vanished, was returned by a jury in Monterey County Superior Court.

How Utah's Evan McMullin could become a key U.S. Senate power broker

If U.S. Senate candidate Evan McMullin succeeds in unseating Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah, he could occupy a uniquely powerful role as an independent ready to work with either party in the narrowly divided chamber. While maverick Democratic Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema have used their positions in the 50-50 chamber to block parts of President Joe Biden's agenda, an independent McMullin could wield even more influence if Republicans pick up one -- and only one -- other seat in the Nov. 8 midterm election.

Explainer-Parler: what is the social media app Kanye West is buying?

U.S. rapper Kanye West, who now goes by Ye, has agreed in principle to buy social media platform Parler, which is popular among U.S. conservatives, the app's parent company said on Monday. Ye's offer comes after the artist was locked out of his Twitter and Instagram accounts this month for making posts that online users condemned as anti-Semitic.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)