US Domestic News Roundup: Pelosi regains gavel as speaker of most diverse U.S. House ever

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Illinois Church abuse survivors demand perpetrators' names

Survivors and lawyers demanded on Thursday the Catholic Church make public the names of 500 priests or clergy members in Illinois accused of child sexual abuse, in the latest outcry of a global crisis. They spoke out two weeks after Illinois state Attorney General Lisa Madigan issued a blistering report stating alleged abusers had not been publicly identified by the Church and many had not been properly investigated.

Pelosi regains gavel as speaker of most diverse U.S. House ever

Nancy Pelosi again became the most powerful woman in American politics on Thursday, gathering dozens of children around her as she took the oath of office as the next speaker of a diverse and deeply divided U.S. House of Representatives. Blowing a kiss to senior Republican Representative Don Young after he read out the oath to her, the California Democrat assumed the leadership of the 435-seat chamber at a moment of unique instability and uncertainty.

Judge blocks New York City law requiring Airbnb to hand over user data

A federal judge on Thursday blocked a New York City law requiring Airbnb to hand over data each month about people who use its apartment listing service from taking effect while the company challenges the law in court. The preliminary ruling, handed down by U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer in Manhattan, could be a boon to the San Francisco-based company as it prepares for a widely anticipated initial public offering later this year.

Democrats to push shutdown halt that Trump unlikely to accept

In their first action in control of the U.S. House of Representatives, Democrats plan to adopt a bill on Thursday to end a federal shutdown without funding a Mexican border wall, trying to firmly fasten blame for the 13-day-old closure on President Donald Trump and his Republicans. Passage of the bill by the new Democratic majority was expected to occur shortly after Nancy Pelosi is elected speaker of the House, returning the liberal from San Francisco to one of Washington's most powerful posts for a second time.

'No L-pocalypse!': New York's 'L' train to keep running during repairs

More than two years after news that one of New York City's busiest subway lines would stop running between Manhattan and Brooklyn to allow for repairs, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Thursday that the "L" train would keep rolling. The expected closure of the L train tunnel under the East River for at least 15 months had dismayed residents of the Brooklyn communities of Williamsburg, Bushwick and beyond. Many were bracing themselves for squeezing on to other already crowded lines or into promised new bus services. Some even moved out of their neighborhoods.

U.S. energy regulator on FERC panel dies after bout with cancer

Kevin McIntyre, who served briefly as the chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and had been suffering from brain cancer, died on Wednesday, the agency said on Thursday. He was 57. McIntyre was a lawyer representing clients from energy industries, including natural gas, oil and wind and hydropower, for nearly 30 years before President Donald Trump, a fellow Republican, nominated him in August 2017 to head the five-member commission. Most of McIntyre's time as a lawyer was spent with the firm Jones Day.

UAW sues GM over temporary workers, escalating fight over job cuts

The United Auto Workers said on Thursday it was suing General Motors Co over labor contract violations stemming from its alleged use of temporary workers at an Indiana assembly plant, escalating the union's fight against GM's plans to possibly close U.S. factories. The lawsuit, filed on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Ohio, was the union's first counter-move to GM's decision in late November to put five North American factories on notice for closure. The decision, which affects four U.S. plants including one in Warren, Ohio, drew the condemnation of U.S. President Donald Trump and members of Congress.

Woman first to claim infection after surgery at New Jersey facility

A former patient at a New Jersey surgical facility that state health officials said may have exposed thousands of patients to HIV and other blood-borne pathogens has tested positive for hepatitis B, one of her lawyers said on Thursday. The unidentified 58-year-old Brooklyn woman, a plaintiff in a lawsuit filed on Monday, is the first of 3,778 former patients at HealthPlus Surgery Center in Saddle Brook, New Jersey, known to claim she or he became infected because of faulty sterilization and medication practices at the facility.

As loans and aid dry up, U.S. farmers face fresh challenge from shutdown

U.S. farmers, already battered by the U.S.-China trade war, are facing increasing anxiety as the partial government shutdown nears the two-week mark, leaving crucial aid and loan payments in limbo. The shutdown has blocked assistance for many farmers, who at this time of year apply for federal loans as they pay bills due from the previous year and begin budgeting for next season's planting. It is also affecting aid payments promised to allay the effects of the trade war.

U.S. judge orders Ed Sheeran to face Marvin Gaye plagiarism lawsuit

A U.S. judge has rejected English singer and songwriter Ed Sheeran's request to dismiss a lawsuit accusing him of lifting from Marvin Gaye's 1973 classic "Let's Get It On" for his 2014 smash "Thinking Out Loud." In a decision made public on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Louis Stanton in Manhattan said a jury should decide whether Sheeran, Sony/ATV Music Publishing and Atlantic Records should be liable to the estate and heirs of the late producer Ed Townsend, who co-wrote "Let's Get It On" with Gaye.

(With inputs from agencies.)