Reuters US Domestic News Summary

The new commitments from U.S. companies, including Visa Inc and apparel maker Gap Inc , were announced a day before President Joe Biden formally opens the Los Angeles gathering, which has been marred by controversy over the exclusion of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. U.S. House panel probes Trump's accounting of foreign gifts The U.S. House of Representatives' Oversight Committee said on Tuesday it had opened an investigation into what it called former President Donald Trump's failure to account for gifts received from foreign government officials.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Family of Black man killed by North Carolina police to get $3 million

A North Carolina county has agreed to settle a lawsuit and pay $3 million to the family of Andrew Brown Jr., a Black man who was shot and killed by deputies as he drove away from his home in 2021, the local sheriff said in a statement. Brown, 42, died fleeing a morning raid on April 21, 2021 in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, a riverfront community where just over half of the roughly 18,000 residents are Black.

Woman tells jury Cosby molested her, defense challenges account

A woman who has filed a civil lawsuit against Bill Cosby took the witness stand in California on Tuesday, telling jurors the comedian forced her to perform a sex act at the Playboy Mansion when she was a teenager in the 1970s. Judy Huth, who is seeking unspecified damages, said she had gone to the famous locale in Los Angeles at Cosby's invitation after she and a friend met him days earlier at a public park where he was filming a movie.

U.S. VP touts $3.2 billion investment aimed at stemming Central America migration

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris has pooled $3.2 billion in corporate pledges aimed at addressing some of the economic factors driving migration from Central America, her office said on Tuesday, lending impetus to measures to be discussed at the Summit of the Americas this week. The new commitments from U.S. companies, including Visa Inc and apparel maker Gap Inc , were announced a day before President Joe Biden formally opens the Los Angeles gathering, which has been marred by controversy over the exclusion of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

U.S. House panel probes Trump's accounting of foreign gifts

The U.S. House of Representatives' Oversight Committee said on Tuesday it had opened an investigation into what it called former President Donald Trump's failure to account for gifts received from foreign government officials. Under federal law, U.S. departments and agencies are required to inform the State Department of gifts over $415 its employees received from foreign governments. The law aims to ensure U.S. officials are kept free from foreign influence.

Trump ally seeks return to Congress as seven U.S. states hold midterm primaries

A former member of Donald Trump's cabinet was attempting a return to the U.S. Congress in Montana and California Democrats concerned about crime may oust one of their own when voters headed to the polls in midterm primary elections in seven states on Tuesday. Voters in South Dakota, New Jersey, Iowa, Mississippi and New Mexico were also casting ballots in nominating contests that will set the competitive field for Nov. 8's elections, which will determine control of Congress for the next two years.

U.S. gun reform: Actor McConaughey, relatives of victims urge lawmakers to act

Lawmakers, shooting victims and advocates for stricter gun laws including actor Matthew McConaughey spoke out in Washington on Tuesday for legislation to reduce mass shootings amid signs of movement on an issue that has stymied Congress for years. Democrats in the U.S. Senate said they were encouraged by ongoing talks with Republicans. The White House said President Joe Biden simply wanted to see some kind of legislation passed, even if a deal could not be reached on his call to ban assault rifles, as Congress debates federal gun legislation after more than a decade of inaction on the issue.

U.S. Senate Democrats say getting closer to gun-violence compromise

Democrats in the U.S. Senate said on Tuesday they were encouraged by talks with Republicans on firearms legislation, but warned that any compromise would fall well short of all the steps they say are needed to curb gun violence. "Every day we get closer to an agreement, not farther away," said Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, who is working with Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas on a possible deal.

Surging drug prices targeted in U.S. study of pharmacy giants

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is looking into how big pharmacy benefit managers like CVS Caremark affect pricing and patients' access to prescription drugs at a time when costs of some medicines, even older ones like insulin, have skyrocketed, the agency said Tuesday. As part of the probe, the FTC is sending demands for information to CVS Health Corp's Caremark, Humana Inc, Cigna Corp's Express Scripts and UnitedHealth Group's OptumRx, among others.

Judge gives former Tesla worker a deadline to accept $15 million payout over racism

A federal judge on Tuesday gave a Black former elevator operator at Tesla Inc two weeks to decide whether to accept $15 million in damages over racial abuse at the electric car company, far below the $137 million a jury had awarded. U.S. District Judge William Orrick in San Francisco said Owen Diaz identified no controlling question of law to justify an immediate appeal of the reduced award, which includes $1.5 million of compensatory damages and $13.5 million of punitive damages.

Spare 'documented Dreamers' from deportation, tech giants tell Biden official

The Biden administration must protect young adults who could lose U.S. immigration status because of processing delays for permanent residency, tech companies including Amazon.com Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google said on Tuesday. After turning 21, foreigners can no longer stay in the United States under parents' work visas. If applications for their own visas are not processed by that birthday - as is often happening amid pandemic-induced delays - they must leave.

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