Reuters US Domestic News Summary

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which operates the grid that serves more than 26 million customers, initiated a rarely used emergency program that is triggered when supplies fall below a critical safety margin. Ohio man charged with raping 10-year-old who later crossed state lines for abortion An Ohio man has been charged with raping a 10-year-old girl who later traveled to neighboring Indiana for an abortion, a case that President Joe Biden highlighted in criticizing a U.S. Supreme Court decision eliminating a nationwide right to abortion.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Judge rejects Amber Heard bid for new trial with Johnny Depp

"Aquaman" actor Amber Heard lost a bid for a new trial in her defamation case with ex-husband Johnny Depp on Wednesday when a judge rejected her lawyers' argument that one of the jurors had served improperly. In June, Heard was ordered to pay Depp $10.35 million in damages when a jury in Fairfax County, Virginia, ruled she had defamed the "Pirates of the Caribbean" star in a newspaper opinion piece.

GET INSIDE! New York City ad on surviving a nuclear attack raises eyebrows

New York City's emergency management office on Wednesday defended its decision to produce a public service announcement advising residents how to survive a nuclear attack after some questioned the advisory's timing. The goal of the campaign is to inform the public on ways to stay safe if nuclear weapons were pointed in New York's direction, a department spokesperson told Reuters.

Video shows police response in Uvalde shooting was 'indefensible,' Cruz says

A surveillance video showing a long delay by Texas police and federal agents before they acted to stop the mass shooting at Uvalde's Robb Elementary School shows that their response was "indefensible," U.S. Senator Ted Cruz said on Wednesday. The publication of the edited video on Tuesday by the Austin American-Statesman outraged the families of the victims. They not only objected to having to see the minutes before their loved ones were gunned down, but also to witnessing the long delay before officers confronted and killed the gunman.

Texas grid takes emergency actions to avoid blackouts amid heatwave

Texas's power grid operator on Wednesday took emergency measures to avoid rolling blackouts as soaring electricity demand threatened to outpace available supplies amid a stifling heatwave. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which operates the grid that serves more than 26 million customers, initiated a rarely used emergency program that is triggered when supplies fall below a critical safety margin.

Ohio man charged with raping 10-year-old who later crossed state lines for abortion

An Ohio man has been charged with raping a 10-year-old girl who later traveled to neighboring Indiana for an abortion, a case that President Joe Biden highlighted in criticizing a U.S. Supreme Court decision eliminating a nationwide right to abortion. Gerson Fuentes, 27, who was arrested on Tuesday, appeared in Franklin County, Ohio, municipal court for an arraignment on Wednesday. A police investigator testified at the hearing that Fuentes confessed to raping the girl at least twice.

Boston officer once beaten by police named as new commissioner

Michael Cox, a former Boston police officer who was once beaten by colleagues who mistook him for a suspect, was named by Boston Mayor Michelle Wu to lead the largest police department in Massachusetts. At a news conference announcing his appointment as commissioner, Cox, who is Black, said that he was a victim of "unconstitutional policing" in 1995. He likened the beating incident to other cases of police brutality that minorities have faced across the United States.

U.S. says pharmacies must fill reproductive health prescriptions

The Biden administration said on Wednesday that refusing to fill prescriptions for drugs that could be used to terminate a pregnancy could violate federal law, regardless of various state bans on the procedure. This "guidance" https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/pharmacies-guidance.pdf, which involves roughly 60,000 U.S. retail pharmacies, comes days after President Joe Biden signed an executive order easing access to services to terminate pregnancies after the U.S. Supreme Court last month overturned the Roe v. Wade ruling that made abortions legal nationwide.

Former CIA engineer convicted in WikiLeaks espionage case

A former CIA software engineer was convicted on Wednesday of leaking classified information to WikiLeaks from the spy agency, in one of the biggest such thefts in CIA history. Jurors in Manhattan federal court convicted Joshua Schulte, 33, on eight espionage charges and one obstruction charge over the so-called Vault 7 leak.

Trump, adult children to testify in NY civil probe next week

Former President Donald Trump is expected to testify in the New York attorney general's civil investigation into his business practices next week, not on Friday as previously agreed, according to a person familiar with the matter. Trump's daughter Ivanka, and son Donald Jr. also will be questioned under oath next week, the person said.

California truckers protest 'gig worker' law at busiest U.S. seaport

Independent truckers who ferry goods to and from the nation's busiest seaport complex in Southern California on Wednesday stopped work to protest a state law that makes it harder for businesses to treat workers as independent contractors rather than employees. Their actions come at a critical time for California ports involved in high-stakes West Coast labor talks. Retailers, food producers and other shippers are sweating those often-contentious negotiations because any breakdown could upend the fragile U.S. supply chain and stoke soaring inflation. Trucking disruptions threaten to add to that anxiety.