Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Trump must blame Russia for cyber attack on U.S., Biden says President-elect Joe Biden said on Tuesday he had seen no evidence that a massive cyber attack against the United States is under control and warned that the breach will not go unanswered once he takes office on Jan. 20.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Police officer relieved of duty after Black man shot in Columbus, Ohio

A police officer was relieved of duty on Tuesday following his involvement in the killing of a Black man in Columbus, Ohio, according to Mayor Andrew Ginther, the second incident in which a Black man was killed by police in the city in the past month. The latest shooting took place as investigations continue over the Dec. 4 killing of a young Black man, Casey Christopher Goodson, triggering protests in downtown Ohio demanding transparency in the investigations. Explainer-U.S. vaccine rollout's next challenge: Verifying who is 'essential'

As U.S. industries push for their workers to receive early access to COVID-19 vaccines, local health departments and pharmacies face the challenge of verifying the identity of essential workers to ensure no one cuts the line. The vaccination campaign under way is now focused on hospital staff and nursing homes, tightly controlled environments where verification is relatively simple. But beginning in January or February, Americans employed in a range of industries will be eligible for innoculation, provided they are essential frontline workers. Dominion Voting Systems employee sues Trump campaign for defamation

An senior employee of Dominion Voting Systems has sued President Donald Trump's re-election campaign in a Colorado court for spreading false conspiracy theories related to November's presidential election that Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden. Eric Coomer, director of product strategy and security for the voting technology company, sued Trump's campaign and senior associates, including attorney Sidney Powell and the president's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, for defamation, according to a court document dated Dec. 22 reported by Colorado Public Radio. In pandemic America's tent cities, a grim future grows darker

Nadeen Bender stood outside her home, a tattered two-man tent, surrounded by the re-purposed Amazon Prime boxes she uses to store her life's belongings. One by one, she checked the cartons to make sure nothing had been stolen in the night. When asked about her Christmas plans, the rail-thin 43-year-old said through a face mask, "to try to avoid it." Then she burst into tears.

With U.S. Senate at stake, Black voters loom large for Democratic candidates in Georgia With hundreds of millions of dollars pouring into twin Jan. 5 Georgia runoff elections to determine control of the U.S. Senate, Democrats and a constellation of allies are waging an all-out campaign to mobilize as many Black voters as possible. The success of their efforts - targeted advertising, virtual events and even door-to-door canvassing despite the coronavirus pandemic - will likely decide the outcome, analysts said.

Trump threatens to not sign COVID-19 bill, wants bigger stimulus checks President Donald Trump threatened on Tuesday to not sign an $892 billion coronavirus relief bill that includes desperately needed money for individual Americans, saying it should be amended to increase the amount in the stimulus checks.

U.S. government operations are being funded on a temporary basis through Dec. 28, waiting for the $1.4 trillion in federal spending for fiscal 2021 that is also part of the bill. Trump must blame Russia for cyber attack on U.S., Biden says

President-elect Joe Biden said on Tuesday he had seen no evidence that a massive cyber attack against the United States is under control and warned that the breach will not go unanswered once he takes office on Jan. 20. Biden, the Democratic former vice president, said President Donald Trump needs to squarely place blame for the hack on Russia - something he has yet to do even though both Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Attorney General William Barr have accused Moscow. U.S. sues Walmart saying pharmacies fueled opioid crisis, retailer rejects allegations

The U.S. Justice Department sued Walmart Inc on Tuesday, accusing the world's biggest retailer of fueling the opioid crisis in the United States, ignoring warning signs from its pharmacists and filling thousands of invalid prescriptions. In a civil lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Delaware, the government said Walmart failed to take its gatekeeping duties as a pharmacy seriously, allegations the company rejected. Trump grants full pardon to Russia probe figure George Papadopoulos

President Donald Trump granted a full pardon on Tuesday to George Papadopoulos, a former campaign aide who pleaded guilty as part of the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Trump also pardoned Alex van der Zwaan, 36, the Dutch son-in-law of Russian billionaire German Khan. Van der Zwaan was sentenced to 30 days in prison and fined $20,000 for lying to U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigators about contacts with an official in Trump’s 2016 campaign. U.S. under siege from COVID-19 as hospitals overwhelmed before holidays

Americans were warned again on Tuesday not to travel for Christmas as the latest COVID-19 surge left hospitals struggling to find beds for the sick and political leaders imposed restrictions to try to curb new infections, making for a grim holiday season. A new, even more contagious variant of the coronavirus quickly spreading across Britain caused more fear in Americans already weary from nine months of the pandemic and prompted talks among top U.S. officials to ban travel from the United Kingdom