Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Woman testifies about R. Kelly prodding her to have sex

A woman testifying against R. Kelly at the R&B singer's racketeering trial said on Tuesday he pressured her to have sexual relations with him not long after they met, even though she was not ready. The woman, who identified herself as Faith, said the May 2017 encounter occurred after a concert in Westbury, New York, that a Kelly assistant had arranged, two months after Faith first met the singer backstage at a concert in San Antonio.

New York prosecutors charge pair with selling fake COVID-19 vaccine cards

Two women have been charged with selling forged COVID-19 vaccination cards through an Instagram account and to enter the names of customers into New York state's immunization database, prosecutors said on Tuesday. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. charged Jasmine Clifford, 31 of Lyndhurst, New Jersey, and Nadayza Barkley, 27, of Bellport, New York, with offering a false instrument, which is a felony, and misdemeanor conspiracy.

Florida man charged with trying to extort Rep. Matt Gaetz's family

Federal prosecutors on Tuesday accused a Florida man of trying to defraud U.S. Representative Matt Gaetz's father Don Gaetz out of $25 million, in a scheme allegedly linked to a criminal investigation targeting the Republican congressman. In a newly unsealed indictment https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndfl/press-release/file/1429001/download, prosecutors accused Stephen Alford, 62, of contacting Gaetz's father and demanding $25 million. The congressman is currently under criminal investigation over an allegation that he sex trafficked a minor and, prosecutors alleged that Alford falsely claimed he could help Gaetz obtain a pardon from former President Donald Trump.

'Oh, that's an idea...': U.S. parents respond to China screen time ban

Raleigh Smith Duttweiler was folding laundry in her Ohio home, her three children playing the video game Minecraft upstairs, when she heard an NPR story about new rules in China that forbid teenagers and children under age 18 from playing video games for more than three hours a week. "Oh, that's an idea," Duttweiler, who works in public relations at a nonprofit, recalls thinking. "My American gut instinct: This is sort of an infringement on rights and you don't get to tell us what to do inside of our own homes.

In Ida's wake, Louisiana residents could face a month without power

Residents in southern Louisiana braced for weeks without electrical power and disruption to their water systems in the wake of Hurricane Ida, one of the most powerful storms ever to hit the U.S. Gulf Coast. By early Tuesday, about 1.3 million customers in the region were without power about 48 hours after the storm made landfall, most of them in Louisiana, according to PowerOutage https://poweroutage.us, which gathers data from U.S. utility companies.

Democrats counter Republican-led voter restrictions with early, aggressive outreach

David Harris did not need an explanation when the two canvassers on his driveway asked him and his wife Jamie if they had heard about the new voting restrictions that the Republicans leading his state of Iowa had passed. Amid former President Donald Trump's false claims that his 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden was the result of widespread voter fraud, Iowa was the first state to enact major legislation https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/SOL/1224327.pdf#SF413 in 2021 that Democrats argue is designed to favor Republicans by suppressing voter turnout.

Analysis: U.S. liberals see dwindling legal options to challenge voting curbs

During the bitter legal battles over the 2020 presidential election, conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices signaled an embrace of a once-marginal legal doctrine that largely gives state legislatures power to set election rules. If applied aggressively by the court, the "independent state legislature doctrine," could further empower states to limit voting rights at a time when Republicans, emboldened by former President Donald Trump's baseless claims of election fraud after his loss to Democratic President Joe Biden, are enacting new restrictions.

Bill to help Americans returning from Afghanistan becomes law; Congress jostles over withdrawal

The U.S. Senate passed legislation on Tuesday to provide aid for American civilians returning from Afghanistan, sending the bill to the White House where President Joe Biden signed it into law, as congressional Republicans criticized the president over the chaotic withdrawal from Kabul. The "Emergency Repatriation Assistance for Returning Americans Act" provides $10 million in emergency funds per year this year and next, to help returning Americans with basic necessities as they adjust to life back home. The measure had already passed the U.S. House of Representatives.

Texas bill restricting voting access heads to governor's desk

The Texas legislature on Tuesday passed the final version of a bill restricting voter access that sparked a weeks-long political showdown and is expected to be quickly signed into law by the state's Republican governor. Both the state House of Representatives and state Senate - each controlled by Republicans - approved the measure that would outlaw drive-through and 24-hour voting locations and add new identification requirements for mail-in voting.

Thousands displaced as wildfire threatens California's Lake Tahoe resort area

Firefighters battled to protect homes on the fringe of tinder-dry forests near Lake Tahoe on Tuesday from a wildfire that has chased thousands of residents and tourists from the popular resort destination in California's Sierra Nevada range. The Caldor fire, burning since mid-August in the mountains east of the state capital, Sacramento, crested a ridgeline and roared downslope toward communities at the southern end of the Tahoe basin on Monday, triggering mass evacuations.