Reuters US Domestic News Summary

The rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012 - when a heavily armed gunman killed 20 young children and six educators - shocked the country and forever linked Newtown, a picturesque New England town, with the epidemic of mass shootings that has wracked the United States in recent years. Georgia's top election official calls for end to runoffs in the state Georgia's top election official on Wednesday called on lawmakers to eliminate the state's unusual runoff election system, a week after Democrats again prevailed in a runoff for a closely fought U.S. Senate race.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

North Dakota, Iowa ban TikTok from state-owned devices

North Dakota and Iowa have joined a growing number of U.S. states in banning the Chinese-owned short-video-sharing app TikTok from state-owned devices, citing national security concerns. North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum and Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds issued directives prohibiting executive branch agencies from downloading the app on any government-issued equipment. Around a dozen U.S. states have taken similar actions, including Alabama and Utah this week.

LGBT nightclub massacre survivors tell U.S. Congress: 'We are being slaughtered'

Survivors of mass shootings targeting U.S. LGBT nightclubs detailed the violence they endured and criticized inflammatory political rhetoric in a congressional hearing on Wednesday. "We are being slaughtered and dehumanized across this country, in communities you took oaths to protect," said Matthew Haynes, owner of the Club Q nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where five people were killed and 22 wounded in a mass shooting last month.

Police testify about attack on U.S. House Speaker Pelosi's husband

A San Francisco police officer testified on Wednesday that he witnessed the attack on U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband when the suspect in the assault hit Paul Pelosi with a hammer in late October. Prosecutors at the preliminary hearing for suspect David Wayne DePape, 42, played a recording of Paul Pelosi's 911 call during the hearing and showed video of the attack from police body cameras, USA Today reported.

U.S. Senate could pass temporary funding bill as soon as Thursday -Schumer

The U.S. Senate could give final approval by Thursday to a one-week extension of federal government funding before the midnight Friday deadline, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Wednesday. "The House is set to act on a one-week CR as soon as tonight and when that bill comes to the Senate we should be ready to act quickly, as soon as tomorrow if we can," Schumer said, referring to the "continuing resolution" stop-gap funding bill.

Oregon governor lifts death sentences for 17 inmates facing execution

Oregon Governor Kate Brown, who leaves office at the beginning of the year, has commuted the death sentences of all 17 inmates facing capital punishment in the state, leaving them to serve life in prison without the possibility of parole. The Democrat said she decided to use her executive clemency powers to commute the sentences because she believes capital punishment is immoral.

Ten years after Sandy Hook shooting, Connecticut town spends a day in reflection

Ten years after one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history, residents of the Connecticut town where it took place marked Wednesday's anniversary by attending vigils, paying respects at a new memorial and reflecting in private with loved ones. The rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012 - when a heavily armed gunman killed 20 young children and six educators - shocked the country and forever linked Newtown, a picturesque New England town, with the epidemic of mass shootings that has wracked the United States in recent years.

Georgia's top election official calls for end to runoffs in the state

Georgia's top election official on Wednesday called on lawmakers to eliminate the state's unusual runoff election system, a week after Democrats again prevailed in a runoff for a closely fought U.S. Senate race. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, said runoff elections put a significant strain on election officials. Under Georgia law, if no candidate secures at least half of the votes in November's regular election, a runoff between the two top vote-getters is triggered.

Migrants tell of mass kidnappings in Mexico before crossing into the U.S.

Many of the hundreds of migrants who crossed the Rio Grande from Ciudad Juarez into El Paso this week were part of a group kidnapped in Mexico as they made their way to the United States, according to nine migrants interviewed by Reuters. Testimony from the nine migrants suggests there were multiple kidnappings across several days in the northern state of Durango, with people taken to at least two main locations and held against their will while ransoms were demanded.

American released in transfer between Ukraine, Russians -White House

A U.S. citizen has been released as part of a prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine, where the war is not likely to wind down before year's end, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said on Wednesday. Kirby would not release additional details, citing privacy concerns. The head of Ukraine's presidential administration, Andriy Yermak, earlier identified the American as Suedi Murekezi.

U.S. owes Sandy Hook families stronger gun laws, Biden says

U.S. President Joe Biden marked 10 years since the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut on Wednesday by saying Americans should have "societal guilt" for failing to address gun violence appropriately in the decade since. The rampage at the school on Dec. 14, 2012 - when a heavily armed gunman killed 20 young children and six educators - shocked the country and has been followed by an epidemic of mass shootings.