US Domestic News Roundup: New York to ban flavored e-cigarettes; Humberto strengthens into a hurricane: U.S. NHC

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Overshadowed by U.S. corruption probe, UAW, GM near contract deadline

Overshadowed by a mushrooming U.S. federal corruption probe into top union officials that has created uncertainty for collective bargaining talks, the contract between the United Auto Workers (UAW) and General Motors Co will expire at midnight on Saturday. This year's talks between the union and GM, Ford Motor Co and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (FCA) were always going to be tough, with thorny issues such as healthcare costs and profit-sharing on the table at a time when sales of U.S. new vehicles are declining.

Companies ask judge in U.S. opioid trial to recuse himself

Major drug wholesalers and retailers facing a massive lawsuit for allegedly fostering the nation's opioid crisis asked the judge hearing the case to recuse himself on Saturday. The companies argued in a court filing that U.S. District Judge Dan Polster, who is hearing the case in a federal court in Cleveland, Ohio, had made statements in court indicating that he was not impartial in the case and improperly pushed the companies to settle without going to trial.

Democratic hopeful Warren seeks to curb U.S. lobbying, corporate power

Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren on Monday proposed a major rewrite of U.S. laws governing lobbying that she said was aimed at restricting corporate influence and rooting out "corruption in Washington." Warren, a U.S. senator from Massachusetts, seeks to transform the practice of U.S. government officials cashing in by moving to private-sector jobs where they make vastly more money by influencing regulations and legislation.

New York to ban flavored e-cigarettes after illnesses, deaths

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Sunday announced a ban on all flavored e-cigarettes besides tobacco and menthol in response to a recent nationwide spate of sometimes deadly lung illnesses that U.S. health officials have linked to vaping. Cuomo said vaping was dangerous and that he was concerned fruit- and candy-flavored e-cigarettes were leading young people to get hooked on nicotine.

Humberto strengthens into a hurricane: U.S. NHC

Humberto has strengthened into a hurricane in the Atlantic and is forecast to strengthen further during the next 48 hours, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Sunday. The system is located about 785 miles (1,260 km) west of Bermuda, with maximum sustained winds of 75 miles per hour (120 km/h), the Miami-based weather forecaster said.

Thousands of fetal remains found on Illinois property of deceased doctor

More than 2,200 preserved fetal remains have been found on the Illinois property of a recently deceased doctor who performed abortions, the Will County sheriff's office said in a statement. The family and attorney of Ulrich Klopfer, who died on Sept. 3, discovered 2,246 medically preserved fetal remains on Thursday while going through the deceased doctor's personal property and alerted the local coroner's office, the sheriff's office said.

After U.S. court ruling, Honduran newlyweds among migrants clinging to asylum dream

Led by a dream of marrying on U.S. soil, a young Honduran couple traveled thousands of miles from their home in the port city of La Ceiba, narrowly escaping a kidnapping in Mexico before seeking asylum across the border in Texas. But the couple, Dexy Maldonado and Marvin Madrid, decided, in the end, to settle for a wedding in less than dream-like conditions.