Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. U.S. Supreme Court to tackle gay rights, guns, abortion and Trump

The U.S. Supreme Court's new term opens on Monday with the conservative majority in a position to take a more aggressive rightward turn on divisive issues including abortion, gay rights and gun control while also refereeing legal brawls involving President Donald Trump. The court has moved to the right since Trump took office, with a 5-4 conservative majority that includes two justices he appointed: Brett Kavanaugh in 2018 and Neil Gorsuch in 2017. Walmart to test programs for U.S. workers to cut its healthcare costs

Walmart Inc said on Thursday it will begin several healthcare pilot programs for its U.S. employees starting Jan. 1 as it looks for ways to cut healthcare costs - one of the largest expenses for the retailer after wages. Walmart will pilot a program that will connect patients with local doctors in an effort to cut down on its workers relying on word of mouth or social media to find a doctor. The pilot programs will be held in parts of Arkansas, Florida and Texas. Dallas policewoman gets 10 years for murder; 'I forgive you,' victim's brother says

Former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Wednesday by a Texas jury that found her guilty of murder for walking into a neighbor's apartment thinking it was her own and shooting him as he ate ice cream. The jury came to its verdict in less than six hours on Tuesday, convicting Guyger, who is white, in the 2018 killing of Botham Jean, a 26-year-old black PwC accountant. His death sparked street protests last year, particularly when prosecutors initially opted to bring the lesser charge of manslaughter against Guyger, 31. Corporate lawyer faces sentencing in U.S. college admissions scandal

The former co-chairman of the New York corporate law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher will be sentenced on Thursday for his role in what prosecutors say is the largest college admissions scam uncovered in the United States. Federal prosecutors in Boston are seeking eight months in prison for Gordon Caplan after he pleaded guilty to paying $75,000 to have a corrupt test proctor secretly correct his daughter's answers on the ACT college entrance exam. Trump to unveil order aiming to boost Medicare health program, woo seniors

U.S. President Donald Trump will unveil an executive order on Thursday aimed at strengthening the Medicare health program for seniors by seeking to improve its fiscal position and offer more affordable plan options, administration officials told Reuters. The order, which Trump will discuss during a visit to a retirement community in Florida known as the Villages, is the Republican president's answer to some Democrats who are arguing for a broad and expensive expansion of Medicare to cover all Americans, plans that Republicans reject. Biden to Trump: 'You're not going to destroy me'

Hours after U.S. President Donald Trump described him as "stone-cold crooked," Joe Biden, a leading Democratic contender in the 2020 race for the White House, vowed on Wednesday the Republican president is "not going to destroy me." "Let me make something clear to Trump and his hatchet men and the special interests funding his attacks against me," Biden said in prepared remarks distributed by his campaign in advance of an appearance in Reno, Nevada, on Wednesday night. Uber launches app aimed at connecting workers with businesses

Ride-hailing firm Uber Technologies Inc said it launched an app called Uber Works to connect temporary workers looking to work shifts with businesses trying to plug gaps in their rosters. The app, made available only in Chicago for now, will show workers the available shifts in a certain area and help businesses that struggle to staff up during peak demand, and with missed shifts and high turnover, Uber said in a blog https://ubr.to/2n5ka15. U.S. diplomat at center of Trump-Ukraine affair to meet with House committee staff

A longtime U.S. diplomat who served as President Donald Trump's special envoy for Ukraine will tell his story to congressional committee staff on Thursday as part of a Democratic-led impeachment probe of the Republican president. Kurt Volker resigned as special representative for Ukraine negotiations on Friday, the day after the public release of a whistleblower complaint that described him as trying to "contain the damage" from efforts by Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani to press Ukraine to investigate Democrats. Vintage B-17 bomber makes fiery fatal landing in Connecticut, seven killed

A World War Two-era B-17 bomber trying to make an emergency landing at an airport near Hartford, Connecticut, crashed and burned on Wednesday, killing seven people on board and closing the airport for several hours, authorities said. The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress took off from Bradley International Airport on Wednesday morning and the crew contacted the air traffic control tower five minutes later to report a problem, National Transportation Safety Board member Jennifer Homendy said at a news conference. U.S. committee seeks to interview Boeing engineer on safety of 737 MAX

A U.S. panel has asked Boeing Co to make an engineer available for an interview after reports that the worker filed an internal ethics complaint on 737 MAX's safety and that the planemaker convinced the regulator to relax safety standards. The engineer said in the complaint filed this year that during the development of the 737 MAX, Boeing had rejected a safety system to minimize costs, the New York Times had reported https://nyti.ms/2nOUo1J earlier.

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