Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Atlantic City mayor resigns over theft from youth basketball club

Atlantic City's Mayor Frank Gilliam resigned late on Thursday after pleading guilty to one count of wire fraud, and now faces a 20-year prison sentence for stealing about $87,000 from a youth basketball club, court records showed. Gilliam, 49, who has led the resort city on New Jersey's Atlantic coast since a 2017 election in the community known for its casinos and boardwalk, sent a resignation letter to the city clerk's office, media said. White House attempting gambit to slow House impeachment push

President Donald Trump's bitter fight against an impeachment inquiry has not slowed down the Democrats' push to investigate whether he sought personal political gain by urging Ukraine to probe Democratic opponent Joe Biden. But in a new tactic, the White House plans to argue that U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi must have the full House vote to formally approve an impeachment inquiry, a source familiar with the effort said. 'This looks so bad,' says white Texas cop on horseback, leading black man on a rope

One of two white police officers who rode through the streets of Galveston, Texas, on horseback escorting a black man walking tethered to a rope is heard saying: "This is going to look really bad" in newly released police video footage of the incident. The spectacle was caught on body cameras worn by the two officers during their Aug. 3 trespassing arrest of Donald Neely, who family lawyers have said is known to city police as someone who suffers from mental illness and regularly sleeps on the streets. U.S. diplomat thought it was 'crazy' to withhold Ukraine aid: texts

A top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine thought it was "crazy" to withhold military aid for the country as it confronted Russian aggression, according to evidence presented on Thursday in an impeachment probe of President Donald Trump. Trump's former special representative for Ukraine negotiations, Kurt Volker, testified on Thursday for more than eight hours to members of the U.S. House of Representatives and staff of the House Foreign Affairs, Intelligence and Oversight Committees. U.S. states fight back against Purdue's bid to halt opioid lawsuits

U.S. state officials are due on Friday to launch a counterattack against OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP over its attempt to shield the company and its controlling Sackler family from thousands of lawsuits accusing the company of fueling the opioid epidemic. Attorneys general from Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and other states are expected to object to Purdue's request that a U.S. bankruptcy judge shield the company from more than 2,600 lawsuits seeking billions of dollars in damages, according to court filings and three people familiar with the preparations. Teenage activist Greta Thunberg bringing call for climate action to Iowa

Teenage activist Greta Thunberg will take her campaign demanding that world leaders tackle climate change, which began as a lonely vigil outside the Swedish parliament but saw her rise to address the United Nations last month, to Iowa City on Friday. The 16-year-old Swede is stopping in the Midwestern city, located in the state that will vote first in next year's U.S. presidential nominating contests, as part of her tour of North America ahead of a U.N.-sponsored climate conference in Santiago, Chile, in December. Massachusetts set to defend vaping ban, toughest in nation, in court

Massachusetts officials on Friday are expected to defend their crackdown on sales of vaping products in a courtroom battle testing the toughest prohibitions yet in a rapidly developing response to e-cigarettes and their potential link to a lung disease. U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston has set a quick schedule to consider whether to block Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker's administration from enforcing a four-month ban on the sale of vaping products. U.S. Energy Secretary Perry expected to announce resignation next month: Politico

U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry is expected to announce his resignation in November, Politico reported on Thursday, citing three unidentified people familiar with his plans. A spokeswoman for the Energy Department said Perry remains a "proud member" of President Donald Trump's Cabinet, in a statement that stopped short of denying the Politico report. Two women accuse actor James Franco of sexual exploitation in lawsuit

Two women filed a civil lawsuit against Hollywood actor James Franco on Thursday, accusing him of running a bogus film school where young women eager to advance their acting careers were duped into auditioning nude or shooting explicit sex scenes. The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, accused the 41-year-old, Oscar-nominated actor, currently starring in the HBO television series "The Deuce," of exploiting aspiring actors at his now-defunct school. New York court blocks state ban on flavored e-cigarettes

A New York court on Thursday temporarily halted a state ban on the sale of flavored e-cigarettes, giving the embattled vaping industry a breather just a day before the state's prohibition was due to take effect. The appellate court ruling puts a hold on the ban that was announced by New York state's Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo last month in response to widespread growing concern about the rising use of e-cigarettes among teens and a nationwide spate of lung illnesses.