Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.
US Supreme Court to decide legality of federal ban on gun ‘bump stocks’
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday trained its sights once again on gun rights, agreeing to decide the legality of a federal ban imposed under former President Donald Trump on “bump stock” devices that enable semiautomatic weapons to fire like machine guns. The justices agreed to hear an appeal by President Joe Biden’s administration of a lower court’s ruling in favor of Michael Cargill, a gun shop owner and gun rights advocate from Austin, Texas, who challenged the ban that was put in place under Trump following a 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas.
In NY fraud trial, Eric Trump says he relied on others to verify documents
Eric Trump testified on Friday that he relied on accountants and lawyers to verify the accuracy of financial documents that a judge has ruled to be fraudulent in a trial that threatens to hobble his father Donald Trump’s real estate empire. His testimony wrapped up before noon. Up next is the former president, who is scheduled to take the witness stand on Monday.
Thousands of Black women claim hair relaxers gave them cancer
Sheila Bush, a cosmetologist, was lounging in the recliner at her St. Louis-area home last winter when an advertisement from a law firm flashed up on her television screen, urging viewers to call a toll-free number if they or a loved one had used hair relaxers and been diagnosed with uterine cancer. After seeing the ad three times, Bush, who said she had used hair relaxers every six weeks for most of her life and was diagnosed with uterine cancer about a decade ago, decided to pick up the phone.
Bidens visit sites of Maine shootings, mourn victims
U.S. President Joe Biden made a solemn trek on Friday to the two sites in Lewiston, Maine, where a gunman killed 18 people last month and said the latest mass shooting had opened painful wounds all across America. “We’re here to grieve with you, so you know you’re not alone,” said Biden, who was joined by his wife Jill.
Matthew Perry laid to rest in Los Angeles -media
Actor Matthew Perry, who died on Saturday at age 54, was laid to rest on Friday at a Los Angeles cemetery in a service attended by relatives and castmates from the hit 1990s television sitcom “Friends,” show business media reported, citing photographs. Mourners gathered at the Forest Lawn cemetery in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, less than a mile from the Warner Brothers studio where the show was filmed. It is also the final resting place of numerous Hollywood A-listers including Michael Jackson, Lucille Ball and Elizabeth Taylor.
US Supreme Court to hear NRA free speech case against New York official
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to decide whether a New York state official stifled the ability of the National Rifle Association to exercise free speech rights protected by the Constitution’s First Amendment by pressuring banks and insurers to avoid doing business with the influential gun rights group. The justices took up the NRA’s appeal of a lower court’s decision to throw out the group’s lawsuit against Maria Vullo, a former superintendent of New York’s Department of Financial Services. It represents the latest case to come before the Supreme Court involving the NRA, a group closely aligned with Republicans that has opposed gun control measures and backed pivotal lawsuits that have widened U.S. gun rights.
Republicans stiffen qualifying requirements for fourth debate in December
Republican presidential primary candidates will need to meet relatively stringent polling requirements to participate in the fourth debate in December, the Republican National Committee said on Friday, which could result in a winnowing of the field. The debate is set to take place in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on Dec. 6, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.
Donald Trump to face anonymous jury in writer E. Jean Carroll’s second trial
A federal judge said Donald Trump will face an anonymous jury as it decides how much he should pay E. Jean Carroll for defaming the writer in 2019 by denying that he raped her. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan said he found “strong reason” to provide special protections for jurors at the scheduled Jan. 16, 2024 civil trial.
US appeals court upholds Illinois assault weapons ban
A U.S. appeals court on Friday upheld an Illinois state ban on assault-style weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines enacted after a 2022 mass shooting in Chicago’s Highland Park suburb that left seven people dead and dozens more wounded. In a 2-1 vote, a three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out a lower-court injunction imposed against the firearms restrictions in one set of cases and affirmed decisions keeping the law intact in another batch.
Key New York tunnel project wins $3.8 billion in new US support -senators
The Biden administration will award $3.8 billion to help build a long-delayed new railway tunnel between New York City and New Jersey, state officials said Friday. In total, the federal government will fund more than $11 billion of the $17.2 billion Hudson Tunnel Project costs that will repair an existing tunnel and build a new one for passenger railroad Amtrak and state commuter lines between New Jersey and Manhattan, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said.
(With inputs from agencies.)