Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Members of the Republican-led House of Representatives Rules Committee spent hours debating the package of four bills: three providing the security aid and a fourth with measures including sanctions, a threat to ban the social media app TikTok and the potential transfer of seized Russian assets to Ukraine. Donald Trump says Ukraine's survival is important to US Donald Trump said on Thursday the survival of Ukraine is important to the United States, a shift in tone days before the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives is due to vote on a $61 billion aid package.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

US and Britain announce new Iran sanctions after missile and drone strike on Israel

The United States on Thursday announced new sanctions on Iran targeting its unmanned aerial vehicle production after its attack on Israel, and U.S. President Joe Biden said G7 leaders were committed to acting together to increase economic pressure on Tehran. Britain announced that it was also introducing sanctions on Iran in co-ordination with Washington.

Lawyers select 12 jurors to serve in Trump hush-money case

Lawyers in Donald Trump's historic criminal trial on Thursday selected 12 jurors who will assess his guilt or innocence over the coming weeks in a case stemming from a hush-money payment to a porn star. Lawyers for the defense and the prosecution still must select alternate jurors for the trial, the first ever in which a former U.S. president is the defendant.

US aid to Ukraine moves closer to possible passage

The U.S. Congress moved closer on Thursday to ending a months-long stalemate and voting on legislation to provide billions of dollars in security assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, despite bitter debate over the measure ahead of a weekend vote. Members of the Republican-led House of Representatives Rules Committee spent hours debating the package of four bills: three providing the security aid and a fourth with measures including sanctions, a threat to ban the social media app TikTok and the potential transfer of seized Russian assets to Ukraine.

Donald Trump says Ukraine's survival is important to US

Donald Trump said on Thursday the survival of Ukraine is important to the United States, a shift in tone days before the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives is due to vote on a $61 billion aid package. The former president did not endorse the package, and he dedicated most of his post on his Truth Social platform to complaining that America's European allies are not spending enough to support Ukraine. Some hard-right Republicans interpreted the post as a signal that he opposes the current aid package, though Trump did not say that explicitly.

In rebuke to RFK Jr, Biden wins Kennedy family endorsement

Fifteen members of the storied Kennedy political family endorsed U.S. President Joe Biden at a Philadelphia campaign event on Thursday, with some joining him onstage, in a rebuke of Robert F. Kennedy Jr's independent bid for office. Biden, a Democrat, faces Republican Donald Trump in a November re-match of the 2020 election. But members of both parties have bristled over the possibility that the candidacy of Kennedy, a prominent anti-vaccine activist, or another third-party bid could spoil either of their chances.

Abortion, border dominate US Senate race in battleground Arizona

A restrictive abortion ban revived in Arizona is providing a new opening for Democrats in the runup to the Nov. 5 election and putting Republicans in a tricky political bind as they try to win over moderates in the battleground state. U.S. Representative Ruben Gallego, the leading Democratic candidate in a closely watched U.S. Senate race, has criticized Republican former President Donald Trump for paving the way for the Arizona Supreme Court last week to reinstate a near-total abortion ban based on an 1864 law written during the U.S. Civil War and when women lacked the right to vote.

US Congress moves ahead on bill to push TikTok's Chinese owner to sell

An effort to force TikTok's Chinese owner, ByteDance, to sell the social media app or face a ban in the U.S. was gaining steam in Congress on Thursday, with the House of Representatives setting a vote for Saturday and a key Senate Democrat voicing support for the move. The Republican-controlled House included the measure in a sweeping $95 billion legislative package that would provide aid to allies including Ukraine and Israel, a major step forward in a months-long push in Washington.

Maine lawmakers pass gun bills in wake of October mass shooting

Maine lawmakers on Thursday sent a raft of gun safety measures to the governor to sign into law, fulfilling a promise to take swift action designed to prevent mass shootings such as a rampage last year that killed 18 people in the city of Lewiston. Governor Janet Mills, a Democrat who sponsored some of the legislation, was expected to sign the bills.

FBI says Chinese hackers preparing to attack US infrastructure

Chinese government-linked hackers have burrowed into U.S. critical infrastructure and are waiting "for just the right moment to deal a devastating blow," FBI Director Christopher Wray said on Thursday. An ongoing Chinese hacking campaign known as Volt Typhoon has successfully gained access to numerous American companies in telecommunications, energy, water and other critical sectors, with 23 pipeline operators targeted, Wray said in a speech at Vanderbilt University.

US 911 emergency call line outage resolved in some areas

Emergency services on the 911 telephone call line were restored late on Wednesday in parts of the United States, officials said, following a widespread outage across all of South Dakota and in parts of Nebraska, Nevada and Texas. Officials in South Dakota, Nevada and Las Vegas said 911 services had been restored, but without identifying the cause of the failure.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)