US Domestic News Roundup: U.S. challenges Alabama law on transgender youth; Maxwell loses bid to toss sex trafficking conviction, as sentencing looms and more

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

U.S. challenges Alabama law on transgender youth

The U.S. Justice Department said it filed a complaint on Friday challenging a law in Alabama that criminalizes some gender-affirming treatments for transgender youth. Earlier this month, Alabama's Republican governor signed into law the bill, which makes it a felony punishable with up to 10 years of imprisonment for providing voluntary medical treatments, including hormone therapy, puberty blockers and surgery to help align physical characteristics to the gender identity of a minor.

Oath Keepers member pleads guilty to seditious conspiracy in U.S. Capitol attack

An Oath Keepers member on Friday admitted to engaging in seditious conspiracy during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and agreed to cooperate with investigators, handing a win to prosecutors as they prepare for a likely trial against the far-right group's founder. Brian Ulrich, 44, of Georgia pleaded guilty on Friday during a court hearing in federal court in the District of Columbia.

White House correspondents dinner returns, with Biden headlining

U.S. President Joe Biden will resume a Washington tradition of speaking at the White House Correspondents Association dinner on Saturday night, the first president to speak at the annual event since 2016. After being canceled for two years due to COVID-19 pandemic and boycotted by Donald Trump during his presidency, the event returns this year with gusto, featuring remarks by comedian Trevor Noah.

Disney's corporate affairs head leaves three months after joining

Walt Disney Co's head of corporate affairs, Geoff Morrell, is leaving the company three months after joining from oil and energy company BP Plc, according to an email on Friday from Chief Executive Officer Bob Chapek. Morrell's brief tenure has been marked by controversy over the company's response to Florida’s law barring classroom instruction of sexual orientation and gender identity for some younger students.

U.S. likely to find out about next COVID booster by summer -Fauci

Scientists and health officials by this summer should have a better sense of what type of COVID-19 booster will be needed to deal with the next phase of the pandemic and when it should be administered, top U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Friday. The National Institutes of Health, where Fauci serves as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is conducting clinical studies to determine if the next COVID booster should be specific to a particular variant of the coronavirus or designed to address more than one variant, known as a bivalent vaccine, ahead of the fall season, he said.

Judge 'surprised' at Trump claim he has no documents sought in probe

A New York judge expressed surprise on Friday that Donald Trump, a man he described as perhaps the world's most famous real estate developer, was unable to provide any documents sought in a probe of the Trump Organization, his family company. Justice Arthur Engoron in New York state court in Manhattan said at a virtual hearing that he would go on holding the former U.S. president in contempt of court and fine him $10,000 a day despite a request from Trump's lawyer to lift both orders.

Maxwell loses bid to toss sex trafficking conviction, as sentencing looms

British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell on Friday lost a bid to overturn her December 2021 conviction on sex trafficking charges, paving the way for her to be sentenced to decades in prison. Maxwell, 60, who was convicted of helping recruit and sexually abuse girls for deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein to abuse, is scheduled to be sentenced in June.

In Georgia, protests planned at salute to U.S. South's pro-slavery past

Hundreds of civil rights activists are expected to show up at Georgia's Stone Mountain on Saturday to protest at the return of an annual celebration of the Confederacy at the foot of a towering monument to the heroes of the South's pro-slavery past. The state chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) expects about 200 supporters to turn out for its celebration, which it says honors the sacrifices of their forebears. The Atlanta NAACP aims to bring even more protesters to the event, which it views as a salute to the South's legacy of racism.

Largest U.S. wildfire rages out of control in New Mexico

Firefighters in New Mexico failed on Friday to pin back the flames of the United States' largest wildfire, which is burning perilously close to a string of mountain villages. The blaze is the most destructive of dozens in the U.S. Southwest that are more widespread and burning earlier than normal in the year due to climate change, scientists say.

FBI searches of data collected without a warrant nearly triples last year

The FBI made nearly 3.4 million queries last year to a database of information collected without a warrant, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said on Friday, nearly tripling from the previous year. The FBI data, which ODNI said was being included for the first time in its transparency report, included some 1.9 million queries done as part of investigations into attempts by foreign cyber attackers to compromise U.S. critical infrastructure, like U.S. power plants.

(With inputs from agencies.)