Reuters US Domestic News Summary

But the three-judge panel of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals narrowed much of an injunction issued by a Louisiana judge that restricted Democratic President Joe Biden's administration from communicating with social-media companies. New York says Trump inflated net worth by up to $3.6 billion; Trump seeks dismissal New York state's attorney general on Friday said Donald Trump may have fraudulently inflated his fortune by far more than previously thought, her latest salvo in preparation for trial in her civil lawsuit against the former U.S. president and his family business.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Biden administration takes abortion pill dispute to US Supreme Court

President Joe Biden's administration took its battle to preserve broad access to the abortion pill mifepristone to the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday as it appealed a lower court's ruling that would curb how the drug is delivered and distributed. The Justice Department said it filed its appeal of an August decision by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that would bar telemedicine prescriptions and shipments of mifepristone by mail. The drug's manufacturer, Danco Laboratories, also said it filed its appeal on Friday.

Abortion rights at stake as Florida court weighs DeSantis-backed ban

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' administration urged the state's conservative high court on Friday to reverse decades of precedent and find that the state constitution does not protect abortion rights. State Solicitor General Henry Whitaker asked the Florida Supreme Court to uphold a ban on most abortion after 15 weeks, which went into effect after the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated a nationwide right to abortion last year. If the state court does so, a more stringent six-week ban - one of the strictest in the nation - would automatically take effect a month later.

Georgia grand jury recommended charging Lindsey Graham, other Trump allies

A Georgia grand jury recommended criminal charges against Republican U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham and other allies of Donald Trump as part of its investigation into efforts to overturn Trump's 2020 presidential defeat, said a report released on Friday. None were ultimately charged when Georgia prosecutors filed a sweeping criminal case against Trump and 18 alleged co-conspirators.

Hurricane Lee expected to move north of Puerto Rico but still dangerous

Hurricane Lee, a powerful Category 3 storm, was expected to move well north of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands this weekend but could cause dangerous beach conditions on the U.S. East Coast beginning on Sunday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Saturday. Lee, located about 310 miles (505 km) northeast of the northern Leeward Islands, was packing winds of 115 mph (185 kph), the forecaster said. The storm was moving west-northwest at 10 mph (17 kph) but "gradual restrengthening" was possible in the next two days, the center said.

Mark Meadows fails in bid to move Georgia election case to federal court

Charges against Donald Trump's former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows involving efforts to reverse the 2020 U.S. election results will not be tried in federal court, a sign that similar bids by the Republican former president and his co-defendants to move the criminal case to a more favorable venue will fail. Friday's ruling by U.S. District Judge Steve Jones denying a bid by Meadows to move his case from Georgia state court to federal court gave an early win to Fulton County prosecutors, who in August charged Trump and 18 others with conspiring to undo Trump's election loss to Democratic President Joe Biden.

US cave explorer trapped in Turkey will be out 'within several days' -governor

A team of rescuers are ready to start moving an American cave explorer trapped more than 1,000 metres (3,280.84 ft) underground in southern Turkey and will have him out "within several days," Mersin Governor Ali Hamza Pehlivan said on Saturday. Mark Dickey, 40, was on an international exploration mission in the Morca cave in Mersin province's Taurus mountains when he began suffering from gastrointestinal bleeding at a depth of 1,040 metres.

A month after deadly Maui fire, 66 people still missing

A month after a ferocious fire razed a town in Maui, 66 people remained unaccounted for as workers continued to remove toxic debris from the burn site, a process that could take almost a year, Hawaii Governor Josh Green said on Friday. The official death toll of the Aug. 8 fire that left the historic town of Lahaina in charred ruins still stands at 115 people, a number unchanged in more than two weeks.

US, Vietnam to elevate ties during Biden visit, with eye on China

U.S. President Joe Biden visits Vietnam's capital city Sunday, where the two countries are expected to declare themselves strategic partners, as the United States seeks to push supply chains from China and both countries to try to counter Beijing's military and diplomatic influence in Asia. Biden will arrive at the Presidential Palace Sunday afternoon for a formal welcome from Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, Vietnam's most powerful leader, then journey to the Party headquarters where the two will meet and then give public remarks.

Court eases curbs on Biden administration's contacts with social media firms

A federal appeals court on Friday ruled the White House, the FBI and top health officials may not "coerce or significantly encourage" social-media companies to remove content the Biden administration considers misinformation, including about COVID-19. But the three-judge panel of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals narrowed much of an injunction issued by a Louisiana judge that restricted Democratic President Joe Biden's administration from communicating with social-media companies.

New York says Trump inflated net worth by up to $3.6 billion; Trump seeks dismissal

New York state's attorney general on Friday said Donald Trump may have fraudulently inflated his fortune by far more than previously thought, her latest salvo in preparation for trial in her civil lawsuit against the former U.S. president and his family business. In a filing with a New York state court in Manhattan, Attorney General Letitia James said her valuation and accounting experts believe Trump falsely boosted his net worth by between $1.9 billion and $3.6 billion a year over a decade.

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