US Domestic News Roundup: US House to vote on repeal of Biden solar policy; DeSantis' tough words may come back to haunt him in Disney lawsuit -experts and more

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

US House to vote on repeal of Biden solar policy

The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote Friday on whether to repeal President Joe Biden's suspension of tariffs on solar panels from four Southeast Asian nations, a move solar project builders say would stall clean energy development. The bipartisan effort to restore tariffs on solar imports from Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam is aimed at boosting domestic solar manufacturers who say they cannot compete with cheap products made overseas, primarily by Chinese companies. Panels from the four nations, which host manufacturing facilities owned by Chinese companies, account for about 80% of U.S. supplies.

DeSantis' tough words may come back to haunt him in Disney lawsuit -experts

Now that the year-long war of words between Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the Walt Disney Co has landed in the courts, the Republican leader might find his verbal barbs directed at the entertainment giant coming back to bite, legal experts said. Disney on Wednesday sued DeSantis to prevent the state from ending the company's virtual autonomy in central Florida where it has its theme parks.

Chinese migrants find tips on social media for long trek to U.S.-Mexico border

Lihua Wu's journey to the United States started when she scrolled past the words "The Route", one of several common hashtags on Douyin, the Chinese counterpart of TikTok, advising migrants on the irregular overland trek across Latin America to the United States, also known online as "the Big Beautiful." By the time the single mother and her five-year-old daughter were apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol on a dirt road near the U.S.-Mexico border just before midnight on April 2, Wu said she had relied on social media for detailed instructions for her trip, including footwear (Crocs as well as hiking boots) and how to find and pay for a reliable local guide.

U.S. military leak suspect appears in court; had arsenal, prosecutors say

A U.S. Air National Guardsman accused of leaking military secrets appeared in federal court on Thursday, where a judge expressed concern the 21-year-old's knowledge of classified material might be valuable to a foreign government. "Some of the information he" is accused of taking "he actually copied," U.S. Magistrate David Hennessy said. "If I write something, I’m going to remember it reasonably well."

Trump accuser tells jury: 'He raped me whether I screamed or not'

E. Jean Carroll, a writer accusing Donald Trump of raping her in the mid-1990s, pushed back during a cross-examination on Thursday, exclaiming: "He raped me whether I screamed or not." Asked by Trump's lawyer why she did not scream during the alleged attack, Carroll said she was panicked and "not a screamer" by nature.

Former US Vice President Pence appears before grand jury probing Trump - source

Former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence appeared before a grand jury investigating former President Donald Trump's role in efforts to overturn the 2020 election, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday. Pence was inside U.S. District Court in Washington for more than seven hours, ABC News and NBC News reported earlier. Representatives for Pence had no comment.

Special Report-How a fake ID repeatedly enabled Hyundai suppliers to employ child labor in Alabama

On Nov 22, a team of state and federal labor officials conducted a surprise inspection and noticed a young-looking worker at a warehouse operated here by the logistics unit of Korean automaking giant Hyundai Motor Group. The inspectors, according to an Alabama Department of Labor field report reviewed by Reuters, had received a complaint from an unspecified tipster about "under-age children working" at the facility. During their visit to Hyundai Glovis Co Ltd, the report notes, the boy "was manually restacking large metal castings."

Three killed when U.S. Army helicopters collide in Alaska

Three U.S. Army pilots were killed and one was injured in Alaska on Thursday when two Apache helicopters returning from a training mission collided in flight, the 11th Airborne Division of the Army said. Two soldiers were declared dead at the scene and a third died on the way to hospital, the army unit said in a statement. The injured soldier was being treated at Alaska's Fairbanks Memorial Hospital.

Vermont, Washington take steps to protect access to abortion pills

The states of Vermont and Washington took steps on Thursday to protect the availability of medication abortions in the event that a lawsuit challenging federal approval for a commonly used abortion drug prevails in court. A series of bills were either passed or signed in the two states days after the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily paused implementation of lower court rulings that would have either removed Food and Drug Administration approval for the abortion drug mifepristone, or restricted its use.

U.S. senator introduces bill targeting AI's shortfalls

Senator Michael Bennet introduced a bill on Thursday that would create a task force to look at U.S. policies on artificial intelligence, and identify how best to reduce threats to privacy, civil liberties and due process. The popular use of ChatGPT and other AI, which have been used for years to create text, imagery and other content, has sparked a rush around the globe to figure out if and how it should be regulated.