US Domestic News Roundup: Factbox-Who is the Republican 2024 US presidential hopeful Nikki Haley?; Ohio vote highlights intensified transgender rights battles across US and more

DeSantis and Haley have little time left to halt Trump's march towards the nomination, with the former U.S. president holding sizeable leads in opinion polls just five days before voting begins in Iowa on Monday. Factbox-Six US Senate races to watch in 2024 Democrats currently hold a narrow 51-49 majority in the U.S. Senate but Republicans believe they have a good chance of wresting control in the Nov. 5 elections, with Democrats looking to defend multiple seats in Republican-leaning states.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Factbox-Who is the Republican 2024 US presidential hopeful Nikki Haley?

U.S. presidential contender Nikki Haley has enjoyed a bump in support among voters and donors over the last four months, and she is now locked in a battle for second place in the Republican nominating contest with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. While she remains in third place behind DeSantis nationally and in Iowa, the first state to hold a Republican nominating contest, she is in second place in other states that could give her momentum, namely New Hampshire and South Carolina.

DeSantis, Haley face off in debate showdown to emerge as Trump alternative

Republican presidential rivals Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley will square off on Wednesday in their first head-to-head debate as they fight to emerge as the clear alternative to frontrunner Donald Trump in the race for the party's White House nomination. DeSantis and Haley have little time left to halt Trump's march towards the nomination, with the former U.S. president holding sizeable leads in opinion polls just five days before voting begins in Iowa on Monday.

Factbox-Six US Senate races to watch in 2024

Democrats currently hold a narrow 51-49 majority in the U.S. Senate but Republicans believe they have a good chance of wresting control in the Nov. 5 elections, with Democrats looking to defend multiple seats in Republican-leaning states. Below are a selection of races to watch ahead of the 2024 election.

Ohio vote highlights intensified transgender rights battles across US

Ohio lawmakers are expected to vote on Wednesday whether to override the governor's veto of a bill that would ban gender-affirming care for minors, one of the dozens of bills introduced this year to restrict transgender rights. In this presidential election year, the number of bills has already surpassed last year's record-setting pace, extending a contentious cultural debate in the United States. Democrats say transgender people and parents of transgender kids should determine treatment, as endorsed by the medical consensus, while Republicans portray that stance as medically radical and dangerous to children.

Storms envelop much of US, bringing heavy snow, rains, tornadoes

Brutal winter weather enveloped much of the U.S. on Tuesday and was forecast to continue through the week in areas, with forecasters predicting heavy rains in the east and several feet of snow for parts of the Pacific northwest. High winds and a few tornadoes ripped through parts of the South earlier Tuesday, with at least three deaths attributed to weather in Alabama, North Carolina and Georgia, according to authorities and local media reports. Tornadoes caused heavy damage in parts of the Florida panhandle.

Explainer-Iowa caucus 2024: How does it work and why is it important?

Republicans in Iowa will be the first to cast their votes in support of a presidential candidate in the 2024 election when they attend public gatherings on Monday known as caucuses. Former President Donald Trump is heavily favored to win the caucuses, but there have been last-minute surprises in the past.

US House Republicans to consider holding Biden's son in contempt of Congress

Two Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives committees on Wednesday will hold initial procedural votes on whether to push ahead with an effort to hold Democratic President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress. The moves by the House Oversight Committee and the House Judiciary Committee are the latest salvos in House Republicans' impeachment inquiry into the president. House Republicans allege that Biden and his family improperly profited from policy actions Biden participated in when he was vice president in 2009-2017. The White House and Hunter Biden deny wrongdoing.

Biden's border chief under fire as Republicans kick off impeachment hearing

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas will come under scrutiny on Wednesday as a Republican-led House of Representatives committee moves to impeach him over allegations he has encouraged illegal immigration with overly lax policies. Republican attorneys general from Missouri, Montana and Oklahoma will testify at a hearing focused on the Republican claim that Mayorkas - Democratic President Joe Biden's top border official - has refused to enforce immigration laws passed by Congress.

First conspiracy trial over Atlanta 'Cop City' protests set to begin

The first of five dozen activists charged with a conspiracy to stop the construction of an Atlanta police center, derisively called "Cop City," goes on trial on Wednesday in a test case to determine whether the protests constitute criminal racketeering. The defendant, Ayla King, 19, of Worcester, Massachusetts, is charged with violations of the state's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, commonly known as the RICO act. The state law was modeled after the federal law designed as a tool to curb organized crime.

Factbox-Who is Ron DeSantis, 2024 US presidential candidate?

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, once seen as Donald Trump's leading rival for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, needs a solid performance in Monday's Iowa caucus, the first party nominating contest, to save his struggling campaign. DeSantis trails former President Trump by over 30 points and needs to place a strong second. A blowout loss or third-place finish behind former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley would raise questions about the future of his candidacy.

(With inputs from agencies.)