Trump's Legal Battles and US Policy Shifts

A roundup of current US domestic news includes Trump’s ongoing legal challenges, changes in industry practices due to extreme heat, a mandate on cancer screenings upheld, a supermarket shooting in Arkansas, and political developments as Biden and Trump prepare for a critical debate.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Trump hush money prosecutors open to partial lifting of gag order

New York prosecutors say they are open to a partial lifting of a judge's gag order now that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has been convicted on criminal charges stemming from an effort to influence the 2016 election by buying a porn star's silence. Prosecutors in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office said in a court filing dated Thursday and made public on Friday that they supported allowing him to speak publicly about witnesses in the case.

Explainer-How US industries deal with extreme heat

Extreme heat has companies in the United States changing the way they work. One frequent response: work less. Here is how heat affects several large industries and what they do about it: Construction: Work slows at construction projects. What usually takes two days can take three or four as builders take breaks, estimates Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth. Changes could include shifting the workday earlier. Slowing projects could also hit the companies that sell supplies, but the impact to the likes of Home Depot and Lowe's is likely limited because builders buy in advance and the projects are not canceled, Hogan added. And such retailers see demand for air conditioners and fans.

Appeals court does not block US mandate to cover cancer screenings, HIV drugs

A U.S. appeals court on Friday refused to block a federal mandate requiring health insurers to cover preventive care services like cancer screenings and HIV-preventing medication at no extra cost to patients, but ruled against the government on a key legal issue that leaves the mandate's future in doubt. A unanimous panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with a group of Christian businesses suing to challenge the mandate that claimed that the way services were chosen for coverage violates the U.S. Constitution.

Three people killed, 10 wounded in Arkansas supermarket shooting

A shooter opened fire at an Arkansas supermarket on Friday, killing three civilians and wounding 10 other people, including two police officers, Arkansas State Police said. The suspect was also wounded in a shootout with police, Arkansas State Police Director Mike Hagar told reporters.

Trump ally Bannon asks Supreme Court to keep him out of prison pending appeal

Steve Bannon, who has been a senior adviser to former President Donald Trump, made a last-ditch plea on Friday to the U.S. Supreme Court to keep him out of prison until he finishes appealing his criminal conviction for contempt of Congress. Bannon's petition was filed one day after a Washington-based federal appeals court, in a split decision, denied his emergency request to delay him from reporting to prison on July 1 as scheduled.

As Trump claims political bias, lawyer calls prosecutor too independent

Donald Trump's lawyer argued on Friday that the criminal case charging the former U.S. president with mishandling classified documents should be thrown out because the prosecutor is too independent -- even as Trump complains that his legal woes are directed by Democratic President Joe Biden. At a hearing in a federal court in Florida, Trump lawyer Emil Bove pressed U.S. Judge Aileen Cannon to dismiss the case because Special Counsel Jack Smith is not subject to the constraints that other federal prosecutors must face.

Biden, Trump prep for presidential debate that will highlight mental fitness

President Joe Biden is hunkered down with aides at Camp David for several days to get ready to debate rival Donald Trump, who is eschewing traditional preparation and instead holding informal policy discussions between campaign stops. The face-off in Atlanta, at 9 p.m. ET on Thursday (0100 GMT on Friday), will be the earliest presidential debate in modern U.S. history and a critical event for both candidates.

US Democrats to welcome social media influencers in a convention first

Democrats will open the door for social media influencers to cover their political convention in Chicago this summer ahead of the U.S. presidential election, a first for the party as it seeks to connect with voters beyond the reach of traditional media. President Joe Biden's supporters are stepping up efforts to counter Republican former president Donald Trump's social media machine and viral videos in what polls show could be an extremely close race between two older and unpopular candidates.

US Supreme Court upholds federal domestic-violence gun ban

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday upheld a federal law that makes it a crime for people under domestic violence restraining orders to have guns, handing a victory to President Joe Biden's administration as the justices opted not to further widen firearms rights after a major expansion in 2022. The 8-1 ruling, authored by conservative Chief Justice John Roberts, overturned a lower court's decision striking down the 1994 law as a violation of the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment right to "keep and bear arms." The law was challenged by a Texas man who was subject to a restraining order for assaulting his girlfriend in a parking lot and later threatening to shoot her.

Teamsters president to speak at Republican Convention in Milwaukee

The president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, will speak at the Republican National Convention (RNC) next month in Milwaukee, former President Donald Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform on Friday. Trump said the Teamsters president, Sean O'Brien, had "accepted my invitation to speak at the RNC Convention in Milwaukee."

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