Below is a summary of current US national news briefs.
Fox and Dominion seek pre-trial victories in $1.6 billion libel case
Lawyers for Dominion Voting Systems are set to ask a Delaware judge Tuesday to hold Fox Corp liable for defamation for broadcasting discredited claims of vote rigging, while Fox lawyers fighting a $1.6 billion lawsuit they counter that the network’s coverage of the 2020 election was constitutionally protected speech. Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis will preside over a hearing in Wilmington ahead of the April 17 scheduled start of the high-profile defamation trial. Both parties seek to convince Davis that he should rule in his favor without the need for the case to go to trial.
Biden will create two new national monuments in Nevada and Texas
US President Joe Biden will create two new national monuments Tuesday, in Nevada and Texas, and launch an effort to consider expanding protections for all waters around remote Pacific islands southwest of Hawaii. The moves, which will be announced at a White House summit on conservation, are aimed at meeting Biden’s goal of conserving at least 30% of federal lands and waters by 2030.
California prepares for the next episode of heavy rain, snow and strong winds
The latest wave of harsh winter weather from the Pacific descended on California on Tuesday, with forecasters warning of gusty winds reaching hurricane force, accompanied by torrential rains and heavy snowfall in the mountains. Southern and central California, still drenched from the storms that have battered the coast one after another since late December, one just days ago, were expected to bear the brunt of the new onslaught, which came early in the second official day of spring
US awards $94 million for innovative mobility projects
The US Department of Transportation will announce Tuesday that it will award $94.8 million to 59 advanced technology projects to boost highway safety, improve traffic reliability and use drones and sensors for transportation projects. The $1 trillion infrastructure bill of November 2021 dedicates $500 million over five years for “smart” mobility projects.
Philadelphia to pay $9.25 million to protesters at George Floyd rally
Philadelphia will pay $9.25 million to settle a class action lawsuit brought by racial justice protesters who accused police of abusing them at a 2020 rally following the killing of George Floyd, the city said Monday. The Philadelphia city government said in a written statement that the payment would be distributed among 343 plaintiffs who claimed physical and emotional injuries in the police response to protests sparked by the killing of Floyd, an unarmed black man, by police. of Minneapolis.
New York City braces for Trump impeachment after former president urges protests
Workers erected barricades around a Manhattan courthouse Monday as New York City prepared for a possible indictment against Donald Trump over an alleged hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 campaign. criminal offense against a president of the United States. On Saturday, Trump urged his followers on social media to protest what he said was his impending arrest.
Los Angeles cancels school as workers launch 3-day strike
The second-largest school district in the United States canceled classes Tuesday in what could be a walkout by 30,000 Los Angeles education support staff who are backed by a teachers union that refuses to cross their line. picket. The strike in the Los Angeles Unified School District will disrupt education, meals, counseling and other social services for 565,000 students and their parents. It follows a six-day teacher strike in 2019 and the coronavirus pandemic that shut down classroom instruction for more than a year in 2020 and 2021.
North Carolina Urges US Supreme Court to Throw Out Major Election Case
The US Supreme Court should throw out a major North Carolina case that could give state politicians more power over federal elections because the matter is being reconsidered by a lower court, North Carolina said in a filing Monday. , while Republican lawmakers at the center of the dispute disagreed.
The disagreement over the future of the case is the latest flashpoint in litigation that could have a significant impact on US elections for years and decades to come. The case began as a legal fight over a map drawn by Republican state lawmakers of North Carolina’s 14 US House districts, one that a lower court blocked as illegally disadvantageous to Democrats.
Judge blocks California law requiring firearm safety features
A federal judge on Monday blocked California from enforcing a state law that requires new semi-automatic pistols to have certain safety features, saying it violates the right to bear arms under the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution. The ruling by US District Judge Cormac Carney in Santa Anna, California, is the latest in a series of decisions striking down state gun laws following a US Supreme Court ruling. .last year expanding gun rights. The judge said it would not take effect for another 14 days to give the state a chance to appeal.
Massive fire destroys church in New Jersey
A huge fire burned a large church in Burlington, New Jersey on Monday, with its roof collapsing as more than 100 firefighters and emergency personnel battled the flames, local media reported. The fire broke out around 6 p.m. ET at the Source of Life Center in Florence Township, New Jersey, northeast of Philadelphia, local ABC-6 reported. Plumes of dark smoke could be seen for miles around.
(With contributions from agencies).
