US Domestic News Roundup: Haley voters persist in Pennsylvania as Biden, Trump sweep state; In Trump hush money trial, tabloid publisher testifies he helped candidacy and more

Pecker, 72, testified in a New York court that the Enquirer paid two people who were peddling stories of Trump's sexual misbehavior but never published them -- a practice known as "catch and kill." Haley voters persist in Pennsylvania as Biden, Trump sweep state U.S. President Joe Biden and Republican challenger Donald Trump on Tuesday easily won their primaries in the battleground state of Pennsylvania according to Edison Research, but thousands cast votes for former candidate Nikki Haley.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Victims' families to urge US prosecute Boeing over fatal crashes

Families of the victims of two fatal Boeing 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019 will press U.S. Justice Department officials Wednesday to criminally prosecute the planemaker after a January in-flight blowout exposed continuing safety and quality issues. Relatives and their lawyers are expected to argue that Boeing violated a 2021 deal with prosecutors to overhaul its compliance program following the crashes, which killed 346 people. Federal prosecutors agreed to ask a judge to dismiss a criminal charge against Boeing so long as it complied with the deal's terms over three years.

US Supreme Court weighs Idaho's strict abortion ban in medical emergencies

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday wades back into the battle over abortion access in arguments pitting Idaho's strict Republican-backed abortion ban against a federal law that ensures that patients can receive emergency care. The justices are set to hear arguments in an appeal by Idaho officials after a lower court ruled that the 1986 U.S. law at issue, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), takes precedence over the state's near-total ban. President Joe Biden's administration has urged the justices to uphold that ruling.

US core capital goods orders rise moderately in March

New orders for key U.S.-manufactured capital goods rose moderately in March and data for the prior month was revised lower, suggesting business spending on equipment was likely sluggish in the first quarter. Non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, increased 0.2% last month, the Commerce Department's Census Bureau said on Wednesday. Data for February was revised lower to show these so-called core capital goods orders rising 0.4% instead of 0.7% as previously reported.

Gaza protests grow at US colleges, thousands demonstrate in Brooklyn

Protests against Israel filled streets in Brooklyn and escalated at universities across the United States, some of which included Jewish Passover Seders, as demonstrators demanded an end to civilian casualties in Gaza. The growing protests follow mass arrests of demonstrators at some East Coast universities in recent days, and show a deepening dissatisfaction in the United States, historically Israel's most important ally, with the course of the war with Hamas.

In Trump hush money trial, tabloid publisher testifies he helped candidacy

The first witness in Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial, former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, testified on Tuesday that he used his supermarket tabloid to suppress stories that might have hurt Trump's 2016 presidential bid. Pecker, 72, testified in a New York court that the Enquirer paid two people who were peddling stories of Trump's sexual misbehavior but never published them -- a practice known as "catch and kill."

Haley voters persist in Pennsylvania as Biden, Trump sweep state

U.S. President Joe Biden and Republican challenger Donald Trump on Tuesday easily won their primaries in the battleground state of Pennsylvania according to Edison Research, but thousands cast votes for former candidate Nikki Haley. Pennsylvania, with 19 Electoral College votes toward the 270 needed to win, is a top prize and a toss-up in the 2024 presidential election featuring a Biden-Trump rematch.

Biden administration toughens school nutrition standards

The Biden administration on Wednesday announced new rules limiting the sugar and sodium content of meals served to millions of children at U.S. public schools. The standards unveiled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture are part of President Joe Biden's broader effort to combat diet-related disease such as childhood obesity.

Trump 2.0: how U.S. allies are working to iron out the bugs

Germany is waging a charm offensive inside the Republican Party. Japan is lining up its own Trump whisperer. Mexican government officials are talking to Camp Trump. And Australia is busy making laws to help Trump-proof its U.S. defense ties. Everywhere, U.S. allies are taking steps to defend or advance their interests in the event former President Donald Trump returns to power in the November elections, an even chance based on recent opinion polls in swing states.

After battle with Republicans, Biden to sign Ukraine aid package

President Joe Biden will sign a bill into law on Wednesday that provides billions of dollars of new aid to Ukraine for its war with Russia, a bipartisan victory for the president as he seeks re-election and a boost to allies who have looked to Washington to support Kiev. Biden, a Democrat who is expected to face Republican former President Donald Trump, a Ukraine aid skeptic, in the November election, has pressed lawmakers for six months to approve more funding for Ukraine, which has been fighting a full-scale Russian invasion for more than two years.

Trump lawyer Todd Blanche draws judge's ire as historic trial gets underway

Donald Trump's attorney Todd Blanche took a risk giving up a plush career at a New York law firm to become the first attorney in history to defend a former U.S. president at a criminal trial, and felt the heat almost immediately when a judge questioned his credibility. Blanche, a former federal prosecutor, is lead lawyer defending Trump in his trial on charges stemming from hush money paid to a porn star. He is also handling several other criminal cases for Trump, who is known for cycling through lawyers.

(With inputs from agencies.)