US News Roundup: Trump to visit Pittsburgh; Trump sends 5,200 troops to Mexico border

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Mail bomb suspect ordered held without bail, new package found

A man accused of mailing 14 pipe bombs to prominent critics of U.S. President Donald Trump was ordered held without bail on Monday, and authorities intercepted a similar suspicious package addressed to CNN in Atlanta. The latest developments in the bomb case came with just over a week to go in highly charged political campaigns across the nation leading up to Nov. 6 elections. Democrats are battling to seize control of a Congress now held by Trump's Republican Party.

South Dakota executes an inmate who killed the prison guard

A South Dakota prisoner was executed on Monday for killing a prison guard in a botched escape attempt seven years ago, marking the first state-mandated killing in South Dakota since 2012, a state corrections official said. Rodney Berget, 56, was put to death by lethal injection after the U.S. Supreme Court denied a request by attorney Juliet Yackel to stay the execution on grounds Berget was intellectually disabled and protected from capital punishment.

Children, activists rally in support of climate change lawsuit

Activists rallied in Oregon and other states on Monday in support of young plaintiffs whose lawsuit against the U.S. government over the impact of climate change is under review by the U.S. Supreme Court. The lawsuit, Juliana v. U.S., had been scheduled to begin in U.S. District Court in Oregon on Monday before it was temporarily blocked from proceeding by the Supreme Court on Oct. 18..

Trump to visit Pittsburgh amid funerals, calls for him to stay away

U.S. President Donald Trump was due to visit Pittsburgh on Tuesday, as mourners prepared to hold the first funerals for victims of the synagogue massacre and Jewish leaders said he would not be welcome until he denounced white nationalism. Trump said he would visit hospitalized police officers and other people wounded in Saturday's mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue that killed 11 worshipers in the deadliest ever attack America's Jewish community.

U.S. top court wary of limiting company power to arbitrate disputes

U.S. Supreme Court justices signalled on Monday they may issue more pro-business rulings giving companies wide latitude to use arbitration to resolve disputes with employees, customers or other businesses rather than the courts. The nine justices heard arguments in two cases testing the scope of company agreements forcing disputes to be handled by an arbitrator instead of a judge, one involving a California lamp retailer and the other involving a Texas dental equipment distributor.

Trump sends 5,200 troops to Mexico border as caravan advances

The United States said on Monday it will send over 5,200 troops to help secure the border with Mexico, a far larger-than-expected deployment as President Donald Trump hardens his stance on immigration ahead of Nov. 6 mid-term elections. The deployment will create an active-duty force comparable in size to the U.S. military contingent in Iraq, as Trump's administration draws attention to a caravan of migrants that is trekking through Mexico toward the United States.

Congressional Democrats seek more action on U.S. domestic extremists

Congressional Democrats on Monday called on U.S. law enforcement authorities to do more to track and prosecute far-right extremists after a mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue and the mailing of bombs to critics of President Donald Trump. The government must do more to police "hate crimes and domestic terrorism" and prevent gun violence and the spread of white supremacist ideology said New York Representative Jerrold Nadler and other House of Representatives Democrats in a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte.

Trump administration asks Supreme Court to halt trial over census

President Donald Trump's administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to postpone a trial set for Nov. 5 that will examine the legality of its decision to ask people taking part in the 2020 U.S. census whether they are citizens. The administration is asking for the trial to be placed on hold until the Supreme Court resolves a dispute over evidence, including whether Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, whose department oversees the U.S. Census Bureau, can be forced to answer questions about the politically charged decision.

Trump to push executive order to end birthright citizenship: report

U.S. President Donald Trump plans to push an executive order to end the right of U.S. citizenship to children born in the United States to non-citizens and immigrants in the country illegally, he told Axios in an interview published on Tuesday, a move that would prompt a constitutional fight. It was unclear what specific action his order would pursue, and Trump gave no other details.

Cornell drops exchanges with Chinese school over academic freedom issues

Cornell University has cut two exchange programs with a top Chinese school over academic freedom concerns, the Ivy League school said, after Chinese students were punished for supporting labour rights in China. The move is a rare step for a U.S. university, many of which are eager to court ties with China due to its huge education market, amid international criticism of tightening Chinese government controls on scholarship.

(With inputs from agencies.)