US Domestic News Roundup: Alabama cites Supreme Court abortion decision in transgender youth case; As Jan. 6 hearings portray an enraged Trump, DeSantis may be the biggest winner and more

The case, which coincides with fraught relations between Moscow and Washington over the conflict in Ukraine, was brought after Russian authorities said they found vape cartridges containing hashish oil in Griner's luggage at a Moscow airport in February. Manchin, Sinema dash Biden hopes for filibuster change on abortion rights President Joe Biden on Thursday proposed that U.S. senators remove a legislative roadblock to restoring abortion rights that were taken away by the Supreme Court last week, a suggestion that was shot down by aides to key Democratic lawmakers.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Alabama cites Supreme Court abortion decision in transgender youth case

Just days after the U.S. Supreme Court abolished women's constitutional right to abortion, Alabama has cited that ruling in a bid to outlaw parents from obtaining puberty blockers and certain other medical treatments for their transgender children. The citation came in an appeal by Alabama's attorney general seeking to lift a federal court injunction that partially blocked enforcement of a newly enacted state ban on medical interventions for youth whose gender identity is at odds with their birth sex.

As Jan. 6 hearings portray an enraged Trump, DeSantis may be the biggest winner

This week's testimony at congressional hearings on the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol assault portrayed an enraged Donald Trump throwing food against a White House wall, voicing support for threats against his vice president, and dismissing the news that some of his supporters had come armed with rifles. Democrats hope the revelations will remind voters why they didn't reelect the former president in 2020. But the biggest political beneficiary may be Trump's fellow Republican, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, his top potential rival for the 2024 presidential nomination.

Analysis-After abortion, conservative U.S. justices take aim at other precedents

The U.S. Supreme Court's conservative majority has shown in its blockbuster abortion ruling and other high-profile decisions in recent days that it is fearless when it comes to overturning - and even ignoring - historic precedents. And the conservative justices, with a 6-3 majority, may just be getting started, even as their current term came to a close on Thursday.

As business booms for people smugglers using trucks in Texas, risks grow

Months before dozens of migrants died inside a sweltering tractor-trailer this week that had slipped through a Border Patrol checkpoint on a Texas highway, another truck driver was making the same journey carrying 52 migrants. Roderick DeWayne Chisley was stopped on December 17, 2021, driving a stolen rig on the I-35 highway, which runs north from Laredo to San Antonio. According to court documents, Chisley said his payment for agreeing to drive the vehicle with no questions asked was $50,000.

U.S. basketball star Griner goes on trial in Russia on drug charges

U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner went on trial in a court on the outskirts of Moscow on Friday to face drug charges that could see her face up to 10 years in prison. The case, which coincides with fraught relations between Moscow and Washington over the conflict in Ukraine, was brought after Russian authorities said they found vape cartridges containing hashish oil in Griner's luggage at a Moscow airport in February.

Manchin, Sinema dash Biden hopes for filibuster change on abortion rights

President Joe Biden on Thursday proposed that U.S. senators remove a legislative roadblock to restoring abortion rights that were taken away by the Supreme Court last week, a suggestion that was shot down by aides to key Democratic lawmakers. Biden's proposal to temporarily lift the Senate "filibuster" was rejected by aides to Democratic senators Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin.

Dreaded U.S. West Coast port labor contract expiration ticks closer

The contract covering more than 22,000 workers at 29 U.S. West Coast ports expires late on Friday, dialing up worries that labor disruption could roil the nation's battered supply chains, stoke inflation and threaten a weakening economy. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) employer group, which declined comment for this report, said in a rare joint statement on June 14 that they were not planning any work stoppages or lockouts that would worsen supply chain logjams.

Suspected truck driver in Texas migrant deaths was on meth, lawmaker says

The suspected driver of a truck packed with dozens of migrants who died in blazing heat during a Texas smuggling attempt was allegedly under the influence of methamphetamine when police encountered him, a U.S. lawmaker told Reuters, citing information from law enforcement. San Antonio police officers found Homero Zamorano Jr, a Texas native, hiding in brush near the abandoned tractor-trailer on Monday, according to documents filed in federal court on Thursday. Fifty-three migrants lost their lives, making it the deadliest such trafficking incident on record in the United States.

Uvalde schools police chief misses second city council meeting since shooting

Uvalde schools police chief Pete Arredondo, who is also a member of the city council, missed a second council meeting on Thursday at which he was to face questions from the many critics of his response to the May 24 mass shooting at an elementary school that killed 19 children and two teachers. If Arredondo misses a third straight meeting, the council could declare his seat vacant.

Supreme Court ruling casts cloud over U.S. leadership in global climate fight

A Supreme Court ruling on Thursday limiting Washington's authority to reduce carbon output from power plants will hurt global efforts to fight climate change by slowing America's emissions cuts and undermining U.S. leadership efforts on the international stage, according to diplomats. The conservative court's 6-3 ruling, the latest in a flurry of controversial judicial decisions from the bench, comes as the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden seeks to decarbonize the U.S. economy and rally global ambition to move away from greenhouse gas-emitting fossil fuels to cleaner sources.

(With inputs from agencies.)