US Domestic News Roundup: U.S. job growth beats expectations; unemployment rate holds at 3.6%; Biden awards medal of freedom to Biles, Rapinoe, late Senator McCain and more

Some projects will fund new terminals, boost gate capacity, add air traffic control towers, jet bridges, new bathrooms, baggage claim belts and reconfigure security checkpoints. Biden to sign executive order to help safeguard access to abortion, contraception U.S. President Joe Biden will sign an executive order on Friday to help safeguard women's access to abortion and contraception after the Supreme Court last month overturned the Roe v Wade decision that legalized abortion, the White House said.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

U.S. job growth beats expectations; unemployment rate holds at 3.6%

U.S. job growth increased more than expected in June and the unemployment rate remained near pre-pandemic lows, signs of persistent labor market strength that give the Federal Reserve ammunition to deliver another 75-basis-point interest rate increase later this month. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 372,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department's closely watched employment report showed on Friday. Data for May was revised slightly down to show payrolls rising by 384,000 jobs instead of the previously reported 390,000.

Biden awards medal of freedom to Biles, Rapinoe, late Senator McCain

Gymnastics pioneer Simone Biles and twice World Cup winner Megan Rapinoe were among 17 honorees to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House on Thursday from Joe Biden. The highest U.S. civilian award is given to those who make an "especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors."

Highland Park parade shooting left the 8-year-old boy with severed spinal cord

An 8-year-old boy suffered a severed spinal cord from a gunshot wound to his chest in the July Fourth attack on a Chicago-area parade that left seven dead, a family spokesman said on Thursday, with his twin brother and mother also wounded.

Cooper Roberts was one of the most gravely wounded among dozens of people who survived gunshots and other injuries in the Highland Park Independence Day assault, underscoring the physical and emotional devastation that goes beyond the lives lost in such violence.

U.S. basketball star Griner admits Russian drugs charge but denies intent

U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner pleaded guilty to a drugs charge in a Russian court on Thursday but denied she had intentionally broken the law. Griner was speaking at the second hearing of her trial on a narcotics charge that carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, days after she urged U.S. President Joe Biden to secure her release.

U.S. awards $968.6 million for airport terminal projects

The U.S. Transportation Department on Thursday awarded $968.6 million to 85 airport projects to address the country's aging and often mocked aviation infrastructure. Some projects will fund new terminals, boost gate capacity, add air traffic control towers, jet bridges, new bathrooms, baggage claim belts and reconfigure security checkpoints.

Biden to sign executive order to help safeguard access to abortion, contraception

U.S. President Joe Biden will sign an executive order on Friday to help safeguard women's access to abortion and contraception after the Supreme Court last month overturned the Roe v Wade decision that legalized abortion, the White House said. Biden, a Democrat, has been under pressure from supporters, particularly progressives, to take action after the landmark decision, which upended roughly 50 years of protections for women's reproductive rights.

Bannon's lawyer asks to withdraw from case -filing

A lawyer for Steve Bannon is seeking to withdraw from representing the adviser to former President Donald Trump in his criminal contempt case, citing the possibility of being called as a witness at trial, according to a court document filed on Friday. "Since it appears there will be a trial, and since it appears that at this point in time I might be called as a witness, I must reluctantly ask the Court to grant my request to withdrawal as trial counsel for...Bannon," Robert Costello wrote in a filing with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Exclusive-Top U.S. LNG producer Cheniere asks Biden admin to drop pollution rule

Cheniere Energy Inc has asked the Biden administration to exempt it from limits on emissions of cancer-causing pollutants, arguing they would force the top U.S. exporter of liquefied natural gas to shut for an extended period and endanger the country's efforts to ramp up supplies to Europe, according to documents reviewed by Reuters. The request imposes an uncomfortable dilemma on President Joe Biden's administration as it tries to balance efforts to slash pollution from the fossil fuel industry against promises to help European allies cut energy ties with Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

U.S. jury convicts Theranos' Sunny Balwani of fraud

A U.S. jury on Thursday convicted former Theranos Inc President Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani of defrauding investors and patients about the blood testing startup that was once valued at $9 billion. The San Jose, California, jury deliberated for a little more than five days before convicting Balwani on two counts of conspiracy and 10 counts of fraud, a spokesperson for U.S. Attorney Stephanie Hinds said.

South Carolina lawmakers consider banning almost all abortions

South Carolina lawmakers held a public hearing on Thursday to consider banning nearly all abortions in the state, following the lead of other Republican-led states that have outlawed most abortions since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. A committee of South Carolina's House of Representatives heard dozens of speakers give testimony on whether the state should restrict abortion further than it does currently.