US Domestic News Roundup: Fox, Dominion seek pretrial wins in $1.6 billion defamation case; Biden to create two new national monuments in Nevada and Texas and more

On Saturday, Trump urged followers on social media to protest what he said was his looming arrest. Los Angeles cancels school as workers launch 3-day strike The second largest school district in the United States canceled classes on Tuesday for what could be a three-strike by 30,000 Los Angeles education support staff who are backed by a teachers' union that refuses to cross their picket line.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Fox, Dominion seek pretrial wins in $1.6 billion defamation case

Lawyers for Dominion Voting Systems are set on Tuesday to ask a Delaware judge to find Fox Corp liable for defamation over airing debunked vote-rigging claims, while Fox lawyers fighting a $1.6 billion lawsuit counter that the network's 2020 election coverage was constitutionally protected speech. Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis is scheduled to preside over a hearing in Wilmington ahead of the scheduled April 17 start of the high-profile defamation trial. Both sides are seeking to convince Davis that he should rule in their favor without the need for the case to go to trial.

Biden to create two new national monuments in Nevada and Texas

U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday will create two new national monuments, 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 delivering on Biden's goal to conserve at least 30% of federal lands and waters by 2030.

California braces for next bout of heavy rain, snow and high winds

The latest spate of harsh wintry weather churning from the Pacific bore down on storm-weary California on Tuesday, with forecasters warning of wind gusts reaching hurricane force, accompanied by torrential rain and heavy mountain snow. Southern and central California, still sodden from storms that have swept ashore one after another since late December - one just days ago - were expected to be hardest hit by the newest onslaught, arriving early on the second official day of spring.

U.S. awards $94 million for innovative mobility projects

The U.S. Transportation Department will announce on Tuesday it is awarding $94.8 million to 59 projects on advanced technology projects to boost road safety, improve transit reliability and use drones and sensors for transportation projects. The $1 trillion November 2021 infrastructure law dedicates $500 million over five years for "Smart" mobility projects.

Philadelphia to pay $9.25 million to protesters at George Floyd demonstration

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 on Monday. The Philadelphia city government said in a written statement the payment would be distributed among 343 plaintiffs who alleged physical and emotional injuries in the police response to protests ignited by the killing of Floyd, an unarmed Black man, at the hands of Minneapolis police.

New York City braces for Trump indictment after ex-president urges protests

Workers erected barricades around a Manhattan courthouse on Monday as New York City braced for a possible indictment of Donald Trump over an alleged hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 campaign. It would be the first-ever criminal case against any U.S. president. On Saturday, Trump urged followers on social media to protest what he said was his looming arrest.

Los Angeles cancels school as workers launch 3-day strike

The second largest school district in the United States canceled classes on Tuesday for what could be a three-strike by 30,000 Los Angeles education support staff who are backed by a teachers' union that refuses to cross their picket line. 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 teachers' strike in 2019 and the coronavirus pandemic that closed classroom instruction for more than a year in 2020 and 2021.

North Carolina urges US Supreme Court to toss major elections case

The U.S. Supreme Court should dismiss a major case from North Carolina that could give more power over federal elections to state politicians because the matter is being reconsidered by a lower court, North Carolina said in a filing on Monday, while the 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 U.S. elections in the coming years and decades. The case began as a legal fight over a map drawn by Republican state legislators of North Carolina's 14 U.S. House of Representatives districts - one that a lower court blocked as unlawfully disadvantageous for Democrats.

Judge blocks California law requiring safety features for handguns

A federal judge on Monday blocked California from enforcing a state law requiring new semiautomatic handguns to have certain safety features, finding it violates the right to bear arms under the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney in Santa Anna, California is the latest in a line of decisions striking down state gun laws following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year expanding gun rights. The judge said it would not take effect for 14 days to give the state a chance to appeal.

Massive fire destroys New Jersey church

A major fire burned a large church in Burlington, New Jersey to the ground on Monday, its roof collapsing as more than 100 firefighters and emergency personnel battled the flames, local media reported. The blaze erupted at about 6 p.m. eastern time at the Fountain of Life Center in Florence Township, New Jersey, northeast of Philadelphia, local ABC-6 reported. Dark plumes of smoke could be seen for several miles around.

(With inputs from agencies.)