Reuters US Domestic News Summary

With cases on issues including gun rights already lined up for its next term, beginning in October, the court could once again steer the law in a rightward direction - facilitated by Republican former President Donald Trump's appointment of three justices who built a 6-3 conservative majority. Indiana's top court allows near-total abortion ban The Indiana Supreme Court on Friday upheld a law banning nearly all abortions in the state, lifting a lower court order that had blocked the law in response to a lawsuit by Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

US Supreme Court blocks Biden student loan forgiveness

The U.S Supreme Court handed President Joe Biden a painful defeat on Friday, blocking his plan to cancel $430 billion in student loan debt - a move that had been intended to benefit up to 43 million Americans and fulfill a campaign promise. The Democratic president denounced the 6-3 decision - powered by the court's conservatives and written by Chief Justice John Roberts - and announced fresh steps to provide relief for student loan borrowers using a different approach.

Analysis-US Supreme Court conservatives complete another assertive term

The U.S. Supreme Court has wrapped up another term in which its conservative justices flexed their muscles, following up major abortion and gun decisions last year with rulings that rejected affirmative action in college admissions, curbed LGBT rights and blocked President Joe Biden's student debt relief plan. With cases on issues including gun rights already lined up for its next term, beginning in October, the court could once again steer the law in a rightward direction - facilitated by Republican former President Donald Trump's appointment of three justices who built a 6-3 conservative majority.

Indiana's top court allows near-total abortion ban

The Indiana Supreme Court on Friday upheld a law banning nearly all abortions in the state, lifting a lower court order that had blocked the law in response to a lawsuit by Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers. The court, in a 4-1 decision, found that the Indiana constitution does not include a broad right to abortion, allowing Indiana to join 14 other Republican-led states in enforcing abortion bans.

'Rust' armorer accused of handing off cocaine after shooting

The armorer for the movie "Rust" allegedly transferred cocaine to an unnamed person to dispose of evidence on the day the film's cinematographer was shot dead in 2021, special prosecutors said as they sought protection for a witness. The armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, passed a small bag of cocaine to the witness on the evening of Oct. 21, 2021, after a police interview "to prevent law enforcement from obtaining highly inculpatory evidence directly related to the defendant's handling of the firearm," prosecutors said in a court filing on Thursday.

Affirmative action ruling could place target on US corporate diversity programs

The U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down race-conscious policies in college admissions includes some warnings to companies about the legal limits of workforce diversity efforts and is likely to fuel challenges to them, experts said. Thursday’s ruling has no direct impact on employers because it does not involve workplace bias laws. But in finding that Harvard University and the University of North Carolina unlawfully considered race as a factor in the admissions process, the court may have laid the groundwork for future challenges to corporate diversity initiatives.

Half of Americans face stifling heat, poor air quality

Half of the U.S. population was urged on Friday to take precautions when they are outdoors, either due to a relentless heat wave or poor air quality caused by Canadian wildfires ahead of the long Fourth of July weekend. Some 80 million people living in California, the Deep South and the lower Mississippi Valley were under excessive heat warnings and heat advisories through the day and into the weekend, before Tuesday's holiday, the National Weather Service said.

State Department review of 2021 Afghanistan evacuation critical of Biden, Trump

A U.S. State Department report on Friday criticized the handling of the 2021 evacuation from Afghanistan, saying decisions by President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump to withdraw troops had "serious consequences for the viability" and security of the former U.S.-backed government. Adverse findings in the report also reflected badly on Secretary of State Antony Blinken, without naming him. They included the department's failure to expand its crisis-management task force as the Taliban advanced on Kabul in August 2021 and the lack of a senior diplomat "to oversee all elements of the crisis response."

Versatile Oscar-winning American actor Alan Arkin dies at 89

Alan Arkin, a versatile and prolific American actor who thrived in both comic and dramatic roles and won an Oscar for playing a heroin-using grandfather in the 2006 film "Little Miss Sunshine," has died at 89, his family said. "Our father was a uniquely talented force of nature, both as an artist and a man. A loving husband, father, grand and great grandfather, he was adored and will be deeply missed," Arkin's sons Adam, Matthew and Anthony wrote in a joint statement.

US Supreme Court deals blow to LGBT rights in web designer case

In a blow to LGBT rights, the U.S. Supreme Court's conservative majority on Friday ruled that the constitutional right to free speech allows certain businesses to refuse to provide services for same-sex weddings, a decision that the dissenting liberal justices called a "license to discriminate."

The justices ruled 6-3 along ideological lines in favor of Denver-area web designer Lorie Smith, who cited her Christian beliefs against gay marriage in challenging a Colorado anti-discrimination law. The justices overturned a lower court's ruling that had rejected Smith's bid for an exemption from a Colorado law that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and other factors.

Moms for Liberty emerges as a force in the 2024 U.S. presidential election

Top rivals for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination on Friday addressed the national conference of Moms for Liberty, appealing to the conservative parents-rights advocacy group with vows to bolster education and keep discussion of gender identity out of the classroom. "Don't mess with America's moms," former President Donald Trump told the crowd in Philadelphia, calling the group a "grassroots juggernaut."