US News Roundup: U.S. COVID deaths top 250,000 as New York City schools halt in-person classes; Home-cooked schemes for Thanksgiving family gatherings amid COVID-19 and more

Options dwindling, Trump faces likely setback in Georgia recount The U.S. presidential election battleground state of Georgia is expected on Thursday to affirm Joe Biden's victory over President Donald Trump after a painstaking recount, which would deal another setback to Trump's efforts to cling on to power.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Factbox: Giuliani and the lawyers behind Trump's efforts to overturn election results

As established law firms withdrew from representing President Donald Trump in his long-shot challenges to U.S. election results, his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani has spearheaded the continuing effort, despite a lack of evidence of widespread fraud and a string of losses.

The following lawyers are among those on the latest legal team: Pennsylvania high court to hear Trump challenge to thousands of votes

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court said on Wednesday it would take up an appeal by President Donald Trump's campaign challenging thousands of mail-in votes cast in Philadelphia that were missing information on the return envelopes. The lower Court of Common Pleas ruled on Friday against the Trump campaign which sought to invalidate 8,329 ballots in Philadelphia, the state's biggest city, because envelopes lacked information such as printed names, the date or addresses.

Home-cooked schemes for Thanksgiving family gatherings amid COVID-19

Masked servers will deliver plates laden with turkey and fixings to a dozen relatives separated into small pods in Kathleen Williamson's backyard in Maryland, part of her scheme to dish up family togetherness at Thanksgiving. With so many holiday traditions upended by COVID-19, families are concocting ways to hold reunions with loved ones while keeping a safe distance to guard against coronavirus spread.

Arizona's top election official decries violent threats over election results

Arizona's top election official Katie Hobbs said on Wednesday she faced escalating threats of violence over the outcome of the Nov. 3 presidential election, and blamed President Donald Trump for spreading misinformation to undermine trust in the results. Democrat Joe Biden defeated Trump in Arizona by more than 10,000 votes, according to Edison Research, one of the states he flipped away from Trump to win the White House by securing 306 Electoral College votes to the president's 232.

Matthew McConaughey toys with possible Texas governor run

Oscar-winning actor Matthew McConaughey may be the next celebrity to throw his hat into the political ring. The star of "Dallas Buyers Club" and "Magic Mike" appeared to be considering the idea when discussing politics with syndicated talk radio host Hugh Hewitt in an interview posted online on Wednesday.

U.S. airline CEOs renew request for more aid in letter to Congress

The chief executives of the seven largest U.S. airlines made a fresh plea for more payroll relief before the end of the year and pointed to the challenges of distributing a COVID-19 vaccine in a letter to Congressional leaders on Wednesday. The letter, seen by Reuters, was sent by the main industry lobby Airlines for America and signed by the heads of the top seven U.S. airlines.

Options dwindling, Trump faces likely setback in Georgia recount

The U.S. presidential election battleground state of Georgia is expected on Thursday to affirm Joe Biden's victory over President Donald Trump after a painstaking recount, which would deal another setback to Trump's efforts to cling on to power. Georgia's top election official, a Republican, has said the manual recount of almost 5 million votes is unlikely to erode Biden's initial 14,000 winning margin by enough to hand Trump victory in the state.

Minnesota governor orders restaurants, bars to halt in-person dining for four weeks

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz on Wednesday ordered all restaurants and bars to halt in-person dining, fitness and entertainment centers to close and youth sports to be canceled for four weeks. The order, which begins on Saturday, comes as the state saw 67 COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday, the most since the pandemic began, according to the state's health department.

U.S. COVID deaths top 250,000 as New York City schools halt in-person classes

The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 surpassed a grim new milestone of 250,000 lives lost on Wednesday, as New York City's public school system, the nation's largest, called a halt to in-classroom instruction, citing a jump in coronavirus infection rates. The decision to shutter schools and revert exclusively to at-home learning, starting on Thursday, came as state and local officials nationwide imposed restrictions on social and economic life to tamp down a surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations heading into winter.

Amid coronavirus spike, pressure grows on U.S. agency to approve Trump-to-Biden transition

A little-known agency that keeps the U.S. federal bureaucracy running is the biggest impediment to new efforts to fight the coronavirus outbreak, Democratic President-elect Joe Biden said on Wednesday. "There's a whole lot of things that we just don't have available to us," Biden said, including real-time data on personal protective equipment and the distribution plan for COVID-19 vaccines.

(With inputs from agencies.)