US Domestic News Roundup: Memphis police say four dead after 19-year old's shooting spree; U.S. weekly jobless claims fall to three-month low and more

The charges come more than 1-1/2 years after Trump pardoned Bannon in the final hours of his presidency, excusing Bannon from a federal fraud case. U.S. backs students claiming Harvard ignored professor's sexual harassment The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday threw its support behind a lawsuit by three graduate students accusing Harvard University of ignoring sexual harassment by a professor who they said threatened their academic careers if they reported him.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Memphis police say four dead after 19-year old's shooting spree

Four people were dead and three wounded after a 19-year old man went on a shooting spree in Memphis, Tennessee, the city's police department said in a media briefing early on Thursday. Memphis Police Chief C. J. Davis said that Ezekiel Kelly was apprehended on Wednesday after multiple shootings. At least one

U.S. weekly jobless claims fall to three-month low

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week to a three-month low, underscoring the robustness of the labor market even as the Federal Reserve raises interest rates. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits declined 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 222,000 for the week ended Sept. 3, the Labor Department said on Thursday.

Michigan's 90-year-old abortion ban is unconstitutional, judge rules

A 1931 Michigan law banning abortion with no exceptions for rape or incest violates the state's constitution, a state court judge ruled on Wednesday, barring any prosecutors from enforcing it. Judge Elizabeth Gleicher of the Michigan Court of Claims found that Michigan's constitution guarantees a right to bodily autonomy including abortion. The ruling is a victory for providers including a Planned Parenthood affiliate, which had sued to block the law.

Explainer-How America casts and counts its votes

Misinformation online and false claims of election fraud by former President Donald Trump and his allies have sharply eroded public trust in the integrity of U.S. elections. How Americans vote — and the equipment they use — varies widely, and some methods are more vulnerable to efforts to shake that trust.

Heading into the 2022 midterms, election experts say the move in most states to hybrid voting systems – paper ballots tallied by electronic machines – could give voters greater confidence.

Finding special master in Trump classified documents case no easy task

A federal judge has given the U.S. Justice Department and Donald Trump's lawyers until Friday to come up with a list of potential candidates to serve as a special master to review records the FBI seized from the former president's Florida estate. But finding people who have the necessary experience and security clearances to handle the highly classified documents -- and the willingness to enter the political brushfire surrounding the probe -- will be no small task, legal experts said.

Most Americans see Trump's MAGA as threat to democracy: Reuters/Ipsos poll

Days after Democratic President Joe Biden gave a fiery speech attacking former President Donald Trump and his Republican allies as an extremist threat, a Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Wednesday found a majority of Americans believe Trump's movement is undermining democracy. Fifty-eight percent of respondents in the two-day poll - including one in four Republicans - said Trump's "Make America Great Again" movement is threatening America's democratic foundations.

California seeks energy conservation for 9th day in heat wave

California's power grid urged customers to conserve energy for a ninth day in a row on Thursday as homes and businesses crank up their air conditioners to escape a brutal heat wave lingering over the drought-stricken region since the start of September. The California Independent System Operator (ISO), grid operator for most of the state, said consumer conservation efforts so far this week have been key to helping the grid avoid rotating outages.

Blinken visits Ukraine to offer new US military aid for a counteroffensive

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Kyiv on Thursday to pledge $2 billion in fresh security assistance, including support the Biden administration hopes will bolster a nascent Ukrainian counteroffensive aimed at pushing back Russian forces in the south and east. Blinken’s second visit to the Ukrainian capital since Russia's February invasion comes as Ukraine reported progress in its effort to retake territory seized by Russia near Ukraine’s second-largest city Kharkiv.

Steve Bannon to surrender Thursday to face New York indictment

Steve Bannon, a onetime top strategist to former U.S. President Donald Trump and an architect of his successful 2016 White House run, is expected to surrender on Thursday to New York authorities to face state charges in a new indictment. The charges come more than 1-1/2 years after Trump pardoned Bannon in the final hours of his presidency, excusing Bannon from a federal fraud case.

U.S. backs students claiming Harvard ignored professor's sexual harassment

The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday threw its support behind a lawsuit by three graduate students accusing Harvard University of ignoring sexual harassment by a professor who they said threatened their academic careers if they reported him. The department in a court filing urged a federal judge in Boston to reject Harvard's claim that it could only be held liable for retaliation by the Ivy League school itself, not by any of its faculty members.

(With inputs from agencies.)