Reuters US Domestic News Summary

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals put on hold a judge's order from last month that barred officials from enforcing part of the new law making it a felony to carry a gun on private property without the property owner's express consent. U.S. Senate aims for stop-gap bill as funding deadline looms, Schumer says The U.S. Senate will aim to vote on a bill to keep the federal government operating for one week past a Friday deadline, as Democrats and Republicans bicker over a longer-term measure likely to spend more than $1.5 trillion, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Monday.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

U.S. Supreme Court takes up second Biden appeal in student debt plan fight

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear President Joe Biden's appeal of a judge's ruling that found his plan to cancel billions of dollars in student debt unlawful, taking up the matter alongside another challenge to the policy that the justices are due to hear in the coming months. The justices will consider the Biden administration's appeal of Texas-based U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman's decision in a challenge backed by a conservative advocacy group, the second of two rulings by lower courts that have put Biden's debt relief policy on ice.

Virginia capital removes last public Confederate monument

A Black-owned construction business on Monday dismantled and removed the last public Confederate statue on display in Richmond, Virginia, the city that served as the capital of the Confederacy during the U.S. Civil War. The memorial to Ambrose Powell Hill, a Confederate general killed in battle days before the war ended in April 1865, was taken down as a small crowd of onlookers cheered.

U.S. FDA approves Mirati's lung cancer drug

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved Mirati Therapeutics Inc's lung cancer drug adagrasib, according to the health regulator's website, sending the company's shares up more than 8% in extended trading. Mirati was seeking approval for the drug for treating patients with advanced lung cancer who have stopped responding to other therapies.

Body of sportswriter Wahl, who died while covering World Cup, returns to U.S

The body of well-known U.S. soccer journalist Grant Wahl, who died suddenly on Friday after collapsing while covering a match at the World Cup in Qatar, has arrived in the United States, the State Department said on Monday. "American journalist Grant Wahl has been returned to his family in the U.S. We're honored to have shepherded him home, & grateful to the government of Qatar for their cooperation & transparency with our consular process," U.S. ambassador to Qatar, Timmy Davis, said in a tweet.

U.S. tells jury Oath Keepers plotted to use force to keep Trump in office

A federal prosecutor on Monday told a court that four members of the far-right Oath Keepers should be found guilty of seditious conspiracy for plotting to use force to stop the peaceful transfer of presidential power at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in order to keep Donald Trump in the White House. Monday marked the beginning of the U.S. Justice Department's second major Jan. 6 sedition trial, this time involving Oath Keeper defendants David Moerschel, Joseph Hackett, Roberto Minuta and Edward Vallejo.

U.S. Supreme Court lets California ban flavored tobacco products

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for California to enforce a voter-approved ban in America's most-populous state on flavored tobacco products, rejecting R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company's bid to block it on the grounds that the policy conflicted with federal law. The justices denied the emergency request by R.J. Reynolds, a unit of British American Tobacco, and other plaintiffs to put on hold the ban on selling all flavored tobacco products in the state - including for vaping - that was overwhelmingly endorsed through a ballot measure on Nov. 8.

U.S. hate crimes drop in 2021, FBI data finds, but undercount likely

U.S. hate crime incidents dropped in 2021 from a two-decade high in 2020, according to FBI data released on Monday, but the agency acknowledged that the figures exclude totals from more than one-third of the country's law enforcement agencies. Overall, more than 7,200 hate crimes were reported in 2021, about 1,000 fewer than a year earlier. More than 60% of the reported incidents were based on race, ancestry or ethnicity, while about one in six were classified as sexual orientation-bias crimes and one in seven as religion-bias crimes.

Court allows New York to enforce limits on guns on private property

A federal appeals court on Monday allowed New York to restrict the carrying of firearms on private property under a new law adopted in wake of a major U.S. Supreme Court ruling that expanded gun rights. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals put on hold a judge's order from last month that barred officials from enforcing part of the new law making it a felony to carry a gun on private property without the property owner's express consent.

U.S. Senate aims for stop-gap bill as funding deadline looms, Schumer says

The U.S. Senate will aim to vote on a bill to keep the federal government operating for one week past a Friday deadline, as Democrats and Republicans bicker over a longer-term measure likely to spend more than $1.5 trillion, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Monday. "Over the weekend, appropriators held positive and productive conversations," Schumer said in a speech to the Senate. Referring to a short-term bill known as a "continuing resolution," he added, "Later this week members should be prepared to take quick action on a CR, a one-week CR, so we can give appropriators more time to finish a full-funding bill before the holidays."

Former FTX CEO Bankman-Fried arrested in The Bahamas: official

The Bahamas police have arrested former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, the country's attorney general said in a statement on Monday, adding that The Bahamas has received formal notification from the United States of criminal charges against him.