US Domestic News Roundup: Trump to face criminal charges, sending US into uncharted waters; Biden to announce federal funding for Mississippi tornado recovery on Friday and more

But any potential trial is still at minimum more than a year away, legal experts said, raising the possibility that the former U.S. president could face a jury in a Manhattan courtroom during or even after the 2024 presidential campaign, as he seeks a return to the White House. After school shooting, some trans Tennesseans face backlash When Nashville police announced that the shooter who killed three children and three adults at a school this week was transgender, trans Tennesseans braced themselves for renewed vitriol in a state that has recently proposed a raft of anti-trans laws.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Trump to face criminal charges, sending US into uncharted waters

Donald Trump, the ex-president and frontrunner to be Republican nominee in 2024, is set to face a mug shot, finger-printing and court appearance next week after being indicted over a probe into hush money paid to a porn star in a historic U.S. first. The possible spectacle of Trump's appearance in Manhattan on Tuesday before a judge as the first sitting or former president to face criminal charges could further divide the world's most powerful country.

Biden to announce federal funding for Mississippi tornado recovery on Friday

U.S. President Joe Biden will announce on Friday that the federal government will cover for 30 days the full cost of Mississippi's emergency measures in response to last week's storm that killed 26 people, a White House official said. Biden and his wife, Jill, will visit Rolling Rock, a town of 1,900 that a tornado swept through, destroying homes and infrastructure.

U.S. accuses Fugees rapper of illegal lobbying with Malaysian financier

A federal prosecutor on Thursday accused Grammy Award-winning rapper Prakazrel "Pras" Michel of The Fugees hip hop group of illegally taking tens of millions of dollars to lobby the U.S. government on behalf of a Malaysian financier and the Chinese government. The accusations were made at the start of a trial that prosecutor Nicole Lockhart said will link Michel to financier Jho Low, who is suspected of embezzling $4.5 billion from Malaysia's 1MDB sovereign wealth fund, and a Chinese government influence campaign aimed at repatriating dissident Guo Wengui.

US Justice Dept sues Norfolk Southern over Ohio train derailment

The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday filed a lawsuit against Norfolk Southern Corp over the Feb. 3 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. The lawsuit filed on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency seeks damages for alleged Clean Water Act violations.

Looming spring storm to spawn blizzards, ice, tornadoes across central U.S

An immense spring storm emerging from the Western U.S. was expected to form a 1,000-mile (1609 km) front of extreme weather from the Great Lakes to Texas on Friday, spawning blizzards, freezing rain, tornadoes and torrential showers, forecasters said. Widespread, severe thunderstorms were forecast for Friday afternoon into early Saturday across portions of the middle Mississippi Valley and eastward to the lower Ohio and Tennessee valleys, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).

'Rust' set manager's plea deal to be considered Friday

A Santa Fe judge on Friday was to consider a plea deal that could bring the first conviction for the 2021 shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during filming of the Western movie "Rust" in New Mexico. Dave Halls, first assistant director on "Rust," in January entered an agreement with prosecutors to plead no contest to the misdemeanor charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon for his role in Hutchins' death.

Protesters demand action on guns at Tennessee statehouse

Protesters flooded Tennessee's statehouse on Thursday to demand lawmakers stiffen gun laws following a school shooting in Nashville that left six people dead, three of them 9-year-old children. More than a thousand people joined the protest organized by local mothers, packing the building's rotunda and forcing highway patrol troopers to clear paths in the crowd for lawmakers to walk through.

Trump charges follow criticism of Manhattan prosecutor for not acting sooner

Donald Trump has been indicted by a New York City grand jury, his lawyer said on Thursday, after the prosecutor who filed the charges came under political pressure for not bringing them against the former U.S. president sooner. While the charges against Trump were not immediately released - the first ever against a U.S. president - they come after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg revived an investigation into any role Trump had in a $130,000 hush money payment his lawyer made to a porn star during Trump's 2016 campaign for the White House.

Donald Trump has been indicted - what happens now?

The events underlying Donald Trump's indictment in New York - hush money payments to a porn star who claimed to have had a sexual encounter with him - took place nearly seven years ago. But any potential trial is still at minimum more than a year away, legal experts said, raising the possibility that the former U.S. president could face a jury in a Manhattan courtroom during or even after the 2024 presidential campaign, as he seeks a return to the White House.

After school shooting, some trans Tennesseans face backlash

When Nashville police announced that the shooter who killed three children and three adults at a school this week was transgender, trans Tennesseans braced themselves for renewed vitriol in a state that has recently proposed a raft of anti-trans laws. Soon enough, some prominent Republicans, including J.D. Vance, a U.S. senator from Ohio, and U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, suggested in social media posts that the shooter's gender identity may have been a factor in the murders.