US Domestic News Roundup: US fentanyl-related deaths more than tripled over 5 years; Biden taps four more judges in D.C., Michigan, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and more

The Senate, which Biden's fellow Democrats narrowly control, must approve the candidates, who were nominated to posts in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Washington, D.C., according to a White House statement. North Carolina Republicans reach agreement on 12-week abortion ban Republican lawmakers in North Carolina said on Tuesday they had reached agreement on a plan to limit most abortions to the first trimester of pregnancy, a sharp drop from the state's current limit of 20 weeks gestation.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

US fentanyl-related deaths more than tripled over 5 years

The rate of drug overdose deaths involving the synthetic opioid fentanyl more than tripled in the United States from 2016 through 2021, according to a report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released on Wednesday. Fentanyl is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine, and has increasingly been mixed with other illicit drugs often with lethal results.

Biden taps four more judges in D.C., Michigan, Pennsylvania, Connecticut

President Joe Biden nominated another four federal judges on Wednesday, including two women of Asian descent who would be the first such U.S. judges on their court or in their state. The Senate, which Biden's fellow Democrats narrowly control, must approve the candidates, who were nominated to posts in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Washington, D.C., according to a White House statement.

E. Jean Carroll called minutes after Trump allegedly raped her, friend testifies

A friend of E. Jean Carroll on Tuesday backed up the writer's account of being raped by Donald Trump, testifying during a civil trial that she received a phone call about the alleged attack minutes after it occurred. Author Lisa Birnbach told a jury in Manhattan federal court that she "vividly" remembered Carroll calling her one evening in the spring of 1996 and saying Trump had just attacked her in a dressing room in the lingerie section of the Bergdorf Goodman department store in New York City.

North Carolina Republicans reach agreement on 12-week abortion ban

Republican lawmakers in North Carolina said on Tuesday they had reached agreement on a plan to limit most abortions to the first trimester of pregnancy, a sharp drop from the state's current limit of 20 weeks gestation. If passed, the proposed legislation would reverberate beyond North Carolina, limiting options for women who have been traveling there to obtain abortions after the deeply conservative Southern states where they live banned or more severely limited the procedure.

Utah judge temporarily blocks law ending licenses for abortion clinics

A court in Utah has stopped the state's Republican-dominated government from enforcing a new law that would effectively end abortions by making it impossible to get a license for a clinic where they are performed. Judge Andrew H. Stone of the Third District Court of the state of Utah ruled on Tuesday that abortion rights group Planned Parenthood, which had sued to block the law, was likely to prevail in its argument that the law is not reasonable.

Suspect in killing of 5 Texas neighbors caught after 4-day manhunt

Police on Tuesday captured a man suspected of shooting five Texas neighbors to death and leading multiple agencies on a four-day manhunt, after a tip led them to a home in a nearby town where he was caught hiding beneath laundry, officials said.

The bloodshed erupted on Friday after neighbors asked the suspect to stop firing his semiautomatic rifle in his yard because it kept their baby awake. Instead, the man reloaded and entered the next-door home of Honduran immigrants, killing five, including an 8-year old boy, officials said.

Union to brief Hollywood writers as strike disrupts TV production

Striking film and television writers are set to meet with union leadership on Wednesday to discuss the work stoppage that threw Hollywood into disarray as the industry deals with changes brought on by the streaming TV boom. "Jimmy Kimmel Live" and other late-night shows aired re-runs on Tuesday night after the Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike, leaving them without teams to craft topical jokes based on the day's news. Production for scripted series in Los Angeles was halted for the remainder of the week.

33 Democrats urge ban on investor-state dispute provisions in all U.S. trade deals

Democratic U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday urged the U.S. Trade Representative and State Department to eliminate investor-state dispute settlement provisions from current and future trade deals and to intervene on behalf of Honduras against a U.S. company's nearly $11 billion claim against the country. In a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Trade Representative Katherine Tai seen by Reuters, 33 lawmakers said that investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) systems in trade deals constitute a "problematic corporate handout" that violates countries' sovereignty and democracy rights.

DeSantis signs sweeping anti-ESG legislation in Florida

Florida governor Ron DeSantis signed into law on Tuesday a bill barring state officials from investing public money to promote environmental, social and governance goals, and prohibiting ESG bond sales. The bill is one of the furthest-reaching efforts yet by U.S. Republicans against sustainable investing efforts, and a clear political message from DeSantis, a likely presidential candidate.

US parole program to continue post-Title 42, Mexico to accept returnees

The United States will continue to accept migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela under a humanitarian program after May 11, when the COVID-19 health policy known as Title 42 is set to end, the U.S. and Mexican governments said on Tuesday. Mexico, for its part, will continue accepting back migrants returned to the country on humanitarian grounds, both nations said in a joint statement.