US Domestic News Roundup: Donald Trump ordered to pay E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million, will appeal verdict; Shunned in computer age, cursive makes a comeback in California and more

They have learned a hard lesson: Big money cannot win the Republican presidential nomination, at least not against Trump, who holds the support of a wide majority of the party's voters.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Donald Trump ordered to pay E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million, will appeal verdict

Donald Trump was handed a stinging defeat on Friday by a Manhattan jury that ordered him to pay $83.3 million to the writer E. Jean Carroll, who said he destroyed her reputation as a trustworthy journalist by denying he raped her. Jurors needed less than three hours to reach a verdict in Manhattan federal court following a five-day trial. The sum that the former U.S. president was ordered to pay far exceeded the minimum $10 million Carroll had sought. Trump plans to appeal.

Shunned in computer age, cursive makes a comeback in California

A generation of children who learned to write on screens is now going old school. Starting this year, California grade school students are required to learn cursive handwriting, after the skill had fallen out of fashion in the computer age.

In South Carolina, Biden woos Black voters in a changing U.S. South

Democrats have no chance of winning South Carolina in November, but the state is pivotal to Joe Biden's reelection anyway. Democrats hope South Carolina's new role as host of the party's first official primary on Feb. 3 will bolster support among Black voters. Top party officials also see it as a springboard to an audacious new strategy: retaking the American South in years to come.

Alabama will help bring nitrogen asphyxiation executions to other states

Alabama offered assistance on Friday to other U.S. states seeking to carry out executions using asphyxiation by nitrogen gas, a few hours after pioneering the new method to kill Kenneth Smith, a prisoner condemned for a 1988 murder. The state also promised more to come in Alabama: Attorney General Steve Marshall said 43 other people on death row had chosen asphyxiation over lethal injections since lawmakers approved the method in 2018.

US to announce billions in subsidies for advanced chips- WSJ

The Biden administration is expected to award billions of dollars in subsidies to top semiconductor companies including Intel, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co in the coming weeks to help build new factories in the United States, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. The forthcoming announcements are aimed at kick-starting manufacturing of advanced semiconductors that power smartphones, artificial intelligence and weapons systems, the WSJ reported, citing industry executives familiar with the negotiations.

Michigan's Arab American leaders shun Biden campaign, ahead of president's visit

A group of Arab American leaders in Dearborn, Michigan skipped a meeting on Friday with President Joe Biden's campaign manager that was organized ahead of a possible visit to the battleground state by Biden on Feb. 1, two participants and two sources said. Biden's likely visit to the state next week involves meetings with members of the United Auto Workers Union and potential meetings with the Arab American community, the participants and sources said.

Justice Dept to surge resources to fight crime in US capital

The Justice Department plans to send additional law enforcement resources to help Washington, D.C., battle the perpetrators of violent crime and carjackings, the department said on Friday. "This surge in law enforcement resources will build on the Department's efforts to target the individuals and organizations that are driving violent crime in the nation's capital," Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.

Vince McMahon resigns from TKO, WWE over sex assault lawsuit

Vince McMahon resigned from wrestling giant TKO Group and the subsidiary WWE that he founded, over a lawsuit accusing him of sexual assault and trafficking, which he said he will fight, the company said on Friday. "I have decided to resign from my executive chairmanship and the TKO board of directors, effective immediately," McMahon said in a statement released by TKO.

Biden backs Senate border deal, vows to 'shut down the border' when overwhelmed

President Joe Biden said on Friday that the border deal being negotiated in the U.S. Senate was the "toughest and fairest" set of reforms possible and vowed to "shut down the border" the day he signs the bill. The bipartisan talks have hit a critical point amid mounting Republican opposition. Some Republicans have set a deal on border security as a condition for further Ukraine aid.

Big money fails to stop Trump, again, prompting a donor reckoning

From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, wealthy donors have thrown tens of millions of dollars at Republican U.S. presidential candidate Nikki Haley in an effort to keep Donald Trump from returning to the White House. They have learned a hard lesson: Big money cannot win the Republican presidential nomination, at least not against Trump, who holds the support of a wide majority of the party's voters.