US Domestic News Roundup: More handshakes, fewer rallies as Biden 2024 campaign takes shape; More handshakes, fewer rallies as Biden 2024 campaign takes shape and more

The winning numbers for the jackpot were 7, 11, 22, 29, and 38, plus the power ball 4, Mega Millions said on its website early on Wednesday. US court keeps Texas border security law on hold in win for Biden A U.S. appeals court has kept on hold a Republican-backed Texas law that would let state authorities arrest and prosecute people suspected of illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border - a statute that President Joe Biden's administration has argued intrudes on the authority of the federal government.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Winning Mega Millions ticket for $1.13 billion jackpot sold in New Jersey

Mega Millions said a single ticket for a lottery jackpot worth a hefty $1.13 billion, the fifth-largest prize in the game's history, was sold in New Jersey, breaking a streak of 30 consecutive unclaimed drawings. The winning numbers for the jackpot were 7, 11, 22, 29, and 38, plus the power ball 4, Mega Millions said on its website early on Wednesday.

US court keeps Texas border security law on hold in win for Biden

A U.S. appeals court has kept on hold a Republican-backed Texas law that would let state authorities arrest and prosecute people suspected of illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border - a statute that President Joe Biden's administration has argued intrudes on the authority of the federal government. In a 2-1 ruling late Tuesday, a panel of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied a request by Texas to let the law take effect while the state's appeal of a judge's ruling blocking it plays out at the appellate court.

US Supreme Court appears skeptical of challenge to abortion pill access

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday signaled that it is unlikely to limit access to the abortion pill as the justices appeared skeptical that the anti-abortion groups and doctors that are challenging the drug have the needed legal standing to pursue the case. The justices heard arguments in an appeal by President Joe Biden's administration of a lower court's ruling in favor of the plaintiffs that would limit how the medication, called mifepristone, is prescribed and distributed. The case places reproductive rights back on the Supreme Court's agenda in a presidential election year.

Biden's son Hunter to ask judge to dismiss tax charges as politically motivated

President Joe Biden's son Hunter will ask a U.S. judge on Wednesday to dismiss the criminal case accusing him of evading $1.4 million in taxes, arguing that prosecutors bowed to political pressure from Republican lawmakers investigating his father. Hunter Biden's lawyers will appear before U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi in federal court in Los Angeles to press several legal challenges to the charges, including an argument that he was selectively targeted by prosecutors in response to Republican criticism over alleged earlier lenient treatment.

US solar factories strike deal to produce 'Made in USA' panels

Two small solar manufacturers on Wednesday said they are joining forces to make panels that will enable their customers, U.S. solar project developers, to collect on a lucrative new federal subsidy for American-made clean energy equipment. The agreement between Georgia-based solar cell producer Suniva and Canada's Heliene, which has panel-making operations in Minnesota, is being touted by the Biden administration as evidence that Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) subsidies are succeeding in building a domestic solar manufacturing industry to compete with China.

Trump faces gag order in New York hush money criminal case

Donald Trump was issued a judge's gag order on Tuesday barring him from publicly commenting about witnesses and court staff ahead of his April 15 criminal trial involving hush money paid to a porn star. Justice Juan Merchan granted a request by the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who is prosecuting Trump, the former president and now the Republican candidate to challenge President Joe Biden for the White House.

Baltimore rescuers lose hope for more survivors from bridge collapse

U.S. federal safety investigators recovered the black box from the freight ship that crashed into a Baltimore bridge, the agency chief said on Wednesday as rescuers looked for the remains of six workers missing in the bridge collapse. A highway team also will be looking at the twisted remains of the Francis Scott Key bridge as they try to determine how and why a container ship smashed into a pillar of the 1.6-mile (2.6 km) span in early morning darkness on Tuesday.

Sean 'Diddy' Combs' lawyer says rapper subject to 'witch hunt'

A lawyer for music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs said Tuesday the rapper was being targeted by a "witch hunt" after civil lawsuits accused him of sexual misconduct and federal authorities raided two of his properties. On Monday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said it had opened an investigation into hip-hop star Combs and searched his homes in the Miami area and in Los Angeles.

Baltimore bridge port blockade won't trigger new supply chain crisis, experts say

The catastrophic bridge collapse that closed the Port of Baltimore to ship traffic is unlikely to trigger a major new U.S. supply chain crisis or spike goods prices, due to ample and growing spare capacity at competing East Coast ports, economists and logistics experts say. With six people still missing after a container ship collision destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge, it remained unclear how long the span's twisted superstructure would block the harbor's mouth.

More handshakes, fewer rallies as Biden 2024 campaign takes shape

U.S. President Joe Biden is crisscrossing the country as his reelection campaign kicks into high gear, skipping big, loud rallies favored by his rival Donald Trump in favor of shaking hands at union halls, churches and restaurants. It is an unusual approach that plays to Biden's strengths amid an increasingly fragmented U.S. media landscape, allies and many analysts say. Biden interacts with smaller groups, limiting highly scrutinized teleprompter-assisted events that sometimes lead to gaffes while keeping at bay protesters angry about his handling of the Israel-Gaza war.