US Domestic News Roundup: Biden - and steelmakers - promise U.S. Steel will stay American; Trump hush money jury selection resumes as lawyers probe for bias and more

Baldwin's 15-month battle with New Mexico state prosecutors is heading towards a July 10 climax when the actor is scheduled to face trial for involuntary manslaughter over Hollywood's first on-set shooting with a live-round in modern times. US 911 emergency call line outage resolved in some areas Emergency services on the 911 telephone call line were restored late on Wednesday in parts of the United States, officials said, following a widespread outage across all of South Dakota and in parts of Nebraska, Nevada and Texas.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Biden - and steelmakers - promise U.S. Steel will stay American

U.S. Steel and Japanese buyer Nippon Steel said the Pittsburgh-based firm will remain an "iconic American company" even after a planned $14.9 billion takeover, echoing President Joe Biden's promise to local steelworkers. The two steel giants responded hours after Biden on Wednesday pledged that U.S. Steel would remain a "totally American company," repeating his opposition to the deal.

Exclusive-Donald Trump mulls middle-class tax cut as he eyes return to office

U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has indicated to advisers he is keen on a new middle-class tax cut should he return to the White House, two people familiar with the discussions said, an initiative that could appeal to voters but could also worsen America's yawning budget deficit. Among the ideas that advisers have presented to the former president is a cut to the federal payroll tax, said one of those people, a move that could lower the flow of money into the Social Security and Medicare trust funds and open Trump to criticism from Democrats that he is torpedoing the safety net for elderly Americans.

Trump hush money jury selection resumes as lawyers probe for bias

Donald Trump is due in Manhattan court on Thursday as lawyers continue searching for jurors to decide the former U.S. president’s fate in a historic criminal trial just months before his upcoming rematch with President Joe Biden. Seven jurors have already been selected after two days of grilling by prosecutors and Trump’s lawyers, who are tasked with finding New Yorkers who can be fair to the Republican presidential candidate in heavily Democratic Manhattan, where the businessman-turned-politician made his name as a real estate tycoon decades ago.

US Senate ends impeachment of Biden's border chief Mayorkas

The Democratic-majority U.S. Senate on Wednesday dismissed impeachment charges against President Joe Biden's top border official, bringing a swift end to an effort that House of Representatives Republicans launched months ago. In a series of partisan votes, the Senate dismissed the charges accusing Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas of not enforcing U.S. border laws and lying to Congress, as illegal immigration has hit record levels since Biden took office in 2021.

Biden to win Kennedy family endorsement in Philadelphia

More than 15 members of the storied Kennedy political family will endorse U.S. President Joe Biden at a Philadelphia campaign event on Thursday in a rebuke of Robert F. Kennedy Jr's independent bid for office. Biden, a Democrat, faces Republican Donald Trump in a November re-match of the 2020 election. But members of both parties have bristled over the possibility that the candidacy of Kennedy, a prominent anti-vaccine activist, or another third-party bid could spoil either of their chances.

Parched Texas growing season looms as US, Mexico spar over water treaty

Texas farm groups warn of a disastrous season ahead for citrus and sugar as Mexican and U.S. officials try to resolve a dispute over a decades-old water treaty that supplies U.S. farmers with critical irrigation. The neighboring countries have tussled over the 1944 treaty before, but the current drought-driven water shortages are the most severe in nearly 30 years and add to existing political tensions over genetically modified corn.

Abortion, border dominate US Senate race in battleground Arizona

A restrictive abortion ban revived in Arizona is providing a new opening for Democrats in the runup to the Nov. 5 election and putting Republicans in a tricky political bind as they try to win over moderates in the battleground state. U.S. Representative Ruben Gallego, the leading Democratic candidate in a closely watched U.S. Senate race, has criticized Republican former President Donald Trump for paving the way for the Arizona Supreme Court last week to reinstate a near-total abortion ban based on an 1864 law written during the U.S. Civil War and when women lacked the right to vote.

US weekly jobless claims unchanged at low levels

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits was unchanged at low levels last week, pointing to continued labor market strength. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits were unchanged at a seasonally adjusted 212,000 for the week ended April 13, the Labor Department said on Thursday.

Alec Baldwin's criminal case hinges on a Wild West revolver

A Colt .45 "Peacemaker" revolver, a symbol of the American Wild West, is at the center of actor Alec Baldwin's fight to avoid criminal prosecution for the 2021 fatal shooting of "Rust" cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on a New Mexico movie set. Baldwin's 15-month battle with New Mexico state prosecutors is heading towards a July 10 climax when the actor is scheduled to face trial for involuntary manslaughter over Hollywood's first on-set shooting with a live-round in modern times.

US 911 emergency call line outage resolved in some areas

Emergency services on the 911 telephone call line were restored late on Wednesday in parts of the United States, officials said, following a widespread outage across all of South Dakota and in parts of Nebraska, Nevada and Texas. Officials in South Dakota, Nevada and Las Vegas said 911 services had been restored, but without identifying the cause of the failure.

(With inputs from agencies.)