US News Roundup: Big quake rumbles across Southern California; Trump presides over July 4th holiday with military show

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Love of country? Or a political stunt? Trump holiday speech divides Americans

Jan Shairrick and two friends drove more than a thousand miles from southern Arkansas to join President Donald Trump's "Salute to America" Independence Day celebrations in Washington. Some residents of the capital, however, stayed well away from the nearby festivities for fear of being wrongly identified as Trump supporters.

Dismissing criticism, Trump presides over July 4th holiday with military show

U.S. President Donald Trump will preside over July Fourth Independence Day celebrations on Thursday with a speech about patriotism and a show of military might that critics say is politicizing an important holiday and wasting taxpayer money. Trump, a Republican who admired flashy displays of national pride and military strength put on by France, has dismissed concerns about the expense and militaristic overtones of the Washington event, which will take place in front of the Lincoln Memorial and feature fireworks, a flyover by Air Force One and a display of tanks.

Trump says immigrants 'unhappy' with detention centers should stay home

President Donald Trump, facing renewed criticism from Democrats and activists over his handling of a migrant crisis on the U.S.- Mexico border, said in a Twitter post on Wednesday that immigrants unhappy with conditions at detention centers should be told "not to come." Democratic lawmakers and civil rights activists who have visited migrant detention centers along the border in recent days have described nightmarish conditions marked by overcrowding and inadequate access to food, water and other basic needs.

U.S. judge blocks Ohio 'heartbeat' law to end most abortions

A federal judge on Wednesday blocked Ohio from enforcing a new law that critics said would effectively ban most abortions in the state, starting as early as six weeks into pregnancy. U.S. District Judge Michael Barrett in Cincinnati issued a preliminary injunction against enforcing the "Heartbeat Protection Act," saying it imposed an unconstitutional "undue burden" on a woman's right to obtain a pre-viability abortion.

One killed in Calcasieu River Ship Channel accident in Louisiana: Coast Guard

One person was killed and another injured on Wednesday after a vessel collided with a dredge pipeline operating on the Calcasieu River Ship Channel near Hackberry, Louisiana, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) said. The channel has been shut down from two miles south of lighted aid 78 to two miles north of lighted aid 80, for six hours for search and rescue operations, USCG said in a statement on Thursday.

White House considering 'every option' for adding citizenship question to census

With a court deadline looming, the Trump administration is looking at "every option" as it seeks to add a contentious citizenship question to the 2020 census, a White House spokesman said on Thursday. Government lawyers are scrambling to meet a Friday afternoon deadline set by Maryland-based U.S. District Court Judge George Hazel, who wants the administration to state its intentions.

As Trump plans July 4 speech, his challengers march to a different drummer

U.S. presidential contender Joe Biden and two Democratic rivals marched on Thursday in the same 4th of July parade in Iowa, a small-town scene in sharp contrast with Republican President Donald Trump's plan to speak at Washington's Lincoln Memorial accompanied by battle tanks and military flyovers. Barbecue and marching bands mixed with presidential politics during Independence Day celebrations in the Midwestern farming state that in seven months kicks off the Democratic presidential nominating race to challenge Trump in the November 2020 election.

U.S. Navy SEAL spared jail but demoted after war crimes trial

A U.S. Navy SEAL platoon commander acquitted of murdering a captured Islamic State fighter but convicted of unlawfully posing for photos with his dead body was sentenced on Wednesday to a demotion in rank and pay. The penalty imposed by a seven-member jury of U.S. Marines and Navy personnel spared the defendant, Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher, from any prison time beyond the nearly seven months he had already served in pretrial custody.

Chestnut crowned July 4 hot-dog champ again but can't top his own record

This year's Nathan's Famous hot-dog eating contest proved a mild disappointment to Joey Chestnut, the Fourth of July event's perennial champ, even though he handily won the annual display of gastronomical excess for the 12th time this year. Chestnut took the crown in the annual U.S. Independence Day competition by downing 71 dogs and buns in 10 minutes. But the 35-year-old "competitive eater" from San Jose, California fell short of his record-setting performance of 74 at last year's contest, staged for decades on the beachfront in New York City's Coney Island.

Big quake rumbles across Southern California, some damage northeast of Los Angeles

A powerful earthquake jolted Southern California on Thursday, touching off fires and damaging buildings in a desert town northeast of Los Angeles, but authorities said there were only minor injuries. The 6.4 magnitude quake, the largest in two decades in the area, struck about 113 miles (182 km) northeast of Los Angeles near the city of Ridgecrest at around 1:30 p.m. EDT (1730 GMT), according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The quake struck in an area on the edge of Death Valley National Park.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)