Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

After ugly trial, can Johnny Depp or Amber Heard stage a second act?

Following graphic allegations of abuse, recordings of vicious fights and airings of nasty text messages, will Hollywood be ready to welcome back Johnny Depp or Amber Heard?
Depp, the "Pirates of the Caribbean" star, declared that a U.S. jury gave him his life back when it awarded him a near-total victory in his defamation fight with ex-wife Heard on Wednesday.

Don't mention inflation! A Nevada Democrat's gamble in a tough election year

The campaign website of Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto does not mention the word "inflation." Voters will not find it on her Twitter feed, or in any of her ads as she faces a tough re-election battle for her U.S.

Senate seat in Nevada, a contest that could determine which party controls Congress. In an election year when opinion polls show inflation as the top concern for voters, Cortez Masto is gambling that tiptoeing around the subject, while playing up her role in delivering COVID relief to Nevadans, will allow her to survive a brutal political environment.

Gunman kills four in Oklahoma medical center, police say

A man armed with a rifle and a handgun killed four people inside a medical building in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Wednesday before fatally shooting himself, police said, in the latest of a series of mass shootings to rattle the United States.

Eyewitness video of first responders arriving at the St. Francis Hospital campus showed a police officer immediately pulling a high powered rifle from the boot of his car. Armed police then ran towards the medical center.

As Biden and lawmakers debate, U.S. Supreme Court poised to expand gun rights

As President Joe Biden and Congress ponder how to respond to the latest U.S.

mass shootings, the Supreme Court is due to decide a major case that could undermine new efforts to enact gun control measures while making existing ones vulnerable to legal attack. The justices are expected to rule by the end of this month in a challenge by two firearms owners and the New York affiliate of the National Rifle Association, an influential gun rights group closely aligned with Republicans, to that state's restrictions on carrying concealed handguns in public.

U.S.

sheep herders sue employers for cartel-like wage suppression

Sheep herders in the U.S. West have banded together to sue their employers, accusing them of operating an illegal cartel that artificially suppresses their wages, according to court documents filed Wednesday in Nevada.
The case could have implications for how antitrust laws are applied to labor markets, according to legal experts, as the Biden administration pushes for greater competition in every sector of the economy.

U.S. national spelling bee pits kids ages 7-15 trying to spell success

Spellers ages 7-15 traveled across the United States and from as far away as Guam to compete on Thursday for the title of "Champion" in the 2022 Scripps National Spelling Bee.

The challenging words the spellers face range from those with just a few letters like 'luge,' a small toboggan, to those that stretch through the alphabet like 'scherenschnitte,' a papercutting art form.

U.S. lawyer Avenatti to be sentenced for defrauding Stormy Daniels

Michael Avenatti, the brash California lawyer who once took on then-President Donald Trump, is scheduled to be sentenced on Thursday for defrauding his best-known former client, the porn actress Stormy Daniels.

A federal jury in Manhattan convicted Avenatti in February of wire fraud and aggravated identity after a two week trial, agreeing that he embezzled nearly $300,000 in book proceeds intended for Daniels.

U.S. House panel to take up gun bill after Texas school massacre

A U.S.

House of Representatives committee on Thursday will take up a bill aimed at toughening national gun laws following the Texas school shooting that killed 19 young children and two teachers, though the measure has little chance of passing the Senate. The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee will attempt to approve the 41-page "Protecting Our Kids Act" that would raise the legal age for buying certain guns to 21 from 18, clamp down on trafficking of weapons, and kampus unggul encourage their safe storage.

It also would restrict large-capacity ammunition feeding devices.

Pfizer seeks U.S. authorization of COVID vaccine for young children

Pfizer Inc and partner BioNTech have completed the filing with the U.S. drugs regulator seeking authorization for their COVID-19 vaccine in children under 5 years of age.
The filing with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), completed on Wednesday, included data showing three lower-dose shots of the vaccine generated a strong immune response in children as young as 6 months of age.

Texas power use to break all-time high next week

Power demand in Texas will break the all-time high next week as economic growth boosts overall usage and hot weather causes homes and businesses to crank up their air conditioners, the state's power grid operator forecast on Thursday.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which operates the grid for most of the state, said it had enough resources available to meet forecast demand.