US News Roundup: Vehicle attack on U.S. Capitol; 165 million COVID-19 vaccine doses administered and more

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Police officer killed in vehicle attack on U.S. Capitol

A motorist rammed a car into U.S. Capitol police on Friday and brandished a knife, killing one officer and injuring another and forcing the Capitol complex to lock down in an attack that police said did not appear to be terrorism-related. Police shot and killed the suspect.

U.S. puts J&J in charge of plant that botched COVID vaccine, removes AstraZeneca

The United States has put Johnson and Johnson in charge of a plant that ruined 15 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine and has stopped British drugmaker AstraZeneca Plc from using the facility, a senior health official said on Saturday. J&J said it was "assuming full responsibility" of the Emergent BioSolutions facility in Baltimore, reiterating that it will deliver 100 million doses to the government by the end of May.

'Imminent' reservoir wall collapse threatens polluted flood of Tampa Bay

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Sunday headed for the site of a defunct phosphate plant south of Tampa, where a leak at a waste water reservoir forced the evacuation of hundreds of homes and threatened to flood the area and Tampa Bay with polluted water. Worsening of a week-old leak in the containment wall of the 480 million-gallon Piney Point waste water reservoir prompted DeSantis to declare a state of emergency over concerns over the possible collapse of stacks of phosphogypsum waste, primarily from fertilizer manufacturing, at the plant.

Biden U.S. infrastructure ideas popular, but support for plan is partisan: Reuters/Ipsos poll

President Joe Biden's $2 trillion infrastructure plan is loaded with road repairs, internet upgrades and other initiatives that are widely popular on their own, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, but U.S. public support declines when the initiatives are packed into a Democratic bill and sold as a Biden-backed plan. The March 31-April 1 national opinion poll highlights the challenges facing Biden and fellow Democrats in Congress as they roll out the American Jobs Plan in front of Republican opposition and a hyper-partisan American public.

U.S. says 165 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine been administered so far

The United States has administered more than 165 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Sunday morning and distributed nearly 208 million, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Sunday. That is up from the 161,688,422 vaccine doses the CDC said had gone into arms by Saturday out of 207,866,645 doses delivered.

Senior officer says Chauvin used 'totally unnecessary' force on George Floyd

A Minneapolis homicide investigator testified on Friday that Derek Chauvin used "totally unnecessary" deadly force when kneeling on George Floyd's neck during an arrest last May that sparked global protests against police brutality. Chauvin, who is white, was fired by the city's police department the day after he was captured on video on top of a handcuffed Floyd as the 46-year-old Black man was dying. The 45-year-old former officer has pleaded not guilty to murder and manslaughter charges.

Amazon acknowledges issue of drivers urinating in bottles in apology to Rep. Pocan

Amazon.com Inc has apologized to U.S. Representative Mark Pocan, admitting to scoring an "own goal" in its initial denial of his suggestion that its drivers were sometimes forced to urinate in bottles during their delivery rounds. "We know that drivers can and do have trouble finding restrooms because of traffic or sometimes rural routes, and this has been especially the case during Covid when many public restrooms have been closed," the company said in a blog post.