Reuters US Domestic News Summary

But after a police officer shot and killed a Black man in Minnesota on Sunday when, according to authorities, she mistakenly drew her gun instead of her Taser, experts said it is clear that problems persist with Taser training and the weapon's design. Use-of-force expert testifies that Chauvin justified in deadly arrest of Floyd Defense attorneys in the murder trial of Derek Chauvin on Tuesday called an expert witness who testified that the former Minneapolis police officer was justified and reasonable in his use of force during his arrest of George Floyd.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Biden vows to keep pushing for 'significant change' for Black Americans

U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday underscored his determination to address concerns about policing, prisons and massive economic disparities faced by Black Americans, saying every agency of his government was focused on those challenges. Biden, speaking before a meeting with members of the Congressional Black Caucus, referred to what he called the "God- awful shooting" of a 20-year-old Black man in Minnesota by a police officer just miles away from where the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former white Minneapolis police officer charged with murdering George Floyd, is taking place.

Taser vs. gun mix-up raises concerns about training, design after Minnesota shooting

The company that manufactures Tasers says it has implemented design features and training recommendations to reduce the chances that law enforcement officers would confuse the electroshock weapon for a handgun when using force. But after a police officer shot and killed a Black man in Minnesota on Sunday when, according to authorities, she mistakenly drew her gun instead of her Taser, experts said it is clear that problems persist with Taser training and the weapon's design.

Use-of-force expert testifies that Chauvin justified in deadly arrest of Floyd

Defense attorneys in the murder trial of Derek Chauvin on Tuesday called an expert witness who testified that the former Minneapolis police officer was justified and reasonable in his use of force during his arrest of George Floyd. After 11 days of testimony by prosecution witnesses, Eric Nelson, lead attorney for Chauvin, called Barry Brodd, a private consultant in the use of force by law enforcement who said Chauvin was following his training during the encounter.

U.S. FDA to scrutinize vaccine design behind COVID-19 shots linked to blood clots

With two COVID-19 vaccines now under scrutiny for possible links to very rare cases of blood clots in the brain, U.S. government scientists are focusing on whether the specific technology behind the shots may be contributing to the risk. In Europe, health regulators said last week there was a possible link between the AstraZeneca Plc vaccine and 169 cases of a rare brain blood clot known as cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST), accompanied by a low blood platelet count, out of 34 million shots administered in the European Economic Area.

U.S. pauses use of J&J vaccine over rare blood clots, rollout delayed in Europe

U.S. federal health agencies on Tuesday recommended pausing use of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine for at least a few days after six women under age 50 developed rare blood clots after receiving the shot, dealing a fresh setback to efforts to tackle the pandemic. Johnson & Johnson said it would delay rollout of the vaccine to Europe, a week after regulators there said they were reviewing rare blood clots in four recipients of the shot in the United States. South Africa also suspended use of J&J's vaccine.

U.S. Justice Department backs extending ban on fentanyl copycats

The U.S. Justice Department has signaled support for legislation to extend by seven months a ban on illegal copycat versions of fentanyl, the powerful synthetic painkiller that has helped fuel the nation's opioid epidemic. Without action from Congress, the temporary ban on all variants of fentanyl - a drug 100 times more potent than morphine - would expire on May 6. The department said in a statement late on Monday it intends to "work with Congress to seek a clean, seven-month extension to prevent this important law enforcement tool from lapsing."

Ohio can enforce ban on Down syndrome abortions: U.S. appeals court

A federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday that Ohio can enforce a 2017 law banning abortions when medical tests show that a fetus has Down syndrome. In a 9-7 decision, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati said the law did not create a substantial obstacle to obtaining abortions, was reasonably related to Ohio's legitimate interests, and was "valid in all conceivable cases."

Suspects arrested in murder of long-missing California college student Kristin Smart

Police arrested a longtime suspect on Tuesday for the murder of Kristin Smart, a 19-year-old college freshman who went missing from her California university 25 years ago, but said her body had not yet been found. Smart was last seen walking to her dormitory on the campus of California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, 150 miles (240 km) northwest of Los Angeles, in 1996. She was returning from an off-campus party.

How computer mapping could help Biden find and fix polluted neighborhoods

(Reuters) - Diagnosed with asthma at 8 years old, Karlaine Francisco grew up thinking everyone had it. Her friends in south Stockton, California, also carried inhalers and suffered coughing and wheezing fits. "I would tell people, 'Oh yeah, I have asthma,'" said Francisco, now a 17-year-old high school senior. "And then, my friend would be like, 'Yeah, I have asthma too.'"

Minnesota police chief, officer who fatally shot Black man, both resign

The suburban Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot a Black motorist during an encounter that began as a routine traffic stop, and the police chief who called the slaying an apparent accident, both resigned on Tuesday following two nights of civil unrest. The mayor of Brooklyn Center, a town adjacent to Minnesota's largest city, said the two tendered their resignations a day after the chief told a news briefing that the officer who shot Daunte Wright, 20, on Sunday appeared to have drawn her gun rather than her Taser by mistake.