US Domestic News Roundup: Back from Europe, Biden turns to diplomatically delicate Saudi Arabia trip; Shooting near Philadelphia concert wounds two police officers and more

The shooting came hours after a gunman on a rooftop opened fire on families waving flags and children riding bikes at a Fourth of July parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, where six people were killed and over 36 were wounded. From celebration to mass shooting chaos at Chicago suburb's parade The Chicago suburb of Highland Park had planned for a Fourth of July celebration like so many in communities across the United States: a parade followed by fireworks and music.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Back from Europe, Biden turns to diplomatically delicate Saudi Arabia trip

U.S. President Joe Biden turns his attention this month to a sensitive trip to the Middle East that will test his ability to reset relations with Saudi Arabia's powerful crown prince after Biden denounced him as a pariah. So far, Biden has been pointedly unclear on whether he will have face-to-face talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi de facto leader who the U.S. intelligence community concluded was behind the 2018 murder of Washington Post journalist and political opponent Jamal Khashoggi.

Shooting near Philadelphia concert wounds two police officers

Two Philadelphia police officers were shot near the Benjamin Franklin Parkway late on Monday as thousands of people celebrated a Fourth of July concert and fireworks show with the crowd scattering in panic when shots were fired. The shooting came hours after a gunman on a rooftop opened fire on families waving flags and children riding bikes at a Fourth of July parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, where six people were killed and over 36 were wounded.

From celebration to mass shooting chaos at Chicago suburb's parade

The Chicago suburb of Highland Park had planned for a Fourth of July celebration like so many in communities across the United States: a parade followed by fireworks and music. But the festivities to mark U.S. Independence Day turned into bloody mayhem as a gunman on a rooftop opened fire on families at the parade on Monday, killing six and wounding more than 36.

Elderly man from Mexico, synagogue teacher among dead in Chicago suburb shooting

Among those killed in the mass shooting at a Fourth of July parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park were a teacher at a synagogue and a man in his 70s who came from Mexico to visit his family. Nicolas Toledo was the first victim identified as of late Monday by his family after a gunman on a rooftop opened fire on families at the parade on Monday, killing six and wounding more than 36.

Fourth of July shooter on rooftop kills 6 in Chicago's Highland Park suburb

A gunman perched on a rooftop opened fire on families waving flags and children riding bikes at a Fourth of July parade on Monday, killing six and wounding more than 36 in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park. The gunman climbed to the roof of a business using a ladder in an alley, police said. The attack turned a civic display of patriotism into a scene of mayhem.

Abortion worries heightened for unauthorized immigrants in the U.S

Last week calls from Texas began flooding into a national abortion assistance hotline with Spanish-language operators: One woman called afraid to fly to New Mexico because of her immigration status. Another woman said she would have to keep her pregnancy because she feared deportation if she crossed state lines. A third worried that she would be detained by immigration authorities if she used public transportation to travel. Penelope DiAlberto, a regional case manager for Texas at the National Abortion Federation, said the three women were among a massive spike in calls to their hotline on the Friday and Saturday after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that had recognized women's constitutional right to abortion.

Explainer-Is the U.S. in a recession? GDP is not the only measure

By some early estimates, the U.S. economy, as measured by gross domestic product, may have shrunk in the three months from April through June. Add that to the decline from January through March, and that would be a contraction for two quarters in a row. By an often-cited rule of thumb, that means the world's largest economy is in recession.

U.S. drug distributors prevail in $2.5 billion West Virginia opioid case

Major U.S. drug distributors McKesson Corp, AmerisourceBergen Corp and Cardinal Health Inc are not responsible for fueling an opioid epidemic in a part of West Virginia, a federal judge ruled on Monday. U.S. District Judge David Faber rejected efforts by the city of Huntington and Cabell County to force the country's three largest pharmaceutical distributors to pay $2.5 billion to address a drug crisis prompted by a flood of addictive pills in their region.

On July 4, Biden says freedoms under assault; urges 'principled patriotism'

Celebrating U.S. Independence Day, President Joe Biden on Monday said freedoms in America were under assault and urged citizens to engage in "principled patriotism" while the country faced economic challenges and national divisions. "From the deepest depths of our worst crises, we've always risen to our higher heights," Biden said in remarks at the White House. "We've been tested before, just as we're being tested today, but we've never failed because we have never walked away from the core beliefs and promises that define this nation."

U.S. seeks 250,000 mentors, tutors to address pandemic learning loss

The Biden administration on Tuesday will launch a new effort to recruit 250,000 mentors and tutors to help students who have fallen back in their learning during the coronavirus pandemic, the White House said. The program, which will be led by AmeriCorps and the Department of Education along with other service organizations, will seek to get adults to fill the roles over the next three years.

(With inputs from agencies.)