Reuters US Domestic News Summary

The House approved the measure, offered by Democratic Representatives Frank Pallone and Chris Pappas, as an amendment to the annual National Defense Authorization Act, by 244 to 179. Police seek Republican county clerk charged with election tampering in Colorado A county clerk who was indicted on felony charges of tampering with voting equipment and then lost a bid for the Republican nomination to Colorado's top election-management post has become a fugitive from justice, court records showed on Thursday.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

U.S. House backs measure that would restrict sale of F-16s to Turkey

The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday approved legislation that would create a new hurdle for President Joe Biden's plan to sell F-16 fighter jets to Turkey. The House approved the measure, offered by Democratic Representatives Frank Pallone and Chris Pappas, as an amendment to the annual National Defense Authorization Act, by 244 to 179.

Police seek Republican county clerk charged with election tampering in Colorado

A county clerk who was indicted on felony charges of tampering with voting equipment and then lost a bid for the Republican nomination to Colorado's top election-management post has become a fugitive from justice, court records showed on Thursday. In a written court order, Mesa County District Judge Matthew Barrett revoked a $25,000 cash bond for Tina Peters, who is the county's Republican elected clerk and recorder, and issued a warrant for her arrest.

State abortion bans prevent women from getting essential medication

Annie England Noblin, a 40-year-old resident of rural Missouri, had never had a problem filling her monthly prescription for methotrexate until this week. On Monday, Noblin's pharmacist said she could not give her the drug until she had confirmed with Noblin's doctor that the medication would not be used to induce an abortion.

U.S. House passes bill boosting Biden's record defense budget

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on Thursday paving the way for the defense budget to exceed $800 billion next year, authorizing $37 billion in spending on top of the record $773 billion proposed by President Joe Biden. The House passed its version of the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, which sets policy for the Pentagon, by a vote of 329-101. The Senate has yet to pass its version, but the Senate Armed Services Committee has already backed an even larger increase, $45 billion, over Biden's proposal.

Fewer U.S. police officers died in first half of 2022, report finds

Roughly 30% fewer police and other law enforcement officers in the United States have died in the line of duty so far in 2022 compared with 2021, attributed largely to a drop in COVID-19 deaths, a report released on Thursday found. The number of officers killed in "firearms related fatalities" rose slightly, from 28 to 33, according to the report by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

Ivana Trump, first wife of Donald Trump who helped build his empire, dies at 73

Ivana Trump, the first wife of former U.S. President Donald Trump and the mother of his three oldest children, who helped her husband build some of his signature buildings including Trump Tower, has died at age 73, Donald Trump said on Thursday. "I am very saddened to inform all of those that loved her, of which there are many, that Ivana Trump has passed away at her home in New York City," Trump said in a post on the social medial platform Truth Social.

Lawmakers, Biden, sports leagues press for new action on drone threats

Lawmakers and U.S. sports leagues on Thursday backed a bid by the White House for expanded powers from Congress to detect and disable threatening drones. Congress in 2018 expanded authority of the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security to disable or destroy threatening drones, which are formally known as unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). But the Biden administration says Congress needs to renew existing authority and expand its powers as the number of registered drones jumps. Those 2018 drone authorities are set to expire in October.

Texas sues to block federal guidance on abortions to save mother's life

Texas sued the federal government on Thursday over new guidance from the Biden administration directing hospitals to provide emergency abortions regardless of state bans on the procedure that came into effect in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's reversal of its landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the lawsuit argued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services was trying to "use federal law to transform every emergency room in the country into a walk-in abortion clinic."

Buffalo mass shooting suspect indicted on federal hate, firearms charges

The man accused of shooting dead 10 Black people at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, on May 14 has been indicted on 27 federal hate crimes and firearms offenses, the U.S. Justice Department announced on Thursday. The indictment returned by a federal grand jury tacks on an additional hate crime count against Payton Gendron, 19, in a criminal complaint filed last month. He is now charged with 14 hate crimes violations and 13 firearms offenses.

Man exonerated in Malcolm X's 1965 murder sues New York City

A man exonerated last November in the 1965 killing of civil rights leader Malcolm X has sued New York City after it admitted to have wrongly branded him a murderer. Muhammad Aziz, 84, is seeking $40 million for the two decades he spent in prison and more than 55 years of being wrongly blamed, saying it caused "immense and irreparable" damage to him and his family.