Reuters US Domestic News Summary

The decision by Kanawha County Circuit Judge Tera Salango clears the way for the state's lone abortion clinic to resume services, which it suspended out of fear of prosecution following the U.S. Supreme Court's June 24 ruling. Armed bystander credited with preventing more deaths in Indiana shooting The gunman who killed three people in a shopping mall near Indianapolis would likely have taken many move lives if not for the "heroic" actions of an armed bystander who shot the suspect dead and stopped the attack, police said on Monday.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Exclusive-Pentagon nears F-35 jet deal worth about $30 billion -sources

The U.S. Department of Defense is nearing an agreement with Lockheed Martin Corp for around 375 F-35 fighter jets over three years, three sources said on Monday, amid expectations of a price increase for the most common version of the jet due to lower quantities and inflation. The first F-35A cost $221 million when it came off the production line in 2007. Since then, production quantities and know-how have increased, helping the price of the stealthy fifth-generation fighter fall to $79 million as it gained buyers.

U.S. Blue Angels names first female pilot in squad's history

The U.S. Navy’s famed Blue Angels aerial demonstration team on Monday named the first female pilot in the squadron’s history, the organization said. Lieutenant Amanda Lee is one of six new core members selected for the team, founded 76 years ago, the Navy said. It said women from the Navy and Marine Corps have served with the Blue Angels for 55 years, but never before as a pilot.

Texas state police to conduct internal review of Uvalde shooting response

Texas state police will form an "internal committee" to review the response by state law enforcement to the May elementary school mass shooting in Uvalde, after a Texas legislators' probe blamed "systemic failures" and poor leadership, the state's Department of Public Safety (DPS) said on Monday. The report released on Sunday of the Texas House of Representatives committee investigation marked the most exhaustive attempt so far to determine why it took more than an hour for police and other officers to confront and kill the 18-year-old gunman at Robb Elementary School on May 24. Nineteen students and two teachers were killed in the massacre.

Two New York residents charged with funneling Chinese investor money to Trump campaign

Two New York state residents were charged with illegally using funds from Chinese and Singaporean investors to donate $600,000 to then-President Donald Trump's re-election campaign in 2017, U.S. prosecutors said on Monday. The scheme was part of an effort by Sherry Li and Lianbo Wang to showcase political connections as they sought funds to build a China-themed park in upstate New York, prosecutors said, adding that they raised $27 million in investment, but never completed the project.

U.S. successfully flight-tests Raytheon hypersonic weapon -Pentagon

The United States has successfully tested a Raytheon Technologies Corp air-breathing hypersonic weapon capable of speeds faster than five times the speed of sound, making it the third successful test of that class of weapon since 2013, the Pentagon said in a statement on Monday. The development program for the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) is being run by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA. Both Raytheon and Lockheed Martin Corp are competing for the ultimate contract award.

West Virginia judge blocks pre-Roe v. Wade abortion ban

A West Virginia judge on Monday blocked officials from enforcing a 19th-century ban on abortions after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that recognized the right of women nationally to terminate pregnancies. The decision by Kanawha County Circuit Judge Tera Salango clears the way for the state's lone abortion clinic to resume services, which it suspended out of fear of prosecution following the U.S. Supreme Court's June 24 ruling.

Armed bystander credited with preventing more deaths in Indiana shooting

The gunman who killed three people in a shopping mall near Indianapolis would likely have taken many move lives if not for the "heroic" actions of an armed bystander who shot the suspect dead and stopped the attack, police said on Monday. Elisjsha Dicken, 22, who was lawfully carrying a concealed firearm at the time, "engaged" the suspect on Sunday almost as soon he opened fire with a rifle in a food court at the Greenwood Park Mall in Greenwood, Indiana, authorities said. Police said they did not know the motive behind the rampage.

Rash of shark attacks prompt New York governor to ramp up beach surveillance

New York's governor on Monday ordered state agencies to step up surveillance off Long Island beaches following a string of five shark attacks in the last two weeks. The sudden rash of summer shark attacks, which have left Long Island beachgoers on edge, began on June 30 at Jones Beach and included two on Wednesday. None of the bites have proven fatal.

Claes Oldenburg, who turned the everyday into art, dies at 93

Swedish-born artist Claes Oldenburg, who turned everyday objects such as a clothespin, a baseball bat or a flashlight into giant sculptures of public art in the United States and around the world, died on Monday at age 93, the Paula Cooper Gallery said. Oldenburg came to prominence in New York City in the 1950s, forming part of the pop art movement that elevated the ordinary, and later worked in collaboration with his wife, Coosje van Bruggen, who died in 2009 at age 66.

Grand jury subpoenas U.S. lawmaker in Georgia election probe

A Georgia grand jury has subpoenaed U.S. Representative Jody Hice as Fulton County continues its criminal investigation into alleged wrongdoing over former President Donald Trump’s attempts to sway the state’s 2020 election results, documents showed. The special grand jury in Fulton County called on Hice, a Georgia Republican, to appear on Tuesday, according to court and congressional documents first reported on by Politico and the Associated Press earlier on Monday.