Reuters US Domestic News Summary

U.S. makes deal for 100 million doses of coronavirus vaccine, deaths expected to rise Two major drug companies will supply the U.S. government with 100 million doses of an experimental coronavirus vaccine, the Trump administration said on Friday, as the nation's top health agency predicted that fatalities would rise in the coming weeks.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. As Democrat Biden's running mate search nears end, contenders jockey for position

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is expected to interview the finalists to be his running mate in the coming days, according to a person familiar with the process, as allies of the top contenders redoubled their efforts to push Biden toward their favored choice. The announcement is not likely to come next week, according to two other people familiar with the matter. Biden and his vice presidential selection will formally accept the party's nomination at the Democrats' national convention, scheduled for Aug. 17-20, and he is expected to announce his pick before it begins. Congressional Democrats, White House set for Saturday talks on coronavirus bill

The top Democrats in Congress were to meet Saturday with two top Trump aides to try to reach a deal to pump more money into the U.S. economy to ease the coronavirus' heavy toll, after an essential lifeline for millions of unemployed Americans expired. Congress for the past several months has been unable to reach an accord for a next round of coronavirus relief, in a pandemic that has killed more than 150,000 Americans and brought on the sharpest economic collapse since the Great Depression. U.S. coronavirus deaths rise by 1,453, biggest increase since May 27: Reuters tally

U.S. deaths from the novel coronavirus rose by at least 1,453 on Friday, the biggest one-day increase since May 27, to reach a total of 153,882, according to a Reuters tally. U.S. cases rose by at least 66,986 to a total of 4.58 million with some local governments yet to report. Boston Marathon bomber wins death penalty appeal

A federal appeals court on Friday overturned Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's death penalty sentence for helping carry out the 2013 attack, which killed three people and wounded more than 260 others. The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston upheld much of Tsarnaev's conviction but ordered a lower-court judge to hold a new trial strictly over what penalty Tsarnaev should receive for the death-penalty-eligible crimes he was convicted of. U.S. makes deal for 100 million doses of coronavirus vaccine, deaths expected to rise

Two major drug companies will supply the U.S. government with 100 million doses of an experimental coronavirus vaccine, the Trump administration said on Friday, as the nation's top health agency predicted that fatalities would rise in the coming weeks. The agreement calls for the U.S. government to pay French drug maker Sanofi and British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline up to $2.1 billion to supply it with enough vaccines for 50 million people, with the option to buy another 500 million doses. Hurricane Isaias strengthens slightly as it bears down on Florida

Hurricane Isaias strengthened slightly as it tore past the Bahamas on Saturday, bearing down on Florida and expected to approach the southeast of the state later in the day before traveling up the eastern U.S. seaboard. Isaias was carrying top sustained winds of 85 mph (135 kph) and was located about 115 (185 km) south-southeast of the Bahamas capital Nassau at 2 a.m. (0600 GMT), heading northwest, the National Hurricane Center said. U.S. Supreme Court declines to block Trump border wall construction

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday declined a request from two groups seeking to prevent construction of President Donald Trump's promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border that is being funded by $2.5 billion approved by Congress for the Pentagon. The court in a brief order rejected on a 5-4 vote the request by the groups, the Sierra Club and Southern Border Communities Coalition. The vote was on ideological lines, with five conservatives in the majority and four liberals in dissent. NASA astronauts riding SpaceX capsule poised for weekend return, weather permitting

The two NASA astronauts who rode to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX's new Crew Drago are due to return on Sunday after a nearly four-month voyage that marked NASA's first crewed mission from home soil in nine years. U.S. astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, who launched to the space station in May, are expected to board Crew Dragon around 5:30 p.m. ET and splash down at one of seven landing sites in the Gulf of Mexico or Atlantic Ocean at about 2:48 p.m. ET on Sunday. NASA and SpaceX are monitoring the path of Hurricane Isaias, a category 1 cyclone approaching Florida's east coast that could force officials to postpone the homecoming into next week. U.S. records over 25,000 coronavirus deaths in July

U.S. coronavirus deaths rose by over 25,000 in July and cases doubled in 19 states during the month, according to a Reuters tally, dealing a crushing blow to hopes of quickly reopening the economy. The United States recorded 1.87 million new cases in July, bringing total infections to 4.5 million, for an increase of 69%. Deaths in July rose 20% to nearly 154,000 total. Fauci resists Republican effort to turn testimony against protesters

Top U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci on Friday resisted efforts by a staunch ally of President Donald Trump to turn his testimony about controlling the coronavirus pandemic into criticism of protests against racial injustice. Fauci clashed with Representative Jim Jordan at a hearing of the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on the Coronavirus, after the Ohio Republican demanded Fauci's opinion about whether protests should be curbed or eliminated to control the pandemic.