US Domestic News Roundup: Arizona mining fight pits economy; 3rd U.S. multiple shooting in one-day ad more

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Doctors say clot treatment advice key to U.S. resuming J&J COVID vaccines

Resuming the use of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine in the United States will require clear guidelines for the medical community on how to best treat patients that develop a rare type of blood clot, as well as alerting vaccine recipients to be aware of the telltale symptoms, according to heart doctors and other medical experts. U.S. health regulators recommended last week that use of the J&J vaccine be paused after six cases of rare brain blood clots, accompanied by low platelet levels, were reported in women following vaccination, out of some 7 million people who have received the shot in the United States. A panel of expert advisors to U.S. health agencies will meet later this week to determine whether the pause should continue, with a decision expected as early as Friday.

Both sides to make closing arguments in Derek Chauvin murder trial

Jurors will hear closing arguments on Monday before they begin deliberating on whether the way former Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin knelt on the neck of a dying George Floyd in last year's arrest was murder. Prosecutors have told the jury they are weighing the guilt of only one man, but their verdict will nonetheless be widely seen as a reckoning in the way the United States polices Black people.

After criticism, Biden says he will raise U.S. cap on refugee admissions

President Joe Biden said on Saturday he will raise the cap on the number of refugees admitted this year to the United States, a day after he drew criticism from Democratic lawmakers for agreeing to keep the historically low figure in place. Biden signed an order on Friday extending a 15,000 refugee admissions cap issued by his predecessor Donald Trump through the end of September. In signing the order, Biden shelved a plan announced in February to increase the cap to 62,500.

NASA scores Wright Brothers moment with first helicopter flight on Mars

NASA's miniature robot helicopter Ingenuity performed a successful takeoff and landing on Mars early on Monday, achieving the first powered, controlled flight by an aircraft over the surface of another planet, the U.S. space agency said. The twin-rotor whirligig's debut on the Red Planet marked a 21st-century Wright Brothers moment for NASA, which said success could pave the way for new modes of exploration on Mars and other destinations in the solar system, such as Venus and Saturn's moon Titan.

Arizona mining fight pits economy, EVs against conservation, culture

Early last year, Darrin Lewis paid $800,000 for a hardware store in a tiny Arizona town where mining giant Rio Tinto Plc hopes to build one of the world's largest underground copper mines. Rio buys materials from Lewis's Superior Hardware & Lumber for its Resolution mine site, accounting for a third of the store's sales and helping to keep it afloat during the coronavirus pandemic.

Analysis-Guatemala defies Washington, pushing anti-graft judge from top court

Guatemala has set a collision course with Washington over the removal of the most prominent graft-fighting judge from the Central American nation's highest court, despite her having the outspoken support of the Biden administration. Lawmakers invited Constitutional Court President Gloria Porras to an investiture ceremony in Congress last week after she was re-elected to another five-year term on the bench - only to refuse to swear her in.

Five people shot in Louisiana incident; 3rd U.S. multiple shooting in one day

Five people were hospitalized after being shot and injured in Shreveport, Louisiana, CBS-affiliated television station KSLA reported late on Sunday, the third multiple shooting reported in the United States with 24 hours. In a briefing to local news outlets, police said they were in the first stages of investigating the incident, without confirming the number of people admitted to hospital nor their condition.

Police in Texas hunting former deputy sheriff after triple homicide

Police in Austin, Texas, were searching on Sunday for a former deputy sheriff wanted in connection with the fatal shooting of three people at an apartment complex earlier in the day. The slayings, which followed a spate of mass shootings in the United States, drew a large emergency response, as officers raced to the neighborhood and locked down the surrounding area, which includes a popular shopping complex.

U.S. officials pledge Biden will raise cap on refugees, but old goal unlikely

U.S. officials said Sunday that President Joe Biden is committed to raising the cap on refugee admissions this year, currently set at 15,000, but indicated it was unlikely he will go as high as the administration's initial goal of four times that much. Biden, a Democrat, signed an order on Friday limiting U.S. refugee admissions this year to the historically low 15,000 caps set under his predecessor Donald Trump, shelving a plan to raise it to 62,500, and drawing the ire of refugee advocates and some Democratic lawmakers.

J&J, others face California trial over claims they fueled opioid epidemic

Four drugmakers are set to face trial on Monday in a lawsuit by several large counties in California that are seeking more than $50 billion over claims the companies helped fuel an opioid epidemic by deceptively marketing addictive painkillers. The case against Johnson & Johnson, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, Endo International PLC, and AbbVie's Allergan unit is one of the thousands of lawsuits by states and local governments seeking to hold pharmaceutical companies responsible for the drug crisis.

(With inputs from agencies.)