US Domestic News Roundup: California police arrest two suspected of fatally shooting 6-year old; Clock is ticking for Republicans on infrastructure, Biden officials say and more

Along the way, Major League Baseball stadiums are slated to return to full capacity, and the largest state economy, California, on June 15 will shed its final COVID-era restrictions and give bars, restaurants and other businesses a green light on the road to normal. U.S. Justice Dept says it will no longer seize reporters' records in leak investigations The Department of Justice said on Saturday that it would no longer seek source information from reporters in leak investigations after recent revelations that former President Donald Trump's administration had secretly obtained phone and email records from a number of journalists.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

California police arrest two suspected of fatally shooting 6-year old

Authorities in California said they had arrested two people expected to be charged with murder over the death of six-year-old Aiden Leos, whose shooting in a suspected road rage incident on the way to school had caused an outpouring of public grief. Leos was shot dead in his mother's car in May on a state highway. A website https://www.aiden-reward.com had sought donations for Aiden's family and offered a $500,000 reward for any information that led to the arrest of the shooter.

Clock is ticking for Republicans on infrastructure, Biden officials say

Democrats will start the process on Wednesday of preparing an infrastructure bill for a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives, with or without Republican support, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told CNN on Sunday morning. "The president still has hope, Joe Manchin still has hope” for crafting a bipartisan infrastructure bill with Republicans, Granholm said, referring to the Democratic West Virginia senator who is seen as a key swing vote.

From lapsing job benefits to full stadiums, June could be U.S. recovery's pivot

Fourteen months after the pandemic triggered a national emergency, the final chapter of the U.S. economic recovery may begin this month, with rapid changes starting with the end of enhanced unemployment benefits in half the states and ending in the fall's expected reopening of schools and universities. Along the way, Major League Baseball stadiums are slated to return to full capacity, and the largest state economy, California, on June 15 will shed its final COVID-era restrictions and give bars, restaurants and other businesses a green light on the road to normal.

U.S. Justice Dept says it will no longer seize reporters' records in leak investigations

The Department of Justice said on Saturday that it would no longer seek source information from reporters in leak investigations after recent revelations that former President Donald Trump's administration had secretly obtained phone and email records from a number of journalists. CNN and the Washington Post have said the Trump administration had secretly tried to obtain the phone records of some of their reporters over work they did in 2017.

Harris to meet Guatemalan leader, steps to tackle human trafficking, graft expected

The Biden administration is expected to announce steps to combat human trafficking, smuggling and corruption in Guatemala on Monday as U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris visits the Central American nation for talks with President Alejandro Giammattei. Harris is expected to meet Giammattei at 10.35 am ET and to hold a news conference at 12.35 pm ET. She will also meet civil society leaders and entrepreneurs and then fly on to Mexico.

J&J vaccine drive stalls out in U.S after safety pause

Safety concerns about Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine along with overall flagging demand for vaccinations have slowed its U.S. rollout to a crawl, leaving close to half of the 21 million doses produced for the United States sitting unused.

J&J’s vaccine was supposed to be an important tool for reaching rural areas and vaccine hesitant Americans because it requires only one shot and has less stringent storage requirements than the two-dose vaccines from Pfizer Inc/BioNTech SE and Moderna Inc.

In rare public outing, Trump denounces Fauci, China; dangles 2024 prospects

Former President Donald Trump on Saturday sharply attacked U.S. infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, demanded reparations from China and denounced an investigation into his finances in a speech in North Carolina. Speaking in Greenville, North Carolina, at the state's Republican Party convention, Trump joined a chorus of Republican politicians who are criticizing Fauci for asking Americans to wear masks to guard against the virus and who at times has been skeptical of a theory that the virus escaped from a laboratory in Wuhan, China.

Manchin to oppose voting rights bill pushed by U.S. Senate colleagues

West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, a crucial swing vote in the U.S. Senate, announced on Sunday he intends to oppose a sweeping voting rights bill backed by the majority of his fellow Democrats that would expand access to voting across the United States. Speaking on "Fox News Sunday," Manchin said the bill, known as the For the People Act, "is the wrong piece of legislation to bring our country together and unite our country, and I'm not supporting that because I think it will divide us further."

U.S. federal judge overturns California's ban on assault weapons

A U.S. federal judge overturned California's 32-year-old ban on assault weapons on Friday, describing it as a "failed experiment" and prompting scathing criticism from the state's governor and attorney general. California has prohibited the sale of assault weapons since 1989. The ban was challenged in a 2019 lawsuit against California's attorney general by plaintiffs including James Miller, a state resident, and the San Diego County Gun Owners, a political action committee.

No "Biden bounce" to U.S. image in France, Germany, poll says

The United States' reputation as the leading global power has suffered in France and Germany because of Washington's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic that has killed nearly 600,000 Americans, a poll showed on Monday. On the eve of President Joe Biden's trip to Europe, the survey by the German Marshall Fund and the Bertelsmann Foundation said he had not won back the standing of the United States as it was before COVID-19 struck. China's reputation had risen slightly.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)