Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Bragg, 47, would become the first Black person to lead one of the country's most high-profile prosecutor's offices, which made headlines this week with a sweeping indictment against former U.S. President Donald Trump's namesake company and its longtime financial chief, Allen Weisselberg. 'What was the point?' Afghans rue decades of war as U.S. quits Bagram As American troops left their main military base in Afghanistan on Friday, marking a symbolic end to the longest war in U.S. history, locals living in the shadow of the base and in nearby Kabul were left ruing the past and bracing for what comes next.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Bragg looks likely to win Manhattan prosecutor race after rival concedes

Alvin Bragg, a former federal prosecutor and civil rights lawyer, looked likely to become the next Manhattan district attorney after his main rival for the Democratic nomination, Tali Farhadian Weinstein, conceded on Friday. Bragg, 47, would become the first Black person to lead one of the country's most high-profile prosecutor's offices, which made headlines this week with a sweeping indictment against former U.S. President Donald Trump's namesake company and its longtime financial chief, Allen Weisselberg.

'What was the point?' Afghans rue decades of war as U.S. quits Bagram

As American troops left their main military base in Afghanistan on Friday, marking a symbolic end to the longest war in U.S. history, locals living in the shadow of the base and in nearby Kabul were left ruing the past and bracing for what comes next. Violence has been raging throughout Afghanistan in the weeks since President Joe Biden announced troops would withdraw unconditionally by Sept. 11.

Trump hosts campaign-style rally in Florida as he aims to retain Republican spotlight

Former U.S. President Donald Trump will hold a rally on Saturday in Sarasota, Florida, his second campaign-style event of the summer as he seeks to retain his hold over the Republican Party and bolster allies ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. The rally, billed as a Fourth of July celebration featuring fireworks, is expected to draw several thousand people from across the state which Trump, a Republican, won by more than 3 percentage points in the 2020 presidential election.

Demolition of collapsed Miami condo could happen as soon as Sunday

The demolition of the remains of the partially collapsed condo complex near Miami Beach could happen as soon as Sunday, officials said, in an effort to tear down the unsafe structure before the possible arrival of Tropical Storm Elsa. Two more people were found dead on Saturday in the rubble of the 12-story Champlain Towers South in the community of Surfside, officials said at a news conference, bringing the total to 24 deceased and 124 missing or feared dead, as the search and rescue operations continued for more than a week.

Eleven arrested in armed militia group stand off with police near Boston

Eleven heavily armed, self-professed militia members were arrested near Boston Saturday, ending an overnight stand off that shut down a major U.S. Interstate at the start of the Independence holiday. The group, identified by multiple media outlets including WBZ Boston, a CBS affiliate, are members of the "Rise of the Moors", a group that does not recognize American laws, but professes to be peaceful.

Biden on Richardson's sprinting suspension: 'the rules are the rules'

U.S. President Joe Biden weighed in on the suspension of sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson over marijuana use, saying Saturday "the rules are the rules." The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) confirmed Richardson's suspension on Friday after the sprinter known for brightly-colored hair and record-breaking speed tested positive for cannabis during her 100 meter U.S. trials in June.

Progress on COVID and economy under Biden, but disunion haunts U.S. on its 245th birthday

Most U.S. adults are vaccinated but COVID-19 cases are rising. The economy is accelerating but inflation looms. Bipartisan cooperation has improved but political rancor is high. More than five months into Joe Biden's presidency, the United States has changed in multiple ways, with a healthier business outlook and a pandemic - at least in many parts of the country - increasingly under control.

U.S. administers nearly 330 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines - CDC

The United States has administered 329,970,551 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Saturday morning and distributed 383,067,560 doses, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Saturday. Those figures are up from the 328,809,470 vaccine doses the CDC said had gone into arms by July 2 out of 382,636,520 doses delivered.

Biden celebrates new citizens as U.S. launches naturalization effort

President Joe Biden celebrated new U.S. citizens at an event at the White House on Friday, the same day his administration rolled out a government-wide strategy to encourage more immigrants to become citizens. "It's dreams of immigrants like you that built America and continued to inject new energy, new vitality, new strength," Biden said in the East Room, thanking the 21 naturalized Americans for choosing the United States as their home.

Ghislaine Maxwell says Bill Cosby's freedom justifies dropping sex trafficking charges

Lawyers for Ghislaine Maxwell said the overturning of Bill Cosby's 2018 sexual assault conviction justifies throwing out sex trafficking and other charges stemming from her relationship with the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. Cosby, 83, was released from prison on Wednesday after Pennsylvania's Supreme Court said a prosecutor's 2005 agreement not to charge him with drugging and assaulting Temple University employee Andrea Constand meant the actor and comedian should not have been charged a decade later.