US Domestic News Roundup: Biden says first shipments of baby formula flying in from Europe this weekend; Trump pays $110,000 for failing to comply with subpoena in civil probe -New York AG and more

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Oracle’s Ellison joined Nov 2020 call about contesting Trump's defeat

Larry Ellison, billionaire chairman and co-founder of Oracle Corp, participated shortly after the November 2020 U.S. presidential election in a phone call focused on strategies for contesting former President Donald Trump's defeat, according to an email revealed in a court document. The Nov. 14, 2020 phone call, first reported by the Washington Post, is the first known instance of a technology industry leader joining Trump allies to strategize about how to contest the election result.

Michigan pro-Trump state lawmaker sought access to voting machines

The top election official in this small Michigan town said she received an unusual call in March last year. A Republican state lawmaker who backed former President Donald Trump’s lie of a stolen 2020 election wanted access to voting machines. Daire Rendon, a vocal promoter of Trump’s baseless claims of widespread fraud in the November election, said in that call she wanted to conduct an audit and needed access to the vote tabulator the town uses to process ballots, the clerk, Sheryl Tussey, told Reuters.

At first funeral after Buffalo shooting, a 'God-given' man is mourned

Nearly a week after an avowed white supremist killed 10 Black people at a western New York supermarket, friends and family of Heyward Patterson gathered on Friday to mourn a "God-given" man who was considered family to many in the Buffalo neighborhood where he lived and died helping others. The private memorial service for Patterson, a community deacon, was the first funeral for one of the people killed in Saturday's attack. It took place at Lincoln Memorial United Methodist Church, less than a mile from the Tops Friendly Markets store where 13 people - 11 of them Black - were shot Saturday by the gunman firing a semi-automatic, assault-style rifle.

Biden says first shipments of baby formula flying in from Europe this weekend

The first shipments of infant formula from Europe to address a critical shortage in the United States should begin arriving this weekend, President Joe Biden said on Friday amid criticism of his administration's handling of the issue. Biden said on Twitter the initial military cargo plane flights under "Operation Fly Formula" meant that "up to 1.5 million bottles of safe Nestlé infant formula will be coming to U.S. shelves as soon as possible."

COVID restrictions for migrants at U.S. border cannot end yet, judge rules

U.S. authorities were blocked by a federal judge on Friday from lifting COVID-19 restrictions that empower agents at the U.S.-Mexico border to turn back migrants without giving them a chance to seek asylum. The nationwide injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Robert Summerhays in Louisiana means the restrictions, which were set to end on May 23, will remain in place across the border as the litigation proceeds, unless a higher court overturns the ruling. The Department of Justice (DOJ) said it intends to appeal.

Trump pays $110,000 for failing to comply with subpoena in civil probe -New York AG

Former U.S. President Donald Trump has paid a $110,000 fine for his failure to respond to a subpoena in a civil investigation into his business practices, a spokesperson for the New York attorney general said on Friday. The payment of the fine was one of three steps Trump needed to take for a judge to lift a contempt of court order issued last month for his lack of cooperation with Letitia James' probe into whether the Trump Organization gave banks and tax authorities misleading financial information.

Shooting in Chicago's downtown leaves at least two dead

Chicago police arrested a suspect in a fatal shooting that escalated from a fight outside a fast food restaurant and spilled on to a nearby train line, authorities and local media said on Friday. At least two people died and 10 were wounded after gunfire erupted on Thursday night outside a McDonald's near the city's Magnificent Mile shopping section, authorities said. A gun was recovered at the crime scene, according to Chicago police spokesperson Tom Ahern.

Giuliani meets with U.S. House Jan. 6 panel, CNN reports

Rudy Giuliani, who served as former U.S. President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, met for more than nine hours on Friday with the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, CNN reported, citing two sources. Giuliani, a former mayor of New York City, had previously refused to appear before the panel unless his testimony was videotaped, his attorney Robert Costello said earlier this month. The committee said at the time that Giuliani had agreed to a transcribed interview.

U.S. stops controlled burns nationwide after New Mexico disaster

The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) on Friday called a temporary nationwide halt to controlled burns meant to reduce fire risk after the agency accidentally started part of New Mexico's largest ever wildfire. The Hermits Peak Calf Canyon fire has burned over 300,000 acres (123,000 hectares), destroyed up to 1,500 properties and displaced tens of thousands of people, and is still out of control.

More U.S. monkeypox cases likely, risk to public is low -official says

Additional cases of monkeypox are likely to be detected in the United States but the risk to the general public is low at this time, a senior U.S. administration official said on Friday. The first case of monkeypox this year in the United States was confirmed on Wednesday by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. The infected man had recently traveled to Canada.

(With inputs from agencies.)