Reuters US Domestic News Summary

The details, reported online in the New England Journal of Medicine, underscore the risk to farm workers in the ongoing outbreak among U.S. dairy cattle and the need to wear protective gear to avoid infection. US Rep. Cuellar hit with bribery charges tied to Azerbaijan, Mexican bank U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar and his wife were indicted for allegedly accepting close to $600,000 in bribes in two schemes meant to benefit an Azerbaijani state-owned energy company and an unnamed bank based in Mexico, court papers showed.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Fresh chaos, arrests on US college campuses as police flatten camp at UCLA

Police forcibly removed scores of defiant pro-Palestinian protesters at several colleges on Thursday, including taking down an encampment at UCLA in a jarring scene that underscored the heightened chaos that has erupted at universities this week. In the pre-dawn hours, helmeted police swarmed a tent city set up at the University of California in Los Angeles, using flash bangs and riot gear to push through lines of protesters who linked arms in a futile attempt to halt their advance.

Amid protests and police raids, US schools try to keep the peace at graduation

Ahead of the University of Michigan's commencement on Saturday, the school has trained staff volunteers in how to mitigate disruptions: a change from the usual duties of guiding guests around campus and showing them to their seats. Everyone facilitating the University of Illinois' commencement the following weekend will have undergone similar special training. At schools like the University of Southern California and Cal Poly Humboldt in Northern California, leaders have canceled or moved key events off campus altogether.

Biden vetoes bid to repeal US labor board rule on contract, franchise workers

President Joe Biden followed through on Friday on his vow to veto a Republican-backed measure that would have repealed a U.S. labor board rule treating companies as the employers of many of their contract and franchise workers and requiring them to bargain with those workers' unions. The proposal to repeal the National Labor Relations Board rule passed Congress narrowly and it is unlikely Republicans can muster the two-thirds majority to override the veto by Biden, a Democrat. A federal judge in March blocked the rule from taking effect, but that decision will likely be appealed.

Dairy worker bird flu case shows need for protective gear, US CDC study shows

The Texas dairy farm worker infected with H5N1 bird flu was not wearing respiratory or eye protection and had been exposed to cattle that appeared to have the same symptoms as those in a nearby farm with a confirmed outbreak of the virus, according to new details on the case released on Friday. The details, reported online in the New England Journal of Medicine, underscore the risk to farm workers in the ongoing outbreak among U.S. dairy cattle and the need to wear protective gear to avoid infection.

US Rep. Cuellar hit with bribery charges tied to Azerbaijan, Mexican bank

U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar and his wife were indicted for allegedly accepting close to $600,000 in bribes in two schemes meant to benefit an Azerbaijani state-owned energy company and an unnamed bank based in Mexico, court papers showed. The indictment, returned by a grand jury on Tuesday and unsealed on Friday, said the bribes were laundered through sham consulting contracts into shell companies owned by Imelda Cuellar, the congressman's wife, from December 2014 through at least November 2021.

US job gains fewest in six months as labor market cools

U.S. job growth slowed more than expected in April and the increase in annual wages fell below 4.0% for the first time in nearly three years, but it is probably too early to expect that the Federal Reserve will start cutting interest rates before September as the labor market remains fairly tight. The Labor Department's closely watched employment report on Friday also showed the unemployment rate rising to 3.9% from 3.8% in March amid increasing labor supply. Nonetheless, the jobless rate remained below 4% for the 27th straight month. Data this week showed job openings declining in March.

Democratic lawmakers tell Biden evidence shows Israel is restricting Gaza aid

Scores of lawmakers from U.S. President Joe Biden's Democratic Party told him on Friday that they believe there is sufficient evidence to show that Israel has violated U.S. law by restricting humanitarian aid flows into war-stricken Gaza. A letter to Biden signed by 86 House of Representatives Democrats said Israel's aid restrictions "call into question" its assurances that it was complying with a U.S. Foreign Assistance Act provision requiring recipients of U.S.-funded arms to uphold international humanitarian law and allow free flows of U.S. assistance.

Former Trump aide Hope Hicks testifies he told her to deny Stormy Daniels affair

Hope Hicks, a former top aide to Donald Trump, testified on Friday that he told her in the final days of the 2016 presidential election to deny that he had a sexual relationship with porn star Stormy Daniels. Hicks' testimony gave jurors an inside look at the campaign's damage-control efforts when Trump faced multiple accusations of unflattering sexual behavior in the waning weeks of his successful White House campaign.

Exclusive-Biden campaign rolls out new abortion ads aimed at Latino men

Joe Biden will ramp up spending this month as part of a new advertising push aimed partly at convincing Latino men that abortion rights are a vital issue that affects them, the U.S. president's 2024 campaign said on Friday. A television, radio and digital advertisement airing in both English and Spanish in competitive "battleground" states features Cesar Carreon, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who now works as a Las Vegas carpenter, mentioning his daughters and attacking Trump as "not tough" for taking away women's "freedom."

Exiled Chinese businessman's chief-of-staff pleads guilty in US to fraud

The chief of staff to exiled Chinese businessman Guo Wengui pleaded guilty on Friday to conspiring with him to carry out a massive scheme that defrauded thousands of investors out of more than $1 billion. Yvette Wang, 45, pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to conspiring to commit wire fraud and money laundering. Her plea came just three weeks before she was set to face trial alongside Guo.

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