Reuters US Domestic News Summary

The new policies, approved by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, call on church leaders to set up listening sessions with local Native leaders, incorporate tribal customs into sacred rites and improve access to Catholic universities and other educational opportunities for Native Americans, among other directives. Biden, Obama headline $28 million Los Angeles fundraiser with George Clooney, Julia Roberts President Joe Biden will attend a glitzy fundraiser in Los Angeles on Saturday with top Hollywood celebrities and former President Barack Obama that has raised $28 million, amid Democratic anxiety over opponent Donald Trump's growing fundraising clout.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

US Supreme Court rejects federal ban on gun 'bump stocks'

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday declared unlawful a federal ban on "bump stock" devices that enable semiautomatic weapons to fire rapidly like machine guns, rejecting yet another firearms restriction - this time one enacted under Republican former President Donald Trump. The justices, in a 6-3 ruling authored by conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, upheld a lower court's decision siding with Michael Cargill, a gun shop owner and gun rights advocate from Austin, Texas, who challenged the ban by claiming that a U.S. agency improperly interpreted a federal law banning machine guns as extending to bump stocks. The conservative justices were in the majority, with the liberal justices dissenting.

Trump to visit Detroit church as part of Black voter push

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump will venture to Detroit on Saturday to attend a roundtable discussion at a Black church, the latest in an effort to peel away Black voters from President Joe Biden ahead of November's election. Trump's planned visit to a church nestled in the heart of Detroit's west side has received fierce pushback from local Democrats and the Biden campaign who argued Trump did little as president to improve Black communities nationwide.

US VP announces $1.5 billion for aid for Ukraine at peace summit in Switzerland

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris announced more than $1.5 billion in aid in part for Ukraine's energy sector and its humanitarian situation as a result of Russia's 27-month invasion of Ukraine. The announcement was made as Harris attended a Ukraine peace summit in Lucerne, Switzerland, where she was to meet Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and address the summit's plenary session.

Alex Jones' assets to be liquidated as his company exits bankruptcy

A U.S. bankruptcy judge on Friday ordered a court-supervised liquidation of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' personal assets, but he dismissed the bankruptcy of Jones' company Free Speech Systems without ordering it to be liquidated. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez appointed a Chapter 7 trustee to sell Jones' assets, including his ownership stake in Free Speech Systems, the parent company of his Infowars website. Proceeds would go to pay Jones' creditors, relatives of 20 students and six staff members killed in the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

US Catholic bishops apologize to Native Americans for abuses, promise new outreach

U.S. Catholic bishops offered an apology to Native Americans on Friday for the church's role in inflicting trauma on their communities and adopted new guidelines for ministering to indigenous Catholics. The new policies, approved by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, call on church leaders to set up listening sessions with local Native leaders, incorporate tribal customs into sacred rites and improve access to Catholic universities and other educational opportunities for Native Americans, among other directives.

Biden, Obama headline $28 million Los Angeles fundraiser with George Clooney, Julia Roberts

President Joe Biden will attend a glitzy fundraiser in Los Angeles on Saturday with top Hollywood celebrities and former President Barack Obama that has raised $28 million, amid Democratic anxiety over opponent Donald Trump's growing fundraising clout. Late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel will interview Biden and Obama and Hollywood celebrities George Clooney and Julia Roberts are guests, in the latest star-studded event Biden's campaign hopes shows strength and momentum despite Biden's low approval ratings and concerns about his age.

Ex-US SEC head William Donaldson dies at 93

William Donaldson, former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman and co-founder of Wall Street investment bank Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette has died, Yale University's School of Management said on Friday. Donaldson, who was also the founding dean of Yale's School of Management, died on Wednesday, according to the university.

Biden administration loses bid to revive legal protections for LGBTQ students

A U.S. appeals court on Friday rejected a bid by President Joe Biden's administration to revive its directive that schools allow transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms and to join sports teams that align with their gender, which has been blocked in 20 Republican-led states. A panel of the Cincinnati, Ohio-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a 2-1 ruling agreed with the states that the 2021 U.S. Department of Education guidance improperly imposed new legal duties on public schools that do not exist in federal law.

California schools hold graduation ceremonies without disruption over Gaza war

The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and other institutions in the state conducted graduation ceremonies on Friday without the disruption of protests over Israel's war on Gaza, with proceedings largely undisturbed. The United States, Israel's key ally, has seen months of pro-Palestinian protests ranging from marches in Washington and vigils near the White House to the blocking of bridges and roads near train stations and airports in multiple cities, along with encampments on many college campuses.

Hunter Biden agrees to drop lawsuit against Rudy Giuliani, court records show

U.S. President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, agreed to drop a lawsuit against Rudy Giuliani and Giuliani's former lawyer Robert Costello in which he accused the pair of violating his privacy over data allegedly taken from his laptop, court records showed on Thursday. Hunter Biden had accused Giuliani, who has served as a personal lawyer for former President Donald Trump, and Costello of being responsible for the "total annihilation" of his digital privacy in the lawsuit filed in September last year.

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