Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Tuesday's tabulation using the city's new ranked-choice voting system should include absentee ballots for the first time, though it is not clear how many of the approximately 125,000 ballots will have been tallied. U.S. Republican National Committee says its data not accessed in hack The U.S. Republican National Committee said on Tuesday an investigation by Microsoft had found that no RNC data had been accessed as a result of a hack of third-party provider Synnex Corp.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

From the air, drone footage of Salton Sea shows California drought impact

Drone footage taken at the Salton Sea, California's largest inland lake, shows the dramatic effects of the state's worst drought since 1977. Its receding shoreline has caused an ecological crisis as exposed silt is carried into surrounding areas.

Biden zeroes in on Delta variant as U.S. nears 160 million fully vaccinated against COVID-19

U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday encouraged Americans who have not yet been vaccinated against COVID-19 to get their shots to protect themselves from the widely-spreading, highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus. Biden told reporters the United States will reach a mark of 160 million Americans being fully vaccinated by the end of this week, but he warned against complacency as the Delta variant spreads among those who have not been inoculated.

Oath Keeper charged with conspiracy in U.S. Capitol attack

An Oath Keeper on Tuesday became the latest member of the right-wing group charged with conspiracy for his alleged role in the attack on the U.S. Capitol, as more than 535 people have now been arrested for joining in that deadly violence. The FBI said about 40 people, including members of the Oath Keepers, Proud Boys and Three Percenters, face conspiracy charges related to the Jan. 6 riot, when hundreds of supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol in an unsuccessful attempt to stop Congress from certifying his election defeat.

U.S. administers 331.2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines - CDC

The United States has administered 331,214,347 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Tuesday morning and distributed 383,068,840 doses, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Those figures are up from the 330,604,253 vaccine doses the CDC said had gone into arms by July 4 out of 383,068,740 doses delivered.

Promise vs practice: Police body-cam delays in Texas capital frustrate reformers

Advocates of police reform in Austin, Texas, cheered a year ago when the city agreed to release video from officers' body cameras within 60 days of incidents in which they used force that caused serious injuries. But since then, only a single body camera video has been released on time - in a non-fatal police shooting. Footage from three fatal police shootings was made public past the deadline. In at least 10 use-of-force incidents during Black Lives Matter protests last year, the department did not release any video.

Liability from Florida condo collapse: everyone will 'blame everybody else'

The collapse of a condominium tower near Miami will set off years of litigation as victims and their families look to find fault among the building's management as well as engineers, architects and others, according to legal experts. Disaster struck in Surfside, Florida, on June 24 as a major repair project was beginning, although the cause of one of the worst residential construction failures in the United States is likely to have many contributing factors stretching back years.

Eight more bodies found in Florida condo tower collapse after demolition

Search and rescue teams on Tuesday pulled the remains of eight more victims from the ruins of a Florida condominium tower as they were able to penetrate more of the disaster site after demolishing a fragile section that had remained standing. The new confirmed death toll of 36 means that 109 people who may have been inside the building when it crumbled are still considered missing. That number could change as police detectives work to confirm a list of residents.

Tropical Storm Elsa to become hurricane before reaching Florida Gulf Coast

Tropical Storm Elsa was expected to strengthen into a hurricane before making landfall on Florida's northern Gulf Coast, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Tuesday. The center of Elsa was about 155 miles (250 km) south-southwest of Tampa, Florida, and was moving north at around 9 miles per hour (15 km per hour), with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph (110 kph), the NHC said in a late afternoon advisory. A storm becomes a hurricane when maximum sustained winds reach 74 mph.

New results expected in New York City's Democratic mayoral race

Two weeks after the election to select the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor, city election officials are expected to release updated results on Tuesday, with Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams clinging to a slim lead. Tuesday's tabulation using the city's new ranked-choice voting system should include absentee ballots for the first time, though it is not clear how many of the approximately 125,000 ballots will have been tallied.

U.S. Republican National Committee says its data not accessed in hack

The U.S. Republican National Committee said on Tuesday an investigation by Microsoft had found that no RNC data had been accessed as a result of a hack of third-party provider Synnex Corp. "Over the weekend, we were informed that Synnex, a third party provider, had been breached," RNC Chief of Staff Richard Walters said in a statement. "Our team worked with Microsoft to conduct a review of our systems and after a thorough investigation, no RNC data was accessed," he said.