Intense Week: US News Highlights – Trump's VP Hunt, Sandy Hook Settlement, & Biden's Normandy Speech

This summary covers key US domestic news: Trump's VP short list with a male majority, Sandy Hook families accepting Alex Jones' bankruptcy proposal, Biden's speech in Normandy urging Americans to resist authoritarianism, Hunter Biden's legal troubles, Trump ally Steve Bannon's prison sentence, and updates on COVID vaccines and climate policy.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

As Trump narrows VP search, his short list is nearly all men

When the topic of Donald Trump's potential running mate arose at a Manhattan fundraiser last week, the Republican presidential candidate gave high marks to contenders including North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum and U.S. Senator Tim Scott. Some of the wealthy donors said Trump should select former primary rival Nikki Haley as his No. 2. Ties between the two had soured over her having challenged him, but she had served as his loyal U.N. ambassador for two years while he was president.

Sandy Hook families agree to Alex Jones' bankruptcy liquidation

Families of the Sandy Hook massacre victims claimed victory in Alex Jones' bankruptcy case on Friday, accepting the conspiracy theorist's proposal to sell his assets, including InfoWars, to partly pay legal judgments to them for his lies about the 2012 U.S. school shooting. Jones, who filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection 17 months ago, has given up trying to reach a bankruptcy deal that would reduce the $1.5 billion that he owes to the relatives of 20 students and six staff members killed in the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

Biden asks Americans to recommit to democracy in Normandy cliff speech

Atop the cliff that U.S. Army Rangers scaled 80 years ago on D-Day, President Joe Biden on Friday compared the threats posed by Nazi Germany to those facing the world today by dictators and authoritarianism, and urged Americans to resist isolationism. Biden's speech in Normandy, his second in as many days, aimed at strengthening support for Ukraine, which is locked in a war with Russia and its President Vladimir Putin. Biden said the Army Rangers who fought that day would want Americans to defend freedom.

Hunter Biden's daughter testifies at his criminal gun trial

Hunter Biden's daughter testified in her father's defense on Friday that he seemed to respond well to drug treatment in the weeks before he bought a gun that prosecutors say he obtained illegally by failing to disclose his addiction. Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden's son, has pleaded not guilty in federal court to felony charges that include lying about his addiction when he applied for the Colt Cobra revolver in 2018 and illegally possessing the weapon for 11 days.

Trump ally Bannon ordered to report to prison for defying Jan. 6 probe

Steve Bannon, a former top adviser to Donald Trump, must report to prison by July 1 to serve a four-month sentence for contempt of Congress, a federal judge said on Thursday. The decision means Bannon, a right-wing media firebrand who maintains influence in Trump's orbit, will likely be behind bars for a critical stretch of the U.S. presidential campaign as former President Trump faces Democratic President Joe Biden in the Nov. 5 election.

COVID shots should target JN.1 variant in fall 2024 campaign, US FDA says

The U.S. health regulator on Friday advised COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers that new shots for the fall 2024 campaign should target the JN.1 variant that was dominant earlier this year. The Food and Drug Administration's advisory is in line with European and World Health Organization recommendations and comes after the agency's advisers on Wednesday overwhelmingly backed the targeting of the older JN.1 variant over the newer KP.2 strain.

Trump rakes in $12 million at tech fundraiser in liberal San Francisco

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump raised $12 million on Thursday, two sources said, at an event hosted by two tech venture capitalists in San Francisco that drew Silicon Valley investors turned off by the Biden administration's policies. Venture capitalists David Sacks and Chamath Palihapitiya, as well as Sacks' wife Jacqueline, held the reception and dinner with Trump at the Sacks' swanky mansion in the Pacific Heights neighborhood, according to an invitation seen by Reuters.

US House committee grills Carney, Schapiro in push against climate coalitions

A U.S. lawmakers' committee conducted interviews with two Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) leaders, former central bank governor Mark Carney and former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Schapiro, in an escalation of their push against global coalitions to tackle climate change. The House of Representatives' judiciary committee, which is controlled by Republicans led by its chairman Jim Jordan, set up the interviews earlier this year out of concern that GFANZ "appears to facilitate collusion that may violate U.S. antitrust law," according to letters to GFANZ staff reviewed by Reuters and people familiar with the matter.

Pro-Palestinian protesters to surround White House; fencing put up

Pro-Palestinian activists demanding an end to the war in Gaza and to American support for Israel plan to surround the White House during a weekend protest, prompting additional security measures, including anti-scale fencing. Advocacy and activist groups like CODEPINK and the Council on American Islamic Relations said on Friday that demonstrations were planned on Saturday, marking eight months of Israel's war in Gaza that has killed tens of thousands while causing a humanitarian crisis with widespread hunger and destruction.

US Supreme Court justices disclose Bali hotel stay, Beyoncé tickets, book deals

U.S. Supreme Court justices reported receiving gifts including a stay in a Bali hotel and tickets to a Beyoncé concert, as well as nearly $1.6 million in book advances and royalties in annual financial disclosure forms for 2023 released on Friday. Conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, who has come under criticism for failing to disclose gifts from businessman and Republican donor Harlan Crow, revised his 2019 form to acknowledge he accepted "food and lodging" at a Bali hotel and at a California club.

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