Axios

A state autopsy released on Thursday found that Andrew Brown Jr., a Black man shot by North Carolina sheriff's deputies in April, died of a gunshot to the back of his head, confirming the conclusion of an independent autopsy commissioned by the family, CNN reports.

Why it matters: The report, which lists "homicide" as the cause of death, comes less than a month after a North Carolina prosecutor concluded that the shooting was "justified."

A bipartisan group of 10 senators said Thursday they reached an agreement on an infrastructure spending framework they hope to sell to congressional leaders and the White House.

Why it matters: The announcement comes just days after negotiations officially broke down between President Biden and a group of Republicans led by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.).

Cyber threats are increasing at a rapid pace, FBI director Christopher Wray warned on Thursday.

Why it matters: Multiple federal agencies and U.S. businesses — including meat producers and oil pipelines — have been breached this year, raising alarm for the nation's cybersecurity.

Federal agencies no longer need to limit the number of employees allowed in workspaces, the Biden administration told agency heads Thursday.

Why it matters: "The guidance is likely to be closely watched in the private sector, as the federal government is the country’s largest employer, with roughly 2.1 million employees," the Washington Post writes.

Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) on Thursday praised the Biden administration's decision to purchase 500 million doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine to share with countries around the world, calling the decision the "right move."

The big picture: Their statements represent a rare moment of praise of Biden by Republicans.

Republican senators emerged from a series of closed-door, bipartisan talks Thursday boasting of reaching a "tentative" deal on infrastructure, yet their Democratic counterparts wouldn't go that far.

Why it matters: Members of the s0-called G20 group of 20 senators appear to be the last, best hope for a bipartisan agreement, but the split in where the talks stand highlights the ongoing gulf between the parties on roads, bridges and more.

Federal authorities this week announced they successfully traced and recovered most of the bitcoin that had been paid by Colonial Pipeline to a ransomware gang called DarkSide, following the May hack that shut off gas supplies to much of the East Coast.

Axios Re:Cap digs into the battle between law enforcement and crypto hackers, including how ransomware has become a global industry of its own, with Gurvais Grigg, a 23-year FBI veteran who now serves as public sector CTO at crypto firm Chainalysis.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ visit to Guatemala and Mexico ended with the promise to create groups to combat corruption in the Northern Triangle and to renew efforts against human trafficking and human smuggling organizations.

Details: The U.S. will send prosecutors to work with regional attorneys and to investigate and pursue cases with American links. The aim is to decrease migration in the long term by fostering better governance and accountability.

Maritime smuggling of people to the U.S. is on the rise toward California and Florida, with two recent capsized boats near San Diego and Key West showing the deadly consequences.

Why it matters: Experts stress that for several years toughened security has not decreased migration, just made adult migrants seek other, more dangerous paths.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and Attorney General Rob Bonta vowed to challenge a recent judicial decision overturning a longtime ban on assault weapons in the state.

Why it matters: The ruling overturned a more than 30-year-old ban on assault weapons. California has one of the lowest firearm mortality rates in the country, per the CDC, which Newsom and Bonta cited as proof the law worked.

The Senate voted 81-16 on Thursday to confirm Zahid Quraishi as the U.S. District Judge for the District of New Jersey.

Why it matters: The vote makes Quraishi, the son of immigrants from Pakistan, the first Senate-confirmed Muslim American to serve as a federal judge and President Biden's third judicial nominee to be approved by the chamber.

The U.S. Department of State condemned Nigeria's Twitter ban and its threat to arrest and prosecute Nigerians found using the app in a statement Thursday, saying the policy "has no place in a democracy."

Why it matters: The department requested that Nigeria's government respect its citizens’ right to freedom of expression and reverse the ban on the social media platform, which has been extremely popular in Africa's most populous nation.

Congress needs to move swiftly to respond to ransomware attacks, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said at an Axios virtual event on Thursday.

Why it matters: Cyberattacks have plagued critical companies recently, stopping a fifth of beef production in the United States and compromising a major oil pipeline, among others.

President Biden and U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson held a bilateral meeting ahead of the G-7 summit in Cornwall, England, marking the first time Biden has met in-person with a leader he once called a "physical and emotional clone" of former President Trump.

Driving the news: The two leaders signed a revitalized Atlantic Charter, modeled after the joint statement made by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and former President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941 to set out their goals for the world post-World War II.

Former United Auto Workers (UAW) President Gary Jones was sentenced Thursday to 28 months in federal prison and will be forced to repay thousands of dollars after he pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy in 2020 for plotting to steal $1.5 million in union dues, according to AP.

Why it matters: Jones' crimes, and other corruption cases within the union, have significantly hurt the UAW's credibility and its members’ confidence.

Pride Month is celebrated every June to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in New York City, considered the start of the modern LGBTQ civil rights movement. But generally overlooked is the Latino connection to LGBTQ history, which started 10 years earlier.

Why it matters: Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans played key roles in demonstrations around the country that started as early as 1959 and often resulted in clashes with police.

The United States' image around the world has sharply improved since President Biden took office after dipping during the Trump administration, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in 16 countries.

The big picture: The high marks come as Biden embarks on his first overseas trip as president. Though opinions of the U.S. have broadly increased internationally, people in allied countries did not express great confidence in the U.S. as an ally and were also concerned about its domestic politics.

Inflation here. Inflation there. Inflation everywhere.

Driving the news: Consumer prices rose 5% year-over-year, including a 0.06% bump between April and May, according to Consumer Price Index data released this morning. It's the biggest year-over-year gain since August 2008, and came in well above economist estimates.

About two-thirds of service-sector workers said they could not take leave, or took less leave than they wanted, when they experienced a major life event, according to a Harvard and UC San Francisco study released today. Within this group, 71% said the reason was they couldn’t afford to.

Why it matters: Part of President Biden’s American Families Plan provides 12 weeks of guaranteed paid family and sick leave to workers, marking the first time that a U.S. president has introduced a national-level paid leave program.

A group of Jewish Democrats in the House is publicly feuding with Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) after she tweeted about "unthinkable atrocities committed by the U.S., Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban," in reference to investigations by the International Criminal Court.

Why it matters: The clash threatens to reopen a fault line within the party that could cost Omar her seat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, writes Punchbowl News.

Infrastructure talks between the White House and Congress have entered a phase that's making climate advocates extremely nervous.

Why it matters: Environmental groups and even some Democratic lawmakers are increasingly vocal with their fears that the White House will jettison central components of President Biden's climate plan during the talks, which could cause the U.S. to fall short of its new emissions targets.

Besting China is one of the very few goals that Democrats and Republicans in Washington can agree on — as a new White House executive order and Senate passage of a new $200 billion bill, both targeting China's tech industry, show.

Yes, but: Where the Trump administration took an impulsive and haphazard approach to banning Chinese companies and products, President Biden is approaching the China rivalry in a more systematic and process-oriented way.

China's government announced late Wednesday that it had reached an agreement with U.S. commerce officials to press ahead with trade and investment ties.

Driving the news: Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and her Chinese counterpart Wang Wentao "agreed to promote the healthy development of pragmatic trade and investment cooperation and properly handle differences," according to a statement from China's government translated by the South China Morning Post.

The Biden administration will ship the first batch of 500 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines to 92 countries and the African Union from August, the White House announced Thursday morning.

Details: "200 million doses will be delivered by the end of this year and the remaining 300 million will be delivered in the first half of 2022," the White House said in a statement.

The Capitol Police union on Wednesday called on Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman to "stand aside" following this week's Senate report on the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Driving the news: The report found a failure to relay intelligence helped lead to the deadly Capitol riot. Capitol Police union chair Gus Papathanasiou said in a statement to news outlets, "As the Senate report found, our leadership failed us and we paid a horrible price."

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is under investigation for possible professional misconduct by the state's bar association for his attempts to have President Biden's election win overturned, AP first reported Wednesday.

Why it matters: Paxton is one of the most high-profile lawyers to face potential professional repercussions for using their role to try and help former President Trump in his efforts to have the election results changed, AP notes.

Myanmar's deposed elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other detained officials have been formally charged by the military junta, state media reported Thursday morning local time.

Details: "The Anti-Corruption Commission has inspected corruption cases against ex-state counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. She was found guilty of committing corruption using her rank," the military said, per Bloomberg, which notes she could face up to 15 years in prison for the offense.

The State Department on Wednesday imposed new sanctions on several Nicaraguan officials associated with President Daniel Ortega.

Driving the news: Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the sanctions in response to the arrests of several presidential candidates and other civil society and opposition leaders over the past week in Nicaragua, as the country prepares for elections in November.

The Senate on Wednesday passed legislation that will officially designate the Pulse nightclub a national memorial, nearly five years on from one of the deadliest mass shootings in modern American history.

Driving the news: The bill passed unanimously in the upper chamber following a request from Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) in observance of Saturday marking five years since a gunman opened fire in the Orlando gay nightclub, killing 49 people. Scott was governor of Florida at the time.

Former Republican Rep. Jim Renacci accused Ohio Gov. Mike Dewine (R) of being more in line with President Biden than former President Trump, as Renacci announced Wednesday he's challenging the governor in next year's primary.

What he's saying: Trump ally Renacci made the criticism in a new campaign ad attacking Dewine's handling of the pandemic, saying DeWine "defied Trump and was praised by Biden."

As President Biden departed Washington, he told reporters he was going to use his first foreign trip to make "clear to Putin and to China that Europe and the United States are tight and the G7 is gonna move."

Why it matters: The problem is his statements regarding the allies' shared objectives are not supported by the statements and actions of the allies themselves.

Senators representing West Virginia — one of the smallest, whitest and most pro-Trump states in the country — have been holding a Democratic-controlled Senate, House and White House from knocking out big agenda items.

What's happening: Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) failed to reach an infrastructure deal with President Biden. And Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) has consistently refused to support several of his party’s initiatives, such as voting rights legislation.

The staff shortfalls Americans are finding as they head to restaurants and summer vacation spots illustrate the risk for Democrats over whether the government's extra $300 per week in enhanced unemployment benefits is to blame.

Why it matters: Twenty-five states — all run by Republican governors — are eliminating some or all of the UI benefits. Some are even offering back-to-work bonuses to further encourage a return to work. Expect the results to become midterm fodder next year.