Reuters US Domestic News Summary

George Floyd hailed as 'cornerstone of a movement' at funeral, family calls for justiceGeorge Floyd, a black man whose death under the knee of a white police officer roused worldwide protests against racial injustice, was memorialized at his funeral on Wednesday as "an ordinary brother" transformed by fate into the "cornerstone of a movement." During a four-hour service broadcast live on every major U.S. television network from a church in Floyd's boyhood home of Houston, family members, clergy and politicians exhorted Americans to turn grief and outrage at his death into a moment of reckoning for the nation.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Exclusive: Canada, U.S. set to extend border closure to end-July - sources

Canada and the United States are set to extend a ban on non-essential travel to late July as both countries seek to control the spread of the coronavirus, according to three sources familiar with the matter. Washington and Ottawa introduced month-long restrictions in March and renewed them in April and May. The ban, currently due to expire on June 21, does not affect trade. George Floyd hailed as 'cornerstone of a movement' at funeral, family calls for justice

George Floyd, a black man whose death under the knee of a white police officer roused worldwide protests against racial injustice, was memorialized at his funeral on Wednesday as "an ordinary brother" transformed by fate into the "cornerstone of a movement." During a four-hour service broadcast live on every major U.S. television network from a church in Floyd's boyhood home of Houston, family members, clergy and politicians exhorted Americans to turn grief and outrage at his death into a moment of reckoning for the nation. D.C. National Guard responding to protests test positive for coronavirus

Some Washington D.C. National Guard troops have tested positive for the coronavirus after being deployed to the city to respond to protests over the death of an African-American man in police custody, the military said on Tuesday. About 1,300 D.C. National Guard troops were sent to the capital to back law enforcement during demonstrations that erupted over the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who died in Minneapolis police custody after being pinned beneath a white officer's knee for nearly nine minutes. Long lines, voting machine problems fuel probes in U.S. state of Georgia

Voters encountered long lines and problems with voting machines on Tuesday during a chaotic day of in-person balloting in Georgia, the latest state to struggle to conduct elections amid the health worries of the coronavirus pandemic. State Republicans and Democrats blamed each other for the problems, and Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said his office would investigate issues in at least two counties that are Democratic strongholds in an effort to resolve them before the November election. Half of Californians live in areas with worrying resurgence of coronavirus

Nearly half of all Californians live in areas where coronavirus infections and hospitalizations are rising quickly enough to put their counties on a watch list for potential reinstatement of shutdowns, a Reuters analysis of state data show. More than 18 million of the most populous U.S. state's 39 million residents live in counties where rates of increase have put them on a watch list that may eventually require them to roll back reopening efforts, the Reuters analysis shows. Overall, there were 133,489 cases in California by Tuesday, and nearly 4,700 deaths. Trump administration ends ban on killing Alaska bear cubs, wolf pups

The Trump administration on Tuesday overturned an Obama-era rule that barred hunters in Alaska national preserves from baiting bear traps or killing denning bear cubs and wolf pups or other practices that have been condemned by environmental and wildlife protection groups.Under the new National Park Service rule, effective July 9, hunting on natural preserves in Alaska will be controlled by the state, which allows baiting of brown and black bears; hunting of denning black bears with artificial light, killing of denning wolves and coyotes, hunting of swimming caribou and hunting of caribou from motorboats. The Obama administration had banned all those practices in National Parks. U.S. Navy to bar Confederate flags from ships, aircraft, bases

The U.S. Navy is working to ban the Confederate battle flag from all public spaces on Navy installations, ships and aircraft, the service said on Tuesday, as the military and the country as a whole grapple with questions about racial inequality. The Navy made the move amid protests across the United States and other countries sparked by the May 25 death of George Floyd, an Africa-American man who died after a white policeman knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Washington, D.C. approves police reforms after days of protests against racism

The district council for Washington, D.C. on Tuesday approved a raft of police reforms after days of protests against police brutality and racism in the U.S. capital and nationwide, sparked by the death of African-American George Floyd in police custody. The emergency legislation, approved by a unanimous vote, comes as a number of cities rethink approaches to policing but falls short of calls by some civil rights activists to defund city police departments. New York City police officer who shoved protester charged with assault

A New York City police officer who was recorded on video shoving a woman to the ground during a protest against police brutality was criminally charged on Tuesday over the incident. Vincent D'Andraia, 28, who works in the 73rd precinct in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, was charged with misdemeanor assault, criminal mischief and menacing, as well as harassment, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said. Senate Republicans plan their own police reform effort

U.S. Senate Republicans said on Tuesday they were working on their own legislation to address police reform and racial injustice as the Democratic-led House of Representatives moved toward a vote this month on its sweeping reform bill. Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Senator Tim Scott, the party's only black member in the upper house of Congress, would lead the effort and that it was important that the Senate act.