Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Mayor Byron Brown said the Public Protection Detail would receive training in freedom of speech and other rights and would "work with leaders and participants of future protests and demonstrations to ensure the safety and security of all people." Pelosi urges Congress to remove Confederate statues from U.S. CapitolU.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged Congress on Wednesday to immediately take steps to remove from the U.S. Capitol 11 statues representing Confederate leaders and soldiers from the Civil War.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. U.S. coronavirus cases now over 2 million: Reuters tally

Total U.S. coronavirus cases surpassed 2 million on Wednesday, according to a Reuters tally, as health officials urge anyone who took part in massive protests for racial justice to get tested. Nationally, new infections are rising slightly after five weeks of declines, according to a Reuters analysis. Part of the increase is due to more testing, which hit a record high on June 5 of 545,690 tests in a single day but has since fallen, according to the COVID-Tracking Project https://covidtracking.com. Protests 'to change the whole wide world' following Floyd's funeral

Protesters will take to the streets across the United States again on Wednesday one day after the funeral of George Floyd, whose death in police custody has ignited the biggest surge of anti-racism activism since the civil rights era of the 1960s. Hundreds of protesters in the west coast city of Seattle filled City Hall into early Wednesday calling for the mayor to resign and for police reforms. Buffalo bars riot unit from peaceful protests after injury to 75-year-old

The mayor of Buffalo, New York, on Wednesday ordered that a new police unit without military gear and trained in civil rights handle peaceful demonstrations after a riot unit was involved in the injury of a 75-year-old protester. Mayor Byron Brown said the Public Protection Detail would receive training in freedom of speech and other rights and would "work with leaders and participants of future protests and demonstrations to ensure the safety and security of all people." Pelosi urges Congress to remove Confederate statues from U.S. Capitol

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged Congress on Wednesday to immediately take steps to remove from the U.S. Capitol 11 statues representing Confederate leaders and soldiers from the Civil War. "Their statues pay homage to hate, not heritage. They must be removed," Pelosi, the country's top elected Democrat, said in a letter to leaders of a congressional committee in charge of managing the statues on display at the Capitol. Trump ex-adviser Bolton's book to come out June 23 over White House objections

A book by former White House national security adviser John Bolton will be published June 23 despite attempts by White House lawyers to block release of the volume describing his time as a top aide to President Donald Trump, Bolton's lawyer wrote on Wednesday. Bolton was abruptly fired by Trump last Sept. 10 amid disagreements over how to handle foreign policy challenges such as North Korea, Iran, Afghanistan and Russia. White House proposals on police reform being finalized, reduced immunity off table

The White House said on Wednesday it was putting the finishing touches on proposals to reform the police following George Floyd's killing while in police custody, but warned that reducing immunity for officers was a non-starter. Speaking at a White House briefing, press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said administration plans to address protester concerns about police brutality were reaching "final edits," adding she hoped the proposals could be made public in the "coming days." Retired judge calls effort to drop case against ex-Trump aide 'gross abuse' of power

A retired judge urged a federal court on Wednesday not to allow the Justice Department to dismiss its criminal case against President Donald Trump's former adviser Michael Flynn, citing evidence of a "gross abuse of prosecutorial power." The U.S. district judge hearing the case, Emmet Sullivan, tapped John Gleeson last month to serve as a "friend of the court," after the Justice Department abruptly asked the court to dismiss the criminal charge against Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general. After military opens door, Trump rejects removing names of Confederate leaders from U.S. bases

President Donald Trump ruled out renaming U.S. military bases that are named for Confederate leaders on Wednesday even as NASCAR banned the Confederate flag from its races and Democrats sought the removal from Capitol Hill of statues of people representing the pro-slavery South in the 1860s Civil War. With Americans more conscious about race issues in the wake of the death of African American George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody, Trump drew a line in favor of keeping the names of 10 military bases from Virginia to Texas that are named for Confederate military leaders. Disney eyes July reopen for California theme parks

Walt Disney Co plans to reopen the Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure park on July 17, pending approval from state and local authorities. The theme parks based in Anaheim, California have been shut since March 14 to help curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. White House works to move stalled airline contact tracing plan: sources

The White House wants a plan in place by Sept. 1 for airlines to collect contact tracing information from U.S.-bound international passengers, but will not immediately implement a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) proposal, three people briefed on the matter said on Wednesday. The Trump administration convened a high-level White House meeting on Tuesday that included Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, and other senior officials. The White House tasked a interagency working group with adopting an interim solution by June 30 and ahead of any potential coronavirus second wave.