Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Teenager in Wisconsin shootings charged with six criminal counts: complaint

Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old who was arrested in connection with shootings in Wisconsin that led to the death of two people and injury of another, has been charged with six criminal counts, according to the criminal complaint disclosed on Thursday. The charges against Rittenhouse in Kenosha County include first degree reckless homicide in the death of Joseph Rosenbaum and first degree intentional homicide in the death of Anthony Huber, according to the complaint. Hurricane Laura takes aim at Texas-Louisiana coast, expected to become Category 4

Hurricane Laura was expected to rapidly strengthen to a Category 4 hurricane on Wednesday on a steady track to hit the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast after dark, causing catastrophic damage, the National Hurricane Center said. The storm, already a Category 3 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale for measuring hurricane intensity early Wednesday, was about 290 miles (465 km) southeast of Galveston, Texas, with maximum sustained winds of 115 miles (185 km) per hour, the Miami-based forecaster said. Category 4 hurricanes can pack winds of up to 156 miles (250 km) per hour. U.S. appeals court lifts block on federal execution

A U.S. appeals court on Thursday paved the way for a planned federal execution by tossing out a ruling that said the Justice Department's new lethal injection protocol violated drug safety laws. In a brief order, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said the lower court judge had made "insufficient findings and conclusions" in blocking the execution of Keith Nelson. COVID-19 cases spike in U.S. Midwest as deaths reach over 180,000

Several U.S. Midwest states reported record one-day increases in the number of new coronavirus cases on Thursday as nationwide deaths from the virus topped 180,000 and officials braced for the possibility of another surge with school openings. Meanwhile, the governors of several states said they would not reduce testing as recommended the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a change many health officials say was based on political pressure and not science. Trump plans attack on Biden as U.S. faces coronavirus crisis and protests

President Donald Trump prepared to attack Democratic rival Joe Biden on the Republican National Convention's final night on Thursday, as the United States struggles to address the coronavirus pandemic and a wave of anti-racism protests. The Republican incumbent plans to take on his Democratic challenger, who is leading in opinion polls ahead of the Nov. 3 election, in a speech on the White House South Lawn, a controversial location for a partisan event. NHL postpones games, joins waves of protests against racial injustice

The National Hockey League said it has postponed playoff games that were scheduled for Thursday and Friday, joining similar moves by other leagues in protest over the police shooting of a Black man in Wisconsin on Sunday. The decision impacts all the eight remaining playoff teams, starting with Thursday games between the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Islanders, and the Vancouver Canucks and Vegas Golden Knights. NBA ready to resume season after players' racial injustice boycott

The National Basketball Association (NBA) said on Thursday it hopes to resume play in a day or two after a boycott by players protesting against racial injustice and police brutality, while President Donald Trump denounced the league as "like a political organization." The protest by the NBA players focused on the police shooting on Sunday of a Black man named Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin - an incident reminiscent of the killing while in police custody of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May that sparked anti-racism demonstrations and civil unrest across the United States and elsewhere. Wisconsin city calm after nights of unrest, more U.S. National Guard troops on the way

Relative calm returned to Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Thursday after multiple nights of violent protests and two deaths, as activists pushed for charges against the white police officer who shot a Black man in the back, the incident which sparked the unrest. Officials said on Thursday that Arizona, Alabama and Michigan would be sending National Guard troops to augment security forces in the city, which until Wednesday night had been the scene of clashes between protesters and police, as well as protesters and members of a mostly white armed militia. California, Florida, New York, Texas will not follow new U.S. COVID-19 testing plan

Several large U.S. states are not heeding new federal health officials' calls to reduce COVID-19 testing of some exposed to the virus, joining a broad rebuke of the Trump administration by public health leaders. Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Texas, New Jersey and New York all plan to continue to test asymptomatic people who have been exposed to COVID-19, despite new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggesting that such tests may not be needed. Kamala Harris condemns looting, violence in wake of police shooting

U.S. presidential nominee Joe Biden's running mate Kamala Harris on Thursday denounced the looting and acts of violence that followed the police shooting of a Black man, as Republicans sought to paint the two Democrats as weak on crime. Hoping to win a second term in November and trailing Biden in opinion polls, President Donald Trump has used this week's Republican National Convention to promise a "law and order" response to protests against racial injustice.