Reuters US Domestic News Summary

California shuts down businesses, schools as coronavirus outbreak grows California's governor on Monday clamped new restrictions on businesses as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations soared, and the state's two largest school districts, in Los Angeles and San Diego, said children would be made to stay home in August.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Fight for control of U.S. Senate starts with Maine, Texas, Alabama primaries

Democrats could take a step toward wresting control of the U.S. Senate from Republicans on Tuesday when voters in Maine, Texas and Alabama cast ballots in nominating contests. Maine Democrats pick a challenger to Susan Collins, one of the Senate's most at-risk Republicans; Texas Democrats choose who will go up against Republican Senator John Cornyn in a Republican-leaning state analysts say has become more competitive, and Alabama Republicans pick a candidate to take on Doug Jones, widely considered the chamber's most vulnerable Democrat. Prominent Democrats press Fed, Treasury to aid states, citing racial inequality

With the Republican-controlled U.S. Congress far from agreement on how or even whether to give more aid to states and cities reeling from revenue losses during the coronavirus crisis, three U.S. Senate Democrats are appealing to the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve to do more to help. Citing the particularly sharp impact that cuts to government jobs and services would have on Black Americans, senators Elizabeth Warren, Chris Van Hollen and Catherine Cortez Masto called on Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Fed Chair Jerome Powell to ease the terms of the Fed's lending facility for state and local governments to allow more to tap it. California shuts down businesses, schools as coronavirus outbreak grows

California's governor on Monday clamped new restrictions on businesses as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations soared, and the state's two largest school districts, in Los Angeles and San Diego, said children would be made to stay home in August. Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, ordered bars closed and restaurants, movie theaters, zoos and museums across the nation's most populous state to cease indoor operations. Gyms, churches and hair salons must close in the 30 hardest-hit counties. The Race Gap: How U.S. systemic racism plays out in Black lives

Inequality between white and Black Americans persists in almost every aspect of society and the economy. Such disadvantages have proven immune to decades of laws and policies meant to address them, leaving Black people with less education, less wealth, poorer health and shorter lifespans. Together, the disparities reflect what many have labeled systemic racism amid the mass protests that followed the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, by a white Minneapolis police officer in May. There has been progress in recent decades. But wide gaps — rooted in the legacy of slavery, segregation and discrimination — have endured or widened in the years since the civil rights victories of the 1960s. Born from the enslavement of Africans in British colonies since the early 1600s, American inequality plays out over the course of a lifetime. Reuters explores the impact on Black lives today in this interactive graphic: https://tmsnrt.rs/38VDcKJ Special Report: The quest to stop a 'Sugar Daddy' judge accused of preying on women

She was 30 years old, jobless and facing a custody fight for two young children. To keep her kids, she needed a lawyer – someone cheap and willing to see her quickly. Tim Parker seemed ideal. He was available, and his fee was about half what another lawyer quoted. According to confidential testimony reviewed by Reuters, the woman told state authorities that Parker agreed to represent her in late 2013, then offered her some unexpected advice. Canada and U.S. likely to extend ban on non-essential travel

Canada and the United States are set to extend a ban on non-essential travel that was imposed to fight the coronavirus outbreak, although a final decision has not been taken, two Ottawa sources familiar with the matter said on Monday. The ban, introduced in March, has been extended several times and is due to expire on July 21. The measure does not include trade. U.S. Supreme Court allows federal executions to proceed

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that the first federal executions in 17 years could proceed, overturning an injunction blocking them in order to allow legal challenges to the government's lethal-injection protocol to continue. Judge Tanya Chutkan of the U.S. district court in Washington had on Monday ordered the justice department to delay four executions scheduled for July and August. 15 U.S. states to jointly work to advance electric heavy-duty trucks

A group of 15 U.S. states and the District of Columbia on Tuesday unveiled a joint memorandum of understanding aimed at boosting the market for electric medium- and heavy-duty vehicles and phasing out diesel-powered trucks by 2050. The announcement comes weeks after the California Air Resources Board approved a groundbreaking policy to require manufacturers to sell a rising number of zero-emission vehicles, starting in 2024 and to electrify nearly all larger trucks by 2045. Long legal battle by Jeffrey Epstein victims could sink Maxwell's defense

Women who say they were victims of Jeffrey Epstein have spent 12 years trying to undo an unusual plea deal that spared the deceased financier from federal prison. Now their efforts could sink a key legal defense for Ghislaine Maxwell, who was charged this month with luring girls so Epstein could abuse them. The 2007 deal allowed Epstein to plead guilty in a Florida court to soliciting minors to engage in prostitution and serve just 13 months in county jail. Factbox: On climate, it's Biden's green revolution versus Trump's war on red tape

The U.S. presidential election pits a politician who supports environmental regulation and diplomacy to tackle climate change against another determined to dismantle such policies. President Donald Trump, a Republican, has focused on dismantling former President Barack Obama's climate agenda to free the energy and auto industries from the costs of regulations meant to protect health and the environment.