US Domestic News Roundup: Chicago mayor, police to hold briefing after major shooting; U.S. eviction bans are ending. That could worsen the spread of coronavirus and more

Chicago mayor, police to hold briefing after major shooting Chicago's mayor and police superintendent will hold a briefing Wednesday morning following a major shooting overnight and as U.S. President Donald Trump and his Republican allies seek to spotlight violence in Democrat-run cities as a campaign issue.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Chicago mayor, police to hold briefing after major shooting

Chicago's mayor and police superintendent will hold a briefing Wednesday morning following a major shooting overnight and as U.S. President Donald Trump and his Republican allies seek to spotlight violence in Democrat-run cities as a campaign issue. Democratic Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago police Superintendent David Brown are scheduled to brief the media at 8:30 a.m. CDT (1330 GMT).

U.S. eviction bans are ending. That could worsen the spread of coronavirus

Last month, as the coronavirus was surging in Houston, recently unemployed hospital secretary Ramzan Boudoin got more bad news: She had six days to vacate her apartment for failing to pay the rent. A Texas ban on evictions had enabled Boudoin to keep the two-bedroom place she shared with her daughter and granddaughter while she searched for another job. But that moratorium expired on May 18. The landlord took legal action and Boudoin couldn't come up with $2,997 plus interest to settle the judgment.

U.S. judge to consider making records in Ghislaine Maxwell civil lawsuit public

A U.S. judge will consider whether to unseal records from a 2015 civil lawsuit against Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite and longtime Jeffrey Epstein associate facing criminal charges that she lured girls for the late financier to sexually abuse. U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska in Manhattan scheduled a Thursday hearing to discuss unsealing more than 80 documents that Maxwell wants to keep under wraps.

If Trump challenges election results, Democrats are prepared to fight

Democrats are mounting their most extensive voter protection effort ever to gird for what Joe Biden called his biggest fear: the prospect that President Donald Trump will try to interfere with the Nov. 3 election or refuse to accept its outcome. Interviews with more than a dozen party officials reveal how Democrats, in coordination with Biden's presidential campaign, are preparing for fights over absentee ballots, potential voting recounts, and the possibility that Trump's Republican supporters will seek to intimidate voters at the polls.

Portland mayor is tear-gassed in another night of unrest in U.S. city

The mayor of the U.S. city of Portland, Ted Wheeler, was stung by tear gas early on Thursday morning after he joined demonstrators protesting against racial injustice and police brutality. Security forces have frequently tear-gassed and clubbed demonstrators during weeks of unrest and Wheeler, visiting the protest site outside the federal courthouse in downtown Portland, urged federal agents to be withdrawn from the city.

U.S. sets global benchmark for COVID-19 vaccine price at around the cost of a flu shot

The U.S. government has set a benchmark for COVID-19 vaccine pricing in a $2 billion deal announced on Wednesday with Pfizer Inc and German biotech BioNTech SE that will likely pressure other manufacturers to set similar prices, industry analysts told Reuters. The deal, which is contingent on an approvable product, secures enough vaccine to inoculate 50 million Americans for about $40 a person, or about the cost of annual flu shots and is the first to provide a direct window into likely pricing of successful COVID-19 vaccines.

Mnuchin urges quick action on coronavirus relief, open to another bill: CNBC

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said on Thursday the White House is interested in getting a trillion-dollar coronavirus relief bill out quickly and would be open to another bill after that if needed. "We're focused on putting another trillion in quickly, that'll be CARES 4.0. If we've got to come back for CARES 5.0, for more money, the president will consider that the time," Mnuchin said in an interview with CNBC.

U.S. records 2,600 new coronavirus cases every hour as total approaches four million

U.S. coronavirus cases were approaching 4 million on Thursday, with over 2,600 new cases every hour on average, the highest rate in the world, according to a Reuters tally. Infections in the United States have rapidly accelerated since the first case was detected on Jan. 21. It took the country 98 days to reach 1 million cases. It took another 43 days to reach 2 million and then 27 days to reach 3 million. It has only taken 16 days to reach 4 million at a rate of 43 new cases a minute.

U.S. judge to decide if newly imprisoned Michael Cohen can go home again

A Manhattan federal judge on Thursday will consider whether to release Michael Cohen, U.S. President Donald Trump's former personal attorney, who says he was returned to prison two weeks ago in retaliation for plans to publish a critical book about Trump. Cohen was sent home from prison in May because of the coronavirus pandemic. He has shackled again on July 9 after he questioned an agreement that barred him from publishing his book, engaging with news organizations, and posting on social media.

U.S. records over 1,100 new coronavirus deaths for a second day in a row

U.S. deaths from the novel coronavirus rose by more than 1,100 for the second day in a row on Wednesday, including a record one-day rise in fatalities in Alabama, California, Nevada, and Texas, according to a Reuters tally. The United States has not seen back-to-back days with over 1,100 lives lost since late May. Weeks after cases began to surge, 23 states are now seeing fatalities also rise, according to a Reuters analysis of deaths for the past two weeks compared with the prior two weeks.