Reuters US Domestic News Summary

U.S. makes deal for 100 million doses of coronavirus vaccine, deaths expected to rise Two major drug companies will supply the U.S. government with 100 million doses of an experimental coronavirus vaccine, the Trump administration said on Friday, as the nation's top health agency predicted that fatalities would rise in the coming weeks.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Boston Marathon bomber wins death penalty appeal

A federal appeals court on Friday overturned Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's death penalty sentence for helping carry out the 2013 attack, which killed three people and wounded more than 260 others. The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston upheld much of Tsarnaev's conviction but ordered a lower-court judge to hold a new trial strictly over what penalty Tsarnaev should receive for the death-penalty-eligible crimes he was convicted of. U.S. makes deal for 100 million doses of coronavirus vaccine, deaths expected to rise

Two major drug companies will supply the U.S. government with 100 million doses of an experimental coronavirus vaccine, the Trump administration said on Friday, as the nation's top health agency predicted that fatalities would rise in the coming weeks. The agreement calls for the U.S. government to pay French drug maker Sanofi and British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline up to $2.1 billion to supply it with enough vaccines for 50 million people, with the option to buy another 500 million doses. U.S. Supreme Court declines to block Trump border wall construction

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday declined a request from two groups seeking to prevent construction of President Donald Trump's promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border that is being funded by $2.5 billion approved by Congress for the Pentagon. The court in a brief order rejected on a 5-4 vote the request by the groups, the Sierra Club and Southern Border Communities Coalition. The vote was on ideological lines, with five conservatives in the majority and four liberals in dissent. U.S. appeals court delays release of Ghislaine Maxwell deposition

A U.S. appeals court on Friday temporarily delayed the release of a 2016 deposition about Ghislaine Maxwell's sex life, after she argued it could destroy her ability to get a fair trial against criminal charges she aided the late financier Jeffrey Epstein's sexual abuse of girls. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued the order after last-ditch scrambles by Maxwell to keep potentially embarrassing information, which her lawyer said could make it "difficult if not impossible" to find an impartial jury, out of the public eye. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg discharged from hospital

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was discharged from a hospital on Friday after undergoing a procedure on a bile duct stent earlier in the week, a court statement said. Ginsburg, at 87 the oldest member of the Supreme Court and its senior liberal justice, is at home and "doing well," the statement added. Senate Democrats press Postal Service on delivery complaints

Four U.S. Senate Democrats on Friday pressed new Postmaster General Louis DeJoy about complaints from Americans about slow delivery since he took office in June and whether service problems could hinder attempts to mail in 2020 election ballots during the pandemic. Gary Peters, top Democrat on the committee overseeing the Postal Service, along with Amy Klobuchar, Tom Carper and Charles Schumer sought answers about mail delivery under DeJoy, a top supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump who was also finance chair for the 2020 Republican National Convention. Fauci resists Republican effort to turn testimony against protesters

Top U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci on Friday resisted efforts by a staunch ally of President Donald Trump to turn his testimony about controlling the coronavirus pandemic into criticism of protests against racial injustice. Fauci clashed with Representative Jim Jordan at a hearing of the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on the Coronavirus, after the Ohio Republican demanded Fauci's opinion about whether protests should be curbed or eliminated to control the pandemic. Trump planning for U.S. rollout of coronavirus vaccine falling short, officials warn

As scientists and pharmaceutical companies work at breakneck speed to develop a vaccine for the novel coronavirus, public health officials and senior U.S. lawmakers are sounding alarms about the Trump administration's lack of planning for its nationwide distribution. The federal government traditionally plays a principal role in funding and overseeing manufacturing and distribution of new vaccines during pandemics, which often draw on scarce ingredients and need to be made, stored and transported carefully. Portland has no fires, arrests as feds withdraw

Portland had its first night in weeks without tear gas after state police took over from federal agents guarding a courthouse that has been the focal point of violence between protesters and tactical officers. Agents withdrew under a deal between Oregon's Democratic governor and U.S. officials to end a deployment that sparked a clash between Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic mayors over the use of federal police in U.S. cities. Exclusive: Republicans, Democrats agree on one thing: Doubt about fair election – Reuters/Ipsos poll

Americans across the political spectrum have widespread concerns that November's U.S. election will be marred by fraud, interference or efforts to suppress the vote, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Friday. About half of the registered voters in the United States, including some 80% of Republicans surveyed, say they are concerned that an increase in voting by mail will lead to widespread fraud in the Nov. 3 election, the poll showed.