US News Roundup: Laura strengthens to major hurricane; Melania Trump offers sympathy on coronavirus, racial suffering in convention speech and more

Two dead as gunfire erupts at Wisconsin protests over shooting of Black man A third night of street protests over the police shooting of a Black man erupted into gun violence late Tuesday and early Wednesday in Kenosha, Wisconsin, killing two people and wounding one, police said.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Laura strengthens to major hurricane: U.S. NHC

Laura has strengthened into a category 3 hurricane and is expected to strengthen to category 4 later on Wednesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. Hurricane Laura has maximum sustained winds of 115 miles (185km) per hour, making it a category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, which is considered a major hurricane, and is located about 290 miles (465km) southeast of Galveston, Texas, the NHC added.

Melania Trump offers sympathy on coronavirus, racial suffering in convention speech

First lady Melania Trump offered sympathy for victims of the coronavirus pandemic and a plea for racial understanding in a Republican convention speech on Tuesday aimed directly at the women voters who have abandoned U.S. President Donald Trump. On the convention's second day, the speech's warm tone was out of step with a Republican gathering that featured harsh rhetoric about Democratic challenger Joe Biden and sometimes apocalyptic warnings about the dangers of Democratic governance.

U.S. rejects U.N. rights panel upholding access to abortions during pandemic

The United States on Wednesday hit back at a U.N. women's rights panel that said some U.S. states limited access to abortions during the COVID-19 pandemic, rejecting its interference and the notion of "an assumed right to abortion". "The United States is disappointed by and categorically rejects this transparent attempt to take advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to assert the existence of such a right," the U.S. mission in Geneva said in a release posted on Twitter.

Mnuchin to testify Sept. 1 before House coronavirus panel

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will face lawmakers' questions over stalled coronavirus aid negotiations between the Trump administration and Congress next week when he testifies before a House of Representatives panel, lawmakers said on Wednesday. The Sept. 1 hearing "will examine the urgent need for additional economic relief for children, workers, and families and the Administration's implementation of key stimulus programs," the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis said in a statement.

Mike Pence to make case for Trump re-election in Republican convention star turn

Vice President Mike Pence takes center stage at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday to make the case that his boss, President Donald Trump, will bring the U.S. economy back to its pre-pandemic heights if given four more years in office. Pence, who will be renominated as Trump's running mate after on-and-off speculation that he would be dropped from the ticket, is the highest ranking official to address the four-day convention aside from the president, who has made appearances each day. His speech is expected to highlight the administration's record as well as goals for a second term.

Two dead as gunfire erupts at Wisconsin protests over shooting of Black man

A third night of street protests over the police shooting of a Black man erupted into gun violence late Tuesday and early Wednesday in Kenosha, Wisconsin, killing two people and wounding one, police said. Social media videos showed chaotic scenes of people running and screaming amid a volley of gunfire and others tending to gunshot wounds. The bloodshed followed a night of skirmishes that had appeared to turn calm after police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters who defied a curfew.

Biden gets no convention bounce after Democratic gathering: Reuters/Ipsos poll

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden saw no bounce in popular support after last week's Democratic National Convention, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday, pointing to Americans' hardened political views. Biden held his lead over President Donald Trump in the national opinion poll taken Aug. 19 to 25, with 47% of registered voters backing the Democratic challenger and 40% supporting the Republican incumbent. That was a similar edge to what Biden had before his party's convention, a scaled-back, virtual event because of the coronavirus pandemic.

U.S. to execute only Native American on federal death row

The United States is set to execute Lezmond Mitchell, a convicted murderer and the only Native American on federal death row, on Wednesday, despite opposition from the Navajo Nation, which says the government is infringing tribal sovereignty. Mitchell, a Navajo, is set to be killed with lethal injections of pentobarbital, a powerful barbiturate, at 6 p.m. in the Department of Justice's execution chamber in Terre Haute, Indiana.

'Anything can happen': weather helps California firefighters, for now

Over 14,000 firefighters from half a dozen states carved out containment lines around some of the largest wildfires in California history on Tuesday, helped by cooler temperatures. Using bulldozers and hand tools, crews scraped fire breaks into the earth to block flames from around 24 major blazes sparked by dry lightning during a record heat wave.

Special Report: Shot by police, thwarted by judges and geography

When David Collie slipped off his shirt as he set out one sultry night to visit some friends, he didn't know he was putting himself in grave danger. But he was. He now fit the description: shirtless, Black, male. Moments later, Collie lay face down on the pavement, gunned down as a possible suspect in a crime he didn't commit.