US News Roundup: Trump hedges when asked whether he would transfer power peacefully; Portland police declare riot during protests after Breonna Taylor ruling and more

Trump hedges when asked whether he would transfer power peacefully U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday declined to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the Nov. 3 election to Democratic rival Joe Biden.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Portland police declare riot during protests after Breonna Taylor ruling

Police in Portland, Oregon declared a riot late on Wednesday after protesters damaged a police building in unrest that followed the grand jury decision in the Breonna Taylor case. "To those who have gathered outside of Central Precinct on Southwest 2nd Avenue. This gathering has been declared a riot," the police force said in a tweet. The crowd was told to vacate or face tear gas, other crowd control agents or arrest.

Trump hedges when asked whether he would transfer power peacefully

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday declined to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the Nov. 3 election to Democratic rival Joe Biden. "We're going to have to see what happens," Trump, a Republican, told reporters at the White House when asked if he would commit to a peaceful transfer.

United to provide COVID-19 tests to customers on San Francisco-Hawaii flights

United Airlines said on Thursday customers traveling from San Francisco to Hawaii would have the option to take a rapid COVID-19 test at the airport or a self-collected, mail-in test ahead of their trip, starting from Oct. 15. Customers who test negative on either test will not be subjected to the state's 14-day quarantine requirement, United said.

Two police officers shot amid Louisville protests over Breonna Taylor ruling

Two police officers were shot and wounded late on Wednesday in Louisville, Kentucky, during protests of a grand jury ruling decried by civil rights activists as a miscarriage of justice in the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor in March. The grand jury decided that none of the three white officers involved in the deadly police raid on Taylor's apartment would be charged for causing her death, though one officer was indicted on charges of endangering her neighbors.

Coronavirus fuels historic legal battle over voting as 2020 U.S. election looms

The Nov. 3 contest between President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden has generated an unprecedented wave of election-related litigation, as both sides seek to shape the rules governing how votes are tallied in key states. With 40 days left, the court clashes have spread to every competitive state amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has fueled pitched battles over seemingly mundane issues such as witness signatures, U.S. mail postmarks and the use of drop boxes for ballots.

As wildfires approach Silicon Valley, tech firms struggle to find the backing to fight them

Silicon Valley's innovation engine has been slow to produce useful new tools to help firefighters like Dave Winnacker extinguish the deadly blazes that each year fill California's skies with smoke. Winnacker, a fire district chief who led a team against the 2017 fires that scorched vineyards in Napa and Sonoma Valley, is interested in tools that can spot fires early and ease evacuations.

Trump to campaign in crucial Florida amid high court suspense

With speculation swirling over his pick for the U.S. Supreme Court, President Donald Trump heads to Florida on Thursday, hoping to shore up support in that hotly contested state ahead of the Nov. 3 election. Trump's trip to Jacksonville comes two days before he plans to reveal his nominee to succeed Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the liberal icon who died last week at 87, and as a Reuters poll showed the presidential race between Trump and Democrat Joe Biden in Florida to be a dead heat.

Paul Selva, once one of Trump's top generals, endorses Biden

Once one of President Donald Trump's most senior military advisers, retired General Paul Selva is joining a large group of former Pentagon leaders to publicly endorse Democratic candidate Joe Biden for the Nov. 3 presidential election, according to a letter seen by Reuters. Selva, who served as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff until July 2019, appears on a list of 489 national security experts - including former military leaders, ambassadors and White House officials - who signed a letter being released on Thursday that declares Trump "not equal to the enormous responsibilities of his office."

Bleary-eyed U.S. election officials turn to signature-verifying software in mail-in surge

When election officials in at least 29 U.S. counties face an expected avalanche of mail-in ballots in the Nov. 3 presidential election due to the coronavirus pandemic, they will not rely on eyes alone to verify voters' signatures. They will also use software to approve signatures and guard against fraud, a Reuters survey found, a trend that voting technology experts cautiously welcome. Parascript, a Colorado company that says it helps banks identify check fraud, developed the technology.

Bad blood from Kavanaugh confirmation may resurface in U.S. Senate hearings

The bitter confirmation battle over President Donald Trump's last Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, looms large for the Senate Judiciary Committee as it prepares for fresh hearings on the Republican's third lifetime appointment to the top court. Two personalities could stand out in hearings expected in the coming weeks: Republican Committee Chairman Senator Lindsey Graham, who mounted a booming defense of Kavanaugh, and Democratic Senator Kamala Harris, running mate to Joe Biden, Trump's rival in the Nov. 3 election.