US News Roundup: U.S. COVID-19 cases hit two-month high; Hurricane Delta weakens after churning into storm-battered Louisiana and more

A common fear is that the Nov. 3 contest between President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden remains undecided, leading to protests that could escalate into civil unrest, or even sectarian conflict.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Ex-police officer on bail in George Floyd case allowed to leave Minnesota

The former Minneapolis police officer charged with murdering George Floyd, Derek Chauvin, will be allowed to leave the state of Minnesota while awaiting trial under bail conditions amended to reflect concerns over his safety. Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill said in a court ruling made public on Friday that he had been presented with "evidence supporting safety concerns that have arisen in the pretrial conditional release supervision" of Chauvin.

Meet the Americans 'standing by' for possible election violence

Some Americans worried about possible violence after the U.S. presidential election are forming community watch groups, others are working on conflict de-escalation and still others are purchasing guns, according to two dozen voters, online groups and data surveyed by Reuters. A common fear is that the Nov. 3 contest between President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden remains undecided, leading to protests that could escalate into civil unrest, or even sectarian conflict.

U.S. COVID-19 cases hit two-month high, 10 states report record increases

New cases of COVID-19 in the United States hit a two-month high on Friday with over 58,000 infections of the new coronavirus reported and hospitalizations in the Midwest at record levels for a fifth day in a row, according to a Reuters analysis. Ten of the 50 states reported record one-day rises in cases on Friday, including the Midwestern states of Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri and Ohio. Wisconsin and Illinois recorded over 3,000 new cases for a second day in a row - a two-day trend not seen even during the height of the previous outbreak in the spring, according to Reuters data.

Trump plans return to campaign with first public event since COVID-19 diagnosis

President Donald Trump plans his first steps toward resuming in-person election campaigning on Saturday when he delivers remarks to supporters at the White House, aiming to show he has beaten the coronavirus and is back in the fray. Trump has been sidelined for more than week since his COVID-19 diagnosis during a critical juncture in campaigning for the Nov. 3 election. Opinion polls show Democratic nominee Joe Biden leading Trump by a significant margin nationally, but more narrowly in some of the battleground states that may determine the outcome.

Amid pandemic, sharply increased U.S. detention times put migrants at risk

The 31-year-old Cuban rancher arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border after crossing through nearly a dozen countries to seek political asylum in the United States. More than a year later, Yudanys Perez remains locked up. As he presses his legal case, he's been shuttled among six immigration detention centers and denied parole seven times.

Accused militia members arraigned on domestic terrorism charges in Michigan

Six men arrested on suspicion of taking part in a plot by armed extremists to kidnap Michigan's governor have been arraigned on domestic terrorism and weapons charges, while a seventh awaits extradition from South Carolina, authorities said on Friday. All seven, described by prosecutors as members or associates of an anti-government militia group called the Wolverine Watchmen, were taken into custody late on Wednesday as part of a joint state-federal investigation.

Fearing Biden tax hikes, wealthy Americans rush to change estate plans

Wealthy Americans are scrambling to change their estate plans before year-end, worried that Democrat Joe Biden will win the U.S. presidential election and raise taxes, say financial advisers to the moneyed set. The biggest concern is that the White House and Congress could get swept up in a "Blue Wave" of Democratic wins that give Biden the power to propose and pass a sweeping set of tax reforms.

Trump says he stopped taking medications to combat coronavirus eight hours ago

U.S. President Donald Trump said in an interview on Fox News on Friday night that he stopped taking medications to combat coronavirus eight hours ago. " Right now I'm medication free. I'm not taking any medications as of, you know, probably eight hours ago," Trump said in the interview.

Hurricane Delta weakens after churning into storm-battered Louisiana

Hurricane Delta weakened steadily on Friday after churning into a corner of southwestern Louisiana repeatedly battered by storms this year, sending residents scurrying out of harm's way and disrupting Gulf Coast energy production. Delta made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale, packing maximum sustained winds of 100 miles per hour (161 kph), at 6 p.m. on Friday near the town of Creole, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported.

Federal judge blocks Texas order limiting ballot drop-off sites to 1 per county

A U.S. federal judge blocked on Friday an order from Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott limiting the number of drop-off sites allowed for absentee ballots statewide to just one per county, a constraint Democrats denounced as blatant voter suppression. Abbott's Oct. 1 absentee voter proclamation, which he said was aimed at preventing election fraud, required the closure of more than a dozen satellite drop-off box locations in at least two counties.