Governor signs historic bill to remove Confederate emblem from Mississippi flag – as it happened

• Dr Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious disease expert, told senators that the US is “going in the wrong direction” in its handling of the coronavirus pandemic. He warned that the death toll “is going to be very disturbing” unless officials intervene, and urged Americans to wear masks and practice social distancing in public spaces.
• The US has bought up virtually all the stocks of remdesivir, one of two drugs that appear to work against Covid-19, for the next three months leaving almost none rest of the world. The Trump administration has bought more than 500,000 doses – all of what the drug’s producer Gilead will make in July and 90% of what it expects to produce in August and September.
• Speaking in Delaware, Joe Biden said the pandemic is unlikely to have subsided by January 2021, and if he’s elected. “On the day I’m sworn in, I’ll get right to work implementing all aspects of the response that remain undone,” he said.
• Former combat pilot Amy McGrath has won the Democratic primary race in Kentucky to face off against Senate majority leader and pro-Trumpian Mitch McConnell. McGrath faced a tough challenge from progressive Charles Booker.
• Democratic leaders said they want a full congressional briefing on alleged Russian bounties on the heads of US troops in Afghanistan. The House’s No. 2 Democrat, Steny Hoyer, said he believes that Russia “remains involved in a negative way in Afghanistan”.

Colorado, Utah and Oklahoma are having primaries today.

Here’s what we’re watching:

In Colorado, former governor and 2020 presidential candidate John Hickenlooper is facing off against former state House speaker Andrew Romanoff for a chance to take on Republican senator Corey Gardner. Gardner, Colorado’s first-term Republican senator, is a vulnerable incumbent in a state that’s trending toward blue.

In Utah, the Republican primary for governor has former governor Jon Huntsman in a close race against Lt. governor Spencer Cox for the Republican (bear with me - that’s a lot of governors to keep track of, I know). Huntsman has been attacked by Cox for leaving his previous post as Utah’s governor to serve as ambassador to China during the Obama administration (he later served as an ambassador to Russia during the Trump administration).

In Oklahoma, voters will decide State Question 802, a ballot measure that would expand Medicaid for an estimated 200,000 eligible Oklahomans. Nine Republicans are also vying for the chance to face off against Democratic representative Kendra Horn. Horn flipped her Oaklahoma City-based district in 2016, and Republicans see a chance to take it back in November.

According to Mike Pence’s financial disclosure report, donors contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to cover legal expenses from special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe of Russian meddling in the 2016 elections.

Donors including the Indiana Pacers owner Herbert Simon and California developers Michael Hayde and Laura Khouri contributed nearly $480,000, the AP reports, to a trust fund that James Atterholt, Pence’s former chief of staff during his tenure as Indiana governor, started to cover the vice-president’s legal bills.

The annual report states that the money was used to cover a bill from McGuireWoods LLP, which represented Pence in the Mueller probe. Atterholt terminated the trust on 12 August 2019. Many government officials have turned to legal defense funds over the years to finance their legal representation.

The report states that every contributor had to certify that they are US citizens, the money came from personal funds and that Pence did not solicit the contribution, among other requirements. The report was filed with the US Office of Government Ethics.

With a signature, the Republican Governor Tate Reeves retired the state’s 126-year-old flag, immediately removing its official status.

“This is not a political moment to me but a solemn occasion to lead our Mississippi family to come together, to be reconciled, and to move on,” Reeves said in a statement. “We are a resilient people defined by our hospitality. We are a people of great faith. Now, more than ever, we must lean on that faith, put our divisions behind us, and unite for a greater good.”

A coalition of legislators passed a bill to change the flag, which features the Confederate battle emblem – a red field topped by a blue X with 13 white stars. White supremacist lawmakers put the emblem on the Mississippi flag in 1894. Critics have asked for it to be changed for decades, arguing that the hateful symbol has no place on the flag of a state where 38% of the population is Black.

A commission will now design a new flag, which voters will be asked to approve in the 3 November election.

• Dr Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious disease expert, told senators that the US is “going in the wrong direction” in its handling of the coronavirus pandemic. He warned that the death toll “is going to be very disturbing” unless officials intervene, and urged Americans to wear masks and practice social distancing in public spaces.
• The US has bought up virtually all the stocks of remdesivir, one of two drugs that appear to work against Covid-19, for the next three months leaving almost none rest of the world. The Trump administration has bought more than 500,000 doses — all of what the drug’s producer Gilead will make in July and 90% of what it expects to produce in August and September.
• Speaking in Delaware, Joe Biden said the pandemic is unlikely to have subsided by January 2021, and if he’s elected. “On the day I’m sworn in, I’ll get right to work implementing all aspects of the response that remain undone,” he said.
• Former combat pilot Amy McGrath has won the Democratic primary race in Kentucky to face off against Senate majority leader and pro-Trumpian Mitch McConnell. McGrath faced a tough challenge from progressive Charles Booker.
• Democratic leaders said they want a full congressional briefing on alleged Russian bounties on the heads of US troops in Afghanistan. The House’s No. 2 Democrat, Steny Hoyer, said he believes that Russia “remains involved in a negative way in Afghanistan”,

Bail for the former Atlanta police officer who fatally shot Rayshard Brooks has been st at $500,ooo, by a Fulton County superior court judge. Garrett Rolf, who was fired from the police department after shooting and killing Brooks on 12 June, will be required to turn in his passport, wear an ankle monitor, observe a curfew and refrain from contacting any current Atlanta police officers, members of Brooks’ family or any witnesses.

Prosecutors said that Rolfe would try to skip out on future court proceedings, but the judge, Jane Barwick, ruled that “ he does have sufficient ties to the community and he is not a flight risk.”

Rolfe faces a possible life sentence or the death penalty if he is convicted. He faces felony murder and 10 other charges for killing 27-year-old Brooks.