USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — With the economy still in the pandemic’s grip, the Federal Reserve is facing a decision on whether to stretch an emergency lending program in a way that could bring more risk for the government and taxpayers. Lawmakers are pressing the central bank to deliver more aid to struggling small and mid-sized businesses.

The economic recovery has been uneven and painfully slow in the wake of shutdowns from the coronavirus. The pandemic has killed some 180,000 people in the U.S., and the number of laid-off workers collecting jobless benefits exceeds 14.5 million.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Pat Newell backed Donald Trump in 2016.

But after Trump’s speech at the Republican National Convention this week included no mention of the police shooting of Jacob Blake that spurred demonstrations in her hometown of Kenosha, Wisconsin, the white retired public relations specialist said the president still had work to do before she’ll commit to voting for him again in November.

LAKE CHARLES, La. (AP) — The Louisiana coastline devastated by Hurricane Laura began a long and gloomy recovery Friday as hundreds of thousands of people still without water and power confronted the possibility that basic services may not return for weeks or even longer. The number of dead climbed to at least 14.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The credibility of two of the nation’s leading public health agencies was under fire this week after controversial decisions that outside experts said smacked of political pressure from President Donald Trump as he attempts to move past the devastating toll of the coronavirus ahead of the November election.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. famously laid out a vision for harmony between white and Black people 57 years ago, his son issued a sobering reminder about the persistence of police brutality and racist violence targeting Black Americans.

Chicago, Aug 28 (AP/PTI) United Airlines said Thursday that it will furlough up to 2,850 pilots this fall unless the federal government provides more relief to help airlines cover their labour costs during a pandemic-fuelled downturn in travel.

United's figure is higher than the 1,941 pilots that Delta plans to furlough and the 1,600 targeted for termination at American.

Washington, Aug 28 (AP/PTI) Walmart is the latest company to want a piece of TikTok, the popular Chinese-owned video app that has come under fire from the Trump administration.

The world's largest retailer made a joint bid with tech giant Microsoft to buy TikTok's US business, according to a person close to the deal who isn't authorised to discuss the terms publicly.

WASHINGTON, Aug 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The US Defense Department said that Chinese test launches of ballistic missiles in the South China Sea were threatening peace and security in the region.

Confirming reports that Beijing’s forces launched as many as four ballistic missiles during military exercises around the Paracel Islands, the Pentagon said the move called into question China’s 2002 commitment to avoiding provocative activities.

China’s “actions, including missile tests, further destabilise the situation in the South China Sea,” the Pentagon said in a statement.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fresh from accepting the Republican nomination with a sweeping attack on Democratic rival Joe Biden, President Donald Trump travels to New Hampshire on Friday to bring his re-election argument to a state he hopes to flip to his column in November.

His Republican Party’s slimmed-down, four-day convention ended on Thursday night with a fireworks display over Washington’s National Mall and a searing speech by Trump criticizing Biden and outlining an agenda for four more years in office.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has changed its COVID-19 testing guidelines, no longer recommending testing for most people without symptoms, which has sparked controversy as experts warn it may hamper the timely identification of asymptomatic individuals with COVID-19.