USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has approved a bill to remove statues of Gen. Robert E. Lee and other Confederate leaders from the U.S. Capitol, as a reckoning over racial injustice continues following the police killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis.

The House vote also would remove a bust of Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, the author of the 1857 Dred Scott decision that declared African Americans couldn’t be citizens.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Attorneys for Oregon argued Wednesday for a restraining order against federal agents deployed to quell protests in Portland — a standoff that some legal experts have warned could lead to a constitutional crisis in an election year.

A federal judge heard arguments from the state and the U.S. government in a lawsuit filed by Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, who accuses federal agents of arresting protesters without probable cause, whisking them away in unmarked cars and using excessive force. Federal authorities have disputed those allegations.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans and the White House reached tentative agreement for more testing funds in the next COVID-19 relief package, but deep disagreements over the scope of the $1 trillion in federal aid remain ahead of Thursday’s expected roll out.

Facing a GOP revolt, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was preparing a “handful” of separate COVID-19 aid bills, according to a top lawmaker involved in the negotiations. McConnell is set to unveil the package on Thursday, according to a Republican unauthorized to discuss the private talks and granted anonymity.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Laboratories across the U.S. are buckling under a surge of coronavirus tests, creating long processing delays that experts say are undercutting the pandemic response.

With the U.S. tally of confirmed infections at nearly 4 million Wednesday and new cases surging, the bottlenecks are creating problems for workers kept off the job while awaiting results, nursing homes struggling to keep the virus out and for the labs themselves as they deal with a crushing workload.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Portland’s mayor faced a hostile crowd of protesters Wednesday night, who screamed at and sharply questioned him as he tried to rally demonstrators after they clashed repeatedly with federal agents sent in by President Donald Trump to quell ongoing unrest in the city.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump announced he will send federal agents to Chicago and Albuquerque, New Mexico, to help combat rising crime, expanding the administration’s intervention into local enforcement as he runs for reelection under a “law and order” mantle.

Using the same alarmist language he has employed to describe illegal immigration, Trump painted Democrat-led cities as out of control and lashed out at the “radical left,” which he blamed for rising violence in some cities, even though criminal justice experts say it defies easy explanation.

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 22 (APP): The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, has said that the closing of educational facilities due to the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in at least 40 million preschool students worldwide missing out on learning and development.

“Education disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic are preventing children from getting their education off to the best possible start,” UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said in a statement.

22 July 2020; MEMO: The World Bank has announced that Tunisia will this year be given a finance package of up to $700 million from several international institutions. The package will be within the framework of a reform programme to help the government respond to the effects of the coronavirus crisis.

22 July 2020; MEMO: American Defence Department announced on Monday that it would buy the eight F-35A fighter jets which had been intended for Turkey as the US ousted Ankara from the joint strike fighter program last year, Defence News reported.

Washington, Jul 22 (PTI) US President Donald Trump raised a whopping USD 20 million during his first ever virtual fundraiser, his campaign said.

Over 300,000 donations contributed to this virtual fundraiser hosted on Tuesday by President Donald J Trump and Trump Victory Finance Committee National Chair Kimberly Guilfoyle, a statement said.