USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government has imposed trade sanctions on 11 companies it says are implicated in human rights abuses in China’s Muslim northwestern region of Xinjiang.

Monday’s announcement adds to U.S. pressure on Beijing over Xinjiang, where the ruling Communist Party is accused of mass detentions, forced labor and other abuses against Muslim minorities.

Xinjiang is among a series of conflicts including human rights, trade and technology that have caused U.S.-Chinese relations to plunge to their lowest level in decades.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden is calling President Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic “inept” in a new statement that lays out his priorities for the next relief package in Congress.

In the statement, shared first Monday with The Associated Press, Biden charged that Trump has “turned his back on the problem” and declared that “we are plainly a nation in crisis.”

“People are looking to Congress for the support they need to keep their heads above water,” he said.

NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer sued Attorney General William Barr and the Bureau of Prisons director Monday, saying he’s being unjustly held behind bars to stop him from finishing a book that criticizes Trump.

The lawsuit on behalf of Michael Cohen was filed late Monday in Manhattan federal court, alleging his First Amendment rights were violated when he was returned to the Federal Correctional Institution in Otisville, New York, on July 9.

A message for comment was left with the Justice Department.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Federal officers’ actions at protests in Oregon’s largest city, hailed by President Donald Trump but done without local consent, are raising the prospect of a constitutional crisis — one that could escalate as weeks of demonstrations find renewed focus in clashes with camouflaged, unidentified agents outside Portland’s U.S. courthouse.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said he is putting Russia and other foreign governments “on notice” that he would act aggressively as president to counter any interference in U.S. elections. The statement came hours after Democratic leaders issued a new warning that Congress appears to be the target of a foreign interference campaign.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump acknowledged a “big flareup” of COVID-19 cases, but divisions between the White House and Senate Republicans and differences with Democrats posed fresh challenges for a new federal aid package with the U.S. crisis worsening and emergency relief about to expire.

NEW YORK (AP) — Workers from the service industry, fast-food chains and the gig economy rallied with organized labor Monday to protest systemic racism and economic inequality, staging demonstrations across the U.S. and around the world seeking better treatment of Black Americans in the workplace.

UNITED NATIONS, July 18. /TASS/: United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has put forward an initiative to battle inequality - a New Global Deal that will aim to create a fairer model of global governance, Guterres said on Saturday in his lecture commemorating Nelson Mandela.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has brought home the tragic disconnect between self-interest and the common interest; and the huge gaps in governance structures and ethical frameworks," he said.

WASHINGTON, July 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Florida reported more than 12,000 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, the fifth day in a row the state has announced more than 10,000 new infections, even as President Donald Trump pledged that “it’s going to be under control.”

The virus has claimed more than 140,000 US lives total since the pandemic started, and Florida, California, Texas and other southern and western states shatter records every day.

Texas reported 7,300 new cases on Sunday after five straight days of new infections exceeding 10,000.

New York, Jul 20 (AP/PTI) Organisers of a national workers strike say tens of thousands are set to walk off the job Monday in more than two dozen US cities to protest systemic racism and economic inequality that has only worsened during the coronavirus pandemic.

Dubbed the Strike for Black Lives, labor unions, along with social and racial justice organisations from New York City to Los Angeles, will participate in a range of planned actions.