USA

(Reuters) - Americans who received enhanced unemployment benefits due to the coronavirus pandemic spent more than when they were working, a study released on Thursday said, adding to concerns about a steep fall in spending when the emergency benefits expire.

The $600 weekly supplement added to jobless benefits as part of the CARES Act helped unemployed households spend 10% more after receiving benefits than they did before the pandemic, according to research by the JPMorgan Chase Institute.

Washington, Jul 15 (AP/PTI) Delta Air Lines said Wednesday that it expects to take a charge of USD 2.7 billion to USD 3.3 billion to cover the cost of early retirements and buyouts for employees as it shrinks in response to a sharp decline in air travel.

The airline said this week that 17,000 employees have agreed to depart.

Delta said in a regulatory filing that 500 million to 600 million of the charge would go toward cash payments to pilots, flight attendants, ground workers and other departing employees in the July-September quarter.

Washington, Jul 16 (AP/PTI) JC Penney says it will cut 1,000 jobs as it tries to fight its way out from under bankruptcy protection.

The company last month said it had identified just over 150 stores for closure in the first phase of a restructuring in which it will become a smaller operator.

Paris, Jul 16 (AP/PTI) The White House national security adviser says the US is very sympathetic to France in its dispute with Turkey over a naval standoff in the Mediterranean Sea between the two NATO allies.

The festering row has exposed NATO's struggle to keep order among its ranks, and its diminished US leadership under President Donald Trump.

NATO allies shouldn't be turning fire control radars on each other. That's not good, national security adviser Robert O'Brien told reporters in Paris on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Sixty-six percent of U.S. registered voters say it is not appropriate to use "kung flu" and "China virus" when referring to COVID-19, a U.S. poll has found.

The poll, conducted online by U.S. media outlet The Hill and survey research company HarrisX on July 3-4, collected the opinions of 933 registered voters in the United States.

It found that 83 percent of Democratic voters and 66 percent of independents think it is inappropriate to use those terms, while 56 percent of Republican voters think the terms are "appropriate."

WASHINGTON, July 15 (Xinhua) -- The White House on Wednesday tried to distance itself from presidential adviser Peter Navarro, who had criticized the nation's top infectious disease expert in a recent newspaper article.

In an op-ed published in USA Today on Tuesday, Navarro scathingly criticized Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a key member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, for his handling of the pandemic.

Navarro wrote that Fauci "has been wrong about everything I have interacted with him on."

NEW YORK (AP) — A week after losing a Supreme Court ruling, President Donald Trump’s lawyers said Wednesday they’re considering challenging a subpoena for his tax records by criminal prosecutors on grounds that it’s a fishing expedition or a form of harassment or retaliation against him.

The plans were outlined in a letter to a Manhattan federal judge overseeing legal squabbles related to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.’s request to Trump’s longtime accountant for eight years of the president’s personal and corporate tax records in a criminal probe.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve says economic activity has picked up in most regions of the country but still remains well below pre-pandemic levels with the country facing high levels of uncertainty.

The Fed reported Wednesday that its latest survey of economic conditions around the country found improvements in consumer spending and other areas but said the gains were from very low levels seen when widespread lockdowns push the country into a deep recession.

And the report said that business contacts in the Fed’s 12 regions remained wary about the future.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — George Floyd’s family filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the city of Minneapolis and the four police officers charged in his death, alleging the officers violated Floyd’s rights when they restrained him and that the city allowed a culture of excessive force, racism and impunity to flourish in its police force.

The lawsuit came the same day that members of a city charter commission took public comments on a proposal to dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department. Many residents strongly favored putting the proposal to a citywide vote in November.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump shook up his campaign staff Wednesday amid sinking poll numbers less than four months before the election, replacing campaign manager Brad Parscale with veteran GOP operative Bill Stepien.

“I am pleased to announce that Bill Stepien has been promoted to the role of Trump Campaign Manager,” Trump said on Facebook. “Brad Parscale, who has been with me for a very long time and has led our tremendous digital and data strategies, will remain in that role, while being a Senior Advisor to the campaign.”