USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government incurred the biggest monthly budget deficit in history in June as spending on programs to combat the coronavirus recession exploded while millions of job losses cut into tax revenues.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Monday demanded more information about President Donald Trump’s decision to commute the prison sentence of longtime ally Roger Stone.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson ordered that the parties provide her by Tuesday with a copy of the executive order that commuted Stone’s sentence. She also asked for clarity about the scope of the clemency, including whether it covers just his prison sentence or also the two-year period of supervised release that was part of his sentence.

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Activists against police brutality expressed outrage and demanded accountability Monday after video emerged over the weekend of an officer placing his knee on a man’s head and neck area outside a Pennsylvania hospital.

Allentown police released a much longer surveillance video of the incident that showed the officer putting his knee on the man’s head and neck area twice while he was being restrained a few steps from the emergency room entrance — the first time for eight seconds, the second for 20 seconds.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration escalated its actions against China on Monday by stepping squarely into one of the most sensitive regional issues dividing them and rejecting outright nearly all of Beijing’s significant maritime claims in the South China Sea.

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) — A U.S. district judge on Monday ordered a new delay in federal executions, hours before the first lethal injection was scheduled to be carried out at a federal prison in Indiana. The Trump administration immediately appealed to a higher court, asking that the executions move forward.

Late Monday, the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., refused to allow the executions to proceed. The administration has asked the Supreme Court to step in.

NEW YORK (AP) — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is facing blistering criticism over an internal report that found no strong link between a controversial state directive that sent thousands of recovering coronavirus patients into nursing homes and some of the nation’s deadliest nursing home outbreaks.

WASHINGTON (AP) — With U.S. virus cases spiking and the death toll mounting, the White House is working to undercut its most trusted coronavirus expert, playing down the danger as President Donald Trump pushes to get the economy moving before he faces voters in November.

The U.S. has become a cautionary tale across the globe, with once-falling cases now spiraling. However, Trump suggests the severity of the pandemic that has killed more than 135,000 Americans is being overstated by critics to damage his reelection chances.

13 July 2020; MEMO: UN Secretary-General António Guterres has hailed the Security Council decision to extend cross-border humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees, the UN News website reported on Sunday.

Washington, Jul 13 (AP/PTI) Joe Biden won the Democratic presidential primary in Puerto Rico on Sunday.

Biden faced seven other candidates on the ballot, though all the others have dropped out of the race.

Biden has already locked up enough delegates to become the party's nominee.

Washington, Jul 13 (PTI) The Sikh community in the US has vowed to work for the development of Punjab, particularly in areas of education and environment, as they hailed the outreach efforts of the Indian Embassy here in resolving their issues.

The Sikhs in America are willing to invest in the development of Punjab, eminent Sikh American businessman Gary Grewal told PTI after the first-ever virtual meeting of the community with India's Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu last week.