USA

JACKSON (Mississippi, US), July 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The governor of the southern US state of Mississippi signed a bill Tuesday removing the Confederate battle standard from the state flag, after nationwide protests drew renewed attention to symbols of the United States’ racist past.

“This is not a political moment, it is a solemn occasion to come together as a Mississippi family, reconcile, and move forward together,” Governor Tate Reeves wrote on Facebook.

WASHINGTON, July 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States recorded 1,199 fatalities from the coronavirus over the past 24 hours, as the country’s death toll began to climb again, the Johns Hopkins University tally showed.

The number of daily deaths had not exceeded 1,000 since June 10.

The country has suffered 127,322 deaths overall, according to the Baltimore-based institution as of 8:30 pm (0030 GMT Wednesday).

The US also registered 42,528 new cases of coronavirus over the past 24 hours.

Washington, Jun 30 (PTI) Indian-American Medha Raj has been named by Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden as his digital chief of staff, a key role in his election campaigns which are entirely going virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the US.

In this capacity, Raj will work across all facets of the digital department to streamline and coordinate how to maximise the impact of its digital outputs, the Biden campaign said.

Washington, Jun 30 (PTI) A group of Indian-Americans have launched a political action committee to actively campaign for President Donald Trump as they believe that he is the best hope for the US under the prevailing domestic and international conditions, including defeating terrorism and regulating immigration.

'Indian-Americans for Trump' has been formed with the only purpose to garner active support of all Americans, but particularly among Americans of the Indian Subcontinent, to have Trump reelected as the President, said its founder A D Amar.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican and Democratic U.S. senators called for a government analysis of foreign influence in the U.S. pharmaceutical supply chain on Tuesday, saying the coronavirus pandemic has exposed an over-reliance on China and other countries for the production of essential drugs.

Republican Senator Marco Rubio and Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren will introduce the U.S. Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Review Act on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The resurgence of COVID-19 cases across the United States is threatening to derail the nascent economic recovery as many states have either paused or partially reversed their staged re-openings, economists and officials have warned.

"Economic activity in states with the most significant increases in cases in recent days, including Arizona, California, Florida and Texas, appears to be rolling over," Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics, wrote Monday in an analysis.

WASHINGTON, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Former U.S. President Barack Obama has slammed his successor Donald Trump who tries to promote anti-Asian sentiment by using racist language "kung flu" to call the coronavirus during campaign rallies, U.S. media reported on Monday.

"I don't want a country in which the president of the United States is actively trying to promote anti-Asian sentiment and thinks it's funny. I don't want that. That still shocks and pisses me off," Obama reportedly said in an invite-only fundraiser last week for presumptive Democratic president nominee Joe Biden.

MINNEAPOLIS, June 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) –– A Minneapolis judge set the trial date for four ex-police officers charged in the murder of African American George Floyd for March 8, 2021, making clear he did not want the sensitive case to become a media circus with the presidential election looming.

WASHINGTON, June 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States said it was ending the export of sensitive military items to Hong Kong, no longer treating the financial hub separately from China.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States was taking the measure due to China’s push forward with a security law that Hong Kong activists say will curb the city’s freedoms.

“We can no longer distinguish between the export of controlled items to Hong Kong or to mainland China,” Pompeo said in a statement hours before China passed the law.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats pushed a package expanding “Obamacare” coverage through the House on Monday, a measure that’s doomed to advance no further but spotlights how the coronavirus pandemic and President Donald Trump’s efforts to obliterate that law have fortified health care’s potency as a 2020 campaign issue.