USA

LONDON, April 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Oil plunged below $5 a barrel as the coronavirus pandemic ravages global economies, threatening to erase an entire decade of demand growth, slashing thousands of jobs and wiping out hundreds of billions of dollars from company valuations.

Industrial and economic activity is grinding to a halt as governments around the globe extend shutdowns due to the swift spread of the coronavirus.

WASHINGTON, April 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — President Donald Trump said the United States would take advantage of the historic drop in oil prices to replenish its national strategic stockpile, pending approval by Congress.

“We are filling up our national petroleum reserves… You know, the strategic reserves,” Trump told reporters at his daily coronavirus press conference.

“And we are looking to put as much as 75 million barrels into the reserves themselves,” he added.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled Monday that juries in state criminal trials must be unanimous to convict a defendant, settling a quirk of constitutional law that had allowed divided votes to result in convictions in Louisiana and Oregon.

Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the court that the practice is inconsistent with the Constitution’s right to a jury trial and that it should be discarded as a vestige of Jim Crow laws in Louisiana and racial, ethnic and religious bigotry that led to its adoption in Oregon in the 1930s.

DETROIT (AP) — The Congressional Black Caucus PAC endorsed Joe Biden’s presidential bid on Monday, further cementing his support among the nation’s influential black political leadership.

The political action committee’s unanimous endorsement came on the heels of several key nods of support among caucus leadership and members, including civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis of Georgia and caucus Chairwoman Rep. Karen Bass of California. The PAC is the caucus’s separate campaign arm.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Late-stage negotiations in Washington on a new $450 billion coronavirus aid package dragged past Monday’s hoped-for deadline, but the Trump administration and key lawmakers insisted a final pact is within reach.

President Donald Trump said he expects a Senate vote “hopefully” on Tuesday.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Governors in the Midwest are working to keep large meatpacking plants operating despite coronavirus outbreaks that have sickened hundreds of workers and threaten to disrupt the nation’s supply of pork and beef.

HEADLAND, Ala. (AP) — Suspected tornadoes killed at least two people as severe weather blasted the Deep South, and a house fire believed started by lightning claimed a third person, officials said Monday.

Jerry Oliver Williams, 61, died late Sunday night when winds flipped the home Williams shared with his wife and child in a rural Alabama county, authorities said. The area was under a tornado warning at the time.

SEATTLE (AP) — Boeing and at least one other U.S. heavy-equipment manufacturer resumed production and some states rolled out aggressive reopening plans Monday, despite nationwide concerns there is not enough testing yet to keep the coronavirus from rebounding.

In one of the most forceful moves yet, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp announced plans to restart the state’s economy before the end of the week. Kemp said gyms, hair salons, bowling alleys and tattoo parlors could reopen Friday, as long as owners followed strict social distancing and hygiene requirements.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Monday that he will sign an executive order “to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States” because of the coronavirus.

“In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States!” Trump tweeted.

He offered no details as to what immigration programs might be affected by the order. The White House did not immediately elaborate on Trump’s tweeted announcement.

(AP) --- Companies with thousands of employees, past penalties from government investigations and risks of financial failure even before the coronavirus walloped the economy were among those receiving millions of dollars from a relief fund that Congress created to help small businesses through the crisis, an Associated Press investigation found.

The Paycheck Protection Program was supposed to infuse small businesses, which typically have less access to quick cash and credit, with $349 billion in emergency loans that could help keep workers on the job and bills paid on time.