USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — A debate in Congress over whether to extend $600 a week in federally provided benefits to the unemployed looks sure to intensify with the number of people receiving the aid now topping 30 million — one in five workers.

The money, included in a government relief package enacted in March, is set to expire July 31. Yet with the unemployment rate widely expected to still be in the mid-teens by then, members of both parties will face pressure to compromise on some form of renewed benefits for the jobless.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration may soon expel thousands of Chinese graduate students enrolled at U.S. universities and impose other sanctions against Chinese officials in the latest signs of tensions between Washington and Beijing that are raging over trade, the coronavirus pandemic, human rights and the status of Hong Kong.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House has taken the unusual step of deciding not to release an updated economic forecast as planned this year, a fresh sign of the administration’s anxiety about how the coronavirus has ravaged the nation just months before the election.

The decision, which was confirmed Thursday by a senior administration official who was not authorized to publicly comment on the plan, came amid intensifying signals of the pandemic’s grim economic toll.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — At least seven people were shot in Louisville as protesters turned out to demand justice for Breonna Taylor, a black woman fatally shot by police in her home in March.

Louisville Metro Police confirmed in a statement early Friday that there were at least seven shooting victims, at least one of whom is in critical condition. The statement said there were “some arrests,” but police didn’t provide a number.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Twitter has added a warning to one of President Donald J. Trump’s tweets about protests in Minneapolis, saying it violated the platform’s rules about “glorifying violence.”

Trump, a prolific Twitter user, has been at war with the company since earlier this week, when it applied fact checks to two of his tweets about mail-in ballots.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Cheering protesters torched a Minneapolis police station Thursday that the department was forced to abandon as three days of violent protests spread to nearby St. Paul and angry demonstrations flared across the U.S over the death of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man who pleaded for air as a white police officer kneeled on his neck.

WASHINGTON, May 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States said it has approved the sale of 84 of the most recent generation of Patriot missiles to Kuwait, plus equipment to modernize the country’s antimissile program, for a total of $1.425 billion.

The State Department said in a statement that sale benefits both parties.

WASHINGTON, May 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States will take action to prevent alleged espionage by Chinese students, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, ahead of an expected announcement by President Donald Trump.

Trump earlier said that he will hold a press conference Friday about China amid soaring tensions between the two powers, including over the status of Hong Kong and the novel coronavirus pandemic.

UNITED NATIONS, May 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States and Britain have called for the UN Security Council to meet Friday to discuss a controversial security law that China plans to impose on Hong Kong, diplomatic sources said.

The subject will be considered in an informal, closed-door videoconference in a format that allows any member to raise various issues and which China cannot in principle oppose, according to the same sources.

On Wednesday, Beijing had refused to allow a formal Security Council meeting called by Washington on the same subject to proceed.

UNITED NATIONS, May 29 (NNN-UPI) — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday called for countries throughout the world to work to take action in six areas to limit the financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, reported United Press International (UPI).