Jul 02 Lebanese major retailers to shut down amid economic crisis By Sarah El Deeb, Associated Press Major retailers in Lebanon announced they will temporarily close in the face of an increasingly volatile currency market and their inability to set prices while the Lebanese pound plunges against the dollar. Continue reading
Jul 02 U.S. adds 4.8 million jobs as unemployment falls to 11.1% By Christopher Rugaber, Associated Press U.S. employers added a substantial 4.8 million jobs in June, as the job market improved for a second straight month. Continue reading
Jul 01 Background checks, a metric for gun sales, hits an all-time high By Lisa Marie Pane, Associated Press Historic numbers of background checks to purchase or possess a firearm have been conducted in June. It's just the latest month with record-breaking numbers since the system was created in 1998. Continue reading
Jul 01 U.S. House approves $1.5 trillion plan to fix crumbling infrastructure By Matthew Daly, Associated Press The bill also authorizes more than $100 billion to expand internet access for rural and low-income communities and $25 billion to modernize the U.S. Postal Service. Continue reading
Jul 01 Federal Reserve meeting minutes show concern about steep economic downturn By Martin Crutsinger, Associated Press Fed officials noted that the crisis was not falling equally on all Americans. The minutes say officials discussed how the sharp rise in joblessness had been especially severe for lower-wage workers, women, African Americans, and Hispanics. Continue reading
Jul 01 WATCH: White House holds news briefing amid a surge in U.S. virus cases By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Associated Press The Trump administration was slow to comprehend the scale of COVID-19's impact on nursing homes and a disjointed federal response has only compounded the devastating toll, according to a report from Senate Democrats. Continue reading
Jul 01 WATCH: Gov. Cuomo delays indoor dining in New York City to avoid virus spike By Karen Matthews, Marina Villeneuve, Associated Press Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the ban on indoor dining would be confined to New York City, where he complained that compliance with social-distancing guidelines is dropping. Continue reading
Jul 01 Some health experts criticize U.S. mass purchase of licensed virus drug By Maria Cheng, Associated Press, Marilynn Marchione, AP Chief Medical Writer The U.S. government announced this week that it had an agreement with Gilead Sciences to make the bulk of their production of remdesivir available to Americans for the next three months. Continue reading
Jun 30 WATCH: Alabama governor gives coronavirus update as cases grow By Associated Press States that President Donald Trump won in the 2016 election account for about 75% of the new cases, a trend that has accelerated since the end of May. Continue reading
Jun 30 WATCH: Mnuchin says hardest-hit businesses should be next aid focus By Martin Crutsinger, Associated Press There is about $128 billion in that program that has not been doled out from the popular Paycheck Protection Program that was designed to provide support to businesses if they keep their workers on the payroll. Continue reading