During a Friday briefing, White House secretary Kayleigh McEnany shared a video of Portland protestors described by critics as "propaganda" following Donald Trump's call to send federal law enforcement to cities across the US.
The United Nations has pleaded with the US to halt the use of force against journalists, at least 70 of which have been placed in custody during Black Lives Matter demonstrations.
Trump's administration has defended pushing for schools to reopen in the coming weeks, following the release of Centres for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines that downplay the agency's own findings about the risks of infections among school-aged children.
During a Friday briefing, Ms McEnany said: "Even if there is transmission ... we believe that students should be going back to school because the effect on a child we know scientifically they are not affected the same way as an adult."
Mr Trump meanwhile sat for a softball interview with Barstool Sports in which he admitted regretting some late-night posts on Twitter and boasted about being in rap songs while calling the Covid-19 outbreak a "downer".
"We were doing a great job," he said. "We were sailing. George Washington would've had a hard time beating us ... And then when the China virus came in. It's a dampener, it's a downer."
The president has also signed a series of orders in an effort to lower prescription drug costs, despite pushback from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell over similar legislative efforts from Democrats.
Without any deal in sight, Congress has failed to extend federal unemployment benefits, which expire for most Americans this week. More than 30 million people – or roughly one in five workers – are unemployment amid the pandemic.
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Trump cancels Republican Convention
Donald Trump pulled the plug on the Republican conference due to be held in Jacksonville, Florida, because the timing for the event was “not right”, writes John T Bennett.
However, the president said at the reinstated daily coronavirus meeting that he will still deliver a speech accepting the party’s nomination.
Mr Trump claimed the decision to cancel the event was taken “to protect the American people”.
This comes a month after the president held a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, despite warnings about its potential impact on public health.
US-China relations continue to sour
Beijing has decided to close the US consulate in the city of Chengdu in south-west China in response to the Trump administration's decision to shut a Chinese consulate in the US amid accusations of spying, writes Adam Withnall.
The closures mark a new low in relations between the two superpowers, which have become more strained in recent years.
China's foreign ministry defended its actions as “a legitimate and necessary response to the unjustified act by the United States”.
Earlier this week, Washington claimed Chinese agents, who it alleged were working out of the Houston consulate, were attempting to steal US intellectual property.
Trump administration to be investigated over use of force
Several probes are being launched into the Trump administration’s use of force against protesters in Portland, Oregon, after it deployed federal forces there.
This followed the mayor of Portland’s accusation that federal officers had escalated the situation in the city over the weekend.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) inspector general Michael Horowitz said on Thursday that he would be initiating a review “ to examine the DOJ’s and its law enforcement components’ roles and responsibilities in responding to protest activity and civil unrest in Washington, DC, and in Portland, Oregon over the prior two months'.
US coronavirus cases pass four million
The total number of Covid-19 cases across the US has risen above 4 million, double the figure recorded on 11 June.
More than 143,000 people have died from the virus in the country, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Nationwide infections have soared this month, passing the 3 million mark on 7 July.
The Independent'sAlex Woodward offers his analysis here:
US and UK accuse Russia of firing anti-satellite space weapon
The US and the UK have said Russia breached trust and escalated the arms race by allegedly firing an anti-satellite weapon in space, writes Kim Sengupta.
This is the first occasion that Washington and London have accused Moscow of launching an "on orbit" weapon, one that is based in space.
General John W Raymond, commander of US Space Command, said: “This is further evidence of Russia’s continuing efforts to develop and test space-based systems, and consistent with the Kremlin’s published military doctrine to employ weapons that hold US and allied space assets at risk.”
US fighter jet sparks panic by flying near Iranian passenger plane
A US F-15 fighter created panic among passengers on an Iranian passenger plane by flying close to the civilian craft late on Thursday over Syria.
The Mahan Air flight was on its way from Tehran to Beirut when the incident occurred.
Footage from the plane shows passengers on board the plane screaming and oxygen masks dangling from the ceiling.
In response, Iran said it would raise its concerns about the event before the UN Security Council.
According to the US, the American pilot was at a “safe distance” of 1,000 metres and was following protocol.
China accuses US personnel in Chengdu of interfering with its affairs
China has claimed that staff at the US consulate in Chengdu interfered in Chinese affairs, as Beijing moved to close the facility on Friday.
Wang Wenbin, a foreign ministry spokesperson, made the comment at a daily press briefing, adding that China’s decision was “a legitimate and necessary response” to Washington’s closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston, Texas, earlier this week.
The US had accused personnel at the Chinese consulate of spying.
The recent souring of relations follows Donald Trump’s anti-China rhetoric about the coronavirus and diplomatic spats over China’s new national security law in Hong Kong.
On Thursday, secretary of state Mike Pompeo suggested that Washington and its allies should press Beijing to change its policies in "more creative and assertive ways".
Fauci's pitch opens baseball season
Dr Antony Fauci, the US' leading infectious disease expert, threw the ceremonial first pitch to mark the start of a shortened Major League Baseball season on Thursday.
The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases' toss hit the grass short of the home plate, ahead of a game between the Washington Nationals and the New York Yankees.
The infectious disease specialist has not appeared at any of the revived daily coronavirus press briefings this week, after the Trump administration's public attacks against him.
China denounces Pompeo comments
China has told the US to stop its "cold war mentality" after US secretary of state Mike Pompeo criticised Beijing during a speech on Thursday.
At a press conference on Friday, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry accused Mr Pompeo of delivering a speech filled with ideological bias.
The secretary of state had said it was the "mission of our time" for Washington and its allies to change the ways of the Chinese Communist Party.
UN says US police should not use disproportionate force during protests
The United Nations human rights office has warned US police and security forces not to use disproportionate force against protesters in cities such as Portland.
A UN spokesperson told a news briefing in Geneva that reports of peaceful protesters being arrested by unidentified officers were worrying, as they risked "arbitrary detention and other human rights violations".
Force should only be used proportionately in line with international guidelines, the UN human rights office added.
On Thursday, the US Department of Justice said it would investigate the actions of federal forces in Portland.
This announcement came the day after Ted Wheeler, the mayor of the city, was tear-gassed by law enforcement agents.
Ocasio-Cortez gives powerful speech after Republican's sexist remarks
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez delivered a powerful speech on Thursday condemning sexism in the US in response to a Republican politician's use of violent language against her.
In an impassioned speech, Ms Ocasio Cortez took aim at the words which congressman Ted Yoho directed at her earlier this week.
He is alleged to have described her as a "f***ing b****".
“This issue is not about one incident. It is cultural," she said.
The congresswoman added that the power structure in the US supports a culture of "accepting...violent language against women".
Before signing four executive orders aimed at lower drug prices, Donald Trump mocked "rich people" and "so-called allies" he contended unfairly benefit from inflated medicine costs.
"A lot of rich people ... aren't going to be so rich," the president said during a Friday afternoon event.
He said some company executives and "middle men" would not be "so happy with me" after the directives took effect.
White House press secretary defends Trump over Maxwell comment
The president’s press secretary has defended him after he sent his good wishes to Ghislaine Maxwell, writes Tim Wyatt.
Ms Maxwell, a former girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein, has been charged over the sexual trafficking of underage girls.
At a coronavirus press briefing, Mr Trump, who has met Ms Maxwell on multiple occasions, said: “I just wish her well frankly”.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said his well-wishing was unintentional and that the president instead wanted “justice to be served for victims in this case”.
Thousands of homes still damaged in Puerto Rico three years after hurricane
Tens of thousands of homes in Puerto Rico are still badly damaged almost three years after Hurricane Maria struck, writes Danica Coto.
The storm devastated the US territory on 20 September 2017, battering nearly 800,000 houses and causing an estimated $100bn in damage.
Around 3,000 people are thought to have died in the hurricane’s aftermath.
Statue of Christopher Columbus removed in Chicago
Authorities in Chicago have taken down a statue of Christopher Columbus from a park in the city where repeated clashes between police and protesters have occurred.
A crane was used to move the statue on Friday morning, before it was transported to an unknown location.
This came two days after Donald Trump announced that federal forces would be deployed to Chicago, as part of his crack-down on protests caused by the death of George Floyd.
Federal agents fire tear gas at BLM demonstrators in Portland
Federal law enforcement agents have fired tear gas at Black Lives Matter protesters in Portland, Oregon, on Friday, amid increased scrutiny over their use of force in the city.
It is thought that the federal forces took the measure after a small group of demonstrators lit a fire near a building in the early hours of Friday morning.
People reported being hit with projectiles as well as lasers on what is the 56th day of consecutive protests.
The UN has warned US officers not to employ disproportionate force when policing demonstrations.
Trump's former lawyer to leave prison for home confinement
Michael Cohen will on Friday be allowed to return to his flat in Manhattan to complete his three-year sentence, after a judge decided he had been put back in jail in retaliation for planning to release a book about the president.
US district judge Alvin Hellerstein ordered that Mr Cohen be released by 2pm EDT from the prison where he is being held in New York state.
In May, Trump's former lawyer was furloughed from jail as a result of fears over coronavirus in prisons.
"I make the finding that the purpose of transferring Mr. Cohen from furlough and home confinement to jail is retaliatory and it's retaliatory because of his desire to exercise his First Amendment rights to publish a book," Mr Hellerstein said at a hearing on Thursday.
Trump relying on outlier interpretation of Supreme Court decision to assert broad new powers
Donald Trump is relying on an outlier interpretation of a recent Supreme Court decision to assert broad new powers as he prepares to sign a series of executive orders in the coming weeks.
The expansive view of presidential authority has been promoted by John Yoo, a Berkeley Law professor known for writing the so-called "torture memos" that the George W. Bush administration used to justify using "enhanced interrogation" techniques after the 11 September terror attacks.
Mr Yoo told The Associated Press on Thursday he has had multiple conversations with senior administration officials in which he's made the case that a June Supreme Court ruling that rejected Trump's effort to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, opened the door to enormous new presidential power.
"I said, 'Why not just take the DACA opinion itself and do a search-replace. And every time it says 'DACA' ... replace it with 'skills-based immigration system,'" Mr Yoo said he told the White House.
"This gives President Trump an alternative to create such a program, at least for a few years."
Not long after the conversations, Mr Trump began promising a series of new executive orders on a range of issues.
"The decision by the Supreme Court on DACA allows me to do things on immigration, on health care, on other things that we've never done before," Mr Trump said in an interview on Fox News Sunday, predicting "a very exciting two weeks."
Nearly half of Americans laid off during coronavirus crisis believe jobs are lost forever
Nearly half of Americans whose families experienced a layoff during the coronavirus pandemic now believe those jobs are lost forever, a new poll shows, as temporary cutbacks give way to shuttered businesses, bankruptcies and lasting payroll cuts.
It represents a sharp change after initial optimism the jobs would return.
In April, 78 per cent of those in households with a job loss thought they'd be temporary. Now, 47 per cent think that lost job is definitely or probably not coming back, according to the latest poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
That translates into roughly 10 million workers who will need to find a new employer, if not a new occupation.
The poll is the latest sign the solid hiring of May and June, as some states lifted stay-at-home orders and the economy began to recover, may wane as the year goes on. Adding to the challenge: many students will begin the school-year online, making it harder for parents to take jobs outside their homes.
Russia rejects US and UK criticism of space activities
Moscow has rejected criticism from the US and the UK of Russia's activities in space on Friday, after the two nations expressed concern at a Russian satellite test conducted on 15 July.
On Thursday Britain said Russia had launched a projectile with the "characteristics of a weapon" and called on Moscow to behave responsibly in space.
"The tests conducted by Russia's Ministry of Defence on 15 July did not pose a threat to other space objects and, most importantly, did not violate any norms and principles of international law," Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement.
The foreign ministry said it considered statements made by American and British officials as an "anti-Russian strike as part of a targeted information campaign initiated by Washington" to discredit Russia's activities in space.
