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UNDATED (AP) — Australia’s hard-hit Victoria state has recorded its lowest daily tally of COVID-19 cases in nine days while the state premier is expressing hope that it is the start of a downward trend. Victoria on Wednesday reported 295 new cases and nine deaths, seven of which were in aged care homes which are bearing the brunt of the pandemic. The state reported 384 new infections on Tuesday, down from a record 532 cases on Monday. Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said a downward trend had not yet been established. But Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said he had hoped for better results with Melbourne half way through a six-week lockdown.
UNDATED (AP) — State officials across the U.S. say Senate Republicans' proposed slashing of a federally funded boost in unemployment benefits could delay payments for weeks or even months. Democrats are pushing back, arguing that cutting the extra payments to $200 from $600 is bad policy — and that it's hard to implement. It took some states a month earlier this year to program aging computer systems to handle the initial increase. Under the GOP plan, there would be a second and maybe more challenging step of boosting benefits _ so they equal no more than 70% of a person's previous income.
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — After asking for coronavirus-related deadline extensions in April, the Trump administration now appears to be abandoning that request. It has asked Congress for extra funding to wrap up the 2020 census “as quickly, and safely as possible." Such a move could help ensure that the number-crunching for redrawing congressional districts takes place on President Donald Trump’s watch. Outside experts warned Tuesday that a sped-up timetable would lead to an inaccurate census that misses people in hard-to-count minority communities. The Census Bureau currently is in the middle of the 2020 census. Some of the bureau’s 500,000 door-knockers started heading out this month to households that haven’t yet responded.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A new $1 trillion COVID-19 response package by Senate Republicans is supposed to give the government all the weapons it needs to battle the surging coronavirus pandemic. But Republicans have more than just the “invisible enemy” in mind. They're proposing billions for F-35 fighters, Apache helicopters and infantry carriers sought by Washington’s powerful defense lobby. Overall, the proposal stuffs $8 billion into Pentagon weapons systems built by defense contractors like Boeing, Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics. The bill was drafted by Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Richard Shelby, an Alabama Republican.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Forecasters have issued a tropical storm warning for Puerto Rico and other parts of the Caribbean, with a disturbance in the Atlantic expected to soon strengthen into a tropical storm. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Tuesday that warnings have been issued for Puerto Rico, the British and U.S. Virgin Islands and numerous other islands. The storm could eventually reach the U.S. mainland, though the long-term track and intensity are highly uncertain. The storm is expected to move through the Leeward Islands on Wednesday, and near or over the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico on Wednesday night.
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