‘What recession?’: US employers add 528,000 jobs in July
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers added an astonishing 528,000 jobs last month despite flashing warning signs of an economic downturn, easing fears of a recession and handing President Joe Biden some good news heading into the midterm elections. Unemployment dropped another notch, from 3.6% to 3.5%, matching the more than 50-year low reached just before the pandemic took hold. The economy has now recovered all 22 million jobs lost in March and April 2020 when COVID-19 slammed the U.S. The red-hot numbers were reported Friday by the Labor Department. Economists had expected only 250,000 new jobs last month, in a drop-off from June’s revised 398,000. Instead, July proved to be the best month since February.
China halts climate, military ties over Pelosi Taiwan visit
WASHINGTON (AP) — China says it is canceling or suspending dialogue with the U.S. on a range of issues from climate change to military relations and anti-narcotics efforts in retaliation for a visit this week to Taiwan by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The measures announced Friday are the latest in a promised series of steps intended to punish Washington for allowing the visit to the island claimed by Beijing as its own territory, to be annexed by force if necessary. China is holding threatening military exercises off the coast of the island republic. The White House summoned China’s ambassador in Washington to protest what it called China’s “irresponsible” actions since Pelosi’s visit.
Democrats say they’ve reached agreement on economic package
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats say they have reached an accord on changes to their marquee economic legislation, clearing the major hurdle to pushing one of President Joe Biden’s leading election-year priorities through the chamber in coming days. Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, a centrist who was seen as the pivotal vote, says she is ready to “move forward” on the bill. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York says lawmakers have achieved a compromise that will receive the support of all Democrats in the chamber. His party needs unanimity and Vice President Kamala Harris’ tie-breaking vote to move the measure through the Senate over certain solid opposition from Republicans.
Kentucky flood survivors turn to grim task: Burying the dead
CHAVIES, Ky. (AP) — Angel Campbell should have been looking through photo albums and eating soup beans in her grandmother’s living room this week. Now the living room is gone and so is her grandmother. At least 37 people died as massive floods roared through Appalachian communities of eastern Kentucky last week. Funeral homes have settled into a steady cadence of visitations and memorials, one after another. They press on with the grim work of recovering and burying the dead even as more rain falls. One survivor says they may not have much money, but they’re rich in friendship and family, and that’s what’s important.
Israeli strikes on Gaza kill 10, including senior militant
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinian officials say Israeli airstrikes on Gaza have killed at least 10 people, including a senior militant, and wounded 55 others. Palestinian militants fired a barrage of rockets into Israel hours later. Israel says it is responding to an “imminent threat” after days of tensions following the arrest of a senior Islamic Jihad leader in the occupied West Bank. Israel had closed roads around Gaza earlier this week and sent reinforcements to the border as it braced for a revenge attack. An Islamic Jihad commander was among those killed Friday, raising the likelihood of a wider conflict. Israel and the Hamas militant group ruling Gaza have fought four wars and several smaller battles over the last 15 years.
Economist: Alex Jones, his company worth up to $270 million
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — An economist says conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his company Free Speech Systems are worth up to $270 million. The testimony came Friday in front of a jury trying to determine if Jones should have to pay punitive damages to the family of a 6-year-old killed in the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. The same jury already ordered Jones to pay Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis $4.1 million in compensation for defamation. Their attorney asked jurors Friday to award another $145.9 million. Jones’ lawyers said less than $300,000 would be fair. Economist Bernard Pettingill, whom the plaintiffs hired to study Jones’ net worth, says records show Jones withdrew $62 million for himself last year.
Indiana House passes abortion ban, sends to Senate
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indiana House has passed a bill that would ban nearly all abortions in the state, sending the legislation back to the state Senate to confer on House changes. House members on Friday advanced the near-total abortion ban 62-38 with limited exceptions, including in cases of rape and incest, and to protect the life and physical health of the mother. The measure now goes to the Senate. If approved as is, Indiana lawmakers will become the first in the nation to pass new legislation restricting access to abortions since the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in June removing its protected status as a constitutional right. The measure then would go to Gov. Eric Holcomb, who has not indicated whether he would sign it.
Seven years of sex abuse: How Mormon officials let it happen
BISBEE, Ariz. (AP) — The Associated Press has obtained nearly 12,000 pages of sealed records from a child sex abuse lawsuit against the Mormon church. The documents offer the most detailed and comprehensive look yet at the church’s so-called “help line” for dealing with child sex abuse accusations against officials and members. Families of survivors who filed the lawsuit said they show it’s part of a system that can easily be misused by church leaders to divert abuse accusations away from law enforcement and instead to church attorneys who may bury the problem, leaving victims in harm’s way. One victim was 5 when her father told his bishop that he was sexually abusing her. The abuse went on for seven more years, while the bishop failed to report it to authorities.
NCAA hoops leagues grapple with unequal pay for women’s refs
The NCAA earned praise last year when it agreed to pay referees at its men’s and women’s basketball tournaments equally. The gesture only cost about $100,000, a tiny fraction of the roughly $900 million networks pay annually to broadcast March Madness. Now, as the NCAA examines various disparities across men’s and women’s sports, pressure is rising to also pay referees equally during the regular season. Two Division I conferences told The Associated Press they plan to equalize pay, and another is considering it. Others are resisting change, even though the impact on their budgets would be negligible.
‘Golden Girls’ LA pop-up restaurant has the golden touch
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Picture it: A vacant Beverly Hills bistro has been transformed into the set of a 1980s sitcom about four women living in Miami but it’s also a working restaurant. Reservations have been going fast at the newly opened “The Golden Girls Kitchen.” Thirty years after “The Golden Girls” ended on NBC, fans still can’t let go of the sitcom about four housemates bonding over aging, dating and cheesecake. The pop-up only has reservations through the end of October. But there are plans to take it on the road to New York, Chicago, San Francisco and, of course, Miami.