news,english
Judy Woodruff:
President Biden's COVID relief package totaling nearly $2 trillion moves another step closer to enactment today.
The U.S. Senate sent the bill to the House of Representatives for a final vote tomorrow. In advance, Democrats and Republicans jousted again over the benefits and costs.
Rep. Pete Aguilar:
This legislation represents the boldest action taken on behalf of the American people since the Great Depression and will give us the tools to build back better. It will put money in people's pockets. It will cut poverty in half, cut child poverty in half, and it will give our communities the resources needed to safely reopen schools.
Rep. Liz Cheney:
We could have had a bill that was a fraction of the cost of this one that could have gotten bipartisan approval and support. But the speaker decided to go in another direction. And so we're going to be saddled with a burden, a spending burden, and a tax burden that is really indefensible from the perspective of what it actually accomplishes.
Judy Woodruff:
We will return to the COVID relief bill after the news summary.
A trial centered on the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis pushed ahead with jury selection today. Former police officer Derek Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter. The judge allowed lawyers to question potential jurors, while an appeals court considers reinstating an additional murder charge.
The World Health Organization reports nearly one in three women worldwide has suffered physical or sexual violence. It says one-quarter of young women in relationships experienced violence by their mid-20s. Today's findings come from the largest study yet of the problem, spanning 2010 through 2018.
On the west coast of Central Africa, the death toll neared 100 today from explosions at a military base in equatorial Guinea. More than 600 others were wounded. Rescue workers have been pulling bodies from the rubble since Sunday. Officials blame the military for mishandling dynamite at the base.
The British royal family has now responded to allegations of racism by Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, who is biracial. A statement from Buckingham Palace today said that Queen Elizabeth and the royal family are saddened by the claims. It said the family will address the issues privately.
Back in this country, Kansas University dismissed head football coach, Les Miles, over allegations of sexual misconduct from his time at Louisiana State University. Miles coached 11 years at LSU, and won a national championship. He was fired in 2016, and joined Kansas in 2018. An LSU review has cited miles' troubling treatment of female students.
And on Wall Street today, tech stocks roared back, as the rest of the market made modest gains. The Dow Jones industrial average added 30 points to close at 31832. The Nasdaq jumped 464 points, nearly 3.7 percent, for its biggest gain in nearly a year. And the S&P 500 rose 54 points.
from:pbs