Trump news: President boasts about being in rap songs after press secretary shares police 'propaganda' video and contradicts CDC coronavirus study

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". 

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”.

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.