U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said talks with the White House on a new coronavirus aid bill were not yet on a path toward reaching a deal Friday, hours before the expiration of a federal unemployment benefit that has been an essential lifeline for millions of Americans.

Asked why she rejected a proposal from Republican President Donald Trump’s administration for a one-week extension of the U.S. enhanced weekly jobless payment, Pelosi told reporters that such a move would occur “if you are on a path” toward a deal.

“We’re not,” Pelosi told a news conference.

However, negotiations were to continue on Friday between White House officials and congressional Democrats...

Beyoncé is making Disney look bad. Not because there is anything wrong with her second visual album, Black Is King, which debuted on Disney+ on Friday — actually, quite the opposite. Using the music from The Gift, her tie-in soundtrack to 2019’s photorealistic remake of The Lion King, Beyoncé re-centers the story of a young ruler who goes astray before reconnecting with his roots as an unmistakably African story, one that blows both of Disney’s previous attempts out of the water.

While Disney has represented every continent by this point, it’s pretty telling that its most famous film set in Africa is about animals rather than people. Making matters worse, the original 1994 Lion King failed to highlight Black or African artists, relying instead on music and lyrics by Tim Rice and Elto...

Infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci resisted efforts by Republicans to criticize recent protests against racial injustice while pushing back on their continued promotion of hydroxycholoroquine as a possible coronavirus remedy in Congress on Friday.

Fauci’s testimony at a hearing of the U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee on the coronavirus crisis came at the end of a month in which U.S. coronavirus deaths rose by almost 25,000 and cases doubled in at least 18 states, according to a Reuters tally, dealing a crushing blow to hopes of quickly reopening the economy.

The United States has recorded nearly 1.8 million new COVID-19 cases in July out of its total 4.5 million known infections, an increase of 66 per cent with many states yet to report on Friday...

Beyoncé is making Disney look bad. Not because there is anything wrong with her second visual album, Black Is King, which debuted on Disney+ on Friday — actually, quite the opposite. Using the music from The Gift, her tie-in soundtrack to 2019’s photorealistic remake of The Lion King, Beyoncé re-centers the story of a young ruler who goes astray before reconnecting with his roots as an unmistakably African story, one that blows both of Disney’s previous attempts out of the water.

While Disney has represented every continent by this point, it’s pretty telling that its most famous film set in Africa is about animals rather than people. Making matters worse, the original 1994 Lion King failed to highlight Black or African artists, relying instead on music and lyrics by Tim Rice and Elto...

Negotiations over another coronavirus relief bill continue, the No. 2 Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives said as a federal jobless benefit was set to expire on Friday with no sign of a deal between the White House and Democrats.

“We’re going to be negotiating every minute that is possible,” despite the Republican-led Senate’s adjournment for the weekend, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told MSNBC in an interview.

Lawmakers and the White House are at odds over efforts to further shore up the economy and manage the novel coronavirus pandemic that has left tens of millions of Americans out of work and killed at least 152,384 people in the United States.

The CARES Act in March included a provision for an additional $600 US in jobless benefits for those eligible, with an expiry ...