The Biden administration won’t look to extend weekly enhanced unemployment benefits. A bomb threat suspect surrendered peacefully after an hours-long standoff near the U.S. Capitol. And Hurricane Grace made landfall.
👋 It’s Thursday. It’s Laura. It’s time for Thursday’s news.
But first, double turtle power! 🐢 A super rare two-headed baby sea turtle was found alive on a beach in North Carolina. It got two names – one for each noggin.
The Short List is a snappy USA TODAY news roundup. Subscribe to the newsletter here or text messages here.
Biden won’t seek to extend enhanced $300 unemployment benefits
President Joe Biden’s administration won’t look to reinstate enhanced weekly $300 unemployment benefits set to expire on Sept. 6 and is instead urging states that want to continue the extra payments to use their share of COVID-19 rescue funds. The enhanced benefits, designed to help Americans who lost jobs because of the pandemic, were enacted last year in the federal CARES Act under then-President Donald Trump. The boost, originally $600 but later cut in half, was extended twice, most recently to Sept. 6 under Biden’s American Rescue Plan that Congress passed in March. For states that want to keep extra benefits going, the administration is emphasizing that states can use their portions of $350 billion in direct aid from the American Rescue Plan.
- Panicked cities pressed for COVID-19 funds. Now, some are slow to spend.
- At least 9 states are dropping federal unemployment programs Here’s why.
Bomb threat suspect surrenders after standoff near US Capitol
After an hours-long standoff with authorities that prompted an evacuation, a 49-year-old North Carolina man who claimed to be carrying a bomb in a pickup truck parked near the U.S. Capitol peacefully surrendered to police. U.S. Capitol Police identified the suspect as Floyd Ray Roseberry, who ultimately crawled from the cluttered cab of his pickup, ending an unusual confrontation – some of it livestreamed on Facebook by Roseberry. Officials first seized on the vehicle Thursday morning after it had been driven on the sidewalk outside the Library of Congress building by Roseberry, who claimed to have a device and what appeared to be a detonator in his hand. Roseberry livestreamed part of the standoff, where he repeatedly appealed to President Joe Biden, referred to an approaching “revolution” and warned of four other devices that had been planted across the city.
What everyone’s talking about
Afghans protest Taliban takeover
In the days after the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, the Afghan people are starting to push back against their new rulers. A day after a protest in Jalalabad, in eastern Afghanistan, drew a violent Taliban rebuke, demonstrations grew on Thursday. Afghan people pushed their new rulers by waving the national flag and marking the nation’s 102nd anniversary of…
Read More: COVID-19, unemployment benefits, Afghanistan update, US Capitol bomb