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US Vice-President Mike Pence on Thursday, June 4, extended "sympathies and prayers" to the family and friends of George Floyd over his death. Calling Floyd's death as a "tragedy", the US Vice-President took to Twitter and stated that as the US President Donald Trump has assured, "Justice will be served".

George Floyds Memorial was held in Minneapolis on June 4 and wasthe first of a series of memorials that will take place in three cities over the span of six days. It was attended bycelebrities, musicians, and political leaders. Further, all those who hadparticipated stood in silence for 8 minutes and 46 seconds-- the length of the time the ex-police officer Derek Chauvin had his knee on Floyd's neck--in order to honor his memory.

Read:'Cannot use Bible as prop': Reverend Sharpton slams Donald Trump at George Floyd memorial

George Floyd's tragic death hasnot only angered millions across the world but it has also fueled a fresh wave of protests in various US states. Several protestors also converged outside the White Houseshouting "Black Lives Matter" and "I can't breathe". The focus of the protests is the alleged institutional bigotry and consequent brutalityin American police forces. Meanwhile, severalpolice squadsalso joined the protestors in order to express their stand against police brutality and racism.

Last week, as many as40 cities across the United States imposed curfews in response to the mass protests. According to international media reports, around 5,000 National Guard soldiers have been activated in 15 states, as well as in Washington DC, along with 2,000 other personnelwho are prepared to activate if needed. Meanwhile, over4,000 people across the US States have been arrested during the protests.

Read:Hundreds gather at George Floyd's memorial service; observe 8 minute-silence as tribute

George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American man, died in Minneapolis earlier last week. As per reports, Floyd was arrested by the local police for unspecified charges on May 26. A tussle is said to have broken out between George Floyd and the police officials, which resulted in Floyds death after being subdued for several minutes by an officer. In a video that went viral on the internet, the officer was seen pressing his knee against Floyd's neck who was seen gasping for air before turning motionless.

George Floyd's death has triggered mass unrest in various parts of the US. As per reports, police officer Derek Chauvin and three other officers - Thomas Lane, Tou Thao and J Alexander Kueng - were later fired by the Minneapolis Police Department. Chauvin has been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

Read:Protesters tear-gassed so Trump can walk to photo-op Church; outrage scorches Twitter

Read:White House fortified with fencing in anticipation of George Floyd protests over weekend

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George Floyd Memorial: Mike Pence offers sympathies and prayers, calls it a tragedy - Republic World - Republic World

Vice President Mike Pence celebrated the 76th anniversary of the D-Day landings with a note addressed to those who served in the fight against Nazi Germany and the Axis powers.

Writing on Twitter Saturday, Pence said the memory of U.S. and other Allied troops who stormed the beaches of Normandy in German-occupied France during World War II lives on in the freedom they secured for "decades to come."

"On the 76th Anniversary of #DDay, we pause to remember the more than 130,000 American and Allied troops whose selfless heroism on the beaches of Normandy secured freedom for decades to come," Pence wrote.

More than 150,000 Allied troops used amphibious carriers to land along the 50-mile French coastline on June 6, 1944, in what would mark the beginning of the end for Germany on the Western Front.

The battle, code-named Operation Neptune, is remembered through photos, including one shared in Pence's tweet, and grainy films of troops pushing through strong ocean currents and poor weather to reach the beaches before charging into Nazi machine gunfire. More than 10,000 troops died in the process of securing the strategic coastline.

Pence said the people of the United States will be "forever grateful" to the veterans who claimed victory in World War II.

"We will never forget or fail to honor the sacrifice of those who did not come home and our Nation will be forever grateful for the bravery and service of the Greatest Generation," added Pence in a follow-up tweet.

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'The Greatest Generation': Pence honors 'selfless heroism' of WWII veterans on 76th anniversary of D-Day - Washington Examiner

President Donald Trump's "Make Space Great Again" campaign ad blazed new ground during its very brief life.

The president's reelection campaign released the 2.5-minute video on Wednesday (June 3) but pulled it just a day later, after widespread criticism that it improperly politicized NASA and violated the agency's advertising regulations on the depictions of astronauts.

But while the ad's burial was noteworthy, its birth was even more so, said space policy expert John Logsdon.

Related: In photos: President Donald Trump and NASA

"If that had run [long-term], a nearly three-minute video there certainly would have been nothing like that before," Logsdon, a professor emeritus of political science and international affairs at George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs in Washington, D.C., told Space.com.

"Space has never been a campaign issue," he said. "So, there's never been any reason for a candidate to advertise his or her support for the space program as a way to get elected."

(John F. Kennedy did campaign on the "missile gap" between the United States and the Soviet Union in the leadup to the 1960 presidential election, Logsdon noted. But space was just a tangential component of that appeal, which was concerned primarily with national defense.)

The short-lived video highlighted the Trump administration's push for a crewed moon landing by 2024, which NASA is working to achieve via its Artemis program. The ad also celebrated the successful May 30 launch of SpaceX's Demo-2 mission, the first orbital human spaceflight to depart from the United States since NASA retired its space shuttle fleet in July 2011.

Demo-2 sent NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station (ISS) on board a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule. The two spaceflyers will live on the orbiting lab for one to four months; NASA has not yet announced how long their mission will last.

SpaceX developed Crew Dragon with funding help from NASA's Commercial Crew Program, which was established in 2010 to groom private spacecraft to fill the space shuttle's shoes. In 2014, SpaceX and Boeing won multibillion-dollar commercial crew contracts to finish work on their astronaut taxis (Boeing's is a capsule called CST-100 Starliner) and fly six operational missions to the ISS. SpaceX can start conducting those contracted missions if all continues to go well with Demo-2.

The "Make Space Great Again" video did not reference the 10-year history of commercial crew, which began during the presidency of Barack Obama.

"One of the things the ad reminded me of was Richard Nixon at the time of Apollo 11. Nixon had nothing to do with Apollo 11, but he wrapped himself in all the celebrations went out to the carrier and all of that and never once mentioned Kennedy," said Logsdon, who has written books about the space policies of both Nixon and Kennedy. (The aircraft carrier U.S.S. Hornet fished the Apollo 11 astronauts out of the Pacific Ocean after their mission-ending splashdown on July 24, 1969, and ferried the trio back to shore.)

"And in the same way, Trump seemed to intimate that he was responsible for commercial crew, and that nothing that happened before had any impact," he added.

This is not to imply, however, that Trump's interest in space is feigned or insincere; all indications point to the president being "very positive on the space program," Logsdon said. For example, the White House's 2021 budget request allocates $25.2 billion to NASA, a 12% bump that would be the biggest year-over-year increase for the agency in decades. (A big chunk of the money would go toward making that 2024 moon landing happen.)

Logsdon also cited Trump's resurrection of the National Space Council and his appointment of Vice President Mike Pence and space policy expert Scott Pace as chairman and executive secretary, respectively, of the policy-steering body.

"He's got a good group of people that see space as an important national issue," Logsdon said.

The pulled campaign ad showed Demo-2 astronauts Behnken and Hurley, as well as the NASA logo. That appeared to violate NASA regulations, which prohibit using the agency's logo and the likenesses of current astronauts for marketing purposes.

Behnken is married to fellow NASA astronaut Megan McArthur, who was briefly visible in the video as well. Hurley's wife, retired NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg, also appears in the ad. Nyberg said via Twitter that she did not consent to this depiction another apparent violation of NASA regulations. (The rules are slightly different for active versus retired astronauts.)

Mike Wall is the author of "Out There" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.

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Trump's 'Make Space Great Again' ad was like nothing we've ever seen - Space.com

More than 15 members of West Points graduating class tested positive for the coronavirus upon their return to the U.S. Military Academy, which is preparing to host President Donald Trump for an unusual graduation ceremony that has been criticized as too risky during a pandemic.

Trumps announcement in April that he would give the commencement address at the historic academy was criticized as a political move. But Army officials said graduates needed to return before beginning their careers as officers anyway, so the logistically daunting task of preparing for the June 13 ceremony is underway.

At some point, they had to come back to campus, academy spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Ophardt said Wednesday. And it was like, If they have to come back, how do we protect the campus and the surrounding community and protect them?

Read more: Coronavirus Has Hit the U.S. Military, and Americas Adversaries Are Seeking Advantage

The roughly 1,100 class members preparing to graduate returned to campus over five days last week, with most of them driving and others flying commercially. Arrivals were immediately tested for the virus.

Ophardt said 1.5% tested positive, which works out to about 17 people, and none showed symptoms. Those who tested positive are going through 10 days of isolation in a designated barracks, before four more days of slightly less strict quarantine. They have internet access in their rooms and can go outside in set areas to read or perform physical training, Ophardt said.

The rest of the class has been divided into four groups of roughly 275, and their health is being monitored.

The groups do not intermingle with each other. For instance, the mess hall takes in two groups at a time, and they eat in different parts of the hall, Ophardt said.

They had to turn in their military equipment, which theyre still doing now. Theyve been doing P.T. (physical training), theyve been turning in library books, all the stuff a normal college kid would do right before they were going to leave, he said. And theyre getting all the medical appointments done, blood draws, all that type of stuff that needs to get done.

The graduation ceremony this year is being moved from the on-campus football stadium to the expansive parade field known as the Plain. Cadets will march on to the Plain in socially distant formations and take seats 6 feet (2 meters) apart. In a dramatic departure from past years, there will be no guests. Family members can watch the ceremony via livestream.

Presidents routinely speak at West Point commencements. But Trumps announcement during the pandemic has been dismissed as way get him on stage at the academy, which is 40 miles (65 kilometers) up the Hudson River from New York City, the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak. U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., a member of West Points Board of Visitors, said in April: Trumps reckless decision to gather 1,000 Cadets at West Point for a speech puts our future military leaders at increased risk all to stroke his own ego.

Army officials and the White House have stood by the decision. Gen. James McConville, the chief of staff of the Army, told Pentagon reporters: We cant telecommute to combat.

This upcoming graduation is about these incredible cadets and their amazing accomplishments, and as the Commander-in-Chief, President Trump wants to celebrate that and thank them for their service to our country, White House spokesman Judd Deere wrote in an email Wednesday.

West Points ceremony will be similar to the U.S. Air Force Academys scaled-down ceremony in April. Vice President Mike Pence addressed hundreds of graduates sitting in chairs spaced out on the schools parade field, instead of its stadium.

In contrast, the U.S. Naval Academy opted to hold its first-ever virtual graduation ceremony last month.

West Point plans to bring the other three classes back for summer training in July and to welcome members of the class of 2024 that same month.

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West Point Graduates Test Positive for Coronavirus Ahead of Trump-Hosted Commencement - TIME

A "Now Hiring" sign advertising jobs at Lowe's is seen as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in Homestead, Florida, U.S., April 17, 2020.

Marco Bello | Reuters

Payroll tax cuts could be in the next round of coronavirus aid legislation, if President Donald Trump gets his way.

Vice President Mike Pence reiterated the administration's support for the idea during a Friday morning interview on CNBC.

"We've got to have a payroll tax cut," Pence said. "We've got to have the kind of pro-growth policies that will continue this economic recovery."

The idea comes as lawmakers are poised to consider their next efforts to support the economy. House Democrats recently passed a bill that would include another round of $1,200 stimulus checks and an extension of the extra $600 per week in unemployment benefits to the end of January.

But that proposal would need to get past Senate Republicans.

Payroll tax cuts were not in that bill. But it's an idea that the president has mentioned repeatedly.

Payroll taxes are withheld from workers' wages and are used to fund government programs, such asSocial Security and Medicare.

For Social Security, employee wages are subject to a 6.2% tax up to $137,700 in 2020. Workers also pay a Medicare tax of 1.45%.

Employers match what workers contribute by also putting in 6.2% toward Social Security and 1.45% for Medicare.

More from Personal Finance:What the unemployment rate actually means and why it's so important What to do if you still haven't received your $1,200 stimulus check The stimulus proposals that could put more money in your wallet

Of note, some employers have been allowed to defer paying select payroll taxes through the end of the year, particularly Social Security and Railroad Retirement levies, to help them recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

Workers are also subject to other payroll taxes. If they earn more than $200,000 individually, or $250,000 if they are married and filing jointly, they pay an additional 0.9% Medicare surtax.

Self-employed individualspay 12.4% toward Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare, for a total of 15.3%. They also are subject to the Medicare surtax for wages over $200,000.

Payroll tax cuts are not the strongest financial aid strategy that lawmakers currently have on the table, for a couple of reasons, according to Howard Gleckman, senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.

The first issue is that it really exclusively benefits people who are working. "It's not targeted particularly well to those who need it the most," he said.

The second issue is that, by cutting payroll taxes, "you are blowing an even bigger hole in the Social Security trust fund, which is already in trouble," Gleckman said.

"This would make it significantly worse," he said.

A recent study from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania found that Social Security's trust funds could run out up to four years earlier due to the negative effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

Payroll tax cuts would also provide an incentive for employees to go back to work. "The question is, is it the right time to do that?" Gleckman said, given the health risks the coronavirus poses.

Other strategies lawmakers are weighing include continuing extra unemployment benefits, which would encourage people to stay home to avoid the pandemic, or back-to-work bonuses, which would reward them for resuming their jobs.

A payroll tax cut could duplicate other efforts that went into effect with the CARES Act, particularly the deferrals on these levies for employers, said Garrett Watson, senior policy analyst at the Tax Foundation. Such a cut would need to be combined with efforts to provide relief to those who are not working, he said.

Still, some lawmakers might not be ready to give up on the idea.

"This may become a pretty big point of contention ... so that's something we're going to be watching very closely," Watson said. "It may be an item that they think is non-negotiable."

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The Trump administration wants to give workers a payroll tax cut. Experts question whether it could work - CNBC