The number of people applying for unemployment benefits in the U.S. fell for third straight week.

The four-week moving average of claims, which evens out some of the weekly volatility, rose by 1,750 to 193,000, remaining below the 200,000 threshold for the sixth straight week.

For the second day in a row, China on Wednesday dismissed U.S. suggestions that the COVID-19 pandemic may have been triggered by a virus that leaked from a Chinese laboratory.

Responding to comments by FBI Director Christopher Wray, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said the involvement of the U.S. intelligence community was evidence enough of the “politicization of origin tracing.”

“We urge the U.S. to respect science and facts … stop turning origin tracing into something about politics and intelligence, and stop disrupting social solidarity and origins cooperation,” she said.

The report hasn’t been made public and officials in Washington stressed that U.S. agencies are not in agreement on the origin of the virus.

A transgender woman was brutally assaulted near a light rail station in Minneapolis, suffering serious injuries including a rib fracture, collapsed lung and brain bleed.

Officers were concerned the assailants were motivated by “anti-transgender bias,” according to the criminal complaints. However, Nicholas Kimball, a spokesperson for the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, told The Associated Press the case is still being investigated and the office needs more evidence to determine a motive.

They were arrested and charged with first-degree aggravated robbery and third-degree assault, both felonies. A third person seen in surveillance was not identified in the complaints and it was not immediately clear if they were in custody.

York and Morris each face up to 35 years in prison and $45,000 in fines. Penalties could increase if investigators find evidence proving bias motivated the assault, Kimball said.

Annabelle Wiskus can be reached at wisk9881@stthomas.edu.