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USA TODAY: China vows to retaliate

Wednesday, July 22

Representations of flags from the U.S. and China in fire and smoke

U.S.-China tensions escalate again. Kim Kardashian opens up about Kanye West. It's Wednesday's news.

Relations between the United States and China are unraveling further. America ordered 100 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate. And it's National Hot Dog Day. Plan dinner accordingly.

It's Ashley. Let's get to today's top news.

But first, this is your last chance: The Comet Neowise is about to disappear for 6,800 years. The good news: You can see it with the naked eye tonight. ☄️

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Things between the US and China heat up

It's safe to say tensions have been spiking between the United States and China for a while now, but things escalated dramatically Wednesday. China vowed to retaliate after the United States ordered the closure of its consulate in Houston. China was notified Tuesday that it would have to close the consulate within 72 hours. In response, a spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry said China would "react with firm countermeasures" if the United States does not revoke the decision. The State Department said the closure was "to protect American intellectual property and Americans' private information."

The reasoning? TBD.

Does this have to do with Chinese hackers being accused of trying to steal COVID-19 research? It's unclear. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo didn't explain what triggered the decision, but he did mention Tuesday's indictment, issued by the U.S. Justice Department, charging two Chinese hackers with targeting U.S. companies involved in coronavirus treatment and vaccine research, among other alleged crimes.

President Donald Trump meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, on June 29, 2019.

Susan Walsh, AP

15 people were shot at a Chicago funeral

Fifteen people were shot in a drive-by shootout in Chicago on Tuesday – the city's largest mass shooting in recent memory. The incident was a retaliatory attack at a funeral for a rival gang member on the city's South Side, police said. One of the victims was in "extremely critical condition" Wednesday, and one was in critical condition, according to police. There are more than 117,000 gang members in Chicago, Police Superintendent David Brown said.

Chicago police investigate the scene of a mass shooting where more than a dozen people were shot in the Gresham neighborhood July 21.

Tyler LaRiviere, AP

What everyone's talking about

•	A "very dark history": Oregon's racist past fuels Portland protests against injustice.
•	"I need that extra little bit": Jobless Americans fear loss of $600 from unemployment checks.
•	Amber Heard accused Johnny Depp of throwing bottles like "grenades."
•	Megan Fox says she and Machine Gun Kelly are "two halves of the same soul."
•	What is QAnon? What to know about the growing far-right conspiracy theory.

Kim Kardashian opens up about Kanye West and mental health

Kim Kardashian West is speaking out on the importance of caring for those with mental illnesses amid her husband Kanye West's public struggle with bipolar disorder. West elicited worries about his mental health after his first presidential campaign rally in South Carolina, where he openly wept, shouted without a microphone and offered deeply personal statements about his family, followed by a barrage of worrisome tweets. Kardashian West took to Instagram Wednesday to ask "the media and public" to give her family "compassion and empathy" to get through their difficult time. "Living with bi-polar disorder does not diminish or invalidate his dreams and his creative ideas, no matter how big or unobtainable they may feel to some," Kardashian West wrote.

Kanye West makes his first presidential campaign appearance on July 19 in North Charleston, S.C.

Lauren Petracca Ipetracca, AP

Bring on the vaccine candidates 💉

The U.S. government placed an initial order for 100 million doses of a vaccine candidate being developed by Pfizer and a German firm, BioNTech, for $1.95 billion, the companies announced Wednesday. Americans will receive the vaccine for free, the firms said. If studies are successful, the companies expect to be ready to seek Emergency Use Authorization or some form of regulatory approval as early as October. The federal government, under Operation Warp Speed, cut deals with multiple drug companies, trying to line up massive amounts of vaccines as soon as they become available.

Real quick

•	Civil rights icon Charles Evers, brother of Medgar Evers, died at the age of 97.
•	Sen. Kelly Loeffler intends on staying in the WNBA and co-owning the Atlanta Dream: "They can't push me out."
•	United passengers must wear a mask in the airport, too, or risk being "banned from flying."
•	Florida mourns three friends killed in a "massacre" on a fishing trip.
•	A woman will lead the Army Reserve for the first time in its 112-year history.

Tropical Storm Gonzalo is here

Tropical Storm Gonzalo formed Wednesday in the Atlantic Ocean, and it's expected to become a hurricane Thursday. The promising news: The hurricane center says Gonzalo is far from land. It's forecast to weaken back to tropical storm strength as it nears the Southern Windward Islands. In the Pacific Ocean, Tropical Storm Douglas strengthened into a hurricane Wednesday, 1,785 miles from Hilo, Hawaii with winds of 75 mph. The storm could impact Hawaii on Sunday, probably after weakening back to a tropical storm, the hurricane center said.

Forecasters expect Tropical Storm Gonzalo will grow into a hurricane.

GRAPHIC CONTRIBUTED BY NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER

A break from the news

•	😷 10 popular face masks everyone is buying on Amazon.
•	💜 This sassy grandma has more than 1 million fans online.
•	🎄 25 ways to celebrate Christmas in July, from decorating to baking.
•	📦 Meet Scout: Amazon is taking its Prime Delivery Robots to the South.

This is a compilation of stories from across the USA TODAY Network. Want this news roundup in your inbox every night? Sign up for The Short List newsletter here.