Citing safety concerns, U.S. President Donald Trump has announced he is pulling the plug on next month’s Republican Party convention in Jacksonville, Florida—a coronavirus hot spot. Due to the flare-up in Florida “it is not the right time” to have a big convention, Trump told reporters in the White House briefing room on Thursday. “I have…
read moreDemocratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has promised a return to U.S. cooperation in its international relations, while accusing President Donald Trump of leaving the country’s reputation and influence “in tatters” with his “America First” policy.Biden’s draft platform, released this week, said that under Trump, “America stands alone. Our country is less safe, our economy more…
read moreWarning against the “politicization” of the coronavirus pandemic, the World Health Organization’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Thursday rejected comments, by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, alleging Tedros had been “bought” by China.The Times of London reported Wednesday Pompeo met behind closed doors with members of British parliament during a visit to London earlier this…
read moreAn unmanned spacecraft blasted off Thursday on a yearlong journey to Mars, beginning one of China’s most ambitious space missions to date.The Tianwen-1 lifted off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch site on China’s southern Hainan Island aboard a Long March 5 rocket as hundreds of cheering fans gathered on beaches across the bay to witness…
read moreOne of the great mysteries of the coronavirus is how quickly it rocketed around the world. It first flared in central China and, within three months, was on every continent but Antarctica, shutting down daily life for millions. Behind the rapid spread was something that initially caught scientists off guard, baffled health authorities and undermined…
read moreAn unmanned spacecraft blasted off Thursday on a yearlong journey to Mars, beginning one of China’s most ambitious space missions to date.The Tianwen-1 lifted off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch site on China’s southern Hainan Island aboard a Long March 5 rocket as hundreds of cheering fans gathered on beaches across the bay to witness…
read morePresident Donald Trump has announced the U.S. government will provide an additional $5 billion in aid, equipment and training to the nation’s nursing homes, many of which are hot spots in the coronavirus pandemic.He said COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, poses “the greatest threat to our senior citizens,” and that “nearly half of…
read moreA bipartisan bill that would spend nearly $3 billion on conservation projects, outdoor recreation and maintenance of national parks and other public lands is on its way to the president’s desk after winning final legislative approval.Supporters say the measure, known as the Great American Outdoors Act, would be the most significant conservation legislation enacted in…
read moreA report by the U.K. National Cyber Security Centre this month accused hackers with links to Russian intelligence of attacking organizations developing a vaccine for COVID-19. The report has raised diplomatic tensions and opened a window into the world of pharmaceutical intelligence. VOA’s Tatiana Vorozhko has the story. …
read moreLaboratories across the U.S. are buckling under a surge of coronavirus tests, creating long processing delays that experts say are actually undercutting the pandemic response.With the U.S. tally of infections at 3.9 million Wednesday and new cases surging, the bottlenecks are creating problems for workers kept off the job while awaiting results, nursing homes struggling…
read moreThe House moved toward a vote Wednesday on removing from the U.S. Capitol statues of Confederate heroes, including Robert E. Lee, and a bust of Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, the author of the 1857 Dred Scott decision that declared African Americans couldn’t be citizens. Besides Taney, the bill would direct the Architect of the Capitol…
read morePresident Donald Trump and Attorney General William Barr are expected to announce Wednesday that federal agents will surge into several American cities including Chicago to help combat rising crime, expanding the administration’s intervention in local enforcement as Trump runs for reelection under a “law-and-order” mantle.Hundreds of federal agents already have been sent to Kansas City,…
read moreThe European Southern Observatory has released the first image ever captured by a telescope of multiple planets orbiting around a sun-like star, just like our solar system. The ESO said Wednesday that its Extremely Large Telescope set up in Chile’s Atacama Desert took the image. This image from the European Southern Observatory, July 2020, shows the…
read moreCOVID-19 tests that take an hour or less and can be done at doctors’ offices, workplaces, or even at home are under development. They could have a big impact on the course of the pandemic in the United States, where long lines for tests and long waits for results are undermining efforts to control the disease. People…
read moreThe U.S. government will pay $1.95 billion to American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and German biotech firm BioNTech SE for 100 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine if they succeed in developing one.The companies said separately Wednesday they reached agreement with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Defense Department to deliver a…
read moreCOVID-19 tests that take an hour or less and can be done at doctors’ offices, workplaces, or even at home are under development. They could have a big impact on the course of the pandemic in the United States, where long lines for tests and long waits for results are undermining efforts to control the disease. People…
read moreThe Trump administration has deployed agents with tactical gear to confront protesters in downtown Portland, Oregon. That has sparked debate over the use of federal power as local and state officials, and many in the community, condemn their tactics and demand they leave. Far from backing down, the administration plans to send agents to Chicago…
read moreTwitter Inc said on Tuesday it would permanently suspend accounts that violate its policies while tweeting about QAnon, a fringe group that claims “deep-state” traitors are plotting against President Donald Trump. Twitter, which announced the change on its Twitter Safety page, said it would not serve content and accounts associated with QAnon in trends and recommendations, and would block…
read moreThe presumptive Democratic Party presidential nominee, Joe Biden, told Americans Tuesday that President Donald Trump “has quit on you and he’s quit on this country.” In livestreamed remarks, Biden blamed Trump for failing to lead during the coronavirus pandemic, adding that as COVID-19 infections spread each day, “too many American workers are still out of…
read moreTop congressional Democrats met with White House officials Tuesday, as lawmakers and President Donald Trump face down an end-of-month deadline to pass a new funding package combating the vast health and economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States. Tuesday’s private talks brought together Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and acting Chief of Staff Mark Meadows with House…
read moreA new study indicates that the accelerated melting of Arctic permafrost could release as much as 40 billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere not previously accounted for in global emissions estimates. Permafrost is the thick layer of soil in the world’s Arctic and Antarctic regions that, for centuries in some cases, has remained frozen…
read moreA study of the Arctic says polar bears are one of the most threatened species on earth because of melting sea ice caused by climate change, and without aggressive steps, the animals could be extinct by the end of the century. The University of Toronto study, published Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change, says that polar bears rely on sea ice to reach their prey, usually seals and other water mammals. Researchers who conducted the…
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