An array of U.S. Democratic luminaries, topped by former President Barack Obama and vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris, are making the case to Americans Wednesday night at the virtual Democratic National Convention to elect former Vice President Joe Biden as president in the November 3 election. For two nights, a host of Biden supporters, including prominent Republicans…
read moreApple is the first U.S. company to boast a market value of $2 trillion, just two years after it became the first to reach $1 trillion. Apple shares have gained nearly 60% this year as the company overcame the shutdown of factories in China that produce the iPhone and the closure of its retail…
read moreAn unexpected travelogue connected as a television event during the second night of the Democrats’ virtual convention, livening up a show that so far is struggling in the ratings. The roll call vote that formally sealed Joe Biden’s nomination as the Democratic candidate for president Tuesday came from sites in the 50 states and territories.…
read moreDemocrats formally nominated former Vice President Joe Biden as their candidate for president Tuesday, during the second night of an extraordinary virtual convention that included criticism of President Donald Trump from Republicans as well as Democrats, and personal stories of Biden as a public servant, father and husband. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has this story from Wilmington, Delaware. …
read moreA group recommending a new Mississippi state flag chose five final designs Tuesday — three with a magnolia blossom, one with a magnolia tree and one with a shield that has wavy lines representing water. Mississippi legislators voted in late June to retire the last state flag in the U.S. with the Confederate battle emblem that’s…
read moreU.S. Democrats officially nominated former Vice President Joe Biden Tuesday to be their candidate in the November presidential election on another evening in which prominent Republicans joined with Democrats in criticizing President Donald Trump while praising Biden’s leadership skills. Biden had been the party’s presumptive nominee for months after outlasting a crowded field of Democratic presidential hopefuls in state-by-state primary and…
read moreA bipartisan investigation into Russian efforts to influence the outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential election found that Moscow successfully used a complex web of operatives and active measures to ensnare members of President Donald Trump’s campaign, in some cases, leaving the incoming administration open to manipulation. The report concluded, among other things, that Trump’s 2016…
read moreThe U.S. Agency for Global Media announced Tuesday that it is moving forward with funding two internet firewall circumvention projects despite an ongoing legal battle over the agency’s broader internet freedom strategy. The awardees — Psiphon and ACI — write software that help people gain access to websites and information blocked by their governments. “Our agency…
read moreFirefighters in Brazil say strong winds and hot dry weather are making it difficult to battle thousands of blazes burning in the Pantanal, the world’s largest wetland. Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) said it spotted more than 3,100 fires in the first two weeks of August — five times as many as the same…
read morePolice on Mauritius have arrested the captain of the Japanese carrier that ran aground off the coast last month, spilling 1,000 metric tonnes of oil and causing possible irreparable damage to coral reefs.Sunil Kumar Nandeshwar, the Indian captain of the MV Wakashio, was charged Tuesday with “endangering safe navigation.” He faces a bail hearing next…
read moreFor the second time in four years, progressive voters’ hopes to elevate Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont to the top of the Democratic ticket were dashed this spring, when Sanders’ call for a social revolution and Medicare for All fell flat, and former Vice President Joe Biden surged to victory in the race for the…
read moreA new study predicts major U.S. population areas will be seeing the most extreme increases in heat in the coming decades, some of which could experience 30 times more extreme heat than previously predicted.The study was conducted by researchers at Arizona State University and was published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of…
read moreThe Washington State Department of Agriculture announced it has trapped a male Asian giant hornet – the first male of the invasive species to be detected in the United States.At a news conference late Tuesday, WSDA officials say the hornet was caught in a trap the agency set in a rural area of northwestern Whatcom…
read moreJill Biden, a longtime college English professor, is set Tuesday night to try to persuade U.S. voters why they should elect her husband of 43 years, former Vice President Joe Biden, as the country’s next president.Jill Biden has played an active behind-the-scenes role in her husband’s third run for the presidency over three decades. Aides…
read moreThe head of the U.S. Postal Service will testify Friday before the Republican-led Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, a panel spokesman confirmed Tuesday. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy faces bipartisan criticism asserting he has made changes that have slowed mail deliveries just months before the Nov. 3 presidential election. The postmaster general, who…
read moreThe Democratic Party’s proposed platform criticizes China’s trade practices, proposes less spending on national defense, and opposes “forever wars” as it seeks to lay out the party’s foreign policy goals and highlight differences with President Donald Trump. The 80-page platform, which is to be adopted at the Democratic convention this week, is largely symbolic because the…
read moreThe World Health Organization’s (WHO) director-general Tuesday issued another warning against “vaccine nationalism,” — countries putting their own interests ahead of others in trying to secure supplies of a possible vaccine. At the agency’s regular briefing in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “Nationalism exacerbated the pandemic and contributed to the total failure of…
read moreNew York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has gained a national following through his management of the coronavirus pandemic, is writing a book that looks back on his experiences, and includes leadership advice and a close look at his relationship with the administration of President Donald Trump. Crown announced Tuesday that Cuomo’s “American Crisis” will be…
read moreOne of the hottest air temperatures recorded anywhere on the planet in at least a century, and possibly ever, was reached on Sunday afternoon at Death Valley in California’s Mojave Desert where it soared to 130 Fahrenheit (54.4 Celsius). An automated observation system run by the U.S. National Weather Service in the valley’s sparsely populated…
read moreDemocrats appealed for party unity Monday as they reached out to voters across the United States in the first night of a virtual convention that will name their nominee for the November election. Former Vice President Joe Biden and running mate Kamala Harris, a senator from California, will get the party’s nod later this week, and as Mike O’Sullivan…
read moreFormer first lady Michelle Obama hailed presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden as a capable leader for a country of “compassionate, resilient, decent people,” while sharply criticizing President Donald Trump as lacking the ability to understand the feelings and experiences of others. Capping the first of four nights of an extraordinary virtual Democratic national convention on Monday, Obama strongly argued that Trump had…
read moreA U.S. based vaccine development company is set to begin the second phase of human testing for its COVID-19 vaccine in South Africa, which is in the midst of a surge in coronavirus cases. Novavax said in a statement that the clinical trials will include 2,665 healthy adults in South Africa. The trials will also compare the vaccine’s effect on 240 medically stable adults…
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