US Arenas, Stadiums Find New Life as Safer Options for Voting

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With long waits making headlines during early voting across the country, professional sports venues have emerged as bright spots, repurposing huge spaces mostly devoid of fans into efficient and relatively safe polling places. Featuring rows and rows of voting machines, ample space for social distancing and staff accustomed to large crowds, these mega voting sites are proving attractive to voters looking for the best way to cast their ballots amid the coronavirus pandemic. “This was an amazing, fantastic experience,” Jen Cox said after voting at State Farm Arena, home of the Atlanta Hawks. Other voters leaving the arena and postingmore

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Will US Policy on Iran Change After Election?

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Since his election in 2016, U.S. President Donald Trump has withdrawn from the Iran nuclear agreement signed in 2015 by his predecessor, Barack Obama, and imposed tough sanctions that have crippled the Iranian economy. How might the relationship between Washington and Tehran change after the U.S. election on November 3?2020 began with the United States and Iran on the verge of war. The U.S. targeted killing of revered Iranian General Qassem Soleimani January 3 – whom Washington accused of masterminding numerous attacks in the region – sparked fury in Tehran.It retaliated with missile strikes on U.S. bases in Iraq. Nomore

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Senate Judiciary Committee Approves Barrett Supreme Court Nomination Despite Democrats’ Boycott

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The Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee has approved Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court, sending the matter to the full Senate for consideration. Democrats on the committee boycotted the vote Thursday, resulting in a 12-0 vote in favor of the nomination.Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer reiterated his party’s objection to President Donald Trump moving ahead with replacing the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the court so close to an election, arguing that such a move should be left to whichever candidate wins the November 3 U.S. presidential election.He cited the Supreme Court vacancy in 2016, when then-President Barack Obama nominated Judge Merrick Garland butmore

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Campaigning for Biden, Obama Says Trump ‘Incapable of Taking Job Seriously’

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Former U.S. President Barack Obama said Wednesday that President Donald Trump is “incapable of taking the job seriously,” as Obama campaigned for Democratic candidate Joe Biden in the key state of Pennsylvania.The drive-in rally in the city of Philadelphia was Obama’s first in-person event in support of Biden, who served as vice president during his two terms in office.”I never thought Donald Trump would embrace my vision or continue my policies, but I did hope for the sake of the country that he might show some interest in taking the job seriously,” Obama told the crowd sitting in nearly 300more

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Trump, Harris Campaign in North Carolina 13 Days Ahead of the Election

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With the U.S. presidential election less than two weeks away and the focus on a handful of states expected to determine the outcome, incumbent Republican Donald Trump was back in North Carolina on Wednesday, where Democratic challenger Joe Biden’s running mate, U.S. Senator Kamala Harris, also made appearances earlier in the day.“We’re going to win this state,” Trump predicted at an evening rally in Gastonia. Later at the event, he told the crowd of thousands, “I’ve been all over your state. You better let me win.”North Carolina is a key prize in the election as the victor gets 15 ofmore

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Senate Democrats Release Foreign Policy Road Map Criticizing Trump

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The top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee charged Wednesday that the Trump administration’s foreign policy has broken with a precedent set by past U.S. presidents showcasing the U.S. as a model for democracy and freedom.“The consequences of both Donald Trump’s words and actions have been almost unequivocally negative for the American people and for broader United States interests globally,” ranking member Senator Bob Menendez said Wednesday while introducing a report, “The Costs of Trump’s Foreign Policy,” to reporters.Among its recommendations, the report calls for renewed U.S. engagement with multilateral institutions, while communicating to allies and partners that U.S.more

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Maryland Man Arrested Over Biden Death Threat

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A Maryland man was arrested and accused of making death threats against Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Wednesday.   The suspect was identified as James Dale Reed, 42, who was also charged with threatening sexual violence against Sen. Kamala Harris, Biden’s running mate, in a letter he left at a neighbor’s house that bore a sign supporting the Democratic ticket.   The resident of Frederick, Maryland, who initially denied threatening violence against the candidates, was captured on the neighbor’s video doorbell on October 4 delivering the letter at their doorstep.   Prosecutors said Reed was questioned at home andmore

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The Last Encounter: Trump, Biden Debate Thursday Night

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Republican President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden, are debating Thursday night in their last face-to-face confrontation before the Nov. 3 U.S. presidential election.The two candidates, both in their 70s, repeatedly interrupted each other, Trump more so than Biden, at their 90-plus-minute debate in late September, a standoff that some U.S. political pundits described as the worst-ever U.S. presidential debate.   But this time, the independent Commission on Presidential Debates is muting each candidate’s microphone while the other speaks for two minutes in response to questions on six current affairs issues selected by moderator Kristenmore

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NYT Report: Trump Tax Records Show He Tried to Land China Projects

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President Donald Trump spent a decade unsuccessfully pursuing projects in China, operating an office there during his first run for president and forging a partnership with a major government-controlled company, The New York Times reported Tuesday. China is one of only three foreign nations — the others are Britain and Ireland — where Trump maintains a bank account, according to a Times analysis of the president’s tax records. The foreign accounts do not show up on Trump’s public financial disclosures, where he must list personal assets, because they are held under corporate names. The Chinese account is controlled by Trumpmore

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Trump Campaign Warns Biden Will Undermine American Democracy

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With Democratic candidate Joe Biden holding a substantial lead in presidential election polls, President Donald Trump’s campaign is trying to appeal to independent and disaffected Republican voters. Trump is warning that if Democrats win, they will enact radical changes to the American system of democracy. VOA’s Brian Padden reports on concerns the Democrats might change the filibuster rule in the Senate to pack the Supreme Court, abolish the Electoral College or admit new Democratic majority states into the union. …

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African Reporters Try to Unpack Complex, Contested US Election

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The world is watching as the U.S. prepares for a crucial election for president and thousands of other representatives at all levels of government. In Africa’s most mature democracy, South Africa, citizens are watching the drama with interest — and with the aid of a few seasoned journalists who are attempting to explain the quirks and developments of this historic poll. For 12 years, South African reporter Sherwin Bryce-Pease has had the job of explaining America — and U.S. politics — for his nation’s state broadcaster from his base in New York.   2020, however, is posing a new storytelling challenge, withmore

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Caught in America’s Election Battle, Ukraine Hopes for More US Military Support

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Ukrainians are watching with added interest as Donald Trump and challenger Joe Biden enter the final days of the U.S. presidential race. Ukraine has taken on huge strategic importance for the United States and its NATO allies since Ukraine’s ongoing 2014 war with Russia, while allegations of corruption linked to Ukraine continue to cloud the election campaign.The alliance was underscored last month as U.S. military personnel took part in “Exercise Fiction Urchin” alongside Ukrainian special forces in the west of Ukraine. U.S. Air Force CV-22 Ospreys and other aircraft flew low over the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, drawing attention from residentsmore

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US Court Upholds Extension of North Carolina Mail-In Voting Deadline

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A U.S. federal appeals court has ruled that as long as a voter in the state of North Carolina has mailed their absentee ballot no later than Election Day, election officials can count it even if it arrives after Election Day. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday denied a challenge to a North Carolina State Board of Elections rule that said it will accept mail-in ballots as late as November 12. The original regulations would have made the cutoff November 6. The 12-3 ruling involved all of the court’s active judges, instead of a more typical three-judge panel, signaling the importance of the case. The issue is playing out in courtsmore

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Pelosi Notes ‘Progress’ with Trump Admin Over New COVID-19 Stimulus Deal 

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The White House and the Democratic-majority U.S. House of Representatives “are serious about finding a compromise” on a second massive round of coronavirus aid, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday. Pelosi said she and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke by telephone Tuesday afternoon, and that she hoped they could continue talks Wednesday after he returns from an overseas trip. “Our conversation provided more clarity and common ground as we move closer to an agreement. Today’s deadline enabled us to see that decisions could be reached and language could be exchanged,” Pelosi said in a letter to her Democratic colleagues. The two sides called on the heads ofmore

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Trump Makes Appeals to Pennsylvania Voters Two Weeks Before Election Day

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U.S. President Donald Trump is demanding Pennsylvania get back to normal business operations at a time the state is seeing a spike in coronavirus cases. “What the hell is happening in Pennsylvania?” Trump asked the crowd at his Tuesday evening campaign rally at Erie International Airport, in the western part of the crucial swing state for the November 3 general election. Expressing frustration with pandemic restrictions imposed by Governor Tom Wolf, a member of the Democratic Party, the president said “Pennsylvania has been shut down long enough. Get your governor to open up Pennsylvania.”   Wolfe issued a renewed plea on Monday to Pennsylvanians tomore

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US First Lady Won’t Join President at Campaign Rally

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U.S. first lady Melania Trump will not join President Donald Trump on the campaign trail Tuesday because of a lingering cough from COVID-19, according to her chief of staff, Stephanie Grisham. Grisham said Tuesday that Mrs. Trump’s health continues to improve daily after she and the president announced in early October that they had contracted the infectious disease. The first lady has decided not to accompany Trump to a campaign rally Tuesday night in Erie, Pennsylvania, “out of an abundance of caution,” Grisham said. Melania Trump, who announced last week that she had recovered from COVID-19, made her last public appearance during themore

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US Congress, White House Negotiations on COVID Aid ‘Come a Long Way’

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Negotiations between the White House and the Democratic-majority U.S. House of Representatives on a second massive round of coronavirus aid have “come a long way,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday. In a Bloomberg News interview ahead of an afternoon phone call with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, Pelosi said the two sides were resolving disagreements over language, setting out a national testing strategy for detecting the coronavirus as well as addressing the impact of the pandemic on communities of color. The two sides are still negotiating language for emergency funding for cash-strapped state and local governments. Pelosi had set Tuesday as themore

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Pandemic or Not, They Make Elections Work

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From making sure voters are eligible to cast a ballot, to tracking and reporting results, local election officers are key players in the U.S. presidential election. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias reports on what they’re doing to make the voting fair and safe.Camera and Produced by: Veronica Balderas Iglesias   …

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US Presidential Debate Set For Thursday With New Rules in Place

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The second and final debate before the U.S. presidential election appears set to go forward with new rules in place meant to prevent the candidates from talking over each other. President Donald Trump expressed his displeasure with the overall setup, telling reporters Monday that while he thinks “it is very unfair,” he will be a part of Thursday’s event in Nashville, Tennessee. “I will participate but it’s very unfair that they changed the topics and it’s very unfair that again we have an anchor who is totally biased,” Trump said. Kristen Welker, a respected NBC White House reporter, is moderating the debate and has chosenmore

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Senate to Work Through Weekend to Push Barrett Onto Court

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Wasting no time, the Senate is on track to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court by next Monday, charging toward a rare weekend session as Republicans push past procedural steps to install President Donald Trump’s pick before Election Day. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he will begin the process as soon as the Senate Judiciary Committee wraps up its work Thursday. With a 53-47 Republican majority, and just two GOP senators opposed, Trump’s nominee is on a glide path to confirmation that will seal a conservative hold on the court for years to come.   McConnellmore

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