2020 US Political Polls Were Least Accurate in Decades, Analysis Finds

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Nearly nine months after last year’s U.S. presidential election, there’s one more loser – political polls – with a new analysis showing the 2020 surveys in advance of the November 3 vote were among the least accurate in decades.The polling industry’s professional organization, the American Association for Public Opinion Research, says that it reviewed 2,858 polls, including hundreds of national and state-level polls, and found that they consistently understated the support for then-President Donald Trump, although he lost the election to Democrat Joe Biden, now the country’s 46th president.The group found that the surveys overstated the margin between Biden andmore

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Biden: Justice Department Will Appeal Judge’s Ruling That DACA Is Illegal

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The U.S. Justice Department will appeal a judge’s ruling that determined a federal program protecting young immigrants living in the U.S. from deportation is illegal, President Joe Biden said Saturday.U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen, in the south-central state of Texas, invalidated former President Barack Obama’s program Friday, ruling that Obama acted unlawfully when he created Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) in 2012 by executive action.In a White House statement released Saturday, Biden said Hanen’s ruling was “deeply disappointing” and renewed calls for Congress to “ensure a permanent solution.”Hanen’s ruling agreed with a group of U.S. states, led by Texas,more

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Amid Lawsuits, Trump Continues to Wield Outsized Influence

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Pressure is ratcheting up against Donald Trump and his closest circle. His company, the Trump Organization, is under a criminal investigation on suspicion of fraud and other illegal financial dealings. Yet the former president remains popular among Republicans and wields an outsized influence over the party. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has this story. Producer: Bakhtiyar Zamanov …

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Amid Lawsuits, Trump Continues to Wield Outsized Influence

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Even as Donald Trump faces the threat of lawsuits over his company’s business dealings and continues to be banned on social media platforms, the former president wields an outsized influence over the Republican Party.Unlike most former presidents who stay out of the political limelight, Trump is still holding rallies, attacking President Joe Biden and amplifying what his critics call the “Big Lie” — the claim that Biden stole the 2020 election.“We won the election twice,” is a refrain Trump often declares at his rallies and events.While Gallup poll shows 62% of Americans disapproved of Trump in the last month hemore

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Federal Judge Orders End to DACA; Current Enrollees Safe for Now 

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Immigrants and advocates urged Democrats and President Joe Biden to quickly act on legislation to protect young immigrants after a federal judge in Texas on Friday ordered an end to the Obama-era program that prevents the deportation of thousands of immigrants brought into the U.S. as children.Plaintiffs have vowed to appeal the decision by U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen, who declared the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program illegal, barring the government from approving any new applications but leaving the program intact for existing recipients.Calling the ruling a “blaring siren” for Democrats, United We Dream Executive Director Greisa Martinez Rosasmore

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California Approves First State-funded Guaranteed Income Plan

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California lawmakers on Thursday approved the first state-funded guaranteed income plan in the U.S., $35 million for monthly cash payments to qualifying pregnant people and young adults who recently left foster care with no restrictions on how they spend it. The votes — 36-0 in the Senate and 64-0 in the Assembly — showed bipartisan support for an idea that is gaining momentum across the country. Dozens of local programs have sprung up in recent years, including some that have been privately funded, making it easier for elected officials to sell the public on the idea. California’s plan is taxpayer-fundedmore

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Biden Backs $3.5 Trillion Spending Plan; Republicans Blast Massive Package

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President Joe Biden made the case for his sweeping, two-track infrastructure initiative Wednesday on Capitol Hill, a day after leading Senate Democrats agreed on a $3.5 trillion plan billed as the biggest boost in decades for U.S. families. Biden joined fellow Democrats for a closed-door lunch where he sought their support and discussed strategy for passing both a FILE – Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., speaks during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 24, 2020.Biden urged senators to think about how the package would affect average Americans, said Senator Chris Murphy. “He just kept on telling usmore

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Pennsylvania State University System Merges 6 Schools Into 2

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Six of Pennsylvania’s 14 state-owned universities will be consolidated into two new institutions under a unanimous vote Wednesday by the State System of Higher Education’s governing board.Bloomsburg, Mansfield and Lock Haven universities in northern Pennsylvania will form one institution; California, Clarion and Edinboro universities in western Pennsylvania the other. The change will be phased in, starting later in 2022.They will have new names that have not been selected, but the plan is to keep all six campuses open with their own identities and brands, including existing sports teams. Both new institutions will have their own presidents and top administrators.The universitymore

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On Australian Campuses, Chinese Students Fear Beijing’s Surveillance

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Chen Yun, a Chinese student at the University of Melbourne, has always been curious about different political systems. After she arrived in Australia, she started posting on social media about the push for democratic reforms in China.Then came the harassment. She started receiving emails warning that she should be “careful” because if she returns to China, someone would “give her a lesson.”“I thought I could talk about whatever I want after coming here. I thought I could show my support for democracy but I didn’t expect I actually don’t have that freedom,” she told VOA Mandarin, asking to use amore

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New Zealand Students to Build High-Performance Skis, Skateboards Using Leaves, Plants

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New Zealand students have developed sustainable materials made from cabbage tree leaves and flax that could soon be used to make high-performance skis, kayaks and skateboards. Their plan is to use them to replace traditional fiberglass and carbon fiber. Skateboards need to be tough. Two students at New Zealand’s University of Canterbury, Ben Scales and William Murrell, believe they can make them even more durable by using fiber from plants. After experimenting in their garage workshops, they created new, natural composite materials.  Scales, who is 21 and studies product design, says their first version is looking good. “The prototype is a harakeke bio-composite skateboard. So, it is 25 percent harakeke fiber and 75 percent recycled polylactic acid, which is a plastic derivedmore

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Senate Democrats Announce $3.5 Trillion Budget Agreement

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U.S. President Joe Biden heads to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to meet with Senate Democrats after the lawmakers announced an agreement on a $3.5 trillion plan to expand spending on health care for the elderly, climate change and programs to help families, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said. The package would be “the biggest investment in the middle class in decades,” Schumer said on Tuesday.  Senator Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, told reporters the plan included provisions that would fully cover the cost of the programs. While Warner did not specify how the measure would be paid for, Biden has pushed for raising taxes on the wealthymore

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Biden Urges Passing of Voting Rights Law but Offers No Strategy

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U.S. President Joe Biden was in Philadelphia Tuesday to urge the passing of voting rights legislation that has stalled in Congress, but he did not outline a path to overcome Republican opposition. The speech came as Republicans in state legislatures sought to pass measures restricting access to voting. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has this report.Produced by: Barry Unger    …

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Pandemic Halts Schooling for Afghan Students

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Students in Afghanistan have lacked access to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, as schools have remained closed and the virus has not been controlled.”The real tragedy is that over 3,000 students in Kabul who come from poor families simply do not have the ability to pursue online education during the pandemic when schools are closed,” said Aziz Royesh, a teacher and founder of the A doctor fills a syringe with the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination center, in Kabul, Afghanistan, July 11, 2021.Not all have internet, electricityStudents in big cities such as Kabul and Herat havemore

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Biden Calls Republican State Election Law Changes ‘Assault on Liberty’

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U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday assailed Republican-led states pushing to tighten voting rules, calling it an “unfolding assault … on liberty.” Republicans say they are tightening voting rules so that no election fraud occurs in the future and that Americans can have confidence that votes are fairly counted. But Biden, in perhaps the most emotional speech of his six-month presidency, contended that the 28 laws already adopted in 17 states “make it harder for Americans to vote.” “This is election subversion,” he declared. “It’s simply unconscionable.”Without naming him, Biden rebuked former President Donald Trump for his continuing claims that he was cheatedmore

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Biden Delivers Speech on Voting Rights in Philadelphia

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President Joe Biden on Tuesday spoke in Philadelphia, the birthplace of the U.S. constitution, to charge that Republican maneuvering is putting democracy in the worst peril since the Civil War.The speech in the city where the founding document of the U.S. democratic system was drawn up and signed in 1787 was Biden’s highest profile foray yet into a controversy that both Republicans and Democrats describe in dire terms.According to the White House and congressional Democrats, Republicans are using state legislatures to restrict voting rights across the country under the guise of increasing election security.Republicans — led by former president Donald Trumpmore

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Texas Democrats Leave State to Try to Stop GOP Voting Bill

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Democrats in the Texas Legislature bolted Monday for Washington, and said they were ready to remain there for weeks in a second revolt against a GOP overhaul of election laws, forcing a dramatic new showdown over voting rights in America.  Private planes carrying a large group of Democrats took off from an airport in Austin, skipping town just days before the Texas House of Representatives was expected to give early approval to sweeping new voting restrictions in a special legislative session. Hours after they took off, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott told an Austin television station he would keep calling special sessions through next year ifmore

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Black Teen Runs Hoops Around Spelling Bee Competitors

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An African-American teenager from Louisiana has won the National Spelling Bee, only the second Black competitor to win the prestigious annual contest.Zaila Avant-garde, 14, jumped and twirled with joy upon being declared the winner after nailing the spelling of “murraya,” a genus of tropical Asiatic and Australian citrus trees.“I was pretty relaxed on the subject of murraya, and pretty much any other word I got,” Zaila said.Zaila said she hopes to inspire other African Americans who might not understand the appeal of spelling or can’t afford to pursue it. The only previous Black winner of the bee was also themore

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Protester Faces Uphill Battle to Promote Hong Kong Awareness

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Alex Lee has embarked on a cross-country bike trip — beginning in Los Angeles, California, and headed to Boston, Massachusetts — in hopes of inspiring the next generation of pro-democracy advocates in China.He is spreading his message in the U.S., Lee noted, because the free press is likely to report on his journey, and there are many Chinese people in America. He also wants to show Americans there are Chinese people like him who do not stand with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), he said.Lee, 36, grew up in a small coastal city near Beijing, with limited free access tomore

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