Mackenzie Scott Gives $4.2 Billion to Help ‘Vulnerable’

On

MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, said Tuesday she has given $4.2 billion to groups helping the vulnerable, as the pandemic hits lives like “a wrecking ball.” Scott, who formerly went by the name MacKenzie Bezos, last year signed a “giving pledge” to donate the bulk of her wealth to charity. In a round of donations early this year, Scott gave nearly $1.7 billion to groups devoted to race, gender and economic equality, as well as other social causes. “This pandemic has been a wrecking ball in the lives of Americans already struggling,” Scott said in a post detailing hermore

Leave a comment

Lawmakers Race to Make COVID-19 Aid Deal Ahead of Holiday Break

On

Republican and Democratic leaders continued negotiations Tuesday in an effort to reach an agreement on a new round of coronavirus aid that has eluded lawmakers for months.  Without a deal, several key programs are set to expire at the end of month, including unemployment aid that reaches 12 million out-of-work Americans and a rental eviction moratorium that is keeping an estimated 40 million Americans sheltered during the cold winter months.  Funding for the U.S. government also is set to run out Friday, when a short-term extension expires.   Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has suggested that to pass more funding formore

Leave a comment

US Senate Republican Leader Acknowledges Biden Victory

On

Six weeks after the U.S. presidential election, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell acknowledged Tuesday that Democrat Joe Biden is the country’s president-elect.McConnell congratulated Biden as President Donald Trump continued his unfounded claims that voter fraud cheated him out of reelection.McConnell, who had refrained from declaring Biden the winner, said in a Senate speech that Biden’s 306-232 victory Monday in the Electoral College made his claim to a four-year term in the White House a reality.“As of this morning, our country has officially a president-elect and a vice president-elect,” McConnell said. “Many millions of us had hoped the presidential electionmore

Leave a comment

Biden Picks Former Rival Pete Buttigieg as Transportation Chief

On

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden has named Pete Buttigieg, one of his former rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, as head of the Department of Transportation in his new administration, according to news accounts Tuesday.   Buttigieg, a former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, was a surprise contender in the Democratic presidential race last year. He was the first openly gay major party candidate to win convention delegates in a bid for the White House.   But Buttigieg’s campaign eventually stalled, and he dropped out of the race before the Democratic Party primaries in early March, and later endorsed Biden.  Biden has comparedmore

Leave a comment

Biden Inauguration Stresses Public Health Safety During Ceremonies

On

President-elect Joe Biden’s Presidential Inaugural Committee announced measures Tuesday to protect public health during an inauguration that will take place in the midst of a coronavirus crisis that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives in the United States. The committee said in a statement it is collaborating with the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies “to ensure that the inauguration … honors and resembles sacred American traditions while keeping Americans safe and preventing the spread of COVID-19.” On January 20, Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will take oaths of office at the U.S. Capitol with “vigorous health and safety protocols,”more

Leave a comment

Swift Backlash for Brazil Students Targeting Misinformation

On

Before dawn on December 1, Leonardo de Carvalho Leal prepared to leave his family behind in the Brazilian city of Ponta Grossa, in Parana state. His mother overwhelmed him with goodbyes and gave him a bracelet she said had brought her luck. He fiddled with it on his wrist the entire ride to the airport, unsure when he might see her again.“Maybe I was blaming myself a bit, for leaving so many people vulnerable,” he said in a video interview with The Associated Press, with tears welling as he recalled his departure. “But what I did was right.”Leal and hismore

Leave a comment

Parents Pray for Hundreds of Students Kidnapped in Nigeria’s Katsina 

On

Parents converged on a secondary school in Nigeria’s northwestern Katsina state on Sunday, begging authorities to save hundreds of boys abducted by gunmen. The army had exchanged fire with a gang that took the students from the all-boys Government Science school in Kankara, a spokesman for the president said on Saturday night, but parents on Sunday said they had heard little more on the fate of their children.Abubakar Lawal came from Zaria, a city 120 kilometres (75 miles) south of Kanara, after learning that two of his three sons at the school were among the missing. “From yesterday I was here, prayingmore

Leave a comment

Biden to Campaign for Georgia Democratic Senate Candidates

On

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden will campaign Tuesday in the southern state of Georgia for two Democratic Senate candidates involved in crucial runoff elections next month that will determine whether Democrats or Republicans control the Senate during the first two years of Biden’s presidency. Biden is due to appear with the candidates — investigative documentary filmmaker Jon Ossoff and clergyman Raphael Warnock — in Atlanta, the state capital and Georgia’s largest city. The two Democrats face incumbent Republican lawmakers in the January 5 elections — Ossoff against Sen. David Perdue and Warnock facing Sen. Kelly Loeffler. In-Person Voting Begins in Crucial Georgia Senate Runoffsmore

Leave a comment

‘Democracy Prevailed,’ Biden Declares After Electoral College Vote

On

“In this battle for the soul of America, democracy prevailed,” President-elect Joe Biden said Monday night, shortly after the Electoral College vote that confirmed his presidency.While urging Americans that now is the time “to unite, to heal,” Biden for the first time bluntly condemned attempts by President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the results, calling it an “unprecedented assault on our democracy.”Not even an abuse of power can stop a peaceful transition, Biden said, just hours after members of the Electoral College voted in every state and the District of Columbia.“We the people voted, faith in our institutions held,more

Leave a comment

‘Democracy Prevailed’: Biden Aims to Unify Divided Nation

On

President-elect Joe Biden told Americans on Monday that “democracy prevailed” as electors nationwide cast votes affirming his victory in last month’s election, saying the country’s governing principles were “pushed, tested, threatened” but did not crumble.  In a speech from his longtime home of Wilmington, Delaware, Biden aimed to guide Americans past the tumult of the campaign and President Donald Trump’s refusal to accept defeat.  “If anyone didn’t know it before, we know it now. What beats deep in the hearts of the American people is this: Democracy,” Biden said. “The right to be heard. To have your vote counted. Tomore

Leave a comment

Crunch Time for COVID-19 Relief as Bipartisan Bills Unveiled

On

A bipartisan group of lawmakers unveiled a detailed COVID-19 aid proposal on Monday in hopes it would serve as a model for its battling leaders to follow as they try to negotiate a final agreement on a new round of virus relief.  The dozen or so lawmakers unveiled two bills. One is a $748 billion aid package containing money for struggling businesses, the unemployed, schools and vaccine distribution. The other bill proposes a $160 billion aid package for state and local governments that is favored by Democrats and GOP-sought provisions shielding businesses from COVID-19-related lawsuits. But agreement proved impossible, and mostmore

Leave a comment

Trump Says Barr Resigning, Will Leave Before Christmas

On

Attorney General William Barr, one of President Donald Trump’s staunchest allies, is resigning amid lingering tension with the president over the president’s baseless claims of election fraud and the investigation into President-elect Joe Biden’s son. Barr went Monday to the White House, where Trump said the attorney general submitted his letter of resignation.  “As per letter, Bill will be leaving just before Christmas to spend the holidays with his family,” Trump tweeted. Trump has publicly expressed his anger about Barr’s statement to The Associated Press earlier this month that the Justice Department had found no widespread election fraud that would change themore

Leave a comment

In-Person Voting Begins in Crucial Georgia Senate Runoffs

On

In-person early voting begins Monday in the U.S. state of Georgia where two runoff elections will decide which political party holds a majority in the U.S. Senate when a new term begins in January.Democrats are challenging two Republican incumbents after no candidate earned an absolute majority in either race in the November general election.Republicans currently stand to hold a 50 to 48 advantage in the 100-seat Senate. But with a Democrat winning the presidential election, and the vice president wielding a tie-breaker vote in a 50-50 Senate, Democrats could claim a majority by winning both Georgia seats.With Democrats already holdingmore

Leave a comment

Trump Defiant as US Electors Prepare to Finalize Biden Victory

On

A day before the U.S. Electoral College meets to formally pick Democrat Joe Biden as America’s next president, Donald Trump continues to deny the results of the November 3 election, buoyed by thousands of supporters who rallied in Washington to back the president’s failed efforts to overturn his defeat at the polls.America’s presidential contests are not complete until constitutionally mandated electors from all 50 states, drawn proportionally to their population and mirroring their representation in Congress, meet to cast their votes. Except in two U.S. states, each state’s electors all vote for the presidential contender who won their state.With allmore

Leave a comment

Understanding the US Senate Runoff Elections in Georgia

On

Two key U.S. Senate races remain undecided from November’s general election. Both are in the southern state of Georgia, where President-elect Joe Biden became the first Democrat to win the state since 1992. The outcome of these runoff elections may determine how much Biden can accomplish with Congress once he is inaugurated as president.What is a runoff election?A runoff election is a second, or follow-up election, in which the top two vote-getters run against each other. Runoff elections occur when no candidate meets a certain threshold of votes to be declared the winner. Georgia election law requires a candidate to winmore

Leave a comment

Supreme Court Rejects Republican Attack on Biden Victory

On

The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a lawsuit backed by President Donald Trump to overturn Joe Biden’s election victory, ending a desperate attempt to get legal issues that state and federal judges had rejected before the nation’s highest court.In a brief order, the court said Texas does not have the legal right to sue Michigan, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin because it “has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another state conducts its elections.”Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, who have said previously the court does not have the authority to turn away lawsuits between states,more

Leave a comment

Senate Sends Trump Defense Bill He Has Vowed to Veto

On

The Senate approved a wide-ranging defense policy bill Friday, sending it to President Donald Trump, despite his threat to veto the bill because it does not clamp down on big tech companies he claims were biased during the election.The final vote was 84-13, mirroring a similarly overwhelming margin in the House that, if maintained in both chambers, would be enough to override a potential veto.The Senate vote had been expected Thursday but was delayed after Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky objected to the measure, saying it could limit Trump’s ability to draw down U.S. troops from Afghanistan and Germany.Paul’smore

Leave a comment

White House Threatens FDA Chief’s Job Over Vaccine Approval

On

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows on Friday pressed Food and Drug Administration chief Stephen Hahn to grant an emergency use authorization for Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine by the end of the day or face possible firing, two administration officials said.The vaccine produced by Pfizer Inc. and its German partner BioNTech won a critical endorsement Thursday from an FDA panel of outside advisers, and signoff from the agency — which is expected within days — is the next step needed to get the shots to the public.The FDA is not required to follow the guidance of its advisory committees, butmore

Leave a comment

US Congress at Stalemate on COVID Aid

On

An emerging $900 billion COVID-19 aid package from a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers all but collapsed Thursday after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Republican senators won’t support $160 billion in state and local funds as part of a potential trade-off in the deal.McConnell’s staff conveyed to top negotiators that the Republican leader sees no path to an agreement on a key aspect of the lawmakers’ existing proposal — a slimmed-down version of the liability shield he is seeking for companies and organizations facing potential COVID-19 lawsuits — in exchange for the state and local funds that Democrats want.Themore

Leave a comment

Congress at Stalemate on US COVID Aid

On

An emerging $900 billion COVID-19 aid package from a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers all but collapsed Thursday after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Republican senators won’t support $160 billion in state and local funds as part of a potential trade-off in the deal.McConnell’s staff conveyed to top negotiators that the Republican leader sees no path to an agreement on a key aspect of the lawmakers’ existing proposal — a slimmed-down version of the liability shield he is seeking for companies and organizations facing potential COVID-19 lawsuits — in exchange for the state and local funds that Democrats want.Themore

Leave a comment

Trump Persists in Bid to Upend Biden Victory

On

U.S. President Donald Trump pushed ahead Thursday with his long-shot effort to upend his reelection loss to President-elect Joe Biden, meeting at the White House with Republican state attorneys general who are supporting a lawsuit brought by the state of Texas at the Supreme Court to attempt to invalidate millions of votes in states won by Biden. Several legal experts were dismissive of the lawsuit’s chances of success, but Trump said on Twitter, “The Supreme Court has a chance to save our Country from the greatest Election abuse in the history of the United States.” The Supreme Court has a chance tomore

Leave a comment

Paul Delays Defense Bill Vote Over Troop Drawdowns

On

A Senate vote on a wide-ranging defense policy bill was delayed Thursday after Republican Rand Paul objected to the measure, casting the next steps in doubt and raising the slim prospect of a government shutdown if a short-term spending bill caught up in the dispute is not approved by Friday.Paul said on the Senate floor that he opposed a provision in the defense bill that would limit President Donald Trump’s ability to draw down U.S. troops from Afghanistan and Germany. His objections threatened another must-pass bill, a one-week spending measure that would keep the government open through December 18. Themore

Leave a comment

Legislative Offer Would Ease Sudan’s Removal From Terror List

On

Two U.S. lawmakers who sit on the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations are offering a compromise with the Trump administration that would clear the way to remove Sudan from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. The U.S. State Department has already reached an agreement with Sudan that would provide for Khartoum to financially compensate victims of deadly 1998 and 2000 terror attacks in Africa and the Middle East in exchange for removal of the list and the restoration of its sovereign immunity. However, some U.S. legislators are threatening to block the deal because it would prevent families of the victimsmore

Leave a comment