Black Lives Matter Gains Substantial Concessions in DNC Platform

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African American activist Jamira Burley is a staunch advocate of “defunding and abolishing” the police, a controversial proposal pushed by many progressives leading the Black Lives Matter protest movement.But Burley, who spoke at the opening night of the Democratic National Convention on Monday, said she backs the party’s policy platform, even though the document makes no mention of defunding the police.”It’s a platform that I would rather support versus Donald Trump, who’s being supported by the police union in New York, who actually have no desire to improve the conditions of how they operate,” Burley told VOA.That largely sums upmore

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Virtual Convention Offers New Opportunities for Political Parties to Connect

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Political conventions have always been considered a four-day television commercial for political parties and their presidential candidates. The 2020 Democratic National Convention is taking that to a new level with its virtual convention.Forced by the coronavirus pandemic to rethink how to stage a convention, Democrats changed what was once a slickly produced live event with politicians speaking from a podium in an arena filled with people. Instead, it appears they are bringing the convention to the people, using short videos to create an atmosphere of watching a social media feed.Vanessa Beasley, communications professor at Vanderbilt University, said eliminating the crowdedmore

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Med Students Lose Empathy After Second Year, Study Finds

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While medical school students gain key healing skills as their education progresses, one important quality seems to wane: empathy.According to a study from FILE – Medical students hug during a demonstration, June 5, 2020, in Salt Lake City, Utah.DOs are fully licensed physicians who practice in all areas of medicine, according to the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM),  and empathy is an important part of their program.“Emphasizing a whole-person approach to treatment and care, DOs are trained to listen and partner with their patients to help them get healthy and stay well,” according to the American Osteopathicmore

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Democrats Hope Unconventional Travelogue Entices Viewers

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An 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. Biden received votes from the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Alabama and from the parents of murdered hate crime victim Matthew Shepard in Wyoming. It became a guessing game for viewers: Where will my state’s delegates speak from? Washington Post editor Tanya Sichynskymore

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Democrats Officially Nominate Joe Biden for US President

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Democrats 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. …

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Democrats Officially Nominate Joe Biden as Their Presidential Candidate

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U.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 caucus votes, including his closest rival, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. On the second night of the Democratic National Convention, the traditional roll call vote of states officially picking the party nominee featured representatives speaking from their states and territories pledging their support for Biden as he now runs against Trump,more

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Sanders Urges Progressives to Keep Agenda Alive with Vote for Biden

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For 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 presidential nomination. In 2016, many of these same liberal Democrats decided to sit out the general election after Hillary Clinton edged out Sanders for the Democratic presidential nomination – and Sanders appeared half-hearted in urging them to back Clinton at the polls.  But Sanders made amore

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Mississippi Group Narrows Flag Options to 5

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A 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 broadly condemned as racist. “When the flag came down, it was one of the great days of my life,” Reuben Anderson, chairman of a nine-member flag commission, said during Tuesday’s meeting. The law shelving the old flag created the commission to come up with a new designmore

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Western Culture a Challenge for Some Foreign Students in US, Study Finds

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For international students at universities in the United States, one factor stands out in the social divide between them and their domestic peers: self-esteem.     Psychologist Wendy Quinton, at the State University of New York at Buffalo, researched what many international students dread when arriving on U.S. campuses.  “Cultivating close contact with members of the host culture is a consistent and particularly difficult challenge,” Quinton wrote in her study.International students seek relationships with their domestic peers, but differences in culture and communication often interfere.  “The lack of meaningful connection with students from the host culture is associated with manymore

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Senate Report Provides New Details of Russian Meddling in 2016 Presidential Election

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A 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 campaign chairman Paul Manafort posed a “grave counterintelligence threat” because of his dealings with people close to the Kremlin. But it also found that the FBI’s investigation of the Russian meddling in the election was “flawed.” FILE – Trump Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort talks to reportersmore

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US Postal Service Chief: No Cutbacks Before Election

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U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy vowed Tuesday that mailed-in ballots in the November 3 presidential election will be delivered “on time” and suspended until after the election all changes at the agency that Democrats claimed would possibly have kept millions of votes from being sent to election officials to be counted. DeJoy, a wealthy campaign donor to Republican President Donald Trump whom Trump appointed to head the U.S. Postal Service, said in a statement that the agency “is ready today to handle whatever volume of election mail it receives this fall.” DeJoy declared, “We will deliver the nation’s election mail on time and withinmore

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Jill Biden to Make the Presidential Case for Her Husband

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Jill 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 say she offered her thoughts on his choice of a vice presidential running mate before he chose California Senator Kamala Harris last week, making Harris the first Black and South Asian American to be picked for a spot on a national U.S. political ticket.Democratic presidentialmore

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US Postal Service Head to Testify Before Senate Panel Amid Criticism

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The 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 took control of the agency in June, previously agreed to testify next Monday before the Democrat-led House Oversight Committee.   DeJoy’s pending testimony comes as millions of Americans fearful of voting at polling places due to the coronavirus pandemic prepare to vote by mail inmore

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US Democratic Party Foreign Policy Includes China Criticism, International Alliances

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The 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 presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden does not have to endorse its positions. However, the platform provides an official outline of the party’s vision and policy priorities. It was crafted by a panel of Democratic leaders, including Biden’s last remaining challenger for the Democratic nomination, Senator Berniemore

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Gov. Andrew Cuomo Book on COVID-19 Response Out in October

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New 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 released Oct. 13, three weeks before Election Day, when Trump is expected to face presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden. The news comes the day after Cuomo addressed the Democratic National Convention and called the virus’ spread a metaphor for a country weakened by division. Newmore

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COVID-19 Infections Rising Among Young People on US University Campuses

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Reports of COVID-19 cases are growing on university campuses as schools reopen for the fall semester.FILE – People remove belongings on campus at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C., March 18, 2020.Oklahoma State University announced Aug. 15 there were Patrons stand on the Bear Trap’s rooftop bar on The Strip, the University of Alabama’s bar scene, Aug. 15, 2020, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.The simulation studied the spread of a highly transmissible virus, such as COVID-19, at reasonably large research university and monitored the efficacy of interventions, such as contact tracing, mask-wearing, online instruction, etc.It consisted of 20,000 studentsmore

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University of North Carolina Cancels In-Person Classes After COVID Outbreak

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The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, one of the largest schools in the U.S., is canceling all in-person classes after an outbreak of COVID-19.  The sudden change to remote learning comes a week after classes began for the fall semester. The school had instituted remote learning for most classes in March during the initial spread of the coronavirus. On Monday, school officials said that 177 students had tested positive for the coronavirus and another 350 were in quarantine in dorms and off-campus housing because of possible exposure. “We understand the concern and frustrations these changes will raise with many studentsmore

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Democrats Seek Unity in Virtual Convention

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Democrats 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 reports, the televised event is intended to generate excitement as the election campaign enters its final phase. …

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Michelle Obama Calls Trump ‘Wrong President for Our Country’ as Democrats Open Convention

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Former 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 failed to adequately respond to economic and social crises and the coronavirus pandemic at home while turning away from international alliances built by previous administrations. “Let me be as honest and clear as I possibly can,” she said in a prerecorded speech. “Donald Trump is the wrong president formore

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Prominent Republicans Endorse Biden at Democratic Convention

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John Kasich, the former Republican governor of Ohio, crossed party lines on Monday to speak at the Democratic National Convention in support of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.  “I’m a lifelong Republican, but that attachment holds second place to my responsibility to my country. That’s why I’ve chosen to appear at this convention. In normal times, something like this would probably never happen, but these are not normal times,” Kasich said in his prerecorded speech on the opening night of the four-day Democratic Party convention.  Kasich, who was one of President Donald Trump’s toughest rivals for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination and was the last to dropmore

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US Democrats Meeting Virtually, United Against Trump

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U.S. Democrats opened their national convention Monday night, a four-day virtual affair due to the coronavirus pandemic they hope will help push former Vice President Joe Biden to victory over President Donald Trump in the November election.  FILE – Former Vice President Joe Biden.Former first lady Michelle Obama, progressive Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich, a Trump critic, were  among those who spoke to make the case for the 77-year-old Biden on the convention’s first night.Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer stressed the need to take action to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, citing the efforts of the administration of Biden and formermore

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Trump Takes Campaign to Midwest as Democrats Kick Off Convention Week

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On the day the Democratic Party began its virtual convention, the incumbent Republican president, Donald Trump, brought his campaign to the heart of the upper Midwest.  In campaign-style stops at airports in Minnesota and Wisconsin on Monday — replicating the rock music soundtracks of his “Make America Great Again” political rallies — the president, speaking to invited clusters of supporters on the tarmacs, accused his presumptive election opponent of being a clueless puppet of “left-wing fascists.”  A victory by the opposition party in November, Trump warned, would mean open borders, economic collapse and other perceived calamities.  Supporters cheer as Presidentmore

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Climate Activists, Traditionalists Square Off in Harvard Alumni Board Vote

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A Harvard University board election pits proponents of two popular causes against each other: those focused on climate change and those who want to keep money and what they describe as special interests out of the contest.Votes are due Tuesday for five open seats on the Harvard University Board of Overseers, a 30-member alumni body that helps set strategy for the Cambridge, Mass. School.Usually nominees come from Harvard’s alumni association. But five of this year’s 13 candidates were nominated by Harvard Forward, a campaign by recent graduates who want the school to divest fossil fuel assets from its $41 billionmore

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Feds Urge Judge to OK Prison Deals for Loughlin, Giannulli

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Federal prosecutors urged a judge Monday to accept deals that call for “Full House” actor Lori Loughlin to spend two months in prison and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, to serve five months for paying half a million dollars to bribe their daughters’ way into college. Ahead of the famous couple’s scheduled sentencing hearings Friday, prosecutors said in court filings that the proposed prison terms are comparable to the sentences other prominent parents charged in the case have received, while accounting for Loughlin and Giannulli’s “repeated and deliberate conduct” and their “decision to allow their children to become complicit inmore

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