A Million More Floridians Voted by Mail in Tuesday Primaries

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Former Navy pilot Scott Franklin has ousted Rep. Ross Spano, making the Florida congressman dogged by ethics investigations the eighth incumbent House member to be defeated in party primaries this year.Tuesday’s contests were shaped by the coronavirus pandemic, with more than 2.3 million people casting mail-in ballots.That compares to fewer than 1.3 million in the 2016 primary. Unlike 2016, when there were primaries for U.S. Senate that helped drive up turnout, there were no statewide races on the August 2020 ballot.This year also has been tough on House incumbents. The eight defeats double 2018’s total and are the most sincemore

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Americans Mixed on DNC Socially-distanced Political Theater

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Nick Zingarelli relished Michelle Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention this week, especially when the former first lady used President Donald Trump’s own words — “It is what it is” — to sum up Democrats’ disappointment in his presidency. But the moment on the first night of the first virtual convention was bittersweet for Zingarelli. A line that good deserved a thunderous applause from a crowded convention hall, he thought. “Not having that response — yeah, there was something that was taken away from that,” said Zingarelli, a 41-year-old lawyer from suburban St. Louis. “But it’s the best thatmore

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Kamala Harris Accepts Vice Presidential Nomination

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Gun violence, climate change and COVID-19, issues highlighted on night three of the Democratic National Convention Wednesday, when Senator Kamala Harris of California accepted the vice-presidential nomination as running mate to candidate Joe Biden. Mike O’Sullivan reports, viewers heard a litany of complaints against Republican President Donald Trump, all conveyed through a virtual format. …

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Harris Urges Fight for ‘the America We Know is Possible’ as She Accepts Historic Vice Presidential Nomination

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Democratic vice presidential candidate Senator Kamala Harris of California urged people to fight for “the America we know is possible,” as she made history in accepting her party’s nomination to appear alongside presidential candidate Joe Biden on the ballot in November.Harris, 55, a former prosecutor, is the fourth woman to be on a major U.S. party’s national ticket, but the first Black woman and first South Asian American. Her mother was a breast cancer scientist who emigrated from India. She died in 2009. Harris’ father, an economist, came to the U.S. from Jamaica.Addressing the third night of the Democratic Nationalmore

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Trump: Closing Colleges Amid Outbreaks ‘Could Cost Lives’

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President Donald Trump on Wednesday blasted universities that have canceled in-person classes amid coronavirus outbreaks, saying the move could ultimately cost lives rather than saving them.Raising the issue at a White House news briefing, Trump said the virus is akin to the seasonal flu for college students and that students pose a greater safety threat at home with older family members than on college campuses. He cited no evidence to support either contention, and the White House did not respond to a request for information on what Trump based his remarks.Health experts have said the novel coronavirus appears to bemore

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Obama Criticizes Trump in Prime-Time Convention Speech

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Former U.S. President Barack Obama said Wednesday that for nearly four years, President Donald Trump “has shown no interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves.”Speaking on the third night of the Democratic National Convention, where the party has nominated Obama’s vice president, Joe Biden, as its presidential candidate, Obama unleashed an extraordinary attack on Trump, warning that his reelection could undermine democracy. In typical U.S. campaigns, former presidents typically withhold criticisms of a sitting president.During a speech at the virtual convention taped in Philadelphia, Obamamore

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Trump Says He Doesn’t Know Much About QAnon, Appreciates Followers’ Support

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President Donald Trump on Wednesday praised the supporters of QAnon, a convoluted, pro-Trump conspiracy theory, and suggested he appreciates their support of his candidacy.Trump insisted he hadn’t heard much about the movement, “other than I understand they like me very much” and “it is gaining in popularity.”Speaking during a news conference at the White House, Trump courted the support of those who put stock in the conspiracy theory, saying, “I heard that these are people that love our country.” It was Trump’s first public comment on the subject and continued a pattern of president appearing unwilling to resoundingly condemn extremistsmore

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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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