Year: 2020

New York City officials want to inoculate 1 million residents against Covid-19 in January, saying the federal government and drugmakers need to speed up the production and distribution of the vaccine, CNBC writes. Mayor Bill […]

U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Fall for Second Straight Week

The number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell for a second straight week last week but remain elevated more than nine months into the health and economic crisis triggered by the […]

Trump, First Lady Melania Will Return to White House and Skip New Year’s Bash

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump on Thursday will return to the White House, cutting short their lengthy holiday break in Palm Beach and skipping a reported New Year’s Eve blowout at his […]

U.S. Demands Release of Uighur Doctor While China Urges Halt to Smears

The United States called on Wednesday for the release of a Uighur Muslim medical doctor whose relatives say she was sentenced to 20 years in jail in China because of family members’ human rights activism […]

China Gives Its First COVID-19 Vaccine Approval to Sinopharm

China approved its first COVID-19 vaccine for general public use on Thursday, a shot developed by an affiliate of state-backed pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm, as it braces for greater transmission risks over the winter, Reuters writes. […]

Cyber Attack on U.S. Government May Have Started Earlier Than Initially Thought

The unprecedented cyber attack on U.S. government agencies reported this month may have started earlier than last spring as previously believed, a U.S. senator involved in cybersecurity said on Wednesday, Reuters writes. U.S. investigators originally […]

Fauci Sees U.S. Gaining Control Over Pandemic by Next Autumn

The leading U.S. infectious disease specialist, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said on Wednesday he foresees America achieving enough collective COVID-19 immunity through vaccinations to regain “some semblance of normality” by autumn 2021, despite early setbacks in […]

McConnell Thwarts Trump Bid for $2,000 Coronavirus Economic Relief Checks

U.S. Senate leader Mitch McConnell dealt a likely death blow on Wednesday to President Donald Trump’s bid to boost coronavirus aid to Americans, declining to schedule a swift Senate vote on a bill to raise […]

Investors Bullish on Stocks, Hoping for a Brighter 2021

U.S. stocks are closing 2020 on a strong note, and many investors are betting the party will continue after a tumultuous year that marked both the end of the longest bull market and the shortest-lived […]

CDC Says New COVID Strain in U.S. Could Further Stress Hospitals

Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday that a new strain of Covid-19 now circulating in the U.S. could further stress hospitals that are already overwhelmed with coronavirus patients, CNBC reported. […]

Biden Will Not Likely Roll Back Trump Campaign Against China Tech

President-elect Joe Biden is unlikely to reverse President Donald Trump’s challenge to China’s technology industry and companies — but Biden will likely be more targeted in his approach and collaborate with allies, experts told CNBC. […]

December 30, 2020 John Ganjei

LUNCHTIME POLITICS: Georgia Senate Poll Update

Your Daily Polling Update for Wednesday, December 30, 2020 TRUMP JOB APPROVAL: AVERAGE 43%Up 1 from Thursday RON’S COMMENT: Trump’s job approval rating is now almost 4 points below the popular vote percentage he received […]

European Markets Lack Momentum Despite Positive Vaccine News

European stocks traded slightly higher on Wednesday amid more positive vaccine news in the region, CNBC reported. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index opened just above the flatline but rose to trade up 0.13%. London’s FTSE […]

U.S. Needs to Vaccinate 3 Million People per Day to Hit COVID Vaccination Goal, Doctor Says

Dr. Carlos del Rio warned “The News with Shepard Smith” that the effort to vaccinate Americans needs to “change dramatically,” as the United States missed its vaccination goals two weeks after Americans started receiving shots, […]

Biden Says Trump’s Vaccine Roll Out Has ‘Fallen Behind’

President-elect Joe Biden criticized President Donald Trump’s promised swift coronavirus vaccine rollout, saying it has fallen behind expectations, Reuters reported. Biden, speaking in Wilmington, Delaware, said some 2 million people have been vaccinated, well short […]

Oil Up on Hopes of Demand Recovery, Lower U.S. Inventories

Oil gained ground on Wednesday as a U.S. coronavirus fiscal aid package and a decline in crude oil inventories lifted prices, Reuters informs. Brent crude futures rose 35 cents, or 0.7%, to $51.44 a barrel […]

Sinopharm’s COVID-19 Vaccine 79% Effective, Seeks Approval in China

A vaccine developed by a unit of China National Biotec Group (CNBG) is 79.34% effective at protecting people from COVID-19 and the company is seeking regulatory approval for general public use in China, the developer […]

California Coronavirus Lockdowns Extended as Hospitals Teeter on Brink of Crisis

Strict stay-at-home orders were renewed indefinitely on Tuesday for much of California, a leading U.S. hot spot of the COVID-19 pandemic, as the state’s top health official said that many hospitals were teetering on the […]

Federal Probe Ends Without Charging Cleveland Police in Tamir Rice Shooting

The U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday it has closed its civil rights investigation into the fatal 2014 shooting by Cleveland police of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old Black youth, and that no federal criminal charges […]

U.S. Detects First Case of COVID-19 Variant as Biden Offers Gloomy Vaccine Outlook

The first known U.S. case of a highly infectious coronavirus variant discovered in Britain was detected in Colorado on Tuesday as President-elect Joe Biden warned it could take years for most Americans to be vaccinated […]

McConnell Puts off Vote on $2,000 Aid Checks, Urges Senate Override Trump Defense Veto

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday put off a vote on President Donald Trump’s call to boost COVID-19 relief checks and urged the Senate to override his veto of a defense bill, in […]

December 29, 2020 John Ganjei

LUNCHTIME POLITICS: What Happened in 2020 Senate Polling

Your Daily Polling Update for Tuesday, December 29, 2020 WHAT HAPPENED? A hard look at state polls in the 2020 Senate ElectionsPart 3 in a series Overall:To get a handle on how the polls did […]

China’s Economy Still Months Away From a Full Recovery, Survey Shows

China has not fully recovered from the shock of the coronavirus pandemic, business leaders said in a survey by the China Beige Book released Tuesday, CNBC reported. After about a year since Covid-19 first emerged […]

U.S. Might Be Missing the New COVID Variant ‘Because the Holes in Our Net Are Too Wide’

The lack of Covid testing capacity in the United States could mean the new, highly transmissible coronavirus strain that first emerged in the United Kingdom is already working its way through communities across the U.S. […]

UK Needs Tighter COVID Rules to Avert New “Catastrophe”, Epidemiologist Warns

Britain’s government needs to bring in tighter coronavirus lockdown rules to avert a fresh wave of deaths from a new strain of the disease, a leading epidemiologist and government advisor warned on Tuesday, Reuters reports. […]

Global Stocks, Oil Lead Risk Rally on U.S. Stimulus Hopes

Global shares rose for the fourth straight day on Tuesday and oil followed suit as hopes of fresh U.S. stimulus teed up a strong end to the year for riskier assets, Reuters writes. The MSCI […]

Trump Administration Bolsters Order Barring U.S. Investment in Chinese Firms

The Trump administration on Monday strengthened an executive order barring U.S. investors from buying securities of alleged Chinese military-controlled companies, following disagreement among U.S. agencies about how tough to make the directive, Reuters writes. The […]

Renewed COVID Lockdowns Likely in Southern California as ICUs Stay Filled

The United States topped 19 million COVID cases on Monday as hospital intensive care units were full to overflowing across much of California, a major U.S. virus hot spot, portending an extension of strict stay-at-home […]

U.S. House Approves $2,000 Coronavirus Aid Checks Sought by Trump

The Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives voted 275-134 to meet President Donald Trump’s demand for $2,000 COVID-19 relief checks on Monday, sending the measure on to an uncertain future in the Republican-controlled Senate, Reuters writes. […]

Biden Claims Trump Aides Setting ‘Roadblocks’ for His Transition Team

President-elect Joe Biden said on Monday many of America’s security agencies had been “hollowed out” under President Donald Trump and the lack of information being provided to his transition team by the outgoing administration was […]