Month: July 2020

Top U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci on Friday resisted efforts by a staunch ally of President Donald Trump to turn his testimony about controlling the coronavirus pandemic into criticism of protests against racial […]

Republican Senators Propose $1,000 Stimulus Checks

A second set of stimulus checks could be on the way, but the ink on the deal hasn’t dried yet, CNBC reported. On Thursday, a group of Republican senators introduced a bill that would lower […]

Trump Faces Rare Rebuke From GOP for Floating Election Delay

President Donald Trump repeatedly tests the Republican Party’s limits on issues including race, trade and immigration. On Thursday, he struck a boundary, The Associated Press reported. GOP officials from New Hampshire to Mississippi to Iowa […]

U.S. Coronavirus Epicenter Shifts Toward Midwestern States

The epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States showed signs of shifting to the Midwest on Thursday while Sunbelt states were hopeful that new infections and deaths were starting to decline, Reuters writes. […]

Oil Rises Further From Three-Week Lows, but Headwinds Loom

Oil prices rose on Friday, after touching three-week lows in the previous session, responding to a record decline in U.S. growth as the coronavirus ravaged the world’s biggest economy and oil consumer, Reuters informed. Brent […]

Twitter Says Spear-Phishing Attack on Employees Led to Breach

Twitter, whose internal systems were breached about two weeks ago, said on Thursday the incident targeted a small number of employees through a phone “spear-phishing” attack, Reuters reported. The U.S. microblogging site said the hackers […]

Apple’s Stock Split May Not Be Good for the Dow

Apple announced a stock split on Thursday and it may not bode well for future gains in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Reuters reported. The iPhone maker made the surprise announcement in its quarterly report, […]

Brazilian President Bolsonaro Says He Has ‘Mold’ in Lungs

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Thursday he was taking antibiotics for an infection that left him feeling weak, chuckling in an online video about “mold” in his lungs, having spent weeks in isolation after […]

Obama Criticizes Trump in Fiery Eulogy for Civil Rights Icon John Lewis

In a fiery eulogy for longtime U.S. Representative John Lewis on Thursday, former President Barack Obama took a series of thinly veiled shots at the actions of his successor that he said tore at the […]

LUNCHTIME POLITICS: Unemployment Benefits – Mandatory Masking – Senate Races – Virginia Schools

July 30, 2020 John Ganjei

Your Daily Polling Update for Thursday, July 30, 2020 TRUMP JOB APPROVAL: AVERAGE 43%Same as Sunday RON’S COMMENT: Today’s average is based on seven polls, ranging from 40% (Reuters, Politico) to 48% (Rasmussen). Without these […]

Trump Raises Possibility of Delaying the Election

President Donald Trump on Thursday raised the idea of delaying the Nov. 3 U.S. elections, which the Constitution does not give him the power to do, words Democrats and some of his fellow Republicans immediately […]

Huawei Overtakes Samsung to Be Number One Smartphone Player in the World

Huawei became the biggest smartphone player in the world in the second quarter for the first time, a new report by Canalys shows, CNBC reported. The majority of sales came from China as its international […]

Biden Allies Wage a Shadow Campaign to Stop Kamala Harris From Becoming VP

Some of Joe Biden’s allies are waging a campaign behind the scenes to stop Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., from becoming his vice president, CNBC reported. This disgruntled group of at least a dozen Biden backers, […]

Hajj Begins in Saudi Arabia Under Historic COVID-19 Restrictions

Islam’s holiest observances began Wednesday as a small group of pilgrims arrived in Mecca to begin the Hajj, which has been dramatically scaled-back due to the coronavirus pandemic, Voice of America (VoA) reported. Instead of […]

House Speaker Pelosi Announces Mask-Wearing Requirement for Lawmakers and Staff

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Wednesday that members and staff would be required to wear masks in the House of Representatives during the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters writes. Members will be allowed to remove their […]

Facebook’s Zuckerberg Skewered With Internal Emails During Antitrust Hearing

Facebook’s Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg stumbled at a congressional hearing on alleged abuse of market power on Wednesday, as lawmakers confronted the social media titan with damaging internal emails about the company’s acquisitions, Reuters reported. […]

China Needs ‘Explosive’ Buying to Meet U.S. Farm Import Target

With nearly seven months gone, an ambitious $36.5 billion target for Chinese imports of U.S. farm goods this year may not be quite out of reach, but it’s looking like a big, big stretch, Reuters […]

U.S. Economy Likely Suffered Historic Plunge in Second Quarter

The U.S. economy likely contracted at its steepest pace since the Great Depression in the second quarter as the COVID-19 pandemic destroyed consumer and business spending, potentially wiping out more than five years of growth, […]

U.S. Lawmakers Accuse Big Tech of Crushing Rivals to Boost Profits

Google and Facebook took particularly sharp jabs for alleged abuse of their market power from Democrats and Republicans on Wednesday in a much-anticipated congressional hearing that put four of America’s most prominent tech CEOs in […]

U.S. Records a Coronavirus Death Every Minute as Total Surpasses 150,000

One person in the United States died about every minute from COVID-19 on Wednesday as the national death toll surpassed 150,000, the highest in the world, Reuters reported. The United States recorded 1,461 new deaths […]

Gold Prices Could Hit $3,500 in Two Years, Analyst Says

The gold market is “very strong” and could hit $3,500 in two years, one analyst told CNBC. Prices have surged and reached record highs on Monday amid worries over the coronavirus pandemic and tensions between […]

Iran Fires Missiles at Mock U.S. Navy Ship in Drill

Iran launched underground ballistic missiles at a mock U.S. Navy vessel in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday morning, according to state TV, following a series of drills that had prompted two nearby U.S. military […]

China’s Xi Jinping Reiterates His Support for Multilateral Cooperation

China’s President Xi Jinping on Tuesday affirmed his country’s commitment to working with others, as he pushed for the cementing of the role of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in the global economic governance system, […]

Border Agents Arrest 19 When Panga Boat Lands on Southern California Beach

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents arrested 19 people in connection with suspected human smuggling in Southern California early Tuesday when a panga boat landed on a beach near San Clemente, Fox News reported. The […]

Barr Spars With Dems on Trump Ties, Riots at Fiery House Hearing

Attorney General Bill Barr clashed with Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee Tuesday over accusations that he is carrying out President Trump’s political wishes, as he appeared for a long-awaited hearing where tensions also flared […]

Lawmakers Investigate White House Pressure Over Schools Reopening Amid Coronavirus

Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday asked the U.S. education secretary and head of a top government health agency for their correspondence with the White House to determine if political pressure influenced new federal recommendations on whether […]

Congress, White House Struggle to Find Deal on New Coronavirus Aid

Republicans in the White House and the U.S. Congress were in disarray over their own plan for providing $1 trillion in new coronavirus aid on Tuesday, as negotiations aimed at reaching a compromise bill with […]

Mackenzie Scott Donates $1.7bn of Her Wealth Since Split With Jeff Bezos

MacKenzie Scott, ex-wife of Amazon’s billionaire Chief Executive Jeff Bezos, has donated $1.7 billion of her wealth in the past year to causes including racial equality, LGBTQ rights, public health and climate change, she said […]

Tesla’s Musk Says Open to Supplying Batteries to Other Automakers

Tesla’s Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said on Tuesday that the company is open to licensing software and supplying powertrains and batteries, Reuters writes. Tesla has previously supplied batteries to Mercedes and Toyota Motor under […]

Trump on Fauci’s High Approval Ratings: ‘Nobody Likes Me’

President Donald Trump groused on Tuesday about medical expert Anthony Fauci’s high approval ratings and joked that “nobody likes me” as he struggles to improve his standing with voters for his handling of the coronavirus […]