Month: November 2020

More than 200 Facebook content moderators from across the U.S. and Europe have written an open letter to CEO Mark Zuckerberg and urged him to let them work from home during the coronavirus pandemic, CNBC […]

Man beats lumber store employee over mask rule

State and City Leaders Impose Targeted Coronavirus Restrictions to Curb COVID Without Tanking Economy

Coronavirus cases are running rampant across the U.S., and a handful of states and cities are closing nonessential businesses, limiting public and private gatherings and imposing mask mandates to try to slow the rapid spread […]

Pressure Grows on U.S. Agency to Approve Trump-to-Biden Transition

A little-known agency that keeps the U.S. federal bureaucracy running is the biggest impediment to new efforts to fight the coronavirus outbreak, Democratic President-elect Joe Biden said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. “There’s a whole lot […]

Russian Parliament Given Draft Law Enabling Moscow to Block U.S. Social Media Giants

Lawmakers in Russia’s parliament presented draft legislation on Thursday that, if passed, would enable the government to restrict internet access to U.S. social media giants deemed to have discriminated against Russian media outlets, Reuters informs. […]

AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine Shows Promise in Elderly, Trial Results by Christmas

AstraZeneca and Oxford University’s potential COVID-19 vaccine produced a strong immune response in older adults, data published on Thursday showed, with researchers expecting to release late-stage trial results by Christmas, Reuters informed. The data, reported […]

World Stocks Ease Further From Highs, Oil Dips on COVID-19 Count

World stocks eased for the third day in a row and oil fell on Thursday tracking overnight weakness in Asia and Wall Street as widening COVID-19 restrictions weighed on market sentiment, Reuters reported. Positive news […]

Trump Faces Likely Setback in Georgia Recount

The U.S. presidential election battleground state of Georgia is expected on Thursday to affirm Joe Biden’s victory over President Donald Trump after a painstaking recount, which would deal another setback to Trump’s efforts to cling […]

U.S. COVID Deaths Top 250,000 as New York City Schools Halt in-Person Classes

The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 surpassed a grim new milestone of 250,000 lives lost on Wednesday, as New York City’s public school system, the nation’s largest, called a halt to in-classroom instruction, citing a […]

protection against coronavirus infection

Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine Deliveries Could Start ‘Before Christmas’

Pfizer and BioNTech could secure emergency U.S. and European authorization for their COVID-19 vaccine next month after final trial results showed it had a 95% success rate and no serious side effects, the drugmakers said on […]

Biden Receives National Security Briefing From Experts Outside Government

President-elect Joe Biden received a briefing Tuesday on national security and diplomacy from a dozen experts outside of government, highlighting the fact that President Donald Trump is still barring Biden from receiving the classified intelligence […]

Moderna’s Coronavirus Vaccine Maker Identifies ‘Big Challenges’ to Mass Production

Moderna’s announcement earlier this week that its vaccine was more than 94% effective at preventing the coronavirus, according to preliminary trial data, raised global hopes further that a resolution to the pandemic that has killed […]

U.S. Judge Skeptical of Trump Bid to Halt Biden Win in Pennsylvania

A judge on Tuesday appeared skeptical of President Donald Trump’s request to block officials from certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in Pennsylvania, underscoring the difficulties the Trump campaign has faced in challenging the outcome of […]

US and China will meet for the first time at a high level since Russia's attack on Ukraine as Biden tries to get Beijing's help with the war.

China’s Irritated Trade Partners Push Back on Coronavirus Food Tests

Major food-producing countries are growing increasingly frustrated with China’s scrutiny of imported products and are calling on it to stop aggressive testing for the coronavirus, which some say is tantamount to a trade restriction, Reuters […]

FDA Approves First COVID-19 Test Kit for Home Use

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Tuesday it had approved the first COVID-19 self-testing kit for home use that provides results within 30 minutes, Reuters informed. The single-use test, made by Lucira Health, […]

World Stocks Catch Breath After Vaccine Euphoria

Global shares were little changed and oil rose on Wednesday as weak U.S. retail sales and a surge of new coronavirus cases dampened but did not extinguish the euphoria from recent COVID-19 vaccine breakthroughs, Reuters […]

U.S. Medical Leaders Rebuke Trump, Urge COVID-19 Cooperation With Biden Team

The U.S. medical establishment on Tuesday urged President Donald Trump to share critical COVID-19 data with President-elect Joe Biden’s team to avoid needless, deadly lags in tackling a raging pandemic that is threatening to overwhelm […]

Trump Fires Top U.S. Election Cybersecurity Official Who Defended Vote

President Donald Trump on Tuesday fired top cybersecurity official Chris Krebs in a message on Twitter, accusing him without evidence of making a “highly inaccurate” statement affirming the Nov. 3 election was secure and rejecting […]

November 17, 2020 John Ganjei

LUNCHTIME POLITICS: How State Polls Did in The Presidential Race

Your Daily Polling Update for Tuesday, November 17, 2020 WHAT HAPPENED?A hard look at state polls in the 2020 presidential election Part 2 in a Series by Ron Faucheux Now that most votes are counted, […]

Sen. Loeffler Calls Democrat Warnock ‘Most Radically Liberal Candidate in the Country’, Welcomes Debate

Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., called out her Democratic runoff opponent Raphael Warnock as a “radical” who has slammed police officers and has been associated with controversial figures like the late Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, Fox […]

Dems Urge Trump Administration to Avoid Last-minute Rollback of Rules, Regulations

House Democrats are urging the Trump administration to refrain from a spate of last-minute rules rolling back health, safety and environmental protections, warning it could complicate the transition process for President-elect Joe Biden and the […]

Moderna Says Preliminary Trial Data Shows Its Coronavirus Vaccine Is More Than 94% Effective

Moderna said preliminary phase three trial data shows its coronavirus vaccine is more than 94% effective in preventing Covid-19 — a result CEO Stephane Bancel called a “game changer.” CNBC informed. The analysis evaluated 95 […]

Biden Says ‘More People May Die’ From COVID if Trump Continues to Delay Transition

President-elect Joe Biden said on Monday that “more people may die” from the coronavirus if the Trump administration doesn’t begin coordinating with his team on plans to vaccinate more than 300 million Americans against the […]

OPEC+ Panel Sees Weaker Oil Demand in 2021

OPEC and its allies have revised oil demand scenarios for 2021 with demand seen weaker than previously anticipated, a confidential document seen by Reuters shows, supporting the case for a tighter supply policy next year. […]

Despite Vaccine Progress, Investors Eye Fed Support as Coronavirus Surges

Investors are weighing the chances the Federal Reserve will increase its purchases of U.S. government debt in coming weeks to counteract the economic fallout of a COVID-19 resurgence, an intervention that could reverse a recent […]

Iowa Joins U.S. States From Coasts to Heartland Acting to Curb COVID-19

Several U.S. governors, from the coastal states of New Jersey and California to the heartland of Iowa and Ohio, acted on Monday to restrict gatherings and boost face-coverings in confronting a coronavirus surge they warned […]

Trump Asked for Options for Attacking Iran Last Week, but Held off

President Donald Trump, with two months left in office, last week asked for options on attacking Iran’s main nuclear site, but ultimately decided against taking the dramatic step, a U.S. official said on Monday, Reuters […]

Joe Biden's social spending bill approved by House Dems

Biden Turns Focus to Building White House Team

President-elect Joe Biden will focus on shaping his core White House team on Tuesday while outgoing President Donald Trump presses on with his increasingly tenuous legal fight to reverse his loss in the U.S. election, […]

Tesla to Join S&P 500, Spark Epic Index Fund Trade

Tesla is set to join the S&P 500 in December, a major win for Chief Executive Elon Musk that boosted the electric car maker’s shares 14% on Monday in anticipation of a $51 billion trade […]

November 16, 2020 Focus Washington

Companies Gear up for Biden Administration With Lobbyist Hiring Spree

As Joe Biden appeared to be on the path to winning the 2020 presidential election, several companies and business groups went on a hiring spree for lobbyists that could influence the incoming administration, CNBC informed. […]

November 16, 2020 Focus Washington

SpaceX Launches Astronauts Into Space

Elon Musk’s rocket company SpaceX launched four astronauts on a flight to the International Space Station on Sunday, NASA’s first full-fledged mission sending a crew into orbit aboard a privately owned spacecraft, Reuters writes. SpaceX’s […]