Focus Washington 2020 - Page 93 of 107 from

Trump Offered to Pardon Assange If He Denied Russia Helped Leak Democrats’ Emails

February 20, 2020 Focus Washington

President Donald Trump offered to pardon WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange if he said that Russia had nothing to do with WikiLeaks’ publication of Democratic Party emails in 2016, a London court heard on Wednesday, Reuters […]

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LUNCHTIME POLITICS: Perceptions of Race Relations Change – South Carolina, California, Oklahoma, Vermont, Maine

February 19, 2020 John Ganjei

Your Daily Polling Update for Wednesday, February 19, 2020 TRUMP JOB APPROVAL: AVERAGE 46%Same as yesterday RON’S COMMENT: Today’s average is based on eight polls, ranging from 44% (The Economist) to 50% (Rasmussen). Without these […]

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China Turns to Internet for Food Supplies Amid Virus Fears

February 19, 2020 Focus Washington

Wang Feng, house-bound by China’s virus outbreak, counts on the parka-clad delivery drivers of e-commerce giant JD.com to keep her kitchen stocked, The Associated Press reports. Demand for online food vendors has surged since China’s […]

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Boeing Heads to Court Amid Fight Over Release of 737 Max Documents

February 19, 2020 Focus Washington

Boeing heads to court on Wednesday to dispute a request from lawyers representing victims of a 737 MAX crash for documents related to the aircraft’s design, development, and two fatal disasters, Reuters writes. Chicago-based Boeing […]

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Syria’s Aleppo Airport Resumes Flights for 1st Time in Years

February 19, 2020 Focus Washington

A Syrian commercial flight landed at Aleppo airport on Wednesday from Damascus, marking the resumption of internal flights between Syria’s two largest cities for the first time since 2012, The Associated Press informs. The flight […]

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Passengers Begin Leaving After Ship’s Virus Quarantine Ends

February 19, 2020 Focus Washington

Hundreds of passengers began leaving the Diamond Princess cruise ship Wednesday after the end of a much-criticized, two-week quarantine that failed to stop the spread of a new virus among passengers and crew, The Associated […]

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AP: Barr Says He Might Quit Over Trump Tweets

February 19, 2020 Focus Washington

Attorney General William Barr has told people close to him he’s considering quitting his post after President Donald Trump wouldn’t heed his warning to stop tweeting about Justice Department cases, an administration official told The […]

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Uber Closing Office in Downtown Los Angeles

February 19, 2020 Focus Washington

Uber Technologies is closing its office in downtown Los Angeles, where the ride-hailing company employs customer support staff, to focus on its bigger locations, Reuters writes. The move was reported earlier on Tuesday by the […]

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Trump Blasts Proposed U.S. Restrictions on Sale of Jet Parts to China

February 19, 2020 Focus Washington

President Donald Trump objected on Tuesday to U.S. proposals that would prevent companies from supplying jet engines and other components to China’s aviation industry and suggested he had instructed his administration not to implement them, […]

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Trump Commutes Blagojevich Sentence

February 19, 2020 Focus Washington

President Donald Trump came under fire on Tuesday for commuting the sentence of Rod Blagojevich, the ex-Illinois governor convicted of trying to peddle Barack Obama’s vacated U.S. Senate seat, Reuters reported. Trump also pardoned Michael […]

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LUNCHTIME POLITICS: Nevada, Virginia – Sanders, Bloomberg Top National Numbers – Tuesday Trivia

February 18, 2020 John Ganjei

Your Daily Polling Update for Tuesday, February 18, 2020 TRUMP JOB APPROVAL: AVERAGE 46%Up 1 from yesterday RON’S COMMENT: Today’s average is based on three polls, ranging from 44% (Reuters) to 49% (Rasmussen). The third […]

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Democratic White House Candidates Face High-Pressure Nevada Debate

February 18, 2020 Focus Washington

At least six Democratic presidential contenders will meet in a pivotal debate in Nevada on Wednesday, three days before the state’s voters make their picks in an unsettled and tight nominating race for the White […]

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China Sees Fall in Coronavirus Deaths

February 18, 2020 Focus Washington

China reported its fewest new infections of coronavirus since January and its fewest deaths for a week, but the World Health Organization said data suggesting the epidemic had slowed should still be viewed with caution, […]

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SpaceX Launches 60 New Satellites for U.S. Service

February 18, 2020 Focus Washington

SpaceX has launched a further 60 Starlink satellites, bringing the future satellite broadband service satellite count to 300 since the first launch last May, ZDNet reported. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has said Starlink needs about […]

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AP: Homeland Security Waives Contracting Laws for Border Wall

February 18, 2020 Focus Washington

The Trump administration said Tuesday that it will waive federal contracting laws to speed construction of a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border, The Associated Press informed. The Department of Homeland Security said waiving procurement regulations […]

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UN Says Idlib Displacement ‘Overwhelming’ Relief Effort

February 18, 2020 Focus Washington

The aid operation in north-eastern Syria is being “overwhelmed” as the number of people displaced by the government offensive in Idlib rises, the UN said on Monday, BBC reported. Since early December 900,000 people have […]

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Bloomberg With Multiple Opportunities to Qualify for Wednesday’s Debate

February 18, 2020 Focus Washington

Michael Bloomberg is on the verge of qualifying for his first Democratic primary debate — a development that could change the 2020 race in dramatic fashion, CNN informed. To date, Bloomberg has eschewed most TV […]

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Apple Signals Coronavirus Threat to Global Businesses

February 18, 2020 Focus Washington

Apple on Monday became one of the first companies to reveal how the coronavirus that has gripped China was affecting its business, saying it was cutting its sales expectations for this quarter, which a month […]

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Virus Claims Life of Hospital Director in Wuhan

February 18, 2020 Focus Washington

As a mysterious new virus enveloped central China’s Wuhan early this year, Liu Zhiming mobilized all the resources of his hospital in the city’s Wuchang district to deal with the thousands of sick people arriving […]

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Iran’s Foreign Minister Attempts to Blame U.S. and Saudi Arabia for Rising Tensions

February 17, 2020 Focus Washington

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif stated that the United States and Saudi Arabia are responsible for the rising tensions in the Middle East. “I believe our neighbors, especially Saudi Arabia, do not want to […]

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Oliver Stone to Lead Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Festival Jury

February 17, 2020 Focus Washington

Oliver Stone will lead the jury of the first Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; additional masterclasses will be held with Spike Lee, William Friedkin, Abel Ferrara, Khairy Beshara, and Yousry Nasrallah. […]

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LUNCHTIME POLITICS: Trump Issue Approval – Generic Congressional Vote – Direction of Country

February 17, 2020 John Ganjei

Your Daily Polling Update for Monday, February 17, 2020 TRUMP JOB APPROVAL: AVERAGE 45%Same as Friday RON’S COMMENT: Today’s average is based on four polls, ranging from 43% (Politico) to 49% (Rasmussen). Without these extremes, […]

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Hundreds of Americans Flown Home From Cruise Ship

February 17, 2020 Focus Washington

More than 300 American passengers have been flown home from a cruise ship after two weeks under quarantine off Japan, including 14 found to have coronavirus who were kept isolated on the flight, Reuters informs. […]

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UN Chief Welcomes Progress in Afghan Peace Talks

February 17, 2020 Focus Washington

The UN secretary-general on Monday welcomed recent progress in Afghan peace talks between the U.S. and the Taliban, Anadolu Agency reported. Addressing an international conference on refugees in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, Antonio Guterres said […]

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Russian Citizen Aboard Diamond Princess Cruise Ship Infected With Coronavirus

February 17, 2020 Focus Washington

A Russian woman who was on board the Diamond Princess cruise liner docked in Yokohama, Japan, has tested positive for coronavirus following examinations by the Japanese authorities, the Russian Embassy to Japan said on Monday, […]

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U.S. Companies in China Report Staff Shortages

February 17, 2020 Focus Washington

Nearly half of the U.S. companies in China say their global operations are already seeing an impact from business shutdowns due to the coronavirus epidemic, according to a poll by Shanghai’s American Chamber of Commerce […]

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Syrian Forces Consolidate Control of Aleppo

February 17, 2020 Focus Washington

The Syrian army said on Monday it had taken full control of dozens of towns in Aleppo’s northwestern countryside and it would press on with its campaign to wipe out militant groups “wherever they are […]

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Former Justice Department Officials Call on AG Barr to Resign

February 17, 2020 Focus Washington

More than 1,000 former U.S. Justice Department officials on Sunday called for Attorney General William Barr to resign over his handling of the trial of a longtime adviser of President Donald Trump, Reuters writes. The […]

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Sanders Targeted by Russian Pranksters Posing as Greta Thunberg

February 17, 2020 Focus Washington

Russian pranksters claim they called U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders pretending to be climate activist Greta Thunberg and offered Thunberg’s support to his campaign, The Associated Press reported. Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexey Stolyarov, who […]

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Ivanka Trump Lauds Saudi, UAE on Women’s Rights Reforms

February 17, 2020 Focus Washington

On Sunday, Ivanka Trump lauded a handful of Mideast countries, including close U.S. allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, for embarking on “significant reforms” to advance women’s rights, while speaking at a gathering […]

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