Senate Democrats on Sunday lodged harsh criticisms at Vice President Mike Pence who plans to preside over the chamber during a vote on Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation to the Supreme Court despite several of his top aides contracting COVID-19. News broke Saturday evening that Pence's Chief of Staff, Marc Short, had tested positive for the disease. Pence, who runs the White House's coronavirus task force and has since tested negative for the virus, had planned to preside over the Senate floor Monday when the chamber votes on Barrett's confirmation to the high court.
Singapore has temporarily halted the use of two influenza vaccines as a precaution after some people who received them in South Korea died, becoming among the first countries to publicly announce a halt of the vaccines' usage. South Korea reported that 48 have died as of Saturday after getting flu shots, but said it would carry on with the state-run vaccination programme as they found no direct link between the deaths and the shots. No deaths associated with influenza vaccination have been reported in Singapore to date, but the decision to halt the use of SKYCellflu Quadrivalent and VaxigripTetra was precautionary, the health ministry and the Health Sciences Authority (HAS) said in a stateme...
An unnamed white woman yelled at Alex Beckom, a 20-year-old Black barista, after Beckom told her she had to wear a mask in Starbucks. The woman yelled "f--- Black Lives Matter" at the barista, falsely claimed she was being discriminated against because she is a Trump supporter, and said the coronavirus was a hoax. Starbucks has required all customers to wear masks in its stores since July.
With nine days before Election Day, more people already have cast ballots in this year's presidential election than voted early or absentee in the 2016 race as the start of in-person early voting in big states led to a surge in turnout in recent days. The opening of early voting locations in Florida, Texas and elsewhere has piled millions of new votes on top of the mail ballots arriving at election offices as voters try to avoid crowded places on Nov. 3 during the coronavirus pandemic. The result is a total of 58.6 million ballots cast so far, more than the 58 million that The Associated Press logged as being cast through the mail or at in-person early voting sites in 2016.
A police officer who shot a Black couple inside a vehicle — killing a 19-year-old man and wounding his girlfriend — has been fired, the police chief announced Friday.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Sunday hedged on whether she would support Nancy Pelosi as House speaker again, saying she will support the “most progressive” candidate. “If Speaker Pelosi runs again, as she just indicated she will if the Democrats keep the House, will you support her?” CNN's Jake Tapper asked the freshman congresswoman during an interview on CNN. The New York progressive's remarks came just moments after Pelosi confirmed on CNN that she intends to run for speaker of the House should Democrats retain their majority in the chamber.
A Florida police chief who had recently earned his pilot's license was killed in a small-plane crash on Sunday morning. The death of Greg Graham, who became Ocala's 30th police chief in January 2012, according to the Star-Banner of the USA TODAY Network, stunned the central Florida city northwest of Orlando. "An incredibly tragic day for Ocala.
Hundreds of people rallied in Taiwan's capital on Sunday to call for China to release 12 Hong Kong people arrested at sea by mainland authorities in part of a global campaign to support the pro-democracy movement in the financial hub. The 12 were arrested on Aug. 23 for alleged illegal entry into mainland China after setting off from Hong Kong in a boat bound for democratic Taiwan, amid a crackdown by Beijing on pro-democracy activists in the former British colony. Hong Kong's Security Bureau has said all 12 were suspected of committing crimes including manufacturing or possessing explosives, arson and rioting in Hong Kong.
Biden is pushing ahead with raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour even as the downturn takes a toll on small businesses. The Biden campaign hasn't laid out a timeline to implement it, and it did not respond whether it supported a House bill that would raise it to that level by 2025. Congress last raised the federal minimum wage in 2009.
The first nest of Asian giant hornets found in the US has successfully been destroyed by scientists. The nest, in the state of Washington, was found by putting tracker devices on the hornets and it was sucked out of a tree using a vacuum hose. The invasive species insects, known as "murder hornets", have a powerful sting and can spit venom.
Sport and cultural facilities in Brussels must close and residents will face a longer curfew from Monday, the regional government said on Saturday, as COVID-19 infections in Belgium continued to surge to record highs. Belgium, one of the European countries worst hit by COVID-19, is grappling with a new wave of the virus. The country's rate of new cases is at the highest since the start of the pandemic, with a record 15,432 infections recorded on Tuesday, the latest official figures show.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said she would seek another term as House Speaker if Democrats keep control of the house following the November election in an interview with CNN on Sunday. Additionally, Pelosi said Democrats must win back the Senate majority, which Republicans have held since 2014. Meanwhile, Democrats and Republicans continue to clash on a COVID-19 relief package.
President Donald Trump was one of those GOP voters going to the polls, kicking off Florida's statewide in-person early voting period Saturday by casting his ballot in West Palm Beach and livestreaming an event to urge supporters to show up and catch Democrats. Further south, in Miami, former President Barack Obama held a rally for his former vice president, Joe Biden, at Florida International University. The split-screen schedule of the two presidents, each of whom carried Florida with different voter coalitions, shed light on the different strategies of the two campaigns in Trump's must-win state, with the president trying to supersize older and white voter turnout and Obama seeking to boos...
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the overwhelming favorite in her reelection race in New York's 14th Congressional district. "I guarantee you 75% of his contributors don't know anything about him," a Republican strategist told The New York Times. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is widely expected to win reelection next month as the US Representative for New York's 14th district.
Josh Holmes, a top adviser to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), told Politico he thinks the Republican Party could win more Senate races than people expect on Nov. 3, but the fact that there are so many close contests means "you could have a whole bunch of scenarios play out on Election Day." The worst-case scenario for the GOP, he said, is "potentially catastrophic." As it turns out, the party may not get that much help from President Trump when it comes to avoiding such a fate.
The Senate will vote on Sunday to send the federal judge's nomination to a full vote, which will be held on Monday. With little remaining hope of blocking her confirmation to the court, and her replacing Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Democrats have announced a symbolic show of defiance. Unlike an actual filibuster, which slows proceedings and can make an unpopular bill run out of time and therefore be blocked, the digital filibuster will not affect the outcome.
A 58-year-old Utah woman was arrested for allegedly killing her 84-year-old mother, according to Deseret News. The woman, Lori Lee Donlay, told authorities during questioning that "she deserved it, and now she's in a better place." A 58-year-old woman was arrested on Friday for allegedly killing her elderly mother and said to authorities that "she deserved it" and would take the reason why she did it "to the grave."
After photos of his bruised hands raised concerns about his health, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters he does not have health issues. When asked if there are any health concerns the public should know about, he answered "of course not" and said the bruises raise "no concerns," CNN reported. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell shut down concerns over his health raised from photos of his bruised and bandaged hands.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) told CNN's Jake Tapper on Sunday's edition of State of the Union that she feels strongly about the need to ban fracking in the United States, but she's not letting that get in the way of her efforts to help former Vice President Joe Biden defeat President Trump in the upcoming election. Biden, she said, has "made very clear" that he disagrees with a fracking ban, but she says it would be a "privilege" to lobby him on the issue in the future.
"But most of us don't even know who the electors of our state are unless we've done our research." The state parties appoint electors to cast the electoral ballots on the Monday after the second Wednesday in December of the presidential election – about a month after the Americans cast their ballots in the popular vote. More than 54 million people have already voted Here's how that compares with past elections.
Dyson founder James Dyson just sold Singapore's most expensive penthouse at a loss. Since then, Dyson cancelled its hyped electric car project because it was not commercially viable. James Dyson, billionaire inventor of the Dyson vacuum, just sold the largest and most expensive penthouse in Singapore.
The victim refused medical attention, according to police.
Mr Biden made the tweet months before reports indicated there was a novel coronavirus spreading through China. The Trump administration has faced backlash for its handlings of the coronavirus pandemic since cases were first reported in the US in February. An interview with veteran journalist Bob Woodward revealed that President Donald Trump knew about the potential severity of Covid-19 back in January, but at the same time he was telling the American public it was not a problem.
The US Senate on Sunday advanced the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett, setting up a final confirmation vote Monday evening. The GOP defeated a Democratic filibuster by a 51-48 vote. If confirmed, Barrett would cement a 6-3 conservative majority on the high court.
Adele broke character during a "Saturday Night Live" sketch about the "Tourism Board of Africa." Alongside "SNL" cast members Kate McKinnon and Heidi Gardner, the singer played a divorcée that found a "new beginning" amongst the "tribesmen" in Africa. Some fans loved the sketch and thought Adele losing her composure was one of the best moments of the night.
“Many are longtime Republicans wrestling with what they see as a choice between two lousy candidates.”
“Some undecideds turn out to be people who’ve long felt alienated from the two big political parties.”
“They’re not following the 24-hour news cycle. The election and politics are just not a high priority.”
“One common trait: at this stage of the game, the undecided voter doesn’t fit into an easy political profile.”
“More realistically...these voters may not be motivated to vote at all in the 2020 election.”