GSA ascertains Joe Biden as apparent winner of US election: transition team

WASHINGTON -- The US General Services Administration (GSA) on Monday ascertained Joe Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, as the apparent winners of the US presidential election, Biden's transition team said. "The GSA Administrator has ascertained President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris as the apparent winners of the election, providing the incoming administration with the resources and support necessary to carry out a smooth and peaceful transfer of power,&q

Nov. 24, 2020

Americans defy virus guidelines for high-risk Thanksgiving

NEW YORK (AFP) -- Busy airports and serpentine queues at testing sites: many Americans plan to celebrate Thanksgiving with extended family Thursday despite authorities warning they risk exacerbating the coronavirus pandemic engulfing the country. Stopping short of issuing an outright ban, the US government's health protection agency has for the first time called on Americans not to travel for the annual holiday, which sees families get together over turkey, yams and cranberry sauce and for many

Nov. 24, 2020

Biden names Antony Blinken as new secretary of state

WASHINGTON -- US President-elect Joe Biden on Monday tapped former Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken to be his first secretary of state in a pre-inauguration nomination of five other top security officials that included national security adviser. Jake Sullivan, a senior policy adviser to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, was tapped the new national security adviser, while Alejandro Mayorkas, former deputy secretary of homeland security, was named the new head of the Department o

Nov. 24, 2020

US hopes to start virus vaccines in December

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- The United States hopes to begin coronavirus vaccinations in early December, a top government health official said Sunday, the latest positive news to emerge even as cases surge across the worst-hit nation and elsewhere around the globe. The beginning of vaccinations could be a crucial shift in the battle against a virus that has claimed more than 1.4 million lives worldwide, including 255,000 just in the US, since emerging from China late last year. Encouraging results fro

Nov. 23, 2020

Dealings possible with US despite 'crimes,' Iran says

TEHRAN -- The "crimes" committed by the United States against Iran do not prevent "carefully considered" exchanges from taking place, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman said Sunday. "The future of relations between Iran and the United States is not simple," Saeed Khatibzadeh acknowledged at a press conference in Tehran, as President Hassan Rouhani's government makes signs of apparent overtures to US president-elect Joe Biden. "The United States has committed

Nov. 22, 2020

Trump hit with new blow in bid to overturn vote results

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- A Pennsylvania judge on Saturday threw out Donald Trump's claims of widespread electoral fraud there, dealing a new blow to the Republican's bid to overturn his loss in the US presidential election. The decision -- announced in a scathing judgment which excoriated the Trump team's legal strategy -- paves the way for Pennsylvania to certify Democrat Joe Biden's victory there, which is scheduled to take place Monday. With the clock ticking down to Biden's January 20 inaugura

Nov. 22, 2020

[Newsmaker] G-20 leaders urge united response to virus

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- The Group of 20 summit opened on Saturday with appeals by the world's most powerful leaders to collectively chart a way forward as the coronavirus pandemic overshadows this year's gathering, transforming it from in-person meetings to a virtual gathering of speeches and declarations. The pandemic, which has claimed more than 1.37 million lives worldwide, has offered the G-20 an opportunity to prove how such bodies can facilitate international cooperation in c

Nov. 22, 2020

[Newsmaker] Judge throws out Trump bid to stop PA vote certification

Pennsylvania officials can certify election results that currently show Democrat Joe Biden winning the state by more than 80,000 votes, a federal judge ruled Saturday, dealing President Donald Trump's campaign another blow in its effort to invalidate the election. US District Judge Matthew Brann in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, turned down the request for an injunction by Trump's campaign. In his ruling, Brann said the Trump campaign presented "strained legal arguments without merit and spec

Nov. 22, 2020

Trump's son Don Jr positive for Covid-19: spokesman

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump's eldest son Donald Trump Jr has tested positive for Covid-19 and has been quarantining without symptoms, a spokesman said Friday. "Don tested positive at the start of the week and has been quarantining out at his cabin since the result," his spokesman said. "He's been completely asymptomatic so far and is following all medically recommended COVID-19 guidelines," the spokesman said of the 42-year-old. Trump Jr's positive test follow

Nov. 21, 2020

Pfizer ends COVID-19 trial with 95% efficacy, to seek emergency-use authorization

Pfizer said Wednesday that final results from the late-stage trial of its COVID-19 vaccine show it was 95 percent effective, adding it had the required two-months of safety data and would apply for emergency US authorization within days. The drugmaker said efficacy of the vaccine developed with German partner BioNTech SE was consistent across age and ethnicity demographics, and that there were no major side effects, a sign that the immunization could be employed broadly around the world.

Nov. 18, 2020

US to slash troop levels in Iraq, Afghanistan

WASHINGTON -- The US will slash troop levels in Afghanistan and Iraq to their lowest levels in nearly 20 years of war after President Donald Trump pledged to end conflicts abroad, the Pentagon announced Tuesday. Rejecting concerns that precipitous drawdowns could give up all the US has fought for, Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller said around 2,000 troops would be pulled from Afghanistan by January 15. Five hundred more would come back from Iraq by the same date, leaving 2,500 in each coun

Nov. 18, 2020

Moderna's vaccine breakthrough lifts global hopes

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- Global hopes of vanquishing the coronavirus pandemic were boosted Monday after a vaccine was found to be nearly 95 percent effective in a trial, bringing much-needed optimism amid surging infections and grueling new restrictions. The news from the US biotech firm Moderna comes after similar results were announced last week for a vaccine candidate developed by pharma giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech. Major stock markets surged Monday in response, building on a bo

Nov. 17, 2020

Trump seems to acknowledge Biden win, but he won't concede

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump on Sunday appeared to acknowledge for the first time that Joe Biden won the White House, but made clear he would not concede and would keep trying to overturn the election result. Trump’s statements came in tweets that included several baseless claims about the Nov. 3 vote, which state and federal officials say was safe and secure. Trump, without using Biden’s name, tweeted that “He won,” something Trump had not said before

Nov. 16, 2020

China finds coronavirus on frozen meat, packaging from Latin America, New Zealand

BEIJING (Reuters) -- The Chinese city of Jinan said over the weekend it had found coronavirus on beef and tripe and their packaging from Brazil, Bolivia and New Zealand, while two other provincial capitals detected it on packaging on pork from Argentina. China is ramping up testing on frozen foods after repeatedly detecting the virus on imported products, triggering disrupting import bans, even as the World Health Organization says the risk of catching COVID-19 from frozen food is low. In

Nov. 15, 2020

French police increase COVID-19 lockdown checks in Paris

PARIS (Reuters) -- French police stepped up controls in Paris over the weekend to ensure residents were complying with strict lockdown rules imposed to curb the spread of COVID-19, amid signs that some people were breaching them. Prime Minister Jean Castex has said people are not abidingby the rules as strictly as during the first lockdown back inthe spring. Police had to break up an illegal party hosting up to 400 people at Joinville-Le-Pont near Paris early on Saturday. Under the lockdo

Nov. 15, 2020

Trump loyalists mount last stand in Washington

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Thousands of die-hard Donald Trump supporters rallied for a last stand Saturday in Washington, chanting "four more years" and blaming fraud for an election defeat that will force the president to vacate the White House after just one term. Trump himself made a drive-past in his armored motorcade, on his way to play golf, smiling through his limousine window to wild cheers and signs saying "Best prez ever" and "Trump 2020: Keep America Great." &q

Nov. 15, 2020

Obama says improved attitude toward US allowed 'robust sanctions' against N. Korea

WASHINGTON -- The United States was able to push through "robust" sanctions against North Korea by the UN Security Council in 2009 thanks to its improved relations with other countries, former US President Barack Obama said. In a new memoir, "A Promised Land," the former US president also said that his 2009 speech in Prague calling for a world free of nuclear weapons was partly aimed at urging efforts to prevent Iran and North Korea from further advancing their nuclear progr

Nov. 15, 2020

Trump and Biden honor veterans separately

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden attended on Wednesday separate, simultaneous ceremonies marking Veterans Day, as what should have been a moment of national unity was marred by the Republican's refusal to acknowledge election defeat. On a rainy, gray day in Washington, the president visited Arlington National Cemetery for a somber wreath-laying ceremony, his first official appearance since the November 3 vote. He made no public remarks. At the same tim

Nov. 12, 2020

Biden tells world leaders 'America is back' but Pompeo digs in

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- The leaders of close US allies on Tuesday telephoned President-elect Joe Biden and pledged to work together but in an extraordinary break, America's top diplomat Mike Pompeo insisted that Donald Trump would remain in power. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel all offered congratulations in calls to Biden, who a week earlier edged out Trump in the presidential election. "I'm letting them know that Am

Nov. 11, 2020

Biden targets virus as transition begins

WILMINGTON (AP) -- President-elect Joe Biden signaled strongly on Monday that fighting the raging pandemic will be the immediate priority of his new administration, an abrupt shift from President Donald Trump’s more unworried approach to the virus, as the nation surpassed 10 million COVID-19 cases. Biden began with a direct appeal to all Americans to wear masks, a departure from Trump, who has mocked Biden and others who make a point of always wearing protective face coverings when a

Nov. 10, 2020