Dec 20 Racism targets Asian food, business during COVID-19 pandemic By Christine Fernando, Cheyanne Mumphrey, Associated Press As the coronavirus spread throughout the U.S., bigotry toward Asian Americans was not far behind, fueled by the news that COVID-19 first appeared in China. Continue reading
Dec 19 Tight supplies for virus gear cost U.S. states billions By David Lieb, Camille Fasset, Associated Press The AP tallied more than $7 billion in purchases by states this spring for personal protective equipment, or PPE, and high-demand medical devices such as ventilators and infrared thermometers. Much of the buying happened outside normal competitive bidding procedures, and… Continue reading
Dec 19 Watch Why Native Americans are celebrating Rep. Haaland's nomination By PBS NewsHour President-elect Joe Biden is nominating Representative Deb Haaland to lead the Department of Interior. If confirmed, she would become the first Native American to lead the agency, which is responsible for public lands, including land taken from Indigenous people. Julian… Continue watching
Dec 19 Biden introduces his climate team, says 'no time to waste' By Kevin Freking, Associated Press President-elect Joe Biden on Saturday rolled out an environmental team that he hopes will steer America toward greater action to curb climate change and protect the nation’s air and water. Continue reading
Dec 19 1 in 5 prisoners in the U.S. has had COVID-19, 1,700 have died By Beth Schwartzapfel, Katie Park, The Marshall Project, Andrew DeMillo, Associated Press One in every five state and federal prisoners in the United States has tested positive for the coronavirus, a rate more than four times as high as the general population. Now the rollout of vaccines poses difficult decisions for politicians… Continue reading
Dec 19 Trump downplays Russia in first comments on cyberattack By Matthew Lee, Associated Press President Donald Trump on Saturday suggested without evidence that China — not Russia — may be behind the cyberattack against the United States and tried to minimized its impact. Continue reading
Dec 19 Watch 9:55 A second COVID-19 vaccine is on its way. What's next? By PBS NewsHour The U.S. has approved a second COVID-19 vaccine, made by Moderna, to begin rollout on Sunday. With America regularly recording more than 3,000 COVID-19 deaths per day, the much-needed additional doses will provide a boost to efforts to vaccinate healthcare… Continue watching
Dec 19 Fight over Fed powers stalls $900 billion aid plan By Andrew Taylor, Associated Press An arcane battle over emergency Federal Reserve powers is frustrating efforts to lock down an agreement on an almost $1 trillion COVID-19 economic relief package. Saturday’s impasse is just the latest stumble in a partisan, monthslong fight, and feelings hardened… Continue reading
Dec 18 U.S. clears Moderna vaccine for COVID-19 By Lauran Neergaard, Matthew Perrone, Associated Press The U.S. added a second COVID-19 vaccine to its arsenal Friday, boosting efforts to beat back an outbreak so dire that the nation is regularly recording more than 3,000 deaths a day. Continue reading
Dec 18 Watch 5:57 News Wrap: Supreme Court dismisses challenge to Trump's plan for 2020 census In our news wrap Friday, the Supreme Court dismissed a challenge to President Trump’s plan to exclude undocumented immigrants from the 2020 census, the FDA moved to clear a second COVID-19 vaccine, the president takes heat for not addressing a… Continue watching