The World Health organization says 120 million rapid diagnostic tests for the coronavirus will be made available to low- and middle-income countries as the world approaches a death toll of 1 million. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference in Geneva on Monday that the tests would cost less than $5.  He said manufacturersRead more

Violent crime in the United States decreased in 2019, according to FBI statistics released today.Compared to 2018, violent crime fell 0.5%, according to an FBI news release. Property crime also fell by 4.1%, marking the 17th straight year of declines, the FBI said.In 2019, there were 366.7 violent crimes per 100,000 people and 2,109.9 propertyRead more

Nearly four years after then-presidential candidate Donald Trump first faced questions about his income tax returns, the issue has returned to the forefront of the 2020 election as Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden prepare for their first debate Tuesday night. The New York Times Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden gives a speech onRead more

A wind-driven wildfire erupted on Sunday in the heart of northern California’s Napa Valley wine country to spread across nearly 809 hectares, forcing the evacuation of a hospital and hundreds of homes, authorities said. Fire crews were out in force, scrambling to fend off flames threatening neighborhoods and vineyards at the northern end of the famed wine-growing valley and surrounding hillsides, about 120 kilometers northRead more

The United States is threatening to close its embassy in Baghdad amid frustrations over attacks by Shi’ite militias. News organizations quoted U.S. and Iraqi officials Sunday as saying U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Iraqi leaders in recent days that the embassy would close unless Iraq worked to stop attacks on U.S. military and diplomatic sites. Pompeo has not discussedRead more

With just 36 days to go before the U.S. presidential election, battle lines are being drawn over President Donald Trump’s nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden called on Republican senators not to confirm her before the November 3 election to allow U.S. voters to haveRead more

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden called Sunday for the Republican-controlled Senate to delay confirmation of President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, saying voters “are not going to stand for this abuse of power.” Biden said the Senate should delay action until after he or Trump is inaugurated in January for a new four-year term. ButRead more

President Donald Trump paid just $750 in federal income taxes the year he ran for president and in his first year in the White House, according to a report Sunday in The New York Times.Trump, who has fiercely guarded his tax filings and is the only president in modern times not to make them public,Read more

Lawyers for TikTok pleaded with a U.S. federal judge on Sunday to delay the Trump administration’s ban of the popular video sharing program from app stores set to take effect at the end of the day, arguing the move would infringe on First Amendment rights and do irreparable harm to the business.The 90-minute hearing cameRead more

U.S. lawmakers have battled through a tumultuous political year on Capitol Hill that has included a Senate impeachment trial, a pandemic and the largest aid package in U.S. history.  With President Donald Trump’s nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett Saturday to fill the vacancy left by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, lawmakers nowRead more

The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center has reported large jumps in new COVID-19 cases in India and the U.S.Johns Hopkins said late Saturday that India had 86,054 new infections in the previous 24 hours, while the U.S. reported 55,054.In the U.S., the coronavirus has reached the country’s so-called “heartland,” an area in the middle ofRead more

By nominating Judge Amy Coney Barrett on Saturday to replace the late liberal U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, President Donald Trump unquestionably has chosen a committed conservative jurist.In announcing his choice in the White House Rose Garden, Trump described Barrett as “one of our nation’s most brilliant and gifted legal minds,” a womanRead more

Three people were arrested Saturday at a right-wing rally in Portland, Oregon, the city’s police said, adding that they also were investigating one assault.The rally attracted several hundred people, far short of the crowd of 10,000 that organizers had expected. The rally began at noon and was mostly over by 3 p.m. The Oregon DepartmentRead more

A diverse crowd of hundreds marched through the streets of Louisville chanting “Black Lives Matter” on Saturday night, the fourth night of protests after a grand jury declined to charge officers with homicide in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor.People in the crowd also chanted “No Justice, No Peace” as cars honked along a busyRead more

U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday nominated Amy Coney Barrett to fill the Supreme Court vacancy left by the death of liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, giving him an opportunity to make the court more conservative, 38 days before the November 3 presidential election.”Today, it is my honor to nominate one of our nation’s mostRead more

Chinese President Xi Jinping urged the world to “reject attempts to build blocks to keep others out” as an image of his country’s storied Great Wall hung behind him. Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte used photos and videos to illustrate what he was talking about. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison shared his policy views — andRead more

State troopers were activated Saturday in Portland, Oregon, ahead of a rally by members of a far-right group in support of President Donald Trump and his campaign for reelection.The rally was organized by the Proud Boys, a self-described “Western chauvinist” group that the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated as hate group.The group described theRead more

The U.S. government has placed new export restrictions on China’s most advanced maker of computer chips, citing an “unacceptable risk” that equipment sold to the country’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC) could be used for military purposes.According to a letter Friday by the Commerce Department, American suppliers of certain technology products to SMIC will needRead more