News Daypop Archives

Nancy Pelosi Wins A New Term As House Speaker

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House Democrats re-elected Nancy Pelosi to lead the party as House speaker Wednesday. Pelosi ran unopposed as well as House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D.-S.C. The three Democrats have held their positions in the House for the last 14 years. In addition, Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., retained his spot as Senate minority leader while Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., won another term as the Senate majority leader.... [Read Full Story]

President-elect Biden Speaks On Transition, COVID-19 Crisis and Economic Recovery

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President-elect Joe Biden along with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris spoke on Monday, saying they were eager to work on getting the economy back on track and tackle the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. Biden also said his team was moving forward with naming cabinet members and pulling together plans for the economy and the pandemic, despite the fact that President Donald Trump has refused to concede.  Biden noted, “It would make it a lot easier if the president would cooperate. I’m hopeful that the president will be mildly more enlightened before we get to Jan. 20.” ... [Read Full Story]

Moderna Says Preliminary Trial Data Shows Coronavirus Vaccine Is Nearly 95% Effective

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Moderna said preliminary phase three trial data shows its coronavirus vaccine is more than 94% effective in preventing Covid-19. The analysis evaluated 95 confirmed Covid-19 infections among the trial’s 30,000 participants. Moderna, which developed its vaccine in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said 90 cases of Covid-19 were observed in the placebo group versus five cases observed in the group that received its two-dose vaccine. That resulted in an estimated vaccine efficacy of 94.5%, it said.... [Read Full Story]

SpaceX, NASA Make History With Launch To International Space Station

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SpaceX and NASA made history on Sunday when four astronauts launched successfully to the International Space Station from Florida. The Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule Resilience lifted off at 7:27 p.m. EST from Kennedy Space Center. The launch began a 27½-hour journey through space to the orbiting platform, which passed over the launch site just before liftoff. The astronauts planned to sleep aboard the spacecraft, and did not plan to perform any navigation of the self-guided capsule unless necessary, according to NASA.... [Read Full Story]

Five Americans Among Those Killed in Egypt Helicopter Crash

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Five Americans were among seven international peacekeepers killed when their helicopter crashed in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. All indications are that the crash, which also left one American peacekeeper injured, “appears to be mechanical in nature”. The peacekeepers are part of the international mission that oversees the enforcement of the 1978 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. ... [Read Full Story]

Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan Wins Re-Election In Alaska Bringing Senate Battle Down To Georgia

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U.S. Republican Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska won re-election on Wednesday, leaving control of the Senate to be determined in January by two runoff elections in Georgia. Sullivan, 55, defeated Al Gross, an independent who ran as a Democrat. Earlier on Wednesday, Democrats clinched their hold on the U.S. House of Representatives, but with a slimmer majority.... [Read Full Story]

New York, Ohio, Indiana and More States Add New Restrictions After Spike In COVID-19 Cases

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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb announced new restrictions as COVID-19 cases increased in their states. The United States set another daily record for new infections, with 136,300 new cases were added nationwide Tuesday, topping the previous mark by about 8,000. Tuesday also saw the most deaths nationwide, about 1,400, since mid-August.... [Read Full Story]

Democratic Candidate Cal Cunningham Concedes To Republican Thom Tillis In North Carolina Senate Race

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On Tuesday, democratic challenger Cal Cunningham conceded defeat to Sen. Thom Tillis in a highly contested U.S. Senate race in North Carolina. According to the North Carolina State Board of Elections, Tillis had 2,642,884 votes or 48.71% to Cunningham’s 2,547,594 votes or 46.95%The presidential vote in the state is close enough that many major media outlets have not called the race for either President Donald Trump (49.96%) or President-elect Joe Biden (48.59%).... [Read Full Story]

President Trump To Lose Special Twitter Privileges After Inauguration Of President-Elect Biden

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President Donald Trump will lose special Twitter privileges he has as a government official when President-elect Joe Biden is sworn into office on Jan. 20.” A Twitter spokesperson said, “A critical function of our service is providing a place where people can openly and publicly respond to their leaders and hold them accountable. With this in mind, there are certain cases where it may be in the public interest to have access to certain tweets, even if they would otherwise be in violation of our rules.”... [Read Full Story]

Tropical Storm Eta Makes Landfall In Florida

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Tropical Storm Eta made landfall in the Florida Keys late Sunday, bringing with it strong winds, heavy rains and a dangerous storm surge. Eta made landfall at around 11 p.m. EST in Lower Matecumbe, Fla., as a strong tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph, the National Hurricane Center said in a statement. The forecasters said Eta should pull away from the Florida Keys and South Florida later on Monday, heading towards southeastern Gulf of Mexico overnight through Wednesday.... [Read Full Story]

Kansas Hospitals Stressed as Coronavirus Cases In The State Continue To Rise

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Several dozen hospitals in Kansas reported on Wednesday that they expect to deal with staffing shortages over the next week as the state continues to report an average of well over 1,000 new coronavirus cases a day. The Wichita area’s two major health systems said Wednesday that almost 150 coronavirus patients were hospitalized, their highest numbers since the pandemic began. Additionally, they are trying to bring about 60 nurses from outside Kansas into the state to help with staffing, and it has converted space into two new units for COVID-19 patients.... [Read Full Story]

Results In Many States Too Close To Call As Vote Count Continues In Presidential Election

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Due to a huge increase in mail-in voting, the face-off between President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden did not follow a traditional election night timeline, and it is possible that a projected winner may not be known for days. With many states too close to call, and particular key battleground states still counting ballots into Wednesday morning, a winner is yet to be declared in this year’s Presidential Election.... [Read Full Story]

Supreme Court In Texas Denies Request To Throw Out 127,000 Drive-Thru Votes

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On Sunday, the Texas Supreme Court rejected a petition seeking to invalidate 127,000 votes cast at drive-thru polling stations in the state’s most populous county, Harris County. The court denied the challenge by a Republican activist and three Republican candidates in the state arguing that the drive-thru polling sites in the largely Democratic Harris County are unconstitutional. The court denied the request without an order or opinion. An emergency hearing will be held on Monday morning in Houston for a challenge by the same plaintiffs in federal court.... [Read Full Story]