Tag: US

New crew reaches ISS in record time

by Christopher RICKLETON ALMATY, Kazakhstan (AFP) — A three-person crew successfully reached the International Space Station on Wednesday aboard a Russian rocket after the fastest ever journey from Earth of just over three hours. The mission of the Soyuz space craft carrying two Russian cosmonauts and one NASA astronaut was of immense importance to Russia’s space agency Roscosmos, coming as the SpaceX programme relaunches manned spaceflight from the United States and ignites fresh talk of […]

Biden, Trump duel in battleground states 21 days from election

  by Jerome Cartillier with Sebastian Smith in Washington Agence France Presse US President Donald Trump told a Pennsylvania crowd Tuesday that he’s fighting “Marxists” and “lunatics” while his Democratic challenger Joe Biden accused him in Florida, another key electoral state, of having treated Americans as “expendable” during the Covid-19 pandemic. With only 21 days until the November 3 election and badly down in the polls, Trump fired every lurid exaggeration about the Democrats and […]

Apple joins 5G revolution with four new iPhones for fast networks

by Julie JAMMOT / with Rob Lever in Washington SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Apple joined the move to 5G on Tuesday, unveiling four new iPhones that use the new standard in what could be a turning point for the high-speed wireless technology. “Today is the beginning of a new era for iPhone,” Apple chief executive Tim Cook said during a streamed launch event from the company’s headquarters in California. “This is a huge […]

Facebook bans ads discouraging vaccines

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Facebook on Tuesday announced a ban on ads that discourage people from getting vaccinated, in light of the coronavirus pandemic which the social media giant said has “highlighted the importance of preventive health behaviors.” “While public health experts agree that we won’t have an approved and widely available Covid-19 vaccine for some time, there are steps that people can take to stay healthy and safe,” the company said in […]

Trump tells fans on post-Covid comeback tour: ‘I feel so powerful’

  by Chris Lefkow Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Deprived of his beloved campaign trail for 10 days by Covid-19, President Donald Trump took center stage again Monday in Florida, vowing that he is in “great shape” with 22 days to go until he faces Joe Biden in the election. “I went through it and now they say I’m immune,” Trump told a cheering crowd in Sanford, near Orlando, few of whom […]

Ten million Americans have already voted in election: tracker

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — More than 10 million Americans have already cast their ballots in the US presidential contest, a tracking group said late Monday, a record pace three weeks before election day November 3. “Voters have cast a total of 10,296,180 ballots in the reporting states,” the US Elections Project of the University of Florida reported on its website. The project said the early-vote count is multiple times higher than it was at […]

Johnson & Johnson pauses Covid vaccine trial as participant becomes ill

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Johnson & Johnson said Monday it had temporarily halted its Covid-19 vaccine trial because one of its participants had become sick. “We have temporarily paused further dosing in all our Covid-19 vaccine candidate clinical trials, including the Phase 3 ENSEMBLE trial, due to an unexplained illness in a study participant,” the company said in a statement. The pause means the online enrollment system has been closed for the 60,000-patient clinical […]

Trump ‘no longer considered a transmission risk’: WH doctor

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump is no longer contagious, nine days after being stopped in his tracks by Covid-19, his physician said in a statement released late Saturday. “I am happy to report that in addition to the President meeting CDC criteria for the safe discontinuation of isolation, this morning’s COVID PCR sample demonstrates, by currently recognized standards, he is no longer considered a transmission risk to others,” Sean Conley said in […]

Trump restarts public speeches, Biden calls it ‘reckless’

by Sebastian Smith Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump will give a public speech at the White House Saturday for the first time since testing positive for Covid-19, as he prepares a rapid return to the campaign trail just three weeks before the election. The 74-year-old commander-in-chief has also announced a Florida rally on Monday in an attempt to relaunch his stumbling reelection campaign against surging Democratic rival Joe […]

Trump says he is ‘medication-free,’ describes Covid battle

  WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump said he was “medication free” and revealed more details of his fight with Covid-19 in a televised interview aired Friday, one week after he was hospitalized with the virus. The president appeared on Fox’s Tucker Carlson Tonight for what the White House described as an on-air “medical evaluation” conducted remotely by Fox contributor doctor Marc Siegel. “Right now I’m medication-free, I’m not taking any medications […]

Fauci says Trump’s talk of Covid-19 ‘cure’ causing confusion

  WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump has been talking up an experimental Covid-19 treatment he received as “a cure,” but one of his top government scientists said referring to it as such may cause “confusion.” Anthony Fauci, the longtime director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Disease, gave an interview to CBS News on Friday where he also referred to the coronavirus outbreak at the White House that infected […]

Organizers cancel Oct 15 US presidential debate

  WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The Commission on Presidential Debates said Friday it has cancelled next week’s showdown between Donald Trump and his challenger Joe Biden, after the president said he would not participate in a virtual format. “Each (candidate) now has announced alternate plans for that date,” the commission said in a statement, adding “it is now apparent there will be no debate on October 15.” The move leaves just one more debate […]