USA

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — President Donald Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign was powered by a cellphone app that allowed staff to monitor the movements of his millions of supporters, and offered intimate access to their social networks.

While the campaign may be winding down, the data strategy is very much alive, and the digital details the app collected can be put to multiple other uses — to fundraise for the president’s future political ventures, stoke Trump’s base, or even build an audience for a new media empire.

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — President Donald Trump’s refusal to cooperate with his successor is forcing President-elect Joe Biden to seek unusual workarounds to prepare for the exploding public health threat and evolving national security challenges he will inherit in just nine weeks.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The deadly rise in COVID-19 cases across the U.S. is forcing state and local officials to adjust their blueprints for fighting the virus, with Republican governors adopting mask mandates — skeptically, in at least one case — and schools scrapping plans to reopen classrooms.

The steps face blowback from those who question the science behind mask wearing and social distancing and fear the new restrictions will kill off more jobs and trample on their civil liberties.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump fired the nation’s top election security official, a widely respected member of his administration who had dared to refute the president’s unsubstantiated claims of electoral fraud and vouch for the integrity of the vote.

DETROIT (AP) — In an abrupt about-face, Michigan’s largest county on Tuesday night unanimously certified election results showing Democrat Joe Biden defeating President Donald Trump, hours after Republicans first blocked formal approval of voters’ intentions.

The initial move was quickly condemned by Democrats, election experts and spectators at the Wayne County Board of Canvassers online meeting as a dangerous attempt to block the results of a free and fair election.

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 17 (APP): Pakistan has reaffirmed its opposition to adding new permanent members in an enlarged UN Security Council, saying that one of the aspirants — India — does not even qualify for a seat on the 15-member body, citing New Delhi’s violations of its resolutions on Kashmir.

WASHINGTON, Nov 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a disbursement of US$52.3 million to South Sudan under the Rapid Credit Facility (RCF).

This is the first time the IMF is giving the country financial assistance since it joined the Fund in 2012 shortly after getting independence, the IMF said in a statement.

(Reuters) - U.S. hospitals, weighing high demand and tight supplies, said they may limit use of a new Eli Lilly and Co LLY.N antibody drug to COVID-19 patients with multiple risk factors for serious illness or to those whose immune systems have not begun to fight the infection. The treatment, bamlanivimab, was given U.S. emergency use authorization (EUA) last week by the Food and Drug Administration for helping newly-diagnosed, high-risk patients avoid hospitalization.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chief executives of Facebook and Twitter are set to testify before a congressional hearing on Tuesday that will explore their content moderation practices as Republicans accuse social media companies of censoring conservative speech.

In October, Republican lawmakers on the U.S. Senate Judiciary committee voted unanimously to approve formal summons for Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter’s Jack Dorsey. Democrats on the panel did not vote on the subpoena.

(Reuters) - Home Depot Inc HD.N said on Tuesday it will spend about $1 billion more on employees' compensation annually as the home improvement chain benefits from a sustained surge in demand for tools, paint and building materials due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

With limited options for travel or leisure activities, Americans are spending more time at home and using their discretionary income on minor home remodeling and repair work, since the lockdowns started in March.