USA

30 Oct 2020; MEMO: The Trump administration has notified Congress of its intent to sell advanced F-35 fighter jets to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a key lawmaker announced Thursday, Anadolu Agency reports.

Outgoing House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel confirmed the notification, saying its export “requires very careful consideration and Congress must analyze all of the ramifications.”

Engel cited in particular, possible ramifications for “Israel’s military edge” in the region.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A pair of popular two-term state governors have put Democrats within striking range of winning control of the U.S. Senate after Tuesday’s election, and with better than a bare 50-seat majority.

Former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper and Montana Governor Steve Bullock, who both ran for president before jumping into the Senate campaign, could complete a Western sweep of Republican-held Senate seats, along with fellow Democrat Mark Kelly in Arizona.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- American biotechnology company Moderna said on Thursday it is preparing for the launch of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate globally.

"We are actively preparing for the launch of mRNA-1273 and we have signed a number of supply agreements with governments around the world," said Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel in a statement.

In addition to the Phase 3 study of the COVID-19 vaccine mRNA-1273, which is fully enrolled, Moderna now has four programs in Phase 2 studies, according to Bancel.

HOUSTON, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- Over half a million people were without power in the U.S. state of Louisiana after Category 2 Hurricane Zeta made landfall Wednesday afternoon along the Gulf Coast, authorities said Thursday.

At the peak, about 531,000 people were without power in the state, Louisiana governor's office cited numbers from the Public Service Commission as saying.

Washington, Oct 29 (PTI) The US economy grew by 33.1 per cent in the third-quarter of this year, indicating a revival of the economy from affects of the coronavirus pandemic.

President Donald Trump, who is seeking re-election for a second four-year term, has welcomed the latest GDP estimates released by the US Department of Commerce on Thursday.

DANVILLE, W.Va. (AP) — As a laid off coal mine electrician, Nolan Triplett doesn’t think his industry will ever return to the heady days when it powered America and offered generations of Appalachians a chance at a middle class life.

But he still backs the president who said he’d reopen the mines and put thousands back to work, even if such promises proved empty.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The major players in Washington’s COVID-19 relief blame game lobbed familiar volleys on Thursday, marking time in the days before an election that promises to change the landscape for talks that have dragged on for months without producing results.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The footage from body-worn cameras that was taken as police responded to a call about Walter Wallace Jr. shows him emerging from a house with a knife as relatives shout at officers about his mental health condition, a lawyer for the man’s family said Thursday.

The video also shows Wallace became incapacitated after the first shot of 14 that two officers fired at him, said lawyer Shaka Johnson, describing footage he said police showed him and other members of Wallace’s family before a plan to release it and 911 calls publicly.

CHICAGO (AP) — Long before Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden announced her as his running mate, Kamala Harris was the target of widespread online misinformation.

Social media posts included racist claims that she was ineligible to serve in the White House or that she was lying about her Black and Indian heritage. Her mother is from India and her father from Jamaica.

NEW YORK (AP) — A president who downplayed the coronavirus threat, scorned masks and undercut scientists at every turn. Governors who resisted or rolled back containment measures amid public backlash. State lawmakers who used federal COVID-19 aid to plug budget holes instead of beefing up testing and contact tracing.