USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — A multi-state coronavirus surge in the countdown to Election Day has exposed a clear split between President Donald Trump’s bullish embrace of a return to normalcy and urgent public warnings from the government’s top health officials.

It’s the opposite of what usually happens in a public health crisis, because political leaders tend to repeat and amplify the recommendations of their health experts, not short-circuit them.

DETROIT (AP) — Every day feels like a raw wound for Omari Barksdale.

His sister, Laneeka Barksdale, died of COVID-19 in late March in Detroit — and since then, so have more than 226,000 Americans. Many were Black Americans whose communities were disproportionately devastated by the virus.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — When Joe Biden was last in Iowa, his campaign was on the verge of collapse and he was soundly trounced in the caucuses by a former Indiana mayor nearly 40 years his junior. He returns Friday as the Democratic nominee, believing he’s just days away from becoming president-elect.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House notified Congress it intends to sell 50 5-35 fighter jets made by Lockheed Martin LMT.N to the United Arab Emirates, setting up a potential showdown with the U.S. legislature, which could vote to block the sales, sources said on Thursday.

The United States and the UAE aim to have a letter of agreement for the F-35 jets in time for UAE National Day celebrated on Dec. 2, Reuters reported in September.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices tumbled by more than 4% on Thursday, dropping to a five-month low and extending the previous day’s sharp decline on the impact renewed coronavirus lockdowns could have on oil demand.

December Brent crude futures were down $1.66, or 4.2%, at $37.45 by 12:34 EST (1634 GMT), after earlier dropping as far as $36.64, the lowest in five months. The more active January contract lost 4% to $38.02 a barrel.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were $1.50, or 4%, lower at $35.89, having touched their lowest since mid-June at $34.92.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Apollo Global Management Inc CEO Leon Black said on Thursday that giving Jeffrey Epstein a second chance following the late financier’s imprisonment in 2008 for soliciting an underage prostitute in Florida was a “terrible mistake.”

Black gave his most comprehensive account to date of his ties with Epstein on Apollo’s third-quarter earnings call, as he acknowledged that what he has called a personal matter was now affecting the private equity firm he co-founded in 1990 and still controls.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. announced on Thursday it was imposing Iran-related sanctions on several individuals and entities, including some based in China, in the Trump administration’s latest move to increase pressure on Tehran less than a week before November 3 election.

Washington, Oct 29 (PTI) The Trump administration has proposed to scrap the computerised lottery system to grant H-1B work visas to foreign technology professionals and replace it with a wage-level-based selection process, a move that is expected to counter the downward pressure on the wages of US workers.

A notification on the new system is being published in the Federal Register on Thursday. Stakeholders have 30 days to respond to the notification, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said on Wednesday, less than a week before the US presidential election.

Washington, Oct 29 (PTI) US President Donald Trump has accused both the mainstream and social media companies of blocking serious charges of corruption against his rival and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, saying the situation was causing America to experience suppression of the press.

Trump said the media was not willing to write against Biden and his family.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- Life for many Americans may not return to normal until the end of 2021 or into 2022, Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the nation's top infectious expert, said Wednesday.

"It will be easily by the end of 2021, and perhaps even into the next year, before we start having some semblances of normality," Fauci said during a special webinar titled "Conversations on COVID-19: The Global View," hosted by the University of Melbourne.