USA

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Joe Biden raised $26 million in the 24 hours after he named Kamala Harris as his running mate, doubling his previous one-day record and signaling enthusiasm among Democrats following the selection of the first Black woman on a major party’s presidential ticket.

“It’s really palpable, the excitement,” Biden said Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government will provide its latest report Thursday on the pace of layoffs, which have remained stuck at a high level since the viral pandemic erupted five months ago.

Though the rate of applications for unemployment benefits has reached its lowest point since March, it has exceeded 1 million for 20 straight weeks — well above the record high that predated the pandemic.

Washington, Aug 12 (PTI) Black women across the US have lauded Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's historic announcement of picking Indian-origin Senator Kamala Harris as his vice-presidential running mate.

Harris, the 55-year-old US Senator from California whose father is from Jamaica and mother an Indian, is the first Black woman to run on a major political party's presidential ticket.

Harris' name has been discussed as a top contender for vice president since before she even declared her own candidacy to run for the democratic nomination in January last year.

Washington, Aug 13 (PTI) The United States has urged its citizens not to travel to Pakistan due to the COVID-19 pandemic and terror threat.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a Level 3 Travel Health Notice for Pakistan due to COVID-19, the State Department said in its latest travel advisory on Wednesday.

"Travellers to Pakistan may experience border closures, airport closures, travel prohibitions, stay at home orders, business closures, and other emergency conditions within Pakistan due to COVID-19," it said.

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Beginning Thursday, U.S. Facebook users who post about voting may start seeing an addendum to their messages -- labels directing readers to authoritative information about the upcoming presidential election.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A report Wednesday by the State Department’s internal watchdog confirms news accounts that staffers at the U.S. Embassy in Britain have accused Woody Johnson, owner of the New York Jets and the U.S. ambassador, of making “insensitive” and “inappropriate” remarks.

The department’s Office of the Inspector General called for further investigation into the allegations against Johnson, a friend and campaign contributor to President Donald Trump.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Elements of the Islamic State group are working to rebuild in western Syria, where the U.S. has little visibility or presence, the top U.S. commander for the Middle East warned on Wednesday.

In the region west of the Euphrates River where the Syrian regime is in control “conditions are as bad or worse” than they were leading up to the rise of the Islamic State, said Gen. Frank McKenzie. “We should all be concerned about that.”

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Farmers across a wide swath of Iowa are dealing with the heartbreaking aftermath of a rare wind storm that turned what was looking like a record corn crop into deep losses for many.

The storm, known as a derecho, slammed the Midwest with straight line winds of up to 100 miles per hour on Monday, gaining strength as it plowed through Iowa farm fields, flattening corn and bursting grain bins still filled with tens of millions of bushels of last year’s harvest.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Even before last week’s intelligence assessment on foreign election interference, Republican Sen. Ron Johnson was facing criticism from Democrats that his investigation of presidential candidate Joe Biden and Ukraine was politically motivated and advancing Russian interests.

But the stark warning that Russia is working to denigrate the Democratic presidential candidate adds to questions about the probe by Johnson’s Senate committee and whether it is mimicking, even indirectly, Russian efforts and amplifying its propaganda.

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Joe Biden and Kamala Harris pushed past their one-time political rivalry to deliver an aggressive attack on the character and performance of President Donald Trump in their historic first appearance as running mates.