USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — Declaring the “soul of this nation” at stake, former Vice President Joe Biden pushed into the crowded 2020 presidential contest Thursday and quickly sparked a fierce debate over the direction of the modern-day Democratic Party.

Washington, Apr 24 (AP): President Donald Trump renewed his threat Wednesday to send more troops to the U.S.-Mexico border following an incident in which Mexican soldiers confronted U.S. personnel. Mexico blamed the incident on confusion, and said it was not looking for confrontation with the U.S.

WASHINGTON (AP) — As House Democrats ramp up their post-Mueller investigations into President Donald Trump, his strategy for responding is simple: Resist on every legal front. The administration is straining to hold off congressional investigators, including their efforts to obtain the president’s tax returns, his business’ financial records and testimony from former senior aides.

WASHINGTON (AP) — For the past three years, virtually nothing has hatched at Antarctica’s second biggest breeding grounds for emperor penguins and the start of this year is looking just as bleak, a new study found.

Usually 15,000 to 24,000 breeding pairs of emperor penguins flock yearly to a breeding site at Halley Bay, considered a safe place that should stay cold this century despite global warming. But almost none have been there since 2016, according to a study in Wednesday’s Antarctic Science.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Tesla CEO Elon Musk had prepped Wall Street for a first quarter loss but analysts were still stunned by its size: $702.1 million, among the company’s worst quarters in the past two years.

With the expected entrance of former Vice President Joe Biden into the 2020 Democratic presidential contest on Thursday, the field is largely set, with all the big names included.

The sprawling Democratic field features candidates ranging from 37 to 77 years old; liberals and moderates; senators, governors and mayors; and an unprecedented number of women and minorities. Democrats view the upcoming election as a must-win, and they’re looking to nominate someone who is their best hope to beat President Donald Trump.

Here are the 20 candidates (including Biden):

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The possibility of a $5 billion federal privacy fine for Facebook suggests that U.S. regulators may be taking a cue from the large penalties their European counterparts have been handing out to U.S. technology giants.

While investors appear to have shrugged it off for now, the potential fine from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission would be more than a slap on the wrist for Facebook, especially if it comes with strings that limit how the company targets advertising to its massive user base.

SUNNYVALE, Calif. (AP) — A former U.S. Army sharpshooter with a history of PTSD plowed his car at high speed into a group of pedestrians in a quiet Silicon Valley suburb, injuring eight people including three children, and then told authorities that he intentionally hit them but has not said why.

Police in Sunnyvale, California, said Wednesday that Isaiah Joel Peoples, 34, was being held on eight counts of attempted murder. Four of the victims remained hospitalized with major injuries, including a 13-year-old girl in critical condition.

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — An avowed racist who orchestrated one of the most gruesome hate crimes in U.S. history was executed Wednesday in Texas for the dragging death of a black man.

John William King, who was white, received a lethal injection for the slaying nearly 21 years ago of James Byrd Jr., who was chained to the back of a truck and dragged for nearly 3 miles (5 kilometers) along a secluded road in the piney woods outside Jasper, Texas.

24 Apr 2019; AFP: US President Donald Trump said Monday that Congress "can't impeach" him over the findings of the Mueller report into Russian election meddling and his alleged attempts to hamper the investigation.

Defiantly insisting that he did nothing wrong, Trump also denied a portrait of dysfunction in the White House where disobedient aides are said to have saved him from committing obstruction of justice by refusing to carry out his instructions.