GENEVA (AP) – President Joe Biden’s top adviser on the pandemic says the United States will again fund the World Health Organization and join its consortium aimed at sharing coronavirus vaccines fairly around the globe. Dr. Anthony Fauci’s quick commitment to the WHO marks a dramatic and vocal shift toward a more cooperative approach to…… MORE
SEATTLE (AP) – Amazon is offering its colossal operations network and advanced technologies to assist President Joe Biden in his vow to get 100 million COVID-19 vaccinations to Americans in his first 100 days in office. The CEO of Amazon’s Worldwide Consumer division, Dave Clark, said in a letter to Biden that the company has…… MORE
NEW YORK (AP) – The National Rifle Association is in a double-barreled legal battle for its future, moving forward with its bankruptcy case while fighting accusations it only sought Chapter 11 protection to avoid a potentially crippling lawsuit. Lawyers for the influential advocacy group told a federal judge Wednesday that the organization’s decision to declare…… MORE
SEATTLE (AP) – Researchers say the population of gray whales off the West Coast of the United States has fallen by nearly one-quarter since 2016, resembling a similar die-off two decades ago. NOAA Fisheries reported Tuesday that surveys counted about 6,000 fewer migrating whales last winter, 21,000 as compared with 27,000 in 2016. The agency…… MORE
WASHINGTON (AP) – President-elect Joe Biden has tapped Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine to be his assistant secretary of health, leaving her poised to become the first openly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the Senate. Levine is a pediatrician and former Pennsylvania physician general and was appointed to her current post by Democratic…… MORE
BOSTON (AP) – U.S. officials say Iran is responsible for emails meant to intimidate American voters and sow unrest in multiple states, and Tehran and Moscow have also obtained voter registration with the goal of interfering in the election. John Ratcliffe, the intelligence director, and FBI Director Chris Wray say the U.S. will impose costs…… MORE
WASHINGTON (AP) – The White House says President Donald Trump will spend a “few days” at a military hospital after contracting COVID-19. Trump was to depart the White House by helicopter late Friday for Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, a White House official said. The official said the visit was precautionary and that Trump…… MORE
WASHINGTON (AP) – The U.S. Postal Service’s famous motto – “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers” – is being tested like never before, by challenges well beyond the weather. Its finances have been devastated by the coronavirus. The Trump administration may attach big strings to federal bailouts. And…… MORE
WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of laid-off workers who applied for unemployment benefits fell to 1.48 million last week, the 12th straight drop and a sign that layoffs are slowing but are still at a painfully high level. The steady decline in claims suggests that the job market has begun to heal from the pandemic,…… MORE
WASHINGTON (AP) – A new private sector report is warning anew of continuing damage to the economy if Washington doesn’t deliver several hundred billion dollars in budget relief to states and local governments amid the coronavirus pandemic. But Wednesday’s report by Moody’s Analytics, a private sector economic research firm, could also help illustrate a path…… MORE
