World leaders will be back at the United Nations for the first time in two years on Tuesday with a formidable agenda of escalating crises to tackle, including the still raging COVID-19 pandemic and a relentlessly warming planet. Other pressing issues are rising U.S.-China tensions, Afghanistan’s unsettled future under its new Taliban rulers and ongoing […]
Posted inEntertainment
R Kelly prosecutors rest; defense calls on singer’s allies
Prosecutors at the R. Kelly sex trafficking trial ended their case Monday after calling dozens of witnesses over the past month who detailed the government’s sweeping allegations against the singer in lurid detail. The defense began its case later in the day by starting to call Kelly loyalists to the witness stand in an effort […]
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Haitian journey to Texas border starts in South America
TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — Robins Exile downed a traditional meal of plantains and chicken at a restaurant run by Haitian immigrants, just a short walk from the walled border with the United States. He arrived the night before and went there seeking advice: Should he try to get to the U.S., or was it better […]
Posted inElection Central
Atlanta City Council approves new round of emergency assistance funds
The Atlanta City Council approved legislation during Monday’s meeting to authorize the chief financial officer to amend the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act 2020 fund budget by adding to anticipations and appropriations in the amount of approximately $12 million awarded to the City of Atlanta from the Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) Program […]
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Black Businesses Continue to Face Down the Pandemic
WASHINGTON – Virginia Ali is owner of Ben’s Chili Bowl, an iconic restaurant she and her husband, Ben Ali, opened in 1958 in Washington D.C. Ben Ali died in 2009. He was 82. The restaurant has since become such a landmark that a long list of celebrities have made a trek through its doors, including former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Serena […]
Posted inTop Stories
COVID-19: The Unvaccinated Pose a Risk to the Vaccinated
Q: How do people who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 pose a risk to people who have been vaccinated? A: An unvaccinated person who is infected with COVID-19 poses a much greater risk to others who are also unvaccinated. But vaccines are not 100% effective, so there is a chance that an unvaccinated person could infect […]
Posted inWorld News
Biden promises ‘relentless diplomacy’ to skeptical allies
President Joe Biden summoned the world’s nations to forcefully address the festering global issues of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and human rights abuses in his first address before the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday. He decried military conflict and insisted the U.S. is not seeking “a new Cold War” with China. But while stressing […]
Posted inColumns/Op-Eds
Magee: Texas doctor could be what real allyship on abortion rights looks like
Women in Texas need allies. And not the silent kind who quietly grumble to like-minded people about how heinous it is that a group made up of mostly well-off White men decided to pass an abortion law that would disproportionately affect the poorest women of color: those who can’t afford to travel out of the […]
Posted inElection Central
House OKs debt and funding plan, inviting clash with GOP
The House voted late Tuesday to keep the government funded, suspend the federal debt limit and provide disaster and refugee aid, setting up a high-stakes showdown with Republicans who oppose the package despite the risk of triggering a fiscal crisis. The federal government faces a shutdown if funding stops on Sept. 30, the end of […]
Posted inColumns/Op-Eds
Lawrence: An outrage at America’s border
A human-rights catastrophe has taken shape on the border in Texas — and it has happened on the Biden administration’s watch. Monday, the nation saw horrifying images of Border Patrol officials appearing to chase and confront asylum seekers, who were largely Haitian, near the international bridge between Coahuila, Mexico, and Del Rio, Texas. The video […]
Posted inCOVID-19
Ongoing Clinical Trials Will Decide Whether (or Not) Ivermectin Is Safe, Effective for COVID-19
Studies on whether ivermectin is beneficial in treating COVID-19 patients haven’t been conclusive, and health officials have warned people not to self-medicate. But multiple large trials are continuing to assess the antiparasitic drug. Yet, Sen. Rand Paul reportedly said researchers were “unwilling to objectively study” it because of “hatred” for Donald Trump. He later acknowledged […]
Posted inElection Central
Joe Biden’s challenge at his first UN General Assembly: Convince allies he’s not another Trump
When President Joe Biden mounts the iconic green marble rostrum inside the hall of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, he will face an audience skeptical he really is as different from his predecessor as he likes to claim. For world leaders who were alternately addled and amused by former President Donald Trump — […]
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COVID has killed about as many Americans as the 1918-19 flu
COVID-19 has now killed about as many Americans as the 1918-19 Spanish flu pandemic did — approximately 675,000. The U.S. population a century ago was just one-third of what it is today, meaning the flu cut a much bigger, more lethal swath through the country. But the COVID-19 crisis is by any measure a colossal […]
Posted inTravel
US easing virus restrictions for foreign flights to America
In a major easing of pandemic travel restrictions, the U.S. said Monday it will allow foreigners to fly into the country this fall if they have vaccination proof and a negative COVID-19 test — changes replacing a hodgepodge of rules that had kept out many non-citizens and irritated allies in Europe and beyond where virus […]
Posted inElection Central
GOP operatives charged with funneling $25,000 from Russian citizen to Trump campaign in 2016
The Justice Department on Monday charged two prominent Republican operatives who allegedly helped a Russian citizen illegally donate $25,000 to the Trump campaign in 2016. Jesse Benton, 43, and Doug Wead, 75, were charged in a six-count indictment and made their first appearance in DC District Court. They’re accused of conspiring to violate campaign finance […]