Tag: Top Stories

If presumed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s climate-change policy is, by some accounts, too broad to make implementation a surety, the focus of his newly named vice presidential pick may recast the party’s green agenda moving forward. Senator Kamala Harris, who Biden tapped to be his running mate on Tuesday, has grown increasingly firm in her commitment to a particular angle when it comes to man-made climate change: environmental justice. Her addition to the top of the Democrats’ ticket for November comes just days after she released new legislation, the Climate Equity Act. In it, she and co-sponsors aim to ensure that any environmental regulation or legislation would be rated based on its impact on low-income communities, similar to a Congressional Budget Office score.She ...

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for the last three decades and an expert on pandemics for the last four decades, has weighed in on recent news that Russia has developed a vaccine, and is ready to start inoculating people with it. “We have half a dozen or more vaccines, so if we wanted to take the chance of hurting a lot of people or giving them something that doesn’t work we could start doing this, you know, next week if we wanted to, but that’s not the way it works,” Fauci told ABC News in an interview late Tuesday. “Having a vaccine and proving that a vaccine is safe and effective are two different things,” he told ABC’s DIS, +0.66% Deborah Roberts. He said people need to understand that when they hear announcements from the Chinese...

COVID-19 pandemic has caused us to rethink many parts of daily existence, such as our health, jobs, where we live, our financial future, education, travel and the simple handshake. But according to data released Tuesday, many savers are still financially on the path to retirement. The combination of a stronger market, pandemic-related stimulus opportunities and steady, disciplined investing in the second quarter, gave Fidelity Investments cause for optimism. The firm, which publishes its analyses on investors and employers’ retirement trends every quarter, found double-digit increases in 401(k) plans and individual retirement accounts. The firm also said 11% of employers reduced or eliminated their employer matches to retirement plans, and about a third of them said they will reinsta...

(FILES) In this file photo taken on May 5, 2020 Sen. Marco Rubio, R-FL, speaks during a Senate Intelligence Committee nomination hearing for Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-TX, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. andrew harnik/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images BEIJING (AP) — China has announced unspecified sanctions against 11 U.S. politicians and heads of organizations promoting democratic causes, including Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, who have already been singled out by Beijing. Foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian on Monday said the 11 had “performed badly” on issues concerning Hong Kong, where China has cracked down on opposition voices following its imposition of a national security law in the semi-autonomous southern Chinese city last month. The number of Americans named ...

How contagious is someone who has contracted COVID-19 — yet displays no symptoms? And what makes them asymptomatic while other people suffer so terribly with the disease? This study, published in the medical journal JAMA Internal Medicine this week, provides one theory for the first question. It isolated 303 patients with COVID-19 in a treatment center in South Korea. Of those, 110 (36%) were asymptomatic and 21 (19%) developed symptoms during isolation. “The potential for transmission from asymptomatic people has been cited as an important factor in controlling the spread of COVID-19, but there is limited information about the clinical course and viral loads of asymptomatic people with SARS-CoV-2 infection,” the researchers wrote. What they found: “Many individuals with SARS-CoV-2 in...

French engineer-virologist Thomas Mollet looks at 24 well plates adherent cells monolayer infected with a SARS-CoV-2 virus at the Biosafety level 3 laboratory of the Valneva SE Group headquarters in Saint-Herblain, near Nantes, France, on July 30, 2020. The market is underpricing the possibility of a vaccine, Goldman Sachs strategists say. Forecasts are assuming a nearly 40% chance of a vaccine being broadly available by the first quarter of 2021, and the strategists, led by Kamakshya Trivedi, say there is a good chance that at least one vaccine will be approved by the Food and Drug Administration by the end of November and broadly distributed by the middle of 2021. “This kind of timeline could see a substantial boost to GDP [gross domestic product] relative to a ‘no-vaccine’ case,...

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced at a coronavirus briefing this week that he’s sending a letter to his state’s faith-based community in an effort to get the churches, synagogues and mosques on board with safety measures to help prevent community spread. “Our religious faiths are at the core of our great state and country,” DeWine explained. “However, it is vital that to control the spread of the virus that any time people gather together, including for religious services, that everyone wear masks, practice social distancing, wash hands, and also while indoors, making sure there is good ventilation and airflow.” To hammer home his point, DeWine used this illustration of a recent outbreak at a church service that led to the infection of 91 people across five counties. As you can see, ...

Zynga Inc. shares jumped 9% in after-hours trading Wednesday following an earnings report that proved, once again, that home-bound Americans are binging on digital games. The mobile-gaming company reported a second-quarter net loss of $150 million, or 16 cents a share, compared with a loss of $55.8 million, or 6 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter. Zynga’s ZNGA, -1.17% revenue improved 47% to $452 million from $306.5 million a year ago. Sales included record online game revenue of $388 million, up 61% year-over-year. In a nod to its strong prospects, the company also raised its full-year revenue guidance $110 million to $1.8 billion. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected adjusted a loss of 13 cents a share on sales of $505 million. With no foreseeable end in sight to shelter-i...

Streaming was about the only thing working for Walt Disney Co. amid a pandemic that has all but paralyzed its theme parks, live productions and cruise line, so Disney is going to rely on that direct-to-consumers pipeline even more. Disney DIS, +0.80% reported a depressing financial performance Tuesday that included a quarterly loss of nearly $5 billion due to COVID-19 and long-term depreciation of its European linear television channels. The only segment in the media empire to grow amid the pandemic included Disney+, the company’s streaming service that launched late last year and has already grown to more than 60 million subscribers. After detailing those numbers, new Disney Chief Executive Bob Chapek outlined a plan Tuesday that will leverage Disney+ and attempt to replicate its succ...

BP logos are seen at a BP petrol and diesel filling station southeast of London on June 15, 2020, following the announcement that the oil giant will take a hit of up to $17.5 billion (11.4 billion euros and 15.3 billion euros), due to the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic. ben stansall/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Oil giant BP on Tuesday cut its dividend in half after reporting a $16.8 billion loss for the second quarter. BP BP, +3.61% BP, +0.22% said it lost $16.8 billion after taking a charge of $10.9 billion, mostly for writing down the value of various projects after the steep fall in oil prices. Analysts polled by FactSet expected an $11.6 billion loss. BP had earned $1.8 billion in the year-earlier quarter. Its underlying replacement cost loss was $6.7 billion, compare...