U.S. News

According to a report from Politico, a senior White House official slated to take a high profile position overseeing domestic policy had his appointment derailed by a furious response on Twitter from extremist conservatives questioning his bonafides.

Amid all the intensity and serious of pandemic, this little fable with no international significance has been percolating over in a quiet corner of our world.

TOLEDO, Ohio — For the first time in months, Nawal Hamade enjoyed a salon pedicure Friday, although she had to leave Michigan to get it.“It feels amazing,” said Hamade of the pampering she received at Espres Nails and Spa salon in Toledo. “It feels like getting back to normal.”Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Friday restarted parts of his state’s economy, with selected businesses opening for the first time since he issued a stay-at-home order on March 22 in response to the coronavirus emergency.Michiganians like Hamade of Temperance flocked across the border for goods and services still not available ...

MIAMI — About three weeks ago, Henry Camacho, an inmate at Sumter Correctional Institution, was removed from his dorm.He had chills, shortness of breath and had lost his sense of taste. Four days later, he was tested for COVID-19.Like 102 other men at the facility, he tested positive. His health was quickly declining and he was transported to the Bayfront Health hospital in Brooksville. There, he was put on a ventilator and his daughter, Crystal Camacho, was granted a “death bed visit” to say goodbye.Camacho drove nearly five hours to Bushnell from her home in Fort Lauderdale to say her goodby...

Phyllis George, a groundbreaking sportscasterand former Miss America who was also the first lady of Kentucky, has died.She was 70.George died Thursday in Lexington, Kentucky of complications from a blood disorder, her ex-husband, former Kentucky Gov. John Y. Brown Jr., told the Louisville Courier Journal.She had managed symptoms of the blood cancer polycythemia vera since she was diagnosed in her 30s.George is also survived by her two children with Brown: technology entrepreneur Lincoln Brown andCNN White House correspondent Pamela Brown, as well as her two grandchildren.As the first woman to ...

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is suddenly under the microscope after Donald Trump announced his intention to fire Steve Linick who has been serving as the inspector general of the department, reports Politico.

San Francisco (AFP) - As Amazon becomes an increasingly important lifeline in the pandemic crisis, it is being hit with a wave of criticism from activists, politicians and others who question the tech giant's growing influence.Amazon has become the most scrutinized company during the health emergency.It has boosted its global workforce to nearly one million and dealt with protests over warehouse safety and reported deaths of several employees.But Amazon has also pledged to spend at least $4 billion in the current quarter -- its entire expected operating profit -- on coronavirus mitigation effo...

Detroit (AFP) - Detroit's auto giants are keen to resume production this week, but there will be unease on assembly lines where social distancing is difficult and worries about the deadly coronavirus persist.Motor City carmakers insist they are taking precautions to protect employees for the ramp-up that marks a key moment in the attempted relaunching of the US economy.But not everyone is convinced."I am expecting a bumpy ride," said one United Auto Workers official, who asked for anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.The "Big Three," which have the experience of relaunchin...

Washington (AFP) - Congressional Democrats on Saturday launched a probe into President Donald Trump's "politically-motivated" dismissal of a government watchdog believed to have been investigating Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.The announcement came after Trump told House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi late Friday that he planned to dismiss State Department Inspector General Steve Linick.It was Trump's third abrupt dismissal of an official tasked with monitoring governmental misconduct and abuse since April, and drew criticism even from members of his own party."The firings of multipl...

Pinole (United States) (AFP) - She delivers for Amazon, but Adrienne Williams says the e-commerce and tech giant did not deliver for her.The 42-year-old California single mother is among the legion of drivers for Amazon's third-party delivery firms which have been struggling amid surging demand for goods and supplies to locked-down consumers during the pandemic."We don't work for Amazon, even though I wear an Amazon uniform, drive an Amazon van into an Amazon warehouse to pick up Amazon packages," the former junior high school teacher told AFP.Williams, who stopped working in March when her se...

Los Angeles (AFP) - Red-carpet premieres are the pinnacle of any new Hollywood blockbuster's publicity blitz.Their A-list entourages, elbow-to-elbow fans and showbiz photographers vying for the perfect snaps of glamorous stars, are also a nightmare for social distancing.But with California coronavirus restrictions easing, and major movies like "Tenet" eyeing July release dates, Tinseltown's marketing gurus are scrambling for ways to safely roll out those carpets once again."Prior to what we're going through, it was about getting a lot of attention and getting big crowds to come together and sh...

Detroit (AFP) - Auto giant General Motors (GM), the main shareholder in autonomous car company Cruise, confirmed Friday that the business will cut 160 jobs, or eight percent, of its workforce."It was a very prudent action," GM chief Mary Barra told an online conference organized by Bank of America, noting that the layoffs will not involve technical staff dedicated to the company's mission of developing self-driving vehicles."They've grown very quickly," she said of Cruise, which employs 2,000 workers largely in the San Francisco Bay Area. GM bought Cruise Automation in 2017, and Cruise was spu...