In first Trump-Biden debate, US will finally see its choice
The volatile US presidential election enters a fierce new stage this week when Donald Trump and Joe Biden hold their first debate -- a television spectacle finally allowing Americans to witness the two antagonists head to head......»»
Trump opens up lead over Biden in rematch many Americans don’t want
A survey finds 67% of Americans are 'tired of seeing the same candidates in presidential elections and want someone new.' But only 18% said they would not vote if Biden and Trump were their choice......»»
Americans dismayed by Biden-Trump 2024 rematch, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds
A survey finds 67% of Americans are 'tired of seeing the same candidates in presidential elections and want someone new.' But only 18% said they would not vote if Biden and Trump were their choice......»»
US announces $150 mn in new military aid for Ukraine
The United States on Thursday announced a new $150 million military assistance package for Ukraine that includes artillery and small-arms ammunition as well as anti-tank weapons. Washington is by far Kyiv's biggest donor of security aid, committing $43.9 billion since Russian forces invaded in February 2022. But opposition from hardline Republican lawmakers has put future assistance for Kyiv in doubt, and the US government is now relying on previously approved aid in the absence of new funding from Congress. The latest package "utilizes assistance previously authorized for Ukraine during prior fiscal years," the Pentagon said in a statement. "The Biden administration calls on Congress to meet its commitment to the people of Ukraine by passing additional funding to ensure Ukraine continues to have what it needs to defend itself against Russia's brutal war of choice," the statement said. The package also includes air defense missiles, night vision devices, demolition munitions, and cold weather gear. US officials have spearheaded the push for international support for Ukraine, quickly forging a coalition to back Kyiv after Russia invaded and coordinating aid from dozens of countries. The post US announces $150 mn in new military aid for Ukraine appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
With eye on 2024, Biden takes shot at high US drug prices
US President Joe Biden, who is campaigning for reelection with a heavy focus on easing voters' financial woes, on Tuesday launched a bid to lower the cost of certain prescription drugs -- a move Big Pharma pledged to continue battling in court. "Millions of Americans are forced to choose between paying for medications they need to live or paying for food, rent, and other basic necessities. Those days are ending," the Democratic president pledged in a statement. Later, in a White House speech, Biden said pharmaceutical giants were "hoping the courts will do what Democrats in Congress wouldn't do: protect their exorbitant profits and keep negotiations from happening." Using new powers under last year's Inflation Reduction Act, a major legislative package of energy transition policy and social reforms, the US government has chosen 10 drugs for which Medicare, the health insurance scheme for people over 65, will be able to negotiate the price. Medicare has previously not been able to negotiate drug prices, which has resulted in US drug costs being higher than "any other major economy in the world," Biden said. The United States pays on average 2.5 times more for prescription drugs than countries such as France, according to a study by the Rand Corporation. According to the US government, senior citizens last year had to spend a total of $3.4 billion out of their own pockets to buy the 10 drugs targeted in the list, which include treatments for blood clots, diabetes, heart problems, psoriasis, and blood cancers. White House officials would not specify how much cost-cutting they were expecting to see from the negotiations, but Biden cited the government's ability to get drug prices for veterans that were "50 percent less than Medicare." Under the IRA, the federal government can continue to add more drugs each year to its negotiating list. The pharmaceutical industry has opposed Medicare price negotiations for decades, and several companies have already announced lawsuits against the action. One of the treatments on the initial list, the anticoagulant Eliquis (apixaban), is used by more than 3.7 million Medicare beneficiaries. The laboratory that manufactures it, Bristol Myers Squibb, says that Medicare beneficiaries who are prescribed this drug "are currently able to get it with relatively low out-of-pocket costs at an average of $55 per month," and claims that Biden's initiative puts that "at risk." The Johnson & Johnson group, which produces two of the drugs on the list, said that the reform would "constrain medical innovation, limit patient access and choice, and negatively impact the overall quality of care." 2024 in view With the change in prices not set to take place until January 2026, the immediate political benefit for Biden is uncertain. The 80-year-old president, whose reelection bid has struggled to find much enthusiasm, is counting on announcements like the one made Tuesday, as well as a measure to freeze the price of insulin at $35 a month for many Americans, to bolster his campaign. Biden often touts his relentless optimism, and on Tuesday again criticized talk by Republican White House candidates -- especially former president Donald Trump -- of US "decline." "Better days are coming," he promised. The post With eye on 2024, Biden takes shot at high US drug prices appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
As Trump faces indictment heat, Biden chills beachside
"It was compelling," Joe Biden offered Tuesday after Donald Trump's indictment. But the US president was referring to a film -- not the legal fate of his political rival, which he has declined to address. The 80-year-old Democrat was emerging from a screening of "Oppenheimer," having dined earlier with First Lady Jill Biden at a fish restaurant in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, the seaside escape where the couple is vacationing this week. While Christopher Nolan's biopic tells the life of the American physicist who developed the first atomic weapon, Tuesday's historic indictment of ex-president Trump is the bombshell currently rocking American politics. The rebellious Republican is likely to face Biden once more in 2024, even as he is criminally charged over allegedly attempting to overturn the 2020 election result. It is the third indictment of Trump since March. They include charges over a hush-money payment to an adult film star in 2016, and his handling of classified documents after leaving the White House. A fourth indictment could follow in Georgia, where an investigation over electoral interference is concluding. No comment Biden, known for impulsive remarks, has demonstrated considerable discipline when it comes to his rival's legal peril. After Trump became the first-ever indicted former president in March, Biden repeatedly gave reporters a curt "no comment" and other dodges. On Wednesday, as the commander-in-chief biked along a Rehoboth trail to occasional cheers from onlookers, a reporter's shouted one-word question -- "Indictments?" -- was met with silence. Biden has little choice, especially given that the two gravest cases against Trump are federal prosecutions by the US Department of Justice, which Biden's aides have repeatedly stressed operates independently from the White House. Even the slightest word from Biden would fuel charges from Trump's supporters that the president is weaponizing the judiciary. Biden therefore is counting on the modern-day visual known as the split screen. Relaxation and remove On one side is Trump, with his legal proceedings piling up and the bracing images of the former leader scowling as he sat in a Manhattan court this year. It is not yet known whether Trump will appear in person for a preliminary hearing set for Thursday in Washington in the case surrounding the 2020 election. On the other side: Biden chilling in Rehoboth, where he might hit the beach Thursday like last weekend, or take another bike ride. Either way, it's the very image of peace of mind. If Trump is "compelling," in one form or another, Biden -- as he has described himself before -- is assumed to be "boring." In running for re-election, the current president is betting that Americans will favor calm, predictability and prosperity over potential chaos. He soon heads west to tout "Bidenomics," his economic strategy that Republicans mocked but which he pitches as responsible for America's robust growth. Is the US president, whose popularity ratings are far from effervescent, writing the script for an electoral blockbuster in 2024? That remains uncertain, but Biden wants to believe that boredom -- a mortal sin in moviemaking -- is a virtue at the ballot box. The post As Trump faces indictment heat, Biden chills beachside appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Xi cites progress in China-U.S. rapprochement
Chinese President Xi Jinping said the United States and China had “made progress” on a number of issues Monday, after talks with top American diplomat Antony Blinken in Beijing on Monday. “The Chinese side has made our position clear and the two sides have agreed to follow through the common understandings President Biden and I had reached in Bali,” Xi told the US Secretary of State, adding the “two sides have also made progress and reached agreement on some specific issues.” The meeting caps Blinken’s two days of high-level discussions with Chinese officials. His visit is the highest-level trip by a US official to China in nearly five years with ties severely strained between the world’s two largest economies. Xi, China’s most powerful leader in decades, met Blinken at the capital’s Great Hall of the People just after 4:30 p.m., Chinese state media and US officials said. “State-to-state interactions should always be based on mutual respect and sincerity,” Xi told Blinken. “I hope that Secretary Blinken, through this visit, can make positive contributions to stabilizing China-US relations,” he added. The meeting came after Blinken held more than 10 hours of talks over two days with other top Chinese officials. At the ornate Diaoyutai State Guesthouse earlier Monday, Blinken and China’s foreign policy supremo Wang Yi offered polite smiles before talks with their aides, who unlike their bosses wore masks in line with lingering Covid-19 protocols. Away from the cameras, Wang told Blinken that his trip “comes at a critical juncture in China-US relations,” according to state broadcaster CCTV. “It is necessary to make a choice between dialogue and confrontation, cooperation or conflict,” Wang said. “We must reverse the downward spiral of China-US relations, push for a return to a healthy and stable track, and work together to find a correct way for China and the United States to get along,” he added. Wang also issued a warning on Taiwan, the self-ruling democracy claimed by Beijing. “On this issue, China has no room to compromise or concede,” Wang told Blinken, according to CCTV. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller called the discussion with Wang “candid and productive.” WITH AFP Blinken “underscored the importance of responsibly managing the competition between the United States and the PRC through open channels of communication to ensure competition does not veer into conflict,” Miller said, referring to the People’s Republic of China. On Sunday, Blinken met for seven and a half hours with Foreign Minister Qin Gang -- longer than expected -- with the two sides agreeing to keep up communication. The talks with Qin were “candid, substantive and constructive,” Miller said. Behind closed doors, Qin told Blinken that relations between the United States and China “are at the lowest point since the establishment of diplomatic relations”, according to CCTV. “This does not conform to the fundamental interests of the two peoples, nor does it meet the common expectations of the international community,” Qin said during the talks. A senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the discussions went beyond the usual talking points. The post Xi cites progress in China-U.S. rapprochement appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Biden presses ahead with transition, names chief of staff
US President-elect Joe Biden pressed ahead with his transition Wednesday despite Donald Trump’s refusal to acknowledge defeat, naming a seasoned Democratic operative as chief of staff in his first public White House personnel choice......»»
US votes on Trump’s fate under threat of election turmoil
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Americans vote Tuesday in an election amounting to a referendum on Donald Trump and his uniquely brash, bruising presidency that Democratic opponent and frontrunner Joe Biden urged supporters to end, restoring “our democracy.” US President Donald Trump leaves after speaking during a Make America Great Again rally at Fayetteville Regional Airport November 2, 2020, in Fayetteville, North Carolina. – The US presidential campaign enters its final day Monday with a last-minute scramble for votes by Donald Trump and Joe Biden, drawing to a close an extraordinary race that has put a pandemic-stricken country on edge. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP) The United States is more divided and angry than at any time since the Vietnam War era of the 1970s — and fears that Trump could dispute the result of the election are only fueling those tensions. Despite an often startlingly laid-back campaign, Biden, 77, leads in almost every opinion poll, buoyed by his consistent message that America needs to restore its “soul” and get new leadership in the midst of a coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 231,000 people. “I have a feeling we’re coming together for a big win tomorrow,” Biden said in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a vital electoral battleground where he was joined by pop superstar Lady Gaga. “It’s time to stand up and take back our democracy.” But Trump was characteristically defiant to the end, campaigning at a frenetic pace with crowded rallies in four states on Monday, and repeating his dark, unprecedented claims for a US president that the polls risk being rigged against him. After almost non-stop speeches in a final three-day sprint, he ended up in the early hours of Tuesday in Grand Rapids, Michigan — the same place where he concluded his epic against-the-odds campaign in 2016 where he defeated apparent frontrunner Hillary Clinton. Despite the bad poll numbers, the 74-year-old Republican real estate tycoon counted on pulling off another upset. “We’re going to have another beautiful victory tomorrow,” he told the Michigan crowd, which chanted back: “We love you, we love you!” “We’re going to make history once again,” he said. Packing Trump’s bags While Tuesday is formally Election Day, in reality Americans have been voting for weeks. With a huge expansion in mail-in voting to safeguard against the Covid-19 pandemic, nearly 100 million people have already made their choice. Biden has the wind in his sails after indications that Democratic enthusiasm in the early voting may be matching the more visible energy at Trump’s impressive rallies. In one of US history’s great political gambles, Biden stuck to socially distanced gatherings with small crowds right up to the last moment, in stunning contrast to Trump’s constant, large rallies where few supporters so much as bothered with masks. But the Democrat, making his third attempt at the presidency, clearly senses that his calmer approach and strict attention to pandemic protocols is what Americans want after four tempestuous years. “It’s time for Donald Trump to pack his bags and go home,” Biden told supporters in Cleveland. “We’re done with the chaos! We’re done with the tweets, the anger, the hate, the failure, the irresponsibility.” In chilly downtown Pittsburgh, Justine Wolff said she had cast her ballot for Biden already and was cautiously hopeful he would carry Pennsylvania, which along with Florida may be the tightest of all the swing states that decide close national elections. “I hope that people have seen the writing on the wall,” said the 35-year-old nurse. “We need some kind of change because this isn’t working for anybody.” But where many early votes are believed to have been cast by Democrats, Trump’s side is hoping for a massive wave of Republican supporters voting in person on Tuesday. “Whether he wins or loses, this is history,” said Kolleen Wall, who turned out to cheer Trump in Grand Rapids. But “when you come to one of these rallies, all you think is, how could he not win?” The first polling stations opening were in two New Hampshire villages, Dixville Notch and Millsfield, starting at midnight. Most polling stations on the East Coast were to open at 6:00 am or 7:00 am (1100 or 1200 GMT). A tiny hamlet of 12 residents in the middle of the forest, near the Canadian border, Dixville Notch has traditionally voted “first in the nation” since 1960. The vote took minutes, as did the count: five votes for Biden, and none for Trump. Warning of violence Trump himself is planning to visit his campaign headquarters in Virginia on Tuesday, while Biden will travel to his birthplace of Scranton, the scrappy Pennsylvania town where Trump also visited on Monday. There are worries that if the election is close, extended legal chaos and perhaps violent unrest could ensue — not least because Trump has spent months trying to sap public trust in the voting process in a nation already bitterly divided along political fault lines. He ramped up these warnings in the final days, focusing especially on Pennsylvania’s rule allowing absentee ballots received within three days after Tuesday to be counted. In a tweet flagged with a warning label by Twitter on Monday, he said this would “allow rampant and unchecked cheating.” “It will also induce violence in the streets. Something must be done!” Trump tweeted......»»
In first Trump-Biden debate, US will finally see its choice
The volatile US presidential election enters a fierce new stage this week when Donald Trump and Joe Biden hold their first debate -- a television spectacle finally allowing Americans to witness the two antagonists head to head......»»
Republicans to make case for Trump after Democrats endorse Biden
Biden's White House run -- his third -- features a historic first with his choice of a black woman, California Senator Harris, to be his running mate. The post Republicans to make case for Trump after Democrats endorse Biden appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Kamala outed as Biden’s VP pick
WASHINGTON (AFP) — Joe Biden’s vice presidential pick has been one of Washington’s best kept secrets but a supposedly accidental news publication and Biden’s own teasingly displayed notes are raising expectations that the winner is Kamala Harris. Speculation over the choice of VP is a parlor game played every four years in Washington, but this […] The post Kamala outed as Biden’s VP pick appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Numerous Individuals and Businesses Profit from Trump Media Stock
Former President Donald J. Trump’s social media company, Truth Social, had a successful first official trading session on the Nasdaq, with shares surging and approaching.....»»
Trending tickers: Trump Media, Tesla, Bitcoin and DS Smith
Former US president Donald Trump’s media firm, Trump Media & Technology Group, had a successful stock market debut in New York, with shares soaring past.....»»
EDITORIAL - Finally, plastic license cards
It says a lot about the quality of governance and ease of doing business in this country that it takes forever just to obtain a plastic driver’s license card......»»
Filinvest Invests P16B in Ciudad BTO Project
The development of Ciudad will finally be realized after the Province of Cebu turned over Friday a parcel of the property to homegrown developer Filinvest Land, Inc. (FLI) through a build-transfer-operate (BTO) engagement. Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia and Tristan Las Marias, FLI president and CEO, formally kicked off the project in simple ceremonies onsite on […].....»»
Trump to face jurors in April before facing US voters in November
Republican strategists say voters have grown accustomed to Donald Trump's norm-shattering behavior, but a guilty verdict could hurt his ability to win over swing voters who decide elections.....»»
James Jimenez’s presence in Comelec event wakes up ghost of debate fiasco probe
What ever happened to the investigation against him? Why was he in the Comelec's headquarters on Monday? Is this the second coming of James Jimenez?.....»»
The Daily Guardian: Apples Unlikely Partner
Talks of a potential partnership between tech giants Apple and Google have ignited a firestorm of debate in the industry. The focus of this partnership.....»»
Tyla naglabas ng debut album matapos mag-viral ang kantang ‘Water’
FINALLY! Nagkaroon na ng bonggang album ang award-winning pop-R&B superstar na si Tyla! Magugunita na unang sumikat ang South African singer dahil sa hit song niyang “Water.” Ang debut album ng superstar ay hango mismo sa kanyang pangalan –”TYLA.” May laman itong 15 tracks at kabilang riyan ang ilang collaboration song kasama ang ilang sikat.....»»
It s important that you speak up : Morissette scores People s Choice win after gig issue
Morissette still has the people's trust after she won the fan-voted People's Choice at the inaugural Billboard Philippines Women in Music last Friday in Samsung Hall, SM Aura Premier in Taguig City. .....»»