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(SEOUL, South Korea) — The ruling liberal party secured a resounding victory in South Korea’s parliamentary elections, which had the highest turnout in nearly three decades despite the coronavirus sickening thousands and forcing social distancing at polling places. The ruling Democratic Party and a satellite party it created to win proportional representative seats combined to…

(WASHINGTON) — Citing the coronavirus, Donald Trump is threatening unprecedented action — adjourning both houses of Congress — to entice the Senate to approve more of his nominees. In recent years, Congress has refused to fully adjourn during most breaks precisely to prevent the president from making recess appointments. Little or no business is conducted…

(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department’s inspector general will conduct remote inspections of Bureau of Prisons facilities to ensure they are following best practices to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus after hundreds of federal inmates tested positive for the virus. The review, announced Wednesday, comes as the federal prison system struggles with a growing number…

When he accused the World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday of going soft on China over the COVID-19 pandemic and suspended U.S. payments to the agency, President Donald Trump put the strategic question of the century on the table. What’s the best way to win the global competition with Beijing: America First confrontation or multinational…

(BILLINGS, Mont.) — A U.S. judge canceled a key permit Wednesday for the Keystone XL oil pipeline that’s expected to stretch from Canada to Nebraska, another setback for the disputed project that got underway less than two weeks ago following years of delays. Judge Brian Morris said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers failed to…

(FLAGSTAFF, Ariz.) — The Navajo Nation has extended its weekend lockdowns preventing people from leaving their homes, except in emergencies, on the vast expanse of land that has been harder hit by the coronavirus than any other Native American reservation in the U.S. Jessie Valdez, who lives in Nageezi on the New Mexico portion of…

(NEW YORK) — The government is approaching the $349 billion lending limit on its Paycheck Protection Program that is funneling relief money to the nation’s small businesses. The Small Business Administration says that as of Wednesday afternoon, it had approved more than 1.44 million loans totaling more than $311 billion — up more than $50…

A U.S. P-8A reconnaissance plane was soaring above the Mediterranean Sea on Wednesday when a Russian SU-35 fighter jet appeared on its tail. For 42 minutes, U.S. Navy officials say, the Russian pilot flew in an “unsafe” manner—at one-point flying upside down and sweeping within 25 feet of the plane’s nose. The high-stakes intercept, which…

DORAL, Fla. — The Trump golf resort in South Florida where President Donald Trump initially wanted to host this year’s Group of Seven summit has temporarily laid off 560 workers. A notice that the Trump National Doral Miami filed with the State of Florida at the end of last month said it had been forced…

COVID-19 will not be the last pandemic in our deeply interconnected world, and sadly it won’t be the worst. Two profoundly different possible futures are available to us: one in which we stick our heads in the sand as we have consistently done, and one where humanity takes the hard, necessary steps to protect itself.…