North America

WASHINGTON, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Former U.S. President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he will launch a new media company with its own social media platform, nine months after he was barred from Twitter and Facebook.

The new company, called Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG) and chaired by Trump, will become a publicly listed company after its merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp., and will soon launch a social network named "TRUTH Social," according to a press release by the TMTG.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell last week to a new low point since the pandemic erupted, evidence that layoffs are declining as companies hold onto workers.

Unemployment claims dropped 6,000 to 290,000 last week, the third straight drop, the Labor Department said Thursday. That’s the fewest people to apply for benefits since March 14, 2020, when the pandemic intensified. Applications for jobless aid, which generally track the pace of layoffs, have fallen steadily from about 900,000 in January.

20 Oct 2021; MEMO: Almost half of the 53,000 Afghan refugees that have arrived in the US and are living at military facilities are children, according to a report published Thursday, and as reported by Anadolu News Agency.

The disclosure was made in a letter from Defence Secretary, Lloyd Austin, to lawmakers that was obtained by the Wall Street Journal newspaper. The letter was sent in response to queries from Senator James Inhofe, the ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee.

20 Oct 2021; MEMO: Saudi Arabia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Abdullah Bin Yahya Al-Mouallimi, yesterday slammed Israel, saying that it has "robbed the Palestinian people of their most basic rights".

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot an unarmed woman after she called 911 to report a possible rape happening behind her home will be sentenced on a lesser charge Thursday after his murder conviction was overturned in a case that drew global attention and was fraught with the issue of race.

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — A group of environmental organizations demanded Wednesday that the Biden administration suspend and cancel oil and gas leases in federal waters off the California coast after a recent crude oil spill.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. House is expected to hold Steve Bannon in contempt of Congress. It’s up to the Justice Department, and the courts, to determine what happens next.

As lawmakers ready a Thursday vote to send a contempt referral to the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, there’s considerable uncertainty about whether the Justice Department will prosecute Bannon for refusing to cooperate with the investigation into the Jan. 6 insurrection, despite Democratic demands for action.

SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) — In an abrupt change, the White House on Wednesday floated new plans to pay for parts of President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion social services and climate change package, shelving a proposed big increase in corporate tax rates though also adding a new billionaires’ tax on the investment gains of the very richest Americans.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. regulators on Wednesday signed off on extending COVID-19 boosters to Americans who got the Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccine and said anyone eligible for an extra dose can get a brand different from the one they received initially.

WASHINGTON, Oct 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) – U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, tested positive for COVID-19, despite having been fully vaccinated, his spokesperson said yesterday.