Senator Kamala Harris said on Wednesday that she will be "first in line" for a coronavirus vaccine — so long as it's backed by American scientists, not only by President Donald Trump.

"If the public health professionals, if Dr Fauci, if the doctors tell us that we should take it, I'll be the first in line to take it. Absolutely," the California senator said during the first and only vice presidential debate. "But if Donald Trump tells us we should take it, I'm not taking it."

Kamala Harris made this statement during the US Vice Presidential debate in Salt Lake city, Utah.

Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris meet on Wednesday night in their first and only debate of the 2020 campaign.&nbsp;

This debate also marked the debut of an Indian origin person on the podium for the vice presidential debate.&nbsp;

With less than four weeks until Election Day and the White House now a coronavirus hot spot, the pandemic’s presence looms larger than ever over the nation, and the political fortunes of incumbent President Donald Trump and his rival, former Vice President Joe Biden.

(With inputs from agencies)

Senator Kamala Harris said on Wednesday that she will be "first in line" for a coronavirus vaccine — so long as it's backed by American scientists, not only by President Donald Trump.

Senator Kamala Harris said on Wednesday that she will be "first in line" for a coronavirus vaccine — so long as it's backed by American scientists, not only by President Donald Trump. "If the public health professionals, if Dr Fauci, if the doctors tell us that we should take it, I'll be the first in line to take it. Absolutely," the California senator said during the first and only vice presidential debate. "But if Donald Trump tells us we should take it, I'm not taking it." Kamala Harris made this statement during the US Vice Presidential debate in Salt Lake city, Utah. Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris meet on Wednesday night in their first and only debate of the 2020 campaign. This debate also marked the debut of an Indian origin person on the podium for the vice presidential debate. With less than four weeks until Election Day and the White House now a coronavirus hot spot, the pandemic’s presence looms larger than ever over the nation, and the political fortunes of incumbent President Donald Trump and his rival, former Vice President Joe Biden. (With inputs from agencies)

US Election 2020: If Trump tells us we should take it, I’m not taking vaccine, says Kamala Harris

US Republican Vice President Mike Pence and Democratic challenger Kamala Harris squared off evening in Salt Lake City, Utah, ahead of the November 3 election.

Here are some of key quotes from the debate, which was moderated by USA Today journalist Susan Page.

THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

Kamala Harris: "On January 28, the vice president and the president were informed about the nature of this pandemic. They were informed that it's lethal. In consequence that it is airborne that it will affect young people, and that it would be contracted, because it is airborne. And they knew what was happening and they didn't tell you."

Asked about the COVID-19 death toll, Pence: "I want the American people to know that from the very first day President Donald Trump has put the health of America first."

Mike Pence: "The reality is when you look at the Biden plan it reads an awful lot like what President Trump and I and our task force have been doing every step of the way.... it looks a little bit like plagiarism."

Kamala Harris: "The American people have had to sacrifice far too much because of the incompetence of this administration."

VACCINE

Kamala Harris on vaccine: "If the public health professionals, if Dr. Fauci, if the doctors tell us that we should take it, I'll be the first in line to take it absolutely, but if Donald Trump tells us to take it, I'm not taking it."

Mike Pence: "The fact that you continue to undermine public confidence in a vaccine - if the vaccine emerges during the Trump administration - I think is unconscionable ... stop playing politics with people's lives."

TAXES

Mike Pence: "On Day One, Joe Biden's going to raise your taxes."

Kamala Harris: "Joe Biden has been very clear: he will not raise taxes on anybody that who makes less than $400,000 a year."

CLIMATE CHANGE

Mike Pence: "Now with regard to climate change, the climate is changing. But the issue is, what's the cause? And what do we do about it? President Trump has made it clear that we're going to continue to listen to the science."

Mike Pence: "We don't need a massive $2 trillion Green New Deal that would impose all new mandates on American businesses and American families."

Kamala Harris: "We have seen a pattern with this administration, which is they don't believe in science."

US Republican Vice President Mike Pence and Democratic challenger Kamala Harris squared off evening in Salt Lake City, Utah, ahead of the November 3 election. Here are some of key quotes from the debate, which was moderated by USA Today journalist Susan Page.

US Republican Vice President Mike Pence and Democratic challenger Kamala Harris squared off evening in Salt Lake City, Utah, ahead of the November 3 election. Here are some of key quotes from the debate, which was moderated by USA Today journalist Susan Page. THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC Kamala Harris: "On January 28, the vice president and the president were informed about the nature of this pandemic. They were informed that it's lethal. In consequence that it is airborne that it will affect young people, and that it would be contracted, because it is airborne. And they knew what was happening and they didn't tell you." Asked about the COVID-19 death toll, Pence: "I want the American people to know that from the very first day President Donald Trump has put the health of America first." Mike Pence: "The reality is when you look at the Biden plan it reads an awful lot like what President Trump and I and our task force have been doing every step of the way.... it looks a little bit like plagiarism." Kamala Harris: "The American people have had to sacrifice far too much because of the incompetence of this administration." VACCINE Kamala Harris on vaccine: "If the public health professionals, if Dr. Fauci, if the doctors tell us that we should take it, I'll be the first in line to take it absolutely, but if Donald Trump tells us to take it, I'm not taking it." Mike Pence: "The fact that you continue to undermine public confidence in a vaccine - if the vaccine emerges during the Trump administration - I think is unconscionable ... stop playing politics with people's lives." TAXES Mike Pence: "On Day One, Joe Biden's going to raise your taxes." Kamala Harris: "Joe Biden has been very clear: he will not raise taxes on anybody that who makes less than $400,000 a year." CLIMATE CHANGE Mike Pence: "Now with regard to climate change, the climate is changing. But the issue is, what's the cause? And what do we do about it? President Trump has made it clear that we're going to continue to listen to the science." Mike Pence: "We don't need a massive $2 trillion Green New Deal that would impose all new mandates on American businesses and American families." Kamala Harris: "We have seen a pattern with this administration, which is they don't believe in science."

Kamala Harris, Mike Pence debate on pandemic, climate change: Top quotes

US President Donald Trump on Thursday voiced rare criticism of two of his most steadfast aides, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Attorney General Bill Barr, less than a month before elections.

Fuming in a telephone interview with Fox News, Trump, who has been forced off the campaign trail by a Covid-19 diagnosis, demanded that both cabinet members take action concerning the previous administration of Barack Obama.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/next-us-presidential-debate-to-be-virtual-trump-says-wont-participate-333504">Also read|&nbsp;Next US Presidential debate to be 'virtual'; Trump says won't 'participate'</a>

Trump said Pompeo should find a way to release emails from Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, a longstanding cause for Republican activists who attack her use of a private server while secretary of state.

"They're in the State Department but Mike Pompeo has been unable to get them out, which is very sad, actually," Trump said.

"I'm not happy about him for that reason," Trump said. "He's running the State Department -- you get them out."

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/internet-goes-berserk-after-errant-housefly-on-pences-head-photobombs-vp-debate-333508">Also read|&nbsp;Internet goes berserk after errant housefly on Pence's head photobombs VP debate</a>

Pompeo has until now been one of the few aides never to cross the mercurial Trump, who has ruthlessly criticized both Pompeo's and Barr's predecessors after firing them.

Ironically, Pompeo rose to political prominence for his fiery tone in questioning Clinton when he was a congressman looking into the deadly attack on the US mission in Benghazi, Libya.

Trump -- who is trailing in polls to former vice president Joe Biden -- has been urging Barr to prosecute members of the Obama administration for investigating his campaign's relationship with Russia.

"To be honest, Bill Barr is either going to go down as the greatest attorney general in the history of the country or he's going to go down as a very sad situation," Trump said.

"I mean, I'll be honest with you, he's got all the information he needs," Trump said of indictments.

Trump has pushed a conspiracy theory that the Obama administration worked to thwart him through actions including the probe of the Russia "hoax."

An investigation by former FBI director Robert Mueller found that Russia sought to boost the Trump campaign.

Mueller provided significant evidence that Trump associates coordinated with, cooperated with, encouraged or gave support to Russia's interference. But the investigator said he didn't have enough to charge any campaign member with conspiracy.&nbsp;

Trump's first national security advisor, Michael Flynn, admitted he lied to the FBI about conversations with the Russian ambassador.

Barr, while seeing no grounds to indict Obama officials over the Russia probe, has been a vocal defender of the president.

Barr was a key figure in the forcible June 1 dispersal of anti-racism protesters outside the White House before Trump posed for pictures outside a nearby church.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday voiced rare criticism of two of his most steadfast aides, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Attorney General Bill Barr, less than a month before elections.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday voiced rare criticism of two of his most steadfast aides, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Attorney General Bill Barr, less than a month before elections. Fuming in a telephone interview with Fox News, Trump, who has been forced off the campaign trail by a Covid-19 diagnosis, demanded that both cabinet members take action concerning the previous administration of Barack Obama. Also read| Next US Presidential debate to be 'virtual'; Trump says won't 'participate' Trump said Pompeo should find a way to release emails from Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, a longstanding cause for Republican activists who attack her use of a private server while secretary of state. "They're in the State Department but Mike Pompeo has been unable to get them out, which is very sad, actually," Trump said. "I'm not happy about him for that reason," Trump said. "He's running the State Department -- you get them out." Also read| Internet goes berserk after errant housefly on Pence's head photobombs VP debate Pompeo has until now been one of the few aides never to cross the mercurial Trump, who has ruthlessly criticized both Pompeo's and Barr's predecessors after firing them. Ironically, Pompeo rose to political prominence for his fiery tone in questioning Clinton when he was a congressman looking into the deadly attack on the US mission in Benghazi, Libya. Trump -- who is trailing in polls to former vice president Joe Biden -- has been urging Barr to prosecute members of the Obama administration for investigating his campaign's relationship with Russia. "To be honest, Bill Barr is either going to go down as the greatest attorney general in the history of the country or he's going to go down as a very sad situation," Trump said. "I mean, I'll be honest with you, he's got all the information he needs," Trump said of indictments. Trump has pushed a conspiracy theory that the Obama administration worked to thwart him through actions including the probe of the Russia "hoax." An investigation by former FBI director Robert Mueller found that Russia sought to boost the Trump campaign. Mueller provided significant evidence that Trump associates coordinated with, cooperated with, encouraged or gave support to Russia's interference. But the investigator said he didn't have enough to charge any campaign member with conspiracy. Trump's first national security advisor, Michael Flynn, admitted he lied to the FBI about conversations with the Russian ambassador. Barr, while seeing no grounds to indict Obama officials over the Russia probe, has been a vocal defender of the president. Barr was a key figure in the forcible June 1 dispersal of anti-racism protesters outside the White House before Trump posed for pictures outside a nearby church.

Trump launches rare attack on loyal aides Pompeo, Barr

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said his administration wants all US forces to pull out of Afghanistan by Christmas, speeding up the process to end America's longest war.&nbsp;

"We should have the small remaining number of our BRAVE Men and Women serving in Afghanistan home by Christmas!" Trump said on Twitter.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
We should have the small remaining number of our BRAVE Men and Women serving in Afghanistan home by Christmas!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1313984510749544450?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Trump's remarks came when the presidential election in the US is less than 30 days away and he aspires to show that he delivered on his promise that the country should stop "endless wars".

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/taliban-afghan-negotiators-set-ground-rules-to-safeguard-peace-talks-sources-332896">Taliban, Afghan negotiators set ground rules to safeguard peace talks: Sources</a>

Washington, in a historic deal with the Taliban on February 29, vowed to pull out its forces from Afghanistan by mid-2021 and the insurgent group in return committed to not let other extremist groups flourish in the region.&nbsp;

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/eight-killed-in-attack-targetting-afghan-governor-332763">Eight killed in attack targetting Afghan governor</a>

Last month, talks between the Taliban and Afghan government began in Doha, although the discussions soon ended up in a deadlock.

Trump's decision for troop withdrawal gained widespread support, including his Democratic rival Joe Biden who during his vice-presidential tenure had pushed to limit the nation's involvement in Afghanistan.&nbsp;

(with inputs from AFP) 
&nbsp;

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said his administration wants all US forces to pull out of Afghanistan by Christmas, speeding up the process to end America's longest war.

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said his administration wants all US forces to pull out of Afghanistan by Christmas, speeding up the process to end America's longest war. "We should have the small remaining number of our BRAVE Men and Women serving in Afghanistan home by Christmas!" Trump said on Twitter. We should have the small remaining number of our BRAVE Men and Women serving in Afghanistan home by Christmas! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 7, 2020 × Trump's remarks came when the presidential election in the US is less than 30 days away and he aspires to show that he delivered on his promise that the country should stop "endless wars". Also read | Taliban, Afghan negotiators set ground rules to safeguard peace talks: Sources Washington, in a historic deal with the Taliban on February 29, vowed to pull out its forces from Afghanistan by mid-2021 and the insurgent group in return committed to not let other extremist groups flourish in the region. Also read | Eight killed in attack targetting Afghan governor Last month, talks between the Taliban and Afghan government began in Doha, although the discussions soon ended up in a deadlock. Trump's decision for troop withdrawal gained widespread support, including his Democratic rival Joe Biden who during his vice-presidential tenure had pushed to limit the nation's involvement in Afghanistan. (with inputs from AFP)

Donald Trump wants US forces to pull out from Afghanistan by Christmas

After a civil debate, the Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris received a lot of comments — positive and negative — on the internet.

Majority viewers agreed on various social media platforms that the fly photo-bombing on Pence's head was the highlight of the debate from pence's area. However, Harris' uncle,&nbsp;Balachandran Gopalan, talked instead about the albatross around Pence's neck.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/internet-goes-berserk-after-errant-housefly-on-pences-head-photobombs-vp-debate-333508">Also read|&nbsp;Internet goes berserk after errant housefly on Pence's head photobombs VP debate</a>

Gopalan is Indian-origin Kamal Harris' uncle and has been a proud supporter of the running mate of Biden. Today, after the debate, while everyone was talking about the fly, Gopalan said he felt sorry for Pence.&nbsp;

He believes his relative had an upper hand in judiciary due to her professional background and also on the subject of the pandemic as she belongs to a party which has not been blamed for mishandling the pandemic.

"I felt a little sorry for Pence. You can't ask about the judiciary — she was on the judiciary committee, was attorney general, on Black Lives Matter she's an expert, on the pandemic, he's on weak ground," Gopalan said.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/shut-him-up-celebrities-show-support-as-vice-president-mike-pence-takes-on-kamala-harris-333435">Also read|&nbsp;'Shut him up': Celebrities show support as Vice President Mike Pence takes on Kamala Harris</a>

Talking about how this debate was different than the first Presidential debate, Gopalan also pointed out that people expected a lot from the Senator.&nbsp;"Expectations were too much of Kamala — 'she'll wipe the floor', etc. But Pence has also been a Congressman knows how to debate. But Pence has an albatross around his neck — and that's Trump," he said.

Gopalan is Harris' mother Shyamala Gopalan's brother and lives in India's capital city New Delhi.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/next-us-presidential-debate-to-be-virtual-trump-says-wont-participate-333504">Also read|&nbsp;Next US Presidential debate to be 'virtual'; Trump says won't 'participate'</a>

Recalling Harris' mother, Gopalan said Shyamala would have been proud of Kamala Harris after today's debate and also talked about how she takes on her mother but in a kinder way. "Her mother would have been happy for Kamala," he said. "Although maybe Shyamala was far more impatient than Kamala at times," he added. "I wouldn't be surprised if Shyamala was the debater or in the audience -- she would have said 'what rubbish are you talking, vice-president'. But Kamala was kinder."

Kamala, 55-year-old,&nbsp;was born in California in 1964 to a Jamaican father, economics professor John Harris, and breast cancer specialist Shyamala Gopalan.

Meanwhile the internet has appreciated Harris' stand against Pence interrupting her during her time to speak.

After a civil debate, the Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris received a lot of comments — positive and negative — on the internet. Majority viewers agreed on various social media platforms that the fly photo-bombing on Pence's head was the highlight of the debate from pence's area.

After a civil debate, the Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris received a lot of comments — positive and negative — on the internet. Majority viewers agreed on various social media platforms that the fly photo-bombing on Pence's head was the highlight of the debate from pence's area. However, Harris' uncle, Balachandran Gopalan, talked instead about the albatross around Pence's neck. Also read| Internet goes berserk after errant housefly on Pence's head photobombs VP debate Gopalan is Indian-origin Kamal Harris' uncle and has been a proud supporter of the running mate of Biden. Today, after the debate, while everyone was talking about the fly, Gopalan said he felt sorry for Pence. He believes his relative had an upper hand in judiciary due to her professional background and also on the subject of the pandemic as she belongs to a party which has not been blamed for mishandling the pandemic. "I felt a little sorry for Pence. You can't ask about the judiciary — she was on the judiciary committee, was attorney general, on Black Lives Matter she's an expert, on the pandemic, he's on weak ground," Gopalan said. Also read| 'Shut him up': Celebrities show support as Vice President Mike Pence takes on Kamala Harris Talking about how this debate was different than the first Presidential debate, Gopalan also pointed out that people expected a lot from the Senator. "Expectations were too much of Kamala — 'she'll wipe the floor', etc. But Pence has also been a Congressman knows how to debate. But Pence has an albatross around his neck — and that's Trump," he said. Gopalan is Harris' mother Shyamala Gopalan's brother and lives in India's capital city New Delhi. Also read| Next US Presidential debate to be 'virtual'; Trump says won't 'participate' Recalling Harris' mother, Gopalan said Shyamala would have been proud of Kamala Harris after today's debate and also talked about how she takes on her mother but in a kinder way. "Her mother would have been happy for Kamala," he said. "Although maybe Shyamala was far more impatient than Kamala at times," he added. "I wouldn't be surprised if Shyamala was the debater or in the audience -- she would have said 'what rubbish are you talking, vice-president'. But Kamala was kinder." Kamala, 55-year-old, was born in California in 1964 to a Jamaican father, economics professor John Harris, and breast cancer specialist Shyamala Gopalan. Meanwhile the internet has appreciated Harris' stand against Pence interrupting her during her time to speak.

Trump is albatross around Pence's neck: Kamala Harris' uncle comments after VP debate

The other night, as President Donald Trump convalesced at Walter Reed, I took a spin through social media to see the latest news on his health.

Instead, what I found were a bunch of paranoid partisans posting grainy, zoomed-in photos, analyzing video footage frame by frame, and people straining to connect the dots on far-fetched conspiracy theories involving a cabal of nefarious elites staging an elaborate cover-up.

No, I didn’t stumble into a room for QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy theory. In fact, many of the people sharing bogus and unverified claims on my feeds were die-hard Democrats. Some of them were speculating, with no evidence, that Trump was faking his bout with COVID-19 to engender sympathy and boost his reelection chances. Others claimed that Trump had died and been replaced by a body double (nope), that he had gotten a secret vaccine from Russia and was quarantining until it took effect (also nope) or that he had deliberately contracted the disease to distract the public from a New York Times article about his taxes (creative, but doubtful).

None of these theories passed the smell test, but they were retweeted and shared thousands of times anyway. Zignal Labs, a firm that tracks online misinformation, said that the theory that Trump had faked his illness had been mentioned more than 85,000 times on social media and that the hashtag #TrumpCovidHoax, which trended on Twitter in the United States, had been mentioned more than 75,000 times.

To be clear, none of the rumormongering I saw from the left was comparable to a dangerous extremist movement like QAnon, which alleges that the world is controlled by a cabal of satanic pedophiles led by prominent Democrats. And it’s understandable that people would question the official narrative of Trump’s illness. Presidents have a long history of hiding their health problems from the public, and the barrage of conflicting, confusing and dishonest information emanating from Trump and his medical team this week has made it hard to take their claims at face value.

But it is notable how easily the conspiracist’s creed — that the official narrative is always a lie, and that the truth is out there for those willing to dig for it themselves — has penetrated our national psyche. After Trump tested positive for COVID-19 last week, social media sleuths raced to dissect every statement, tweet and photograph that might reveal clues about his real condition. (Is that lump in his jacket a hidden oxygen tank? Was that video edited to remove a telltale cough?)

Unsatisfied with the official explanations given by Trump’s doctors, they sought out their own sources, like the TikTok account of Claudia Conway, the 15-year-old daughter of the former presidential adviser Kellyanne Conway, who offered a grimmer prognosis.

And when the president did emerge from Walter Reed, armchair pulmonologists pored over his homecoming video as if it were a modern-day Zapruder film, looking for evidence that he was still in dire shape.

Trump’s hospitalization — a high-stakes medical drama starring a president who is known to exaggerate his own health — made for perfect conspiracy theory fodder. And according to several experts I talked to, the lack of reliable information coming from Trump administration officials made speculation about a cover-up inevitable.

“Conspiracy theorists love a vacuum,” said Kathryn Olmsted, a professor of history at the University of California, Davis, who has studied the history of conspiracy theories. “If they’re not getting answers, they’re going to come up with their own.”

Some of what’s happening is related to the dynamics of social media platforms, which favor bold, engaging claims over dry and careful ones. But there seems to be something else happening, too — a force that is pulling us all toward conspiracy theories these days, no matter our political persuasion.

On Tuesday, Facebook officially banned the QAnon movement from its services, labeling it a “militarized social movement.” The purge was good news for those of us who have watched QAnon morph from a fringe message board stunt to a dangerous quasi-religion that organizes mass harassment campaigns, spreads life-threatening misinformation and threatens its enemies with violence.

But while QAnon may be a singularly dangerous movement, the reflexive paranoia and rejection of authority it represents is not an isolated phenomenon, or one that is limited to far-right extremists.

On Monday, as I watched a video clip of the president standing on a White House balcony, I was struck by the realization that virtually no one was simply accepting the scene at face value. Democrats were theorizing about what secret maladies he was trying to cover up. Republicans were speculating about what signals he was trying to send to his political opponents. Everyone was “doing their own research,” and looking behind the curtain for the real story. There was no text, only subtext.

I thought of Martin Gurri, a media theorist whose work I find provocative, even if I disagree with some of his conclusions. In his book “The Revolt of the Public,” Gurri writes that social media, and the internet more broadly, have eroded the authority of long-standing mass-media gatekeepers — like the newspaper you’re reading right now — and replaced it with “vital communities” of digital insurgents who are united around shared interests.

These groups, Gurri writes, develop their own sources of authority. For one group, a phalanx of white-coated doctors standing outside Walter Reed might seem authoritative. For another group, a teenage girl’s TikTok feed or a QAnon believer’s YouTube channel might hold more sway. Every group creates its own evidentiary standards, and processes information in its own way. There is no “consensus reality” they can all agree to because the idea of a single, shared reality was an artifact of the 20th century, when most people got information from a handful of big mainstream sources.

I called Gurri, who told me that he wasn’t surprised that people were turning to conspiracy theories about Trump’s illness. Uncertainty always breeds distrust, and in the age of social media, he said, authority is held by people who can effectively get their message out — even if those messages are false or misleading.

&nbsp;

“Dissemination is validation,” he said. “If you can concoct something that travels on the web, then you’re on the same plane as any expert in the world.”

Gurri, a former CIA analyst, is skeptical that we will ever return to accepting information handed to us by elites at face value. There’s simply too much information now, traveling over too many channels, for people on any side to be satisfied with a single, straightforward answer to any question — whether it’s about the president’s blood oxygen levels, an imaginary pedophile cabal or something else entirely.

&nbsp;

I don’t think, as some of Gurri’s fans in Silicon Valley do, that authority and expertise are relics of a bygone age, and I don’t think we should let social media platforms off the hook for amplifying lies and propaganda. But as I look around my feeds this week, it’s hard not to wonder if he’s right that the internet — and the erosion of authority it has enabled — has made conspiracy theorists of us all.

&nbsp;

“This is not Trump,” Gurri said. “This is structural, and even if Trump loses in November, it’s going to continue.”

The other night, as President Donald Trump convalesced at Walter Reed, I took a spin through social media to see the latest news on his health. Instead, what I found were a bunch of paranoid partisans posting grainy, zoomed-in photos, analyzing video footage frame by frame, and people straining to connect the dots on far-fetched conspiracy theories involving a cabal of nefarious elites staging an elaborate cover-up.

The other night, as President Donald Trump convalesced at Walter Reed, I took a spin through social media to see the latest news on his health. Instead, what I found were a bunch of paranoid partisans posting grainy, zoomed-in photos, analyzing video footage frame by frame, and people straining to connect the dots on far-fetched conspiracy theories involving a cabal of nefarious elites staging an elaborate cover-up. No, I didn’t stumble into a room for QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy theory. In fact, many of the people sharing bogus and unverified claims on my feeds were die-hard Democrats. Some of them were speculating, with no evidence, that Trump was faking his bout with COVID-19 to engender sympathy and boost his reelection chances. Others claimed that Trump had died and been replaced by a body double (nope), that he had gotten a secret vaccine from Russia and was quarantining until it took effect (also nope) or that he had deliberately contracted the disease to distract the public from a New York Times article about his taxes (creative, but doubtful). None of these theories passed the smell test, but they were retweeted and shared thousands of times anyway. Zignal Labs, a firm that tracks online misinformation, said that the theory that Trump had faked his illness had been mentioned more than 85,000 times on social media and that the hashtag #TrumpCovidHoax, which trended on Twitter in the United States, had been mentioned more than 75,000 times. To be clear, none of the rumormongering I saw from the left was comparable to a dangerous extremist movement like QAnon, which alleges that the world is controlled by a cabal of satanic pedophiles led by prominent Democrats. And it’s understandable that people would question the official narrative of Trump’s illness. Presidents have a long history of hiding their health problems from the public, and the barrage of conflicting, confusing and dishonest information emanating from Trump and his medical team this week has made it hard to take their claims at face value. But it is notable how easily the conspiracist’s creed — that the official narrative is always a lie, and that the truth is out there for those willing to dig for it themselves — has penetrated our national psyche. After Trump tested positive for COVID-19 last week, social media sleuths raced to dissect every statement, tweet and photograph that might reveal clues about his real condition. (Is that lump in his jacket a hidden oxygen tank? Was that video edited to remove a telltale cough?) Unsatisfied with the official explanations given by Trump’s doctors, they sought out their own sources, like the TikTok account of Claudia Conway, the 15-year-old daughter of the former presidential adviser Kellyanne Conway, who offered a grimmer prognosis. And when the president did emerge from Walter Reed, armchair pulmonologists pored over his homecoming video as if it were a modern-day Zapruder film, looking for evidence that he was still in dire shape. Trump’s hospitalization — a high-stakes medical drama starring a president who is known to exaggerate his own health — made for perfect conspiracy theory fodder. And according to several experts I talked to, the lack of reliable information coming from Trump administration officials made speculation about a cover-up inevitable. “Conspiracy theorists love a vacuum,” said Kathryn Olmsted, a professor of history at the University of California, Davis, who has studied the history of conspiracy theories. “If they’re not getting answers, they’re going to come up with their own.” Some of what’s happening is related to the dynamics of social media platforms, which favor bold, engaging claims over dry and careful ones. But there seems to be something else happening, too — a force that is pulling us all toward conspiracy theories these days, no matter our political persuasion. On Tuesday, Facebook officially banned the QAnon movement from its services, labeling it a “militarized social movement.” The purge was good news for those of us who have watched QAnon morph from a fringe message board stunt to a dangerous quasi-religion that organizes mass harassment campaigns, spreads life-threatening misinformation and threatens its enemies with violence. But while QAnon may be a singularly dangerous movement, the reflexive paranoia and rejection of authority it represents is not an isolated phenomenon, or one that is limited to far-right extremists. On Monday, as I watched a video clip of the president standing on a White House balcony, I was struck by the realization that virtually no one was simply accepting the scene at face value. Democrats were theorizing about what secret maladies he was trying to cover up. Republicans were speculating about what signals he was trying to send to his political opponents. Everyone was “doing their own research,” and looking behind the curtain for the real story. There was no text, only subtext. I thought of Martin Gurri, a media theorist whose work I find provocative, even if I disagree with some of his conclusions. In his book “The Revolt of the Public,” Gurri writes that social media, and the internet more broadly, have eroded the authority of long-standing mass-media gatekeepers — like the newspaper you’re reading right now — and replaced it with “vital communities” of digital insurgents who are united around shared interests. These groups, Gurri writes, develop their own sources of authority. For one group, a phalanx of white-coated doctors standing outside Walter Reed might seem authoritative. For another group, a teenage girl’s TikTok feed or a QAnon believer’s YouTube channel might hold more sway. Every group creates its own evidentiary standards, and processes information in its own way. There is no “consensus reality” they can all agree to because the idea of a single, shared reality was an artifact of the 20th century, when most people got information from a handful of big mainstream sources. I called Gurri, who told me that he wasn’t surprised that people were turning to conspiracy theories about Trump’s illness. Uncertainty always breeds distrust, and in the age of social media, he said, authority is held by people who can effectively get their message out — even if those messages are false or misleading. “Dissemination is validation,” he said. “If you can concoct something that travels on the web, then you’re on the same plane as any expert in the world.” Gurri, a former CIA analyst, is skeptical that we will ever return to accepting information handed to us by elites at face value. There’s simply too much information now, traveling over too many channels, for people on any side to be satisfied with a single, straightforward answer to any question — whether it’s about the president’s blood oxygen levels, an imaginary pedophile cabal or something else entirely. I don’t think, as some of Gurri’s fans in Silicon Valley do, that authority and expertise are relics of a bygone age, and I don’t think we should let social media platforms off the hook for amplifying lies and propaganda. But as I look around my feeds this week, it’s hard not to wonder if he’s right that the internet — and the erosion of authority it has enabled — has made conspiracy theorists of us all. “This is not Trump,” Gurri said. “This is structural, and even if Trump loses in November, it’s going to continue.”

Why conspiracy theories are so addictive right now

President Donald Trump said Thursday he sees "really good" odds of reaching a deal with Democrats in Congress on a new round of coronavirus stimulus for the battered US economy.

"We're starting to have some very productive talks," he said, referring specifically to assistance for airlines and $1,200 checks for workers.&nbsp;

"We're talking about a bigger deal than airlines," he told Fox Business News. "I think we have a really good chance of doing something."

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/next-us-presidential-debate-to-be-virtual-trump-says-wont-participate-333504">Also read:&nbsp;Next US Presidential debate to be 'virtual'; Trump says won't 'participate'</a>

House speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have been negotiating a huge, new relief package for weeks but differ on how much to spend.

On Tuesday evening Trump abruptly called an end to the talks, saying Pelosi was not negotiating in good faith.

After an outcry from both parties and from business leaders, Trump changed gears and called for Congress to "immediately" pass stand-alone legislation to extend aid for airline workers and small businesses.&nbsp;

He also said he would back another round of $1,200 stimulus payments for households.

President Donald Trump said Thursday he sees "really good" odds of reaching a deal with Democrats in Congress on a new round of coronavirus stimulus for the battered US economy.

President Donald Trump said Thursday he sees "really good" odds of reaching a deal with Democrats in Congress on a new round of coronavirus stimulus for the battered US economy. "We're starting to have some very productive talks," he said, referring specifically to assistance for airlines and $1,200 checks for workers. "We're talking about a bigger deal than airlines," he told Fox Business News. "I think we have a really good chance of doing something." Also read: Next US Presidential debate to be 'virtual'; Trump says won't 'participate' House speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have been negotiating a huge, new relief package for weeks but differ on how much to spend. On Tuesday evening Trump abruptly called an end to the talks, saying Pelosi was not negotiating in good faith. After an outcry from both parties and from business leaders, Trump changed gears and called for Congress to "immediately" pass stand-alone legislation to extend aid for airline workers and small businesses. He also said he would back another round of $1,200 stimulus payments for households.

Trump says 'really good chance' of US stimulus deal

The leaders of the two of the richest countries of the world — the United States and the United Kingdom — have experienced the novel coronavirus first-hand.

Today, the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the US President&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;discussed their personal experiences over a phone call, as tweeted by&nbsp;Trump.

Just spoke with Prime Minister&nbsp;@BorisJohnson&nbsp;of the United Kingdom. Very thankful for his friendship and support as I recovered from the China Virus.,"&nbsp;Trump&nbsp;tweeted.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Just spoke with Prime Minister <a href="https://twitter.com/BorisJohnson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BorisJohnson</a> of the United Kingdom. Very thankful for his friendship and support as I recovered from the China Virus. I am looking forward to working with him for many years to come, a great guy!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1313959178931666944?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2020</a></blockquote>
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He also used this call as an opportunity to promote his re-election campaign for the upcoming&nbsp;US elections.&nbsp;In a blanket statement he added, "I am looking forward to working with him for many years to come, a great guy!" through he Trump&nbsp;was able to hint that he would be the person in the White House for the next Presidential term too.

Trump, however, is trailing behind his Democratic rival&nbsp;Joe Biden&nbsp;in the initial polls that have been conducted till now.

Johnson and Trump&nbsp;underwent treatment for the novel coronavirus, but both of them approached the disease in different ways. While Johnson admitted to being in the Intensive Care Unit for three days and did not shy away from openly admitting that his recovery from the virus was a disease,&nbsp;Trump&nbsp;has repteadly tried to out on a brave face and claims he is "doing great" since the day he has tested positive.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The leaders of the two of the richest countries of the world — the United States and the United Kingdom — have experienced the novel coronavirus first-hand. Today, the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the US President Donald Trump discussed their personal experiences over a phone call, as tweeted by Trump.

The leaders of the two of the richest countries of the world — the United States and the United Kingdom — have experienced the novel coronavirus first-hand. Today, the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the US President Donald Trump discussed their personal experiences over a phone call, as tweeted by Trump. Just spoke with Prime Minister @BorisJohnson of the United Kingdom. Very thankful for his friendship and support as I recovered from the China Virus.," Trump tweeted. Just spoke with Prime Minister @BorisJohnson of the United Kingdom. Very thankful for his friendship and support as I recovered from the China Virus. I am looking forward to working with him for many years to come, a great guy! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 7, 2020 × He also used this call as an opportunity to promote his re-election campaign for the upcoming US elections. In a blanket statement he added, "I am looking forward to working with him for many years to come, a great guy!" through he Trump was able to hint that he would be the person in the White House for the next Presidential term too. Trump, however, is trailing behind his Democratic rival Joe Biden in the initial polls that have been conducted till now. Johnson and Trump underwent treatment for the novel coronavirus, but both of them approached the disease in different ways. While Johnson admitted to being in the Intensive Care Unit for three days and did not shy away from openly admitting that his recovery from the virus was a disease, Trump has repteadly tried to out on a brave face and claims he is "doing great" since the day he has tested positive.

Trump and Johnson discuss experiences with coronavirus over phone call

&nbsp;

The social media giant Facebook has decided to stop all political and social ad campaigns after the US polls close on November 03.

Facebook had earlier declared that the platform will not be entertaining or allowing any political ad campaigns near the upcoming <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/us-election">US elections</a>. However, a fixed timeline was not revealed at that time.

Now, the decision has been announced explaining that in addition to the political campaigns, all ads created to social issues will also face the ban.&nbsp;

<a href="wionews.com/world/six-takeaways-from-the-vice-presidential-debate-333402">Also read:&nbsp;Six takeaways from the vice-presidential debate</a>

In addition to this, if any political party claims victory or predicts results before the the administration or main media houses release the result, Facebook will be adding additional notices around those posts.

"If a candidate or party declares premature victory before a race is called by major media outlets, we will add more specific information in the notifications that counting is still in progress and no winner has been determined," said vice president of integrity Guy Rosen.

The decision has been taken as an extension of the careful approach that various social media platforms such as Twitter and&nbsp;Facebook have adopted for the past few months in respect to the misinformation being spread about the US elections.

Facebook's decision to suspend all such posts is&nbsp;being read as an effort to curb President Trump's warning of not coooperating during the transition of power if he loses the elections.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/next-us-presidential-debate-to-be-virtual-trump-says-wont-participate-333504">Also read:&nbsp;Next US Presidential debate to be 'virtual'; Trump says won't 'participate'</a>

"We will remove statements of intent or advocacy to go to an election site with military language," the&nbsp;vice president of content policy Monika Bickert.

"We will also remove calls to go to polls to monitor if it involves exerting control or showing power."

This decision has come after Facebook actively banned the posts that urged citizens to head out and cast their votes, as the social media platform said it sends out a wrong message with respect to the existing COVID-19 guidelines of staying indoors.

Facebook has also revealed that the platform has removed nearly 120,000 posts on Facebook and Instagram that were spreading the wrong information and and has added warning labels on more than 150 million posts on Facebook.

The platform is also redirecting people to voting information centre that has been set up by facebook and has, till now, helped nearly 2.5 million people register to vote.

The experts at Facebook are also prepared to spot, identify and kill the posts and content that can go viral and result in acivil unrest.

Nick Clegg, a former deputy British prime minister who is Facebook's head of global affairs, said recently that the social platform could take exceptional steps to "restrict the circulation of content" in case of turmoil.

"There are some break-glass options available to us if there really is an extremely chaotic and, worse still, violent set of circumstances," Clegg said,

The social media giant Facebook has decided to stop all political and social ad campaigns after the US polls close on November 03. Facebook had earlier declared that the platform will not be entertaining or allowing any political ad campaigns near the upcoming US elections.

The social media giant Facebook has decided to stop all political and social ad campaigns after the US polls close on November 03. Facebook had earlier declared that the platform will not be entertaining or allowing any political ad campaigns near the upcoming US elections. However, a fixed timeline was not revealed at that time. Now, the decision has been announced explaining that in addition to the political campaigns, all ads created to social issues will also face the ban. Also read: Six takeaways from the vice-presidential debate In addition to this, if any political party claims victory or predicts results before the the administration or main media houses release the result, Facebook will be adding additional notices around those posts. "If a candidate or party declares premature victory before a race is called by major media outlets, we will add more specific information in the notifications that counting is still in progress and no winner has been determined," said vice president of integrity Guy Rosen. The decision has been taken as an extension of the careful approach that various social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook have adopted for the past few months in respect to the misinformation being spread about the US elections. Facebook's decision to suspend all such posts is being read as an effort to curb President Trump's warning of not coooperating during the transition of power if he loses the elections. Also read: Next US Presidential debate to be 'virtual'; Trump says won't 'participate' "We will remove statements of intent or advocacy to go to an election site with military language," the vice president of content policy Monika Bickert. "We will also remove calls to go to polls to monitor if it involves exerting control or showing power." This decision has come after Facebook actively banned the posts that urged citizens to head out and cast their votes, as the social media platform said it sends out a wrong message with respect to the existing COVID-19 guidelines of staying indoors. Facebook has also revealed that the platform has removed nearly 120,000 posts on Facebook and Instagram that were spreading the wrong information and and has added warning labels on more than 150 million posts on Facebook. The platform is also redirecting people to voting information centre that has been set up by facebook and has, till now, helped nearly 2.5 million people register to vote. The experts at Facebook are also prepared to spot, identify and kill the posts and content that can go viral and result in acivil unrest. Nick Clegg, a former deputy British prime minister who is Facebook's head of global affairs, said recently that the social platform could take exceptional steps to "restrict the circulation of content" in case of turmoil. "There are some break-glass options available to us if there really is an extremely chaotic and, worse still, violent set of circumstances," Clegg said,

Facebook to ban political ads after US election poll ends to curb fake news

Even the most bullish policymakers and forecasters had penciled in more government aid to keep households and businesses hit by the coronavirus pandemic afloat through the end of the year. That money would bolster retail spending, rent payments and mortgages and whittle away at the 11 million lost jobs that have not yet been recouped. Watch report.

Failed US stimulus talks threaten recovery

In a video message posted on his official social media handles, US President Donald Trump said that catching the coronavirus was a 'blessing from God'. Watch report.

Donald Trump hails antibody treatment: Trump calls uncleared drug a cure for COVID

The Manhattan court has rejected President Donald Trump’s effort to block enforcement of a grand jury subpoena that demands years of his income tax returns from his accountants.

Manhattan court rejects Trump's claims: Loses tax return subpoena appeal

Donald Trump attacks on China - US President Donald Trump on Thursday again sharpened his attacks on China saying coronavirus was Beijing's fault and warned the country of paying a "big price" for it.&nbsp;

"It wasn't your fault (coronavirus outbreak) that this happened, it was China's fault, and China is going to pay a big price (for) what they've done to this country. China's going to pay a big price (for) what they've done to the world. This was China's fault," Trump said in a video posted on his Twitter account.&nbsp;

Watch

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT! <a href="https://t.co/uhLIcknAjT">pic.twitter.com/uhLIcknAjT</a>
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1313959702104023047?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Trump also said getting infected with coronavirus was a "blessing from God" and he is feeling "perfect".&nbsp;

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-pence-dont-believe-in-science-kamala-harris-at-us-vice-presidential-debate-333337">Trump, Pence ‘don’t believe in science’: Kamala Harris at US Vice Presidential debate</a>

"I feel like perfect, so I think this was a blessing from God that I caught it," he said.

"This was a blessing in disguise."

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/donald-trump-wants-us-forces-to-pull-out-from-afghanistan-by-christmas-333352">Donald Trump wants US forces to pull out from Afghanistan by Christmas</a>

The US president also praised REGN-COV2, an experimental antibody therapy, that was given to him to treat Covid-19.&nbsp;

US President Donald Trump attacks on China

He said he wanted to push the availability of the drug for coronavirus patients.

Trump has faced severe criticism for his handling to the coronavirus pandemic that has killed over 210,000 Americans, far more than any other nation. He was also slammed for his refusal to wear masks for many months and downplaying the virus's outbreak in the US, among other issues.&nbsp;

 
&nbsp;

Donald Trump attacks on China - US President Donald Trump on Thursday again sharpened his attacks on China saying coronavirus was Beijing's fault and warned the country of paying a "big price" for it.

Donald Trump attacks on China - US President Donald Trump on Thursday again sharpened his attacks on China saying coronavirus was Beijing's fault and warned the country of paying a "big price" for it. "It wasn't your fault (coronavirus outbreak) that this happened, it was China's fault, and China is going to pay a big price (for) what they've done to this country. China's going to pay a big price (for) what they've done to the world. This was China's fault," Trump said in a video posted on his Twitter account. Watch A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT! pic.twitter.com/uhLIcknAjT — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 7, 2020 Trump also said getting infected with coronavirus was a "blessing from God" and he is feeling "perfect". Also read | Trump, Pence ‘don’t believe in science’: Kamala Harris at US Vice Presidential debate "I feel like perfect, so I think this was a blessing from God that I caught it," he said. "This was a blessing in disguise." Also read | Donald Trump wants US forces to pull out from Afghanistan by Christmas The US president also praised REGN-COV2, an experimental antibody therapy, that was given to him to treat Covid-19. US President Donald Trump attacks on China He said he wanted to push the availability of the drug for coronavirus patients. Trump has faced severe criticism for his handling to the coronavirus pandemic that has killed over 210,000 Americans, far more than any other nation. He was also slammed for his refusal to wear masks for many months and downplaying the virus's outbreak in the US, among other issues.

Donald Trump says China will pay 'big price' for coronavirus outbreak

With all hospital beds occupied and the number of COVID-19 cases in the Himalayan nation skyrocketing, Nepal`s Health Ministry has asked infected people to visit medical facilities only if the condition worsens.&nbsp;

As COVID-19 cases in the Himalayan nation continue to rise, in recent weeks, taking the total number of active cases beyond the 25,000 mark, the Health Ministry asked people to seek medical care in case of emergency only.&nbsp;

"With an increase in infection, hospitals are running short of beds.(COVID-19) Patients are not able to get a bed. While all the government and private hospitals must manage facilities to treat the patients, the condition has turned problematic in Kathmandu with a spike of cases. If the infection continues to rise as of now, then hospitals would not be able to bear the influx," Dr Jageshwor Gautam, one of the spokespersons at Ministry of Health and Population said.&nbsp;

The Himalayan nation registered its all-time highest spike in daily cases reporting 3,439 new cases of COVID-19 taking the national tally to 94, 253 with the death toll standing at 578.The country`s infection rate is at 22.4 per cent along while the recovery rate of patients suffering from COVID-19 lying between 70 and 80 per cent. The medical sector which always has remained impoverished, Nepal now lacks enough beds and ventilators as the cases continue to rise.&nbsp;

Tumbling with increased cases on daily basis, the Health Ministry has further requested infected ones who face serious complications to visit the hospital.&nbsp;

Gautam has requested people with fever, cough and running nose not to rush to the hospital though these are possible COVID-19 symptoms as well as for flu.&nbsp;

"Currently, there has been an increasing trend of rushing off to the hospital experiencing simple symptoms--fever, cough or running nose, which also is attributed to the common cold. Therefore, we request the infected ones to go to the hospital in case you experienced difficulties in breathing, fainted or are about to faint, experience problem in urination or relatively low flow of urine," spokesperson Dr Gautam said.&nbsp;

As per the ministry, Nepal by late September had 930 ventilators while the number of ICU beds stands at 2,600. With 25,007 active cases confirmed on Wednesday, isolation beds in hospitals around the Himalayan nation are almost full.&nbsp;

The COVID-19 infection in Nepal in earlier stage had spread out in districts bordering India which now has turned its flames towards capital Kathmandu and the valley which logs more than 50 per cent of total caseloads reported on daily basis.

With all hospital beds occupied and the number of COVID-19 cases in the Himalayan nation skyrocketing, Nepal`s Health Ministry has asked infected people to visit medical facilities only if the condition worsens.

With all hospital beds occupied and the number of COVID-19 cases in the Himalayan nation skyrocketing, Nepal`s Health Ministry has asked infected people to visit medical facilities only if the condition worsens. As COVID-19 cases in the Himalayan nation continue to rise, in recent weeks, taking the total number of active cases beyond the 25,000 mark, the Health Ministry asked people to seek medical care in case of emergency only. "With an increase in infection, hospitals are running short of beds.(COVID-19) Patients are not able to get a bed. While all the government and private hospitals must manage facilities to treat the patients, the condition has turned problematic in Kathmandu with a spike of cases. If the infection continues to rise as of now, then hospitals would not be able to bear the influx," Dr Jageshwor Gautam, one of the spokespersons at Ministry of Health and Population said. The Himalayan nation registered its all-time highest spike in daily cases reporting 3,439 new cases of COVID-19 taking the national tally to 94, 253 with the death toll standing at 578.The country`s infection rate is at 22.4 per cent along while the recovery rate of patients suffering from COVID-19 lying between 70 and 80 per cent. The medical sector which always has remained impoverished, Nepal now lacks enough beds and ventilators as the cases continue to rise. Tumbling with increased cases on daily basis, the Health Ministry has further requested infected ones who face serious complications to visit the hospital. Gautam has requested people with fever, cough and running nose not to rush to the hospital though these are possible COVID-19 symptoms as well as for flu. "Currently, there has been an increasing trend of rushing off to the hospital experiencing simple symptoms--fever, cough or running nose, which also is attributed to the common cold. Therefore, we request the infected ones to go to the hospital in case you experienced difficulties in breathing, fainted or are about to faint, experience problem in urination or relatively low flow of urine," spokesperson Dr Gautam said. As per the ministry, Nepal by late September had 930 ventilators while the number of ICU beds stands at 2,600. With 25,007 active cases confirmed on Wednesday, isolation beds in hospitals around the Himalayan nation are almost full. The COVID-19 infection in Nepal in earlier stage had spread out in districts bordering India which now has turned its flames towards capital Kathmandu and the valley which logs more than 50 per cent of total caseloads reported on daily basis.

As hospitals are full, Nepal asks only serious patients to visit hospitals

Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris sat a dozen feet apart Wednesday, separated by Plexiglas and an ideological chasm, for a 90-minute debate that for all the hype seems unlikely to affect the trajectory of presidential campaign.

Harris wanted to talk about President Donald Trump. Pence wanted to talk about Joe Biden. And neither had much interest in answering any of the questions posed by the moderator — or by the other candidate — leading to a mostly staid series of two-minute set pieces.

It was civil. It was conventional. It was not especially scintillating or revealing. But that was still a vast improvement over the unruly shout-out that Americans suffered through last week in the first presidential debate. It even felt normal — minus the Plexiglas plates erected onstage — as neither candidate focused on the most compelling news development in the nation: Trump’s contracting of the coronavirus, his hospitalization and return to the White House amid unanswered questions about the full nature of his medical status.

By the end of the night, the debate seemed a news cycle or a presidential tweet away from being forgotten, and for a Biden ticket that is ahead in the polls, that is welcome news. That is the first of six takeaways from the lone vice-presidential debate, with 27 days left until Election Day:

The race was not upended.&nbsp;

It was telling that a fly that landed on Pence’s head partway through the debate was among the biggest buzz generators of the night.

For all the high Democratic expectations around Harris and her past debate performances, she did not eviscerate Pence. As for Pence, he turned in an effective, dutiful, conservative case for Trump, the likes of which the president rarely articulates himself.

“There are things the campaigns can use from this,” said Matt Gorman, a Republican strategist. “But the trajectory of the race is in the same place it was 24 hours ago.”

And that trajectory is not good for Trump.

“Mike Pence threw snacks to his base but offered nothing substantive to gain ground,” said Jess O’Connell, a Democratic strategist.

Given the age of Biden, 77, and the fact that this would be a 74-year-old Trump’s final term, it is quite possible that clips from the debate could have a bigger impact on the 2024 race than on 2020.&nbsp;

Harris tried to keep 2020 as a referendum on Trump.&nbsp;

It is not often that the first lines of a debate will be among the most important, but the opening answer from Harris amounted to a succinct summary not just of her strategy for the next 90 minutes, but of the Democratic plan for the final four weeks of the race: “The American people have witnessed what is the greatest failure of any presidential administration in the history of our country.”

She was talking about the coronavirus. And looking straight into the camera, she delivered a devastating critique of the Trump administration’s handling of the pandemic, ticking off a series of blunt and brutal statistics: 210,000 dead, 7 million cases, one in five businesses closed and more than 30 million filing for unemployment.

Harris navigated the potentially tricky waters of attacking the administration without personalizing matters around a president still recovering from the virus.

She accused the administration of muzzling the truth (“They knew, and they covered it up”) and not having a clear path forward (“They still don’t have a plan. They still don’t have a plan”).

And that was just in her first two minutes, which she ended with an exclamation point: “This administration has forfeited their right to reelection.”

Pence had few strong answers, acknowledging the “very challenging time” the nation had been through while trying to focus on some of Trump’s early actions, like suspending travel from China. But his final thought in his first scripted answer was a swipe at Biden, saying that the Democratic plan for COVID-19 of looked “a little bit like plagiarism, which is something Joe Biden knows a little bit about."

It was a sign that …

… Pence wanted to make the election an ideological choice.

Pence was most comfortable on the economy and the traditional Republican message of cutting taxes and regulations, pitching the specifics of the Trump tax cuts in more granular and understandable detail than Trump managed in his own debate performance.

“The American economy — the American comeback is on the ballot,” Pence said.

Over and over, he redirected — sometimes smoothly and sometimes not — questions back to the Biden agenda. When Harris said that Biden would repeal the full Trump tax bill, he pounced, saying that doing so would hike taxes for many Americans ( Harris clarified with Biden’s pledge not to raise taxes on those earning less than $400,000 per year).

The point was not the specifics. It was to frame the election as a choice between competing visions, even if Pence intentionally sought to blur the differences between Harris’ own positions during the primary, such as embracing the Green New Deal and opposing fracking, with those of Biden, who has not taken those same positions.

When in doubt, Pence returned to economics. Such as when he was asked if climate change was an existential threat. Mr. Pence paused, dodged and pivoted to the safe space: “Once again, Sen. Harris is denying the fact that they’re going to raise taxes."

Sara Fagen, a Republican strategist and a former senior official in the George W. Bush White House, praised Pence’s economic focus. “He needed to make the case on the economy, and he’s effectively drawing a contrast between two economic visions for America,” she said.

&nbsp; 
Pence’s interruptions revealed the stage’s gender dynamics.

In the early stretches of the debate, Harris took an extended opportunity not just to defend Biden’s credentials but, step by step, to walk through her own: a former San Francisco district attorney, California attorney general, U.S. senator (“only the second Black woman”) and member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

“Women always have overcompensate on résumé,” said Alexis Grenell, a Democratic strategist. “Men are evaluated based on potential, and women have to come with receipts. You can hear that in Kamala’s answer.”

There were other gender dynamics at play, including Pence’s regular interruptions.

“I’m speaking,” Harris pushed back at one point. “Mr. Vice President, I’m speaking,” she said at another. “He interrupted me, and I’d like to just finish, please,” she said a third time.

It was hard not to see the interjections and pushback refracted through the lens of gender in a contest where the outsize support of women is lifting the Democratic ticket.

Karen Finney, a Democratic strategist, said that Harris “clearly came prepared with strategies for Pence interrupting, talking over her and running over time.”

“She was no doubt aware of the various dynamics and need to thread the needle on balancing being assertive and letting certain attacks go at points so as not to be seen as 'angry’ or ‘overly aggressive,’ which are common sexist racist tropes about women.” said Finney, who was an adviser on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign.

Pence, it should be noted, was the only man on the stage Wednesday, with Harris across from him and Susan Page, the Washington bureau chief of USA Today, serving as moderator.

Harris got tangled up on the courts

The weakest moment of the night for Harris came on the courts, when Pence challenged her directly to answer whether she and Biden would endorse expanding the Supreme Court if Trump’s nominee for the current vacancy, Amy Coney Barrett, was seated.

Harris dodged. Pence called her out. And Harris dodged some more.

Pence declared at the end of a squirm-worthy segment: “You gave a non-answer. Joe Biden gave a non-answer. The straight answer is, they are going to pack the Supreme Court if they somehow win this election.”

The Biden campaign has clearly decreed that not answering this question — the former vice president has evaded it himself — is more politically palatable than any actual answer it might give. And on Wednesday night, that put Harris in a bind.

“She will be in media trainings as an example of what not to do when avoiding a question,” said Gorman, the Republican strategist.

With four weeks until the election — and upcoming Supreme Court confirming hearings — it is not clear how long the dodge will remain more tenable than an answer.

Harris eventually returned to familiar and safer ground when it comes to the courts: the Trump administration’s lawsuit seeking to unwind the Affordable Care Act. She turned to the camera to accuse Trump of trying to gut it “literally in the midst of a public health pandemic.”

Pence and Harris spar on race and racial justice.

Harris’ mere presence onstage — the first woman of color on a major party ticket — was a statement in and of itself, an accomplishment Pence acknowledged directly by congratulating her on the “the historic nature of your nomination.”

Still, Pence sought to undercut Harris’ credentials and appeal to Black voters, accusing her of prosecuting more African Americans than whites and saying she did not “lift a finger” for a criminal justice bill that Trump eventually signed.

He elided the inconsistencies of making that argument moments after he had said that it would be an “great insult” to say America was “systemically racist” or that law enforcement officers have an “implicit bias.”

Harris forcefully defended her record. “I will not sit here and be lectured by the vice president on what it means to enforce the laws of our country,” she said.

The two candidates also differed on whether there had been justice for Breonna Taylor, the Black woman who was killed in her home in Louisville, Kentucky, during a police raid. “I don’t believe so,” Harris said. “I trust our justice system,” Pence said of a grand jury decision not to press further charges.

It was a disagreement — but, like much of the night, an expected and uneventful one.

Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris sat a dozen feet apart Wednesday, separated by Plexiglas and an ideological chasm, for a 90-minute debate that for all the hype seems unlikely to affect the trajectory of presidential campaign.

Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris sat a dozen feet apart Wednesday, separated by Plexiglas and an ideological chasm, for a 90-minute debate that for all the hype seems unlikely to affect the trajectory of presidential campaign. Harris wanted to talk about President Donald Trump. Pence wanted to talk about Joe Biden. And neither had much interest in answering any of the questions posed by the moderator — or by the other candidate — leading to a mostly staid series of two-minute set pieces. It was civil. It was conventional. It was not especially scintillating or revealing. But that was still a vast improvement over the unruly shout-out that Americans suffered through last week in the first presidential debate. It even felt normal — minus the Plexiglas plates erected onstage — as neither candidate focused on the most compelling news development in the nation: Trump’s contracting of the coronavirus, his hospitalization and return to the White House amid unanswered questions about the full nature of his medical status. By the end of the night, the debate seemed a news cycle or a presidential tweet away from being forgotten, and for a Biden ticket that is ahead in the polls, that is welcome news. That is the first of six takeaways from the lone vice-presidential debate, with 27 days left until Election Day: The race was not upended. It was telling that a fly that landed on Pence’s head partway through the debate was among the biggest buzz generators of the night. For all the high Democratic expectations around Harris and her past debate performances, she did not eviscerate Pence. As for Pence, he turned in an effective, dutiful, conservative case for Trump, the likes of which the president rarely articulates himself. “There are things the campaigns can use from this,” said Matt Gorman, a Republican strategist. “But the trajectory of the race is in the same place it was 24 hours ago.” And that trajectory is not good for Trump. “Mike Pence threw snacks to his base but offered nothing substantive to gain ground,” said Jess O’Connell, a Democratic strategist. Given the age of Biden, 77, and the fact that this would be a 74-year-old Trump’s final term, it is quite possible that clips from the debate could have a bigger impact on the 2024 race than on 2020. Harris tried to keep 2020 as a referendum on Trump. It is not often that the first lines of a debate will be among the most important, but the opening answer from Harris amounted to a succinct summary not just of her strategy for the next 90 minutes, but of the Democratic plan for the final four weeks of the race: “The American people have witnessed what is the greatest failure of any presidential administration in the history of our country.” She was talking about the coronavirus. And looking straight into the camera, she delivered a devastating critique of the Trump administration’s handling of the pandemic, ticking off a series of blunt and brutal statistics: 210,000 dead, 7 million cases, one in five businesses closed and more than 30 million filing for unemployment. Harris navigated the potentially tricky waters of attacking the administration without personalizing matters around a president still recovering from the virus. She accused the administration of muzzling the truth (“They knew, and they covered it up”) and not having a clear path forward (“They still don’t have a plan. They still don’t have a plan”). And that was just in her first two minutes, which she ended with an exclamation point: “This administration has forfeited their right to reelection.” Pence had few strong answers, acknowledging the “very challenging time” the nation had been through while trying to focus on some of Trump’s early actions, like suspending travel from China. But his final thought in his first scripted answer was a swipe at Biden, saying that the Democratic plan for COVID-19 of looked “a little bit like plagiarism, which is something Joe Biden knows a little bit about." It was a sign that … … Pence wanted to make the election an ideological choice. Pence was most comfortable on the economy and the traditional Republican message of cutting taxes and regulations, pitching the specifics of the Trump tax cuts in more granular and understandable detail than Trump managed in his own debate performance. “The American economy — the American comeback is on the ballot,” Pence said. Over and over, he redirected — sometimes smoothly and sometimes not — questions back to the Biden agenda. When Harris said that Biden would repeal the full Trump tax bill, he pounced, saying that doing so would hike taxes for many Americans ( Harris clarified with Biden’s pledge not to raise taxes on those earning less than $400,000 per year). The point was not the specifics. It was to frame the election as a choice between competing visions, even if Pence intentionally sought to blur the differences between Harris’ own positions during the primary, such as embracing the Green New Deal and opposing fracking, with those of Biden, who has not taken those same positions. When in doubt, Pence returned to economics. Such as when he was asked if climate change was an existential threat. Mr. Pence paused, dodged and pivoted to the safe space: “Once again, Sen. Harris is denying the fact that they’re going to raise taxes." Sara Fagen, a Republican strategist and a former senior official in the George W. Bush White House, praised Pence’s economic focus. “He needed to make the case on the economy, and he’s effectively drawing a contrast between two economic visions for America,” she said. Pence’s interruptions revealed the stage’s gender dynamics. In the early stretches of the debate, Harris took an extended opportunity not just to defend Biden’s credentials but, step by step, to walk through her own: a former San Francisco district attorney, California attorney general, U.S. senator (“only the second Black woman”) and member of the Senate Intelligence Committee. “Women always have overcompensate on résumé,” said Alexis Grenell, a Democratic strategist. “Men are evaluated based on potential, and women have to come with receipts. You can hear that in Kamala’s answer.” There were other gender dynamics at play, including Pence’s regular interruptions. “I’m speaking,” Harris pushed back at one point. “Mr. Vice President, I’m speaking,” she said at another. “He interrupted me, and I’d like to just finish, please,” she said a third time. It was hard not to see the interjections and pushback refracted through the lens of gender in a contest where the outsize support of women is lifting the Democratic ticket. Karen Finney, a Democratic strategist, said that Harris “clearly came prepared with strategies for Pence interrupting, talking over her and running over time.” “She was no doubt aware of the various dynamics and need to thread the needle on balancing being assertive and letting certain attacks go at points so as not to be seen as 'angry’ or ‘overly aggressive,’ which are common sexist racist tropes about women.” said Finney, who was an adviser on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign. Pence, it should be noted, was the only man on the stage Wednesday, with Harris across from him and Susan Page, the Washington bureau chief of USA Today, serving as moderator. Harris got tangled up on the courts The weakest moment of the night for Harris came on the courts, when Pence challenged her directly to answer whether she and Biden would endorse expanding the Supreme Court if Trump’s nominee for the current vacancy, Amy Coney Barrett, was seated. Harris dodged. Pence called her out. And Harris dodged some more. Pence declared at the end of a squirm-worthy segment: “You gave a non-answer. Joe Biden gave a non-answer. The straight answer is, they are going to pack the Supreme Court if they somehow win this election.” The Biden campaign has clearly decreed that not answering this question — the former vice president has evaded it himself — is more politically palatable than any actual answer it might give. And on Wednesday night, that put Harris in a bind. “She will be in media trainings as an example of what not to do when avoiding a question,” said Gorman, the Republican strategist. With four weeks until the election — and upcoming Supreme Court confirming hearings — it is not clear how long the dodge will remain more tenable than an answer. Harris eventually returned to familiar and safer ground when it comes to the courts: the Trump administration’s lawsuit seeking to unwind the Affordable Care Act. She turned to the camera to accuse Trump of trying to gut it “literally in the midst of a public health pandemic.” Pence and Harris spar on race and racial justice. Harris’ mere presence onstage — the first woman of color on a major party ticket — was a statement in and of itself, an accomplishment Pence acknowledged directly by congratulating her on the “the historic nature of your nomination.” Still, Pence sought to undercut Harris’ credentials and appeal to Black voters, accusing her of prosecuting more African Americans than whites and saying she did not “lift a finger” for a criminal justice bill that Trump eventually signed. He elided the inconsistencies of making that argument moments after he had said that it would be an “great insult” to say America was “systemically racist” or that law enforcement officers have an “implicit bias.” Harris forcefully defended her record. “I will not sit here and be lectured by the vice president on what it means to enforce the laws of our country,” she said. The two candidates also differed on whether there had been justice for Breonna Taylor, the Black woman who was killed in her home in Louisville, Kentucky, during a police raid. “I don’t believe so,” Harris said. “I trust our justice system,” Pence said of a grand jury decision not to press further charges. It was a disagreement — but, like much of the night, an expected and uneventful one.

Six takeaways from the vice-presidential debate

Donald Trump's ex-counselor & close aide Kellyanne Conway tested positive along with her 15-year-old daughter Claudia Conway. Now, a remark made by Claudia Conway on President's White House return, has taken over social media platforms like a storm.

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With no clarity over Donald Trump's campaign plans, Joe Biden is dominating the campaign game. The democratic challenger took his campaign to the key swing state Florida which had flipped from blue to red in 2016. Can Joe Biden 'swing' Florida back to blue?

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WASHINGTON — The five U.S. attorneys along the border with Mexico, including three appointed by President Donald Trump, recoiled in May 2018 against an order to prosecute all immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally, even if it meant separating children from their parents. They told top Justice Department officials they were “deeply concerned” about the children’s welfare.

But the attorney general at the time, Jeff Sessions, made it clear what Trump wanted on a conference call later that afternoon, according to a two-year inquiry by the Justice Department’s inspector general into Trump’s “zero tolerance” family separation policy.

“We need to take away children,” Sessions told the prosecutors, according to participants’ notes. One added in shorthand: “If care about kids, don’t bring them in. Won’t give amnesty to people with kids.”

Rod Rosenstein, then the deputy attorney general, went even further in a second call about a week later, telling the five prosecutors that it did not matter how young the children were. He said that government lawyers should not have refused to prosecute two cases simply because the children were barely more than infants.

“Those two cases should not have been declined,” John Bash, the departing U.S. attorney in western Texas, wrote to his staff immediately after the call. Bash had declined the cases, but Rosenstein “instructed that, per the AG’s policy, we should NOT be categorically declining immigration prosecutions of adults in family units because of the age of a child.”

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/ahead-of-elections-us-imposes-new-restrictions-on-h-1b-visas-333140">Also read:&nbsp;Ahead of elections, US imposes new restrictions on H-1B visas</a>

The Justice Department’s top officials were “a driving force” behind the policy that spurred the separation of thousands of families, many of them fleeing violence in Central America and seeking asylum in the United States, before Trump abandoned it amid global outrage, according to a draft report of the results of the investigation by Michael E. Horowitz, the department’s inspector general.

The separation of migrant children from their parents, sometimes for months, was at the heart of the Trump administration’s assault on immigration. But the fierce backlash when the administration struggled to reunite the children turned it into one of the biggest policy debacles of the president’s term.

Though Sessions sought to distance himself from the policy, allowing Trump and Homeland Security Department officials to largely be blamed, he and other top law enforcement officials understood that “zero tolerance” meant that migrant families would be separated and wanted that to happen because they believed it would deter future illegal immigration, Horowitz wrote.

“The department’s single-minded focus on increasing prosecutions came at the expense of careful and effective implementation of the policy, especially with regard to prosecution of family-unit adults and the resulting child separations,” the draft report said.

The draft report, citing more than 45 interviews with key officials, emails and other documents, provides the most complete look at the discussions inside the Justice Department as the family separation policy was developed, pushed and ultimately carried out with little concern for children.

This article is based on a review of the 86-page draft report and interviews with three government officials who read it in recent months and described its conclusions and many of the details in it. The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they had not been authorized to discuss it publicly, cautioned that the final report could change.

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Before publishing the findings of its investigations, the inspector general’s office typically provides draft copies to Justice Department leaders and others mentioned in the reports to ensure that they are accurate.

Horowitz had been preparing to release his report since late summer, according to a person familiar with the investigation, though the process allowing for responses from current and former department officials whose conduct is under scrutiny is likely to delay its release until after the presidential election.

Sessions refused to be interviewed, the report noted. Rosenstein, who is now a lawyer in private practice, defended himself in his interview with investigators in response to questioning about his role, according to two of the officials. Rosenstein’s former office submitted a 64-page response to the report.

“If any United States attorney ever charged a defendant they did not personally believe warranted prosecution, they violated their oath of office,” Rosenstein said in a statement. “I never ordered anyone to prosecute a case.”

Gene Hamilton, a top lawyer and ally of Stephen Miller, the architect of the president’s assault on immigration, argued in a 32-page response that Justice Department officials merely took direction from the president. Hamilton cited an April 3, 2018, meeting with Sessions; the homeland security secretary at the time, Kirstjen Nielsen; and others in which the president “ranted” and was on “a tirade,” demanding as many prosecutions as possible.

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Hamilton declined to comment for this article, as did Horowitz’s office. Sessions did not respond to requests for comment. Alexa Vance, a spokeswoman for the Justice Department, disputed the draft report and said the Homeland Security Department referred cases for prosecution.

“The draft report relied on for this article contains numerous factual errors and inaccuracies,” she said. “While DOJ is responsible for the prosecutions of defendants, it had no role in tracking or providing custodial care to the children of defendants. Finally, both the timing and misleading content of this leak raise troubling questions about the motivations of those responsible for it.”

The draft report also documented other revelations that had not previously been known:

— Government prosecutors reacted with alarm at the separation of children from their parents during a secret 2017 pilot program along the Mexican border in Texas. “We have now heard of us taking breastfeeding defendant moms away from their infants,” one government prosecutor wrote to his superiors. “I did not believe this until I looked at the duty log.”

— Border Patrol officers missed serious felony cases because they were stretched too thin by the zero-tolerance policy requiring them to detain and prosecute all of the misdemeanor illegal entry cases. One Texas prosecutor warned top Justice Department officials in 2018 that “sex offenders were released” as a result.

— Senior Justice Department officials viewed the welfare of the children as the responsibility of other agencies and their duty as tracking the parents. “I just don’t see that as a DOJ equity,” Rosenstein told the inspector general.

— The failure to inform the U.S. Marshals Service before announcing the zero-tolerance policy led to serious overcrowding and budget overruns. The marshals were forced to cut back on serving warrants in other cases, saying that “when you take away manpower, you can’t make a safe arrest.”

For two years, Nielsen has taken the brunt of the public criticism for separating migrant families because of her decision to refer adults crossing the border illegally with children for prosecution. A day after the president’s retreat, Sessions distanced his department from the decision, telling CBN News that “we never really intended” to separate children.

That was false, according to the draft report. It made clear that from the policy’s earliest days in a five-month test along the border in Texas, Justice Department officials understood — and encouraged — the separation of children as an expected part of the desire to prosecute all illegal border crossers.

“It is the hope that this separation will act as a deterrent to parents bringing their children into the harsh circumstances that are present when trying to enter the United States illegally,” a Border Patrol official wrote on Oct. 28, 2017, to the U.S. attorney in New Mexico, according to the draft report.

After the pilot program in Texas ended, the report asserted, Sessions, Hamilton and Rosenstein pushed aggressively to expand the practice across the entire southwestern border, with help from prosecutors.

In a briefing two days after Christmas in 2017, top Justice Department officials asked Bash for statistics from the pilot program, conducted by his predecessor, that could be used to develop “nationwide prosecution guidelines.” Bash, a former White House adviser, did not receive a follow-up request for the information. Thinking that the idea had been abandoned, he did not provide it.

By April 2018, Sessions nevertheless moved to enact the zero-tolerance policy across the entire border with Mexico. Rosenstein told the inspector general that Sessions “understood what the consequences were.”

“The AG’s goal,” he said, “was to create a more effective deterrent so that everybody would believe that they had a risk of being prosecuted.”

But the Justice Department still needed to persuade Nielsen to refer all families for prosecution, which she had been resisting. The draft report says a pressure campaign culminated in a May 3 meeting in which Sessions insisted that Customs and Border Protection begin referring all of those cases to prosecutors.

A note from Hamilton to Sessions before the meeting indicated: “You should lead this discussion.”

“We must vigorously enforce our criminal immigration laws to ensure that there are consequences for illegal actions and to deter future illegal immigration,” Sessions planned to say, according to the draft report. “That means that an illegal alien should not get a free pass just because he or she crosses the border illegally with a child.”

When the group voted by a show of hands to proceed, Nielsen was the only one who kept her hand down, according to two people familiar with the vote, which was reported earlier by NBC News. The next day, Nielsen backed down, signing a memo referring all adults for prosecution and clearing the way for the children to be separated.

The decision roiled the prosecutors along the border. In Arizona, Elizabeth Strange, the acting U.S. attorney, led a minor rebellion, temporarily declining six cases, citing concern about the children. That prompted a rebuke from top Justice Department officials, who demanded to know “why would they be declining these cases?”

Justice Department officials have repeatedly claimed that they thought the adults would be prosecuted and reunited with their children within hours of being separated. But the inspector general found a memo informing top officials that sentences for adults ranged from three to 14 days, making it all but certain that children would be sent to the custody of officials at the Health and Human Services Department for long periods of time.

“We found no evidence, before or after receipt of the memorandum, that DOJ leaders sought to expedite the process for completing sentencing in order to facilitate reunification of separated families,” the inspector general wrote.

Overall, Horowitz concluded in the draft, Sessions and other senior department officials “were aware that full implementation of the zero-tolerance policy would result in criminal referrals by DHS of adults who enter the country illegally with children and that the prosecution of these family-unit adults would result in children being separated from families.”

WASHINGTON — The five U.S. attorneys along the border with Mexico, including three appointed by President Donald Trump, recoiled in May 2018 against an order to prosecute all immigrants who entered the U.

WASHINGTON — The five U.S. attorneys along the border with Mexico, including three appointed by President Donald Trump, recoiled in May 2018 against an order to prosecute all immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally, even if it meant separating children from their parents. They told top Justice Department officials they were “deeply concerned” about the children’s welfare. But the attorney general at the time, Jeff Sessions, made it clear what Trump wanted on a conference call later that afternoon, according to a two-year inquiry by the Justice Department’s inspector general into Trump’s “zero tolerance” family separation policy. “We need to take away children,” Sessions told the prosecutors, according to participants’ notes. One added in shorthand: “If care about kids, don’t bring them in. Won’t give amnesty to people with kids.” Rod Rosenstein, then the deputy attorney general, went even further in a second call about a week later, telling the five prosecutors that it did not matter how young the children were. He said that government lawyers should not have refused to prosecute two cases simply because the children were barely more than infants. “Those two cases should not have been declined,” John Bash, the departing U.S. attorney in western Texas, wrote to his staff immediately after the call. Bash had declined the cases, but Rosenstein “instructed that, per the AG’s policy, we should NOT be categorically declining immigration prosecutions of adults in family units because of the age of a child.” Also read: Ahead of elections, US imposes new restrictions on H-1B visas The Justice Department’s top officials were “a driving force” behind the policy that spurred the separation of thousands of families, many of them fleeing violence in Central America and seeking asylum in the United States, before Trump abandoned it amid global outrage, according to a draft report of the results of the investigation by Michael E. Horowitz, the department’s inspector general. The separation of migrant children from their parents, sometimes for months, was at the heart of the Trump administration’s assault on immigration. But the fierce backlash when the administration struggled to reunite the children turned it into one of the biggest policy debacles of the president’s term. Though Sessions sought to distance himself from the policy, allowing Trump and Homeland Security Department officials to largely be blamed, he and other top law enforcement officials understood that “zero tolerance” meant that migrant families would be separated and wanted that to happen because they believed it would deter future illegal immigration, Horowitz wrote. “The department’s single-minded focus on increasing prosecutions came at the expense of careful and effective implementation of the policy, especially with regard to prosecution of family-unit adults and the resulting child separations,” the draft report said. The draft report, citing more than 45 interviews with key officials, emails and other documents, provides the most complete look at the discussions inside the Justice Department as the family separation policy was developed, pushed and ultimately carried out with little concern for children. This article is based on a review of the 86-page draft report and interviews with three government officials who read it in recent months and described its conclusions and many of the details in it. The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they had not been authorized to discuss it publicly, cautioned that the final report could change. × Before publishing the findings of its investigations, the inspector general’s office typically provides draft copies to Justice Department leaders and others mentioned in the reports to ensure that they are accurate. Horowitz had been preparing to release his report since late summer, according to a person familiar with the investigation, though the process allowing for responses from current and former department officials whose conduct is under scrutiny is likely to delay its release until after the presidential election. Sessions refused to be interviewed, the report noted. Rosenstein, who is now a lawyer in private practice, defended himself in his interview with investigators in response to questioning about his role, according to two of the officials. Rosenstein’s former office submitted a 64-page response to the report. “If any United States attorney ever charged a defendant they did not personally believe warranted prosecution, they violated their oath of office,” Rosenstein said in a statement. “I never ordered anyone to prosecute a case.” Gene Hamilton, a top lawyer and ally of Stephen Miller, the architect of the president’s assault on immigration, argued in a 32-page response that Justice Department officials merely took direction from the president. Hamilton cited an April 3, 2018, meeting with Sessions; the homeland security secretary at the time, Kirstjen Nielsen; and others in which the president “ranted” and was on “a tirade,” demanding as many prosecutions as possible. Also read: When US publications become cheerleaders for presidential candidates Hamilton declined to comment for this article, as did Horowitz’s office. Sessions did not respond to requests for comment. Alexa Vance, a spokeswoman for the Justice Department, disputed the draft report and said the Homeland Security Department referred cases for prosecution. “The draft report relied on for this article contains numerous factual errors and inaccuracies,” she said. “While DOJ is responsible for the prosecutions of defendants, it had no role in tracking or providing custodial care to the children of defendants. Finally, both the timing and misleading content of this leak raise troubling questions about the motivations of those responsible for it.” The draft report also documented other revelations that had not previously been known: — Government prosecutors reacted with alarm at the separation of children from their parents during a secret 2017 pilot program along the Mexican border in Texas. “We have now heard of us taking breastfeeding defendant moms away from their infants,” one government prosecutor wrote to his superiors. “I did not believe this until I looked at the duty log.” — Border Patrol officers missed serious felony cases because they were stretched too thin by the zero-tolerance policy requiring them to detain and prosecute all of the misdemeanor illegal entry cases. One Texas prosecutor warned top Justice Department officials in 2018 that “sex offenders were released” as a result. — Senior Justice Department officials viewed the welfare of the children as the responsibility of other agencies and their duty as tracking the parents. “I just don’t see that as a DOJ equity,” Rosenstein told the inspector general. — The failure to inform the U.S. Marshals Service before announcing the zero-tolerance policy led to serious overcrowding and budget overruns. The marshals were forced to cut back on serving warrants in other cases, saying that “when you take away manpower, you can’t make a safe arrest.” For two years, Nielsen has taken the brunt of the public criticism for separating migrant families because of her decision to refer adults crossing the border illegally with children for prosecution. A day after the president’s retreat, Sessions distanced his department from the decision, telling CBN News that “we never really intended” to separate children. That was false, according to the draft report. It made clear that from the policy’s earliest days in a five-month test along the border in Texas, Justice Department officials understood — and encouraged — the separation of children as an expected part of the desire to prosecute all illegal border crossers. “It is the hope that this separation will act as a deterrent to parents bringing their children into the harsh circumstances that are present when trying to enter the United States illegally,” a Border Patrol official wrote on Oct. 28, 2017, to the U.S. attorney in New Mexico, according to the draft report. After the pilot program in Texas ended, the report asserted, Sessions, Hamilton and Rosenstein pushed aggressively to expand the practice across the entire southwestern border, with help from prosecutors. In a briefing two days after Christmas in 2017, top Justice Department officials asked Bash for statistics from the pilot program, conducted by his predecessor, that could be used to develop “nationwide prosecution guidelines.” Bash, a former White House adviser, did not receive a follow-up request for the information. Thinking that the idea had been abandoned, he did not provide it. By April 2018, Sessions nevertheless moved to enact the zero-tolerance policy across the entire border with Mexico. Rosenstein told the inspector general that Sessions “understood what the consequences were.” “The AG’s goal,” he said, “was to create a more effective deterrent so that everybody would believe that they had a risk of being prosecuted.” But the Justice Department still needed to persuade Nielsen to refer all families for prosecution, which she had been resisting. The draft report says a pressure campaign culminated in a May 3 meeting in which Sessions insisted that Customs and Border Protection begin referring all of those cases to prosecutors. A note from Hamilton to Sessions before the meeting indicated: “You should lead this discussion.” “We must vigorously enforce our criminal immigration laws to ensure that there are consequences for illegal actions and to deter future illegal immigration,” Sessions planned to say, according to the draft report. “That means that an illegal alien should not get a free pass just because he or she crosses the border illegally with a child.” When the group voted by a show of hands to proceed, Nielsen was the only one who kept her hand down, according to two people familiar with the vote, which was reported earlier by NBC News. The next day, Nielsen backed down, signing a memo referring all adults for prosecution and clearing the way for the children to be separated. The decision roiled the prosecutors along the border. In Arizona, Elizabeth Strange, the acting U.S. attorney, led a minor rebellion, temporarily declining six cases, citing concern about the children. That prompted a rebuke from top Justice Department officials, who demanded to know “why would they be declining these cases?” Justice Department officials have repeatedly claimed that they thought the adults would be prosecuted and reunited with their children within hours of being separated. But the inspector general found a memo informing top officials that sentences for adults ranged from three to 14 days, making it all but certain that children would be sent to the custody of officials at the Health and Human Services Department for long periods of time. “We found no evidence, before or after receipt of the memorandum, that DOJ leaders sought to expedite the process for completing sentencing in order to facilitate reunification of separated families,” the inspector general wrote. Overall, Horowitz concluded in the draft, Sessions and other senior department officials “were aware that full implementation of the zero-tolerance policy would result in criminal referrals by DHS of adults who enter the country illegally with children and that the prosecution of these family-unit adults would result in children being separated from families.”

‘We need to take away children,’ no matter how young, Justice Dept. officials said

President Donald Trump on Tuesday called an abrupt end to negotiations with Democrats over additional COVID-19 relief

US President Donald Trump halts COVID-19 relief talks

HARRIS vs PENCE showdown comes with the highest stakes for a Vice Presidential Debate in modern history. Kamala Harris is the 1st Jamaican-Indian woman to participate in a presidential election campaign in the U.S history. WION tells you moments to look out for.

US Election 2020: Harris & Pence prepare for a historic clash

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered a stop to the talks with Democrats on a new monetary stimulus package that would provide additional coronavirus relief until after the presidential election on November 3. 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/coronavirus-spreads-among-trumps-inner-circle-top-white-house-aide-stephen-miller-tests-positive-333021">Also read | Coronavirus spreads among Trump’s inner circle, top White House aide Stephen Miller tests positive</a>

“I have instructed my representatives to stop negotiating until after the election when, immediately after I win, we will pass a major stimulus bill that focuses on hardworking Americans and small business,” Trump said in a series of tweets Tuesday afternoon.

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Nancy Pelosi is asking for $2.4 Trillion Dollars to bailout poorly run, high crime, Democrat States, money that is in no way related to COVID-19. We made a very generous offer of $1.6 Trillion Dollars and, as usual, she is not negotiating in good faith. I am rejecting their...
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1313551794623127552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 6, 2020</a></blockquote>
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...request, and looking to the future of our Country. I have instructed my representatives to stop negotiating until after the election when, immediately after I win, we will pass a major Stimulus Bill that focuses on hardworking Americans and Small Business. I have asked...
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1313551795646541824?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 6, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Trump’s instructions came a day after he was discharged from a military hospital where he was treated for COVID-19. For the past a few weeks, senior officials from his administration are negotiating with the House Democrats on a major stimulus package before the 3 November elections. 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/heres-who-has-tested-positive-and-negative-in-trumps-circle-332571">In pictures: Here's who has tested positive and negative in Trump's circle</a>

“Nancy Pelosi is asking for US $2.4 trillion to bailout poorly run, high crime democrat states, money that is in no way related to COVID-19. We made a very generous offer of US $1.6 trillion and, as usual, she is not negotiating in good faith,” he alleged.

“I am rejecting their request and looking to the future of our country,” he said.

Trump said he has asked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell not to delay but to focus full time on approving his outstanding nominee to the United States Supreme Court, Amy Coney Barrett.

“Our Economy is doing very well. The Stock Market is at record levels, JOBS and unemployment also coming back in record numbers. We are leading the World in Economic Recovery, and THE BEST IS YET TO COME!” Trump said.

In another tweet, he alleged that “crazy” Nancy Pelosi and “the radical Left” Democrats were just playing “games” with the desperately needed workers’ stimulus payments. “They were never in it to help the workers and they never will be!” he alleged.

His Democratic Party presidential challenger Joe Biden alleged that by stopping the negotiations, Trump ended the efforts to pass a bipartisan relief that the country desperately needed. “He ended talks that would get help for our businesses and schools, for families struggling and for those unemployed — that would have preserved hundreds of thousands of jobs,” he said.

“Make no mistake: if you are out of work, if your business is closed, if your child’s school is shut down, if you are seeing layoffs in your community, Donald Trump decided today that none of that — none of it — matters to him,” Biden alleged.

“There will be no help from Washington for the foreseeable future. Instead, he wants the Senate to use it’s time to confirm his Supreme Court Justice nominee before the election in a mad dash to make sure that the court takes away your health care coverage as quickly as possible,” Biden said.

(With inputs from agencies)

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered a stop to the talks with Democrats on a new monetary stimulus package that would provide additional coronavirus relief until after the presidential election on November 3.

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered a stop to the talks with Democrats on a new monetary stimulus package that would provide additional coronavirus relief until after the presidential election on November 3. Also read | Coronavirus spreads among Trump’s inner circle, top White House aide Stephen Miller tests positive “I have instructed my representatives to stop negotiating until after the election when, immediately after I win, we will pass a major stimulus bill that focuses on hardworking Americans and small business,” Trump said in a series of tweets Tuesday afternoon. Nancy Pelosi is asking for $2.4 Trillion Dollars to bailout poorly run, high crime, Democrat States, money that is in no way related to COVID-19. We made a very generous offer of $1.6 Trillion Dollars and, as usual, she is not negotiating in good faith. I am rejecting their... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 6, 2020 × ...request, and looking to the future of our Country. I have instructed my representatives to stop negotiating until after the election when, immediately after I win, we will pass a major Stimulus Bill that focuses on hardworking Americans and Small Business. I have asked... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 6, 2020 × Trump’s instructions came a day after he was discharged from a military hospital where he was treated for COVID-19. For the past a few weeks, senior officials from his administration are negotiating with the House Democrats on a major stimulus package before the 3 November elections. In pictures: Here's who has tested positive and negative in Trump's circle “Nancy Pelosi is asking for US $2.4 trillion to bailout poorly run, high crime democrat states, money that is in no way related to COVID-19. We made a very generous offer of US $1.6 trillion and, as usual, she is not negotiating in good faith,” he alleged. “I am rejecting their request and looking to the future of our country,” he said. Trump said he has asked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell not to delay but to focus full time on approving his outstanding nominee to the United States Supreme Court, Amy Coney Barrett. “Our Economy is doing very well. The Stock Market is at record levels, JOBS and unemployment also coming back in record numbers. We are leading the World in Economic Recovery, and THE BEST IS YET TO COME!” Trump said. In another tweet, he alleged that “crazy” Nancy Pelosi and “the radical Left” Democrats were just playing “games” with the desperately needed workers’ stimulus payments. “They were never in it to help the workers and they never will be!” he alleged. His Democratic Party presidential challenger Joe Biden alleged that by stopping the negotiations, Trump ended the efforts to pass a bipartisan relief that the country desperately needed. “He ended talks that would get help for our businesses and schools, for families struggling and for those unemployed — that would have preserved hundreds of thousands of jobs,” he said. “Make no mistake: if you are out of work, if your business is closed, if your child’s school is shut down, if you are seeing layoffs in your community, Donald Trump decided today that none of that — none of it — matters to him,” Biden alleged. “There will be no help from Washington for the foreseeable future. Instead, he wants the Senate to use it’s time to confirm his Supreme Court Justice nominee before the election in a mad dash to make sure that the court takes away your health care coverage as quickly as possible,” Biden said. (With inputs from agencies)

Trump cuts off stimulus relief talks until after election, upending prospects for aid

SYDNEY — Xi Jinping celebrates China’s battle against the coronavirus as a success. But in the United States and other wealthy democracies, the pandemic has driven negative views of China to new heights, a survey published Tuesday showed.

The illness, deaths and disruption caused by the coronavirus in those countries have intensified already strong public distrust of China, where the virus emerged late last year, the results from the Pew Research Center’s survey indicated.

“Unfavorable opinion has soared over the past year,” said the survey on views of China taken this year in 14 countries including Japan, South Korea, Canada, and Germany, Italy and other European nations. “Today, a majority in each of the surveyed countries has an unfavorable opinion of China.”

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/exit-the-dragon-china-faces-heat-as-citizens-across-countries-increasingly-view-it-in-bad-light-333033">Also read|&nbsp;Exit the dragon: China faces heat as citizens across countries increasingly view it in bad light</a>

The results illustrate how much negative opinions of China have taken hold around the world in recent years. To China’s leaders, such wary attitudes could present obstacles for the Communist Party’s ambitions of expanding Beijing’s influence. The tide of public distrust could make cooperation harder even on issues where national interests align.

“Public opinion is a powerful constraint,” said Natasha Kassam, a former Australian diplomat who is a research fellow at the Lowy Institute in Sydney, where she studies public opinion and foreign policy. “We can see in both Australia and the United States, for example, souring public opinion has served as a powerful driver for governments to be particularly vocal” about China.

The U.S. secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, was in Tokyo on Tuesday for meetings with his counterparts from Japan, Australia and India — all nations that have had icy relations with China. Pompeo is often condemned by Chinese officials as an ideological warrior bent on subduing Beijing.

In many Western countries, the coronavirus crisis appears to have deepened public unease about China and Xi, China’s proudly authoritarian leader. Across the 14 countries surveyed, an average of 61% of respondents said China had done a bad job of responding to the outbreak.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/around-40-nations-rebuke-chinas-human-rights-policies-in-xinjiang-tibet-333035">Also read|&nbsp;Around 40 nations rebuke China's human rights policies in Xinjiang, Tibet</a>

In the United States, negative views about China increased by 13 percentage points compared to a similar survey last year. Close to three-quarters of 1,003 American respondents surveyed in June and July said they now had a somewhat or very unfavorable view of China.

Distrust of Xi’s international intentions reached new highs in every country surveyed, except for Japan and Spain. In the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan and several Western European nations, roughly half of the respondents said they had “no confidence at all” in Xi.

“I think this sentiment is likely to persist because of longer-term trends in China toward growing repression,” said Jessica Chen Weiss, an associate professor of government at Cornell University who studies Chinese foreign policy. “As long as its order of priorities remains in place, it will be difficult for the Chinese Communist Party to really turn around the trends in public opinion overseas.”

The rise in disapproving opinions of China was starkest in Australia, which has been mired in diplomatic flare-ups with Beijing in recent months.

Australia has protested the detention in China of Cheng Lei, an Australian news anchor working for Chinese state-run television, and Yang Hengjun, an Australian businessman and writer born in China who is accused of espionage, charges that his supporters say are baseless.

The number of Australian respondents with negative views of China grew by 24 percentage points compared to a year ago, so that 81% said they saw China unfavorably. That was a drastic turn from 2017, when 64% of Australian respondents said they had a favorable view of China.

“Until two years ago, the Australian public very much saw China as an economic opportunity,” said Kassam, the Australian researcher. China’s response to the outbreak has only deepened skepticism in Australia, she said.

In interviews, several Sydney residents said that China could not be held entirely responsible for the global spread of the coronavirus but that the crisis had shown how exposed Australia, and the rest of the world, was to Chinese power.

“As far as I’m concerned, we should move away from China as quickly as possible. They’re too strong, and they can just outrun us,” said Edward Davis, a semiretired commercial lawyer. “We should do our best to trade with them, but we also need to diversify.”

At home, the Communist Party has tried to turn the coronavirus crisis into a political asset by assiduously censoring criticism of its early missteps in the outbreak and highlighting its later success in sharply reducing infections.

But abroad, the Chinese government’s sometimes-triumphant rhetoric and claims of selfless altruism during the crisis have grated in societies struggling to cope with outbreaks or lockdowns. European governments were irritated when China pressed European officials to praise China for medical supplies that it had sent, when Beijing had been muted about the help it provided in the first months of the pandemic. The combative language used by Chinese officials in international disputes has also irked many in Australia, Canada and other countries.

“Many Chinese people seem to have forgotten the first few scary weeks that we experienced, but other countries have not forgotten,” Shen Dingli, a professor of international relations at Fudan University in Shanghai, said by telephone. “It would be better if China had been more low-key and humble.”

The Chinese government has pushed back against the negative sentiment, asserting that it has been unfairly maligned by Western news outlets and politicians who want to escape responsibility for mishandling the crisis.

The Pew survey usually covers many more countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa, where the public often offers more upbeat views about China. But the pandemic made it impossible to organize safe and reliable face-to-face polling, reducing the international scope of the survey, said Laura Silver, a senior researcher at the Pew Research Center. The survey was conducted by telephone, with calls lasting about 15 minutes.

Public opinion in countries closely aligned with Beijing was likely to remain favorable to China despite the pandemic, Kassam said. “I think China’s handling of COVID has not so much changed any minds, but entrenched existing perceptions.”

Chinese leaders may feel some consolation that many respondents in the Pew survey took an even dimmer view of how the United States has handled the pandemic. An average of 84% of the people surveyed across the 14 countries said the United States had done a bad job with the coronavirus.

“In the end, this is more damaging for America than for China,” said Shen, the scholar in Shanghai. “China cannot be used to explain away the 210,000 American people who have died from this.”

SYDNEY — Xi Jinping celebrates China’s battle against the coronavirus as a success. But in the United States and other wealthy democracies, the pandemic has driven negative views of China to new heights, a survey published Tuesday showed.

SYDNEY — Xi Jinping celebrates China’s battle against the coronavirus as a success. But in the United States and other wealthy democracies, the pandemic has driven negative views of China to new heights, a survey published Tuesday showed. The illness, deaths and disruption caused by the coronavirus in those countries have intensified already strong public distrust of China, where the virus emerged late last year, the results from the Pew Research Center’s survey indicated. “Unfavorable opinion has soared over the past year,” said the survey on views of China taken this year in 14 countries including Japan, South Korea, Canada, and Germany, Italy and other European nations. “Today, a majority in each of the surveyed countries has an unfavorable opinion of China.” Also read| Exit the dragon: China faces heat as citizens across countries increasingly view it in bad light The results illustrate how much negative opinions of China have taken hold around the world in recent years. To China’s leaders, such wary attitudes could present obstacles for the Communist Party’s ambitions of expanding Beijing’s influence. The tide of public distrust could make cooperation harder even on issues where national interests align. “Public opinion is a powerful constraint,” said Natasha Kassam, a former Australian diplomat who is a research fellow at the Lowy Institute in Sydney, where she studies public opinion and foreign policy. “We can see in both Australia and the United States, for example, souring public opinion has served as a powerful driver for governments to be particularly vocal” about China. The U.S. secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, was in Tokyo on Tuesday for meetings with his counterparts from Japan, Australia and India — all nations that have had icy relations with China. Pompeo is often condemned by Chinese officials as an ideological warrior bent on subduing Beijing. In many Western countries, the coronavirus crisis appears to have deepened public unease about China and Xi, China’s proudly authoritarian leader. Across the 14 countries surveyed, an average of 61% of respondents said China had done a bad job of responding to the outbreak. Also read| Around 40 nations rebuke China's human rights policies in Xinjiang, Tibet In the United States, negative views about China increased by 13 percentage points compared to a similar survey last year. Close to three-quarters of 1,003 American respondents surveyed in June and July said they now had a somewhat or very unfavorable view of China. Distrust of Xi’s international intentions reached new highs in every country surveyed, except for Japan and Spain. In the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan and several Western European nations, roughly half of the respondents said they had “no confidence at all” in Xi. “I think this sentiment is likely to persist because of longer-term trends in China toward growing repression,” said Jessica Chen Weiss, an associate professor of government at Cornell University who studies Chinese foreign policy. “As long as its order of priorities remains in place, it will be difficult for the Chinese Communist Party to really turn around the trends in public opinion overseas.” The rise in disapproving opinions of China was starkest in Australia, which has been mired in diplomatic flare-ups with Beijing in recent months. Australia has protested the detention in China of Cheng Lei, an Australian news anchor working for Chinese state-run television, and Yang Hengjun, an Australian businessman and writer born in China who is accused of espionage, charges that his supporters say are baseless. The number of Australian respondents with negative views of China grew by 24 percentage points compared to a year ago, so that 81% said they saw China unfavorably. That was a drastic turn from 2017, when 64% of Australian respondents said they had a favorable view of China. “Until two years ago, the Australian public very much saw China as an economic opportunity,” said Kassam, the Australian researcher. China’s response to the outbreak has only deepened skepticism in Australia, she said. In interviews, several Sydney residents said that China could not be held entirely responsible for the global spread of the coronavirus but that the crisis had shown how exposed Australia, and the rest of the world, was to Chinese power. “As far as I’m concerned, we should move away from China as quickly as possible. They’re too strong, and they can just outrun us,” said Edward Davis, a semiretired commercial lawyer. “We should do our best to trade with them, but we also need to diversify.” At home, the Communist Party has tried to turn the coronavirus crisis into a political asset by assiduously censoring criticism of its early missteps in the outbreak and highlighting its later success in sharply reducing infections. But abroad, the Chinese government’s sometimes-triumphant rhetoric and claims of selfless altruism during the crisis have grated in societies struggling to cope with outbreaks or lockdowns. European governments were irritated when China pressed European officials to praise China for medical supplies that it had sent, when Beijing had been muted about the help it provided in the first months of the pandemic. The combative language used by Chinese officials in international disputes has also irked many in Australia, Canada and other countries. “Many Chinese people seem to have forgotten the first few scary weeks that we experienced, but other countries have not forgotten,” Shen Dingli, a professor of international relations at Fudan University in Shanghai, said by telephone. “It would be better if China had been more low-key and humble.” The Chinese government has pushed back against the negative sentiment, asserting that it has been unfairly maligned by Western news outlets and politicians who want to escape responsibility for mishandling the crisis. The Pew survey usually covers many more countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa, where the public often offers more upbeat views about China. But the pandemic made it impossible to organize safe and reliable face-to-face polling, reducing the international scope of the survey, said Laura Silver, a senior researcher at the Pew Research Center. The survey was conducted by telephone, with calls lasting about 15 minutes. Public opinion in countries closely aligned with Beijing was likely to remain favorable to China despite the pandemic, Kassam said. “I think China’s handling of COVID has not so much changed any minds, but entrenched existing perceptions.” Chinese leaders may feel some consolation that many respondents in the Pew survey took an even dimmer view of how the United States has handled the pandemic. An average of 84% of the people surveyed across the 14 countries said the United States had done a bad job with the coronavirus. “In the end, this is more damaging for America than for China,” said Shen, the scholar in Shanghai. “China cannot be used to explain away the 210,000 American people who have died from this.”

Distrust of China jumps to new highs in democratic nations

American publications are not only reporting on the US election campaigns, they are also becoming cheerleaders for the candidates.

The New York Times has endorsed Joe Biden, so has the Washington Post. American publications have for long been endorsing presidential candidates but should the media tell you who to vote for?

Joe Biden has vowed to "restore the soul of America" it is a painful reminder that the country is weaker, angrier, less hopeful and more divided than it was four years ago. Amid unrelenting chaos, Biden is offering an anxious, exhausted nation something beyond policy or ideology. His campaign is rooted in steadiness, experience, compassion and decency. He would understand that his first duty, always, is to the American people.

It might sound like lines from Joe Biden's election campaign material but it is not from someone from his team who has made these statements.

It is what an editorial in a leading publication in the United States has said about the Democratic the presidential contender. The New York Times editorial board has endorsed Joe Biden for the US presidency.

The editorial piece says Biden knows that there are no easy answers. He has the experience, temperament and character to guide the nation through this valley into a brighter, more hopeful future. He has our endorsement for the presidency.

It introduces itself as a group of opinion journalists whose views are informed by expertise, research, debate and certain longstanding values, it is separate from the newsroom, in other words, a group of journalists openly declaring support for an election candidate but since when do journalists tell you who to vote for?

In the United States, it happens all the time as a tradition.

The New York Times has been endorsing presidential candidates since 1860 and it's not alone. Newspapers across the United States have followed this tradition. Newspaper endorsements are specific statements of support for a political candidate through the endorsements newspapers say they aim to educate the masses.

American media remains divided on the question. Earlier this year, America's NBC news said the practice of presidential endorsement by publications must end. It said, "in an era in which most readers don't trust the news media, endorsements are more likely to hurt an organization's journalism than help its readers".

The practice is not limited to just the United States. In Canada, 23 newspapers followed the liberal free press tradition of endorsing a candidate for prime minister in the 2015 federal elections. In the election in 2011, 22 dailies did the same.

In the UK too, editorials in national newspapers tend to make their loyalties known ahead of the election. According to a 2008 study by PEW research centre, almost seven in 10 Americans said their local newspaper's endorsement had no impact on who they vote for and with the oversaturation of social media and polarised media activity, people are probably placing lesser trust in the mainstream media.

In the 2016 US presidential election, it was noted that Hillary Clinton had more than 200 endorsements from daily and weekly newspapers in the United States. Trump had only six endorsements, and yet he won.

In India, the biases are clear, but formal endorsements are not the practice.

American publications are not only reporting on the US election campaigns, they are also becoming cheerleaders for the candidates. The New York Times has endorsed Joe Biden, so has the Washington Post.

American publications are not only reporting on the US election campaigns, they are also becoming cheerleaders for the candidates. The New York Times has endorsed Joe Biden, so has the Washington Post. American publications have for long been endorsing presidential candidates but should the media tell you who to vote for? Joe Biden has vowed to "restore the soul of America" it is a painful reminder that the country is weaker, angrier, less hopeful and more divided than it was four years ago. Amid unrelenting chaos, Biden is offering an anxious, exhausted nation something beyond policy or ideology. His campaign is rooted in steadiness, experience, compassion and decency. He would understand that his first duty, always, is to the American people. It might sound like lines from Joe Biden's election campaign material but it is not from someone from his team who has made these statements. It is what an editorial in a leading publication in the United States has said about the Democratic the presidential contender. The New York Times editorial board has endorsed Joe Biden for the US presidency. The editorial piece says Biden knows that there are no easy answers. He has the experience, temperament and character to guide the nation through this valley into a brighter, more hopeful future. He has our endorsement for the presidency. It introduces itself as a group of opinion journalists whose views are informed by expertise, research, debate and certain longstanding values, it is separate from the newsroom, in other words, a group of journalists openly declaring support for an election candidate but since when do journalists tell you who to vote for? In the United States, it happens all the time as a tradition. The New York Times has been endorsing presidential candidates since 1860 and it's not alone. Newspapers across the United States have followed this tradition. Newspaper endorsements are specific statements of support for a political candidate through the endorsements newspapers say they aim to educate the masses. American media remains divided on the question. Earlier this year, America's NBC news said the practice of presidential endorsement by publications must end. It said, "in an era in which most readers don't trust the news media, endorsements are more likely to hurt an organization's journalism than help its readers". The practice is not limited to just the United States. In Canada, 23 newspapers followed the liberal free press tradition of endorsing a candidate for prime minister in the 2015 federal elections. In the election in 2011, 22 dailies did the same. In the UK too, editorials in national newspapers tend to make their loyalties known ahead of the election. According to a 2008 study by PEW research centre, almost seven in 10 Americans said their local newspaper's endorsement had no impact on who they vote for and with the oversaturation of social media and polarised media activity, people are probably placing lesser trust in the mainstream media. In the 2016 US presidential election, it was noted that Hillary Clinton had more than 200 endorsements from daily and weekly newspapers in the United States. Trump had only six endorsements, and yet he won. In India, the biases are clear, but formal endorsements are not the practice.

When US publications become cheerleaders for presidential candidates

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/around-40-nations-rebuke-chinas-human-rights-policies-in-xinjiang-tibet-333035">Around 40 nations rebuke China's human rights policies in Xinjiang, Tibet</a> 
 
<img src="https://cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/styles/story_page/public/2020/07/03/147950-uyghur-reuters.jpg?itok=xnik66d8" />

A cross-regional group of 39 United Nations member countries issued a stinging public rebuke on Tuesday of the Chinese government’s widespread human rights violations especially in Xinjiang and Tibet, and expressed grave concern at the impact of its new national security law on human rights in Hong Kong.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/russia-warns-nagorno-karabakh-risks-becoming-islamist-militant-stronghold-333038">Russia warns Nagorno-Karabakh risks becoming Islamist militant stronghold</a> 
 
<img src="https://cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/styles/story_page/public/2020/10/05/163213-armenia1.jpg?itok=e8HRZHen" />

The Kremlin on Tuesday warned that Nagorno-Karabakh can become ''a launch pad for Islamist militants'' if the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict continues.Moscow expressed alarm after the deadliest fighting in more than 25 years between ethnic Armenian and Azeri forces entered a tenth day.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/exit-the-dragon-china-faces-heat-as-citizens-across-countries-increasingly-view-it-in-bad-light-333033">Exit the dragon: China faces heat as citizens across countries increasingly view it in bad light</a> 
 
<img src="https://cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/styles/story_page/public/2020/10/07/163458-jinping-final.jpg?itok=kfH0vmdS" />

China is known for its strong-arm military tactics as well as surreptitious economic maneuvers. But the end goal remains perfectly aligned with its objectives of dominance.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/coronavirus-spreads-among-trumps-inner-circle-top-white-house-aide-stephen-miller-tests-positive-333021">Coronavirus spreads among Trump’s inner circle, top White House aide Stephen Miller tests positive</a> 
 
<img src="https://cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/styles/story_page/public/2018/09/12/29792-white%25252520house%25252520%252528wikimedia%25252520commons%252529-20170929050046.JPG?itok=Oh0m9cLP" />

The top White house aide and a senior policy adviser to US President Donald Trump, Stephen Miller, tested positive for Covid-19, taking the number of White House staffers infected by the deadly virus to at least 10. 
&nbsp;

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/economic-fallout-of-pandemic-not-as-bad-as-feared-says-imf-chief-kristalina-georgieva-333036/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

Around 40 nations rebuke China's human rights policies in Xinjiang, Tibet A cross-regional group of 39 United Nations member countries issued a stinging public rebuke on Tuesday of the Chinese government’s widespread human rights violations especially in Xinjiang and Tibet, and expressed grave concern at the impact of its new national security law on human rights in Hong Kong.

Around 40 nations rebuke China's human rights policies in Xinjiang, Tibet A cross-regional group of 39 United Nations member countries issued a stinging public rebuke on Tuesday of the Chinese government’s widespread human rights violations especially in Xinjiang and Tibet, and expressed grave concern at the impact of its new national security law on human rights in Hong Kong. Russia warns Nagorno-Karabakh risks becoming Islamist militant stronghold The Kremlin on Tuesday warned that Nagorno-Karabakh can become ''a launch pad for Islamist militants'' if the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict continues.Moscow expressed alarm after the deadliest fighting in more than 25 years between ethnic Armenian and Azeri forces entered a tenth day. Exit the dragon: China faces heat as citizens across countries increasingly view it in bad light China is known for its strong-arm military tactics as well as surreptitious economic maneuvers. But the end goal remains perfectly aligned with its objectives of dominance. Coronavirus spreads among Trump’s inner circle, top White House aide Stephen Miller tests positive The top White house aide and a senior policy adviser to US President Donald Trump, Stephen Miller, tested positive for Covid-19, taking the number of White House staffers infected by the deadly virus to at least 10.

Morning news brief: Covid in White House, 40 nations slam China over Xinjiang and more

The polls showed the former vice president ahead by 5 percentage points in Pennsylvania, matching the poll’s credibility interval.

US Election 2020: Reuters, Ipsos poll shows Biden leading in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin

The year 2017 was a big one for the Quad group, as it was then revived.

And China's Belt and Road Initiative was the trigger.

The Quad wanted to counter the debt trap diplomacy.

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/quad-meeting-in-tokyo-can-the-alliance-go-beyond-words-gravitas-333009/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

It's 2020 now, and China has exported the coronavirus -- which has killed more than 100,000 people in India, 215,000 in the United States, nearly 1,600 people in Japan, and nearly 900 in Australia.

Beijing is also fighting -- a border conflict with India, a trade war with the US, punitive taxes on Australia, and territorial disputes with Japan.

It makes all the sense for these countries to join ranks.

So is this just another alliance with a common adversary?

SAARC, NATO, G7, G20, Asean, Bimstec, SCO and now, the Quad.

Practically speaking, this is not even an alliance. There is no formal mutual-assistance treaty.

The Quad does not have a secretariat, or for that matter a website.

US President Donald Trump is not exactly a fan of alliances. India prefers fighting its own wars. Japan already has a military alliance with the US and Australia.

So why do they need the Quad?&nbsp;

The Quad is more like an amorphous group -- a 'free, open and prosperous' indo-pacific region.

And China poses a threat to this region. It has militarised the South China Sea.

Now, the Quad -- in order to ensure peace -- must be proactive, not reactive. It cannot pull off another Philippines.

But China only understands the language of power.

So, for Quad to be sucessful, it must come out as a military coalition.

The US has already increased its deployment in the South China Sea.

In June, India and Japan conducted a joint exercise in the Indian Ocean.

In July, India and the US conducted maritime drills in the Indian Ocean.&nbsp;

Japan is now a part of the annual malabar military exercise.

Something that began in 1992, as a bilateral naval exercise between the US and India.

There is also a lot of talk about Australia joining these drills.

Together, the Quad can make a formidable force.

Look at the numbers -- China has an army of 2 million.

The combined army of India, the US, Japan and Australia is 2.2 million.

Chinese navy has a strength of 240,000. For the quad, the naval forces stand at 760,000.

Speaking about the forces, the PLA has 398,000 troops, and the Quad 455,000. It makes sense for this to be a military coalition.

The Quad also needs clear geo-strategic goals.

New Zealand, South Korea and Vietnam have already been invited to the talks once. They were called the plus three countries.

They joined to talk about the coronavirus pandemic, with the Quad intending to find resonance worldwide.

But first the members will have to show intent and commitment, put their money where the mouth is, and speak out without mincing words and hiding behind diplomatic jargon.

For all the hype around this meeting however, they did not even issue a joint statement.

The Quad is an idea whose time has come, but the ideas need implementation.

The year 2017 was a big one for the Quad group, as it was then revived. And China's Belt and Road Initiative was the trigger. The Quad wanted to counter the debt trap diplomacy.

The year 2017 was a big one for the Quad group, as it was then revived. And China's Belt and Road Initiative was the trigger. The Quad wanted to counter the debt trap diplomacy. It's 2020 now, and China has exported the coronavirus -- which has killed more than 100,000 people in India, 215,000 in the United States, nearly 1,600 people in Japan, and nearly 900 in Australia. Beijing is also fighting -- a border conflict with India, a trade war with the US, punitive taxes on Australia, and territorial disputes with Japan. It makes all the sense for these countries to join ranks. So is this just another alliance with a common adversary? SAARC, NATO, G7, G20, Asean, Bimstec, SCO and now, the Quad. Practically speaking, this is not even an alliance. There is no formal mutual-assistance treaty. The Quad does not have a secretariat, or for that matter a website. US President Donald Trump is not exactly a fan of alliances. India prefers fighting its own wars. Japan already has a military alliance with the US and Australia. So why do they need the Quad? The Quad is more like an amorphous group -- a 'free, open and prosperous' indo-pacific region. And China poses a threat to this region. It has militarised the South China Sea. Now, the Quad -- in order to ensure peace -- must be proactive, not reactive. It cannot pull off another Philippines. But China only understands the language of power. So, for Quad to be sucessful, it must come out as a military coalition. The US has already increased its deployment in the South China Sea. In June, India and Japan conducted a joint exercise in the Indian Ocean. In July, India and the US conducted maritime drills in the Indian Ocean. Japan is now a part of the annual malabar military exercise. Something that began in 1992, as a bilateral naval exercise between the US and India. There is also a lot of talk about Australia joining these drills. Together, the Quad can make a formidable force. Look at the numbers -- China has an army of 2 million. The combined army of India, the US, Japan and Australia is 2.2 million. Chinese navy has a strength of 240,000. For the quad, the naval forces stand at 760,000. Speaking about the forces, the PLA has 398,000 troops, and the Quad 455,000. It makes sense for this to be a military coalition. The Quad also needs clear geo-strategic goals. New Zealand, South Korea and Vietnam have already been invited to the talks once. They were called the plus three countries. They joined to talk about the coronavirus pandemic, with the Quad intending to find resonance worldwide. But first the members will have to show intent and commitment, put their money where the mouth is, and speak out without mincing words and hiding behind diplomatic jargon. For all the hype around this meeting however, they did not even issue a joint statement. The Quad is an idea whose time has come, but the ideas need implementation.

Quad is an idea whose time has come. But ideas need implementation

After three nights at hospital, the strongly medicated Donald Trump stages a dramatic comeback to the White House with the remarkable NO-MASK photo-op. Trump's doctors claim that the President has no symptoms, no clarification on his retest or medical condition has been made.

US Election 2020: A remarkable comeback with mask removal

The top White house aide and a senior policy adviser to US President Donald Trump, Stephen Miller, tested positive for Covid-19, taking the number of White House staffers infected by the deadly virus to at least 10. 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/heres-who-has-tested-positive-and-negative-in-trumps-circle-332571">In pictures: Here's who has tested positive and negative in Trump's circle</a> 
 
In a statement Miller said that “Over the last five days I have been working remotely and self-isolating, testing negative every day through yesterday. Today, I tested positive for Covid-19 and am in quarantine,.”

The immigration hardliner Stephen Miller was among the&nbsp;defenders of the administration’s policy to&nbsp;separate children from parents. 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-doing-extremely-well-no-covid-symptoms-white-house-physician-333003">Also read | Trump doing extremely well, no COVID symptoms: White House physician</a>

On Tuesday, the White House issued an updated guideline on health and safety of the residence staff.

“With the recent positive results of the President and First Lady, staff wear full PPE and continue to take all necessary precautions, which include updated procedures to protect against cross contamination,” it said.&nbsp;

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump is doing "extremely well" and has been reporting no symptoms of COVID-19, a day after returning to the White House after being hospitalised with the highly contagious disease, his doctor said in a statement on Tuesday. 
 
Sean Conley, a Navy commander, said a team of physicians met with the president on Tuesday morning.

(With inputs from agencies)

The top White house aide and a senior policy adviser to US President Donald Trump, Stephen Miller, tested positive for Covid-19, taking the number of White House staffers infected by the deadly virus to at least 10.

The top White house aide and a senior policy adviser to US President Donald Trump, Stephen Miller, tested positive for Covid-19, taking the number of White House staffers infected by the deadly virus to at least 10. In pictures: Here's who has tested positive and negative in Trump's circle In a statement Miller said that “Over the last five days I have been working remotely and self-isolating, testing negative every day through yesterday. Today, I tested positive for Covid-19 and am in quarantine,.” The immigration hardliner Stephen Miller was among the defenders of the administration’s policy to separate children from parents. Also read | Trump doing extremely well, no COVID symptoms: White House physician On Tuesday, the White House issued an updated guideline on health and safety of the residence staff. “With the recent positive results of the President and First Lady, staff wear full PPE and continue to take all necessary precautions, which include updated procedures to protect against cross contamination,” it said. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump is doing "extremely well" and has been reporting no symptoms of COVID-19, a day after returning to the White House after being hospitalised with the highly contagious disease, his doctor said in a statement on Tuesday. Sean Conley, a Navy commander, said a team of physicians met with the president on Tuesday morning. (With inputs from agencies)

Coronavirus spreads among Trump’s inner circle, top White House aide Stephen Miller tests positive

After testing positive for the novel coronavirus, the&nbsp;US President&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;was admitted to the Walter Reed Medical Centre as his health reportedly became 'concerning'.

However, the President returned to the White House within few days and was spotted struggling to breathe during his appearance at the White House balcony.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/michelle-obama-slams-trump-in-closing-arguments-for-biden-332963">Also read|&nbsp;Michelle Obama slams Trump in closing arguments for Biden</a>

While the whole country is struggling to contain the spread of the virus — with Trump's infection creating more chaos — White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow said during an interview that&nbsp;Trump had visited the Oval office the day after returning from the Walter Reed Medical Centre.

The revelation was made during an interview with a local network when Kudlow was trying to convince Americans that the government is still functioning.

"The president actually showed up in the Oval Office yesterday with extra precautions, with respect to his COVID-19," Kudlow said.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-election-2020-biden-says-next-presidential-debate-should-be-called-off-333023">Also read|&nbsp;US election 2020: Biden says next presidential debate should be called off</a>

Donald Trump&nbsp;has been strongly criticised for <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-election-2020-donald-trump-admits-downplaying-seriousness-of-covid-19-326412">downplaying</a> the novel coronavirus which has taken nearly 200,000 lives in the US.

Meanwhile,&nbsp;Trump&nbsp;claims to be "doing great" after returning to the White House. The First Lady had also tested positive and remain in stable condition, as per the White House team. However, she has not been spotted since the news broke out.

After testing positive for the novel coronavirus, the US President Donald Trump was admitted to the Walter Reed Medical Centre as his health reportedly became 'concerning'.

After testing positive for the novel coronavirus, the US President Donald Trump was admitted to the Walter Reed Medical Centre as his health reportedly became 'concerning'. However, the President returned to the White House within few days and was spotted struggling to breathe during his appearance at the White House balcony. Also read| Michelle Obama slams Trump in closing arguments for Biden While the whole country is struggling to contain the spread of the virus — with Trump's infection creating more chaos — White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow said during an interview that Trump had visited the Oval office the day after returning from the Walter Reed Medical Centre. The revelation was made during an interview with a local network when Kudlow was trying to convince Americans that the government is still functioning. "The president actually showed up in the Oval Office yesterday with extra precautions, with respect to his COVID-19," Kudlow said. Also read| US election 2020: Biden says next presidential debate should be called off Donald Trump has been strongly criticised for downplaying the novel coronavirus which has taken nearly 200,000 lives in the US. Meanwhile, Trump claims to be "doing great" after returning to the White House. The First Lady had also tested positive and remain in stable condition, as per the White House team. However, she has not been spotted since the news broke out.

Trump visited Oval Office after getting discharged: White House top official

US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Tuesday said that the next&nbsp;debate&nbsp;with US President Donald Trump should not take place if Trump is still infected with coronavirus.

Biden told reporters after a campaign stop near the Civil War battlefield site in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, that&nbsp;"If he still has COVID, we shouldn’t have a debate."

Also see:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/heres-who-has-tested-positive-and-negative-in-trumps-circle-332571">Here's who has tested positive and negative in Trump's circle</a>

However, he added that the&nbsp;October&nbsp;15 debate in Miami should only be staged under strict health guidelines and called the coronavirus outbreak that has hit Trump and a wave of other White House officials "a very serious problem."

After days of conflicting messages from doctors and aides about his condition, Trump&nbsp;returned to the White House on Monday after three nights at a hospital. His doctor said on Tuesday that Trump reported no COVID-19 symptoms and was doing "extremely well."

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-doing-extremely-well-no-covid-symptoms-white-house-physician-333003" hreflang="en">Trump doing extremely well, no COVID symptoms: White House physician</a>

The Republican president announced early Friday, two days after his first debate with Biden in Cleveland,&nbsp;that he had tested positive for the virus.&nbsp;

While the&nbsp;Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines say people who test positive for the virus should stay home for at least 10 days after symptoms first appear, while people who become severely ill might need to stay home for up to 20 days.

Trump has given no indication he would bow out due to his health, saying in a tweet that he is "looking forward" to the next debate.

Vice President Mike Pence and Biden's running mate, US&nbsp;Senator Kamala Harris, will hold their scheduled debate on Wednesday night in Salt Lake City.

US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Tuesday said that the next debate with US President Donald Trump should not take place if Trump is still infected with coronavirus.

US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Tuesday said that the next debate with US President Donald Trump should not take place if Trump is still infected with coronavirus. Biden told reporters after a campaign stop near the Civil War battlefield site in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, that "If he still has COVID, we shouldn’t have a debate." Also see: Here's who has tested positive and negative in Trump's circle However, he added that the October 15 debate in Miami should only be staged under strict health guidelines and called the coronavirus outbreak that has hit Trump and a wave of other White House officials "a very serious problem." After days of conflicting messages from doctors and aides about his condition, Trump returned to the White House on Monday after three nights at a hospital. His doctor said on Tuesday that Trump reported no COVID-19 symptoms and was doing "extremely well." Also read: Trump doing extremely well, no COVID symptoms: White House physician The Republican president announced early Friday, two days after his first debate with Biden in Cleveland, that he had tested positive for the virus. While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines say people who test positive for the virus should stay home for at least 10 days after symptoms first appear, while people who become severely ill might need to stay home for up to 20 days. Trump has given no indication he would bow out due to his health, saying in a tweet that he is "looking forward" to the next debate. Vice President Mike Pence and Biden's running mate, US Senator Kamala Harris, will hold their scheduled debate on Wednesday night in Salt Lake City.

US election 2020: Biden says next presidential debate should be called off

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