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US marks over 63,000 virus cases in 24 hours
- The United States on Wednesday recorded 63,967 new coronavirus cases in the previous 24 hours, Johns Hopkins University reported in its real-time tally.
- That brought the total number of cases in the world’s hardest-hit country to 3,955,860, the Baltimore-based university said at 8:30 pm (0030 Thursday).
- Another 1,059 deaths were reported, bringing the country’s total fatalities to 142,942.
Trump sees China as a threat: Nikki Haley
- US President Donald Trump sees China as a threat, Republican leader and Indian American Nikki Haley has said, adding that she would campaign and work “very hard” to get him re-elected in the November elections.
- Addressing the virtual India Ideas Summit organized by US India Business Council, Haley said on Wednesday that the threat China poses to the US would be one of the factors in the November presidential elections.
US House votes to repeal Trump administration’s travel bans
- The United States House of Representatives passed legislation on Wednesday (local time) aimed at repealing the Trump administration’s travel bans.
- The National Origin-Based Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants (NO BAN) Act was passed with a 233-183 vote, largely along party lines, Xinhua news agency reported.
- However, it is unlikely to be taken up in the Senate, where Republicans have a majority.
Brazil reports nearly 68,000 virus infections
- The previous mark for one day was 54,771, set June 19.
- The new high reported Wednesday comes as some regions of the South American nation are partially reopening for business while others that had previously controlled the spread of the virus are seeing increases.
- Brazil has counted more than 82,700 deaths from COVID-19 and 2.2 million confirmed infections.
Joe Biden calls Trump the country’s ‘first’ racist president
- Joe Biden said Wednesday that President Donald Trump was the country’s “first” racist president.
- The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee’s comments came during a virtual town hall organized by the Service Employees International Union.
- When a questioner complained of racism surrounding the coronavirus outbreak and mentioned the president referring to it as the “China virus,” Biden responded by blasting Trump and “his spread of racism.”
Tesla makes $104M profit in 2Q despite factory shutdown
- Tesla overcame a seven-week pandemic-related shutdown at its California assembly plant to post a surprising $104 million net profit for the second quarter.
- It was the electric car and solar panel maker’s fourth-straight profitable quarter, qualifying it to be included in the S&P 500 index of corporate titans. That decision will be made later.
- Local government restrictions forced Tesla to close its only U.S. assembly factory in Fremont, California, from March 23 to May 11. Even with no production, the company paid roughly 10,000 workers for part of the shutdown and Tesla continued health care and other benefits.
Latin America tops four million coronavirus cases
- More than four million coronavirus cases have been recorded in Latin America and the Caribbean, half of them in Brazil, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
- The region passed the bleak milestone as Brazil reported a daily record of 67,860 new coronavirus cases Wednesday.
- Latin America is one of the hardest-hit regions in the world, with 4,040,925 recorded cases and 172,886 people killed by COVID-19.
China to launch Mars probe in space race with US
- China aims to launch a rover to Mars on Thursday on a journey coinciding with a similar US mission as the powers take their rivalry into deep space.
- The two countries are taking advantage of a period when Earth and Mars are closest to send their probes, with China’s mission due to lift off by Saturday and the US spacecraft on July 30.
- It will be a crowded field. The United Arab Emirates launched a probe on Monday that will orbit Mars once it reaches the Red Planet.