US election live updates: Trump launches intense campaign push, Biden hammers him on Covid

Americans are learning to die with coronavirus: Joe Biden

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Friday said Americans are not learning to live with Covid-19, but learning to die with it as the pandemic has dwarfed anything that the country faced in recent history and is not showing any signs of slowing down. More than 220,000 Americans have lost their lives, which is more than one-fifth of the total global death, Biden said in a major policy speech on the coronavirus, a day after the final presidential debate he had with the Republican incumbent Donald Trump.

Trump launches intense campaign push, Biden hammers him on Covid

Donald Trump launched an intense last-ditch reelection push Friday in Florida, insisting that Covid-19 is disappearing, while frontrunner Joe Biden hammered his message that the president had abdicated responsibility for a pandemic that is actually surging. With 50 million people having already cast early ballots, Biden has a firm lead in national polls, as well as in most of the battleground states like Florida that typically decide the winner of US presidential elections.

US needs another four years of Trump at White House: Mike Pence

The US needs four more years of President Donald Trump at the White House, his deputy and running mate Mike Pence told his countrymen in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, arguing that the administration has delivered on its promises in its first term. "It's a movement of everyday Americans from every walk of life. Here in Pennsylvania, you believe we could be strong again," the Vice President said at an election rally in West Mifflin, a suburb of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania.

Biden pledges free Covid vaccine for 'everyone' in US if elected

Democrat Joe Biden said Friday that if elected president he would mandate Covid-19 vaccines be free for all Americans, part of a national strategy to "get ahead" of the coronavirus. As he laid out his emergency plan to battle the pandemic, Biden assailed President Donald Trump for his response, saying the Republican incumbent has "given up" fighting the virus and has "quit on America."

Biden's warning on oil tests voter resolve on climate change

Joe Biden is confronting the harsh political realities of combating climate change. The Democratic presidential nominee has spent months touting a $2 trillion plan to boost investment in clean energy and stop all climate-damaging emissions from the U.S. economy by 2050. The plan implied that he would wean the US off oil and gas, but Biden wasn't so explicit about the industry's fate _ until Thursday night.

President Donald Trump is taking his own advice and plans to vote in person in the presidential election on Saturday in Florida. Trump is heading to his home state Friday for campaign rallies at The Villages and in Pensacola. He's scheduled to spend the night at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach and says he'll vote on Saturday before he flies north for more campaign rallies. Trump revealed his plans on Thursday after the presidential debate with Democrat Joe Biden.

Sudan on Friday agreed to be the latest Arab nation to recognize Israel in a diplomatic coup announced by President Donald Trump days before US elections. The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signed an accord at the White House last month to normalize relations with Israel but Sudan carries added symbolism as an Arab nation that has been at war with Israel.

More than 50 million Americans have cast ballots in the presidential election, an early-voting expert said on Friday, signaling a potential record turnout out for the Nov. 3 matchup between President Donald Trump and challenger Joe Biden. According to Michael McDonald of the University of Florida's Elections Project, at least 51 million people had cast ballots in person or by mail 11 days before Election Day.

The mute button, or at least the threat of it, worked well this time as US President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival Joe Biden showed restraint and civility during the last presidential debate, unlike their first encounter when they frequently spoke over each other, creating chaos at times. Far from their raucous first meeting in Cleveland, Ohio, that led organisers to introduce the mute button, the second and final 90-minute debate between Trump and Biden at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee on Thursday night was less fury and more urgency.

US President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joseph Biden hammered each other with charges of corruption, financial malfeasance, and being on the take from foreign entities, in a fierce third Presidential debate on Thursday that did not appear to substantially alter the dynamics of the election where all polls show the incumbent heading to defeat.

President Donald Trump has claimed without evidence that unprecendented numbers of mail-in ballots will lead to widespread fraud by Democrats in the Nov. 3 presidential election. The president has also repeatedly refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if the vote counts indicate he has lost to Democratic challenger Joe Biden.

US prez debate: Mute button brings civility as Trump, Biden show restraint, reports PTI.

Trump-Biden clash over climate change adds to cloud over oil stocks, reports Reuters.

Trump pounced on Biden's comment that he "would transition from the oil industry", asking voters in states where the oil industry is important to note his stance, while other Republicans also said Biden would kill millions of jobs. US crude oil futures dipped 0.17% to $40.58 a barrel, following a 1.5% gain in the previous session. After the debate, Biden told reporters he was referring to a plan to stop subsidizing fossil fuels, and there would be jobs created in other alternatives.

Biden warns any country that interferes in US elections 'will pay a price' if he is elected

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has warned that any country that interferes in American elections “will pay a price” if he is elected in the November 3 polls, specifically referring to alleged interference by China, Russia and Iran. Biden made the remarks while responding to a question on how he would deter foreign interference in American elections during the final presidential debate with President Donald Trump at Belmont University in Nashville on Thursday night. "They will pay a price if I'm elected," Biden said. "They're interfering with American sovereignty. That's what's going on," he said when asked about US intelligence reports that Russia and Iran are trying to significantly interfere with the election.

Biden slams Trump friendship with 'thug' Kim

Democratic candidate Joe Biden on Thursday denounced President Donald Trump for befriending North Korea's "thug" leader, likening his diplomacy to working with Hitler. In a sharp clash in their final presidential debate, Biden attacked Trump's insistence that he has avoided war through his summits with Kim Jong Un. "He's talked about his good buddy, who's a thug," Biden said of the young North Korean leader. Read more

No knockouts at Biden, Trump debate 12 days before vote

President Donald Trump and challenger Joe Biden traded accusations of graft and clashed on the Covid-19 pandemic Thursday but without landing a knockout blow 12 days before the election in a final debate that many saw as Trump's last big chance to change the narrative. Perhaps the most startling aspect of the debate in Nashville, Tennessee, turned out to be the relative civility compared to the disastrous first debate last month when Trump spent much of the time shouting frontrunner Biden down.

Biden: Son did nothing inappropriate in Ukraine

Joe Biden says his son did nothing inappropriate while working for a company in Ukraine and notes President Donald Trump was the one who got impeached for dealings with that country. During the final presidential debate Thursday night, Trump noted that the former vice president's son Hunter Biden drew a large salary from a Ukrainian firm. Joe Biden responded that the accusation had been investigated repeatedly and did not link him to any wrongdoing. Biden also noted that the president was impeached for attempting to pressure the president of Ukraine to find potentially damaging information on the Bidens. Read more

Trump, Biden debate marked by clashes, but less chaos

After the first presidential debate was panned so widely that organizers introduced a mute button, Thursday's second and final debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden was far more civil. Whether because of that button or the terrible reviews especially for Trump the two interrupted each other far less frequently, even as they clashed on issues ranging from the coronavirus to crime. Trump, in particular, was on his best behavior early, especially with the moderator, whom he'd repeatedly attacked before the debate. "So far, I respect very much the way you're handling this," Trump said to NBC's Kristen Welker when she gave him time to respond to Biden at one point.

Biden says Trump 'pours fuel' on racist fires

Joe Biden and Donald Trump are clashing on race relations, as the former vice president calls the current president ``one of the most racist presidents we've had in modern history." Biden said Trump "pours fuel on every racist fire" and noted that at his last debate the president wouldn't condemn white supremacy and told an extremist group to ``stand down and stand by.'' Trump portrayed himself as a champion of Black people. Repeating his standard line that no president has done more for Black Americans than anyone other than Abraham Lincoln, Trump accused Biden and former President Barack Obama of ignoring issues of racial justice.

Trump defends separating kids from families

President Donald Trump is defending his administration's separation of immigrant children who remain away from their families following detentions along the US-Mexico border. Trump said during Thursday's debate that children are often brought across the border not by families but "by coyotes and lots of bad people." The American Civil Liberties Union told a judge this week that there were still 545 children separated from their parents from 2018.