By Nicole Gaouette, CNN Secretary of State Antony Blinken will launch a diversity initiative to make the US’ oldest Cabinet agency look more like America itself, an effort he is framing as a national security imperative to make the country’s diplomacy “stronger, smarter, more creative and more innovative.” Blinken announced Wednesday that he will appoint
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By John Bonifield and Amanda Sealy, CNN Vaccine makers Pfizer and Moderna are trying to get out ahead of some of the new coronavirus variants that are causing concern around the world. Although there’s no evidence people immunized with either vaccine have less protection against the variants, both companies said they have started looking at
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By Priscilla Alvarez, Donald Judd and Paul LeBlanc, CNN President Joe Biden on Wednesday revoked a Trump-era executive order that temporarily banned some immigrant visas during the coronavirus pandemic. The move opens up legal avenues to migrate to the US that former President Donald Trump had closed off, arguing at the time that it was
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By Oren Liebermann, CNN Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin urged military service members to get vaccinated against the coronavirus in a video statement released Wednesday after it was revealed last week that approximately one-third have opted out of receiving doses. “If you believe, as I did, that (being vaccinated is) the right thing for you
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By Christina Maxouris, CNN A new ensemble forecast published Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests the daily Covid-19 death rate will slow in the coming weeks — good news following more than a month of declining case and hospitalization numbers. But now is no time to let up on safety measures
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By Simone Pathe, CNN Recent success stories about women in politics are about candidates breaking barriers. There’s a female vice president. More women than ever before serve in Congress. But when it comes to the people who help get them elected — specifically the people who tell their stories in the still wildly influential form
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By Chauncey Alcorn, CNN Business JPMorgan Chase and Google launched a program Tuesday to help banks owned and led by people of color increase their lending capabilities. The new initiative is dubbed “Empowering Change.” It’s designed to help banks that are majority-owned or directed by people of color provide JPMorgan-backed money market funds to large
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Opinion by Bhaskar Chakravorti Covid-19 has disproportionately devastated the Black community. Black Americans are dying from the coronavirus at nearly twice the rate of White Americans — and have been hospitalized nearly three times as often, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Black Americans, who make up a disproportionate
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Opinion by Persis Yu On the campaign trail, President Joe Biden promised to cancel at least $10,000 of federal student loans for all borrowers in response to the Covid-19 crisis. Over 60 lawmakers and 17 state attorneys general have called on him to go further and cancel up to $50,000 administratively. When Biden was asked
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By Chloe Melas, CNN Matt James, the star of ABC’s “The Bachelor,” is breaking his silence on the controversy that has enveloped this season of the series. James, who is the show’s first Black lead bachelor, addressed Chris Harrison’s announcement that he would step aside as the host of the franchise for an undetermined length
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