Donald trump

This photo taken on Mar 26, 2020 by Columbia University researcher Manuela Buonanno shows an experiment being conducted on the use of a special kind of ultraviolet rays against the coronavirus. (Photo: AFP/Manuela Buonanno) Researchers at Columbia University have been working on such uses for years, and the current pandemic could confirm the value of their efforts. UVC lamps have long been used to kill bacteria, viruses and molds, notably in hospitals and in the food-processing industry. As the coronavirus pandemic knocks world economies on their heels, this technology is experiencing a boom. But UVC (for Ultraviolet-C) rays are dangerous, causing skin cancer and eye problems, and can be used only when no one is present. The New York subway system, following the example of Chinese subways, plans to use ultraviolet lamps to disinfect its trains, but only during nighttime closures. A team at Columbia's Center for Radiological Research is experimenting with so-called far-UVC, …

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NASA plans for return to Moon to cost $28 billion - photo: nasa.gov Congress, which faces elections on November 3, will have to sign off on the financing for a project that has been set by President Donald Trump as a top priority. The $28 billion would cover the budgetary years of 2021-25. In a phone briefing with journalists Monday on the Artemis mission to return human beings to the Moon, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine noted that "political risks" were often the biggest threat to NASA's work, especially before such a crucial election. Barack Obama cancelled plans for a manned Mars mission, after his predecessor spent billions of dollars on the project. If Congress approves the first tranche of $3.2 billion by Christmas, "we're still on track for a 2024 moon landing," Bridenstine said. "To be clear, we're going to the South Pole," he said, ruling out the sites of the Apollo landings on the Moon's equator between 1969 and 1972. "There's no discussion of anything other …

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Former Vice President Joe Biden formally clinched the Democratic presidential nomination on Friday, media reported, setting the stage for a challenge to President Donald Trump in the November election. The Associated Press and CBS News both projected that Biden passed the 1,991 delegates he needs to be chosen as nominee at the party's national convention, with contests still to come in eight states and three U.S. territories. Biden won the delegates after seven states and the District of Columbia held presidential primaries on Tuesday. “It was an honor to compete alongside one of the most talented groups of candidates the Democratic party has ever fielded — and I am proud to say that we are going into this general election a united party,” Biden said in a statement. “I am going to spend every day between now and November 3rd fighting to earn the votes of Americans all across this great country so that, together, we can win the battle for the soul of this nation, and make sure …

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Brazil's Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga tested positive for COVID-19 hours after accompanying President Jair Bolsonaro to the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, the government said. Queiroga will remain in New York in quarantine, the government's communications office said. "The minister is doing well," the statement said. It added that the rest of the delegation tested negative for the virus. Queiroga told CNN Brasil that he had worn a mask the entire time that he was in the U.N. building. Bolsonaro, a vaccine skeptic, defied U.N. rules that asked all those attending the assembly to be vaccinated. He has bragged about not getting vaccinated. In his speech to world leaders at a meeting where the global coronavirus pandemic was top of the agenda, Bolsonaro said his government did not support the use of a vaccine passport and stood by treatment of the virus with unproven drugs such as the anti-malarial hydroxychloroquine. He said Brazil's vaccination …

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