US coronavirus cases rise 8% in two weeks as more states ease restrictions

Michigan, which had some of the nation’s strongest health regulations, saw its second highest single-day case total on Friday

While the United States’ Covid-19 vaccination initiative has eclipsed that of many other countries, a significant number of US cities and states remain hotspots where coronavirus continues to spread at record rates. The upticks come as more states loosen public health restrictions that have been in place to stop Covid-19’s spread.

As of 16 April, the US saw an average of 70,117 cases daily, a surge of 8% from the mean 14 days ago, with hospitalizations increasing 9%, according to the New York Times. A minimum of 21 states have seen at least a 10% increase in daily positive coronavirus cases, CNN reports of recent Johns Hopkins University data. However, deaths are down 12% in this period.

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Whitmer won’t go ‘punch for punch’ with Republican who called her a witch

  • Governor and others ‘ready for burning at stake’, GOP chair said
  • Democrat laments ‘layer of misogyny’ towards female leaders

Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan, will not “go punch for punch” with Republican leaders in the state who have attacked her in misogynistic terms, one going so far as to call Whitmer and two other leading Democrats “three witches” set to be “burned at the stake”.

Related: ‘Dumb son of a bitch’: Trump attacks McConnell in Republican donors speech

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Cuomo suffers major blow as top New York Democrats say governor must go

Senate leader and assembly speaker weigh in but Cuomo says quitting over sexual harassment claims would be ‘anti-democratic’

Andrew Cuomo suffered a major blow on Sunday in his attempt to stay as governor of New York in the face of allegations of sexual harassment and workplace bullying and a scandal over nursing home deaths under Covid. The majority leader of the state senate and the speaker of the assembly, two of the most powerful Democrats in New York, said it was time for Cuomo to go.

Related: The New York attorney general holding Trump and Cuomo accountable

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One winning ticket sold for $1.05bn Mega Millions lottery jackpot

  • Third-largest prize in US history awaits Michigan winner
  • Prize had been growing since September

One winning ticket was sold in Michigan for the $1.05bn Mega Millions jackpot, the third-largest lottery prize in US history.

The winning numbers drawn on Friday were 4, 26, 42, 50, 60 and a Mega Ball of 24. The winning ticket was purchased at a Kroger store in the Detroit suburb of Novi, the Michigan Lottery said.

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US sets new record for daily Covid cases as Moderna vaccine approved

The US set yet another record for new coronavirus cases on Friday, at almost 250,000, even as a second vaccine, from Moderna, was approved.

Related: FDA authorizes Moderna coronavirus vaccine for emergency use across the US

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Son wins US lawsuit after parents destroy his porn collection

David Werking can seek damages after parents got rid of films and magazines worth $29,000

A man who sued his parents for getting rid of his pornography collection has won a lawsuit in western Michigan and can seek compensation.

The US district judge Paul Maloney ruled in favour of David Werking, who said his parents had no right to throw out his collection. He lived at their Grand Haven home for 10 months after a divorce before moving to Muncie, Indiana.

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States targeted in Texas election fraud lawsuit condemn ‘cacophony of bogus claims’

Attorneys general from both parties reject baseless allegations in case filed with US supreme court

Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin on Thursday urged the US supreme court to reject a lawsuit filed by Texas and backed by Donald Trump seeking to undo Joe Biden’s victory, saying the case has no factual or legal grounds and makes “bogus” claims.

“What Texas is doing in this proceeding is to ask this court to reconsider a mass of baseless claims about problems with the election that have already been considered, and rejected, by this court and other courts,” Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s Democratic attorney general, wrote in a filing to the nine justices.

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Trump’s latest batch of election lawsuits fizzle as dozens of losses pile up

President no closer to overturning result, with just one small victory in a month’s worth of cases

For a man obsessed with winning, Donald Trump is losing a lot.

In the month since the election, the president and his legal team have come no closer in their frantic efforts to overturn the result, notching up dozens of losses in courts across the country, with more rolling in by the day.

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Michigan certifies Biden’s victory despite Trump’s efforts to undermine it

Board of state canvassers confirms 154,000-vote victory in 3-0 vote with one abstention

Michigan election officials on Monday certified Joe Biden’s 154,000-vote victory in the state amid president Donald Trump’s brazen attempts to subvert the results of the election.

The board of state canvassers, which has two Republicans and two Democrats, confirmed the results on a 3-0 vote with one abstention. Allies of Trump and the losing Republican Senate candidate John James had urged the panel to delay voting for two weeks to audit votes in heavily Democratic Wayne county, home to Detroit.

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Trump makes futile last stand to overturn results as Georgia certifies Biden win

President met with Michigan’s Republican leaders at White House in desperate bid to subvert democracy

Donald Trump was on Friday making a futile but dangerous last stand, without precedent in modern American history, to overturn the result of the presidential election so he can remain in power.

Even as Joe Biden’s victory in the state of Georgia was confirmed, the president met with Republican leaders from Michigan at the White House in an increasingly desperate bid to subvert democracy after a series of courtroom defeats over allegations of voter fraud.

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‘It’s not over’: Trump supporters protest Biden victory in swing states

People gathered in capitals of Pennsylvania and Michigan claim ballot fraud and condemn media

As word came on Saturday that the election had been called for Joe Biden, hundreds of supporters of the defeated president began amassing at Pennsylvania’s state capitol building in Harrisburg to protest.

It was a split-screen simulcast of America’s intensified political division, as Donald Trump’s defeat was jubilantly celebrated 130 miles east in Philadelphia, and in cities around the country.

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Michigan couple with 14 sons finally has a daughter

Almost three decades after their first son’s birth, Kateri and Jay Schwandt welcome Maggie Jayne

A Michigan couple famous for having 14 sons have welcomed their first daughter, nearly three decades after the birth of their first child.

Kateri Schwandt gave birth on Thursday to Maggie Jayne, who weighed in at 7lb 8oz and entered a world filled with 14 older brothers.

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US election 2020 live: Biden wins Michigan in vital step towards presidency as Trump tries to challenge results

With more votes in populous, Democratic counties left to be counted, Donald Trump’s lead in Georgia has shrunk to 47,000 votes.

Hi there, it’s Maanvi Singh – reporting from the West Coast.

The Trump campaign has filed a lawsuit seeking to pause vote count in Georgia, the AP reports, as officials continue counting tens of thousands of ballots in the state.

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Trump falsely claims at Michigan rally ‘our doctors get more money if someone dies of Covid’ – live

In several of his rallies this week, Donald Trump has accused the media of focusing on the coronavirus crisis only for political purposes, in order to damage him.

Barack Obama has trolled him for it in rallies in Florida, where the former president warned that America could not afford four more years of Trump and needed to put Joe Biden into the White House next week.

A federal judge this afternoon ordered the US Postal Service (USPS) to adopt “extraordinary measures” at some processing locations to ensure the timely delivery of millions of ballots before Tuesday’s presidential election.

US district judge Emmet Sullivan said he was ordering the measures in places where election mail processing scores for completed ballots returned by voters were below 90% for at least two days from October 26-28.

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US election roundup: Trump and Biden swing through battleground states

Both candidates to campaign in Minnesota and Wisconsin while president rails against supreme court over North Carolina ruling

The two US presidential candidates swung through northern battleground states on Friday amid signs that the coronavirus pandemic was once more threatening to overcome hospital capacity in several US regions.

Donald Trump was due to hold a succession of airport rallies in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, while Joe Biden was scheduled to have drive-in rallies in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

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Woman found alive after being declared dead has now died, family say

  • Timesha Beauchamp, 20, died in hospital in Detroit
  • Staff at funeral home had found her breathing

A 20-year-old suburban Detroit woman who was declared dead only to be found alive at a funeral home in August has died, the attorney representing her family said on Monday.

Timesha Beauchamp died on Sunday at Children’s hospital in Detroit, Geoffrey Fieger said in a news release.

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Biden accuses Trump of trying to wish away Covid ahead of Wisconsin rally – as it happened

Here’s a summary of the latest events:

Mitch McConnell announced Saturday that the Senate will vote Tuesday on a Paycheck Protection Plan funding bill and Wednesday on the same $500bn Covid-19 aid package that Democrats blocked last month on the grounds that it didn’t go far enough.

“It is long past time for the two parties to agree where we can and get more money out the door,” the Senate majority leader said in a statement.

I just announced the Senate will vote next week on hundreds of billions more dollars for relief programs that Democrats do not even oppose. Working families have already waited too long for Speaker Pelosi’s Marie Antoinette act to stop. Let's make law. pic.twitter.com/iR7OYKuCKw

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Gretchen Whitmer accuses Donald Trump of inciting domestic terror

  • Michigan governor targeted by alleged far-right kidnapping plot
  • Tweets attacking Whitmer creating ‘very dangerous situation’

The Michigan governor who was the target of a foiled rightwing kidnapping plot said on Friday that Donald Trump’s rhetoric “incites more domestic terror”, after the president posted a series of aggressive tweets overnight that sought to shame the victim of the plot.

Related: How the domestic terror plot to kidnap Michigan's governor unravelled

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Biden blasts Trump for not condemning Gretchen Whitmer kidnap plot – video

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has slammed Donald Trump for not condemning right-wing militias following the foiled kidnapping plot against Michigan's governor, Gretchen Whitmer. Speaking from his campaign in Arizona, Biden criticised the president for not watching his words after Trump previously tweeted 'Liberate Michigan' in response to the state's Covid restrictions. 'You saw what the head of the FBI said a couple of days ago. He said the greatest terrorist threat in America is from white supremacists,' Biden said. 'Why can't the president just say, stop, stop, stop, stop, and we will pursue you if you don't"

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Six people charged in plot to kidnap Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer

FBI said plot involved contacting members of a militia who ‘talked about murdering tyrants or taking a sitting governor’

Six people have been charged with a plot to kidnap the Michigan governor, Gretchen Whitmer, that involves links to a rightwing militia group, the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced.

Another seven people were charged with plotting to target law enforcement and attack the state capitol building. The state attorney general, Dana Nessel, announced additional charges under Michigan’s anti-terrorism law. Seven men, all in custody, are linked to the militia group Wolverine Watchmen.

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