Analysis: For the president, loyalty is paramount – those on his team will not be chastened, even for alleged murder
Donald Trump has the blind devotion of a rabid sports fan. His team can do no wrong. The opposition are liars and cheats.
So maybe no one was surprised on Monday when he appeared to defend an accused murderer.
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Joe Biden has responded to Trump’s refusal to condemn Kyle Rittenhouse:
In a statement, he said:
Tonight, the President declined to rebuke violence. He wouldn’t even repudiate one of his supporters who is charged with murder because of his attacks on others. He is too weak, too scared of the hatred he has stirred to put an end to it.
So once again, I urge the President to join me in saying that while peaceful protest is a right — a necessity — violence is wrong, period. No matter who does it, no matter what political affiliation they have. Period.
If Donald Trump can’t say that, then he is unfit to be President, and his preference for more violence — not less — is clear.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is seeking a communications firm to “defeat despair and inspire hope,” bidding out a $250m contract, Politico reports.
Ahead of the elections, with 180,000 Americans dead from coronavirus, HHS wants a firm to help “deliver important public health and economic information the administration can defeat despair, inspire hope and achieve national recovery.”
Several weeks ago, the department sent out to a number of communications firms a “performance work statement,” which lays out what work will be expected of the winning firm. The document says that the vast majority of the money will be spent from now until January.
The document also lists the goals of the contract: “defeat despair and inspire hope, sharing best practices for businesses to operate in the new normal and instill confidence to return to work and restart the economy,” build a “coalition of spokespeople” around the country, provide important public health, therapeutic and vaccine information as the country reopens and give Americans information on the phases of reopening.
Continue reading...Andreas Geisel condemns ‘shameful’ scenes at rally against Covid restrictions
Berlin’s interior minister has expressed regret over a standoff outside the Reichstag building on Saturday during a rally against coronavirus restrictions.
Speaking to a committee of the city state’s interior ministry on Monday, Andreas Geisel said he was “deeply regretful” about the images from the protest, which were seen around the world.
Continue reading...Protests against Alexander Lukashenko's contested election win have continued in the country, with an estimated 100,000 demonstrators taking to the streets of the capital, defying a government crackdown. Protesters in Minsk were met with an increased security presence as anti-government rallies continued for a third week
Continue reading...PM suspends interior minister over claims he acted unlawfully by supporting street protests
A power struggle in Libya’s UN-backed government that erupted over street protests has raised fears about the future of fragile peace-building efforts after its prime minister, Fayez al-Sarraj, said the interior minister had acted unlawfully in giving his backing to the calls for improved living standards.
The surprise developments, unfolding over the past week, move Libya away from a carefully planned UN-backed move to build on a ceasefire and plans to resume oil production agreed a fortnight ago.
Continue reading...UNHCR and IOM say 200 rescued people urgently need to get off Banksy-funded ship
The UN refugee agency urged European nations on Saturday to let in hundreds of migrants rescued from the Mediterranean by humanitarian boats, including one financed by the British street artist Banksy.
The UNHCR and the International Organization of Migration (IOM) said more than 200 rescued refugees and migrants needed immediately to get off the nonprofit search-and-rescue ship Louise Michel, saying it was far beyond its safe capacity.
Continue reading...For many Kenosha residents, Saturday morning was starting like the five mornings before them since Jacob Blake’s shooting by the police last Sunday, after a night of large, peaceful protests demanding justice and equality.
Hundreds took to the streets, some working to patch damage and doll up the blistered city, 40 miles south of Milwaukee in Wisconsin, on the shore of Lake Michigan, by painting rainbows and hearts on boarded-up businesses.
Continue reading...Police prevent hundreds from entering Reichstag and disband march protesting against Covid protection measures
Far-right extremists tried to storm the German parliament building on Saturday following a protest against the country’s pandemic restrictions, but were intercepted by police and forcibly removed.
The incident occurred after a daylong demonstration by tens of thousands of people opposed to the wearing of masks and other government measures intended to stop the spread of the new coronavirus. Police ordered the protesters to disband halfway through their march around Berlin after participants refused to observe physical distancing rules, but a rally near the capital’s iconic Brandenburg Gate took place as planned.
Continue reading...Climate protests including ‘funeral march’ due to take place across UK, with focus on airports
Climate demonstrations are due to take place across the UK this weekend, as the environmental campaign group Extinction Rebellion launches its latest “uprising”.
This weekend’s events will include a “funeral march” in Lewes, East Sussex, to “mark the death and destruction wrought by humans on our natural world”. The march, described as a Procession for the Planet, will include mourners dressed in black and a jazz band.
Continue reading...Volunteers accuse charity of excluding deprived and minority ethnic schoolchildren
Volunteers are accusing the National Trust of excluding deprived and minority ethnic schoolchildren from enjoying nature and visiting its properties with the planned sacking of the charity’s education officers.
The number of protests and petitions are growing over the trust’s controversial “reset” involving the proposed loss of 1,200 jobs, including its learning staff, as the charity plans to stop providing any curriculum-based content or learning activities for schools.
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That’s it from us tonight. Here are the key takeaways of the final night of the Republican convention:
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reportedly plans to resign due to his health.
The Japanese outlet NHK reports:
Abe Shinzo is scheduled to hold a news conference later in the day to explain his decision.
Abe has visited a hospital twice over the past two weeks, fuelling speculation that his health has deteriorated.
Continue reading...President accepts Republican presidential nomination in event staged at White House, raising ethical concerns
Against a backdrop of a global pandemic, heightened racial tensions, and widespread unemployment, Donald Trump framed his Democratic rival Joe Biden as the real danger to the country’s safety and economic welfare in his address to the Republican convention on Thursday.
Accepting the party’s presidential nomination ahead of November’s elections, Trump argued for more than an hour that his administration had accomplished everything it had set out to do and warned that a Biden presidency could be ruinous.
Continue reading...Democratic nominee Joe Biden says he has spoken to the family of Jacob Blake, the African American man who was repeatedly shot in the back by police officers in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
'What I saw in that video makes me sick,' Biden said of the footage of Blake being shot while three of his children looked on in a nearby car.
The Democratic nominee went on to urge protesters to remain peaceful and avoid 'needless violence'. Biden repeated the words of Blake’s mother, Julia Jackson, who said yesterday that her son would not want to see violence and destruction carried out in his name.
Continue reading...Three shot as Wisconsin city rocked by further violence on streets following shooting of Jacob Blake
Two people were shot dead and another injured when at least one gunman opened fire on protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin, amid demonstrations against the police shooting of Jacob Blake three days ago.
David Beth, the county sheriff, said one person was shot in the head and another in the chest shortly before midnight on Tuesday. Another person was shot in the arm. The victims have not been identified.
Continue reading...Ted Hui and Lam Cheuk-ting held over incident in July 2019 when white-clad thugs attacked activists at train station
Hong Kong police have arrested pro-democracy lawmakers over involvement in protests in 2019, including one who was injured when a large group of thugs attacked protesters and civilians at the Yuen Long transport station.
The arrests come amid a crackdown on dissent and freedom of expression.
Continue reading...Letetra Widman, the sister of Jacob Blake, who was shot in the back by police on Sunday, gives an impassioned plea saying that above all the other labels given to her brother, he is human.
Letetra said she had been inundated with messages of support but that all she really wanted was change.
Continue reading...Demonstrations over hunger by people thrown out of work by the pandemic have been met with violent repression
Violeta Delgado was at a protest over food shortages under Chile’s coronavirus lockdowns when the police arrived and fired off a volley of teargas rounds.
Delgado, who was seven months pregnant, says she put her hands up to show she was unarmed, but was struck by a police vehicle and knocked to the ground.
Continue reading...The embattled Belarusian president is shown brandishing a rifle in official footage taken during protests in Minsk on 24 August. Alexander Lukashenko watched the demonstrations from his helicopter before a meeting with riot police outside his palace in clips released by his press service. He could be heard pledging to 'deal with' the protesters, after a crowd estimated at more than 200,000 gathered to call for his removal
Defiant protesters have rallied in central Minsk again in a sign that even a threat to use the army was not enough to quell the uprising against authoritarian president Alexander Lukashenko. Unofficial estimates put the crowd that formed outside the parliament at 150,000 people or more.
Demonstrations have been held in the capital and other Belarusian towns since 9 August, when an election which protesters describe as rigged granted Lukashenko a sixth term in office. Demonstrators are demanding he quit after 26 years in power, and that new elections be held.
Defence minister’s threat to call in army fails to quell protests sparked by disputed election
Defiant protesters have flooded central Minsk again in a sign that even a threat to use the army was not enough to quell the uprising against Belarus’s authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko.
The vast square outside the parliament was turned into a sea of red and white by protesters waving the traditional Belarusian flag adopted by the protest movement and chanting “resign!” and “put Lukashenko in a police van!”. Unofficial estimates put the crowd at 150,000 people or more.
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