Oxford University Covid-19 vaccine firm says it is not in talks with Trump

AstraZeneca insists it has not discussed ‘emergency use authorisation’ with the US

The company manufacturing the Oxford University coronavirus vaccine has said it is not in talks with the Trump administration about fast-tracking its vaccine for emergency use ahead of November’s presidential elections.

With both Russia and China pressing ahead with inoculations involving experimental vaccines yet to pass final efficacy and safety trials, the Trump administration has become increasingly frustrated with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which the president has tried to suggest is slowing approval of a vaccine for “political reasons”.

Continue reading...

Trump announces emergency authorization for coronavirus plasma treatment – as it happened

Here’s a rundown of Sunday’s events. We’ll be back tomorrow for all Monday’s news.

More a campaign-style press announcement than traditional news conference, Trump abruptly ends the proceedings after taking only three questions, including one from One America News Network.

The US president insisted today’s announcement, which comes one day after he accused “the deep state, or whoever, over at” the FDA of deliberately slowing coronavirus vaccine and therapy development, “has nothing to do with politics” despite its conspicuous timing on the eve of the Republican national convention.

Continue reading...

James Comey: ex-Trump adviser Steve Bannon ‘in a world of trouble’

  • Former aide pleads not guilty to fraud charge over fundraiser
  • Ex-FBI director: ‘They could almost start a crime family’

The former FBI director James Comey has said Steve Bannon is “in a world of trouble”, after the former Trump campaign manager and White House adviser was arrested on a charge of skimming donations from a fundraising campaign for a wall on the border with Mexico.

Related: 'Conmen, grifters and criminals': why is Trump's circle so at odds with the law?

Continue reading...

Your data is not destined for China, assures TikTok’s UK boss

The controversial app’s users are ignoring geopolitical battle over its digital security, says Richard Waterworth

TikTok’s UK chief has strenuously denied the video-sharing app, which Donald Trump has threatened to ban, shares data with China.

Richard Waterworth told the Observer that the UK and European arm of TikTok was growing quickly, despite the “turbulent” geopolitical battle in which the Chinese-born app has found itself.

Continue reading...

‘Donald is cruel’: Trump’s sister recorded saying president has ‘no principles’

Maryanne Trump Barry, a former federal judge, made the comments to her niece Mary Trump in secretly taped conversations

Donald Trump’s older sister, a former federal judge, is heard sharply criticizing her brother in a series of recordings released Saturday, at one point saying of the president: “He has no principles.”

Maryanne Trump Barry was secretly recorded by her niece, Mary Trump, who recently released a book denouncing the president, Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man. Mary Trump said Saturday she made the recordings in 2018 and 2019.

Continue reading...

Joe Biden vows to ‘listen to scientists’ on coronavirus – US politics live

New York governor Andrew Cuomo said the state will give voters a chance to correct missing signatures and other clerical errors so their absentee ballots can be counted in anticipation of a wave of mail-in voting for the November election.

Election officials are expecting an even bigger flood of mail-in votes in November than for the June primary, after which results were delayed for six weeks.

Cuomo said late Friday he’d sign yet temporarily tweak legislation that calls for notifying voters about such problems and provides for fixing them.

Under the version that passed the Legislature last month, the voter would have seven business days to file a form to fix the problem after a notice was mailed, in many situations.

The Associated Press has more from Portland, Oregon, where protesters against police brutality and structural racism clashed again with federal agents and law enforcement officers overnight. Such confrontations were the subject of a Trump tweet this morning, in which the president once again expressed his willingness to send in the national guard:

About 200 people marched to a police precinct station on yet another night of violence for Oregon’s largest city.

Demonstrators hurled bottles and rocks at officers and pointed lasers at them, damaging police cars and causing minor injuries for several officers, Portland police said.

Continue reading...

Trump-Russia investigation: former CIA chief interviewed by US attorney

John Brennan led the agency as it and others concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to benefit Donald Trump

The former CIA director John Brennan was interviewed on Friday by US attorney John Durham’s team, as part of its inquiry into the investigation of Russian election interference in 2016.

Related: US Senate report goes beyond Mueller to lay bare Trump campaign's Russia links

Continue reading...

‘I decided I had to do something’: can young voters flip a key swing county against Trump?

Monroe county in Michigan was an important part of Trump’s victory four years ago, as swing voters turned their backs on the Democrats

It took General George Armstrong Custer to get Katybeth Davis on the ballot this November.

For years, Davis passed a statue of the vanquished US cavalry commander perched imperiously on his horse outside her church in the heart of Monroe county, Michigan. She was angered at the place of honour given to a man she describes as a genocidal killer of Native Americans and a rapist.

Continue reading...

After a repentant Trump voter’s one-man protest, what happened next?

James Walker took a stand in March 2017 that provoked an overwhelming response online and also within his family

Regrets, he’s had a few, but then again, there’s one he’d like to mention.

James Walker voted for Donald Trump in 2016. That fateful decision, and a subsequent act of public of repentance, rippled through his family and friendships, his dating life, his career, where he makes his home and countless thousands of posts on social media.

Continue reading...

Trump campaign fails to show evidence of vote-by-mail fraud, filing reveals

  • Documents obtained by Guardian shows evidence sorely lacking
  • Campaign complained of widespread fraud in Pennsylvania

Donald Trump’s campaign failed to produce any evidence of vote-by-mail fraud in Pennsylvania after a federal judge ordered it do so, according to a 524-page court filing obtained by the Guardian.

Related: USPS chief Louis DeJoy says he won't restore mail-sorting machines ahead of election – live

Continue reading...

‘Conmen, grifters and criminals’: why is Trump’s circle so at odds with the law?

Apart from legal trouble, what Bannon, Manafort, Flynn, Cohen, Stone, Gates and Papadopoulos have in common is the president

To live outside the law, Bob Dylan sang, you must be honest. It also helps, apparently, to stay as clear as possible from Donald Trump, whose inner circle of advisers has suffered steady attrition since 2017, through a series of encounters with the criminal justice system.

Related: Steve Bannon pleads not guilty to fraud after arrest on luxury yacht

Continue reading...

Trouble for Trump as Fox News praises ‘enormously effective’ Biden speech

Republican pundits accept success of Biden’s convention address as Trump’s bid to portray Democratic rival as radical leftist falls flat

Under pressure on the last day of the Democratic convention, Joe Biden “hit a home run” with an “enormously effective” speech that blew “a big hole” in Donald Trump’s efforts to paint him as a mentally faltering captive of his party’s left wing.

And that was to hear Fox News hosts Dana Perino and Chris Wallace tell it.

Continue reading...

USPS chief Louis DeJoy says he won’t restore mail sorting machines ahead of election – live

Senator Tom Carper explained his cursing during the hearing with Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, which was caught on a hot mic and widely shared on Twitter.

“Those who know me know that there are few things that get me more fired up than protecting the Postal Service!” Carper said in a tweet.

Those who know me know that there are few things that get me more fired up than protecting the Postal Service!#DontMessWithUSPS

2020 mood pic.twitter.com/lKnf23W0jV

Brief Kanye update: Kanye West has not qualified to appear on the ballot in the swing state of Ohio, according to Ohio secretary of state Frank LaRose.

Kanye does not make the ballot in Ohio, according to Secretary LaRose pic.twitter.com/HWp3ORKkJM

Continue reading...

DNC 2020: from emotional speeches backing Biden to fiery warnings on Trump – video highlights

A unique Democratic national convention gave countless memorable moments, from Kamala Harris's historic nomination as vice-president, to Michelle Obama's harsh words for Donald Trump. Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and former president Barack Obama echoed her words by giving scathing reviews of the Trump administration. Others who showed their support for Harris and Joe Biden's nomination included healthcare activist Ady Barkan, former US congresswoman and shooting survivor Gabby Giffords, comedian Sarah Cooper, actor Julia Louis-Dreyfus and singer Billie Eilish

Continue reading...

Trump confirms Stormy Daniels claim that he’s ‘terrified’ of sharks

President said he’s ‘not a big fan of sharks’ at Pennsylvania event while in 2011 Daniels claimed he said ‘I hope all the sharks die’

Donald Trump has reaffirmed his well-known hatred of sharks, telling supporters he is “not a big fan” of the oceanic apex predators.

Related: Fox host blames ‘deep state’ for Bannon arrest – Bannon says that's for 'nut cases'

Continue reading...

How Julia Louis-Dreyfus roasted Donald Trump in DNC finale – video

Actor Julia Louis-Dreyfus brought a great deal of levity while hosting the final night of the Democratic national convention. The comedian and star of Veep roasted Donald Trump and urged Americans to vote this November, joking that not even 'Facebook, Fox News and Vladimir Putin' can stop the democratic process

Continue reading...

‘I’m more for Trump than I was before’: president clings to narrow lead in Iowa as Biden closes in

In a county that flipped dramatically from backing Obama to supporting Trump, there are signs of danger for the president

When Aaron Schatz surveys the wreckage of 2020, he finds himself doing surprisingly well.

Profits on his Iowa dairy farm are up thanks to coronavirus. The pandemic feels a distant threat, and Schatz has yet to wear a mask. Black Lives Matter protests are an annoyance but really someone else’s problem.

Continue reading...

‘Light is more powerful than dark’: Joe Biden accepts presidential nomination – video

Joe Biden has vowed to unite America and lead the country to overcome “this season of darkness”, as he accepted the Democratic presidential nomination on Thursday evening, a long-sought moment that comes more than 30 years after he first ran for president

Continue reading...

Trump says he knows ‘nothing’ about border wall project following Bannon’s arrest – video

Donald Trump says he knows nothing about the fundraising organisation associated with Steve Bannon's arrest on charges he defrauded supporters of the president in a campaign to help build the president's signature wall along the US-Mexico border.

Bannon was arrested on Thursday for allegedly skimming donations from We Build the Wall, an online fundraising campaign for the US president’s border wall with Mexico, officials in New York said

Continue reading...

Trump’s bid to block release of his tax returns rejected by federal judge

Move clears way for Manhattan’s district attorney, Cyrus Vance Jr, to get president’s tax returns

A federal judge on Thursday cleared the way for Manhattan’s top prosecutor to get Donald Trump’s tax returns, rejecting a last-ditch attempt by his lawyers to block a subpoena issued to his accounting firm.

US district judge Victor Marrero’s ruling echoes his prior decision in the case, which was upheld by the US supreme court last month. The high court returned the case to Marrero so Trump’s lawyers could get another chance to challenge the subpoena issued by the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus Vance Jr.

Continue reading...