Kamala Harris, 55, has become the first black woman on a major presidential ticket in US history after democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden named her as his VP pick.
From her punishing cross-examinations of Trump officials to previous clashes with Biden over racism, we look back at the California senator's key moments in politics
Continue reading...A third night of clashes between demonstrators and security forces broke out near the parliament building in Beirut, in which police used teargas and protesters threw stones and fireworks, in the wake of the devastating explosion that hit the city's port a week ago. The Lebanese prime minister's announcement a day before that the government would resign did little to quell the anger of a people demanding change to the political system
Continue reading...Coronavirus updates: New Zealand records first new local cases in 102 days; global deaths likely to pass 750,000 this week, says WHO
As we reported earlier, the Dutch health minister said he plans to introduce mandatory home quarantine for people identified by local authorities as having been in close contact with somebody infected with coronavirus, and for travellers returning from high-risk countries.
Health minister Hugo de Jonge said in a letter to lawmakers that mandatory quarantine could be imposed if people refuse to isolate voluntarily.
Germany has extended a partial travel warning for Spain to the capital of Madrid and the Basque region due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
The foreign ministry said it was warning against any unnecessary tourist trips to both regions because of a rising number of new infections and local restrictions put in place to contain the spread of coronavirus.
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Joe Biden may have settled on his running mate, but there is no guarantee we will find out today, according to New York Times reporter Jonathan Martin:
No actual VP event today, per a Biden official.
doesn’t mean there won’t be a reveal of who it is, leaked or planned. just no plans for an in-person event.
The Big Ten college football conference has canceled its football season due to coronavirus concerns, it announced today, in a blow to Republicans and Donald Trump who had urged college football to go ahead.
“The mental and physical health and welfare of our student-athletes has been at the center of every decision we have made regarding the ability to proceed forward,” Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren said in a statement.
Related: Why college football is the perfect storm for Covid-19
Continue reading...S&P edges towards all-time record with oil prices and hospitality stocks rising as investor optimism rebounds
US stock markets moved closer to record highs on Tuesday after investors bet on a fresh round of government spending to lift the economy and counter the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The S&P 500, seen as the broadest measure of US investor sentiment, raced to a 10-point gain by mid afternoon to leave it just 16 points short of the all-time high reached in February.
Continue reading...Many in Lebanon hope a new government of national unity will pave the way for reform after last week’s explosion
In the wake of Lebanese prime minister Hassan Diab’s announcement that his government will resign, the country has been left wondering whether the explosion that decimated Beirut is also strong enough to uproot Lebanon’s rotten political system.
In a televised address on Monday night after more than a third of ministers quit their posts, forcing him to do the same, Diab said that the corruption of the country’s entrenched ruling class “created this tragedy” but avoided taking personal responsibility.
Continue reading...Without a radical overhaul the next government could look like the one that resigned
Like a break in a merciless heatwave, the fall of Lebanon’s failed government has reduced by a few degrees the political temperature in the country’s towns and cities. One week after the enormous explosion that levelled much of Beirut, its rulers have rightly paid a price. The power of the street had exposed the fragility of Lebanese leaders. Impunity hadn’t won the day after all.
But what seemed like much needed relief is more likely to be the start of a familiar pattern; the same line up of ministers who quit in disgrace will now take on a caretaker role, while those who really control the country haggle over the next incarnation of a government that is likely to look very similar to the one that has just resigned.
Continue reading...Alexander Lukashenko has cut off entire population’s internet to try to stifle election dissent
As he fights for his political survival, Alexander Lukashenko has taken a big gamble by cutting off the internet across most of Belarus.
Belarusians seeking to protest against his government have been mostly cut off from the outside world: mobile internet has been throttled and popular messaging apps have been disabled, leaving demonstrators scrambling to find wifi connections and working VPNs or proxies to get online and then sharing what news they can find.
Continue reading...Researchers call for new regulations to protect users, and society, in case of collapse
Like banks in the 2008 financial crisis, Facebook and other tech giants are “too big to fail”, according to research from Oxford University that calls for new regulations to protect users, and society, in the event of a possible collapse.
In their paper, published in the Internet Policy Review journal on Tuesday, Carl Öhmana and Nikita Aggarwal argue that the world’s biggest technology companies are unlikely to suddenly go out of business – but the world is unprepared for what would happen if they did.
Continue reading...New infections back to nearly half their peak in the Netherlands as France reports ‘worrying increase’
New daily coronavirus infections in the Netherlands are back to roughly half their level at the peak of the pandemic, while France’s prime minister has said it is crucial for his country to avoid a new lockdown amid a “worrying increase” in cases.
Jaap van Dissel, the Netherlands’ chief epidemiologist, told the Dutch parliament on Tuesday that 4,036 new Covid-19 cases had been reported in the past week, an increase of 55% on the previous seven days. The figure translated to a daily average of more than 500, compared with nearly 1,200 at the peak of pandemic.
Continue reading...Amid increasing public clashes with his top public health advisers on the pandemic, Donald Trump appears to have turned to an academic whose views on swift reopening in the face of coronavirus mirror his own.
Related: Covid live news: New Zealand reports first new cases in community; Russia approves vaccine
Continue reading...Research could pave way for cheap supercapacitor storage of renewable energy
The humble house brick has been turned into a battery that can store electricity, raising the possibility that buildings could one day become literal powerhouses.
The new technology exploits the porous nature of fired red bricks by filling the pores with tiny nanofibres of a conducting plastic that can store charge. The first bricks store enough electricity to power small lights. But if their capacity can be increased, they may become a low-cost alternative to the lithium-ion batteries currently used.
Continue reading...Experts offer other options as UK government seeks to reduce numbers crossing in boats
The government insists the way to reduce the number of people crossing the Channel in small boats is to prevent the vessels from leaving France in the first place or by intercepting the boats and returning those attempting to make a crossing.
But humanitarian groups and refugee and asylum experts argue the way to reduce the number of attempted crossings is to offer alternative “safe and legal” routes to the UK to claim asylum.
Continue reading...Sputnik V’s development has been marked by worrying opacity and ethical issues
The race to find a vaccine against Covid-19 has not always been particularly edifying, driven at times by so-called “vaccine nationalism”, much cautioned against by the World Health Organization, which has itself been accused of being invested as much in self-interest and prestige as global public health.
Russia’s announcement that it has registered its Sputnik V vaccine as safe and effective for mass production and inoculation even before so-called phase 3 large-scale safety trials, which usually take months, fits the pattern.
Continue reading...Police seize drugs valued at up to €6m and arrest at least 17 suspects at stables
At least 17 people are in custody in the Netherlands after police raided a former riding stables that had been transformed into the country’s largest ever illicit drugs “laundry” capable of producing up to 200kg of cocaine a day.
Thirteen of those detained were Colombian nationals, police said on Tuesday. Three Dutch citizens – including the 64-year-old owner of the stables, in the northern village of Nijeveen – and one Turkish suspect were also arrested.
Continue reading...War Office feared war movie would ‘not go down well with British public’
The adventure war film The Bridge on the River Kwai may have swept the board of awards and attracted acclaim as one best films of the 20th century, but the War Office was very nervous “it would not go down well with the British public”, documents reveal.
Letters between the Hollywood producer Sam Spiegel and the UK War Office, from whom he was seeking permission for RAF cooperation in making the 1957 film, show tensions over how its plot depicted the conduct of British officers.
Continue reading...Home Office minister says measures being considered to make route ‘unviable’
The UK and France are working “at pace” on a new plan to put an end to people attempting to cross the Channel in small boats, a Home Office minister has said, as tensions rise over the British government’s approach to the unfolding crisis.
Following talks with officials in Paris, Chris Philp, minister for immigration compliance, conceded the French were doing a “great deal of work” and had intercepted more than 1,000 people attempting to reach England this year after days of loaded statements from the two nations.
Continue reading...Police in Minsk use rubber bullets and stun grenades against protesters during second night of violence
Guardian investigation finds the Facebook communities are gaining followers as Twitter cracks down on QAnon content
New and established QAnon groups on Facebook are growing at a rapid pace and helping to spread the baseless and dangerous conspiracy theory to new countries around the world, a Guardian investigation has found.
The Guardian has documented more than 170 QAnon groups, pages and accounts across Facebook and Instagram with more than 4.5 million aggregate followers. The Guardian has also documented dedicated communities for QAnon followers in at least 15 countries on Facebook.
Continue reading...Government says it will not cancel trains to seaside after dozens are involved in fight
Belgium’s government has ruled out cancelling trains to the seaside after a weekend beach brawl prompted local mayors to call for limits on visitors to the coast.
Local politicians across Belgium’s 40-mile (65km) strip of coastline called for action after police confronted dozens of young people, who had been disturbing other holidaymakers, at a beach in Blankenberge on Saturday. Some of the young people threw sand in people’s faces and used parasols as projectiles against police. Three people from Brussels appeared before a judge on Monday charged with assault and battery.
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