Newsweek apologizes for op-ed that questioned Kamala Harris’ citizenship

Magazine’s opinion editor and editor-in-chief ended note by saying op-ed would remain on the site

Newsweek has apologized for an op-ed that questioned the California senator Kamala Harris’ American citizenship and her eligibility to be Joe Biden’s running mate, a false and racist conspiracy theory which Donald Trump has not dismissed.

“This op-ed is being used by some as a tool to perpetuate racism and xenophobia. We apologize,” read Newsweek’s editor’s note on Friday, which replaced the magazine’s earlier detailed defense of the op-ed.

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Why Germany would be especially happy to see the back of Trump | John Kampfner

The competence embodied in Merkel provokes loathing from the US president

Donald Trump has declared war on Germany. In a manner of speaking. Europe’s most important country, potentially America’s most valuable partner, has in the mind of the president become an adversary. Of all Trump’s many foreign policy disasters, this is perhaps his most significant.

In late July, it was announced that retired army colonel Douglas Macgregor, a decorated combat veteran, would become the next ambassador to Berlin. Macgregor is a regular contributor to Trump’s favourite channel of information, Fox News. He has variously suggested that the US border guard should shoot people if they tried to enter illegally from Mexico; described eastern Ukrainians as “Russians”; defended Serbia’s actions against a “Muslim drug mafia” in Kosovo; and criticised Germany for giving “millions of unwanted Muslim invaders” welfare benefits rather than providing more funding for its armed services.

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Watchdog to investigate US Postal Service changes ahead of election – live

Donald Trump has spent the early part of today retweeting stories that promote the (unproven) theory that mail-in voting is subject to widescale fraud.

The president retweeted allegations of voting fraud in Paterson, New Jersey, along with the comment: “The Democrats know the 2020 Election will be a fraudulent mess. Will maybe never know who won!”

The Democrats know the 2020 Election will be a fraudulent mess. Will maybe never know who won! https://t.co/tEWKJ5NcUj

Good morning. We start this morning with news that the United States Postal Service’s inspector general will investigate claims that recent changes could affect this November’s presidential election.

Donald Trump has long issued baseless claims that mail-in voting is ripe for fraud and there are real concerns that cuts to the service could weaken the agency and mail-in ballots may not arrive on time to be counted.

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US postal service warning renews fears millions of votes could be uncounted

Postal service warns Pennsylvania seven-day turnaround for mail-in ballots may not be possible, amid mounting election concern

There are growing fears over the handling of November’s US presidential election after the postal service warned that the rules in a key battleground state could result in millions of votes left uncounted.

Related: Trump faces surprise call from Republican congressman to pardon Edward Snowden – live

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Speculation grows over pardon for Edward Snowden after Trump remarks

  • Trump: ‘A lot of people think he is not being treated fairly’
  • Congressman calls for Trump to pardon NSA whistleblower

Speculation is growing over whether Donald Trump might pardon Edward Snowden after the US president told an interviewer that the exiled former intelligence operative was “not being treated fairly”.

Related: Edward Snowden on 9/11 and why he joined the army: ‘Now, finally, there was a fight’

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‘It’s a game and we lost’: Palestinians decry Gulf moves towards Israel

Israel’s relationship with neighbours is no longer defined by occupation, Palestinians say

Shortly after Donald Trump announced he had brokered a “huge breakthrough” deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, the White House published a list of bullet points detailing what it had achieved.

Only at the bottom, just after “expanded business and financial ties between these two thriving economies”, did the very last sentence blandly mention what had previously been the key regional issue: the fate of the Palestinians.

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Reporter asks Trump: ‘Do you regret all your lying?’ – video

The Huffington Post’s White House correspondent, SV Dáte, broke from the usual question and answer protocol at President Trump's press briefings, posing a simple, yet cutting question: 'Mr President, after three-and-a-half years, do you regret at all, all the lying you’ve done to the American people?' Trump initially responded with his own question, 'All the what?', before ignoring Dáte and moving on to the next question

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As he struggles in the polls, Trump reaches for the racist playbook again

The US president began his political career with the ‘birtherism’ lie about Obama. He’s doing the same once more

“Mr President,” a reporter asked on Thursday. “After three and a half years, do you regret, at all, all the lying you’ve done to the American people?”

A disbelieving Trump asked: “All the what?”

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Joe Biden and Kamala Harris call for nationwide mask mandate – live

Just hours after Joe Biden announced Kamala Harris as his running mate, in her home state of California fierce speculation had already begun as to who might replace her in the Senate if she wins a spot in the White House.

Related: If Kamala Harris wins, who might fill her California Senate seat?

From Oliver Holmes in Jerusalem and Julian Borger in Washington:

Israel and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to establish full diplomatic ties in a historic Washington-brokered deal under which Israel will “suspend” its plans to annex parts of the Palestinian territories.

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Trump pushes for schools to reopen as US sees deadliest Covid day since May

  • Trump: ‘We’ve got to open up our schools and our businesses’
  • US leads world in coronavirus infections and deaths

Donald Trump has vowed to push ahead with the reopening of America’s schools, despite the US suffering nearly 1,500 coronavirus-related deaths on Wednesday, the highest number in a single day for three months.

Related: Coronavirus live news: global death toll exceeds 750,000; France reports over 2,600 new cases in 24 hours

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Trump admits he is undermining USPS to make it harder to vote by mail

The president says he opposes providing additional money to the postal service to help it deliver mail-in ballots

Donald Trump admitted on Thursday he opposed additional funding for the United States Postal Service (USPS) in order to make it more difficult to deliver mail-in ballots.

Trump’s comments lend evidence for critics who say the president is deliberately trying to hamstring the USPS in advance of the November elections to help his re-election bid.

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‘My hair has to be perfect’: Trump prompts change in showerhead rule – video

The US president’s hair-washing complaints have prompted a proposal on easing of shower-pressure standards.

The Trump administration presented rule changes that would allow showerheads to boost water pressure, after Donald Trump complained that bathroom fixtures did not work to his liking. 

The Department of Energy plan followed Trump's comments last month at a White House event on rolling back regulations where he said he believed water did not come out fast enough from fixtures. ‘My hair … I don’t know about you, but it has to be perfect,' he said

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Donald Trump continues attack on Kamala Harris, calling Biden’s running mate ‘a big failure’ – video

President Donald Trump labelled Democratic vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris 'a big failure' the day after she was announced as Joe Biden's running mate. Trump's criticism is the second in as many days from his White House press briefings, where called her appointment 'risky'. The president cited previous tension between the two during the primary election debates and backed his own vice-president, Mike Pence

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Bob Woodward obtains letters between Trump and Kim Jong-un for new book Rage

Bob Woodward’s second book on the Trump White House has a title, Rage, and promises to reveal the secrets of “25 personal letters exchanged between [Donald] Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that have not been public before”.

Related: It Was All a Lie review: Trump as symptom not cause of Republican decline

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Harris and Biden make first appearance as running mates and excoriate ‘failure’ Trump

  • Democratic pair say president has left America ‘in tatters’
  • Biden introduces Harris as ‘the next vice-president of the US’

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris accused Donald Trump of leaving the US “in tatters” by failing to lead the country through the coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout, as they debuted the Democratic presidential ticket the party hopes will defeat him in November’s election.

Related: 'Ready on day one': Joe Biden welcomes Kamala Harris at their first event as running mates – live

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US proposes change to shower rules after Trump’s hair-washing moan

  • President believes shower water does not flow fast enough
  • ‘My hair … I don’t know about you, but it has to be perfect’

The US president’s hair-washing complaints on Wednesday prompted the government to propose an easing of shower pressure standards.

Related: Biden and Harris say Trump has left America's reputation 'in tatters' at first event as running mates – live

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Why Joe Biden picked Kamala Harris as his running mate – video explainer

Joe Biden has picked his former one-time presidential rival Kamala Harris to be his running mate, making her the first woman of color on a major party presidential ticket. The Guardian's Lauren Gambino explains Harris's trailblazing background, the  'hunger for black, female leadership' and the excitement around the Californian senator's nomination 


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Joe Biden picks Kamala Harris as running mate – US politics live

Well at least we now know where Donald Trump stands on QAnon supporting Marjorie Taylor Greene. Some members of the Republican party disowned her campaign after a series of racist videos emerged in which she complains of an “Islamic invasion” into government offices, claims Black and Hispanic men are held back by “gangs and dealing drugs”, and pushes an antisemitic conspiracy theory that the billionaire philanthropist George Soros, who is Jewish, collaborated with the Nazis.

And that seems all fine with the commander-in-chief

Congratulations to future Republican Star Marjorie Taylor Greene on a big Congressional primary win in Georgia against a very tough and smart opponent. Marjorie is strong on everything and never gives up - a real WINNER!

US secretary of state Mike Pompeo has said his department did everything by the book in regards to arms sales to Saudi Arabia in 2019, after a government watchdog found the risk of civilian casualties in Yemen was not fully evaluated.

His comments came after a state department inspector general report earlier this week concluded the state department did not fully evaluate the risk of civilian casualties in Yemen when it pushed through a huge 2019 precision-guided munitions sale to Saudi Arabia, report the Associated Press.

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‘Good day for our country’: Democrats hail Kamala Harris as VP pick

Party leaders and progressive groups appear largely united behind Joe Biden’s choice of running mate

Democrats from all corners of the party appeared largely united behind Joe Biden’s selection of the California senator Kamala Harris as his running mate on Tuesday.

The responses came almost immediately after Biden unveiled Harris as his choice for the vice presidential nominee, less than a week before the Democratic national convention, where Biden will be formally nominated as the presidential candidate for his party.

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QAnon supporter denounced for racism wins Georgia Republican primary

Videos have shown congressional candidate Marjorie Taylor Greene voicing racist, antisemitic and Islamophobic views

Marjorie Taylor Greene, a businesswoman who has expressed racist views and support for the far-right conspiracy theory QAnon, has won the Republican nomination for Georgia’s 14th congressional district.

Greene beat the neurosurgeon John Cowan in a primary runoff for the open seat on Tuesday in the deep-red district in north-west Georgia, despite several Republican officials denouncing her campaign after videos surfaced in which she expressed racist, antisemitic and anti-Muslim views.

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