Frustrated, some Republicans have become anti-Trumpers: ‘This guy couldn’t lead his way out of a wet frickin’ paper bag’
The anti-Trumpers are at it again – only this time, they’re Republicans.
Kevin, a lifelong Republican voter and pastor from Arizona, says he voted for Trump in 2016 “with high hopes for the future”. He knew that Trump didn’t have the same political experience as the other contenders, but he was optimistic he could grow into his new role.
Continue reading...Maxwell, who faces up to 35 years in federal prison, was denied bail and will remain in custody
Ghislaine Maxwell appeared in Manhattan federal court via video feed on Tuesday, to plead not guilty regarding her alleged involvement in Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking of minor girls.
Related: More victims of Jeffrey Epstein have come forward, says lawyer
Continue reading...Video obtained exclusively by the Guardian shows an officer with a history of misconduct slamming 23-year-old Mariah Valenzuela to the ground within seconds of a traffic stop
Important mistakes could be made if we look to the past to assess current tensions between the two countries
A “new cold war” has become almost a default description of the current rivalry between the United States and China. Some structural similarities do indeed exist with the post-second world war global stage, when the Soviet Union was pitted against the US.
Just as, say, in 1950, we live now in a sort of bipolar system. In terms of economic power, military might, global influence and ability to pollute the planet, two powers – China and the US – clearly stand in a league of their own. And just as during the cold war, this bipolarism is spurious and asymmetrical: simply put, one side – the US – is way more powerful and influential than the other. The similarities end, however, with this systemic parallel. As is often the case when thinking analogically, invoking a cyclical vision of history obfuscates more than it clarifies. More importantly, such thinking produces policy prescriptions – such as promoting an aggressive “containment” of China – which, in addition to being based on a superficial and misleading reading of history, are at best useless and at worst outright dangerous.
Continue reading...Trump’s commutation ‘does not have to be the end of the story’, Andrew Weissmann wrote in a New York Times column
Donald Trump’s commutation of Roger Stone’s sentence for lying to Congress and other crimes discovered in the Russia investigation “does not have to be the end of the story”, the former Mueller team member Andrew Weissmann said on Tuesday, advocating that the self-confessed political dirty trickster be brought before a grand jury.
Related: Roger Stone speaks in Fox News interview after Trump commutation
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This is Joan Greve in Washington, taking over for Martin Belam.
The latest challenge in the country’s coronavirus crisis centers on whether schools should reopen this fall, with the president and many of his advisers pushing for schools to resume in-person instruction.
Adm. Brett Giroir has been doing the TV round this morning, and gave a pretty snappy response when he was asked about the accusation that Donald Trump retweeted yesterday that the CDC and “most” doctors were lying about the coronavirus outbreak.
Asked directly on NBC’s Today whether the CDC and other doctors are lying, Giroir, a top member of the White House coronavirus task force, said that mistakes have been made and that public guidance is updated when more is learned about the virus, “but none of us lie. We are completely transparent with the American people.”
Continue reading...Global cases rise by 1m in five days; 5.4m Americans have lost their health insurance; 6,000 new cases in Russia
Iran reports 179 new virus death as authorities announced a decision to once more shutter some businesses in the capital to contain the virus’ resurgence.
The reimposition of restrictive measures comes after the government had progressively lifted them from April to reopen its sanctions-hit economy.
Masks will become mandatory in all enclosed public spaces in France within the next few weeks, President Emmanuel Macron has said in a major Bastille Day interview.
Masks were already obligatory on public transport and recommended in shops, with many store owners refusing to welcome customers not wearing them.
Continue reading...Investors pump in funds, loans and deferrals alongside Branson’s £200m injection
Virgin Atlantic has announced a £1.2bn rescue deal to allow Sir Richard Branson’s grounded passenger airline to survive another 18 months and aim to return to profit in 2022, after four months without scheduled flights.
The privately funded recapitalisation package, a combination of cash injections, loans, and deferrals, was finally confirmed on Tuesday after weeks of talks with potential investors, after Virgin’s attempts to garner state support were rebuffed.
Continue reading...Daniel Lee put to death in Indiana after court overturns last-minute order to delay execution
The US federal government on Tuesday carried out its first execution in 17 years, putting to death the convicted murderer Daniel Lee after the supreme court cleared the way overnight, a US Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman said.
Lee was pronounced dead at 8.07am ET, the spokeswoman, Kristie Breshears, said by phone.
Continue reading...Police have confirmed that a body recovered from a lake in California is that of missing Glee actor Naya Rivera. Authorities said last week that they had presumed Rivera had drowned after renting a boat on Lake Piru near Los Angeles with her four-year-old son, Josey, who was found unharmed.
Rivera began her career in television at the age of four, as Hillary Winston in the US sitcom The Royal Family, and was best known for playing Santana Lopez in the hit show Glee, which was nominated for 32 Emmys and nine Golden Globes during its run
Continue reading...Trump has claimed he received 'rave reviews' for commuting the prison sentence of Roger Stone, his long-time ally. Stone, 67, was convicted in November 2019 of obstructing a congressional investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to win the 2016 election. Both Democrats and Republicans have criticised the move as a miscarriage of justice
Donald Trump has rebuffed reports that the White House is briefing against Anthony Fauci, the federal government’s top public health expert. 'I have a very good relationship with Dr Fauci,' he said. The president's press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, denied that officials had shared 'opposition research' with reporters. Over the weekend, Trump aides told news outlets that Fauci, who has become the public face of the government’s response, had made a series of 'mistakes' in his predictions
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Hi all - Sam Levin here, taking over our live coverage for the rest of the day, writing from Los Angeles, which is returning to strict closures for a number of industries, as Covid infections, hospitalizations and deaths continue to surge here.
Business owners in LA have told me that it’s been particularly painful to restart and then shut down again, and that they have been pouring money into making their indoor operations safe, with little certainty about when they can properly reopen. Here’s more from my colleague Vivian Ho on the state of the crisis and new restrictions across California:
Related: California rolls back reopening of bars, restaurants and indoor venues
That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Sam Levin, will take over the blog for the next few hours.
Here’s where the day stands so far:
Continue reading...Defense team had cited Covid-19 in asking for her to be freed as she awaits trial relating to Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse of girls
Ghislaine Maxwell should not get bail while awaiting trial for her alleged involvement in Jeffrey Epstein’s child sex trafficking because she is an “extreme risk of flight”, prosecutors said on Monday, firing back at her legal team’s arguments that she is not.
Related: Ghislaine Maxwell requests bail release due to 'unprecedented' Covid-19 risks
Continue reading...Sampaio, of Brazil, describes moment’s significance: ‘Being trans usually means facing closed doors to people’s hearts’
The model Valentina Sampaio has made history by becoming the first openly transgender model to be featured in Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue.
The 23-year-old Brazilian has been selected as a model for the issue that will be released on 21 July.
Continue reading...The president says the scientist leading the US fight against the virus has ‘made a lot of mistakes’
He is the US scientist who became the figurehead of attempts to combat the country’s coronavirus epidemic, described in some quarters as “America’s doctor”.
Now Anthony Fauci appears sidelined by Donald Trump’s White House after repeatedly contradicting the president’s view about the effectiveness of the government response.
Continue reading...If he’s to stay in power, Trump needs to repeat his victory in Wisconsin. But the landscape is very different now – and support is shrinking
Donald Trump claimed to have done so much for African Americans that his campaign decided to open the first ever Republican office in a black neighbourhood of Milwaukee.
Related: White House attacks Fauci as states see record new coronavirus cases – live updates
Continue reading...With Germany at the EU helm, there’s a unique chance for Europe to fill the vacuum left by the retreating US
With Trump’s US missing in action from the global stage, the European Union should be stepping into the vacuum. Germany, which has just taken over the bloc’s rotating presidency, could use the next six months to provide the leadership to boost Europe’s global impact. But is it ready to shake off its traditional reticence?
Immediate economic challenges will dominate EU leaders’ first in-person encounter since the lockdown, on 17 and 18 July. And Berlin is right to prioritise agreement on the EU’s new seven-year budget and a pandemic recovery plan, a task complicated by internal rifts and new forecasts warning of an even deeper recession than expected across the 27-nation bloc. As Angela Merkel said in a recent Guardian interview: “For Europe to survive, its economy needs to survive.”
Continue reading...Travolta says ‘Kelly’s love and life will always be remembered’ after revealing actor’s death after two-year illness
Kelly Preston, who appeared in the hit films Jerry Maguire and Twins, has died, her husband, John Travolta, said. She was 57.
Travolta said in an Instagram post that his wife of 28 years, who was diagnosed with breast cancer two years ago, died on Sunday.
Continue reading...Cases rise by over 230,000 worldwide in 24 hours; Florida cases increase by record total for a US state; Brazil cases near 2m. Follow the latest updates
Mainland China reported eight new Covid-19 cases as of the end of 12 July, up from seven reported a day earlier, the Chinese national health authority said on Monday.
The National Health Commission said in a statement that all of the new cases were imported infection involving travellers from overseas, the same as the seven cases a day earlier. The capital city of Beijing reported no new confirmed cases for the seventh consecutive day.
The Commission also reported six new asymptomatic patients, those who are infected with the coronavirus but have no symptoms, compared with five a day earlier. China does not consider such patients as confirmed cases.
Total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases for mainland China now stands at 83,602, while the death toll remained unchanged at 4,634.
Hong Kong health authorities are continuing to battle its worst virus outbreak yet. It saw a rise in cases in March as people began returning from overseas, prompting increased social distancing measures and restrictions which had started to ease in recent weeks.
On Sunday another 38 new cases were confirmed, including 30 local transmissions. Of the 30, 13 have an unknown source.
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