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...Lou Dobbs claims ‘the deep state launched agents’ to arrest Trump’s ex-adviser, who pleaded not guilty to fraud charge
Fox Business host Lou Dobbs has blamed the “deep state” conspiracy theory for the arrest of Steve Bannon, the former Trump campaign manager who on Thursday pleaded not guilty to a charge of skimming donations from a fundraising campaign for a border wall with Mexico.
Bannon himself is a key propagator of the theory that unknown government operatives are working against the Trump administration – but has also said the idea is “for nut cases” and should not be taken seriously.
Continue reading...US companies make roughly 663m syringes a year but the Trump administration has calculated that an extra 850m may be needed
As the race for a vaccine against the coronavirus heats up, the US faces another potential crisis: a shortage of syringes.
The US federal government has already spent hundreds of millions of dollars in hopes of warding off a syringe shortage, if and when a Covid-19 vaccine is approved. It comes as shortages of personal protective equipment continue to hamper the response to the pandemic.
Continue reading...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...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...Brayden Harrington, 13, spoke about how he met Joe Biden, who stuttered himself as a boy, and how the Democratic presidential nominee gave him confidence. 'He told me we were members of the same club: we stutter. It was really amazing to hear that someone like me became vice president,' Brayden said.
In the final night of the Democratic national convention, Biden outlined his plans to bring relief and solace to a country battered by the coronavirus pandemic as he accepted the nomination to challenge Donald Trump in the November election
Continue reading...Obama campaign veterans, Hillary Clinton, and Fox News personalities hail former vice-president’s convention appearance
Democrats have largely praised Joe Biden’s speech formally accepting the party nomination as a resounding success, while Republicans have begrudgingly conceded it went well.
Biden’s speech on Thursday capped off the Democratic national convention and was largely optimistic, laying out his vision for tackling several crises facing the country.
Continue reading...Analysis: The Democratic presidential nominee’s remarks resonated with decency, gravity and passion – if not many specifics
Joe Biden stood in a school gym in Iowa fumbling for a message, generating little electricity and looking his age. His rivals were drawing bigger crowds and beat him into fourth place in the caucuses. Political pundits declared him over the hill.
That was February. Now, in August, Biden resembles an ageing heavyweight boxer who got himself in shape, climbed back into the ring, and landed a knockout punch. His closing performance at the Democratic convention on Thursday night produced the finest speech of his career, a comeback for the ages more presidential than the current US president.
Continue reading...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
Julia Louis-Dreyfus and former presidential candidate Andrew Yang open the final night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention with a not-so-subtle dig at Republicans mispronouncing vice-presidential nominee Kamala Harris’s first name
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On the last night of the Democratic National Convention, progressives remain critical that Republicans have been included more than young, progressive Democrats.
If I had a second for every time someone said X got more time than me I’d pool them together and give them to @JulianCastro
Honestly I’m so tired of saying this at this point: the speaking allotment does not represent the future of the Democratic Party. #DemConvention
The convention played a tribute video commemorating the life of Beau Biden, Joe Biden’s eldest son who died of brain cancer in 2015.
Continue reading...Lebanon enters partial lockdown to counter infections; pressure grows in India over rise in infections; concern over cases in Berlin schools
Spain has reported 3,650 new Covid-19 infections in the past 24 hours, bringing its total caseload to 386,054, while three more people have died, the health ministry said on Friday.
On Thursday, cases increased by 3,349. A further 125 people have died from the virus over the past seven days.
Italy registered 947 new infections on Friday, the biggest daily Covid case rise since 14 May, when the country was still in lockdown.
The total number of cases is now up to 257,065. Nine more people have died with the virus and the death toll now stands at 35,427.
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We are wrapping up the liveblog for the day. Thanks for staying with us.
Santa Cruz county is asking that all visitors and tourists occupying hotels, motels and vacation rentals leave the county immediately to free up space for evacuees.
The #CZULightningComplex fire has grown to 40,000 acres, officials say, with at least 20 structures damaged and 0 percent containment; @CAL_FIRE says there's "potential significant growth over the next 48 hours" https://t.co/1hzaWhE7bf pic.twitter.com/4jnuQpSirk
Santa Cruz County is asking all visitors to leave the county to free up shelter space. #CZULightningComplex pic.twitter.com/9vOm4MMyj3
The current map of evacuated areas, this is expected to expand. Please be prepared.#CZUAugustLightningComplex pic.twitter.com/GpVeArkz5J
Continue reading...Trump’s ex-adviser was arrested on Thursday for allegedly defrauding donors to ‘We Build the Wall’ campaign
Former Trump campaign manager Steve Bannon pleaded not guilty on Thursday hours after being arrested on a luxury yacht for allegedly skimming donations from an online fundraising campaign for the president’s controversial border wall with Mexico.
Continue reading...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
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...Harris spoke about structural racism, injustice in healthcare and being a ‘proud black woman’ – fresh words for the presidential stage
The first note that Kamala Harris sounded in her first speech as the Democrats’ official vice-presidential nominee was not about Donald Trump, or Joe Biden, or the crossroads to which the country has arrived.
Instead Harris began her acceptance speech at the party’s national convention Wednesday by looking backwards, to the black women activists who fought historically for the right to vote and then for “a seat at the table”.
Continue reading...Kamala Harris officially accepted her vice-presidential nomination on the third day of the Democratic national convention. Her husband, Douglas Emhoff, joined her on stage alongside Joe Biden and his wife, Jill. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Gabrielle Giffords were among the many figures who condemned Donald Trump's presidency and pledged their support for the Biden-Harris ticket
David Smith in Washington has an analysis piece for us this morning on that blistering Barack Obama speech last night.
In 2020, Obama was back in the city where the US constitution was drafted and signed. But this time he stood alone at a lectern in the Museum of the American Revolution. Usually presidents go into bat for their own legacy, but the message was that the legacy of George Washington and other founding fathers is now at stake.
Obama’s speeches are often lauded for their poetry but this time his language was cold and muscular, using the word “democracy” 18 times. The man who made famous the slogan “Hope and change” had found that the first of those is not always enough. “I did hope, for the sake of our country, that Donald Trump might show some interest in taking the job seriously,” he said. For a long time the 44th president has declined to use Trump’s name. No more.
Related: Obama's stark message: America must save itself from Trump | Analysis
Associated Press are reporting that the New Mexico city of Las Cruces has agreed to pay $6.5 million to the family of Mexican American man who was choked to death by a police officer.
The settlement calls for the city, 46 miles (74 kilometers) north of the US-Mexico border, to pay the family of Antonio Valenzuela within 30 days and promises the local government will embark on various police reforms. Financial terms of the settlement were not previously disclosed.
Continue reading...Masks prevent me from lipreading and using facial cues to communicate –hearing people need to be more open to communicating in different ways with strangers
Since mask-wearing began, my world has disappeared. I was born partially deaf, and masks prevent me from lipreading and using facial cues to communicate.
I’m not alone. Over 460 million people worldwide have disabling hearing loss according to the World Health Organization. So how are people who are d/Deaf (lower case refers to the physical condition of deafness, capital D refers to the Deaf community) or hard of hearing surviving mask mandates?
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