Category Archives: US News

Coronavirus live news: global deaths near 360,000 as Philippines has biggest daily spike in cases

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Up to six people can gather in UK parks from Monday; Donald Trump says he would take hydroxychloroquine again; drug combination triples death risk in cancer patients

I’m signing off now (it’s Friday afternoon here in Sydney). I leave you in the hands of my wonderful colleague Alexandra Topping, who assures me it’s a glorious morning in London.

Thanks all for your comments and correspondence. Be well all of you.

Bloomberg reports:

Renault SA plans to eliminate about 14,600 jobs worldwide and lower production capacity by almost a fifth as part of cost reductions aimed at outlasting the downturn that has rocked the global auto industry.

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‘Do I really care?’ Woody Allen comes out fighting

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The 1992 accusation that the film-maker sexually assaulted his young daughter has made him a pariah, yet he was never charged. In this exclusive interview, he explains why he is done with treading carefully

When Woody Allen was 20, the writer Danny Simon taught him a few rules about comedy, the most important of which was this: always trust your own judgment, because external opinion is meaningless.

Allen recounts this tale in his recently published memoir, Apropos of Nothing. That this book exists at all is proof that he still adheres to that rule. These days, Allen’s name is mud, a fact made clear by the critics, who wrote their reviews with one hand while holding their noses with the other.The New York Times’ critic wrote: “Volunteering to review [this book], in our moral climate, is akin to volunteering for the 2021 Olympic javelin-catching team.” Another publication’s headline was: “I Read Woody Allen’s Memoir So You Don’t Have To.”

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China threatens ‘countermeasures’ against UK over Hong Kong crisis

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Beijing describes US efforts to raise controversial security law with UN as ‘pointless’

Beijing has responded with defiance to international criticism of its Hong Kong national security law, threatening countermeasures against the UK and the US and describing Washington’s efforts to raise the issue at the UN security council as “pointless”.

One day after Beijing’s legislature approved plans to move ahead with sweeping anti-sedition legislation in Hong Kong, foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian warned countries that Hong Kong is “purely an internal Chinese matter” and that “no other country has the right to interfere”.

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Trump signs executive order to narrow protections for social media platforms

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Move comes amid president’s feud with Twitter after it fact-checked him for the first time

Donald Trump has fired a shot across the bows of “big tech” companies by signing an executive order that aims to narrow their protections from liability over the content posted on their services.

The move came as the US president stepped up his attacks against social media giants after Twitter fact-checked him for the first time over a false assertion that mail-in voting leads to widespread voter fraud.

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George Floyd: Minneapolis official sings Amazing Grace to bereaved family – video

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Minneapolis city council vice-president Andrea Jenkins sang a portion of the song Amazing Grace and offered her sympathies to the family of George Floyd at a news conference on Thursday morning. Jenkins also called on her council colleagues to call a state of emergency in Minneapolis, declaring racism a public health issue. George Floyd died on Monday after a Minneapolis police officer arrested him and placed his knee on his neck for several minutes. Video of the encounter has been shown worldwide.

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Coronavirus: Cuomo to sign ‘no mask, no entry’ order for New York businesses – video

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The New York governor, Andrew Cuomo, said he would sign an executive order allowing businesses to deny entry to customers who are not wearing masks. The Democrat has repeatedly said mask usage can limit the spread of coronavirus, noting that rates of infection among frontline healthcare workers are lower than that of the general population in the region. 'You don’t want to wear a mask, fine,' Cuomo said. 'But you don’t have a right to then go into that store if that store owner doesn’t want you to.'

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Coronavirus live news: Paris no longer a Covid-19 ‘red zone’ as France moves into new lockdown phase

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France prepares to enter phase two of lockdown relaxation; South Korean officials re-implement lockdown measures in Seoul; Kenya records highest one-day case rise

France announced further easing of lockdown restrictions on Thursday, with life slowly returning to normal for much of the country, writes Kim Willsher, the Guardian’s Paris correspondent. However, certain restrictions will remain in the Paris area and the overseas territories Mayotte and Guyane for at least the next three weeks.

In a 90 minute press conference, the prime minister, Édouard Philippe, said the Covid-19 figures in the country were better than expected, but urged the French to continue respecting the rules and remain careful and vigilant.

French PM Édouard Philippe has arrived for the press conference on Phase 2 of the easing of the lockdown. (I will be trying to translate and type as he speaks, so please forgive lapses in translation and grammar!).

The governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, has said he would sign an executive order allowing businesses to deny entry to customers who are not wearing masks, the Guardian US coronavirus blog reports.

“That store owner has a right to protect himself,” Cuomo said of the order. “That store owner has a right to protect the other patrons in that store.”

Today I am signing an Executive Order authorizing businesses to deny entry to those who do not wear masks or face-coverings. No mask - No entry.

Related: Coronavirus US live: Cuomo to sign 'no mask, no entry' order for businesses

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George Floyd killing: Trump calls protesters ‘thugs’ as fires erupt in Minneapolis on third night of unrest – live

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Completely surreal. Watching the Third Precinct burn surround by thousands of people in complete anarchy. pic.twitter.com/qNVNAJIlA7

Reports that Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey will hold a press conference shortly.

Mayor Frey will hold a news briefing, set to start in a few minutes, about tonight's protests/burning of the 3rd Precinct. @ChaoStrib will have the livestream.

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Trump expected to sign executive order in bid to target Twitter and Facebook

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  • Move could erode legal protections for social media platforms
  • Twitter placed warning on Trump tweets that spread falsehoods

Donald Trump is preparing to sign an executive order that could erode legal protections for social media companies for content posted on their platforms, potentially opening them to liability claims over controversial content.

Related: Trump focuses on possible social media regulation as US coronavirus death toll passes milestone – live

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George Floyd killing: DoJ says inquiry its ‘top priority’ after thousands protest

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  • FBI prosecutors and investigators assigned to ‘robust’ inquiry
  • Protests followed George Floyd’s killing by police on Monday

The US Department of Justice said it had made its investigation into police involvement in the death of George Floyd a “top priority” after thousands took to the streets for a second day of protests in Minneapolis.

Related: George Floyd killing: two officers involved previously reviewed for use of force

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Biden sets solemn tone as Trump waits 15 hours to mark Covid-19 milestone

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As the toll of Americans killed by the coronavirus passed 100,000, the president was lashing out at Twitter for factchecking his posts

Four hours after Johns Hopkins University recorded that 100,000 American lives were lost to the coronavirus, Joe Biden released a solemn speech.

“My fellow Americans, there are moments in our history so grim, so heart-rending, that they are forever fixed in each of our hearts as shared grief. Today is one of those moments,” said Biden, speaking directly to the camera from an office adorned with American flags.

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Zuckerberg says Facebook won’t be ‘arbiters of truth’ after Trump threat

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President announced plan to strip social media companies of liability protections after Twitter factchecked his tweets

Two years after admitting under political pressure that Facebook must do more to prevent disinformation campaigns on its platform, founder Mark Zuckerberg told Fox News on Thursday that the company should step away from regulating online speech.

Related: Trump expected to sign executive order in bid to target Twitter and Facebook

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‘You lot can’t rattle me’: John Boyega defends explicit anti-racism posts in wake of George Floyd death

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The Star Wars actor expanded on his defiance of racist social media users in an Instagram Live video

John Boyega has been praised for a series of uncompromising social media posts speaking out about racism in the wake of the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers.

Boyega’s initial Tweet, “I really fucking hate racists”, currently has 1.3m likes, but came in for criticism for his hard-hitting tone and use of an expletive.

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George Floyd: aerial footage shows protesters block LA highway – video

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Protests after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis grew as demonstrators rallied in Los Angeles, marching through the city and blocking both sides of a freeway. 

Floyd, who was black, died after a white police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes, which was captured on video 

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As 100,000 die, the virus lays bare America’s brutal fault lines – race, gender, poverty and broken politics

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The US’s brutal fault lines – of race, partisanship, gender, poverty and misinformation – rendered it ill-prepared to meet the challenges of Covid-19

In one of the rare expressions of empathy that Donald Trump has displayed during the course of the coronavirus pandemic, he talked earlier this month about the disease claiming so many lives it was “filling up Yankee Stadium with death”.

Now the death toll from Covid-19 stands at almost twice the capacity of the Yankees’ home stadium, and has reached another booming landmark: 100,000 deaths.

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US passes 100,000 coronavirus deaths as states relax lockdown measures

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US recorded more deaths from the disease than any other country in the pandemic

The United States has recorded more than 100,000 deaths from Covid-19, moving past a grim milestone even as many states relax mitigation measures to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The US has recorded more deaths from the disease than any other country in the pandemic, and almost three times as many as the second-ranking country, Britain, which has recorded more than 37,000 Covid-19 deaths.

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Canada court ruling allows US extradition case of Huawei executive to proceed

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Decision says Meng Wanzhou’s alleged actions in the US would be considered a crime in Canada, a key condition for extradition

A Canadian judge has dealt a major blow to a senior Huawei executive’s attempts to evade extradition to the United States, ruling that the high-profile case against Meng Wanzhou can proceed.

The British Columbia supreme court justice Heather Holmes ruled on Wednesday that the alleged actions of Meng would be considered a crime in Canada – a key condition for extradition to proceed.

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Hong Kong no longer has autonomy from China, Mike Pompeo says

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US will end special trade relations with Hong Kong, which could seriously impact the territory’s economy

The US has announced it will no longer treat Hong Kong as autonomous for trade and economic purposes, as China prepares to impose a new security law that would drastically limit civil liberties in the territory.

The US decision could have a serious impact on the Hong Kong economy, which has been used by Beijing as a portal for dealings with the outside world – particularly if its financial sector is hit by sanctions as a result of the move.

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SpaceX-Nasa launch scrubbed due to poor weather

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The first crewed flight from US soil since 2011 was called off 16 minutes before lift off; the next opportunity is on Saturday

The United States’ long-anticipated return to human spaceflight will have to wait a few more days after poor weather forced mission managers to scrub Wednesday’s planned launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida.

The first crewed flight from US soil since 2011 was called off 16min 53sec before the scheduled 4.33pm lift-off time, with SpaceX and Nasa officials blaming “strength of electric fields in the atmosphere”, translating to lightning near the launchpad.

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