US President Donald Trump claims he has seen evidence of Covid-19 originating in a Wuhan lab. When asked at a press briefing if he has seen anything that gives you a “high degree of confidence” that coronavirus originated at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, President Trump replied: “Yes, I have." He added that he was "not allowed" to tell reporters what that evidence was.
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Joe Biden to break his silence on Tara Reade’s sexual assault claim Friday
The presumptive nominee has come under pressure to address the allegation from fellow Democrats and progressive activists
Joe Biden will publicly address for the first time a sexual assault claim against him during an appearance on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Friday morning, after weeks of silence on the subject.
Biden, the presumptive nominee, will “respond for the first time to the recent allegation of sexual assault”, the network announced in a tweet on Thursday.
Continue reading...Nasa picks Bezos’s Blue Origin and Musk’s SpaceX to build new lunar landers
Alabama company Dynetics also chosen for moon landing project, as three firms prepare to compete
Nasa has selected three private space companies to lead the development of lunar landers for its forthcoming moon landings.
The three companies are Blue Origin, owned by Amazon’s CEO, Jeff Bezos; Elon Musk’s SpaceX; and Dynetics, based in Huntsville, Alabama, Nasa announced on Thursday.
Continue reading...Documents reveal FBI head defended encryption for WhatsApp before becoming fierce critic
Christopher Wray defended encryption in 2015 as a lawyer, contradicting his current opposition to the practice
Christopher Wray, the FBI director who has been one of the fiercest critics of encryption under the Trump administration, previously worked as a lawyer for WhatsApp, where he defended the practice, according to new court filings.
The documents, which were released late on Wednesday night as part of an unrelated matter, show Wray worked for WhatsApp in 2015 while he was an attorney for the Washington law firm of King & Spalding.
Continue reading...Coronavirus: New York subway to close at night for disinfection, says Cuomo – video
New York state governor Andrew Cuomo has said the New York subway will close between 1am and 5am from 7 May to allow the MTA to disinfect the carriages, train and stations, and protect essential workers from contracting coronavirus
- Coronavirus US live: intelligence report concludes Covid-19 was not 'manmade or genetically modified'
- Live global updates
- See all our coronavirus coverage
Germany and Spain ease lockdown as Eurozone slumps 3.8% – as it happened
This blog is now closed.
We’ve launched a brand new blog at the link below. Follow me there for the latest coronavirus news from around the world, live:
Hello, Helen Sullivan with you now. I’ll have the blog for the next few hours, so please do get in touch on Twitter @helenrsullivan.
Here are the key developments from the last few hours:
Continue reading...Coronavirus US live: intelligence report concludes Covid-19 was not ‘manmade or genetically modified’
- Trump had reportedly asked officials to investigate whether virus was made in Chinese lab
- 3.8 million Americans lose jobs as unemployment grows
- At least two dozen states set to begin reopening
- Live global updates
- See all our coronavirus coverage
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House speaker Nancy Pelosi was careful not to criticize Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell for calling senators back to Washington starting next week.
Pelosi and majority leader Steny Hoyer originally said the House would also return next week, but they reversed that decision after a consultation with the Capitol’s attending physician.
The office of the director of national intelligence has released an unusual statement saying officials do not believe coronavirus was manmade, echoing many health experts.
“The Intelligence Community also concurs with the wide scientific consensus that the COVID-19 virus was not manmade or genetically modified,” the statement reads.
Continue reading...Four children die after Amish buggy overturns in Kentucky stream
- Fifth child missing but adult in vehicle swims to safety
- Buggy carrying family was trying to cross a low-water bridge
Authorities in Kentucky said four children died and one is missing after a buggy carrying an Amish family was swept away in the current while trying to cross a low-water bridge.
Six people were in the horse and buggy that overturned on Wednesday in Salt Lick, Bath county, Kentucky state police said in a statement.
Continue reading...S&P hits back in court after Fortescue Metals takes legal action to prevent publication of ore price
Ratings agency says mining giant owned by Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest’ wants to keep prices secret so it can charge more for its ore
Mining giant Fortescue Metals Group, controlled by billionaire Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest, has launched legal action to stop global ratings agency S&P publishing information about the price it charges for iron ore.
A UK court has ordered S&P to stop publishing the information, which Fortescue claims is confidential, but the ratings agency has hit back in a US court, accusing the miner of trying to keep prices secret so it can charge more for its ore.
Continue reading...Pressure mounts on Joe Biden to address sexual assault claim
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee has remained silent amid new reporting on allegation of 1993 assault
Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, is facing growing pressure to publicly address an allegation of sexual assault made by Tara Reade, a former aide to his Senate office.
The former vice-president has remained silent about the accusation, a position that is seen as increasingly untenable in the wake of new reporting. Many major Democratic women’s organizations and prominent feminists have also declined to comment publicly on Reade’s claim that Biden, then a senator from Delaware, assaulted her in 1993.
Biden’s deputy campaign manager, Kate Bedingfield, said in a statement this month that “this absolutely did not happen”, but she has not commented further.
Continue reading...Fauci: ‘clear-cut’ evidence potential Covid-19 drug remdesivir works – video
Anthony Fauci, the US government’s top infectious disease expert, has said that potential Covid-19 treatment remdesivir has shown a 'clear-cut positive effect' in a trial. 'This will be the standard of care,' Fauci said. 'What it has proven is a drug can block this virus.'
Continue reading...Who is Justin Amash and does he have a chance in the US presidential election?
The Republican turned Libertarian announced plans to jump in the race with the hopes he can rally voters disaffected by Trump
Michigan congressman Justin Amash late Tuesday announced plans to jump into the 2020 presidential race. Amash, a former Republican turned Libertarian, had toyed with the idea for a while. His argument has been that he could rally voters disaffected by Donald Trump but disinterested in voting for a Democrat.
Amash, a five-term congressman, is known as a gadfly who has bucked Republican leadership and eagerly skirmished with his colleagues when he was a Republican. In July 2019 Amash, the only Republican congressman to vocally support impeaching Trump, left the Republican party.
Continue reading...Donald Trump accuses WHO of ‘misleading’ US over coronavirus – video
Donald Trump has accused the World Health Organization of being a 'pipe organ for China' and misleading the US over the coronavirus crisis. The US president suggested the US could take action against the WHO. 'We're coming up with a very distinct recommendation,' Trump said. 'We're not happy with it.'
Continue reading...California police to investigate officer shown punching 14-year-old boy on video
- Rancho Cordova officer pinned teen to the ground
- Sheriff’s office says boy was ‘physically resistive’
A northern California police officer is under investigation after a video went viral that captured him punching a 14-year-old black boy that he had pinned to the ground.
The video, which was posted to Twitter by the boy’s family and friends, shows an officer from Rancho Cordova, a city east of Sacramento, holding the boy in the dirt, at one point with his hand on his neck, and striking him several times in the chest.
Continue reading...New York City’s mayor Bill de Blasio apologises for tweet about Jewish funeral – video
New York City's mayor, Bill de Blasio, has apologised for lashing out at the conduct of mourners at a packed funeral for a rabbi who died of Covid-19. In a tweet, the mayor called the large processional 'absolutely unacceptable' and vowed to shut down such gatherings. 'If you saw anger and frustration [in the response] you’re right,' de Blasio said. 'I spoke out of real distress. People’s lives were in danger right before my eyes.'
Continue reading...World’s stock markets soar on coronavirus treatment hopes
Investors shrug off US growth gloom after promising data from remdesivir drug trial
Shares have soared on the world’s stock markets after investors shrugged off a deep slump in the US economy and pinned their hopes on a possible breakthrough in treatment for Covid-19.
Despite news that the longest expansion in US history came to an abrupt end in the first three months of 2020, financial markets were buoyed by an update from the American biopharma company Gilead Sciences on its experimental drug remdesivir.
Continue reading...Embarrassed TV host caught broadcasting in collar, blazer and … shorts
It’s easy to let standards slip during the lockdown but unlike Will Reeve not all of us see our pantless selves broadcast to the nation
Almost two months into the US shutdown, things are starting to get a little wild in quarantine. Perhaps you’ve stopped brushing your hair or started working in pyjamas. But a Good Morning America reporter took it a step further yesterday – he “went” to work without pants on for a nationally televised broadcast.
I have ARRIVED*
*in the most hilariously mortifying way possible https://t.co/2NQ85QEJVr
The toxic chemicals in our homes could increase Covid-19 threat | Leonardo Trasande and Akhgar Ghassabian
Everyday hormone-disrupting chemicals could affect our immune system’s defenses against infections
During the rare moments you’ve ventured outside these days, you’ve probably noticed clearer skies and the benefits of reductions in air pollution.
Long-term exposure to air pollution increases the danger associated with four of the biggest Covid-19 mortality risks: diabetes, hypertension, coronary artery disease and asthma. It also can make the immune system overreact, exaggerating the inflammatory response to common pathogens.
Continue reading...Coronavirus live news: US drug trial shows ‘clear cut’ effect, says top medic
Schools in Turkey to stay shut until end of May; Germans urged to stay home; Vietnam says it has had no domestic transmission for two weeks
- Revealed: the inside story of the UK’s Covid-19 crisis
- ‘So what?’: Bolsonaro shrugs off Brazil’s rising coronavirus death toll
- UK coronavirus updates – live
- US coronavirus updates – live
- See all our coronavirus coverage
Another 31 people have died in Ireland and 376 more cases have been diagnosed, the country’s chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan has said.
One of the deaths reported on Wednesday involved a person in the 15-24 age group, the second in this category. Dr Holohan warned the number in intensive care units was too high as the prospect of a rapid easing of movement restrictions dwindles.
That is simply too high and we need to get that down further not only because it is about protecting occupancy but the lower the figure is it is a reflection of better protection of the public and lower levels of spread of the infection.
Bolivia will extend its lockdown against the pandemic until 10 May, the government has announced, though it is planning to relax rules in less affected parts of the country from the following day.
The president Jeanine Áñez has said Bolivia will move to a “dynamic” or “less rigid” quarantine on 11 May, allowing some people to return to work.
Opening the quarantine a little or closing it completely will depend on how the pandemic is being controlled in each region. The Ministry of Health will evaluate every seven days how the pandemic evolves in each region. On that basis, decisions will be taken to relax or harden the quarantine.
Continue reading...Trump is seizing the courts – only a Democratic win in November can stop him
Trump’s transformation of the federal judiciary means the stakes have never been higher in an election than they are for Democrats
He is 37 and less than 10 years out of law school. He had never tried a case, nor served as co-counsel at trial, when he was tapped last year for America’s federal bench. But he did go on Fox News to push the cause of Brett Kavanaugh when Trump’s supreme court pick was mired in sexual abuse claims two years ago.
And now he is bound for the second highest court in the land.
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