Category Archives: US News

Trump offers rosy predictions for coronavirus testing as US passes 1m cases

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President claims economy will rebound and suggests US, currently testing 200,000 a day, will be testing 5m ‘very soon’

Donald Trump has predicted a “great” economic rebound in the fall and claimed the country would soon be performing 5m coronavirus diagnostic tests a day, as the number of confirmed cases in the US surpassed a million.

Some health experts have suggested that the US would have to carry out 5m tests a day by June to reopen its economy safely. Others have suggested as many as 20m tests a day would ultimately be needed. The US daily rate is currently 200,000.

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Google reports weak revenue growth in first pandemic-affected quarter

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Alphabet first-quarter earnings offer a glimpse of how the digital ad market has fared amid stay-at-home orders

Google reported its weakest revenue growth in nearly five years in the first quarter as the pandemic-driven recession began to shrivel its advertising sales.

“It was the tale of two quarters,” Sundar Pichai, Google’s chief executive, told investors on a conference call on Tuesday. Typically – strong revenue growth in January and February was undercut by a “significant and sudden slowdown in advertising” in March, he said. “When I last spoke with you, no one could have imagined how much the world would change – and how quickly.”

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Mike Pence shuns coronavirus mask rule on Mayo Clinic visit – video

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Mike Pence triggered a storm of controversy on Tuesday by failing to wear a face mask on a visit to the Mayo Clinic’s facilities in Minnesota. Pence leads the US government’s coronavirus taskforce, but his staff have claimed he does not need to wear the protective covering because he is regularly tested for the coronavirus.

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Trump to order meat-processing plants to continue operating amid pandemic

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President to sign executive order meant to soften blow of a chicken and pork shortage among other meat on US supermarket shelves

Donald Trump is set to sign an executive order on Tuesday meant to soften the blow of a chicken and pork shortage among other meat on American supermarket shelves.

The order will use the Defense Production Act to classify meat processing as critical infrastructure, forcing meat production plants to stay open as the president and agricultural leaders say the coronavirus outbreak is threatening the country’s food supply.

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India should be placed on religious freedom blacklist, US panel says

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Commission says religious minorities face ‘increasing assault’ under Narendra Modi but state department unlikely to take action

A US government panel has called for India to be put on a religious freedom blacklist over a “drastic” downturn under the prime minister, Narendra Modi, triggering a sharp response from New Delhi.

The US commission on international religious freedom recommends but does not set policy, and there is virtually no chance the state department will follow its lead on India, an increasingly close US ally.

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Coronavirus: US reaches one million confirmed cases – live updates

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Mike Pence’s office has dubiously argued the vice president does not need to wear a mask because he is regularly tested for coronavirus.

The vice president faced questions about his lack of mask usage earlier this month after a photo circulated of a mask-less Pence greeting Colorado governor Jared Polis, who was wearing a mask in the picture.

Vice President Mike Pence was criticized for ignoring mask guidelines when visiting the Mayo Clinic facilities in Minnesota today.

Footage of Pence’s visit showed the vice president not covering his face as he met with the clinic’s employees and at least one patient.

PENCE flouts Mayo Clinic policy that everyone on campus wear a mask, even as he meets with staff and a patient. pic.twitter.com/kfo64KQDhU

Mayo Clinic had informed @VP of the masking policy prior to his arrival today.

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Democrats not confident 2020 US election will be fair, survey finds

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Findings underscore partisan divide over voting as Democrats push to ease restrictions while Republicans defend them

As America hurtles towards the critical 2020 presidential election during the Covid-19 pandemic, less than half of Democrats are confident it will be fair and accurate, according to a new national survey from the Pew Research Center.

Just 46% of Democrats are confident in the fairness and accuracy of the November election, the survey found. Even fewer are confident all citizens will be able to vote if they want to.

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New York ER doctor who treated coronavirus patients dies by suicide

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Dr Lorna Breen worked at New York-Presbyterian Allen hospital and was ‘truly in the trenches’, her father said

A top emergency room doctor in New York who was working on the frontline trying to save coronavirus victims at the height of the pandemic and also suffered the disease herself has died.

Related: A whip-smart neurologist, a social worker who sang Broadway: US health workers who died from Covid-19

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Who is behind the US protests against coronavirus lockdown? – video explainer

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Some experts have warned that the recent anti-quarantine rallies and counter-protests taking place nationwide could cause a surge in coronavirus cases in America. Guardian US writer Adam Gabbatt explains where these protests originated and who is behind them

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Climate experts call for ‘dangerous’ Michael Moore film to be taken down

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Planet of the Humans, which takes aim at the green movement, is ‘full of misinformation’, says one online library

A new Michael Moore-produced documentary that takes aim at the supposed hypocrisy of the green movement is “dangerous, misleading and destructive” and should be removed from public viewing, according to an assortment of climate scientists and environmental campaigners.

The film, Planet of the Humans, was released on the eve of Earth Day last week by its producer, Michael Moore, the baseball cap-wearing documentarian known for Fahrenheit 9/11 and Bowling for Columbine. Describing itself as a “full-frontal assault on our sacred cows”, the film argues that electric cars and solar energy are unreliable and rely upon fossil fuels to function. It also attacks figures including Al Gore for bolstering corporations that push flawed technologies over real solutions to the climate crisis.

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African Americans bear the brunt of Covid-19’s economic impact

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Pandemic spotlights racial disparities, with black workers expected to feature disproportionately in the 26m recent unemployment claims

Just two months ago in the Cabinet Room of the White House, sitting at a table surrounded by a handful of his black supporters, Donald Trump once again praised his job creation record. “Black people right now are having the best, statistically, the best numbers that you’ve ever had, and it’s really an honor,” he said. “Nobody has done more for black people than I have. Nobody has done more.”

That was 27 February and Trump was also still claiming he had done an “incredible job” with the looming coronavirus pandemic. Now the virus has led 26 million Americans to file for unemployment. While the US Bureau of Labor Statistics will not release unemployment figures broken down by race until the beginning of next month, economists are certain that black Americans are suffering the brunt of Covid-19’s economic impact and will probably suffer the most dramatic consequences of the looming recession.

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Amazon and other platforms allowing payments to far-right groups

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Report by Center for Media and Democracy finds SPLC-designated hate groups receiving income via mainstream platforms

Dozens of hate groups and racist media outlets are receiving income via mainstream payment processors such as Amazon, Stripe and DonorBox, according to a new report by the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD).

The groups still receiving donations and sales via such platforms include promoters of the “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory that motivated the Christchurch shooter, an organization cited as an inspiration by mass shooter Dylan Roof, and several groups that participated in the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville that ended in the killing of a protester.

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Seattle artists create murals on shuttered stores – in pictures

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As businesses in Seattle closed their doors, many storefronts nailed plywood over their windows – but it created the feeling of a ghost town. So artists came together to create something beautiful and uplifting, turning these wooden coverings into murals. Sydney Pertl, who created one of the murals in Pioneer Square, says the response has been amazing

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Pentagon formally releases ‘UFO videos taken by US Navy pilots’

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The Pentagon on Monday formally released three unclassified videos taken by Navy pilots that have circulated for years showing interactions with 'unidentified aerial phenomena'.

One of the videos shows an incident from 2004, and the other two were recorded in January 2015. The videos became public after unauthorised leaks in 2007 and 2017, and the Navy previously verified their authenticity

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Coronavirus live news: France to increase testing to 700,000 a week, says PM, as he outlines lockdown exit

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Infections in Saudi Arabia pass 20,000; Germany’s infection rate back at 1.0; Turkey delivers medical kit to the US

The United States accounts for about a third of all confirmed cases.

The global total stands at 3,083,467, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The US has confirmed 1,002,498.

Related: Coronavirus map of the US: latest cases state by state

The US has reached the milestone of one million confirmed cases, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The US death toll is now over 57,000 people.

Related: Three months and 50,000 deaths: the defining Covid-19 moments in the US – timeline

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Pentagon releases three UFO videos taken by US Navy pilots

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The previously leaked videos were declassified to ‘clear up any misconceptions’ on whether they were real

The Pentagon on Monday released three declassified videos that show US Navy pilots encountering what appear to be unidentified flying objects.

The grainy videos, which the Pentagon says depict “unexplained aerial phenomena”, were previously leaked, with some believing they show alien unidentified flying objects (UFOs).

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Trump returns to White House briefing, subdued but no less shameful

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President retreated over the weekend after his bizarre musing that disinfectant could be injected into coronavirus patients

His autocratic tendencies are well-known. His sudden absence from public view prompted fierce speculation and rumour. One headline suggested that he was “brain-dead”.

The North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s whereabouts remain unknown. But after a lost weekend, Donald Trump bounced back into the spotlight on Monday determined to prove that he is not only healthy but working very, very hard.

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‘What not to do’: governor Newsom condemns California beach crowds – video

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Photos of packed beaches in southern California over the weekend were condemned by the state governor Gavin Newsom, amid fears large crowds could reverse progress on containing Covid-19 in the US.

Many popular beaches have remained fully closed to the public, though a handful have taken steps to permit visitors in a limited capacity while adopting a range of restrictions, enforcement plans and recommendations

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Netflix announces surprise Michelle Obama documentary

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Becoming, which drops in May, follows the former first lady on her 34-city book tour, will offer a ‘rare and up-close’ look at her life

Netflix has announced a new original documentary focused on former first lady Michelle Obama to be released on 6 May.

Becoming will follow Obama on her 34-city tour to promote her book of the same name and will offer an “intimate”, “rare and up-close” look at her life. It’s directed by Nadia Hallgren, who recently made the documentary short After Maria, which looked at the effect of Hurricane Maria on Puerto Rican families.

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