Donald Trump plans to start holding campaign rallies in person again in the next two weeks, despite the coronavirus pandemic continuing in the US and experts warning about the public health dangers of crowding at events.
Related: George Floyd killing: judge sets $1m bail for ex-officer Derek Chauvin
Continue reading...UK politicians and military experts warn decision could hand advantage to Russia
British politicians and European military experts have warned that Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw 9,500 troops from Germany risks handing a strategic advantage to the Kremlin and undermining the postwar western military alliance.
It would also affect the United States’s ability to operate in the Middle East and Africa – although there is scepticism as to whether the notoriously fickle president will be able to carry out the threat before November’s election.
Continue reading...National Bureau of Economic Research says economic growth in the US peaked in February and has since entered its first downturn since 2007 to 2009
The United States is officially in a recession, ending the longest economic expansion in US history, the committee that calls downturns announced on Monday.
The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) said that economic growth in the US peaked in February and has since entered its first downturn since 2007 to 2009.
Continue reading...Many ‘non-essential’ stores can open for delivery and pick-up as construction, manufacturing and wholesalers return to work
After three bleak months, New York, the corner of the US hit hardest by the coronavirus, gradually began reopening on Monday in what was seen as a landmark moment in the crisis and a test of the city’s discipline.
Related: 'People are too afraid': churches begin to reopen – but will worshippers go back?
Continue reading...A veto-proof council majority says the city will move to a community-based public safety model – but what will that entail?
Nine members of Minneapolis city council have vowed to dismantle the city’s police department, which was responsible for the death of George Floyd, and replace it with a new community-based system of public safety.
Related: George Floyd protests: Democrats take a knee before unveiling police reform bill – live
Continue reading...Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, led House and Senate Democrats in a moment of silence at the Capitol's Emancipation Hall after reading the names of George Floyd and others killed in police custody. They kneeled for 8 minutes and 46 seconds - the length of time prosecutors say Floyd was pinned under a white police officer’s knee before he died
Continue reading...Eyewitness video shows a man driving his car into a crowd of protesters, then shooting and wounding a demonstrator who confronted him as he came to a stop in Seattle on Sunday.
The suspect, who was later arrested by police, was seen in the video exiting his car as protesters began to surround it. He brandished what appeared to be a gun, dashed through the crowd and turned himself over to police.
The injured protester, named as Daniel, 26, was taken to hospital and is in stable condition. He said he had punched the man in the car in an attempt to disarm him after he drove into the crowd of demonstrators
Continue reading...Jacob Frey, the mayor of Minneapolis, was heckled by a crowd of protesters telling him to 'go home' on Saturday after he ruled out defunding the police department during a demonstration.
A majority of the Minneapolis city council pledged on Sunday to disband the police department, with a veto-proof majority, council members declared their intent to 'dismantle' and 'abolish' the embattled police agency responsible for George Floyd’s death
New Zealand has zero active cases; Global cases pass 7 million, deaths pass 400,000; Chile deaths jump after new fatalities added. Follow the latest updates
The Ryanair boss, Michael O’Leary, has delivered his withering verdict on Britain’s quarantine rules, which came into force today: “British people are ignoring this quarantine. They know it’s rubbish.”
More here:
Related: Ryanair boss: Britons know quarantine rules are rubbish
The Philippines has reported 579 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 today, and eight deaths. Malaysia has reported seven new confirmed cases, and no deaths.
Continue reading...Former senior officials also worry Britain may be sidelined if Joe Biden becomes president
The UK’s special relationship with the US may end if Donald Trump wins a second term, some of the UK’s most senior retired diplomats and Conservative foreign policy specialists have said. They also say that if the Democrat Joe Biden wins, Washington may view the EU rather than the UK as its primary partner.
The anxious assessment of what is at stake for Britain in the US presidential election in November has been made on and off the record in a variety of seminars over the past month, and underlines concerns at Trump’s performance during the coronavirus pandemic. It also reflects diplomatic outreach to the UK by Biden’s chief foreign policy adviser, Antony Blinken.
Continue reading...Thousands of protesters gathered outside the US embassy in London on Sunday to show solidarity with demonstrators in America, where protests sparked by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis continued into a second weekend. Crowds in the UK capital shouted slogans in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, calling for action to end racism and prejudice.
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George Floyd’s body has arrived in Houston ahead of a memorial service and burial in the coming days.
Floyd, who was killed by police in Minnesota last week, spent most of his life in Houston where he had been a high-school football star. There will be a public viewing and memorial service in Houston on Monday before he is buried on Tuesday next to his mother, Larcenia Floyd. A memorial service for family was held on Saturday near his birthplace in North Carolina.
The Episcopal bishop of Washington DC, Mariann Budde, has renewed her criticism of Donald Trump in a sermon on Sunday. Budde said she was “outraged” last week when law enforcement used pepper spray and rubber bullets to clear a crowd of peaceful protesters from near the White House so the president could attend a photo opportunity at a local church.
Related: Bishop 'outraged' over Trump's church photo op during George Floyd protests
Continue reading...Ex-secretary of state and military leader during Bush presidencies becomes first major Republican to back Trump’s Democratic rival
Colin Powell endorsed Democratic former US vice-president Joe Biden on Sunday and said Donald Trump’s behaviour endangers democracy, becoming the first major Republican to publicly back Trump’s rival ahead of November’s election.
Powell, who led the US military during the 1991 Gulf War in Iraq under Republican former President George HW Bush and later led the Department of State under President George W Bush, said Trump has “drifted away” from the US Constitution and “lies about things”.
Continue reading...Beijing denies cover-up or delay, while countries easing lockdowns face spike in cases
The number of confirmed deaths from coronavirus globally has topped 400,000, as the Chinese government released a report lauding its own response to the pandemic that emerged in the city of Wuhan six months ago.
As more countries prepared to continue easing their lockdowns from Monday, Singapore’s prime minister warned the city-state’s citizens that they were entering a tougher world of slowing demand and travel restrictions for the foreseeable future.
Continue reading...Guardian contributor Anselm Ebulue photographed some of the protesters at a Black Lives Matter rally in London and heard their reasons for attending following the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis
Continue reading...Republican politicians, media personalities and rightwing activists suggest a show of force to George Floyd protesters – and the result could be severe
As protests over the police killing of George Floyd continue across the US, a slew of influential rightwing figures have been urging an ever more violent crackdown on the demonstrations – and it appears Donald Trump is listening.
Republican politicians, media personalities and rightwing activists have floated ideas including deploying specific units of the military, while one Republican candidate for Congress has even suggested she will shoot protesters.
Continue reading...Daughter of private who fought for both sides and had children in his 80s lived for years in a North Carolina nursing home
The last person to receive a US government pension from the American civil war has died.
Related: Confederate statue to be removed from Virginia's Monument Avenue
Continue reading...Large crowds from coast to coast demonstrate against police killing of George Floyd
The top editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer has resigned following an uproar over a headline bemoaning property damage incurred during the ongoing protests decrying police brutality and racial injustice, the newspaper has announced.
Guardian US reporter Nina Lakhani reports from Harlem:
Hundreds of people prayed and protested in Harlem this afternoon, in a peaceful and hopeful mobilization characterized by dignity, anger, resistance, and determination.
“Get off our necks,” and “racism is America’s original sin,” were among the hard-hitting truths chanted by protesters as they marched uptown from the National Black Theatre, a historical and cultural landmark situated on the corner of 5th Avenue and West 125th Street. Pastors and other faith leaders gave rousing speeches outside the theatre and other iconic spots including the Schomburg Centre for research in black culture – an internationally renowned archive for information on people of African descent which is located on the corner of Lennox Avenue and West 135th Street.
Continue reading...The president’s approval ratings have dipped sharply but he could still beat Biden
Voter disapproval of Donald Trump’s handling of the George Floyd protests and the Covid-19 pandemic, plus the accompanying economic meltdown, have undoubtedly hurt the president’s re-election chances.
But it’s unclear whether the damage is fatal. Could Trump, despite everything, still stage a comeback and beat the Democratic nominee, Joe Biden?
Continue reading...Strange sound coming from bridge explained by new bicycle-path railings that make ‘music’ as wind passes through
San Francisco’s famous Golden Gate Bridge has started “singing” following recent changes to bicycle-path railings that appear to make music as the wind blows through them, residents have reported.
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