The House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, delivered a devastating critique of Donald Trump on Sunday, accusing the president directly of costing American lives through his constant denials and delays in response to the coronavirus outbreak. ‘The president’s denial at the beginning was deadly,’ the House Speaker told CNN’s State of the Union. ‘His delay in getting equipment to where it’s needed is deadly … As the president fiddles, people are dying’
Continue reading...Category Archives: US News
Revealed: Saudis suspected of phone spying campaign in US
Exclusive: Whistleblower’s data suggests millions of tracking requests sent over four-month period
Saudi Arabia appears to be exploiting weaknesses in the global mobile telecoms network to track its citizens as they travel around the US, according to a whistleblower who has shown the Guardian millions of alleged secret tracking requests.
Data revealed by the whistleblower, who is seeking to expose vulnerabilities in a global messaging system called SS7, appears to suggest a systematic spying campaign by the kingdom, according to experts.
Continue reading...Donald Trump in ‘near tie’ with Joe Biden, new poll finds
Washington Post-ABC News poll puts former vice-president ahead by 49% to 47% among registered voters
Donald Trump has gained ground on his probable challenger in November’s presidential election and is in a “near tie” with Joe Biden, according to a new poll released on Sunday.
The Washington Post-ABC News poll put the former vice-president ahead by 49% to 47% among registered voters. In February, the same poll put the US president seven points behind.
Continue reading...Disunited states of America: responses to coronavirus shaped by hyper-partisan politics
Democratic states have tended to be more proactive while some Republican governors followed Trump in downplaying the crisis
It was a tale of two beaches. On Florida’s Atlantic coast, at the height of spring break season, the sand was deserted in the cities of Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale, where Democratic mayors had imposed closures to fight the spread of coronavirus.
Across the narrow neck of the state, the Gulf coast beaches in Clearwater were a world apart. There the Republican mayor had declined to impose a closure, and photos that would circle the world captured the result: thousands of carefree sunbathers lining the sand and mingling in the water.
Continue reading...Coronavirus live news: New York, New Jersey and Connecticut told to halt non-essential travel
Centers for Disease Control advice after president backed away from sealing state borders; worldwide deaths pass 30,000 with a third in Italy
- Coronavirus latest: at a glance
- Boris Johnson to warn UK: tougher lockdown may be necessary
- Australia coronavirus updates – live
- See all our coronavirus coverage
Qatar Airways will continue to operate flights as long as necessary to get stranded travellers home but might run out of cash soon, Reuters reported.
Chief executive Akbar al-Baker said: “We have enough cash to take us through a very short period of time,” adding that the airline would eventually have to seek support from its owner, the Qatar government.
Domestic abuse victims are allowed to leave home to seek help despite the lockdown rules, the home secretary Priti Patel has said.
Writing in the Mail on Sunday, Patel said restrictions imposed on the population by the government to stay indoors were even more challenging to cope with for people whose “home is not the safe haven it should be”.
Continue reading...US awol from world stage as China tries on global leadership for size
Mike Pompeo labelling the virus ‘Chinese’ has added to lack of international cooperation
When the UN security council and the G7 group sought to agree a global response to the coronavirus pandemic, the efforts stumbled on the US insistence on describing the threat as distinctively Chinese.
There are other reasons for the lack of collaboration in the face of a global crisis, but the focus on labelling the virus Chinese and blaming China pursued by the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, helped ensure there would be no meaningful collective response from the world’s most powerful nations.
Continue reading...Detainees in US immigration jails living in fear as coronavirus spreads
Recordings obtained by Guardian reveal people in Ice centers in the south concerned they are not being properly cared for
Detainees at immigration detention centers across the American south have alleged heavy-handed crackdowns amid increasing panic and protest over the coronavirus pandemic, according to advocates and recordings of detainees obtained by the Guardian.
A number of detainees have expressed concern they are not being properly cared for in packed detention centers. Former senior immigration officials and attorneys have called for the release of nonviolent detainees. Judges in New Jersey, New York and California have ordered the release of small numbers, based on health concerns.
Continue reading...‘I don’t know what that means’: Cuomo responds to Trump’s hint at quarantine – video
Donald Trump has said he is considering a mandatory quarantine of some Northeastern states because of the coronavirus outbreak. Responding, New York governor Andrew Cuomo said he had not discussed any potential 'enforceable quarantine', adding 'I don't even know what that means'
Continue reading...Five of Donald Trump’s most misleading coronavirus claims
As US deaths rise, the president seems unable to grasp the severity of the problem – and he’s made multiple false claims along the way
Political fact-checkers have flourished under Donald Trump, a president who according to one count uttered more than 16,000 misleading or false claims during his first three years in the White House.
Related: The missing six weeks: how Trump failed the biggest test of his life
Continue reading...‘We clap because we care’: New Yorkers applaud frontline coronavirus workers – video
At 7pm local time on Friday, hundreds of thousands of people across New York, one of the cities hardest hit by the coronavirus in the US, cheered those working on the frontline of efforts to rein in the pandemic from their balconies and windows
Continue reading...Coronavirus live news: Cases in Italy overtake China, US infections pass 100,000
Trump invokes Defence Production Act; Syria introduces travel restrictions; The UK, Spain, Italy see biggest daily rise in deaths. Follow the latest updates
- Coronavirus latest: at a glance
- Italy records 969 coronavirus deaths dashing hopes of turnaround
- Covid-19 workers in Spain: ‘You can feel the fear in the air’
- See all our coronavirus coverage
Afghanistan has reported 15 new Coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, pushing the total number of infections to 110 - including four NATO forces and two foreign diplomats, Akhtar Mohammad Makoii reports from Herat.
Eleven of the new positive cases have been confirmed in western province of Herat, raising the total number of infections in Afghanistan’s worst affected province to 76. Herat neighbours Iran, where authorities have been struggling to control one of the world’s worst outbreaks.
This tweet from the air traffic tracking service Flightradar24, showing the number of planes in the air on Friday evening compared to four weeks earlier, shows the remarkable impact of travel restrictions across Europe.
Friday evening in Europe - February 28 vs March 27https://t.co/EqV2Vo80Kd pic.twitter.com/4puKM9G1f2
Continue reading...Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez decries ‘shameful’ corporate bailout – video
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez clashed with Republicans as the US Senate voted on a $2.2tn coronavirus relief bill on Friday. She said it was a ‘shameful’ corporate bailout that would further widen the income inequality gap. ‘What did the Senate majority fight for?’ the New York congresswoman asled. ‘One of the largest corporate bailouts with as few strings as possible in American history’
- Trump signs $2.2tn stimulus bill after invoking Defense Production Act – as it happened
- Republican support of big bailouts reeks of hypocrisy
Joseph Lowery, American civil rights leader, dies at 98
Reverend helped start the influential Southern Christian Leadership Conference with Martin Luther King Jr
The American civil rights movement leader Joseph Lowery died on Friday at the age of 98, his family said.
A charismatic and fiery preacher, Lowery helped the Rev Martin Luther King Jr to fight against racial discrimination and led the Southern Christian Leadership Conference for two decades – restoring its financial stability and pressuring businesses not to trade with South Africa’s apartheid-era regime. He retired in 1997.
Continue reading...Donald Trump: the first thing Boris Johnson said to me is ‘we need ventilators’ – video
Donald Trump said on Friday that he had a conversation with Boris Johnson, who has tested positive for coronavirus, and 'the first thing he said to me is: "We need ventilators"'. Trump mentioned Johnson 'asking for ventilators today' twice during the Coronavirus Task Force briefing
Continue reading...Coronavirus US live: House passes $2.2tn economic stimulus package
- Trump on requests for ventilators: ‘I don’t believe you need 30,000’
- US surpasses China for highest number of confirmed cases
- How US governors are fighting coronavirus – and Trump
- Did a New York Times article inspire Trump’s ‘back to work’ plan?
- See all our coronavirus coverage
- Support the Guardian’s independent journalism. Make a contribution
Donald Trump will be signing the stimulus package at 4pm this afternoon.
Will be signing the CARE Act in the Oval Office today at 4:00 P.M. Eastern! https://t.co/0WnTNFZPZD
Donald Trump just released an ad called “Hope” that uses sound bytes from various public figures that make it appear they are praising the president for his efforts combating Covid-19.
Reposting - the president, who has accused Democrats of politicizing the coronavirus, is out with an ad using various public statements in misleading ways to highlight his response https://t.co/QwrG5AivMY
Continue reading...Trump administration allows companies to break pollution laws during coronavirus pandemic
Extraordinary move signals to US companies that they will not face any sanctions for polluting the air or water
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has suspended its enforcement of environmental laws during the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, signaling to companies they will not face any sanction for polluting the air or water of Americans.
In an extraordinary move that has stunned former EPA officials, the Trump administration said it will not expect compliance with the routine monitoring and reporting of pollution and won’t pursue penalties for breaking these rules.
Continue reading...Socially distanced street parade greets US teenager after cancer treatment – video
A group of neighbours in Los Angeles threw a socially distanced welcome-home party for a teenager after she finished chemotherapy. Courtney Johnson, 15, was diagnosed with cancer in June and was receiving treatment at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. The video was shared by her mother on social media
Continue reading...Dr Fauci joins NBA star Stephen Curry for coronavirus Q&A – video
The NBA star Stephen Curry has hosted a coronavirus Q&A with the infectious diseases expert Dr Anthony Fauci on Instagram. Fauci has been a regular at Donald Trump's press briefings on Covid-19, as the US battles to contain coronavirus
Continue reading...Record rise in Italy Covid-19 death toll, Irish PM says stay home for two weeks – as it happened
This blog is closed. Please follow live coverage on our new blog here
I’m handing over to the team in Australia now. Thanks so much for joining me. Here are the developments in the global coronavirus outbreak this evening:
After many delays, and then a series of tweets earlier today, US President Donald Trump is invoking the Defense Production Act to compel General Motors to built ventilators for hospitals, he announced at the White House’s daily coronavirus briefing.
The Defense Production Act gives the president powers to direct domestic industrial production to provide essential materials and goods needed in a national security crisis. It allows the president to require businesses and corporations to prioritize and accept contracts for required materials and services.
Related: Coronavirus US live: Trump signs $2.2tn stimulus bill after invoking Defense Production Act
Continue reading...Coronavirus US live: US now has more cases than any other country – as it happened
- US now has 82,404 confirmed cases, according to tracker
- New York governor rails at Congress for lack of aid
- After surviving Katrina, New Orleans battles Covid-19
- Record 3.3 million Americans file for unemployment
- See all our coronavirus coverage
- Support the Guardian’s independent journalism. Make a contribution
The Guardian’s Vivian Ho reports:
California’s homeless census was already troubled. Covid-19 is making it impossible.
Related: California's homeless census was already troubled. Covid-19 is making it impossible
Continue reading...