Joe Biden, frontrunner for the US Democratic presidential nomination, got into a heated exchange with an autoworker at a campaign stop when questioned overwhether he was going to take away people’s guns. ‘You’re full of shit,’ Biden told the man, who accused him of ‘actively trying to end the second amendment’. The exchange came during a typical election-day voting photo shoot at Detroit’s first new auto assembly plant in decades, marking another episode of Biden’s propensity for going off-script and undercutting his campaign’s desired messaging
Continue reading...Category Archives: US News
Weinstein’s lawyers say ‘remarkable accomplishments’ warrant light prison sentence
Defense team pleads for minimum sentence after Weinstein was convicted of forcing oral sex on one woman and raping another
Harvey Weinstein’s lawyers have petitioned the judge who presided over his trial and rape conviction in a New York court to sentence him to the minimum of five years in prison, controversially citing the fallen producer’s “remarkable accomplishments”.
The disgraced mogul’s defense team, led by Donna Rotunno, are pleading for the very lightest possible sentence. Judge James Burke will reconvene at the New York supreme court at 9.30am on Wednesday to hand down his sentence, which could be as severe as 29 years in prison.
Continue reading...Coronavirus live updates: Italy-wide lockdown comes into force
UK and US had worst days trading since 2008 GFC; Global cases near 110,000; Grand Princess passengers disembark. Follow the latest news.
- Cruise ship carrying at least 21 with coronavirus docks in California
- US pledges more testing as Trump hints at aid for workers
- Quarantined US congressman flew with Trump on Air Force One
- Global stock markets post biggest falls since 2008 financial crisis
- Italian PM extends lockdown to entire country
- Coronavirus sufferers symptom-free for five days on average – study
- Coronavirus latest: at a glance
As the whole of Italy goes into lockdown, there are some reassuring signs that measures are starting to work. Across the 11 towns that went into quarantine over two weeks ago, the number of cases is beginning to fall.
Virgin Atlantic has called on the European Commission and UK flight slots co-ordinator to relax rules amid the coronavirus outbreak, PA reports.
Chief executive Shai Weiss said: “Last month Virgin Atlantic and industry partners committed to achieving net zero carbon by 2050.
Continue reading...Joe Biden hopes to cement lead in crucial Democratic primaries
Bernie Sanders, second in the race, campaigns in Michigan hoping to win the state with the most delegates
Joe Biden is hoping to cement his position as frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for president on Tuesday, as millions of voters in six states have their say in the next round of primary election contests.
For Bernie Sanders – the second of two major remaining candidates in the race – the six primaries in Michigan, Washington, Missouri, Mississippi, Idaho and North Dakota will be a crucial test of whether he can reverse the momentum the former vice-president enjoys coming out of his victories in the Super Tuesday states last week, and prevent him from extending his delegate count lead.
Continue reading...Neil Young endorses Bernie Sanders: ‘Every point he makes is what I believe in’
Singer says senator is the ‘Real Deal’ who offers the big changes needed to beat Trump
Neil Young has endorsed Bernie Sanders for president, saying the Vermont senator is “the real deal” to win the Democratic nomination.
Writing on his personal website, the 74-year-old folk singer said that Sanders’ policies on climate change, student debt, healthcare and the minimum wage were the “big changes” required to beat Donald Trump in the 2020 election.
Continue reading...Led Zeppelin: Stairway to Heaven not partly stolen, court affirms
San Francisco appeals panel reinstates 2016 judgment that found no proof 1971 song breached copyright of Taurus by Randy Wolfe
A US appeals court has reinstated a ruling that British rockers Led Zeppelin did not steal part of their song Stairway to Heaven from another band.
The San Francisco 11-judge panel affirmed a 2016 judgment that found no proof the classic 1971 Zeppelin song breached the copyright of Taurus, written by Randy Wolfe from a Los Angeles band called Spirit.
Continue reading...Cory Booker and Kamala Harris to appear at Biden rally after endorsements – live
- New Michigan poll shows Biden leading Sanders by 24 points
- Trump appears to minimize coronavirus compared to flu
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The Dow has dropped more than 1,900 points today, as fears intensify about the spread of coronavirus.
The New York Stock Exchange briefly halted trading this morning as the markets nosedived.
Related: Coronavirus live updates: fifth death confirmed in UK, as head of New York's airports tests positive
Joe Biden’s campaign dismissed a report about the Democratic frontrunner’s potential Cabinet picks.
Axios reported that the former vice president is considering billionaires Mike Bloomberg and Jamie Dimon for senior roles like head of the World Bank and treasury secretary.
Continue reading...Prince Andrew won’t voluntarily cooperate in Epstein inquiry, prosecutor says
Despite public offer to help with investigation Andrew has ‘completely shut the door’, and New York attorney general is now considering other options
Prince Andrew has “completely shut the door” on cooperating with US investigators in the Jeffrey Epstein case and they are now “considering” further options, a New York prosecutor said on Monday.
Andrew was a friend of Epstein, the wealthy financier and convicted sex offender whose death in custody while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges in New York last year was ruled a suicide.
Continue reading...Trump retweets video of Biden labelled by Twitter as ‘manipulated media’
Edited footage, first tweeted by president’s social media director, makes it look like Biden inadvertently backed Trump’s re-election
The first video to be labelled by Twitter as “manipulated media” was tweeted by Donald Trump’s social media director and retweeted by the president himself.
Dan Scavino tweeted the footage on Saturday, mistakenly saying it came from a speech by Joe Biden in St Louis, Missouri. In fact, the former vice-president and Democratic frontrunner was speaking in Kansas City. It was also edited to make it look like Biden had inadvertently backed Trump’s re-election.
Continue reading...FTSE on course for biggest fall since financial crisis
World markets plunge on back of coronavirus-driven recession fears and threat of oil price war
Global stock markets have suffered their biggest falls since the 2008 financial crisis and trading was temporarily suspended on Wall Street after an oil price crash rattled investors fearing a coronavirus-driven global recession.
Dealing in shares on the main US indices was frozen within minutes of the opening bell, as circuit breakers were triggered by a 7% fall on the S&P 500. Once trading resumed 15 minutes later, the Dow Jones Industrial Average completed a fall of more than 2,000 points for the first time ever – a fall of more than 7%.
Continue reading...Saudi Arabia price war wipes billions from value of major oil firms
Royal Dutch Shell and BP lose more than £32bn from their combined market value
Saudi Arabia’s oil price war has wiped billions of pounds from the market value of the industry’s biggest companies after oil markets recorded one of the biggest price slumps in history.
The decision of the world’s largest oil-producing nation to increase its production even as the coronavirus outbreak stalls global oil demand triggered a 30% drop in oil prices on Monday morning.
Continue reading...Hillary Clinton says Sanders would not be ‘strongest nominee against Trump’
Clinton told CNN she was not endorsing anyone yet but Biden’s victories showed he is ‘building the kind of coalition that I had’
Bernie Sanders would not be the Democrats’ “strongest nominee against Donald Trump”, Hillary Clinton said – as new polling of battleground states backed her up.
Related: Bernie Sanders returns to Michigan in need of 2016 repeat
Continue reading...Seven out of 10 global health leaders are men – and change is half a century away
‘Stagnant’ global health system is dominated by rich states, rooted in colonialism and undervalues women, says study
A small group of privileged men based in Europe and the US preside over a global health system which is 70% male, according to new research.
The Global Health 50/50 report, published on Monday by University College London’s Institute of Global Health, warns it could take 54 years until the world’s major health organisations have equality in their leadership.
Continue reading...Dog finds home after nearly six years in Kansas City shelter
Merrick adopted after benefactor paid $3,000 for his photograph to appear on a giant billboard
A dog who waited more than five and a half years in a Kansas City shelter for adoption has found a permanent home after a benefactor paid $3,000 for his photograph to appear on a giant billboard.
Merrick, a six-year-old mixed breed, sat for dozens of photoshoots and videos in a prolonged but unsuccessful social media campaign to find him a home during more than 2,000 days’ confinement at the Humane Society shelter.
Continue reading...Donald Trump needs a media he despises to fight coronavirus | Emily Bell
Containing the epidemic requires both reliable news coverage and truth from the president
It has taken until the last year of Donald Trump’s presidency for the existential risk this narcissistic authoritarian poses to be fully exposed. There have been other tests: the unconstitutional squeezing of immigration; the brief week or so when war with Iran felt inevitable; the imprisoning of children in cages along the United States’ southern border; not to mention the engagement with foreign governments in seeking personal gain. But it is the arrival of Covid-19, the infectious respiratory virus, that threatens a presidency reliant on a strategy of all narrative and no truth.
Trump has a core support base of people who are most vulnerable to Covid-19. Older people – particularly those who might resist taking the kind of interventionist measures being suggested – are very much at risk. Trump may have to halt his famous rallies in the middle of election season. More alien to him even than that, if containment of the virus is ever going to work he will have to build a good-faith alliance with the press to push out a unified and coherent message.
Continue reading...Kamala Harris endorses Joe Biden for president ahead of key contests
Endorsement follows former presidential candidates Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg and Mike Bloomberg
Joe Biden’s campaign for the White House received another significant lift on Sunday when Democratic senator Kamala Harris, until recently one of the former vice-president’s main rivals for the party’s presidential nomination, announced her endorsement.
In a short video statement released on Twitter, Harris promised she would “do everything in my power” to ensure Biden beats off a challenge from Vermont senator Bernie Sanders for the nomination and goes on to be elected president in November.
Continue reading...Stephen King attacks axing of Woody Allen book
Writer ‘uneasy’ over US publisher’s decision to drop director’s memoir
Author Stephen King has hit out at publisher Hachette over its decision to drop publication of Woody Allen’s memoir after a protest from his son, the author Ronan Farrow, prompted a walkout of staff at the publishing group’s New York office last Thursday.
“The Hachette decision to drop the Woody Allen book makes me very uneasy,” King, the horror writer, said on Twitter. “It’s not him; I don’t give a damn about Mr Allen. It’s who gets muzzled next that worries me.”
Continue reading...Trump’s immigration policies may put people at risk of coronavirus – experts
Surveillance in ‘sanctuary cities’ and increased Ice presence could deter immigrants from accessing healthcare
Since 2017, Donald Trump has pushed a hardline immigration agenda that has sown confusion, fear and distrust among immigrant communities. Now, as the world deals with a public health emergency in the shape of the coronavirus outbreak, experts worry his immigration policies may put everyone at risk.
There is a widespread fear that the president’s policies have sown such fear of deportation and wariness of any contact with US authorities among immigrants – who also have greater difficulty getting healthcare – that many of them will not seek help if they fall sick with the virus.
Continue reading...Biden warns against primary bloodbath as Sanders sharpens attacks ahead of key contests
Democratic rivals are preparing for a showdown in crucial midwest primary contests in Michigan and Missouri on Tuesday
Democratic presidential rivals Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders are racing across the US midwest this weekend, with the progressive Sanders sharpening his attacks while the former vice-president warned against a campaign “bloodbath” as the 2020 nominating contest narrows.
Biden also warned, in an intensifying fight, against what he called “Bernie brothers” – understood to be a reference to diehard fans of Sanders more widely dubbed “Bernie bros” and known for aggressive online attacks on supporters of Democratic rivals and an unwillingness to join up with them if Sanders loses the nomination.
Continue reading...Facebook will ban certain ads to prevent efforts to exploit coronavirus fears
Tech company will temporarily ban ads for medical face masks on the social network and Facebook marketplace
Facebook is temporarily banning advertisements for medical face masks as part of an effort to prevent use of its social media platform to exploit people’s concerns about the coronavirus outbreak.
Related: Coronavirus: US deaths rise to 19 as New York declares state of emergency
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