Donald Trump has come closer than ever to admitting that he lost the US presidential election, suggesting “time will tell” but stopping short of a formal concession to president-elect Joe Biden.
Related: Joe Biden ignores Trump obstruction to press ahead with cabinet selection
Continue reading...Government health officials have warned that tens of thousands of Americans will die in the coming weeks as coronavirus continued to surge across the country, shattering more daily records.
Related: Coronavirus live news: Germany, Sweden and Russia all report record rises in daily cases
Continue reading...The doom spiral has been interrupted. Could it be that, by the spring, things will actually be better than they are now?
After five years of wanting to move, about two years of having to move and eight months of really urgently needing to move, the kids being so large and teen now that we could all smell each other across two floors of our titchy house, we finally moved. The sheer number of small, troublesome questions this prompted – have we traumatised the rabbit? Will the dog definitely die if he runs on to the A3, and will the resulting pile-up be legally my fault? What’s at the bottom of this pan we packed, oh God no, it’s curdled milk, who moves house without washing up first? Me, that’s who – completely clouded my vision. It was days before I realised something good had happened.
The US elections unfolded at the same time, following the same pattern. Lots of facts, and counting, and more facts, and revised counting, and nebulous fretting, until finally, wait … this is actually good. Something good has happened. This would have been a really fortuitous day to buy a lottery ticket, I thought on Saturday evening; with so much improbable good fortune, the chances of me winning a million quid are probably pretty high. I didn’t follow that up because I was too busy drinking and whatnot. Then two days later, a vaccine.
Continue reading...Music’s primal power for those living with dementia has inspired thousands of YouTube views for a clip of a former dancer
We see a frail and elderly woman in a chair, her eyes downcast. She motions for the music to be turned up, a swelling melody from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, and with a little encouragement her hands begin to flutter. Then suddenly her eyes flash and she’s Odette the swan queen at the misty lakeside, arms raised. She leans forward, wrists crossed in classic swan pose; her chin lifts as if she’s commanding the stage once more, her face lost in reverie.
The woman in the film is Marta Cinta González Saldaña, a former ballet dancer who died in 2019, the year the video was shot. But the clip has gone viral since being posted recently by Spanish organisation Música Para Despertar (Music to Awaken), which promotes the value of music for those living with Alzheimer’s. Many of the details accompanying the video on its journey around the internet have been erroneous. Marta Cinta was not a member of the “New York Ballet” (there’s no such company) or the actual New York City Ballet, but seems to have run her own dance company in the city; the ballerina performing in the intercut video is not her but Ulyana Lopatkina, who is not even dancing Swan Lake but Mikhail Fokine’s The Dying Swan. Yet none of that takes away the impact of watching someone seemingly light up and have their memories unlocked by the power of melody. It’s as if you’re seeing Saldaña inhabit her true self.
Continue reading...Susan Rice, Michele Flournoy, Doug Jones, Lael Brainard, Vivek Murthy and Heidi Heitkamp are some of the most frequently mentioned in Washington
Cabinet appointment speculation is a time-honored tradition in Washington DC – and despite everything else going on is US politics at the moment, 2020 is no different.
Continue reading...The president-elect is likely to value Washington experience but must balance the wings of his party and a possibly hostile Senate
Joe Biden’s team is pressing forward with preparations to take over the federal government when his term starts despite virtually no help from Donald Trump’s outgoing administration.
Continue reading...Italy also registers 40,000 new infections; Germany records 23,542 new cases; Russia reports its worst day for new infections; Sweden’s hits daily record
Health authorities in the Australian state of NSW have released a list of three key “venues of concern” in Auckland as they check arrivals from New Zealand since 5 November.
•A-Z Collection, Auckland CBD: 10.30am-6.30pm on 8 November, 10.30am-6.30pm on 9 November, or 10.30am-6.30pm 11 November
•The Vincent Residences, Auckland Central: 12am on 7 November to 12pm 12 November
•Red Pig Restaurant, Auckland CBD: 6-8.30pm on 7 November
NSW Health is contacting 455 people who have arrived from New Zealand since 5 November following a locally acquired case of COVID 19 in Auckland. These passengers have been sent a message alerting them to a number of venues of concern in Auckland. pic.twitter.com/Gpd6avauBJ
News agency Reuters is reporting the latest case numbers from Brazil, one of the world’s worst-hit countries.
The country’s health ministry has reported 29,070 new Covid-19 cases and a further 456 deaths from the disease.
Continue reading...Officials have started rolling back some reopenings, and appear poised to close all public school classrooms
It seemed unimaginable: months after Covid-19 killed thousands of New Yorkers, the city and state finally seemed to get the virus under control. Infections, hospitalizations and deaths plummeted here and in neighboring regions, while surging elsewhere in the US.
Continue reading...Loyalty from president’s base remains undimmed, amid belief that political establishment is colluding to deny him victory
The red and blue political bunting and yard signs planted on suburban lawns are mostly gone and with them the outward signs of America’s fiercely oppositional election. But in other respects, the tensions of the 2020 contest remain as acute as they were on polling day for many Trump supporters.
“Not many care about people as much as Trump,” said tow-truck driver Vinny Nolan as he took a rest at a highway truck stop near Hackensack, New Jersey. “The [Russia] collusion bullshit was a set-up. He gave everyone money while we iron this virus situation then they announce a vaccine two days after the election. Why didn’t they do that a week ago? He would have won.”
Continue reading...US dropped the environmental ball under Trump, but Biden victory means the two countries can work together for a green recovery, says campaigner
Ma Jun experienced a strange role reversal during Donald Trump’s presidency. Over more than two decades as one of China’s top environmental campaigners, American encouragement for Beijing to cut carbon emissions and temper the damage of rapid industrialisation had been part of the background music. Ma never imagined he would see the US renege on environmental commitments while China began to face up to the challenge.
“It’s been frustrating,” says Ma of the past four years as we speak on the phone, the bustle of Beijing audible in the background. “When it comes to environmental collaboration between the governments, it has been hard to do anything.”
Continue reading...America's top infectious disease expert says the country faces a 'very difficult situation' as Covid-19 cases continue to surge. The US surpassed one million cases in the first 10 days of November as the overall coronavirus death toll reached 241,910. Fauci warned more needs to be done to control the spread of the virus, suggesting public health measures such as wearing masks and physical distancing, not lockdowns, would halt the spread
Continue reading...President turns to right-wing network Newsmax for support after Fox warned viewers Trump’s election victory claims were false
Donald Trump has unleashed a torrent of tweets denouncing Fox News, accusing the network of having forgotten “what made them successful, what got them there”.
“They forgot the Golden Goose,” Trump wrote in a tweet posted at midday on Thursday:
Continue reading...CEO told staffers Bannon had not violated enough policies to justify ban when he called for beheading of Anthony Fauci
Mark Zuckerberg told Facebook staffers on Thursday that former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon had not violated enough of the company’s policies to justify his suspension from the platform when he called for the beheading of two US officials and the posting of their heads outside the White House as a “warning”.
Continue reading...One of the first cruise ships to ply through Caribbean waters since the pandemic began ended its trip early after five passengers tested positive for Covid-19.
The SeaDream is carrying 53 passengers and 66 crew, with the majority of passengers hailing from the US, according to Sue Bryant, a cruise ship reporter who is aboard the ship.
Continue reading...Italy registers 636 daily deaths; French PM says no easing of restrictions as cases remain high; Germany seeing tentative signs of flattening curve
Greece reported 3,316 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, its highest daily tally since its first infection surfaced in February, according to health authorities data.
The latest jump in infections brings the total number of cases in the country to 66,637.
Donald Trump’s adviser Corey Lewandowski has become the latest member of the outgoing president’s staff to test positive for coronavirus.
Lewandowski recently traveled to Pennsylvania to assist Trump’s efforts to contest the state’s election results. He said today he believes he was infected in Philadelphia and is not experiencing any symptoms.
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Pope blesses president-elect
Joe Biden spoke with Pope Francis on Thursday, and Biden thanked him for his “blessing and congratulations,” his transition team said in a statement.
Related: Soul of the nation: how Joe Biden's faith will shape his presidency
Here’s where the day stands so far:
Continue reading...Six Americans, one Czech and one French citizen killed and only survivor in critical state
A helicopter carrying members of a multinational peacekeeping force has crashed near Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula, killing six Americans, a Czech and a French citizen.
The US-led Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) said in a statement that all but one of the nine people onboard were killed when the aircraft went down “during a routine operation”.
Continue reading...The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, held a press conference on Capitol Hill, calling on Republican lawmakers to accept the results of the presidential election.
Pelosi emphasised the need to pass another coronavirus relief bill, saying: 'Stop the circus and get to work on what really matters to the American people'
Continue reading...Liz and Richard Uihlein, owners of the Uline packaging company, made the announcement in a message to employees
Two of Donald Trump’s billionaire donors have contracted Covid-19 months after downplaying the risk of the disease to their employees.
Richard and Liz Uihlein, conservative megadonors who own the Uline packaging company based in Wisconsin and are two of the Republican party’s most significant financial backers, told employees on Wednesday that they had contracted the disease after being “around people with Covid”.
Continue reading...Dr Anthony Fauci says unprecedented 'polarisation' has intensified an anti-science feeling in the US and led people to threaten violence against him.
While the top infectious diseases expert commands respect among much of the public, he has received personal death threats as a result of his high-profile statements about the coronavirus pandemic.
The health expert Prof David Heymann, who joined Fauci in a Chatham House webinar, said science had become highly politicised to the point that a mask wearer was seen as a Democrat and a non-mask wearer as a Republican
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