Donald Trump’s election campaign in 2016 targeted nearly 3.5 million Black Americans to deter them from voting, and the battle for the right to vote is just as important in 2020. Kenya Evelyn travels to Florida where it's the Democrats' most loyal bloc, Black women, who are also bearing the brunt of the coronavirus outbreak, with its impact accelerating the fight for voting rights. From mail-in ballots and early voting, to felon disenfranchisement, Black voters are wielding their power to demand more from Democrats ahead of November
Category Archives: US News
Lana Del Rey criticised for wearing mesh mask to poetry reading
Musician posed with fans at a Los Angeles bookshop wearing a glittery mesh mask that did not fully cover her nose and mouth
Fans of Lana Del Rey have criticised her for wearing a glittery mesh mask that did not appear to fully cover her nose and mouth at a surprise poetry reading and book signing event.
The musician read from her new collection, Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass, and posed with fans at a Barnes and Noble store in Los Angeles at the weekend, wearing a net facial covering that did not seem to assist in preventing the spread of the coronavirus.
Continue reading...US police used British anti-riot gear at Black Lives Matter protests
Revelation contradicts official assurance that no UK-made equipment was used to repress peaceful demonstrations
US law enforcement officers used British anti-riot gear to strike protesters during their controversial policing of Black Lives Matter demonstrations, despite assurances from the Conservative government that no UK-made equipment was used to repress peaceful protest.
Officers deployed at demonstrations in Washington DC hit protesters and in one case a journalist using shields made by the British-based firm DMS Plastics. Video and photographs suggest, and a lawsuit alleges, that officers charged at protesters, rather than acting in self-defence. US forces deny the allegations.
Continue reading...Coronavirus live news: global cases pass 35m as Walter Reed physician calls Trump drive ‘insanity’
UK reports 22,961 new cases, says figure ‘artificially high’; nine New York neighbourhoods headed for lockdown; Ireland health experts recommend moving to highest level. Follow the latest updates
- Walter Reed physician calls Trump drive ‘insanity’
- After avoiding the worst in spring, Italy’s south sounds alarm
- Leak reveals possible harsher three-tier Covid plan for England
In non-coronavirus news, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 1,382 to 300,619, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Monday.
The reported death toll rose by five to 9,534, the tally showed.
The New York Times, citing medical experts, reported on Sunday that Trump’s medical treatments suggest that the president has a “severe” case of Covid-19.
The times report, which asks several doctors to decipher how ill Trump may be – amid confusing and contradictory reports from his medical staff and the White House – based on the treatments he is taking.
Some experts raised an additional possibility: that the president is directing his own care, and demanding intense treatment despite risks he may not fully understand. The pattern even has a name: V.I.P. syndrome, which describes prominent figures who receive poor medical care because doctors are too zealous in treating them — or defer too readily to their instructions.
Regeneron’s monoclonal antibody therapy: On Friday afternoon, the White House said in a letter that Trump was treated with an 8-gram dose of the experimental antibody therapy cocktail made by the biotechnology company Regeneron. The investigational cocktail, known by its investigational name REGN-COV2, has been in clinical trials since June.
Remdesivir: President Trump is being given a five-day course of the antiviral drug remdesivir, one of the doctors treating him said during a briefing on Saturday. The treatment is intended to shorten recovery time for Covid-19 patients. In a Phase 3 clinical trial, remdesivir was found to speed recovery in moderately ill patients with pneumonia from Covid-19, according to results published in the medical journal JAMA in August.
Continue reading...Coronavirus live news: Irish government ‘to reject new lockdown recommendation’; Paris bars to close
Ireland’s health chiefs called for highest level of restrictions late on Sunday; restaurants in Paris can stay open but bars cannot
- Europe struggles to contain surge of coronavirus cases
- UK ministers accused of putting lives at risk with Covid data error
- New York governor agrees to shut schools and businesses in hotspots
- Minister: colleagues who didn’t download app being ‘very French’
- Trump coronavirus updates – live
French health authorities have reported that the number of patients being treated in intensive care units (ICUs) for Covid-19 has gone beyond the 1,400 threshold for the first time since 28 May.
The latest figure comes the day before Paris is to be placed on maximum Covid-19 alert, meaning bars will be forced to close for two weeks, partly because of the sharp rise of the number of people in ICUs.
Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona has been tested for the coronavirus, his lawyer said on Twitter on Monday.
The results of the former striker’s test are expected within 24 hours, his lawyer Matias Morla said. Morla shared a photo of a medical worker swabbing Maradona at his home.
Cumpliendo con los protocolos y para tranquilidad de Diego y de su familia, Maradona fue hisopado este mediodia en su domicilio. Los resultados estarán en las próximas 24 horas. pic.twitter.com/BTCLVgyc0c
Continue reading...‘This is insanity’: Walter Reed physician among critics of Trump drive-by visit
President briefly left hospital for surprise drive past supporters with at least two others in vehicle
Donald Trump drew immediate rebuke from doctors on Sunday afternoon for an “insane” surprise drive-by visit to supporters outside the Walter Reed military medical center, where the president is being treated for an infection of Covid-19.
At least two other people, probably Secret Service agents, wearing respirators and eye protection, were seen on video in the vehicle accompanying Trump, who was also masked, during the short drive.
Continue reading...Donald Trump drives past supporters after saying he has ‘learnt a lot about Covid’ – video
After releasing an upbeat video message from the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, US president Donald Trump left hospital to wave to his supporters in a motorcade. Throngs of flag-waving Trump supporters gathered outside the hospital where Trump was being treated for Covid-19. The move was criticised as insanity' by one Walter Reed doctor. In the video message Trump thanked the medical team, saying: 'The work they do is just absolutely amazing.' He added that his time in hospital has been 'a very interesting journey' and that he has 'learnt a lot about Covid'.
Sean Conley: who is the Trump doctor whose updates are raising questions
Physician’s press briefings leave medical experts, analysts and the public searching for the truth as to how sick the president really is
Donald Trump has often boasted of surrounding himself with “the best people” and the medical skills of Dr Sean Conley, the personal physician now charged with steering the US president back to health through his encounter with Covid-19, have never been called into question.
Related: Trump's steroid Covid treatment adds to confusion over health
Continue reading...Trump’s steroid Covid treatment adds to confusion over health
Dexamethasone ‘normally reserved for people going into respiratory failure’, says expert
The latest intervention from Donald Trump’s medical team has been to put the president on dexamethasone, a steroid that is proven, thanks to the UK’s Recovery trial, to benefit Covid-19 patients who are having breathing difficulties.
But the decision to administer the steroid now has only added to the confusion surrounding the president’s state of health. Normally, dexamethasone is reserved for patients who have been ill for at least a week and whose oxygen levels are low.
Continue reading...Trump 14 points behind Biden a month before election, new poll shows
Trump’s advisers scramble to find a strategy for final weeks, saying ‘it’s important that our campaign vigorously proceed’
Donald Trump’s beleaguered campaign team woke up to another setback on Sunday as the president began his second full day in hospital: a new national poll showing their candidate 14 points behind his challenger Joe Biden with less than a month until the election day.
The NBC/Wall Street Journal survey indicating a 53-39% advantage for the Democratic party’s nominee injected urgency for Trump’s advisers already scrambling to find a strategy for the final weeks of the campaign until 3 November.
Continue reading...Donald Trump received oxygen at least twice since Covid-19 diagnosis – video
Donald Trump’s doctor, Sean Conley, said the president experienced two drops in his blood oxygen levels and had needed to be given supplemental oxygen twice since becoming ill on Thursday.
Speaking at a press conference, Conley said he had been upbeat about the president’s health in a previous briefing because he hadn't wanted to 'steer the course of the illness' but in doing so had made it seem as if Trump's medical team were trying to hide something, which, he said, 'wasn't necessarily true'.
Another member of the team, Dr Brian Garibaldi, said the president may be released as early as tomorrow
Revealed: Trump-linked consultant tied to Facebook pages warning election will cause civil war
Network run by fake news-publishing father and son spreads word to Trump supporters they should prepare for violence in November
A militia-promoting father and son duo of fake news publishers and a Trump-connected social media consultant are linked to pages which promote the idea of an American civil war with material presented in a way that appears to be an effort to sidestep Facebook’s fact-checking system.
Comments on their Facebook pages and other materials obtained by the Guardian show that some rank and file Donald Trump supporters are enthusiastically receiving the message that they should prepare for violence against their perceived political enemies in November.
Continue reading...America is having a code red moment. Which of its enemies is likely to strike first? | Simon Tisdall
With Trump in hospital and the election campaign in chaos, the US has never been more vulnerable to foreign threats
US presidential elections and the uncertain transition periods that follow have traditionally been viewed by military, intelligence and security officials as moments of maximum national vulnerability. They will be especially worried now.
The fact that Donald Trump is ill in hospital, presidential advisers and Republican senators are also unwell, or self-isolating, and the election campaign is in chaos will intensify a sense of dangerous exposure at the Pentagon, CIA and state department.
Continue reading...Trump’s New Jersey event showed perilous neglect for his staff, supporters – and himself
Why did the White House allow a fundraising event to go on after one of Trump’s closest aides tested positive for Covid?
On Thursday afternoon Donald Trump held a roundtable of 19 top Republican donors at Bedminster, his 36-hole golf course in New Jersey, where he vented his frustrations about how his push for a rapid vaccine against Covid-19 was being undermined by the deep state.
According to a description of the meeting recorded on video by one of the donors present, “the president said that the approval for vaccines has been slowed down for political reasons by people who wanted to hurt him”.
Continue reading...Panic and confusion permeate White House following Trump’s Covid diagnosis
Concerns mount over spread of the virus within the building, and whether it could disrupt the functioning of government
Golden autumn sunshine shone down on Washington on Saturday to illuminate a US capital upended as Donald Trump began his first full day in hospital battling coronavirus amid a presidential election thrown into chaos.
Related: Amy Coney Barrett: quick confirmation under threat as three senators infected
Continue reading...Coronavirus: ‘I’ll be back, I think I’ll be back soon,’ says Trump as Victoria records 12 new cases – live
- President says ‘I think I’ll be back soon’ in four-minute video
- In Australia, cases spread from The Butcher’s Club, Melbourne
- New South Wales has no local transmission for ninth day
- UK Labour says PM Johnson has ‘lost control’ of Covid crisis
A couple of follow ups to those White House photos of Trump Signing Things.
The photos released by the WH tonight of the president working at Walter Reed were taken 10 minutes apart at 5:25:59 pm and 5:35:40 pm ET Saturday, according to the EXIF data embedded in both @AP wire postings that were shared by the White House this evening. pic.twitter.com/EzeqIkGdf7
ZOOM: @realDonaldTrump appears to be signing his name to a blank sheet of paper in this photo. pic.twitter.com/xlNX24CXn4
In the UK, millions of employees preparing to work from home this winter will face a collective hike of almost £2bn on their energy bills, and tougher working conditions, with only a “pittance” in compensation from their employers.
Half the UK’s workforce is likely to work primarily from home over the coming months as they help to contain the spread of the coronavirus, and may see their winter energy bills rise by a fifth as radiators and boilers are kept running through the day.
Related: Working from home in UK over winter ‘will add £100 to fuel bills’
Continue reading...‘I feel much better’: Trump releases first video message from hospital room
President says next few days will be the ‘real test’ as he battles Covid-19
Donald Trump released a new video message on Saturday evening saying that he is “doing well”, his wife Melania is “doing very well” and the next few days will be the “real test” after he was taken to hospital with Covid-19.
“I came here, wasn’t feeling so well, I feel much better now. We’re working hard to get me all the way back,” Trump said from behind a desk in his suite at the Walter Reed hospital in Bethesda, Maryland.
Continue reading...Trump films first message from hospital: ‘We’re going to beat this coronavirus’ – video
Donald Trump has posted his first video message from Walter Reed hospital, saying: 'I came here, wasn’t feeling so well. I feel much better now. We’re working hard to get me all the way back ... I’ll be back, I think I’ll be back soon.'
During the four-minute video posted to Twitter, the president said that he could have stayed isolated at the White House after his Covid-19 diagnosis, but that he 'can't be locked up in a room and totally safe' - adding that 'as a leader you have to confront problems'.
Trump acknowledged that the 'next few days will be the real test' and said the first lady, Melania Trump, who also tested positive for coronavirus, was 'really handling it very nicely' – with the president joking about their 24-year age gap during his video message
- Trump's Covid diagnosis: how it happened and what to expect
- Trump’s base stays loyal as president fights Covid
- Sign up for Fight to Vote – our weekly US election newsletter
Amy Coney Barrett: quick confirmation under threat as three senators infected
- Democrats urge delay in process amid coronavirus turmoil
- Senate judiciary committee to convene as planned on 12 October
Senate Republicans are facing a shrinking window of time before the November 3 election to confirm Donald Trump’s supreme court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, following the news that at least three Republican senators have tested positive for the coronavirus and more are quarantining after likely exposure.
Related: Confusion mounts over Trump's true condition after doctor's Covid briefing – live
Continue reading...Trump medical team ‘cautiously optimistic’ after Covid hospital admission – video
The White House doctor Sean Conley said Donald Trump was 'doing great' after the president was admitted to the Walter Reed military medical centre on Friday. Trump has received antibody therapy and is on a five-day treatment of remdesivir, and was reported to be 'in exceptionally good spirits'
Continue reading...