Category Archives: US News

Trump delivers White House coronavirus briefing without public health experts – live

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The United States is failing to report vital information on Covid-19 that could help track the spread of the disease and prevent the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans, according to the first comprehensive review of the nation’s coronavirus data.

The report, Tracking Covid-19 in the United States, paints a bleak picture of the country’s response to the disease. Five months into the pandemic, the essential intelligence that would allow public health authorities to get to grips with the virus is still not being compiled in usable form.

Related: 'Flying blind': US failure to report vital coronavirus data is hobbling response

Circling back to testing ...

Trump, who has been boasting about the country’s coronavirus testing for months, was right in saying that the US has dramatically ramped up testing and is now testing a higher proportion of citizens than many other countries.

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Mike Pompeo attacks WHO in private meeting during UK visit

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US secretary of state said the World Health Organization was responsible for Britons who had died from Covid-19

The US secretary of state Mike Pompeo launched an extraordinary attack on the World Health Organization during a private meeting in the UK, accusing it of being in the pocket of China and responsible for “dead Britons” who passed away during the pandemic.

Pompeo told those present that he believed the WHO was “political not a science-based organisation” and accused its current director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of being too close to Beijing.

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‘He’s quit on you’: Joe Biden says Trump does not care about America – video

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Joe Biden, in a scathing speech in his campaign to become the next US president, said Donald Trump had ‘quit’ on US citizens and did not care about America.

In a speech on his plan for the economy, in which he promised to expand access to preschool for working families, directly linking the need for affordable childcare to America’s economic recovery, Biden said Trump was not taking the public health crisis seriously.

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US public increasingly skeptical of Covid-19 death toll, poll finds

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  • Axios-Ipsos poll shows 31% believe true number is smaller
  • US has nearly 4m cases and more than 140,000 deaths

Skepticism is growing in the United States about the accuracy of publicly reported numbers for Covid-19 deaths, according to Axios-Ipsos polling published on Tuesday.

Related: Coronavirus US: record hospitalisations in seven states as Trump resumes briefings – live

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Trump’s vow to send federal officers to US cities is election ploy, critics say

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Opponents warn of grave threat to civil liberties as observers say president seeks to build ‘law and order’ credentials

Donald Trump has vowed to send federal officers to several American cities led by Democrats in what critics say is an attempt to play the “law and order” card to boost his bid for re-election.

The president’s threat came after a federal crackdown on anti-racism protests in Portland, Oregon, that involved unmarked cars and unidentified forces in camouflage.

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Global report: Trump says masks ‘patriotic’ as EU leaders agree to deal

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US president to restart daily briefings; Melbourne records 374 cases; WHO warns South Africa’s crisis could be precursor for more outbreaks in Africa

Donald Trump has announced his daily US coronavirus briefings will resume and that wearing face masks were “patriotic” as European leaders agreed a huge coronavirus rescue plan and Australia announced it was scaling back economic support as one of its states battles a growing Covid-19 outbreak.

Having almost entirely avoided wearing a mask in public during the pandemic, the US president tweeted that “many people say it is Patriotic to wear a face mask when you can’t socially distance”. The post came with a photo of the president in a mask, possibly taken at his visit about 10 days ago to the Walter Reed military hospital outside Washington.

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White St Louis couple who pointed guns at protesters to face charges

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Prosecutor says actions of Mark and Patricia McCloskey’s actions led to risk of violence

A white couple who pointed guns at protesters marching against racial injustice outside their mansion will face criminal charges, the city’s top prosecutor announced on Monday.

Mark and Patricia McCloskey, both personal injury attorneys in their 60s, will be charged with felony unlawful use of a weapon and a misdemeanor charge of fourth-degree assault.

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Fox News hit by new claims of stars’ sexual misconduct in lawsuit

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  • Ex-correspondent Ed Henry accused of rape and sexual assault
  • Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity face sexual harassment claim

Two women have come forward with explosive new allegations of sexual misconduct at Fox News, claiming in a lawsuit that the former chief national correspondent of the cable channel, Ed Henry, subjected one of them to rape and sexual assault.

The federal lawsuit, lodged on Monday in the southern district of New York, accuses management at Fox News of failing to act over allegations of sexual impropriety against Henry dating back to as early as 2017. The channel fired its co-anchor earlier this month after details of the complaint surfaced.

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Importance of Prince Andrew interview became clear in editing suite, says Maitlis

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Newsnight presenter could not understand the lack of empathy for Jeffrey Epstein’s victims

The Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis has said she only realised the significance of her interview with the Duke of York after watching the footage.

The Prince Andrew interview in November 2019, in which he was grilled over his relationship with billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, won scoop of the year at the Royal Television Society Awards while the BBC’s flagship current affairs show was also named daily news programme of the year.

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Covid-19 healthcare worker death toll: 735 deaths under investigation

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Lost on the frontline is a project by the Guardian and Kaiser Health News to document the lives of every US medical worker who dies helping patients during the pandemic. This is the current project status:

  • We have identified reports of 821 frontline healthcare workers who died of Covid-19
  • We are independently confirming each of these deaths through family members, employers and medical examiners
  • We have published obituaries for 149 healthcare workers whose deaths we have confirmed so far. You can read obituaries for March, April and May. These collections are updated as we verify deaths

Below are the 149 names of those whose deaths we have independently verified and covered in this series so far. You can read more about the project here. If you have a family member, friend or colleague who should be included, please contact us. We update this list regularly.

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Coronavirus US: cases top 3.75m as scientists appeal for Trump to listen – live

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Trump unexpectedly called reporters in to the Oval Office for an update on the discussions about Senate Republicans’ coronavirus relief bill.

The president said the discussions were going well, and treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin added that he and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows would brief Republicans on the talks tomorrow.

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer has released a statement criticizing the Republican coronavirus relief bill as inadequate.

In a “Dear Colleague” letter to the Senate Democratic caucus, Schumer specifically questioned majority leader Mitch McConnell’s decision to craft the bill “behind the closed doors of his office.”

Senator McConnell is writing a COVID bill that will prioritize corporate special interests over workers and main street businesses, and will fail to adequately address the worsening spread of COVID.

Workers and families and people—not special interests—must be our main focus. pic.twitter.com/VzdFE93hTA

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‘Anti-feminist’ lawyer suspected of shooting judge’s family found dead

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Roy Den Hollander discovered in the Catskills mountains after killing Esther Salas’ son

A self-described anti-feminist lawyer found dead in the Catskills from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound is the prime suspect in the shooting of a federal judge’s family in New Jersey, the FBI has said.

Roy Den Hollander, who received media attention including appearances on Fox News and Comedy Central for lawsuits challenging perceived infringements of men’s rights, was found dead on Monday in Sullivan County, New York.

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Five strange moments from Trump’s Fox News interview – video

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Facing interviewer Chris Wallace, US president Donald Trump said polls showing him trailing Joe Biden were 'fake' and that identifying an elephant proved his mental capacity. The interview also included a claim not to care what the military has to say about renaming its bases, and boasting about the country's low Covid-19 mortality rates. 

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Coronavirus live news: jump in new cases in Belgium; signs of compromise on EU recovery fund

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Belgium sees 66% jump in new infections; EU leaders shows signs of compromise; South Africa Covid-19 deaths pass 5,000

The British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline has bought a 10% stake in a German biotech company that is a key player in the global race for a coronavirus vaccine as part of a deal that could eventually be worth more than £800m.

GSK on Monday said it will pay £130m for the stake in CureVac. GSK will also make a separate payment of £104m that will fund research into CureVac’s development of messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccines.

Related: GSK buys £130m stake in German coronavirus vaccine maker

Denmark will allow merchant sailors stranded at sea since the outbreak of the coronavirus to come ashore and be reunited with their friends and families, the Business Ministry has said.

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Coronavirus live news: Trump says Fauci ‘alarmist’; Hong Kong makes masks mandatory indoors

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South Africa Covid-19 deaths pass 5,000; UN makes urgent appeal for Sudan pandemic help; France to issue mask fines. Follow the latest updates

The United Nations has made an urgent appeal for US$283 million to help Sudan tackle the coronavirus pandemic and its economic consequences, as millions in the country face hunger.

An official said the pandemic had worsened an economic crisis, hitting purchasing power, while movement restrictions had restricted people’s access to food, healthcare and basic services.

South Africa’s death toll from coronavirus has passed the 5,000 mark, according to official figures released on Sunday by the continent’s hardest hit country, AFP reports.

South Africa registered 85 new deaths from the virus in the previous 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 5,033. A total of 13,449 new infections were also officially diagnosed, taking the number to 364,328, figures released by the health ministry showed.

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Trump equates support for Confederate flag with Black Lives Matter

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Donald Trump has equated the Black Lives Matter movement with displays of the Confederate flag, saying: “I’m not offended either by Black Lives Matter, that’s freedom of speech. You know the whole thing with cancel culture – we can’t cancel our whole history. We can’t forget that the north and the south fought.”

Related: Trump's 2020 strategy: paint Joe Biden as a puppet for the 'radical left'

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Honor John Lewis by passing voting rights bill, leading Democrat urges

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House majority whip James Clyburn called on Sunday for both voting rights legislation and an infamous bridge in Alabama to be named after John Lewis.

Related: Trump equates support for Confederate flag with Black Lives Matter

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TikTok halts talks on London HQ amid UK-China tensions

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Video-sharing app suspends building plans, with British ban on Huawei 5G kit seen as factor

The Chinese social media firm TikTok has pulled back from talks to site the headquarters for its non-China business in the UK, threatening the creation of 3,000 jobs, as fears grow of a tit-for-tat trade war between London and Beijing.

Its parent company, ByteDance, which is based in Beijing, had spent months in negotiations with the Department for International Trade and No 10 officials to expand operations in addition to the near 800 employed by TikTok.

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Trump refuses to commit to accepting election result as Biden enjoys poll lead

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  • President refuses to say whether he will accept election result
  • Repeats claim that virus is ‘going to disappear, and I’ll be right’
  • US politics – live coverage

Joe Biden leads Donald Trump by 15% among registered voters nationally and holds a 20-point lead when it comes to who Americans trust to handle the coronavirus pandemic, according to a major poll out on Sunday.

Related: Trump equates support for Confederate flag with Black Lives Matter

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Trump White House reportedly seeks to defund coronavirus testing and tracing – live

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For what it’s worth, Trump seems to be heading out to play golf.

…and welcome to another day of coverage of politics in the US, which means coverage of the presidential campaign, the coronavirus pandemic, tributes to the late John Lewis and more.

Fox News Sunday will this morning broadcast an interview with Donald Trump, his first with a Sunday show in more than a year, which sees the president questioned by Chris Wallace, one of the more incisive interviewers in American television. A clip released on Friday showed Wallace putting Trump right on his claim Joe Biden wants to defund the police – which Biden doesn’t – and Trump not liking it.

But in talks over the weekend, administration officials instead pushed to zero out the funding for testing and for the nation’s top health agencies, and to cut the Pentagon funding to $5bn.

The suggestions infuriated several Republicans on Capitol Hill, who saw them as tone deaf.

Related: 'The virus doesn't care about excuses': US faces terrifying autumn as Covid-19 surges

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