theguardian--2020-08-18--DNC 2020: Bernie Sanders to urge voters unite behind Joe Biden

Bernie Sanders will warn that the “ future of our democracy is at stake ” if Donald Trump in awarded a second term at the November election , delivering a forceful appeal for voters across the ideological spectrum to unite behind Joe Biden on the opening night of the Democratic party ’ s national convention .
Sanders ’ message of unity is reflected by the evening ’ s speakers , designed to demonstrate the depth of Biden ’ s political coalition .
Sanders , who finished second to Biden in the Democratic primary race , will be joined by John @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Ohio , and former first lady , Michelle Obama , who will end the program with a keynote speech .
According to excerpts of Sanders ’ speech released ahead of the convention , the Vermont senator will urge voters to align against “ greed , oligarchy and authoritarianism ” .
“ My friends , I say to you , and to everyone who supported other candidates in this primary and to those who may have voted for Donald Trump in the last election , ” he will say .
“ The future @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The future of our economy is at stake .
The future of our planet is at stake .
We must come together , defeat Donald Trump and elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as our next president and vice-president .
My friends , the price of failure is just too great to imagine.
” In the first moments of the broadcast , actor Eva Longoria , host for the evening , acknowledged that this year ’ s convention would be unlike any other .
Traditionally , she said , a convention is a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” “ This year , we ’ ve come to save it , ” Longoria said .
With the virtual rap of a gavel , Mississippi congressman Bennie Thompson , the convention ’ s chairman , formally opened the four-day presidential nominating convention , an affair that has been entirely reshaped by the coronavirus pandemic .
It was originally planned for Milwaukee , Wisconsin , in mid-July , with tens of thousands of in-person attendees .
Now , renamed the “ Convention Across America , ” it has been condensed into two-hour primetime @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s most prominent politicians alongside everyday Americans .
Amid the appeals to unity , were searing reminders of the lives touched – and lost – by the parallel crises of a global pandemic and racial injustice .
From a nurse in Texas worried about “ the kiddos ” going back to school in a pandemic to a Pennsylvania farmer fearful that he might be the last generation to till a field if the economy doesn ’ t improve and a repentant Trump supporter , all urged the nation to choose new leadership .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden joined the event on Monday night to host a conversation on racial injustice and police reform with Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot of Chicago ; Houston police chief Art Acevedo , and Gwen Carr , the mother of Eric Garner , who died in a police chokehold in 2014 .
The family of George Floyd addressed the convention .
“ George should be alive today , ” Floyd ’ s brother , Philonise Floyd , said before beginning a somber roll call of African Americans who have died at the hands of police @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his family in a moment of silence .
Democrats hope the event ’ s unprecedented nature will serve as a stark reminder to those watching at home of the president ’ s failure to contain the contagion in the US .
More than 170,000 people have died and more than 5.4m coronavirus cases have been reported , far more than any other country in the world .
“ If it weren ’ t for Trump ’ s abject failure as a president in the face of this virus , it wouldn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Democratic party chair , Ben Wikler , wrote on Twitter .
“ But the @ DemConvention team has made the right , tough decisions.
” On Monday voters will also hear from New York ’ s governor , Andrew Cuomo , who was widely praised for his handling of the outbreak when it ravaged his state earlier this year .
“ Only a strong body can fight off the virus , and America ’ s divisions weakened it , ” Cuomo will say .
“ Donald Trump didn ’ t create the initial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he only made it worse.
” New polling shows that the American public is increasingly disappointed by Trump ’ s handling of the virus , and his presidency , while Biden maintains a steady lead , according to national surveys .
Michelle Obama , one of the most popular figures in American politics , and , according to Gallup , the world ’ s most admired woman of 2019 , will draw from her long friendship with Biden to make the case for his candidacy .
“ He was a terrific vice-president , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ He knows what it takes to rescue an economy , beat back a pandemic and lead our country.
” At a virtual fundraiser on Monday afternoon , Biden , who will formally accept the Democratic presidential nomination on Thursday , summarized his message for the nation : “ I ’ m going to represent everyone , even those who didn ’ t vote for me.
” Trump delivered a starkly different message in Oshkosh , Wisconsin , on Monday , hours before the convention formally began in Milwaukee .
There he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , mocking Michelle Obama for pre-taping her remarks while delighting the crowd with a promise to deliver a “ live speech ” from the White House when he accepts the Republican nomination next week .
He then claimed that the only way he would lose in November was “ if the election is rigged ” .

In a unmistakable show of unity against a president they said threatened the nation’s democracy, liberals, progressives, moderates and even some Republicans came together for the opening night of the Democratic national convention on Monday, a virtual affair that culminated with an urgent plea from former first lady Michelle Obama to vote for Joe Biden “like our lives depend on it”.
In her keynote address at a convention that had been truncated and conducted almost entirely online as a result of the public health crisis, Obama delivered a searing indictment of her husband’s successor. Confronting Donald Trump directly, she accused him of mishandling the coronavirus pandemic that has claimed more than 170,000 American lives and of failing to respond to the nationwide cries for racial justice.
The suffering felt across the country would only deepen, she warned, if Trump was allowed four more years in the White House.
“Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country,” Obama said, prefacing her remarks with a promise to be unusually direct. “He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head. He cannot meet this moment. He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us. It is what it is.”
When she finished speaking, the broadcast displayed a panoramic of living rooms around the US, where supporters applauded enthusiastically.
Her denunciations of the president were echoed from prominent figures of both parties. The Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, who finished second to Biden in the Democratic primary race, warned that Trump was leading the nation “down the path of authoritarianism” while John Kasich, the anti-Trump Republican former governor of Ohio, urged Americans to “take off our partisans hats and put our nation first”.
01:50 Bernie Sanders slams Trump at DNC: 'Nero fiddled while Rome burned. The president golfs' – video
In the first moments of the broadcast on Monday night, actor Eva Longoria, host for the evening, acknowledged that this year’s convention would be unlike any other. Traditionally, she said, a convention is a quadrennial exercise in reaffirming “our democracy”.
“This year, we’ve come to save it,” Longoria said.
With a pre-taped rap of a gavel, Mississippi congressman Bennie Thompson, the convention’s chairman, formally opened the four-day presidential nominating convention that has been entirely reshaped by the coronavirus pandemic.
The convention was originally planned for Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in mid-July, with tens of thousands of in-person attendees. Now, renamed the “Convention Across America” and “anchored” in Milwaukee, it has been condensed into two-hour primetime events over four nights, featuring some of the nation’s most prominent politicians alongside everyday Americans.
The control room where live feeds are managed for the Democratic national convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on 17 August. Photograph: Reuters
“We gather virtually, however we gather unified in spirit,” said the Wisconsin congresswoman Gwen Moore. “Unified in our values and purpose to heal divisions and together move the nation confidently into a prosperous, inclusive future.”
In live remarks from Burlington, Sanders warned that the “future of our democracy is at stake”.
“This president is not just a threat to our democracy, but by rejecting science, he has put our lives and health in jeopardy,” Sanders said, summarizing Trump’s handling of the pandemic, likening the president to the tyrannical Roman emperor: “Nero fiddled while Rome burned. Trump golfs.”
Directly addressing the millions of young progressives who voted for him in 2020, many of whom remain skeptical of Biden, Sanders laid out key policies where he and his one-time rival overlap, including on a $15 minimum wage and aggressive action on climate change.
It was a stark contrast to the almost valedictory nature of his remarks in 2016, which did little to ease the boiling anger of his supporters that spilled into the open on the convention floor in Philadelphia.
On Monday night, Sanders was unequivocal: “We need Joe Biden as our next president.”
Amid the appeals to unity, were searing reminders of the lives touched – and lost – by the parallel crises of a global pandemic and racial injustice.
From a nurse in Texas worried about “the kiddos” going back to school in a pandemic to a Pennsylvania farmer fearful that he might be the last generation to till a field if the economy doesn’t improve and a repentant Trump supporter, all urged the nation to choose new leadership.
In one of the most moving segments of the evening, Kristin Urquiza said her father was a “healthy 65-year-old” when he died from coronavirus after Arizona rushed to reopen its economy at the urging of the president.
“His only pre-existing condition was trusting Donald Trump,” Urquiza said, “and for that, he paid with his life.”
Urquiza said she would cast her vote for Biden in November to honor her father. “One of the last things that my father said to me was that he felt betrayed by the likes of Donald Trump,” Urquiza said. “And so, when I cast my vote for Joe Biden, I will do it for my dad.”
Urquiza was echoed by several prominent Republicans who said they too planned to vote for Biden in November.
“America is at a crossroads,” Kasich said, standing at the intersection or two gravel pathways in his home town of Westerville, Ohio, an affluent suburb in the perennial swing state that Democrats have called “ground zero” in the battle for the White House. “Joe Biden is the man for these times.”
His remarks were followed by a montage of lifelong Republican voters who expressed disbelief for the moment in which they found themselves: calling for the election of a Democratic president at the party’s national convention. Nevertheless, they warned of the lasting consequences of allowing Trump a second term.
01:29 Kasich among anti-Trump Republicans backing Joe Biden at DNC – video
The New York governor, Andrew Cuomo, who was widely praised for his handling of the coronavirus that ravaged his state earlier this year, laced into Trump’s response to the pandemic.
“Only a strong body can fight off the virus, and America’s divisions weakened it,” Cuomo said, seated at his desk as America came to know him during daily press briefings, with a PowerPoint presentation stating the number of days the US has been enduring the pandemic: “Today is Monday. Day 170.”
“Donald Trump didn’t create the initial division,” he continued. “The division created Trump; he only made it worse.”
New polling shows that the American public is increasingly disappointed by Trump’s handling of the virus, and his presidency, while Biden maintains a steady lead, according to national surveys.
In a summer of racial reckoning sparked by the police killing of George Floyd, Biden joined the event on Monday night to host a conversation on racial injustice and police reform.
Floyd’s family addressed the convention, and asked Americans to join his family in a moment of silence.
“George should be alive today,” Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd, said before beginning a somber roll call of African Americans who have died at the hands of police.
Earlier in the day, Trump delivered a starkly different message in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
There he addressed supporters from an airport landing strip, mocking the former first lady for pre-recording her remarks while delighting the crowd with a promise to deliver a “live speech” from the White House when he accepts the Republican nomination next week.
But the format did little to blunt the sting of her words.
It was Obama who delivered the evening’s most devastating rebuke of her husband’s successor in a strikingly political speech that diverged greatly from the sunny vision of American progress she outlined at Democratic convention four years, when she assailed Trump without ever saying his name.
“If you think things cannot possibly get worse, trust me, they can – and they will if we don’t make a change in this election,” Obama said, wearing a gold necklace that said “vote”. “If we have any hope of ending this chaos, we have got to vote for Joe Biden like our lives depend on it.”
In her telling, Trump’s greatest weakness was Biden’s greatest strength: his empathy.
“Whenever we look to this White House for some leadership or consolation or any semblance of steadiness,” Obama said, “what we get instead is chaos, division and a total and utter lack of empathy.”
18:00 Michelle Obama: the former first lady's DNC speech in full – video
Though Biden has been in American politics for nearly five decades – and despite efforts by the Trump campaign to define Biden as a leftwing socialist – many Americans are unfamiliar with the contours of his life and career.
On Monday night, a highly produced video with Amtrak workers told the story of Biden riding the train between his home in Wilmington and Washington DC as a young senator so that he could be home with his young sons after his wife and daughter were killed in a car accident.
The South Carolina congressman James Clyburn, the highest-ranking black member of Congress whose endorsement was instrumental in helping his longtime friend win the Democratic primary, described Biden simply as a “good man”.
“We know Joe,” he said. “But more importantly Joe knows us.”


theguardian--2020-08-18--Trump-appointed post office chief agrees to testify over handling of mail service – as it happened

Another politically charged Trump appointment at the Census bureau The Trump administration has made another rare political appointment to the census bureau , naming Ben Overholt , a statistician at the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission , to be its deputy director for data .
Donald Trump also recently instructed the bureau to exclude undocumented immigrants from the census data used to determine how many US House seats each state gets , a move that is likely to be unconstitutional ( the constitution says the census must count all “ persons ” ) .
The bureau announced earlier this month @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the census , a move that will likely result in an undercount of immigrant , poor and minority communities .
Overholt ’ s appointment , first reported by NPR , comes at a time when the Bureau is under severe scrutiny and faces accusations of political interference .
The Bureau is overwhelmingly staffed by career employees , and the Trump administration installed two political appointees earlier this year there that appear to have little qualification .
Democrats in Congress have called for the removal of those employees .
In 2017 , Kris @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , attempted to get Overholt detailed to Trump ’ s voter fraud commission , noting Overholt had done an analysis for Kobach after seeing him on TV .
Kobach told officials in Vice-President Mike Pence ’ s office he wanted the request to have Overholt detailed to the commission elevated to Attorney General Jeff Sessions .
Christy McCormick , a commissioner on the Election Assistance Commission , also praised Overholt in an email to Pence ’ s office : “ When I was at DOJ , we had numerous conversations that make me @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Christian , too ) .
” Overholt has served as a statistician at the EEOC since 2018 , according to his LinkedIn profile .
Prior to that , he worked in the voting section at the Justice Department for five years and served in the US army for nearly 14 years .
He has a PhD and MS in Applied Statistics and Research Methods from the University of North Colorado .
The Bureau said in a statement Overholt would ensure “ 2020 Census data products are of the highest quality ” .

Lois Beckett (now) and Joan E Greve, Amanda Holpuch and Martin Belam (earlier)

18 Aug 2020 01.39 BST Updated evening summary We’re closing down our live US politics coverage for today, but you can follow updates from the Democratic National Convention on our DNC liveblog for the next few hours. Tonight’s events will include speeches from Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and former first lady Michelle Obama. Meanwhile, an updated summary of today’s news, from myself and Joanie Greve: Postmaster General Louis DeJoy agreed to testify before the House oversight committee next Monday. The hearing is expected to be quite contentious, as Democratic members of the panel grill DeJoy on his handling of the US Postal Service in the final months before November’s presidential election.
The hearing is expected to be quite contentious, as Democratic members of the panel grill DeJoy on his handling of the US Postal Service in the final months before November’s presidential election. The House will vote on legislation regarding USPS on Saturday. House speaker Nancy Pelosi announced yesterday that she would call members back into session to vote on congresswoman Carolyn Maloney ’s bill, which would prohibit changes to USPS operations before the election. More than a dozen states are expected to sue the Trump administration over the treatment of the postal service, Maryland’s attorney general said.
House speaker announced yesterday that she would call members back into session to vote on congresswoman ’s bill, which would prohibit changes to USPS operations before the election. are expected to sue the Trump administration over the treatment of the postal service, Maryland’s attorney general said. A former senior member of the Trump administration endorsed Joe Biden in the presidential race. Miles Taylor, who served as chief of staff to former homeland security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, said in a video announcing his endorsement, “Given what I have experienced in the administration, I have to support Joe Biden for president.” The endorsement makes Taylor one of the most senior members of the Trump administration to publicly back Biden’s campaign. Activists criticized Taylor for not reckoning with his own complicity in separating kids from families.
who served as chief of staff to former homeland security secretary said in a video announcing his endorsement, “Given what I have experienced in the administration, I have to support Joe Biden for president.” The endorsement makes Taylor one of the most senior members of the Trump administration to publicly back Biden’s campaign. Activists criticized Taylor for not reckoning with his own complicity in separating kids from families. The Trump administration finalized its plan to allow oil drilling in the Arctic national wildlife refuge – which environmental advocates call the nation’s “last great wilderness”.
– which environmental advocates call the nation’s “last great wilderness”. A major North Carolina university opened for in-person classes and then abruptly cancelled them, after coronavirus cases began to spread among students, including at least one cluster of cases in a fraternity house.
Updated at 01.50 BST
17 Aug 2020 00.44 BST Former DHS official: Trump wanted border wall spikes more damaging to human flesh My colleague Joan Greve wrote earlier about the former Trump Department of Homeland Security official who endorsed Joe Biden for president, saying that “What we saw week in and week out, for me, after two and a half years in that administration, was terrifying.” Miles Taylor, who served as chief of staff to former homeland security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, announced his endorsement in a video produced by the group Republican Voters Against Trump. He also elaborated on some of his experiences in the administration in a Washington Post op-ed: One day in February 2019, when congressional leaders were waiting for an answer from the White House on a pending deal to avoid a second government shutdown, the president demanded a DHS phone briefing to discuss the color of the wall. He was particularly interested in the merits of using spray paint and how the steel structure should be coated. Episodes like this occurred almost weekly. Top DHS officials were regularly diverted from dealing with genuine security threats by the chore of responding to these inappropriate and often absurd executive requests, at all hours of the day and night. One morning it might be a demand to shut off congressionally appropriated funds to a foreign ally that had angered him, and that evening it might be a request to sharpen the spikes atop the border wall so they’d be more damaging to human flesh (“How much would that cost us?”). See Adam Serwer’s 2018 essay on the Trump administration: “The cruelty is the point.” But activists also had questions for Taylor about his own complicity in the administration’s separation of migrant children from their families, which Taylor criticized in his piece denouncing Trump. You can't just rewrite recent, highly-on-social-media history. Miles Taylor is directly complicit in the separation of children from their families. If you want to actually engage in reconciliation for that, it's available to you, Mr. Taylor. But this ain't it. https://t.co/PBROOln7na — Jess Morales Rocketto (@JessLivMo) August 18, 2020
Updated at 01.08 BST
17 Aug 2020 00.20 BST Nurse practitioner discovers Iowa underreporting COVID cases on state website New from the Associated Press: A state agency says it is working to fix a data error on Iowa’s coronavirus website that lowers the number of new confirmed cases and therefore downplays the severity of the current outbreak, just as schools are deciding whether to reopen. The glitch means the Iowa Department of Public Health has inadvertently been reporting fewer new infections and a smaller percentage of daily positive tests than is truly the case, according to Dana Jones, an Iowa City nurse practitioner who uncovered the problem. It’s particularly significant because school districts are relying on state data to determine whether they will offer in-person instruction when school resumes in the coming days and weeks. “It’s just horrifying. We have no idea what’s going on, really,” said Jones.
17 Aug 2020 00.04 BST Report: University cancels in-person classes less than 2 hours before tuition deadline An independent weekly in North Carolina is highlighting an interesting detail about the abrupt cancellation of in-person classes at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, the state’s flagship university, which had started on-campus instruction this month. The cutoff for fall tuition cancelation was 5 p.m. The email calling off in-person classes went out around 3:45. https://t.co/MJ1ZEB5ZEh — Sarah Edwards (@eddy_sarah) August 17, 2020 A union that represents some of the university’s staff said in a statement responding to the sudden reversal that administration officials “gambled that they could contain a spread until tuition bills were locked in and lost miserably”, the News and Observer reported. The union had previously sued the university on behalf of housekeepers, professors and other staff, the paper reported.
Updated at 00.08 BST
17 Aug 2020 23.18 BST Mario Koran California governor gives update on fire tornadoes, expected rolling blackouts As a record-setting heat wave descends on California, the state contends with wildfires that threaten to spiral out of control, rolling blackouts to protect against additional blazes and a pandemic whose toll continues to rise. Over the weekend, intense lightning storms and fire tornadoes struck areas across the state, igniting brush fires and prompting state regulators to warn of rolling blackouts just as many children resume distance learning and huge segments of the population work from home. “We failed to predict and plan for these shortages, and that’s unacceptable. I have taken responsibility as your governor to immediately address this issue, to move forward and ensure it simply never happens again,” Newsom said at Monday’s presser, adding that the state has launched an investigation into what went wrong with the energy forecast. Newsom said that parents who are worried about how the power outages will impact their children’s distance learning should know the situation is “very temporary”. Governor demands investigation after Californians left without power in extreme heat Read more Meantime, California coronavirus metrics show signs of improvement. Since 3 August, the state has added five new counties to the state’s monitoring list, based on health metrics that worry public health experts, which means 42 of the state’s 58 counties are now on notice. The San Diego metro area may be removed from the list tomorrow, Newsom said. Newsom said the state’s positivity rate for people who have been tested for Covid is at 6.5%, down from 7 weeks ago, and is “stabilizing” and “moving broadly in the right direction”. Admissions to hospitals and ICUs both declined over the past two weeks, by 21% and 16% respectively.
Updated at 23.39 BST
17 Aug 2020 23.03 BST Sam Levine Another politically charged Trump appointment at the Census bureau The Trump administration has made another rare political appointment to the census bureau, naming Ben Overholt, a statistician at the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, to be its deputy director for data. Donald Trump also recently instructed the bureau to exclude undocumented immigrants from the census data used to determine how many US House seats each state gets, a move that is likely to be unconstitutional (the constitution says the census must count all “persons”). The bureau announced earlier this month it is shortening the time to respond to the census, a move that will likely result in an undercount of immigrant, poor and minority communities.
Overholt’s appointment, first reported by NPR, comes at a time when the Bureau is under severe scrutiny and faces accusations of political interference. The Bureau is overwhelmingly staffed by career employees, and the Trump administration installed two political appointees earlier this year there that appear to have little qualification. Democrats in Congress have called for the removal of those employees. In 2017, Kris Kobach, an anti-immigrant politician from Kansas, attempted to get Overholt detailed to Trump’s voter fraud commission, noting Overholt had done an analysis for Kobach after seeing him on TV. Kobach told officials in Vice-President Mike Pence’s office he wanted the request to have Overholt detailed to the commission elevated to Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Christy McCormick, a commissioner on the Election Assistance Commission, also praised Overholt in an email to Pence’s office: “When I was at DOJ, we had numerous conversations that make me pretty confident he is conservative (and Christian, too).” Overholt has served as a statistician at the EEOC since 2018, according to his LinkedIn profile. Prior to that, he worked in the voting section at the Justice Department for five years and served in the US army for nearly 14 years. He has a PhD and MS in Applied Statistics and Research Methods from the University of North Colorado.
The Bureau said in a statement Overholt would ensure “2020 Census data products are of the highest quality”.
Updated at 23.30 BST
17 Aug 2020 22.41 BST Trump confirms he will give his GOP convention speech at the White House In Wisconsin, President Trump confirms he will give his GOP Convention speech from the White House next Thursday. — Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) August 17, 2020 The Office of Special Counsel said last week that Trump could give the speech from the White House, but said there might be issues for White House employees involved in the event because of the Hatch Act, which sets limits on the political activities of federal employees while on the job. Trump has repeatedly ignored these legal limits.
17 Aug 2020 22.27 BST Better air circulation or doors that lock against a school shooter? Pick one. A reporter for New York magazine has an extremely grim anecdote from a conversation with a friend who is a teacher in the United States preparing to resume classroom instruction during a pandemic: Just heard from a teacher friend prepping for the school year: they've been told they can't leave classroom doors open to promote better air circulation, because that would circumvent the school's automatic locking system that's in place for active shooter situations. — Gabriel Debenedetti (@gdebenedetti) August 17, 2020


theguardian--2020-08-18--Michelle Obama to call Joe Biden 'profoundly decent man' in DNC speech

Michelle Obama will call Joe Biden a “ profoundly decent man ” who will “ tell the truth and trust science ” in her speech on the opening night of the Democratic convention , seeking to draw a sharp contrast between Biden and Donald Trump .
“ He knows what it takes to rescue an economy , beat back a pandemic and lead our country , ” the former first lady said in an advance excerpt of her speech later on Monday .
“ He will make smart plans and manage a good team , and he will govern as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the rest of us can recognize.
” It ’ s part of what longtime adviser Valerie Jarrett says is set to be a speech emphasizing Biden ’ s competency and character in contrast to the Republican incumbent .
“ This election is very personal for her , ” Jarrett told the Associated Press .
“ She ’ s going to take this opportunity to speak about Vice President Biden in two ways : competency , which she had a chance to observe first-hand while he served as her husband ’ s vice-president @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Republican Donald Trump succeeded Democrat Barack Obama in 2017 and promptly set out to undo many of Obama ’ s achievements on health care , the environment and foreign policy , among others .
Trump also routinely criticizes Obama ’ s job performance .
Biden ’ s sense of empathy will also be a focus of Michelle Obama ’ s speech , which will serve as a character witness .
Tragedy has followed Biden , from the deaths of his first wife and baby daughter after he was elected to the Senate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his son Beau from brain cancer in 2015 .
Michelle Obama , who leads an effort to help register people to vote , will also speak about the importance of voting in the 3 November election , which will take place amid a coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 170,000 Americans and infected more than 5 million in the US .
Her remarks will come as Democrats in Washington have railed against recent cuts to the US Postal Service , which is headed by a Trump ally and Republican donor .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ country , raising concerns about whether mail-in ballots will be sent out and returned on time ahead of the election .
Trump , who lags Biden in some national and state polls , has denounced efforts by some states to expand voting-by-mail options and spread misinformation to undermine the practice , which is seeing huge demand due to the coronavirus pandemic .
“ She knows the lengths that people are going through , around our country , to suppress the vote and it ’ s why she has poured so much of her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about voting , ” Jarrett said .
In keeping with the virtual nature of the convention because of the coronavirus , Michelle Obama ’ s remarks were recorded before Biden ’ s announcement last Tuesday that he had chosen California Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate .
But the former first lady wrote lengthy posts on her Facebook and Instagram accounts praising Harris , a Black woman born to Jamaican and Indian parents , after she joined the Democratic ticket .
Nearly four years after leaving the White House , Michelle Obama @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and among Black women in particular , as well as with some of those outside the party .
Her speech on the convention ’ s opening night will be tantamount to the endorsement of Biden that some supporters had hoped she would make during the early primaries , when his candidacy was struggling .
Monday ’ s speech will be the fourth Democratic convention address by Michelle Obama , who first introduced herself to the nation during her husband ’ s groundbreaking campaign .
She spoke again in 2012 to urge voters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Michelle Obama returned to the convention stage in 2016 , backing former first lady Hillary Clinton over Trump , who had spent years pushing the lie that Barack Obama was not born in the US and was ineligible for the presidency .
She spoke of the code her family lives by : “ Our motto is , when they go low , we go high.
” A key difference between those speeches and Monday night ’ s address is that Michelle Obama is better known now than she was in 2008 , Jarrett @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and around the world have read her bestselling memoir , Becoming .
“ I think her hope is they will trust her , and that this isn ’ t about politics , ” Jarrett said .
“ This is about the future of our country.
” Associated Press contributed to this report

Michelle Obama eviscerated Donald Trump during her keynote speech at the opening night of the virtual Democratic convention, accusing him of being the “wrong president for our country” and “clearly in over his head”.
In her most political address and her most pointed criticism of Trump to date, the former first lady called on Americans to “vote for Joe Biden like our lives depend on it” in the November election.
“Let me be as honest and clear as I possibly can. Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country,” she said.
Michelle Obama: “Let me be as honest and clear as I possibly can: Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country ... He is clearly in over his head. He cannot meet this moment. He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us. It is what it is." pic.twitter.com/9nUJDOBaij — NBC News (@NBCNews) August 18, 2020
“He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head. He cannot meet this moment. He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us. It is what it is.”
The phrase echoed Trump’s own words earlier this month, who, when asked about the United States’ staggering death toll from coronavirus, responded: “It is what it is.”
Liberals, progressives, moderates and some Republicans came together at the virtual event on Monday night to warn of the threats four more years of a Trump administration pose, and promote visions for a better future.
In her address, Michelle Obama specifically referenced her words at the 2016 convention, in which she told Democrats: “When they go low, we go high.” Obama said tonight, “Going high is the only thing that works.”
She then added: “But let’s be clear: going high does not mean putting on a smile and saying nice things when confronted by viciousness and cruelty. Going high means taking the harder path. It means scraping and clawing our way to that mountain top.”
Nearly four years after leaving the White House, the former first lady remains a hugely popular figure within the party, and among black women in particular, as well as with some of those outside the party.
In recent years, she published a best-selling memoir called Becoming, traveled the country on a book tour that was later made into a documentary, helped found a new voting rights organization, and recently launched a podcast.
“You know I hate politics,” she said in her speech, repeating a truism that has always disappointed her most ardent supporters, some of whom attempted to draft her into the 2020 primary race.
Michelle Obama: “Right now kids in this country are seeing what happens when we stop requiring empathy of one another. They're looking around wondering if we've been lying to them this whole time about who we are and what we truly value” pic.twitter.com/OHLfNNSYfm — CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) August 18, 2020
But it appeared to make her an even more powerful character witness, as she sharply contrasted Joe Biden’s personality and record with Trump’s, calling the former vice-president, who served under her husband president Barack Obama, a “profoundly decent man” who will “tell the truth and trust science”.
“He knows what it takes to rescue an economy, beat back a pandemic and lead our country,” she said.
Trump succeeded Barack Obama in 2017 and promptly set out to undo many of Obama’s achievements on healthcare, the environment and foreign policy, among others. Trump also routinely criticizes Obama’s job performance.
Biden’s sense of empathy was also a key focus of Michelle Obama’s speech. Speaking of the national reckoning on racism sparked by the police killing of George Floyd in May, she said: “whenever we look to this White House for some leadership or consolation or any semblance of steadiness, what we get instead is chaos, division and a total and utter lack of empathy”.
Tragedy has followed Biden, from the deaths of his first wife and baby daughter after he was elected to the Senate in 1972, to the death of his son Beau from brain cancer in 2015.
“His life is a testament to getting back up, and he is going to channel that same grit and passion to pick us all up, to help us heal and guide us forward,” she said of Biden.
18:00 Michelle Obama: the former first lady's DNC speech in full – video
A speech like that would typically be met with thunderous applause. But this year, praise was recorded online.
Biden’s running mate Kamala Harris praised Obama for “speaking truth to power” while Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called her remarks “incredibly powerful” and “deeply moving”.
“Because she is not a politician and doesn’t think or speak like one, @MicheleObama is such a powerful communicator,” tweeted David Axelrod, political consultant and former adviser to Barack Obama. “As she is showing again here, she speaks with a moral authority few in public life can summon.”
.@MichelleObama speaking truth to power. Donald Trump is not up for the job—but @JoeBiden is. pic.twitter.com/UDCCofB0Rv — Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) August 18, 2020
Michelle Obama, who leads an effort to help register people to vote, also spoke about the importance of voting in the 3 November election, which will take place amid a coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 170,000 Americans and infected more than 5 million in the US. In the video, she wore a gold chain necklace that said “VOTE”.
Her remarks came as Democrats in Washington have also railed against recent cuts to the US Postal Service, which is headed by a Trump ally and Republican donor. The changes are delaying mail deliveries around the country, raising concerns about whether mail-in ballots will be sent out and returned on time ahead of the election.
Trump, who lags Biden in some national and state polls, has denounced efforts by some states to expand voting-by-mail options and spread misinformation to undermine the practice, which is seeing huge demand due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Due the coronavirus, Michelle Obama’s remarks were recorded before Biden’s announcement last Tuesday that he had chosen Harris as his running mate.
But the former first lady wrote lengthy posts on her Facebook and Instagram accounts praising Harris, a black woman born to Jamaican and Indian parents, after she joined the Democratic ticket.
Monday’s speech was the fourth Democratic convention address by Michelle Obama, who first introduced herself to the nation during her husband’s groundbreaking campaign. She spoke again in 2012 to urge voters to give him a second term.
Michelle Obama returned to the convention stage in 2016, backing former first lady Hillary Clinton over Trump, who had spent years pushing the lie that Barack Obama was not born in the US and was ineligible for the presidency.
Associated Press contributed to this report


theguardian--2020-08-17--Trump wants to destroy USPS as we know it. We can’t allow him to get away with it | Nathan Robinson

Donald Trump has never hidden his intention to destroy the United States Postal Service ( USPS ) as we know it .
The administration released plans openly declaring that its long-term aim was to privatize the USPS , enriching private investors by handing them a valuable public asset .
Now , Trump ’ s postmaster general , Louis DeJoy , is under fire for internal changes that are hindering the USPS ’ s ability to deliver mail efficiently , and Trump himself has implied that he is reluctant to fund the USPS due to his longstanding opposition to mail-in voting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crony ” appointee , a Republican party donor who never worked for the postal service and has financial interest in private delivery competitors to the USPS .
The Intercept discovered that when DeJoy was in the private sector , he had a long history of overseeing labor violations .
DeJoy has admitted that his changes to the USPS have caused delays to service , though he insists it has been unintentional .
Trump has targeted the USPS for years , threatening to jack up prices and treating it as in need of an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ruthlessly implementing .
The postal service has long been a target for Republicans , in part because a successful USPS is a threat to Republican ideology .
After all , the conservative argument is that efficient public services are essentially impossible , that most government functions should be handed over to the private sector .
A popular socialized mail service threatens to severely undercut this case .
After all , if people are satisfied with the government delivering their mail , they might turn out to be satisfied with the government providing their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ slippery slope toward socialism .
A number of other countries have privatized their postal services .
Trump did not actually start the war on the USPS .
Barack Obama actually pushed austerity measures , including a plan to eliminate Saturday delivery and cut the service ’ s budget .
Obama ’ s former Office of Management and Budget director , Peter Orszag , endorsed full privatization .
The ideology that government should be “ lean ” and “ run like a business ” , and that the private sector is inherently superior to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ delusion .
The postal service ’ s infamous financial woes are not actually hard to fix .
While Trump tries to suggest it is all a result of inefficiency and mismanagement , we know that it mostly boils down to an absurdly unnecessary requirement imposed on the USPS which required it to put away billions of dollars each year for future retirement benefits .
It would be easy to get the USPS shipshape again , but it would require a commitment to building an excellent public service , one that Obama didn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t have .
We should also remember , though , that talk of the USPS “ losing money ” is inherently a bit misleading and strange .
Public services do not “ lose money ” , because they ’ re not designed to make money .
If people said that the public library , or the school system , or the fire department was “ losing money ” , it would be very strange .
Of course they are : they don ’ t take in revenue , because their purpose is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ paid for out of government funds .
It ’ s not like that money just goes into a pit or is frittered away .
The money pays for a service that we then all get to enjoy .
So even though we should point out that the USPS ’ s financial distress is in an important way politically manufactured , we should also be careful about embracing the logic that a government agency needs to “ break even ” .
That ’ s not what the government is for .
The good news @ @ @ @ @ @ @ popular , Trump ’ s attacks on it have provoked public outrage .
Democrats have been unusually quick to rally to the USPS ’ s defense , with Nancy Pelosi promising the strict oversight from the House on changes to the postal service .
Protesters gathered outside the postmaster general ’ s house to demonstrate against changes to the service .
The outpouring of attention , and the militant attitude toward defending the institution , is an encouraging sign .
The most important thing is to keep it up .
Governments commit their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Trump has made it clear that if he can get away with it , he ’ ll end government mail delivery altogether .
So he can ’ t be allowed to get away with it .
A very clever Republican tactic is to mismanage the government , and then point to government mismanagement as a case for privatization .
( Hence hobbling the USPS with absurd budgetary requirements and then pointing out holes in its budget . )
To counter that , it ’ s very important to make the general public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
If people see their mail delayed , and become frustrated , they need to understand that it ’ s Trump , not their local letter carrier , who is at fault .
Trump is going to try to turn the agency into the villain of the story , because the USPS ’ s popularity is one of the reasons it has been relatively safe .
We can ’ t allow that to happen .
We need to show appreciation for the service and demand that it be funded generously and given the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ important work .
• None Nathan Robinson is the editor of Current Affairs and a Guardian US columnist

Donald Trump has never hidden his intention to destroy the United States Postal Service (USPS) as we know it. The administration released plans openly declaring that its long-term aim was to privatize the USPS, enriching private investors by handing them a valuable public asset. Now, Trump’s postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, is under fire for internal changes that are hindering the USPS’s ability to deliver mail efficiently, and Trump himself has implied that he is reluctant to fund the USPS due to his longstanding opposition to mail-in voting.
DeJoy is a prototypical “political crony” appointee, a Republican party donor who never worked for the postal service and has financial interest in private delivery competitors to the USPS. The Intercept discovered that when DeJoy was in the private sector, he had a long history of overseeing labor violations. DeJoy has admitted that his changes to the USPS have caused delays to service, though he insists it has been unintentional. Trump has targeted the USPS for years, threatening to jack up prices and treating it as in need of an overhaul, one that DeJoy is now ruthlessly implementing.
The postal service has long been a target for Republicans, in part because a successful USPS is a threat to Republican ideology. After all, the conservative argument is that efficient public services are essentially impossible, that most government functions should be handed over to the private sector. A popular socialized mail service threatens to severely undercut this case. After all, if people are satisfied with the government delivering their mail, they might turn out to be satisfied with the government providing their health insurance. It could be a slippery slope toward socialism. A number of other countries have privatized their postal services.
Trump did not actually start the war on the USPS. Barack Obama actually pushed austerity measures, including a plan to eliminate Saturday delivery and cut the service’s budget. Obama’s former Office of Management and Budget director, Peter Orszag, endorsed full privatization. The ideology that government should be “lean” and “run like a business”, and that the private sector is inherently superior to the public sector, is a bipartisan delusion.
The postal service’s infamous financial woes are not actually hard to fix. While Trump tries to suggest it is all a result of inefficiency and mismanagement, we know that it mostly boils down to an absurdly unnecessary requirement imposed on the USPS which required it to put away billions of dollars each year for future retirement benefits. It would be easy to get the USPS shipshape again, but it would require a commitment to building an excellent public service, one that Obama didn’t really show and Trump certainly doesn’t have.
Trump has targeted the USPS for years, threatening to jack up prices and treating it as in need of an overhaul, one that DeJoy is now ruthlessly implementing
We should also remember, though, that talk of the USPS “losing money” is inherently a bit misleading and strange. Public services do not “lose money”, because they’re not designed to make money. If people said that the public library, or the school system, or the fire department was “losing money”, it would be very strange. Of course they are: they don’t take in revenue, because their purpose is to give everyone a free service, paid for out of government funds. It’s not like that money just goes into a pit or is frittered away. The money pays for a service that we then all get to enjoy. So even though we should point out that the USPS’s financial distress is in an important way politically manufactured, we should also be careful about embracing the logic that a government agency needs to “break even”. That’s not what the government is for.
The good news is: because the postal service is popular, Trump’s attacks on it have provoked public outrage. Democrats have been unusually quick to rally to the USPS’s defense, with Nancy Pelosi promising the strict oversight from the House on changes to the postal service. Protesters gathered outside the postmaster general’s house to demonstrate against changes to the service. The outpouring of attention, and the militant attitude toward defending the institution, is an encouraging sign.
The most important thing is to keep it up. Governments commit their worst crimes when people stop paying attention. Trump has made it clear that if he can get away with it, he’ll end government mail delivery altogether. So he can’t be allowed to get away with it.
A very clever Republican tactic is to mismanage the government, and then point to government mismanagement as a case for privatization. (Hence hobbling the USPS with absurd budgetary requirements and then pointing out holes in its budget.) To counter that, it’s very important to make the general public aware of whose fault the problem is. If people see their mail delayed, and become frustrated, they need to understand that it’s Trump, not their local letter carrier, who is at fault. Trump is going to try to turn the agency into the villain of the story, because the USPS’s popularity is one of the reasons it has been relatively safe. We can’t allow that to happen. We need to show appreciation for the service and demand that it be funded generously and given the resources it needs to continue its vitally important work.


theguardian--2020-08-18--Democratic national convention: Michelle Obama and Bernie Sanders among speakers – watch live

Democrats kick off a four-day virtual convention with a display of party unity for Joe Biden and the broad coalition @ @ @ @ @ Trump in November .
Biden 's top primary rival , Bernie Sanders , and the @ @ @ @ @ will headline a parade of speakers appearing from around the US to make a virtual @ @ @ @ @ , organizers said

Democrats kick off a four-day virtual convention with a display of party unity for Joe Biden and the broad coalition aiming to defeat Republican Donald Trump in November.
Biden's top primary rival, Bernie Sanders, and the former first lady Michelle Obama will headline a parade of speakers appearing from around the US to make a virtual case for a Biden presidency, organizers said


theguardian--2020-08-18--Coronavirus live news: France to mandate masks in workplaces; WHO says Covid spread by 'unaware' you

Coronavirus live news: France to mandate masks in workplaces; WHO says Covid spread by 'unaware' younger people

Médecins sans Frontières has published a damning report about conditions in Spain ’ s 486 care homes where an estimated 19,000 elderly people have died of coronavirus .
The report criticises the lack of institutional coordination and leadership as well as the failure of the health system to provide assistance .
MSF says that “ keeping infected people in enclosed spaces without medical attention multiplied infections , accelerated mortality and created inhuman and degrading situations ” .
The NGO added that “ to a large degree the problems were linked to structural shortcomings , precarious working conditions and spending cuts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ home employee who said : “ One day a palliative care team arrived and they gave the first injection of sedative to one of the residents who was very ill and who we would have referred to hospital .
They left us some more injections and told us when to administer them .
I knew I couldn ’ t do it , not that I couldn ’ t give the injection but because of what it meant .
No one had prepared me for a situation like this .
I never gave the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the patients she was supposed to inject had since recovered and was still in the home , but there were other cases of residents who were sedated so that they didn ’ t suffer .
“ I ’ ll never get over the fact that they made it our responsibility , ” she said .
A fireman who was disinfecting care homes told MSF that management , in a desperate attempt to control the spread of infections , shut elderly patients in their rooms , even though they had no symptoms .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ closed doors , some locked , with people banging on them and begging to be let out .
Horrific , ” he said .
Magdalena , a nurse in a small rural care home , told MSF : “ I ’ ve spent two days working back-to-back shifts because there ’ s no one else to look after the residents whom the hospital won ’ t take .
I can ’ t take any more .
One died yesterday and another will die tonight if I don ’ t stay , but I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ going to manage all this .
Half the team are off sick and the residents ’ relatives phone constantly.
” Spain continues to record around 5,000 new infections a day , around two thirds of whom are asymptomatic , but the death rate remains low .
The average age of the new cases is around 36 .
Madrid is the worst affected area and the city has now banned eating on public transport , along with other measures .
Barcelona has extended restrictive measures introduced two weeks ago until the end of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t good , ” said Fernando Simón , the head of medical emergencies in Madrid .
“ We ’ re not doing too badly but things aren ’ t going the way we would have hoped.
” Fewer than half the 1,000 residents of Carabanchel in Madrid showed up for free PCR tests after being notified by mobile .
The tests are not obligatory .

Caroline Davies (now) and Josh Halliday and Alison Rourke (earlier)

18 Aug 2020 00.11 BST Thanks for joining us for this live blog, which is closing down now. Join my colleague Martin Farrer at our new live blog for all the latest updates: https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/aug/19/coronavirus-live-news-global-cases-near-22m-as-wall-street-record-defies-economic-gloom
18 Aug 2020 23.31 BST Turkey’s death toll from the coronavirus rose by 20 on Tuesday to 6,016, health ministry data showed, with the total number of identified cases rising to 251,805. The data showed that 1,263 new cases were identified in the last 24 hours, rising from 1,233 a day earlier, Reuters reports.
18 Aug 2020 23.30 BST Hundreds of New York University students and staff waited in line outside a white tent on Tuesday for coronavirus testing ahead of some classes resuming in early September, a scene expected to unfold on many US campuses in coming weeks. NYU is testing students who have chosen in-person learning, with classes for undergraduates beginning on 2 September. The university, housed in hundreds of buildings across lower Manhattan, is also giving students the options of remote learning or a blended program between the two. New York, once the US epicenter of the pandemic, has an infection rate below 1%, a benchmark for restarting certain activities coupled with social distancing and mask wearing. Schools in parts of the country that have a coronavirus infection positivity rate of more than 10% would be better off easing into the new academic year with virtual classrooms, Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious diseases expert, said on Tuesday. Fauci said in a virtual conference hosted by health information website Healthline that primary and secondary schools as a default position should try and reopen for the psychological health of children, but no single approach should apply to every school in the country. “To make a statement on one side vs the other and take the country as a whole won’t work, we’re so heterogeneous with the infections,” Fauci said. Some US schools have closed almost as quickly as they welcomed back students as the level of new cases per day remains high in many states, including California, Florida and Texas. The United States has more than 5 million cases of confirmed coronavirus infections, the highest in the world, according to a Reuters tally, with more than 170,000 reported fatalities. Many colleges have plans to test students who are coming back to campus, even if classes are all remote, according to guidance posted on school websites. At some schools, a coronavirus test site is the first place students must go when they arrive on campus before going to their dorms. They may not enter any other campus buildings until the result comes back negative, which could take several days in some cases. Testing availability on campuses will vary. NYU plans to test a random sampling of students, faculty and staff each week of the fall semester, adding up to several thousand tests per week. Florida State University has set an “aspirational goal” of giving Covid-19 tests to all faculty, staff, and students returning campus this fall. Northwestern University said all students living in residence halls will be tested upon arrival to campus and all students partaking in any in-person learning must be tested before the start of the academic quarter on 21 September. At Yale University the school plans to pay for every student on campus to be tested upon arrival and twice a week throughout the fall semester. Many elementary, secondary, high schools and colleges scheduled to begin the new term in August or September are mandating remote learning, as teachers unions opposed in-person instruction.
18 Aug 2020 22.36 BST Brazil reported 47,784 new cases of coronavirus and 1,352 deaths in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said on Tuesday. Brazil has now registered 3,407,354 cases of the virus since the pandemic began, while the official death toll from Covid-19 has risen to 109,888, according to ministry data, marking the world’s worst coronavirus outbreak after the United States.
18 Aug 2020 22.34 BST Summary As Australia wakes up, here is a summary of the main developments from the last few hours: Global coronavirus cases are approaching 22 million and the global death toll has risen to almost 776,000. According to the tally by John Hopkins University, the biggest drivers of the case counts is the United States and Brazil. The US has recorded over 5.45 million cases and more than 170,000 lives have been lost.
According to the tally by John Hopkins University, the biggest drivers of the case counts is the United States and Brazil. The US has recorded over 5.45 million cases and more than 170,000 lives have been lost. The Netherlands could go “back to square one” if the country doesn’t control new infections, the Dutch PM Mark Rutte warned. Without imposing mandatory restrictions, Rutte gave people urgent advice not to hold parties at home and to limit events like birthday celebrations and other private house gatherings to a maximum of six people.
Without imposing mandatory restrictions, Rutte gave people urgent advice not to hold parties at home and to limit events like birthday celebrations and other private house gatherings to a maximum of six people. Ireland’s nationwide coronavirus restrictions are being “significantly tightened” until at least 13 September as cases surged at the fourth highest rate in Europe. Following the rise in the last three weeks, people have been urged to restrict visitors to their homes, avoid public transport and for older people to limit their contacts. “We’re absolutely not at a stage where we can return to normality. We are at another critical moment,” the Taoiseach Michael Martin said.
Following the rise in the last three weeks, people have been urged to restrict visitors to their homes, avoid public transport and for older people to limit their contacts. “We’re absolutely not at a stage where we can return to normality. We are at another critical moment,” the Taoiseach Michael Martin said. Germany is expected to extend its pandemic furlough scheme to 24 months. The chancellor Angela Merkel indicated she welcomed the proposal to let the kurzarbeit programme run on until 2021. A final decision is expected on 25 August.
The chancellor Angela Merkel indicated she welcomed the proposal to let the kurzarbeit programme run on until 2021. A final decision is expected on 25 August. Lebanese authorities announced a new lockdown and an overnight curfew to rein in a surge in infections. The new measures will come into effect on Friday and last just over two weeks. Areas damaged by the devastating explosion that hit Beirut on 4 August will be exempt from the restrictions, as clean-up efforts continue across multiple neighbourhoods.
The new measures will come into effect on Friday and last just over two weeks. Areas damaged by the devastating explosion that hit Beirut on 4 August will be exempt from the restrictions, as clean-up efforts continue across multiple neighbourhoods. South Africa will launch clinical trials of a US-developed coronavirus vaccine with 2,900 volunteers this week. It’s the second such study in the African country worst hit by the disease. Known as NVX-CoV2373, the vaccine was developed by US biotech company Novavax from the genetic sequence of SARSCoV2. It will be administered to the first volunteer in the randomised, observer-blinded trial on Wednesday.
It’s the second such study in the African country worst hit by the disease. Known as NVX-CoV2373, the vaccine was developed by US biotech company Novavax from the genetic sequence of SARSCoV2. It will be administered to the first volunteer in the randomised, observer-blinded trial on Wednesday. Young are not invincible amid the coronavirus pandemic, the World Health Organization warned. The WHO said Covid-19 is now being spread mainly by people in their 20s, 30s and 40s, who may be unaware they are infected, potentially transmitting the disease to more vulnerable groups. “We are seeing young people who are ending up in ICU. Young people are dying from this virus,” WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove said.
Updated at 22.51 BST
18 Aug 2020 21.55 BST Countries led by women had “systematically and significantly better” Covid-19 outcomes, research appears to show, locking down earlier and suffering half as many deaths on average as those led by men, Jon Henley reports. The relative early success of leaders such as Germany’s Angela Merkel, New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern, Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen, Taiwan’s Tsai Ing-wen and Finland’s Sanna Marin has so far attracted many headlines but little academic attention. The analysis of 194 countries, published by the Centre for Economic Policy Research and the World Economic Forum, suggests the difference is real and “may be explained by the proactive and coordinated policy responses” adopted by female leaders. Even after clear and frequently cited outliers such as New Zealand and Germany – and the US for male leaders – were removed from the statistics, the study found, the case for the relative success of female leaders was only strengthened. Get the full story here: Female-led countries handled coronavirus better, study suggests Read more
18 Aug 2020 21.28 BST A worker of Miami-Dade County Elections Department holds a U.S. Postal Service basket with mail-in ballots during the primary election amid the coronavirus outbreak in Miami, Florida. Photograph: Marco Bello/Reuters
18 Aug 2020 20.59 BST Indigenous protesters on key Brazilian grain highway BR-163 temporarily lifted their roadblock on Tuesday to allow a long line of trucks carrying corn to pass, but said they will stop traffic again in late afternoon. Members of the Kayapó tribe had blocked the route in center-west Brazil on Monday with tires and wooden planks, protesting against a lack of government protection from the coronavirus pandemic that has killed several of their elders. That jammed up loaded trucks for 3 kilometers. The highway links towns in the nation’s biggest farm state Mato Grosso to the port of Miritituba, an important export river gateway in Pará state. With the soy season almost over, the main grain transported on the road at present is corn. A Kayapo Indigenous man attends a protest at sunrise as they block highway BR-163 near Novo Progresso, Para state. Photograph: André Penner/AP Highway police in Santarém confirmed that the tribe had lifted their blockade and planned to restore their barriers at 6pm (21.00 GMT) when a court order was due to arrive. A judge issued a ruling on Monday ordering the demonstrators to unblock the road in the region of Novo Progresso, southern Pará state. Kayapó men carrying wooden weapons and wearing warrior body paint and headdresses told a Reuters photographer that they would continue their protest because no authority had come to hear their demands. Kayapo Indigenous people after the reopening of the BR-163 highway, during a protest against the government measures in the indigenous lands to avoid the spread of the coronavirus disease. Photograph: Lucas Landau/Reuters They were also protesting against the so-called Ferrogrão railway, set to cross part of the Amazon to connect grain-producing Mato Grosso state to river ports for soy and corn. The railway will run parallel to the BR-163 highway, which has become an important route for exporting grains to the river ports for transshipment onto larger ships on the Amazon river. The Kayapo, who live on the adjacent Menkragnoti e Baú indigenous reservations, claim the road has brought illness to their villages and are seeking reparation money. Novo Progresso, Para state. Photograph: Lucas Landau/Reuters
18 Aug 2020 20.45 BST The Canadian province of Quebec on Tuesday announced plans to tackle earlier mistakes in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic, while preparing its health sector against a possible second wave of coronavirus in the autumn. Quebec, once the country’s hardest-hit province, will boost public health sector hiring, reduce screening delays, and ensure staff like orderlies can no longer work at multiple long-term care facilities, a practice previously blamed for spreading the virus, the health minister Christian Dubé told reporters. Canada has flattened its curve of coronavirus cases since the spring, but some of the country’s 10 provinces have reported higher numbers of Covid-19 infections recently, as the economy restarts and restrictions on social gathering are relaxed. Schools across Canada will be reopening in autumn. Quebec accounts for about half the country’s 122,872 total coronavirus cases and more than half of its 9,032 deaths. But the once hard-hit province has only reported 46 new cases and two deaths in the last 24 hours, according to government data.
“We have done an appraisal of this first wave so we can now establish the solution to be implemented in view of a potential second wave,” Dubé said. There will no longer be movement of workers, other than nurses under certain conditions, between seniors’ homes, where most of the province’s 5,727 Covid-19 deaths took place. Under the plan, Quebec will also invest C$106m (£61m) in public health to allow for the hiring of 1,000 workers to carry out contact tracing and infection control.
Updated at 20.50 BST
18 Aug 2020 19.54 BST Pizza Express has revealed plans to close almost a fifth of its UK restaurants under a financial restructuring that places 1,100 jobs at risk, Sky News reports. The casual pizza chain said a rescue deal, which must be agreed by creditors, will see 73 of its 470 restaurants close permanently following the deep disruption to trading caused by the coronavirus lockdown and the resulting high street jobs crisis. UK & Ireland managing director, Zoe Bowley, said the company hoped to redeploy some of the staff impacted. The restaurant chain announced it is to shut 73 of its restaurants across the UK with the potential loss of 1,100 jobs in a bid to stay afloat in the wake of the coronavirus shutdown. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA
18 Aug 2020 19.48 BST Global coronavirus cases approach 22 million The tally for confirmed cases of Covid-19 around the world reached 21.95 million on Tuesday, and the global death toll rose to almost 776,000. According to data collated by John Hopkins University, the United States leads the world with over 5.45 million cases and more than 170,000 lives lost. Brazil is the country with the second highest number of registered cases and deaths with 3.36 million cases and 108,536 deaths. It’s followed by India, which has recorded 2.7 million cases, and Mexico which has confirmed 57,023 fatalities.
18 Aug 2020 19.39 BST The Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte tightened recommended measures to rein in the spread of coronavirus, warning that if the country does not control new infections the Netherlands could go “back to square one”. Rutte gave people urgent advice not to hold parties at home and to limit events like birthday celebrations and other private house gatherings to a maximum of six people. However, the Dutch government did not impose any new mandatory restrictions. “If were not careful, we will be back to square one inside the foreseeable future,” Rutte warned. “If people want to organise parties for more than six people, they should rent a space where all guests can maintain social distance while seated,” the prime minister said. He also urged people to continue working from home. The Dutch PM during a press conference about the current state of affairs in the country regarding coronavirus, in The Hague. Photograph: Bart Maat/EPA His comments came after the Dutch public health institute announced that there had been just over 4,000 new confirmed cases in the Netherlands over the last week, around the same number as the previous week. The percentage of positive tests in the country edged very slightly lower to 3.5%. The confirmed Covid-19 death toll in the Netherlands stood at 6,175 as of Tuesday, although the true figure is believed to be higher because many people thought to have died were not tested. The number of new confirmed cases has been on the rise since the Netherlands removed most of its coronavirus restrictions on 1 July. Students returned to high schools in the country’s north this week for the first time in months without requirements for face masks or social distancing between children. To prevent infections at schools, Rutte said students must stay home if they have coronavirus symptoms and if somebody in their family tested positive for the virus. We showed between March and June that we could, together, get on top of the virus. Now we have to show that we can keep the virus under control together.
Updated at 19.41 BST
18 Aug 2020 19.31 BST Ireland tightens restrictions as cases surge at fourth highest rate in Europe Ireland significantly tightened its nationwide coronavirus restrictions on Tuesday to rein in an increase in cases, urging everyone to restrict visitors to their homes, avoid public transport and for older people to limit their contacts. A surge in cases over the last three weeks after Ireland had one of Europe’s lowest infection rates for several weeks, pushed the country’s 14-day cumulative cases per 100,000 population to 26 and led to the first local lockdown last week. The 190 new cases on Tuesday, the second highest daily rise since early May, took the rate of growth in the last two weeks to the fourth highest in Europe and meant infections would inevitably spread to the most vulnerable if it continued, the prime minister Micheal Martin said. “We’re absolutely not at a stage where we can return to normality. We are at another critical moment,” the Taoiseach told a news conference, saying the new measures would stay in place until 13 September. Ireland has adopted one of the most cautious approaches in Europe in fighting the virus, reopening its economy at a slower pace and keeping many restrictions in place for longer. The government has already twice-delayed the final phase of its reopening plan that would allow nightclubs and all pubs to open, having sped up the plan in June when cases began to fall. As well as cutting to six the number of visitors allowed in a home - where most clusters have occurred - outdoor gatherings are being restricted to 15 people from 200, with all fans banned from sport. Police will get greater powers to enforce the rules. Restaurants and pubs that serve food can stay open. Martin said the aim of the restrictions was to make sure key parts of the economy kept trading and schools could reopen for the first time since March. “Schools are so important to children in general, to society, to the economy as well, that we want our schools to reopen, and our schools will reopen,” Martin said.
Updated at 19.34 BST


theguardian--2020-08-18--Kamala Harris reportedly chooses apt Secret Service code name: Pioneer

Kamala Harris has reportedly chosen her Secret Service code name , and it is one with resonance for the first black woman and first Indian and Jamaican American to be part of a major party presidential ticket : Pioneer .
Harris chose the name from a list provided by her new protectors after being picked as Joe Biden ’ s running mate last week , CNN first reported , citing an anonymous law enforcement official .
Biden , the Democratic nominee for president , is still using the name he had when vice-president to Barack Obama : Celtic .
Family @ @ @ @ @ @ @ beginning with the same letter .
Biden ’ s wife , Dr Jill Biden , is Capri .
It was not immediately known what name Douglas Emhoff , Harris ’ s husband , has chosen .
Property magnate-cum-president Donald Trump , whom Biden will face at the polls in November , also goes by an appropriate code name : Mogul .
Melania Trump , former model turned first lady , is Muse .
Vice-president Mike Pence ’ s name is Hoosier , a nod to his state , Indiana .
His wife , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Obama ’ s Secret Service code name was Renegade , while first lady Michelle Obama – who delivered a powerful speech on the first night of the Democratic convention on Monday – was Renaissance .
Jonathan Wackrow , a former Secret Service agent , told current employer CNN that code names tended to suit personalities .
“ With Obama , ” he said , “ Renegade is a great example : how he went against the establishment in some of the things that he had done.
” Other presidential codenames have included Lancer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of a supposed new “ Camelot ” ; Deacon , for the ardently religious Jimmy Carter ; Searchlight , perhaps an ironic choice for the notably shady Richard Nixon ; and Rawhide , for Ronald Reagan , once a star of Hollywood westerns .
Bill Clinton gloried in the code name Eagle .
Hillary Clinton , who remains a bogey figure for Trump-supporting Republicans after losing the 2016 election and who has not counted out a place in a Biden administration , was Evergreen .

Kamala Harris has reportedly chosen her Secret Service code name, and it is one with resonance for the first black woman and first Indian and Jamaican American to be part of a major party presidential ticket: Pioneer.
Harris chose the name from a list provided by her new protectors after being picked as Joe Biden’s running mate last week, CNN first reported, citing an anonymous law enforcement official.
Biden, the Democratic nominee for president, is still using the name he had when vice-president to Barack Obama: Celtic. Family members of those protected can choose names beginning with the same letter. Biden’s wife, Dr Jill Biden, is Capri.
It was not immediately known what name Douglas Emhoff, Harris’s husband, has chosen.
Property magnate-cum-president Donald Trump, whom Biden will face at the polls in November, also goes by an appropriate code name: Mogul. Melania Trump, former model turned first lady, is Muse.
Vice-president Mike Pence’s name is Hoosier, a nod to his state, Indiana. His wife, Karen Pence, is Hummingbird.
Barack Obama’s Secret Service code name was Renegade, while first lady Michelle Obama – who delivered a powerful speech on the first night of the Democratic convention on Monday – was Renaissance.
Jonathan Wackrow, a former Secret Service agent, told current employer CNN that code names tended to suit personalities.
“With Obama,” he said, “Renegade is a great example: how he went against the establishment in some of the things that he had done.”
Other presidential codenames have included Lancer, for John F Kennedy, head of a supposed new “Camelot”; Deacon, for the ardently religious Jimmy Carter; Searchlight, perhaps an ironic choice for the notably shady Richard Nixon; and Rawhide, for Ronald Reagan, once a star of Hollywood westerns.
Bill Clinton gloried in the code name Eagle. Hillary Clinton, who remains a bogey figure for Trump-supporting Republicans after losing the 2016 election and who has not counted out a place in a Biden administration, was Evergreen.


theguardian--2020-08-18--Sports teams tackle voting crisis with plan to turn arenas into polling stations

As the United States reels from Donald Trump ’ s latest attempt to suppress the vote in November ’ s presidential election by undermining mail-in voting , an alternative route to casting ballots is taking shape that could offer relief to hundreds of thousands of Americans : turning sports arenas into giant polling stations .
At least 12 professional sports teams and their stadiums from the worlds of baseball , basketball , football and hockey are preparing to open their doors to allow fast , safe and socially distanced voting .
The masterminds behind the idea , the non-partisan Election @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to rise to 25 within weeks , and are hoping university and college arenas will join as well .
The teams that have signaled their intent to open up their stadiums on election day , and potentially before it for early voting , include the Los Angeles Clippers , Washington Wizards , Golden State Warriors , Indiana Pacers , New Jersey Devils and Pittsburgh Penguins .
They are all in dialogue with local election boards .
In a parallel initiative , the LA Lakers star LeBron James has announced he is working with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Detroit Pistons , to open up their arenas as polling places in November .
James has formed a campaign , More Than a Vote , that seeks to use the influence of black athletes and artists to combat systemic , racist voter suppression and unleash the electoral power of black voters .
The film-maker Eugene Jarecki , who is co-chair of the Election Super Centers Project , said the aim was to open up access for potentially millions of voters and to ensure “ that their voting experience meets the highest standards @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” .
But the initiative will also have to grapple with this year ’ s dire shortage of poll workers .
Almost six out of 10 poll workers in the US are older than 61 , according to the Pew Research Center , which makes them vulnerable to Covid-19 given the heightened danger of the virus to older people .
Organizers hope that poll workers will be recruited and trained to run the new arena polling sites from among the thousands of stadium employees who have been furloughed during the pandemic .
Similarly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to run the polling places located at college and university sports arenas .
Leading figures in electoral organization , crowd security and public health have been recruited as advisers .
“ No one should have to choose between exercising their most precious democratic right and their personal safety , ” said the singer-songwriter John Legend , who is backing the arenas project .
The 2020 presidential election is shaping up to be one of the most brutally contested and potentially ugly in generations .
Trump has openly said that he is blocking $ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Postal Service to impede voting by mail .
The move has been denounced as a threat to democracy in the US by leading Democrats including Bernie Sanders and Barack Obama .
At the state level , too , this election cycle is being convulsed by a wave of voter suppression tactics as well as technical challenges exacerbated by coronavirus .
Several primary elections have been riven with problems , including dysfunctional voting machines , lack of polling staff and a consequent dearth of polling stations .
In Georgia ’ s primary elections in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for up to five hours to vote .
Milwaukee , Wisconsin , which has a 40 % African American population , had only five in-person polling stations open for its primaries in April , down from the usual 180 .
In both those cities , major sports arenas that have been designed for quick and easy public access and have the space to allow ample social distancing could make a substantial difference on election day .
The Atlanta Hawks are working with LeBron James on plans to open up while another NBA team @ @ @ @ @ @ @ similar talks with the Election Super Center Project .
The rapper Chuck D said in a statement : “ Election Super Centers take on the obstacles that prevent people from being able to vote .
Instead of an election day where people are turned away or obstructed , arenas and stadiums will be welcoming them in .
”

As the United States reels from Donald Trump’s latest attempt to suppress the vote in November’s presidential election by undermining mail-in voting, an alternative route to casting ballots is taking shape that could offer relief to hundreds of thousands of Americans: turning sports arenas into giant polling stations.
At least 12 professional sports teams and their stadiums from the worlds of baseball, basketball, football and hockey are preparing to open their doors to allow fast, safe and socially distanced voting. The masterminds behind the idea, the non-partisan Election Super Centers Project, expect that number to rise to 25 within weeks, and are hoping university and college arenas will join as well.
The teams that have signaled their intent to open up their stadiums on election day, and potentially before it for early voting, include the Los Angeles Clippers, Washington Wizards, Golden State Warriors, Indiana Pacers, New Jersey Devils and Pittsburgh Penguins. They are all in dialogue with local election boards.
In a parallel initiative, the LA Lakers star LeBron James has announced he is working with several teams, including the LA Dodgers and Detroit Pistons, to open up their arenas as polling places in November. James has formed a campaign, More Than a Vote, that seeks to use the influence of black athletes and artists to combat systemic, racist voter suppression and unleash the electoral power of black voters.
The film-maker Eugene Jarecki, who is co-chair of the Election Super Centers Project, said the aim was to open up access for potentially millions of voters and to ensure “that their voting experience meets the highest standards of safety, security and election integrity”.
But the initiative will also have to grapple with this year’s dire shortage of poll workers. Almost six out of 10 poll workers in the US are older than 61, according to the Pew Research Center, which makes them vulnerable to Covid-19 given the heightened danger of the virus to older people.
Organizers hope that poll workers will be recruited and trained to run the new arena polling sites from among the thousands of stadium employees who have been furloughed during the pandemic. Similarly, students will be recruited and trained to run the polling places located at college and university sports arenas.
Leading figures in electoral organization, crowd security and public health have been recruited as advisers.
“No one should have to choose between exercising their most precious democratic right and their personal safety,” said the singer-songwriter John Legend, who is backing the arenas project.
The 2020 presidential election is shaping up to be one of the most brutally contested and potentially ugly in generations. Trump has openly said that he is blocking $25bn in federal funding for the US Postal Service to impede voting by mail. The move has been denounced as a threat to democracy in the US by leading Democrats including Bernie Sanders and Barack Obama.
At the state level, too, this election cycle is being convulsed by a wave of voter suppression tactics as well as technical challenges exacerbated by coronavirus. Several primary elections have been riven with problems, including dysfunctional voting machines, lack of polling staff and a consequent dearth of polling stations. In Georgia’s primary elections in June, Atlanta voters had to wait for up to five hours to vote. Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which has a 40% African American population, had only five in-person polling stations open for its primaries in April, down from the usual 180.
In both those cities, major sports arenas that have been designed for quick and easy public access and have the space to allow ample social distancing could make a substantial difference on election day. The Atlanta Hawks are working with LeBron James on plans to open up while another NBA team, the Milwaukee Bucks, are in similar talks with the Election Super Center Project.
The rapper Chuck D said in a statement: “Election Super Centers take on the obstacles that prevent people from being able to vote. Instead of an election day where people are turned away or obstructed, arenas and stadiums will be welcoming them in.”