theguardian--2020-08-17--Louis DeJoy: is Trump's new post office chief trying to rig the election?

About a month ago , a United States Postal Service ( USPS ) mail carrier named Mark arrived at his post office in central Pennsylvania and got some shocking news from his station manager .
Mark and his coworkers were told they would have to depart the office for deliveries a few hours earlier each day , even if that meant leaving behind much of the day ’ s mail .
In the weeks that followed , higher-ups at the station instructed carriers to abandon hundreds of pieces of mail in order to depart a mere 10 or 20 minutes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the excess mail started to pile up , and now Mark estimates there are thousands of undelivered letters and packages sitting in his station .
“ The supervisors are cracking the whip , making sure we leave , ” Mark told the Guardian .
“ Meanwhile carriers are walking by and saying , ‘ Look at all this fucking mail we ’ re walking past , it ’ s just sitting there.
’ ” When Mark and his coworkers confronted the station manager he said he was only following orders from the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Since taking office in June , DeJoy has executed sweeping changes at the struggling US Postal Service , shaking up agency leadership and rolling out policies that have led to delays in mail delivery .
These changes , which DeJoy has said are designed to cut down on labor costs , have angered advocates and Democratic politicians , who have accused him of trying to tamper with the election just weeks before millions of Americans start casting their ballots through the mail .
Now , the controversial logistics executive and Trump mega-donor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ official in the country to affect the outcome of this year ’ s presidential election .
Donald Trump has maintained a public obsession with the USPS , which he has called “ a joke ” .
In particular he has fulminated against the agency ’ s business relationship with Amazon : despite studies showing that the USPS makes a profit by shipping packages for the e-commerce giant , Trump has repeatedly insisted that the agency should charge Amazon higher rates .
USPS reported a loss of more than $ 2bn in the last @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to $ 20bn over the next two years .
Although the agency ’ s biggest albatross has been a unique mandate to pre-fund decades of retirement benefits , it has also lost revenue over a decline in first-class mail .
The coronavirus has only accelerated this pattern as mail volumes dropped in the first months of the pandemic .
To stanch the bleeding , congressional Democrats have proposed giving the agency up to $ 25bn in aid money as part of their second coronavirus relief package , but Trump on Thursday again came @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that it would help the USPS handle mail-in ballots , which he wrongfully believes would lead to voter fraud .
“ They need that money in order to have the post office work so it can take all these millions and millions of ballots , ” Trump said in an interview with Fox News ’ s Maria Bartiromo .
“ If they don ’ t get [ funding ] , that means they can ’ t have universal mail-in voting.
” Without an aid package , the USPS has faced unprecedented challenges with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the coronavirus on its already stretched thin workforce .
Customers in more than a dozen states have reported delays of days or even weeks in mail delivery , including for essentials like prescription medicine .
And a number of recent primary elections have been marred by postal failures : numerous voters in Wisconsin and Michigan never received absentee ballots they requested weeks in advance , while New York postal workers inadvertently disqualified thousands of ballot envelopes for not having proper postmarks .
Amid this turmoil , DeJoy ’ s appointment represents the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump administration to gain control over the USPS : earlier this year the president also filled two vacancies on the agency ’ s board of governors with agency outsiders , giving him complete control over the regulatory body .
DeJoy is only the fifth postmaster general in history to come from the private sector .
He has never worked for the USPS , but he benefited as CEO of New Breed Logistics from a long business relationship with the agency .
In the late 1980s the shipping company signed an equipment contract with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years the agency became one of the company ’ s biggest customers alongside private companies such as Sony and Estee Lauder .
A North Carolina newspaper later referred to the USPS contract as the New Breed ’ s “ big break ” .
But DeJoy ’ s tenure at New Breed was marked by controversy : the National Labor Relations Board ruled that the company ’ s interactions with its workers were “ motivated by anti-union animus ” , and the company paid out more than $ 1.7m in fines for labor law @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the Intercept .
In early 2000 , DeJoy ’ s younger brother , Dominick , sued Louis and a third brother , Michael , accusing them of defrauding him out of a one-third stake in the company , according to a news article at the time .
As he grew his logistics empire , DeJoy also made a name for himself as a prolific Republican fundraiser , hosting lavish dinners out of his home in Greensboro , a $ 5m mansion compound .
Former president George W Bush held a $ 1,000-a-plate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of that year ’ s midterm elections , while former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin held another closed-door event at the home two years later .
DeJoy , meanwhile , is not the only member of his family to enter politics : his wife , Aldona Wos , served as ambassador to Estonia under Bush and later headed the North Carolina department of health and human services , where she faced criticism for hiring a number of Republican campaign aides and former New Breed employees .
In 2014 , the USDA discovered a pattern @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the state ’ s database of food stamp recipients in her agency .
This year , Trump nominated Wos to serve as the US ambassador to Canada .
It took about 30 years , but leading New Breed eventually paid off .
In 2014 , he sold the company to logistics conglomerate XPO for a reported $ 615m , and became CEO of XPO .
When DeJoy retired in 2015 , he told local newspapers he was spending some time at his beach house , eating meals with his two children , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Street Journal .
He also launched a holding company , LDJ Strategies , that he planned to use to deploy his money in real estate and private equity investments .
According to financial disclosures obtained by CNN , DeJoy still maintains a large stake in XPO Logistics , and owns large amounts of Amazon stock , creating two glaring conflicts of interest for a man leading a government agency that competes with both companies in some areas .
Outside ethics experts called the disclosures “ shocking ” .
But DeJoy ’ s principal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be kicking up fundraising efforts for the GOP , especially Donald Trump .
Beginning around 2016 , DeJoy donated more than $ 1.2m to pro-Trump Pacss , making him one of the president ’ s largest single donors .
He hosted a $ 15,000-a-seat fundraiser for Trump at his home in late 2017 , noting in the invitation that while “ the president and his team have had some missteps … it is hard to deny the extreme and unreasonable challenges he faces from the political establishment ” .
Last year the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Ronna McDaniel , named DeJoy chairman of fundraising for the Republican national convention in Charlotte , North Carolina , and he hosted Mike Pence to kick off his money-raising efforts .
In an interview ahead of the event , DeJoy said he planned to raise around $ 70 million using a strategy of “ nationwide begging ” .
The RNC last month decided to scale down the Charlotte convention due to concerns about the coronavirus , but DeJoy ’ s ample fundraising for the event paid off , nonetheless , in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of postmaster general .
In his short tenure at USPS , DeJoy has already orchestrated risky changes to the agency .
In interviews with the Guardian , postal workers said DeJoy ’ s new policies have introduced further confusion to an agency already hampered by the coronavirus pandemic .
They worried the inconsistent and sporadic changes could cause serious harm to people and businesses and prevent the agency from ensuring every ballot is counted in the upcoming election .
Sasha , a mail carrier in Massachusetts , said USPS leadership has slashed hours @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
This has resulted in a backlog of multiple days for residual mail including heavier packages from Amazon and other delivery services , a delay that has already affected a small-business owner along his route .
“ This kind of delay of service is voter suppression , plain and simple , ” Sasha said .
“ Not a single person in my station of around 50 employees believes this is anything other than active sabotage , and that includes supporters of the president.
” Another carrier in rural North Carolina said his station @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s mail from the sorting plant a few hours earlier than usual .
According to the carrier , who spoke under the condition of anonymity , this change almost certainly means that some letters and packages are being left at the plant each day , cutting off some of his most remote customers from supplies or medicine .
These issues mirror backlogs that are accumulating around the country : even small post offices are reporting backlogs of up to 10,000 mailpieces , while some postal union officials have also reported that senior leadership @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
DeJoy has also enrolled about 400 post offices in a pilot program that prohibits postal clerks from hand-sorting the morning ’ s mail before letter carriers leave the station to deliver it .
Any letters that were not automatically sorted by the station ’ s machinery are simply left at the station and delivered on some future day , if the carriers get around to it .
The union that represents letter carriers has filed a national-level grievance against the program , saying the program unduly restricts carriers ’ ability to get @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a request for comment , a USPS spokesperson referred the Guardian to a set of remarks DeJoy released last week in which he said he was “ vigorously focusing on the ingrained inefficiencies in our operations ” and promised to “ aggressively monitor and quickly address service issues ” .
But for employees like Mark , the postal carrier in Pennsylvania , whose station is taking part in the pilot program , the changes have only led to the massive mail buildup and weeks-long delays .
He said he now doubts that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ election , especially in his home state , which Trump carried by about 40,000 votes in the 2016 election .
“ If you asked me a month ago can the postal service handle an influx of mail-in ballots , I would have said , ‘ We ’ ve been through two world wars and a depression , we ’ ve been doing this for more than 200 years , ’ ” he said .

About a month ago, a United States Postal Service (USPS) mail carrier named Mark arrived at his post office in central Pennsylvania and got some shocking news from his station manager. Mark and his coworkers were told they would have to depart the office for deliveries a few hours earlier each day, even if that meant leaving behind much of the day’s mail.
In the weeks that followed, higher-ups at the station instructed carriers to abandon hundreds of pieces of mail in order to depart a mere 10 or 20 minutes earlier. As the days went on, the excess mail started to pile up, and now Mark estimates there are thousands of undelivered letters and packages sitting in his station.
“The supervisors are cracking the whip, making sure we leave,” Mark told the Guardian. “Meanwhile carriers are walking by and saying, ‘Look at all this fucking mail we’re walking past, it’s just sitting there.’”
When Mark and his coworkers confronted the station manager he said he was only following orders from the new USPS postmaster general, Louis DeJoy. Since taking office in June, DeJoy has executed sweeping changes at the struggling US Postal Service, shaking up agency leadership and rolling out policies that have led to delays in mail delivery. These changes, which DeJoy has said are designed to cut down on labor costs, have angered advocates and Democratic politicians, who have accused him of trying to tamper with the election just weeks before millions of Americans start casting their ballots through the mail.
Now, the controversial logistics executive and Trump mega-donor arguably has more power than any other official in the country to affect the outcome of this year’s presidential election.
Donald Trump has maintained a public obsession with the USPS, which he has called “a joke”. In particular he has fulminated against the agency’s business relationship with Amazon: despite studies showing that the USPS makes a profit by shipping packages for the e-commerce giant, Trump has repeatedly insisted that the agency should charge Amazon higher rates.
USPS reported a loss of more than $2bn in the last three months and projected losses of up to $20bn over the next two years. Although the agency’s biggest albatross has been a unique mandate to pre-fund decades of retirement benefits, it has also lost revenue over a decline in first-class mail. The coronavirus has only accelerated this pattern as mail volumes dropped in the first months of the pandemic.
A USPS worker delivers mail in El Paso, Texas, during the pandemic. Photograph: Paul Ratje/AFP via Getty Images
To stanch the bleeding, congressional Democrats have proposed giving the agency up to $25bn in aid money as part of their second coronavirus relief package, but Trump on Thursday again came out against that proposal on the grounds that it would help the USPS handle mail-in ballots, which he wrongfully believes would lead to voter fraud.
“They need that money in order to have the post office work so it can take all these millions and millions of ballots,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News’s Maria Bartiromo. “If they don’t get [funding], that means they can’t have universal mail-in voting.”
Without an aid package, the USPS has faced unprecedented challenges with staffing and scheduling due to the impact of the coronavirus on its already stretched thin workforce. Customers in more than a dozen states have reported delays of days or even weeks in mail delivery, including for essentials like prescription medicine. And a number of recent primary elections have been marred by postal failures: numerous voters in Wisconsin and Michigan never received absentee ballots they requested weeks in advance, while New York postal workers inadvertently disqualified thousands of ballot envelopes for not having proper postmarks.
The supervisors are cracking the whip, making sure we leave Mark, USPS mail carrier
Amid this turmoil, DeJoy’s appointment represents the culmination of a years-long attempt by the Trump administration to gain control over the USPS: earlier this year the president also filled two vacancies on the agency’s board of governors with agency outsiders, giving him complete control over the regulatory body.
DeJoy is only the fifth postmaster general in history to come from the private sector. He has never worked for the USPS, but he benefited as CEO of New Breed Logistics from a long business relationship with the agency. In the late 1980s the shipping company signed an equipment contract with the USPS and over the next 20 years the agency became one of the company’s biggest customers alongside private companies such as Sony and Estee Lauder. A North Carolina newspaper later referred to the USPS contract as the New Breed’s “big break”.
But DeJoy’s tenure at New Breed was marked by controversy: the National Labor Relations Board ruled that the company’s interactions with its workers were “motivated by anti-union animus”, and the company paid out more than $1.7m in fines for labor law violations between 2001 and 2015, according to the Intercept. In early 2000, DeJoy’s younger brother, Dominick, sued Louis and a third brother, Michael, accusing them of defrauding him out of a one-third stake in the company, according to a news article at the time.
As he grew his logistics empire, DeJoy also made a name for himself as a prolific Republican fundraiser, hosting lavish dinners out of his home in Greensboro, a $5m mansion compound. Former president George W Bush held a $1,000-a-plate event at the home in 2006 ahead of that year’s midterm elections, while former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin held another closed-door event at the home two years later.
DeJoy, meanwhile, is not the only member of his family to enter politics: his wife, Aldona Wos, served as ambassador to Estonia under Bush and later headed the North Carolina department of health and human services, where she faced criticism for hiring a number of Republican campaign aides and former New Breed employees. In 2014, the USDA discovered a pattern of shoddy bookkeeping and an enormous backlog in the state’s database of food stamp recipients in her agency. This year, Trump nominated Wos to serve as the US ambassador to Canada.
It took about 30 years, but leading New Breed eventually paid off. In 2014, he sold the company to logistics conglomerate XPO for a reported $615m, and became CEO of XPO. When DeJoy retired in 2015, he told local newspapers he was spending some time at his beach house, eating meals with his two children, and “actually reading” his Wall Street Journal. He also launched a holding company, LDJ Strategies, that he planned to use to deploy his money in real estate and private equity investments.
According to financial disclosures obtained by CNN, DeJoy still maintains a large stake in XPO Logistics, and owns large amounts of Amazon stock, creating two glaring conflicts of interest for a man leading a government agency that competes with both companies in some areas. Outside ethics experts called the disclosures “shocking”.
But DeJoy’s principal activity during his short retirement turned out to be kicking up fundraising efforts for the GOP, especially Donald Trump. Beginning around 2016, DeJoy donated more than $1.2m to pro-Trump Pacss, making him one of the president’s largest single donors. He hosted a $15,000-a-seat fundraiser for Trump at his home in late 2017, noting in the invitation that while “the president and his team have had some missteps … it is hard to deny the extreme and unreasonable challenges he faces from the political establishment”.
Last year the Republican National Committee (RNC) chairwoman, Ronna McDaniel, named DeJoy chairman of fundraising for the Republican national convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, and he hosted Mike Pence to kick off his money-raising efforts. In an interview ahead of the event, DeJoy said he planned to raise around $70 million using a strategy of “nationwide begging”.
The RNC last month decided to scale down the Charlotte convention due to concerns about the coronavirus, but DeJoy’s ample fundraising for the event paid off, nonetheless, in the form of his appointment to the position of postmaster general.
In his short tenure at USPS, DeJoy has already orchestrated risky changes to the agency. In interviews with the Guardian, postal workers said DeJoy’s new policies have introduced further confusion to an agency already hampered by the coronavirus pandemic. They worried the inconsistent and sporadic changes could cause serious harm to people and businesses and prevent the agency from ensuring every ballot is counted in the upcoming election.
Sasha, a mail carrier in Massachusetts, said USPS leadership has slashed hours for the clerks who sort the mail. This has resulted in a backlog of multiple days for residual mail including heavier packages from Amazon and other delivery services, a delay that has already affected a small-business owner along his route.
Demonstrators protest against Louis DeJoy outside his home in Washington DC, on 15 August. Photograph: Michael A McCoy/Getty Images
“This kind of delay of service is voter suppression, plain and simple,” Sasha said. “Not a single person in my station of around 50 employees believes this is anything other than active sabotage, and that includes supporters of the president.”
Another carrier in rural North Carolina said his station has started to receive each day’s mail from the sorting plant a few hours earlier than usual. According to the carrier, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, this change almost certainly means that some letters and packages are being left at the plant each day, cutting off some of his most remote customers from supplies or medicine.
These issues mirror backlogs that are accumulating around the country: even small post offices are reporting backlogs of up to 10,000 mailpieces, while some postal union officials have also reported that senior leadership are taking away their mail sorting equipment.
DeJoy has also enrolled about 400 post offices in a pilot program that prohibits postal clerks from hand-sorting the morning’s mail before letter carriers leave the station to deliver it. Any letters that were not automatically sorted by the station’s machinery are simply left at the station and delivered on some future day, if the carriers get around to it. The union that represents letter carriers has filed a national-level grievance against the program, saying the program unduly restricts carriers’ ability to get the mail out.
This kind of delay of service is voter suppression, plain and simple Sasha, USPS mail carrier
In response to a request for comment, a USPS spokesperson referred the Guardian to a set of remarks DeJoy released last week in which he said he was “vigorously focusing on the ingrained inefficiencies in our operations” and promised to “aggressively monitor and quickly address service issues”.
But for employees like Mark, the postal carrier in Pennsylvania, whose station is taking part in the pilot program, the changes have only led to the massive mail buildup and weeks-long delays. He said he now doubts that the USPS can ensure accuracy in the upcoming election, especially in his home state, which Trump carried by about 40,000 votes in the 2016 election.
“If you asked me a month ago can the postal service handle an influx of mail-in ballots, I would have said, ‘We’ve been through two world wars and a depression, we’ve been doing this for more than 200 years,’” he said.
“Now, I’m not so sure.”


theguardian--2020-08-17--USPS crisis: Democrats urge FBI to open criminal inquiry into postmaster general

Two members of a key congressional committee have asked the FBI to open a criminal investigation of the leadership of the US Postal Service ( USPS ) , alleging that the postmaster general has slowed mail delivery in an attempt to rig the 2020 presidential election .
“ There is evidence that making mail-in balloting more difficult may be one of the motivations for the changes instituted at the Post Office , ” Ted Lieu of California and Hakeem Jeffries of New York , both Democrats , wrote in a letter to FBI director Christopher Wray .
The letter referred @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a mega-donor to Donald Trump , and the USPS board of governors “ have retarded the passage of mail ” .
Evidence suggests actions have been taken “ to affect mail-in balloting or was motivated by personal financial reasons ” , the letter said .
“ We request the FBI to look into whether postmaster general Louis DeJoy , or members of the board of governors of the US postal service , committed any crimes , ” the congressmen wrote .
The USPS has come under intense scrutiny for policy changes announced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unprecedented number of states have instituted mail-in voting in response to the coronavirus pandemic , citing the efficacy of the process in states that have used it for years .
Speaker Nancy Pelosi is recalling the House early from its summer recess , in an attempt to protect the USPS .
Several states are also considering taking legal action to stop the service being run down to a level where it can not deliver enough mail-in ballots , as almost half the country is expected to vote by post .
Pelosi said the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vote on a bill prohibiting the USPS from changing operations or service levels from what it had in place at the start of 2020 .
Previously , the House had not been scheduled to vote until 15 September .
She said late on Sunday Trump was trying to sabotage the election by manipulating the postal service , and called DeJoy “ a complicit crony ” .
“ Lives , livelihoods and the life of our American democracy are under threat from the president , ” Pelosi said , calling for a day of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ time of a pandemic , the Postal Service is election central .
Americans should not have to choose between their health and their vote.
” Congressional Democrats announced on Sunday that DeJoy and Robert Duncan , the chair of the USPS board of governors , have been invited to a 24 August hearing of the House oversight committee .
The hearing will investigate the removal of mailboxes and shutting down of sorting machines nationwide .
In calling for a criminal investigation of DeJoy , Jeffries and Lieu noted that he had donated more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ It is not unreasonable to conclude that Postmaster General DeJoy and the board of governors may be executing Donald Trump ’ s desire to affect mail-in balloting , ” the congressmen wrote .
They also accused DeJoy of a conflict of interest from owning stock in postal service competitors and contractors .
In a video that went viral online at the weekend , a reporter interviewed a man in a USPS uniform about mail volume in Columbus , Ohio .
“ There is a lull in the mail volume , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thing is just a – they ’ re trying to shut us down so people can ’ t vote , just basically trying to take away people ’ s constitutional right to vote .
To rig the election .
That ’ s all this is all about .
The postal service is fine if they let us handle our business.
” Bernie Sanders told NBC ’ s Meet the Press Trump ’ s attacks on the USPS amounted to “ a crisis for American democracy ” .
“ What you are witnessing is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is doing everything he can to suppress the vote , make it harder for people to engage in mail-in balloting at a time when people will be putting their lives on the line by having to go out to a polling station and vote , ” the Vermont senator said .
Over the past few months , states have seen record numbers of Americans request ballots and submit votes by mail in primary and other elections .
There is concern over whether the USPS , already facing a severe financial crisis , will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ return them to election offices in time to have them counted .
After protests outside DeJoy ’ s home in Washington at the weekend , Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said the USPS board should remove DeJoy if he “ refuses to come before Congress ” .
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell had no scheduling updates for the Republican-controlled Senate , a spokesman said .
But Republican senator Susan Collins of Maine , a moderate in a tight re-election race , said on Twitter the Senate should return to consider legislation to provide @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus funding .
Several Democratic state attorneys general told Reuters they were in discussions about legal action .
“ It is outrageous that Donald Trump would attempt to undermine the USPS for electoral gain , ” Massachusetts attorney general Maura Healy said .
DeJoy has strongly denied any political interference , and Trump said on Saturday DeJoy was in fact trying to “ make the post office great again ” .
Last week , however , Trump openly admitted he was blocking $ 25bn in proposed aid to the post office because he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by mail .

Two members of a key congressional committee have asked the FBI to open a criminal investigation of the leadership of the US Postal Service (USPS), alleging the postmaster general, a Donald Trump mega-donor, has slowed mail delivery in an attempt to rig the presidential election.
“There is evidence that making mail-in balloting more difficult may be one of the motivations for the changes instituted at the Post Office,” Ted Lieu of California and Hakeem Jeffries of New York, both Democrats, wrote in a letter to the FBI director, Christopher Wray.
An unprecedented number of states have instituted mail-in voting in response to the coronavirus pandemic, citing the efficacy of the process in states that have used it for years. The USPS has come under intense scrutiny for policy changes announced as Trump attacks mail-in voting.
The two Democrats’ letter referred to reports that the postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, and the USPS board of governors “have retarded the passage of mail”, and said evidence suggests actions have been taken “to affect mail-in balloting or was motivated by personal financial reasons”.
“We request the FBI to look into whether postmaster general Louis DeJoy, or members of the board of governors of the US postal service, committed any crimes,” the congressmen wrote.
Trump denied that he had encouraged DeJoy to slow the mail in answer to a question from reporters outside the White House Monday.
“No, not at all,” Trump said. “Wouldn’t do that. No, I have encouraged everybody: Speed up the mail, not slow the mail.” Trump said the administration simply wanted to ensure that the post office “runs properly” and then contradicted himself, saying “the Post Office is running very well”.
The chair of the House oversight committee, Carolyn Maloney of New York, announced on Monday that her committee would quiz DeJoy in an open hearing next week about policy changes, saying she was “pleased” that DeJoy had agreed to testify.
“The American people want their mail, medicines and mail-in ballots delivered in a timely way, and they certainly do not want drastic changes and delays in the midst of a global pandemic just months before the election,” Maloney said in a statement.
Early Recall
In an attempt to protect the USPS, the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, is recalling the House early from its summer recess. Several states are also considering legal action to stop the service being run down.
Pelosi said the House would return later this week to vote on a bill prohibiting the USPS from changing operations or service levels from what it had in place at the start of 2020. Previously, the House had not been scheduled to vote until 15 September. She said late on Sunday Trump was trying to sabotage the election by manipulating the postal service, and called DeJoy “a complicit crony”.
The Democratic bill would include $25bn in new funding for USPS, Politico reported. The White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, said Trump was open to a “skinny” deal on USPS that included direct stimulus payments but accused Democrats of drafting a bill to “use it as a political tool instead of a legislative tool”.
In calling for a criminal investigation of DeJoy, Jeffries and Lieu noted that he had donated more than $1.2m to the Trump campaign.
“It is not unreasonable to conclude that Postmaster General DeJoy and the board of governors may be executing Donald Trump’s desire to affect mail-in balloting,” the congressmen wrote. They also accused DeJoy of a conflict of interest from owning stock in postal service competitors and contractors.
In a video that went viral online at the weekend, a reporter interviewed a man in a USPS uniform about mail volume in Columbus, Ohio.
“There is a lull in the mail volume,” the man said. “The whole thing is just a – they’re trying to shut us down so people can’t vote, just basically trying to take away people’s constitutional right to vote. To rig the election. That’s all this is all about. The postal service is fine if they let us handle our business.”
Bernie Sanders told NBC’s Meet the Press Trump’s attacks on the USPS amounted to “a crisis for American democracy”.
“What you are witnessing is a president of the United States who is doing everything he can to suppress the vote, make it harder for people to engage in mail-in balloting at a time when people will be putting their lives on the line by having to go out to a polling station and vote,” the Vermont senator said.
Over the past few months, states have seen record numbers of Americans request ballots and submit votes by mail in primary and other elections. There is concern over whether the USPS, already facing a severe financial crisis, will be able get ballots to voters and return them to election offices in time to have them counted.
After protests outside DeJoy’s home in Washington at the weekend, the Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, said the USPS board should remove DeJoy if he “refuses to come before Congress”.
The Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, had no scheduling updates for the Republican-controlled Senate, a spokesman said.
But the Republican senator Susan Collins of Maine, a moderate in a tight re-election race, said on Twitter the Senate should return to consider legislation to provide the USPS up to $25bn in coronavirus funding.
Several Democratic state attorneys general told Reuters they were in discussions about legal action.
“It is outrageous that Donald Trump would attempt to undermine the USPS for electoral gain,” the Massachusetts attorney general, Maura Healy, said.
DeJoy has strongly denied any political interference, and Trump said on Saturday DeJoy was in fact trying to “make the post office great again”.
Last week, however, Trump openly admitted he was blocking $25bn in proposed aid to the post office because he wanted to make it harder to vote by mail.


theguardian--2020-08-17--‘It will be different’: virtual Democratic convention kicks off with emphasis on unity

The Democratic national convention begins on Monday with a star-studded lineup and heavy emphasis on unity aimed at presenting Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as the US ’ s best hope for healing a deeply divided nation reckoning with the parallel crises of a global pandemic and racial injustice .
The party ’ s four-day presidential nominating convention has been entirely reshaped by the public health crisis .
Originally planned for Milwaukee , Wisconsin , in mid-July , it has been forced into a compacted , virtual affair , renamed the “ Convention Across America.
” The event , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to a single city for days of celebrating , deal-making and politicking , will now take place from remote locations across the US .
There will be no roaring crowd , bespoke thunder sticks or oversized balloons .
Biden is scheduled to formally accept the Democratic presidential nomination on Thursday , delivering the most consequential speech of his decades-long career from a mostly-empty ballroom , near his home in Wilmington , Delaware .
“ There ’ s no doubt about it – it will be different , ” Tom Perez , the chairman @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) , said last week .
The programming , reduced to just two hours each night from 9pm–11pm ET , was arranged to reflect the depth of Biden ’ s political coalition , aligned in opposition to Donald Trump .
It stretches from the Republican former governor of Ohio , John Kasich , to the democratic socialist senator from Vermont , Bernie Sanders , both of whom are scheduled to speak on Monday night .
It also includes two of the most famous couples in American politics : the Clintons and the Obamas @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Biden enters the final stage of the campaign in a strong position , though Democrats are bracing for the race to tighten .
Biden leads Trump by wide margins in national and battleground surveys .
An NBC News /Wall Street Journal poll released on the eve of the convention found Biden with a nine-point lead over Trump nationally , with more than 60 % of Americans saying the administration ’ s response to coronavirus has been unsuccessful .
According to the survey , Biden holds a wide advantage over Trump on nearly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ voters say is a priority this election .
At this same time , Biden ’ s selection of Harris has exhilarated supporters , who showered the campaign with a stunning $ 48m in the 48 hours after she was announced as his running mate .
The vast majority of Democrats – and , notably , one in four Republicans and a majority of independents – approved of Biden ’ s choice of running mate , a new ABC News/Washington Post poll found .
Democrats anticipate the excitement around Harris ’ s historic candidacy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ national office by a major party , will build momentum around the convention – and the new Democratic ticket .
Harris will address the nation on Wednesday , 100 years and one day after the ratification of the 19th Amendment , which guaranteed American women the right to vote .
“ I think people are feeling every bit of that historic reality , ” said Adrianne Shropshire , the executive director of BlackPac , a super Pac focused on Black Democrats .
“ I think there is also real relief that there is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and get behind and push over the finish line.
” Amid a national reckoning on racial injustice , Biden ’ s team has devoted significant primetime space to prominent Black leaders .
Barack Obama will deliver the keynote address on Wednesday , after Harris speaks .
There will also be a tribute to the late civil rights leader and congressman John Lewis .
Celebrities and entertainers such as Common , Billie Eilish , and John Legend will perform , alongside teachers , factory workers , frontline healthcare workers and business owners who have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which are intended to emphasize the impact of Trump ’ s failure to contain the pandemic on working class Americans .
But converting what is traditionally a high-octane production into what has effectively become an evening Zoom conference , has posed significant logical and technical challenges for organizers .
The convention will still be “ anchored ” at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee , but speakers will deliver remarks , many of them pre-recorded , from various locations , as delegates cast ballots remotely .
The event is not only an extraordinary logistical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a critical piece of the mission to galvanize supporters and unify Democrats , four years after bitter infighting between the moderate and liberal wings of the party erupted in protests and jeering on the convention floor in Philadelphia .
This year , Democrats head into the convention with a shared sense of purpose , said Jeff Weaver , a top Sanders adviser who was involved in an effort to forestall protests at the convention in 2016 .
“ All of us – and by that I mean the people who were in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden campaign , and people outside of both of those campaigns – have really worked hard to create an effective and genuine popular front against Donald Trump , ” Weaver said , adding : “ Trump is a very unifying factor.
” The curent mood within the party is a testament to those efforts .
As late as March , political strategists were openly fretting the competitive Democratic primary might result in a contested convention .
Concern dissipated when Biden decisively won the South Carolina primary and his former competitors aligned behind him @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the decision to give virtual podium to billionaire Michael Bloomberg and not Julián Castro , both of whom ran against Biden in the Democratic primary .
The relatively few speaking slots reserved for Hispanic politicians further frustrated activists , who have warned that Biden must do more to appeal to Latino voters , especially younger ones .
And California congressman Ro Khanna , a national co-chair of Sanders ’ 2020 campaign , announced that he would vote against the Democratic party platform because it does not include support for Medicare for all .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ affords little opportunity for public displays of dissent .
Democrats met remotely to hammer out the details of a lengthy platform , which draws heavily from the policy recommendations issued by the joint Biden-Sanders taskforces .
The opening night will conclude with a keynote address from the former first lady Michelle Obama , considered one of the most compelling speakers in Democratic politics after her soaring speech in 2016 when she introduced the maxim : “ When they go low , we go high.
” Jill Biden is the headline speaker on Tuesday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her husband in a “ roll call ” vote of all 57 US states and territories .
Former president Bill Clinton will also speak on Tuesday , and Hillary Clinton , the 2016 Democratic nominee , will give remarks on Wednesday .
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez , the progressive New York congresswoman who once observed that she and Biden would probably belong to different political parties if they lived in another country , was allotted 60 seconds on Tuesday night , a clipped appearance some supporters viewed as a slight .
The convention culminates Thursday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a speech he has been trying to make since he first ran for president in 1988 .
Howard Dean , a former chair of the DNC who has attended every party convention since 1980 , said the new format could work in Biden ’ s favor .
Unlike Trump , who feeds off the energy of crowds at rallies but can look wooden and uncomfortable when reading from a teleprompter , Biden , Dean said , “ does better on television than he does at a podium ” .
“ This helps him @ @ @ @ @ @ @ calmness , reasonableness and thoughtfulness , ” he said .
“ And that ’ s what people are desperate for right now.
” Democrats began downsizing their convention months ago , when it became clear the virus would continue to be a threat throughout the summer .
What started as a 4-day event with 24 hours of programming was eventually scaled back to just eight hours total .
By contrast , Trump forced party officials to move the Republican presidential nominating convention to Jacksonville , Florida , from Charlotte , North Carolina , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ require participants to abide by social distancing rules .
A month before the event , Trump abruptly cancelled the in-person portion of the event amid a deepening coronavirus outbreak in Florida and across the region .
Now Trump says he plans to deliver his re-nomination speech from the White House lawn , an unprecedented use of federal property for a partisan political event that critics say may violate ethics laws .
For viewers at home , the virtual nature of the convention will be a reminder of the stakes in November , with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Americans dead from the coronavirus , said Leah Daughtry , who ran the party ’ s Democratic conventions in 2016 and 2008 .
She said the occasion presents an opportunity for Democrats to demonstrate a sharp contrast in leadership with the president .
“ We didn ’ t want to endanger anyone – not just the delegates , but the people who are working in the hotels and the restaurants and the airport workers who would have to be on duty in order to help our convention run , ” she said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ key talking point , as we have a president who seems to still not understand the depth and the breadth of this virus .
”

The Democratic national convention begins on Monday with a star-studded lineup and heavy emphasis on unity aimed at presenting Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as the US’s best hope for healing a deeply divided nation reckoning with the parallel crises of a global pandemic and racial injustice.
The party’s four-day presidential nominating convention has been entirely reshaped by the public health crisis. Originally planned for Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in mid-July, it has been forced into a compacted, virtual affair, renamed the “Convention Across America”.
The event, which usually draws thousands of the party faithful to a single city for days of celebrating, deal-making and politicking, will now take place from remote locations across the US. There will be no roaring crowd, bespoke thunder sticks or oversized balloons.
Biden is scheduled to formally accept the Democratic presidential nomination on Thursday, delivering the most consequential speech of his decades-long career from a mostly empty ballroom, near his home in Wilmington, Delaware.
Q&A What happens at the Democratic National Convention? Show The Democratic National Convention (DNC), and its Republican counterpart (RNC), are traditionally two of the most high-profile weeks of the US election cycle – a mix of political business, theater and party, in both senses of the word. Tens of thousands of people usually attend the week-long events. Party delegates from across the country converge on a city to hold meetings and events. They fill a big arena to say something prideful about their state and cheer wildly for the party's candidate for president, who officially receives the nomination here. During the convention, politicians and/or celebrities give speeches in support of the party’s candidate, who gives a rousing speech to cap it all off. This year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the DNC will be completely different. Almost all aspects have moved online. Billie Eilish and John Legend are among the celebrity performers, and key speakers will include presidential nominee, Joe Biden, his running mate, Kamala Harris, political power couples the Obamas and the Clintons, and progressive superstar Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Photograph: Robyn Beck/AFP Was this helpful? Thank you for your feedback.
“There’s no doubt about it – it will be different,” Tom Perez, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), said last week.
The programming, reduced to just two hours each night from 9pm–11pm ET, was arranged to reflect the depth of Biden’s political coalition, aligned in opposition to Donald Trump. It stretches from the Republican former governor of Ohio, John Kasich, to the democratic socialist senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders, both of whom are scheduled to speak on Monday night.
04:50 Why Joe Biden picked Kamala Harris as his running mate – video explainer
It also includes two of the most famous couples in American politics: the Clintons and the Obamas as well as “everyday Americans”.
Biden enters the final stage of the campaign in a strong position, though Democrats are bracing for the race to tighten. Biden leads Trump by wide margins in national and battleground surveys.
An NBC News /Wall Street Journal poll released on the eve of the convention found Biden with a nine-point lead over Trump nationally, with more than 60% of Americans saying the administration’s response to coronavirus has been unsuccessful.
According to the survey, Biden holds a wide advantage over Trump on nearly every issue except the economy, which voters say is a priority this election.
At this same time, Biden’s selection of Harris has exhilarated supporters, who showered the campaign with a stunning $48m in the 48 hours after she was announced as his running mate. The vast majority of Democrats – and, notably, one in four Republicans and a majority of independents – approved of Biden’s choice of running mate, a new ABC News/Washington Post poll found.
Democrats anticipate the excitement around Harris’s historic candidacy as the first black woman nominated for national office by a major party, will build momentum around the convention – and the new Democratic ticket. Harris will address the nation on Wednesday, 100 years and one day after the ratification of the 19th amendment, which guaranteed American women the right to vote.
“I think people are feeling every bit of that historic reality,” said Adrianne Shropshire, the executive director of BlackPac, a Super Pac focused on Black Democrats. “I think there is also real relief that there is a ticket people can believe in, and get behind and push over the finish line.”
Kamala Harris in Wilmington, Delaware, on 13 August. Photograph: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Amid a national reckoning on racial injustice, Biden’s team has devoted significant primetime space to prominent black leaders. Barack Obama will deliver the keynote address on Wednesday, after Harris speaks. There will also be a tribute to the late civil rights leader and congressman John Lewis.
Celebrities and entertainers such as Common, Billie Eilish, and John Legend will perform, alongside teachers, factory workers, frontline healthcare workers and business owners who have been asked to share their stories, which are intended to emphasize the impact of Trump’s failure to contain the pandemic on working-class Americans.
But converting what is traditionally a high-octane production into what has effectively become an evening Zoom conference, has posed significant logistical and technical challenges for organizers.
The convention will still be “anchored” at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee, but speakers will deliver remarks, many of them pre-recorded, from various locations, as delegates cast ballots remotely.
The event is not only an extraordinary logistical test for the Biden campaign, but a critical piece of the mission to galvanize supporters and unify Democrats, four years after bitter infighting between the moderate and liberal wings of the party erupted in protests and jeering on the convention floor in Philadelphia.
This year, Democrats head into the convention with a shared sense of purpose, said Jeff Weaver, a top Sanders adviser who was involved in an effort to forestall protests at the convention in 2016.
Q&A Who's speaking at the 2020 Democratic National Convention? Show More than 30 speakers will address the country virtually over four nights - Monday 17 August to Thursday 20 August from 9pm to 11pm ET - in the lead up to formally nominating Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for the Democratic presidential ticket. The theme for the week-long event is "Uniting America". Monday Speakers include: former first lady Michelle Obama, Vermont senator and Democratic socialist Bernie Sanders, former Republican governor of Ohio John Kasich, congressman Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, New York governor Andrew Cuomo, Nevada senator Catherine Cortez Masto Tuesday Speakers include: former President Bill Clinton, former second lady Jill Biden, congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York Wednesday Former President Barack Obama, vice-presidential nominee Kamala Harris, former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren Thursday Presidential nominee and former vice-president Joe Biden, California governor Gavin Newsom, Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms Through the week Performances from: Billie Eilish, John Legend, Leon Bridges, Common, The Chicks, Stephen Stills, Jennifer Hudson, Billy Porter, Maggie Rogers, Prince Royce and more. Photograph: Robyn Beck/AFP Was this helpful? Thank you for your feedback.
“All of us – and by that I mean the people who were in the Bernie campaign, the people in the Biden campaign, and people outside of both of those campaigns – have really worked hard to create an effective and genuine popular front against Donald Trump,” Weaver said, adding: “Trump is a very unifying factor.”
The current mood within the party is a testament to those efforts. As late as March, political strategists were openly fretting the competitive Democratic primary might result in a contested convention. Concern dissipated when Biden decisively won the South Carolina primary and his former competitors aligned behind him.
Still, progressives were angered by the decision to give virtual podium to billionaire Michael Bloomberg and not Julián Castro, both of whom ran against Biden in the Democratic primary. The relatively few speaking slots reserved for Hispanic politicians further frustrated activists, who have warned that Biden must do more to appeal to Latino voters, especially younger ones.
And the California congressman Ro Khanna, a national co-chair of Sanders’ 2020 campaign, announced that he would vote against the Democratic party platform because it does not include support for Medicare for All.
Though divisions linger, the virtual format affords little opportunity for public displays of dissent. Democrats met remotely to hammer out the details of a lengthy platform, which draws heavily from the policy recommendations issued by the joint Biden-Sanders taskforces.
The opening night will conclude with a keynote address from the former first lady Michelle Obama, considered one of the most compelling speakers in Democratic politics after her soaring speech in 2016 when she introduced the maxim: “When they go low, we go high.”
Joe Biden holds a virtual campaign event on 13 March. Photograph: Scott Olson/Getty Images
Jill Biden is the headline speaker on Tuesday night, after convention delegates formally nominate her husband in a “roll call” vote of all 57 US states and territories.
Former president Bill Clinton will also speak on Tuesday, and Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic nominee, will give remarks on Wednesday.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the progressive New York congresswoman who once observed that she and Biden would probably belong to different political parties if they lived in another country, was allotted 60 seconds on Tuesday night, a clipped appearance some supporters viewed as a slight.
The convention culminates on Thursday evening with Biden, who will deliver a speech he has been trying to make since he first ran for president in 1988.
Howard Dean, a former chair of the DNC who has attended every party convention since 1980, said the new format could work in Biden’s favor.
Unlike Trump, who feeds off the energy of crowds at rallies but can look wooden and uncomfortable when reading from a teleprompter, Biden, Dean said, “does better on television than he does at a podium”.
“This helps him because he will be on TV projecting calmness, reasonableness and thoughtfulness,” he said. “And that’s what people are desperate for right now.”
Democrats began downsizing their convention months ago, when it became clear the virus would continue to be a threat throughout the summer. What started as a four-day event with 24 hours of programming was eventually scaled back to just eight hours total.
By contrast, Trump forced party officials to move the Republican presidential nominating convention to Jacksonville, Florida, from Charlotte, North Carolina, after state leaders there said they would require participants to abide by social distancing rules.
A month before the event, Trump abruptly cancelled the in-person portion of the event amid a deepening coronavirus outbreak in Florida and across the region.
Now Trump says he plans to deliver his re-nomination speech from the White House lawn, an unprecedented use of federal property for a partisan political event that critics say may violate ethics laws.
For viewers at home, the virtual nature of the convention will be a reminder of the stakes in November, with the economy in tatters and nearly 170,000 Americans dead from the coronavirus, said Leah Daughtry, who ran the party’s Democratic conventions in 2016 and 2008. She said the occasion presents an opportunity for Democrats to demonstrate a sharp contrast in leadership with the president.
“We didn’t want to endanger anyone – not just the delegates, but the people who are working in the hotels and the restaurants and the airport workers who would have to be on duty in order to help our convention run,” she said. “I think that’s a key talking point, as we have a president who seems to still not understand the depth and the breadth of this virus.”
Joan E Greve contributed to this report


theguardian--2020-08-18--Democratic convention kicks off with Michelle Obama and Bernie Sanders set to speak – live

In her convention speech , Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer credited Barack Obama and Joe Biden with saving the state ’ @ @ @ @ @ , who was considered as a potential running mate for Biden , contrasted the work @ @ @ @ @ Trump ’ s response to the coronavirus pandemic .
“ From the jump , we @ @ @ @ @ Michigan , ” Whitmer said .
“ Just imagine if we had a national strategy.
@ @ @ @ @ Whitmer argued Biden and Kamala Harris would provide the leadership needed to tackle this crisis @ @ @ @ @ Kamala Harris will lead by example , ” Whitmer said .
“ They know action @ @ @ @

Joan E Greve in Washington and Maanvi Singh

18 Aug 2020 06.02 BST Takeaways from the first night of the Democratic convention That’s it from us tonight. We’ll be back tomorrow for the second night of the virtual Democratic convention. Here are the major takeaways from the night: Michelle Obama stole the show. The former first lady delivered a searing rebuke of Trump, arguing the president is incapable of leading the country during this moment of crisis. “If we have any hope of ending this chaos, we have got to vote for Joe Biden like our lives depend on it,” Obama said. The pre-taped speech attracted widespread praise, with many Democrats saying Obama offered an eloquent and urgent call to action.
The former first lady delivered a searing rebuke of arguing the president is incapable of leading the country during this moment of crisis. “If we have any hope of ending this chaos, we have got to vote for like our lives depend on it,” Obama said. The pre-taped speech attracted widespread praise, with many saying Obama offered an eloquent and urgent call to action. An everyday American who lost her father to coronavirus upstaged many Democratic lawmakers. Kristin Urquiza specifically blamed Trump for misleading her father, Mark Anthony Urquiza, about the seriousness of the virus. “My dad was a healthy 65-year-old,” Urquiza said. “His only pre-existing condition was trusting Donald Trump, and for that, he paid with his life.” Urquiza’s words struck a chord with many viewers, and commentators compared her speech to that of Gold Star father Khizr Khan, who memorably criticized Trump at the 2016 Democratic convention.
specifically blamed Trump for misleading her father, about the seriousness of the virus. “My dad was a healthy 65-year-old,” Urquiza said. “His only pre-existing condition was trusting Donald Trump, and for that, he paid with his life.” Urquiza’s words struck a chord with many viewers, and commentators compared her speech to that of Gold Star father who memorably criticized Trump at the 2016 Democratic convention. George Floyd’s family delivered a plea for changes in policing. “George should be alive today,” Philonise Floyd said of his brother, a Black man who was kill by a white Minneapolis police officer in May. Floyd listed some of the African Americans killed by police in recent years and said: “When this moment ends, let’s make sure we never stop saying their names.”
“George should be alive today,” said of his brother, a Black man who was kill by a white Minneapolis police officer in May. Floyd listed some of the African Americans killed by police in recent years and said: “When this moment ends, let’s make sure we never stop saying their names.” Bernie Sanders called on his supporters to rally around Biden. The progressive Vermont senator acknowledged his policy differences with the Democratic nominee, but Sanders argued Trump’s disastrous handling of the pandemic demanded that all Americans come together to elect Biden. “Nero fiddled while Rome burned,” Sanders said. “Trump golfs.”
The progressive Vermont senator acknowledged his policy differences with the Democratic nominee, but Sanders argued Trump’s disastrous handling of the pandemic demanded that all Americans come together to elect Biden. “Nero fiddled while Rome burned,” Sanders said. “Trump golfs.” Anti-Trump Republicans warned against the dangers of reelecting the president. Former Ohio governor John Kasich, a frequent Trump critic, delivered his speech endorsing Biden alongside a literal fork in the road, attracting some mockery on Twitter. “America is at a crossroads,” Kasich said. “The stakes in this election are greater than any in modern times.” Like Sanders, Kasich acknowledged he does not agree with Biden on every issue, but he described his vote for the Democratic candidate as a matter of necessity amid a historic time of crisis.
Former Ohio governor a frequent Trump critic, delivered his speech endorsing Biden alongside a literal fork in the road, attracting some mockery on Twitter. “America is at a crossroads,” Kasich said. “The stakes in this election are greater than any in modern times.” Like Sanders, Kasich acknowledged he does not agree with Biden on every issue, but he described his vote for the Democratic candidate as a matter of necessity amid a historic time of crisis. The virtual convention, while not seamless, still produced some memorable moments. The night saw some glitches and timing misses, but overall the event went as planned, despite the unprecedented nature of this year’s conventions. However, certain lawmakers’ Zoom backgrounds did prompt questions, such as, where did Bernie Sanders find all that chopped wood? Michelle Obama’s rebuke and anti-Trump Republicans: key takeaways from the DNC Read more The Guardian’s convention live blog will be back tomorrow night, so tune back in then.
Updated at 06.53 BST
18 Aug 2020 05.14 BST Max Benwell Michelle Obama’s necklace, which spells out V-O-T-E, has been getting a huge amount of attention since her speech. Okay, can we all take a moment to appreciate Michelle Obama's "Vote" necklace?! 😍 pic.twitter.com/U4j7LxuF89 — Angela (@anzawose) August 18, 2020 According to Google Trends, which measures the relative volume of search interest, it’s the most newly searched for thing in the last hour or so.
“Michelle Obama necklace,” “vote necklace” and “letter necklace” are breakout searches, past hour, US -
The necklace is the top trending search on all of US Google in the last hour of the event.https://t.co/I0WiP7r7bt — GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends) August 18, 2020
18 Aug 2020 04.56 BST Trump seems especially perturbed by the Republicans, including John Kasich, who spoke at the Democratic convention. He told reporters this evening that Kasich will be “a loser as a Democrat”. On Air Force One this evening, I asked Trump what he thought of John Kasich speaking to the Democrats. His response: "He was a loser as a Republican, and he’ll be a loser as a Democrat. ... People don’t like him. People don’t trust him. ... He hasn’t done too well with Trump." — Anthony Zurcher (@awzurcher) August 18, 2020 Kasich told CNN that he wasn’t sure where the Republican party was headed: “I’m very disappointed in them – I’m disappointed in their silence and I’m disappointed in an agenda that doesn’t seem very positive.” But the former Ohio governor and presidential candidate didn’t seem ready to join the Democratic party either, critiquing some Dems as getting “too extreme” in their policies. “Who knows where we’re going to go,” after the elections, he said. “If there’s not support for the Republican party or the Democratic party, there will be a third party.” – Maanvi Singh
Updated at 05.50 BST
18 Aug 2020 04.42 BST Donald Trump, on a tweeting spree, has so far focused his attacks on Andrew Cuomo and John Kasich – with 13 tweets and retweets deriding the New York governor so far. The president accused Cuomo of botching the coronavirus response and noted that he at times had praised Trump’s actions int the initial aftermath of the pandemic. Of course, at the time, Cuomo and other governors desperate for supplies from the federal government needed to stay on the president’s good side.
Updated at 05.52 BST
18 Aug 2020 04.30 BST In her speech, Michelle Obama also painted a stark picture of what voting might look like in November, as the Trump administration tries to enforce changes to the US Postal Service. “We’ve got to vote early, in person if we can,” Obama said. “We’ve got to request our mail-in ballots right now, tonight, and send them back immediately and follow-up to make sure they’re received. And then, make sure our friends and families do the same. “We have got to grab our comfortable shoes, put on our masks, pack a brown bag dinner and maybe breakfast too, because we’ve got to be willing to stand in line all night if we have to.” Democratic officials and voting rights advocates have warned that the Trump administration’s actions could jeopardize voting by mail this November. However, Obama is the first person to use a national speech to warn Americans about the drastic steps they may need to take to ensure their votes are counted.
18 Aug 2020 04.23 BST Trump has weighed in on tonight’s convention events, lashing out against New York’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, who criticized the president’s response to the coronavirus pandemic in his speech. Cuomo lambasted the “dysfunctional and incompetent” federal government in his remarks, but Trump noted the Democratic governor previously thanked the president for some of the steps he took to assist New York “Cuomo, just like his brother Fredo, has not got a very good memory!” Trump tweeted, apparently referencing Cuomo’s brother, CNN host Chris Cuomo. Cuomo, just like his brother Fredo, has not got a very good memory! https://t.co/H8J0RjNlvb — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 18, 2020 Trump also reshared a tweet from Republican senator Lindsey Graham that challenged Michelle Obama’s praise of her husband’s administration.
Updated at 05.52 BST
18 Aug 2020 04.09 BST Emily Holden Bernie Sanders and Michelle Obama’s remarks revealed how the coronavirus pandemic, the economic downturn, vast inequality and threats to a fair election from the US’s most controversial president in history could drown out the climate crisis at the Democratic convention. Climate is always a top tier issue for Sanders, who pledged the most ambitious goals of any Democratic contender. Yet it was only a brief mention in his speech tonight. “We are facing the worst public health crisis in 100 years and the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression. We are confronting systemic racism and the enormous threat to our planet of climate change,” Sanders said. “And in the midst of all of this we have a president who is not only incapable of addressing these crises but is leading us down the path of authoritarianism.”
Rattling out a list of Biden campaign promises, from paid family leave to universal pre-K, Sanders said Biden would also invest in crumbling infrastructure and fight climate change by transitioning the US to 100% clean electricity in the next 15 years, creating millions of jobs.
Obama mentioned climate in a list of ways the US used to work with other countries.
Biden’s climate plan – widely endorsed by advocacy groups – is likely to fall to the background of the event.
Updated at 04.30 BST
18 Aug 2020 04.08 BST First night of the Democratic convention concludes The first night of the Democratic convention has now concluded, following Michelle Obama’s speech fiercely condemning Trump’s leadership. The blog will have more reactions and analysis coming up, so stay tuned.
18 Aug 2020 04.07 BST Michelle Obama’s pithy, understated rebuke of Trump: “It is what it is.” The former first lady here subtly referenced Donald Trump’s reaction to the staggering coronavirus death toll earlier this month. “They are dying. That’s true. And you – it is what it is,” Trump said in an interview with Axios. “But that doesn’t mean we aren’t doing everything we can. It’s under control as much as you can control it. Using the president’s own words against him, Obama said Trumo is the “wrong president for our country. 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.” 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 – Maanvi Singh
Updated at 04.31 BST
18 Aug 2020 04.03 BST Michelle Obama emphasized the urgency of this election, asking voters to understand the crucial need to defeat Trump in November. “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. “If we have any hope of ending this chaos, we have got to vote for Joe Biden like our lives depend on it.” Obama specifically called out voters who might be considering supporting third-party candidates in November, which cost Hillary Clinton dearly in 2016. “This is not the time to withhold our votes in protest or play games with candidates who have no chance of winning,” Obama said.
18 Aug 2020 03.59 BST Michelle Obama: 'Trump is the wrong president for our country' Michelle Obama offered a stinging rebuke of Trump’s leadership, saying he is the wrong man for the job at a critical moment for our country. Obama specifically referenced her words at the 2016 convention: “When they go lie, 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.” Obama followed that by taking direct aim at Trump, saying: “Let me be as honest and clear as I possibly can. Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country. “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.”
Updated at 04.31 BST
18 Aug 2020 03.56 BST Maanvi here, with more on Bernie Sanders: Bernie Sanders, who just urged his supporters to back Biden, has been working to unite Democrats to defeat Trump, even as some of those who lead his presidential campaign have critiqued the Democratic nominee’s moderate policies. Really can't be overstate how much of a team player Bernie has been in the campaign to defeat Donald Trump. — Rob Flaherty (@Rob_Flaherty) August 18, 2020 Belén Sisa, the former national Latino press secretary, has commented that progressives need to keep pushing the policies Sanders championed, even though he’s not the nominee.
Hearing @BernieSanders speak brings back many memories of unprecedented policy, outreach, & straight up people power.
This isn’t the end. It was never about just electing Bernie, it was about a movement. This isn’t the last you’ll see of progressives, see u out in the field ✊🏽 — Belén Sisa (@belensisaw) August 18, 2020 The Sanders campaign’s former national press secretary, Briahna Joy Gray, echoed the sentiment: Policy, finally:
$15 min wage
Universal pre K
Infrastructure
Climate change
Healthcare improvement (though still a ways to go)
End private prisons/detention centers/cash bail
I’m biased, but best sell of the night. — Briahna Joy Gray (@briebriejoy) August 18, 2020
Updated at 04.32 BST
18 Aug 2020 03.54 BST Michelle Obama: 'You simply cannot fake your way through this job' Michelle Obama noted she has seen the difficulties of the presidency firsthand, saying: “You simply cannot fake your way through this job.” The former first lady argued Trump has not provided the necessary moral leadership as the country faces crises on multiple fronts. Obama 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.”
Updated at 04.31 BST
18 Aug 2020 03.50 BST Michelle Obama speaks at Democratic convention Former first lady Michelle Obama is now addressing the Democratic convention, saying this election will determine the direction of the country. Repeating her words during the 2016 campaign, Obama said the job of the presidency is difficult and requires a strong leader. “A president’s words have the power to move markets,” Obama said. “As I said before, being president doesn’t change who you are. It reveals who you are.”


theguardian--2020-08-18--Coronavirus live news: Lebanon hospitals near capacity, global cases approach 22 million

The world-famous Mariinsky ballet company has called off performances after some 30 members , mostly dancers , contracted the coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ said on Monday .
Three have been hospitalised while the others are following treatments at @ @ @ @ @ the city ’ s health authority said , quoted by the Interfax news agency .
@ @ @ @ @ been told to confine themselves to home as a precaution .
Performances scheduled for last @ @ @ @ @ only operas will be staged for the rest of August .
As of Monday , @ @ @ @ @ of Covid-19 , and 15,740 deaths , according to official figures .

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--Can Kamala Harris help Joe Biden win the US presidency? – podcast

Kamala Harris is the first Indian American and the first black woman to run for US vice-president on a major @ @ @ @ @ discusses why as Joe Biden ’ s running mate , Harris is in prime position @ @ @ @ @ Usually the Democratic party ’ s convention is a big event in the election cycle @ @ @ @ @ country meet to officially endorse their presidential nominations .
This year it is all happening @ @ @ @ @ by Joe Biden of his running mate , Kamala Harris , has energised activists – @ @ @ @ @ Donald Trump .
Harris is the first Indian American and the first black woman to @ @ @ @ @ a major party ticket .
Lauren Gambino tells Mythili Rao that Harris has a fascinating @ @ @ @ @ ideology is not easy to pigeonhole .

Presented by Mythili Rao with Lauren Gambino; produced by Sam Colbert and Axel Kacoutié; executive producers Nicole Jackson and Phil Maynard

Kamala Harris is the first Indian American and the first black woman to run for US vice-president on a major party ticket. Lauren Gambino discusses why as Joe Biden’s running mate, Harris is in prime position to go one step further
Usually the Democratic party’s convention is a big event in the election cycle, as representatives across the country meet to officially endorse their presidential nominations. This year it is all happening online, but the announcement by Joe Biden of his running mate, Kamala Harris, has energised activists – and brought swift attacks from Donald Trump.
Harris is the first Indian American and the first black woman to run for US vice-president on a major party ticket. Lauren Gambino tells Mythili Rao that Harris has a fascinating backstory and that her political ideology is not easy to pigeonhole.