Headlines 

Three months and 50,000 deaths: the defining Covid-19 moments in the US timeline

From grim milestones to record unemployment rates and protests against stay-at-home orders, the pandemic has upended life across the US In just three months, Covid-19 has upended life in the US, ravaging cities and businesses and overwhelming hospitals woefully unprepared. What started as a single infection in

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Trump plays misleading clips of ‘support’ from Cuomo at coronavirus briefing

US president accused of going into campaign mode after showing selectively edited videos containing praise by one of his most trenchant critics Donald Trump has been accused of using another White House coronavirus task force briefing to broadcast a campaign ad in which New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, one of his most trenchant critics, appeared to shower him with praise. The US president dimmed the lights and played two selectively edited videos on screens behind the briefing room podium featuring Cuomo, whose state has been hardest hit by the deadly…

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‘Rejecting all oversight’: is Trump purging government watchdogs?

President recently ousted two inspectors general, including one tasked with leading oversight of coronavirus relief law Donald Trumps abrupt ousting of two veteran watchdogs has prompted fears the scandal-prone US president is purging people from government who have oversight of fraud, waste and abuse. The moves also come at a time when a global pandemic and resulting mass coronavirus relief law. The move came just days after Trump axed the Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/12/trump-inspector-general-purge-watchdogs

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Headlines 

US sees highest one-day death toll from coronavirus

New peak in Covid-19 deaths was propelled by New York City, which recorded 806 fatalities on Tuesday The US suffered its highest daily death toll from 731 people were killed by Covid-19 across New York state, the previous highest daily jump. The US remains on top of the world league table for confirmed cases compiled A new CNN poll found that a majority of those sampled, some 55%, thought the federal government had done a poor job in handling the health emergency and slowing the spread of the virus across…

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Odds and Ends 

White House teams up with Google to build coronavirus screening site

During a press conference at the White House, President Trump today announced that the government is working with Google to build an online screening website for COVID-19. The announcement was short on details, but the idea, it seems, is to give users the ability to enter their symptoms and see if they need additional testing. None of this sounds extremely complicated, but according to Trump, Google has 1,700 engineers working on this. According to Debbie Birx, the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator, users will have to log into this new…

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No greater love hath Trump than to lay down your life for his re-election | Richard Wolffe

Only a once-in-a-century leader has the guts to say out loud what the worst among us are really thinking: everyone other than me is expendable Donald Trump isnt much of a doctor or scientist. He isnt much of a diplomat or general. His leadership skills match his business skills. Theres a estimated death count is 2.2 million Americans. You cant just come in and say, Lets close up the United States of America, continued the president who prides himself on closing the borders of, um, the United States of America.…

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Are Trump’s coronavirus briefings the new 2020 campaign rallies?

The pandemic has brought in-person electioneering to a halt but the presidents daily appearances are unnervingly partisan For more than an hour from the lectern he self-aggrandises, rewrites history, casts blame, scores political points, goads the media and sends factcheckers scrambling, ceding the bully pulpit only to let other speakers sing his praises. But for the absence of a sea of Keep America Great Again hats and Rolling Stones soundtrack, Donald Trumps coronavirus press briefings at the White House are, critics say, increasingly resembling to drop live coverage of the…

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‘Where’s Fauci?’ America panics as doctor absent again from White House briefing

Infectious disease expert, who has politely sparred with Trump, has become a calming presence in a time of deep uncertainty Moments after Donald Trump approached the lectern to open the daily task force briefing on the coronavirus pandemic, mild panic broke among viewers online. Where was Dr Anthony Fauci, the 79-year-old infectious disease expert who has become a regular fixture and a calming presence alongside the president? Fernand R. Amandi (@AmandiOnAir) Will the press in the

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Trump works harder than the Democrats to reach black voters. That’s worrying | Steve Phillips

Trump spent $11m on a single television ad targeting African Americans. Democrats wont cough up a fraction Donald Trump understands the importance of African American voters much better than Democrats and progressives do. Trump and his team are making sizable and smart investments in efforts to chip away at black support for Democrats. Yet those who want to oust Trump from the Oval Office are spraying millions of dollars in election spending in every direction except the African American community. Had African Americans turned out to vote in 2016 like…

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Facebook to remove misleading Trump ‘census’ ads

Presidents re-election campaign had sponsored misleading ads, which actually linked to Republican fundraising site Facebook has announced it will remove a series of misleading ads from Donald Trumps re-election campaign. The Trump Make America Great Committee posted 2,000 iterations of an ad this week, asking users to respond to the Official Congressional District Census. Instead of information at the Census Bureau, however, the posts linked to a once-in-a-decade event that seeks to count every person in the country, with drastic consequences for resource allocation and government representation nationwide. Trumps campaign…

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Odds and Ends 

Donald Trump Appears to Refuse a Handshake From Nancy Pelosi

President Donald Trump appeared to refuse to shake House Speaker Nancy Pelosis (D-Calif.) hand as he began his State of the Union speech on Tuesday night. As Trump made his way to the podium, he handed a copy of his speech to both Vice President Mike Pence and Pelosi. After receiving the folder, Pelosi appeared to reach out her hand to shake Trumps, but the president turned away. Pelosi made a shocked face, and smiled, as Trump moved back to the podium. Pelosi tries to shake Trump's hand. He declines.…

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‘America v socialism’: conservatives rage against the left and plot new red scare

At the Trump faithfuls annual get-together, there was fresh fearmongering about Democrats in general and Bernie Sanders in particular It came from abroad and infected America. It can spread from person to person and is potentially fatal. When symptoms emerge, it may already be too late. Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). The virus is not going to sink the American economy, he said at the National Harbor near Washington. What is, or could, sink the American economy is the socialism coming from our friends on the other side of the…

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Trump reportedly calls John Bolton a ‘traitor’ and wants to block his book

President reportedly told aides and media figures book shouldnt be published before Novembers election John Bolton is a traitor and his reportedly told aides and media figures. The presidents views on news of a book deal for fired in September last year. He offered to testify in the Senate but Republicans voted not to call witnesses during a trial which duly ended in Trumps acquittal, despite leaks from Boltons book manuscript seeming to show The Room Where It Happened was slated for publication in March but it has been held…

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Trump’s Oscars rant? He just wants Hollywood to see he’s a star

The US presidents tirade against Parasites best picture Oscar, preferring Sunset Boulevard and Gone With the Wind, masks his own frustration at being cold-shouldered by Tinseltown The only real surprise was what took him so long. Nearly two weeks after Parasite became the first foreign-language film to win the Oscar for best picture, hadnt actually seen Parasite: Was it good? I dont know. Clearly he is less concerned about the movies quality than its provenance. Here he is, trying to make America great again, and a foreign movie takes Hollywoods…

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Trump’s foreign policy is cynical and self-interested. His ‘peace plan’ is no exception | Michael H Fuchs

The plan is a giant middle finger to the Palestinian people, and a way for Trump and Netanyahu to distract voters from domestic political problems Donald Trumps foreign policy is all about advancing the interests of Donald Trump, and the release of his Israeli-Palestinian peace plan is yet another illustration of Trumps disregard for Americas national security when he believes doing so will benefit him personally. At the same time that Trumps lawyers stood on the floor of the US Senate defending the president from impeachment charges of abuse of…

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