Good morning.
Donald Trump formally accepted the Republican presidential nomination last night, in a whopping 70-minute acceptance speech in which he peddled the dominant message of the Republican National Convention (RNC) – that Joe Biden was a danger to America. However, for the first time this election season, the president also shared his policy ideas, which ranged from creating more jobs to landing a woman on the moon.
Speaking at a rally of 1,500 people at the White House, where social distancing and mask-wearing were not enforced, Trump ignored criticism of his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and claimed Biden would have led to “hundreds of thousands” further US deaths. His speech built the perception that coronavirus was over, despite more people having died from it during this week’s RNC than in the 9/11 attacks. The rally’s format also raised further questions over the ethical and legal implications of holding a political rally at an official site.
Despite its focus on law and order, Trump’s speech also largely ignored the anti-racism protests that have swept across the US in recent months. Just one speaker mentioned Jacob Blake, the black man left paralysed after police shot him several times in front of his children on Sunday, while others focused on the “violent anarchists” demonstrating against racism.
‘Donald Trump has failed’: Hours before he took to the stage, the Democratic vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris issued a scathing attack on Trump, saying: “The Republican convention is designed for one purpose: to soothe Donald Trump’s ego, to make him feel good.”
The US coronavirus death toll passed 180,000, despite little mention of the pandemic at the RNC.
Kenosha shooter charged with murder as his online support grows
Seventeen-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse was charged with first degree murder yesterday, after two men were shot dead on Tuesday at demonstrations against the shooting of Jacob Blake. However, police faced questions of their own over their interactions with Rittenhouse, after witness reports and videos appeared to show police letting the gunman walk past them while crowds call for his arrest.
Online support for Rittenhouse remains widespread, with Facebook criticised for allowing fundraisers and praise for the alleged gunman to be shared widely. Earlier this week, the company said it was working to ban content that supports mass shooters, but one fundraiser has been shared almost 18,000 times.
Rittenhouse’s alleged victims were identified yesterday as a father and a 26-year-old skateboarder. A third victim, 26-year-old Gaige Grosskreutz, who is recovering in hospital, had reportedly volunteered as a medic at Black Lives Matter protests this summer, and may have been volunteering while he was shot.
Six dead as Hurricane Laura brings 150mph winds to Louisiana
Six people have died in Louisiana after Hurricane Laura battered the state, including a 14-year-old girl who died when a tree fell on her home. The hurricane made landfall on Thursday on a northerly path with wind speeds of 150mph, with forecasters warning of “catastrophic conditions” still to come.
It wasn’t until 11 hours after landfall that the hurricane finally weakened and was downgraded to tropical storm status, with maximum wind speeds of 40mph and heavy rainfall. While fears of a 20ft storm surge were avoided as the hurricane moved further east, the storm left nearly 900,000 people without power, with power shortages and trees collapsing as far as Arkansas.
“There’s devastation everywhere”: Lake Charles was one of the areas most severely hit by Hurricane Laura. Philip Kiefer visited the city and spoke to residents, as they woke up to the devastating aftermath of the storm.
California wildfires: As firefighters made further progress against the wildfires which have scorched more than 1.2m acres and destroyed nearly 2,000 homes and structures, thousands of evacuees have begun to return home to assess the damage.
In other news …
The Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has resigned over poor health. The shock announcement came after a chronic bowel condition left him unable to lead the country through the coronavirus pandemic, despite officials earlier insisting he would finish his term in September 2021.
The risk of severe illness and death to children from Covid-19 is extremely small, according to a study of two-thirds of all patients admitted to hospitals across England, Scotland and Wales with coronavirus.
Walmart has partnered with Microsoft in a bid to take over the US operations of TikTok, following Trump’s ultimatum that the popular app’s Beijing-based parent company had to sell its US business to an American company or face being shut down.
Great reads
How TikTok could save the planet
The video sharing app, which boasts 800 million users, has seen a rise in discussion of biodiversity and sustainability. Yasemin Craggs Mersinoglu explores the role of the app in the battle against the climate crisis.
Lights, camera, napkins: the best food moments in film
Jonathan Nunn recalls the best meals in cinema, from The Matrix to The Godfather Part II, as he highlights the importance of food to film.
Opinion
Trump’s senior adviser on LGBTQ+ outreach is setting back the fight for equal rights, writes Mark Gevisser. He is responsible for flogging misleading claims about Trump’s rights record and exploits gay rights to fit with Trump’s political agenda.
Grenell has become a pink-washer for Donald Trump: he chases the gay vote in the US (albeit not during the RNC) by suggesting that the “American” values it seeks to defend – against immigrants, and foreign powers, of course – include the protection of gay people.
Last Thing: painting stolen for third time
It’s no laughing matter for art lovers: police have reported that Two Laughing Boys with a Mug of Beer, painted by the Dutch master Frans Hals, has been stolen for a third time. The painting, produced in the 1620s and which has an estimated value of €15m ($17.8m), was stolen from a small museum in the town of Leerdam on Wednesday morning. The painting was previously the subject of heists in 1988 and 2011, when it was recovered after three years and six months respectively.
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