Good morning,
Donald Trump said he is taking the anti-malarial hydroxychloroquine to guard against the coronavirus, despite FDA warnings that it may not only be ineffective in treating Covid-19, but could also cause heart problems. The president claimed he recently started taking “a pill every day” as he attacked the administration whistleblower Rick Bright, who says he was dismissed from his role overseeing US vaccine development after resisting pressure from above to endorse the unproven drug.
On Monday, Trump also threatened to cut US funding to the World Health Organization permanently, and even to pull the country out of the global body altogether. In a letter to its director general, the president claimed the WHO had shown an “alarming lack of independence” from China and said it had failed in its response to the Covid-19 outbreak:
It is my duty as president of the United States to inform you that if the World Health Organization does not commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days, I will make my temporary freeze of the United States funding to the World Health Organization permanent and reconsider membership in the organization.
Beijing’s foreign ministry spokesman said Trump was simply trying to blame China for his government’s own mishandling of the crisis.
Nancy Pelosi is worried about Trump. The Democratic House Speaker told CNN she was concerned the president was taking a potentially dangerous drug, “especially in his age group, and in his, shall we say, weight group: ‘morbidly obese’”.
Human trials for a US coronavirus vaccine look positive
The first human trial of a US-developed Covid-19 vaccine has shown positive signs, with eight volunteers reportedly producing an antibody response on a par with that seen in people who have had the disease. The results are from a preliminary safety study and do not prove the efficacy of the vaccine, which is being developed by the Massachusetts-based biotechnology firm Moderna. But they do show it is safe for use in humans.
Italians are getting used to eating out again
After two months in lockdown, Italian cities have taken their first steps back towards normality, with diners there allowed back to bars, restaurants and coffee shops. So, too, are people in Porto, Portugal’s second city – though they have not been joined by the tourists they would normally expect at this time of year.
In China, however, the city of Shulan has been put under a Wuhan-style lockdown after a fresh outbreak of the virus. The north-eastern city of about 700,000 people was classified as high-risk last week after a cluster of cases were linked to a woman with no known travel history or exposure to the virus.
Elsewhere in the world…
…Brazil has overtaken the UK as the country with the third-highest number of infections, after the US and Russia.
…Australia’s official Covid-19 death toll has reached 100.
…Tanzania’s populist president has said the economy is “more important than the threat posed by coronavirus” and touted natural remedies as treatments for the disease.
…Nicaragua’s true Covid-19 death toll could be as much as 10 times the government’s official tally, according to an independent count by medical workers and activists.
Trump won’t get a criminal investigation of so-called ‘Obamagate’
The US attorney general, William Barr, has said he does not expect the justice department’s review of the FBI’s handling of 2016 election interference “to lead to a criminal investigation” of either Barack Obama or Joe Biden, despite Trump and his allies’ continued propagation of the “Obamagate” pseudo-scandal. Meanwhile, the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, appeared to accuse Biden – baselessly – of being a pedophile in an Instagram post.
Steve Linick was investigating Mike Pompeo for misusing staffers and sidestepping Congress to approve arms sales to the Gulf, before Linick was fired from his role as the state department inspector general.
Republicans are spending $20m to restrict voting, by opposing several Democratic lawsuits designed to expand the vote. The GOP is also seeking to recruit up to 50,000 “poll watchers” in 15 key states for the November election.
In other news…
Millions of US farm animals are to be culled by gassing, drowning, shooting or “blunt force trauma” as a result of the Covid-19 related closures of meat plants across the nation, which mean the animals cannot be slaughtered for food.
A police officer tried to tase Ahmaud Arbery in 2017, after questioning him for sitting alone in his car at a park. Lawyers for the family of the slain Georgia jogger said video of the incident showed the harassment he faced from local police.
McDonald’s stands accused of countenancing systemic sexual harassment of its employees around the world, in a complaint filed by an international coalition of labour unions.
The German stainless steel manufacturer Wilhelm Schulz is being investigated for fraud after it allegedly Photoshopped company orders and invoices before being bought by the US investor Warren Buffett in 2017.
Great reads
How the climate crisis turned lobstermen into farmers
The Gulf of Maine is heating up faster than 99% of the world’s oceans, which has led to a lobster boom – but which likely threatens a future bust. Which is why many lobstermen have turned their hands to kelp farming, too, as Gabriella Gershenson reports.
Why the film industry is staying animated
While live action film and TV have been significantly curtailed by the coronavirus, one sector of the industry is still at full capacity. Animators remain hard at work on productions including SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, Paw Patrol: The Movie, Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon and The Boss Baby 2. US drama The Blacklist interspersed graphic animation among the live action scenes in its season finale on Friday, Mark Sweney reports.
Opinion: Wisconsin is starting to resemble a failed state
Wisconsin’s conservative-majority supreme court has overturned its Democratic governor’s stay-at-home order, the latest in a line of decisions that undermine the state’s democracy – and endanger its people – writes Nathan Robinson.
Wisconsin’s Republicans have succeeded in capturing power in the state even without having to capture popular approval.
Last Thing: 1,000 hopeful murals
The Santa Monica-based organization Beautify has launched an effort to create 1,000 murals by 1,000 artists in 100 US cities to promote positivity, community and hope amid the Covid-19 crisis.
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