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Good morning, I’m Tim Walker with today’s essential stories.
Democrats descend on Detroit for televised debates
Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, the two top candidates from the Democrats’ progressive wing, will face off on a debate stage for the first time on Tuesday as the party’s 2020 field travels to Denver for a second round of televised presidential debates. Pete Buttigieg and Beto O’Rourke also have an opportunity to contrast their next-generation candidacies on Tuesday, while Wednesday’s grouping offers Joe Biden the chance to rerun his confrontation over race with Kamala Harris at last month’s debate.
VC support. Buttigieg appears to be the favourite candidate for Silicon Valley’s venture capitalists, with more than 75 VCs donating to his campaign in the second quarter of 2019, reports Julia Carrie Wong.
Trump’s ‘particular venom for blacks and people of color’
Donald Trump’s Twitter tirade against congressman Elijah Cummings and his Baltimore district falls into a pattern of racist attacks on political rivals, as the Rev Al Sharpton pointed out on Monday, criticising Trump’s “bigoted and racist” comments about Baltimore and citing his “particular venom for blacks and people of color”. His previous targets have included the “Squad” of progressive Democratic women, LeBron James and Barack Obama.
Electoral strategy. Despite the wave of criticism, the pattern of Trump’s comments is sufficiently clear that many believe his racially divisive language is a deliberate electoral strategy for 2020.
Gilroy grieves as police investigate gunman’s motive
The northern California community of Gilroy remains in shock after learning that two children were among the dead following a shooting at the town’s annual garlic festival. The 19-year-old shooter killed three people – a six-year-old boy, a 13-year-old girl, and a man in his 20s – and injured 15 others before he was himself shot dead by police on Sunday afternoon. Police are still combing the suspect’s social media in search of a motive for the attack.
Gun laws loophole. The gunman swerved California’s strict gun laws by purchasing his AK-47 style “assault-type rifle” in the neighbouring state of Nevada earlier this month, before carrying it illegally across state lines.
More than 100m Americans’ data stolen in Capital One hack
The FBI has arrested a hacker suspected of accessing the personal information of more than 100 million Capitol One credit applicants, including the social security numbers of about 140,000 customers, the bank said on Monday. Paige Thompson was charged with computer fraud and abuse in the US district court in Seattle. Capital One said it would offer free credit monitoring services to people affected by the breach, which includes around 100 million people in the US and 6 million in Canada.
LAPD data breach. The Los Angeles Police Department said on Monday that the personal information of 2,500 of its officers, as well as 17,500 people who had applied to join the force, had been exposed in a data breach.
Crib sheet
The Philippines has replaced Brazil as the world’s deadliest country for people protecting their land and environment, according to annual figures that cast a further shadow over the controversial leadership of its president, Rodrigo Duterte.
Police in Canada say they could not substantiate a sighting of teen triple-murder suspects Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky in remote northern Canada, meaning the two-week manhunt from British Columbia to Manitoba continues.
Chronic insomniacs ought to switch sleeping pills for the talking cure, according to research that has found cognitive behavioural therapy to be a “very effective” treatment for the condition.
Old Town Road, the smash hit country-trap track by rapper Lil Nas X, has broken Mariah Carey’s 23-year old record for the most weeks at No 1, spending a 17th week at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Must-reads
How a Greek island became a haven of absurd luxury
The village of Nammos on the Greek island of Mykonos was once a sleepy fishing community. But thanks to visitors including Kate Moss, Lindsay Lohan and Ariana Grande, it is now the billionaire’s European vacation destination of choice, as Rupert Neate discovers.
The water crisis driving people out of El Salvador
For the second day of the Guardian’s Running Dry series on migration and the climate crisis, Nina Lakhani reports from Nejapa in El Salvador. The country is one of the world’s most violent, but it is also plagued by water shortages, forcing its most vulnerable people to flee in hopes of a better life.
Families seeking answers over rise in childhood cancers
Cases of pediatric cancer in the US surged by almost 50% between 1975 and 2015, according to alarming but under-reported statistics from the National Cancer Institute. Richard Luscombe meets some of the bereaved parents teaming up with scientists to try to find out why.
Can Silicon Valley fix mental health care?
A new selection of start-ups have set out to revolutionise mental health care, with apps that match patients to the right therapist, and even offer real-time relief from anxiety and stress. But experts warn that we can’t rely on our phones to replace human therapists, writes Elena Kadvany.
Opinion
In Rwanda, a Hutu leader compared the Tutsi to cockroaches. The Nazis referred to Jews as vermin. Now the US president calls the entire city of Baltimore “rat-infested”. Speech has very real consequences, writes Francine Prose, and they can be lethal.
It’s a terrible and dangerous thing to refer to human beings as animals and insects, to cage children as a warning to would-be migrants and to viciously malign one’s critics, particularly when those critics are people of color.
Sport
A spokeswoman for the USA women’s soccer team has dismissed as a “ruse” a letter from US Soccer president Carlos Cordeiro claiming the World Cup champions were paid more than their male counterparts from 2010 to 2018, as the federation faces a lawsuit over claims of unequal pay and gender discrimination.
Police in Brazil have closed an investigation of rape allegations against the country’s star footballer, Neymar, citing a lack of evidence. The Paris Saint-Germain forward has vehemently denied claims that he raped a Brazilian woman at a hotel in Paris in May.
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