Good morning, I’m Tim Walker with today’s essential stories.
Sanders and Buttigieg gaining rival frontrunner status
Donald Trump descended on New Hampshire on Monday for a rally designed to rattle his prospective Democratic election rivals, on the eve of the state’s first-in-the-nation presidential primary. The president also released his $4.8tn 2021 budget plan, which has no chance of passing but could prove an effective campaign tool. Bernie Sanders leads the polls going into Tuesday’s vote, as he and Pete Buttigieg try to cement their places as the party’s rival frontrunners.
Joe Biden. The former US vice president is trying to light a fire under his campaign after disappointment in Iowa but he remains prone to strange digressions on the stump.
Politics blog. Today’s blog is up. You can follow it here.
Amazon takes on Trump over lost ‘war cloud’ contract
Amazon is seeking a deposition from Trump over its loss of a $10bn US military cloud computing contract that was ultimately awarded to Microsoft. Amazon was considered the frontrunner for the project, and has sued the administration, claiming that the president’s personal bias against the company destroyed its bid. In a court filing, the firm cited a 2018 book which reported that Trump had told Jim Mattis, then defense secretary, to “screw Amazon” out of the contract.
Philippines agreement. Rodrigo Duterte, president of the Philippines, has announced that he will terminate a longstanding visiting forces agreement between his country and the US, after the US rescinded the visa of one of his close allies.
Brain injuries. The official number of US troops who suffered traumatic brain injury in an Iranian missile strike on their base in Iraq last month has shot up again, this time to 100.
Coronavirus ‘could infect 60% of global population’
As the death toll from the coronavirus passed 1,000 on Tuesday, Hong Kong’s leading public health epidemiologist told the Guardian that if the outbreak cannot be brought under control, it could ultimately infect as much as two-thirds of the world’s population. Sarah Boseley, the paper’s health editor, explains how so-called super-spreaders transmit infections such as the coronavirus to far more people than the majority do.
Xi Jinping. Two senior health officials have been sacked in Hubei province, where the outbreak originated, as a prominent intellectual became China’s first major public figure to blame its president, Xi Jinping, for the mismanagement of the crisis.
The eviction epidemic plaguing the US
Across the US in 2016 – the most recent annual data available – an estimated 2.3 million people were evicted from their homes. With rents on the rise and affordable housing units fast disappearing, the nation’s legal system remains weighted towards wealthy landlords, rather than vulnerable tenants. Michael Sainato meets some of the victims of America’s eviction crisis in Virginia, Georgia and South Carolina.
Eviction rates. The US cities with the highest incidence of eviction are Memphis, Phoenix and Atlanta, where some predominantly black neighborhoods face eviction rates of 40%.
Cheat sheet
At least two civilians and three military personnel have been killed by a suicide bombing in Kabul, in the first major attack on the Afghan capital for several months.
A boat carrying some 125 Rohingya refugees has capsized in the Bay of Bengal, allegedly while attempting to traffic those on board from Bangladesh to Malaysia. At least 16 people are believed to have drowned in the accident.
The most senior diplomat ever to have defected from North Korea has announced his intention to run for parliament in South Korea, to “give hope” to others who have fled the Pyongyang regime.
Scientists in Canada say they have discovered a new species of dinosaur, closely related to Tyrannosaurus Rex, which they have given the Greek name Thanatotheristes degrootorum, or Reaper of death.
Must-reads
Tampon wars: how ‘ethical’ brands are challenging Tampax
Tampax is the undisputed ruler of the tampons world, with a 29% global market share. But a new wave of brands touting themselves as more ethical, more ecological – and more feminist – is challenging its market dominance. Sophie Elmhirst reports.
Australia’s summer of dread
The Australian bushfires have charred an area bigger than Ireland, taken 33 lives and thousands of homes, devastated wildlife and shrouded cities in toxic smoke. As this special report explains, they have also fundamentally altered Australians’ view of the climate emergency.
Who will win Oscars in 2021?
The 2020 awards race is over, which means that the 2021 awards race is about to begin. From Will Smith’s biopic of Richard Williams (father of Venus and Serena) to Ana de Armas playing Marilyn Monroe, Benjamin Lee assesses the early runners and riders.
Mexico’s war on women claims young artist
Isabel Cabanillas de la Torre was shot as she cycled home through Juárez last month. An outpouring of rage followed the 25-year-old artist’s death but, amid Mexico’s continuing war on women, her friends and comrades hold out little hope for justice, writes Ed Vulliamy.
Opinion
Market highs and unemployment lows may give the impression that the US economy is thriving under Trump. But to America’s 140 million poor, the economy is his greatest weakness, says the Reverend William Barber.
The question in 2020 is not whether Trump’s most ardent supporters will stand by him, but whether Democrats will embrace an agenda that can inspire poor and marginalized people to engage in a political system that has simply overlooked them for decades.
Sport
Vanessa Bryant, the widow of Kobe Bryant, has written publicly for the first time about the death of her husband and their daughter Gianna in a helicopter accident last month. “My brain refuses to accept that both Kobe and Gigi are gone,” she said in an Instagram post. “God I wish they were here and this nightmare would be over.”
Ezzeldin Bahader, who has signed as a striker with the Egyptian third division club October 6, is training to play two full, 90-minute matches with the team, which – at the age of 75 – would qualify him as the world’s oldest professional football player.
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