White House secretary Kayleigh McEnany has defended Donald Trump over the well wishes he sent publicly to Ghislaine Maxwell, who has been charged with the sexual trafficking of underage girls.
Ms McEnany said that the president instead wanted “justice to be served for victims in this case”.
Meanwhile, the UN has warned US police officers not to use disproportionate force against protesters and journalists, amid growing scrutiny over their handling of Black Lives Matter demonstrations in cities like Portland.
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Trump confirms names of US military bases will not change
The president has said that the chairman of the armed services will not be changing the names of the country’s military bases.
In a tweet posted on Friday, Donald Trump expressed his support for the decision by
Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma.
After saying that the US “won two World Wars” from the bases, Mr Trump added: “Like me, Jim is not a believer in “Cancel Culture”.”
The president’s comments follow a bipartisan push to rename posts named after Confederate leaders.
Second Columbus statue in Chicago removed
Authorities in Chicago have taken down a second statue of the explorer Christopher Columbus, whose voyages across the Atlantic paved the way for the European colonisation of the Americas.
After one statue was removed early on Friday from the city’s Grant Park, another of the same historical figure was brought down from its plinth in Arrigo Park.
The action by the local authorities came two days after Donald Trump threatened to send federal law enforcement agents to quell protests in Chicago.
Stocks drop amid US-China tensions
Stocks fell on Friday in Wall Street and elsewhere as tensions continue to escalate between the US and China, the world’s biggest two economies.
The S&P 500 dropped by 0.9 per cent, a larger percentage than it gained this week, while the Down Jones Industrial Average likewise fell.
In addition to worries about the pandemic, investors are concerned by the uncertainty created by the souring of diplomatic relations between the US and China.
The countries’ most recent spat concerns the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston, Texas, and China’s retaliatory decision to shut the American consulate in Chengdu.
‘Serious threats’ directed at Fauci
The US’ leading infectious disease expert has said that he and his family have received “serious threats” as the Trump administration reportedly attempt to discredit him, writes Chris Riotta.
Dr Anthony Fauci made the revelation during an interview on Thursday on David Axelrod’s podcast show “The Axe Files”.
The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) disagreed with the Trump administration’s plans to allow states with rising infection levels to reopen.
In the new interview, he said that people had made “serious threats against me, against my family … my daughters, my wife”, adding: “I mean, really? Is this the United States of America?”
Iran condemns US fighter jet incident
Tehran has strongly criticised the US after American fighter jets allegedly “harassed” an Iranian civilian aircraft over Syria on Thursday.
Two US planes got within 100 metres of a Mahan Air Flight that was on its way to Beirut, according to Iranian state TV.
However, the US officials told a different version of events, saying that one plane was involved and that it was at a “safe distance” from the airliner.
Footage has emerged showing the passengers on board the Iranian flight in a state of panic during the incident.
Iran’s foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif described the incident as “lawlessness upon lawlessness” and stressed that it had endangered the passengers’ lives.
Data reveals female leaders outperformed men in coronavirus crisis
A report has suggested that female leaders have done better than their male counterparts in handling the pandemic, writes Anthony Cuthbertson.
According to the economists who analysed the data, the top 10 worst affected countries are led by men.
The study comes after leaders such as Germany’s Angela Merkel and New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern have been praised for their quick and effective responses to the threat posed by Covid-19.
“Our findings show that Covid-19 outcomes are systematically and significantly better in countries led by women and, to some extent, this may be explained by the proactive policy responses they adopted,” the researchers said:
Read more here:
AOC praised for speech against sexism
The Democrat congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been praised by politicians and celebrities alike for the address she gave to Congress on sexism.
Her comments on Thursday came after reports that Republican congressman Ted Yoho issued a non-apology over his violent remarks against her on Monday.
Mr Yoho is thought to have called her a “f***ing b****” on Capitol Hill at the start of the week.
“This issue is not about one incident,” declared Ms Ocasio-Cortez. “It is cultural”.
American model Chrissy Teigen and actor Olivia Wilde were among those who hailed the politician’s speech, with Ms Teigen writing on Twitter that she “will have won” if her daughter “turns out to be half the woman Alexandria is”.
Ms Wilde said in a tweet that the speech was “fierce and true”, before expressing her discomfort at men invoking their daughters to signal empathy for women, as Mr Yoho did earlier this week.
Russia rejects US and UK criticism of space activities
Moscow has rejected criticism from the US and the UK of Russia’s activities in space on Friday, after the two nations expressed concern at a Russian satellite test conducted on 15 July.
On Thursday Britain said Russia had launched a projectile with the “characteristics of a weapon” and called on Moscow to behave responsibly in space.
“The tests conducted by Russia’s Ministry of Defence on 15 July did not pose a threat to other space objects and, most importantly, did not violate any norms and principles of international law,” Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
The foreign ministry said it considered statements made by American and British officials as an “anti-Russian strike as part of a targeted information campaign initiated by Washington” to discredit Russia’s activities in space.
Nearly half of Americans laid off during coronavirus crisis believe jobs are lost forever
Nearly half of Americans whose families experienced a layoff during the coronavirus pandemic now believe those jobs are lost forever, a new poll shows, as temporary cutbacks give way to shuttered businesses, bankruptcies and lasting payroll cuts.
It represents a sharp change after initial optimism the jobs would return.
In April, 78 per cent of those in households with a job loss thought they’d be temporary. Now, 47 per cent think that lost job is definitely or probably not coming back, according to the latest poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
That translates into roughly 10 million workers who will need to find a new employer, if not a new occupation.
The poll is the latest sign the solid hiring of May and June, as some states lifted stay-at-home orders and the economy began to recover, may wane as the year goes on. Adding to the challenge: many students will begin the school-year online, making it harder for parents to take jobs outside their homes.
Trump relying on outlier interpretation of Supreme Court decision to assert broad new powers
Donald Trump is relying on an outlier interpretation of a recent Supreme Court decision to assert broad new powers as he prepares to sign a series of executive orders in the coming weeks.
The expansive view of presidential authority has been promoted by John Yoo, a Berkeley Law professor known for writing the so-called “torture memos” that the George W. Bush administration used to justify using “enhanced interrogation” techniques after the 11 September terror attacks.
Mr Yoo told The Associated Press on Thursday he has had multiple conversations with senior administration officials in which he’s made the case that a June Supreme Court ruling that rejected Trump’s effort to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, opened the door to enormous new presidential power.
“I said, ‘Why not just take the DACA opinion itself and do a search-replace. And every time it says ‘DACA’ … replace it with ‘skills-based immigration system,'” Mr Yoo said he told the White House.
“This gives President Trump an alternative to create such a program, at least for a few years.”
Not long after the conversations, Mr Trump began promising a series of new executive orders on a range of issues.
“The decision by the Supreme Court on DACA allows me to do things on immigration, on health care, on other things that we’ve never done before,” Mr Trump said in an interview on Fox News Sunday, predicting “a very exciting two weeks.”
Trump’s former lawyer to leave prison for home confinement
Michael Cohen will on Friday be allowed to return to his flat in Manhattan to complete his three-year sentence, after a judge decided he had been put back in jail in retaliation for planning to release a book about the president.
US district judge Alvin Hellerstein ordered that Mr Cohen be released by 2pm EDT from the prison where he is being held in New York state.
In May, Trump’s former lawyer was furloughed from jail as a result of fears over coronavirus in prisons.
“I make the finding that the purpose of transferring Mr. Cohen from furlough and home confinement to jail is retaliatory and it’s retaliatory because of his desire to exercise his First Amendment rights to publish a book,” Mr Hellerstein said at a hearing on Thursday.
Federal agents fire tear gas at BLM demonstrators in Portland
Federal law enforcement agents have fired tear gas at Black Lives Matter protesters in Portland, Oregon, on Friday, amid increased scrutiny over their use of force in the city.
It is thought that the federal forces took the measure after a small group of demonstrators lit a fire near a building in the early hours of Friday morning.
People reported being hit with projectiles as well as lasers on what is the 56th day of consecutive protests.
The UN has warned US officers not to employ disproportionate force when policing demonstrations.
Statue of Christopher Columbus removed in Chicago
Authorities in Chicago have taken down a statue of Christopher Columbus from a park in the city where repeated clashes between police and protesters have occurred.
A crane was used to move the statue on Friday morning, before it was transported to an unknown location.
This came two days after Donald Trump announced that federal forces would be deployed to Chicago, as part of his crack-down on protests caused by the death of George Floyd.
Thousands of homes still damaged in Puerto Rico three years after hurricane
Tens of thousands of homes in Puerto Rico are still badly damaged almost three years after Hurricane Maria struck, writes Danica Coto.
The storm devastated the US territory on 20 September 2017, battering nearly 800,000 houses and causing an estimated $100bn in damage.
Around 3,000 people are thought to have died in the hurricane’s aftermath.
White House press secretary defends Trump over Maxwell comment
The president’s press secretary has defended him after he sent his good wishes to Ghislaine Maxwell, writes Tim Wyatt.
Ms Maxwell, a former girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein, has been charged over the sexual trafficking of underage girls.
At a coronavirus press briefing, Mr Trump, who has met Ms Maxwell on multiple occasions, said: “I just wish her well frankly”.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said his well-wishing was unintentional and that the president instead wanted “justice to be served for victims in this case”.
Ocasio-Cortez gives powerful speech after Republican’s sexist remarks
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez delivered a powerful speech on Thursday condemning sexism in the US in response to a Republican politician’s use of violent language against her.
In an impassioned speech, Ms Ocasio Cortez took aim at the words which congressman Ted Yoho directed at her earlier this week.
He is alleged to have described her as a “f***ing b****”.
“This issue is not about one incident. It is cultural,” she said.
The congresswoman added that the power structure in the US supports a culture of “accepting…violent language against women”.
UN says US police should not use disproportionate force during protests
The United Nations human rights office has warned US police and security forces not to use disproportionate force against protesters in cities such as Portland.
A UN spokesperson told a news briefing in Geneva that reports of peaceful protesters being arrested by unidentified officers were worrying, as they risked “arbitrary detention and other human rights violations”.
Force should only be used proportionately in line with international guidelines, the UN human rights office added.
On Thursday, the US Department of Justice said it would investigate the actions of federal forces in Portland.
This announcement came the day after Ted Wheeler, the mayor of the city, was tear-gassed by law enforcement agents.
China denounces Pompeo comments
China has told the US to stop its “cold war mentality” after US secretary of state Mike Pompeo criticised Beijing during a speech on Thursday.
At a press conference on Friday, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry accused Mr Pompeo of delivering a speech filled with ideological bias.
The secretary of state had said it was the “mission of our time” for Washington and its allies to change the ways of the Chinese Communist Party.
Fauci’s pitch opens baseball season
Dr Antony Fauci, the US’ leading infectious disease expert, threw the ceremonial first pitch to mark the start of a shortened Major League Baseball season on Thursday.
The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ toss hit the grass short of the home plate, ahead of a game between the Washington Nationals and the New York Yankees.
The infectious disease specialist has not appeared at any of the revived daily coronavirus press briefings this week, after the Trump administration’s public attacks against him.
China accuses US personnel in Chengdu of interfering with its affairs
China has claimed that staff at the US consulate in Chengdu interfered in Chinese affairs, as Beijing moved to close the facility on Friday.
Wang Wenbin, a foreign ministry spokesperson, made the comment at a daily press briefing, adding that China’s decision was “a legitimate and necessary response” to Washington’s closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston, Texas, earlier this week.
The US had accused personnel at the Chinese consulate of spying.
The recent souring of relations follows Donald Trump’s anti-China rhetoric about the coronavirus and diplomatic spats over China’s new national security law in Hong Kong.
On Thursday, secretary of state Mike Pompeo suggested that Washington and its allies should press Beijing to change its policies in “more creative and assertive ways”.
