Good Morning. The Covid-19 pandemic has shown that most world leaders are capable of acting quickly and decisively in response to a global crisis. So now a group of scientists and activists, including Greta Thunberg, has written to European heads of government demanding that they take the same approach to the unfolding climate emergency.
His letter, published ahead of a European Council meeting beginning on Friday, says that the EU’s recent proposals for a “New Green Agreement”, and its target of zero net emissions by 2050, are dangerously unambitious.
It is now clearer than ever that the climate crisis has never been treated as a crisis, either by politicians, the media, business or finance. And the longer we continue to pretend that we are on a reliable path to reduce emissions and that the actions necessary to prevent a climate disaster are available within the current system … the more valuable time we will lose.
Dr. Fauci rejected the ‘nonsense’ of the White House
After a week in which Donald Trump’s advisers and allies repeatedly questioned his experience, the administration’s top infectious disease expert has called on Americans to “stop the nonsense” and focus on addressing the increase in coronavirus infections in the solar belt. When California hit a daily record of 11,000 new Covid-19 cases, Dr. Anthony Fauci said in a virtual forum at Georgetown University, “Trust the respected medical authorities,” adding: “I think I am one of them. so I think you can trust me. “
Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt led one of the most aggressive reopening plans in the United States, resisted any state mask mandate, and rarely wore a mask. On Wednesday, he became the first state governor in the United States to test positive for the coronavirus. The American right is driving a message of “freedom from fear,” argues Jan-Werner Müller:
The masks have been designated as inherently ‘illiberal’ or signs of slavery to the government; evil aliens are being blamed for the virus. Instead of mobilizing state resources to protect both companies and Workers as countries like Denmark have done, the pandemic is instrumentalized to push the agenda of total deregulation that Trump and his sponsors have followed since the first day of his presidency.
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The modern American biotechnology firm published promising news about its vaccine this week, but experts warned it was too early to celebrate. Danielle Renwick asks how soon we could see a vaccine launch and if it will really help us get back to normal.
Trump replaced his campaign manager as Biden’s leadership expands
In an apparent acknowledgment that his reelection effort is not going as well as it could be, Trump has demoted his former campaign manager, Brad Parscale, and replaced him with his former deputy. Parscale, who took over the campaign in February 2018, has been under pressure since he promised a huge turnout for the president’s June rally in Tulsa, which was eventually attended by only 6,200 supporters.
Less than four months after Election Day, Trump lags 15 points behind rival Joe Biden in a new national Quinnipiac poll. But Democrats are still traumatized by the 2016 commotion, writes Daniel Strauss, and remain “nervously optimistic” about the prospect of a blue wave.
Largest Twitter accounts were hacked by a bitcoin scam
Twitter briefly took the unprecedented step of preventing all verified accounts from tweeting on Wednesday, in response to a coordinated hack by several of its top account holders, including Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Kanye West, Bill Gates, Apple, and Uber. .
The compromised accounts, which collectively have tens of millions of followers, sent out a series of tweets proposing a classic bitcoin scam: Followers were told that if they transferred cryptocurrencies to a specific bitcoin wallet, they would receive double the money in return.
In other news …
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Ruth Bader Ginsburg left the hospital after treatment for a possible infection Liberal justice, which at 87 is the oldest member of the US Supreme Court, is “at home and in good repair,” said a Supreme Court spokesman.
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A record 71,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2019, a bleak trend fueled by fentanyl and similar synthetic opioids, which experts believe will be further accelerated by the coronavirus crisis in 2020.
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United States is considering banning millions of Chinese from traveling Communist party members, according to a New York Times report, which compared the proposal to the Trump administration’s 2017 Muslim travel ban.
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Berkeley plans to replace police with unarmed civilians for traffic stops, in a one-of-a-kind proposal that California city officials believe could curb the racial profiling problem.
Great readings
Idris Elba: “I have seen how the lifting of pain has arisen”
With her long-term sitcom, Idris Elba represents a version of her own family life, which grew up in the 1980s in London in a largely white community. “It felt important to show younger generations especially where we come from so that they can understand what has brought them to their realities today,” he tells Ammar Kalia.
How Covid-19 has affected women worldwide
Melinda Gates warned this week that the consequences of the pandemic would disproportionately affect women, delaying gender equality by several years and billions of dollars. Seven women around the world told The Guardian how Covid-19 has already impacted their lives.
Opinion: Trump accidentally advocated for police abolition
Trump’s misleading claim that American police kill more white than black people does not undermine Black Lives Matter’s arguments the way he believes he did, says Malaika Jabali. In any case, it is the case for them.
He did not actually dispute that the police kill blacks. He essentially said: ‘Even more people are killed than we speak! Gotcha! ‘Thanks Trump, that’s the point!
The last thing: seeing the world through a stranger’s window
While locked up, two Singaporeans started a new and transporting online project: Windowswap invites people to share a short video of the view from their window, anywhere in the world. “I guess until we can responsibly explore our planet again, this is a way to travel without moving.”
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