Coronavirus US: summary of news for Friday 29 May
Coronavirus live USA: latest Covid-19 news - 29 May
US coronavirus latest: 15:00 PST / 18:00 EST on Friday 29 May (00:00 CEST)
According to the latest figures published by Johns Hopkins University, 5,888,498 cases have been detected worldwide, with 363,210 deaths and 2,474,762people now recovered.
In the USA, there have been 1,743,235 confirmed cases and 102,686 deaths with 406,446 people recovering from the virus.
WHO launches Covid-19 Technology Access Pool
The World Health Organisation has announced the launch of C-TAP (Covid-19 Technology Access Pool), a global portal to share Covid-19 information on therapies and vaccines. It will be a "one-stop shop for scientific knowledge, data and intellectual property to be shared equitably by the global community,” said the WHO.
Trump says he's cutting ties with the WHO
In his afternoon news conference at the White House President Donald Trump announced he's terminating US relations with the World Health Organisation. Trump had previously threatened to cut funding for the WHO, blaming it for the spread of the coronavirus.
Trump and Johnson discuss coronavirus response
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke to US President Trump on Friday to discuss the global coronavirus response and the importance of ongoing international cooperation to develop a vaccine, according to Downing Street.
Anti-vaxxers seek to prevent uptake of coronavirus vaccine
In-depth piece from the Guardian's Adam Gabbatt on the anti-vaccine campaigners in the US who are already organising to try and convince people from being vaccinated against coronavirus once a vaccine is developed. Scarily 23% of Americans say they would not be willing to be vaccinated against Covid-19.
Once again, vaccines are incredibly safe and save countless lives.
Obama statement
Former president Barack Obama's statement on the death of George Floyd. Follow live updates on the protests across the US.
US taxpayers fund Armenian misinformation site
The United States has funded an Armenian news website spreading “incredibly dangerous” misinformation about the coronavirus, Open Democracy has reported.
Medmedia.am was set up in 2019, having received a grant awarded by the US embassy in Armenia that is “intended to promote democracy”, Open Democracy said.
Since then, the site has published articles referring to Covid-19 as a “fake pandemic”, while its most read page has urged people in Armenia to “refuse all potential [coronavirus] vaccination programmes”.
Trump on Minneapolis unrest: "when the looting starts the shooting starts"
Twitter took action against the US president after he threatened to send in the military to quell unrest in Minneapolis over the death of George Floyd.
Spain reports first suspected imported coronavirus cases since March
(Reuters) Two people who travelled from the United States to the Spanish region of Valencia have tested positive for coronavirus, potentially becoming Spain's first imported cases of the virus since travel restrictions were imposed in mid-March.
With more than 27,000 deaths and nearly 238,000 confirmed cases of the virus, Spain is among Europe´s worst-hit nations. Imported cases practically vanished after it closed its borders and locked down its population on March 14, but authorities will be closely monitoring for any resurgence when the tourism-dependent country reopens in July.
George Floyd death, latest updates in US: reactions, protest in Minneapolis live coverage
Protests spread across US after George Floyd death: live coverage
With demonstrations spreading across the United States, we also have live coverage of the fall-out from the death of George Floyd after a police officer knelt on his neck during an arrest on Monday.
You can follow that here:
George Floyd death: GoFundMe page raises over $1.5 million
George Floyd death: GoFundMe page raises over $1.5 million
Donations have flooded in on a GoFundMe set up by the family of George Floyd, who died on Monday after a police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes.
Full story:
Global coronavirus deaths pass 360,000 mark
The worldwide coronavirus death toll has now surpassed 360,000, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The United States accounts for nearly a third of these fatalities, having reached the grim milestone of 100,000 deaths earlier this week.
Stimulus check US: EIP Cards being mistaken for scam, junk mail
EIP Cards being mistaken for scam, junk mail
Around four million coronavirus Economic Impact Payments are being sent out as prepaid debit cards, but some people are accidentally throwing them away.
Full story:
Works of art are displayed as part of artist Ann Morrow Johnson's 'Museum of Quarantine on Quebec' on the fence of her home in Hollywood, California. Morrow Johnson transformed her fence into a Museum of Quarantine, where neighbours and others are welcome to post their pieces alongside her artwork. (Photo by VALERIE MACON / AFP)
Twitter hides Trump tweet over George Floyd protests
Twitter has concealed and placed a "public interest notice" on a tweet sent by Donald Trump, in which the US president warned protesters he would send the military in if "any difficulty" amid demonstrations over the killing of George Floyd, and declared: "When the looting starts, the shooting starts".
"We've taken action in the interest of preventing others from being inspired to commit violent acts," the social-media platform said, "but have kept the Tweet on Twitter because it is important that the public still be able to see the Tweet given its relevance to ongoing matters of public importance."
The move by Twitter follows its decision earlier this week to place a fact-check button on Trump tweets claiming that postal voting encouraged election fraud.
Twitter questions Trump: US president fact checked for vote by mail tweet
Here's the full story on the US president's chagrin with the social media site.
Trump takes Twitter to task
U.S. President Donald Trump holds up a front page of the New York Post as he speaks to reporters while discussing an executive order on social media companies in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, U.S., May 28, 2020. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst.
Hong Kong govt warns removing U.S. special status is 'double-edged sword'
(Reuters) Hong Kong told the United States to keep out of the internal debate over new national security laws being imposed by China, and warned that withdrawal of the financial hub's special status under U.S. law could backfire on the U.S. economy.
U.S. President Donald Trump is due to announce later on Friday his response to the Chinese parliament's advancement of security legislation for Hong Kong, which many lawyers, diplomats and investors fear could erode the city's freedoms.
The former British colony has been wracked by civil unrest amid fears Beijing is curbing the high degree of autonomy it has enjoyed under a "one country, two systems" formula put in place when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
Testing is seen as one of the most sure-fire ways out of the pandemic but US are struggling on many fronts when it comes to ramping up their ability to test at scale
Stimulus check: how Americans spend the payment from IRS
Spending for stimulus spark
After the Inland Revenue Services issues the first round of support to eligible households, the question was whether this was being spent and, if so, on what.
Derek Chauvin and Tou Thao: who are the two cops in the George Floyd case?
It seems the US is losing interest in the coronavirus and now attention has turned to the death of George Floyd in Minnesota earlier in the week. Protests have started over the killing of the man in police custody, another in a worryingly long list of such incidents.
Tech backlash for Trump
POTUS may want to hit on the offensive for social media, but things may not go the way he planned...
Stimulus check update
There is lots of information about both the first round of payments and the potential for a second. Scroll through for a selection of useful articles...
A look back...
There is a daily flow of news related to the coronavirus pandemic and more specifically in the US. Here are some of the stories making the headlines.
- Donald Trump has threatened to regulate or shut down social media companies, a day after Twitter Inc - for the first time - added a warning to some of his tweets prompting readers to fact check the president's claims
- The White House attacks efforts to expand mail-in voting amid the Covid-19 pandemic
- The NBA is "working on multi-phase medical/safety protocols toward restart of play," which would lead to training resuming in July and the 2019-20 season restarting in late July or early August.
Coronavirus live US updates: welcome
Hello and welcome to our live, United States-focused coverage of the coronavirus pandemic, which has now registered over 5.7 million cases and nearly 350,000 deaths worldwide. Join us for the latest news and numbers as they emerge.
The virus has killed over 101,000 Americas too as the economy begins to slowly reopen.