Good morning.
Donald Trump defied the requests of his hosts by once again going without a face mask in public during his Thursday tour of a Ford factory in Michigan, which has been repurposed to produce ventilators and personal protective equipment. The state’s attorney general described the president’s refusal to wear a mask as the behaviour of a “petulant child”. Trump said he wore a mask earlier in the visit but “didn’t want to give the press the pleasure” of seeing him in a face covering. Pictures later emerged of him wearing the mask.
The president used his trip to Michigan to once again press the issue of states ending their lockdowns. At a roundtable discussion with African-American leaders, he urged the reopening of churches for in-person religious services, insisting: “We got to open our churches.” In California, 1,200 pastors have said they intend to resume services, in defiance of the governor’s stay-at-home orders.
Trump’s refusal to countenance public health advice is a triumph for rightwing quackery, writes Richard Wolffe:
He represents the nadir of a long tradition of conspiracy-loving wingnuts who used to populate the fringes of the American conservative movement.
China has abandoned its GDP growth target for the first time
For the past three decades, China has published an annual target for its economic growth. This year, for the first time, the country’s premier, Li Keqiang, says Beijing will abandon its GDP target in the face of “difficult” factors including the economic challenges of the pandemic and increasing international hostility over China’s early handling of the outbreak.
On Friday the Chinese parliament also announced plans for sweeping security laws in Hong Kong, following months of anti-government unrest. Pro-democracy activists say Beijing’s plan to bypass Hong Kong’s own legislature and ram through the new legislation would effectively end the semi-autonomous territory’s cherished “one country, two systems” framework of government.
Social distancing sooner might have saved 54,000 American lives
If the US had introduced mandatory social distancing just a week earlier than it did, up to 36,000 Covid-19 deaths could have been prevented, say epidemiologists at Columbia University in New York. The researchers used infectious disease modelling to track how social distancing slowed transmission of the virus, and said if the policy had been introduced two weeks earlier, by 1 March, it might have saved 54,000 American lives.
In other US coronavirus developments …
The Muslim world is preparing for its ‘saddest’ Eid
Millions of Muslims across the world are preparing to celebrate the Eid festival, without the social and religious gatherings that would usually mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Indonesia, home to the world’s largest Muslim population, has reported 973 new coronavirus cases, its highest daily number to date. India, which has the largest Muslim population outside Muslim-majority countries, also recorded its biggest daily rise on Friday, with 6,000 new cases.
In other news…
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A shooting at a Texas navy base was ‘terrorism-related’, the FBI has said. A gunman was stopped trying to speed through a gate at the base in Corpus Christi on Thursday morning. He opened fire, wounding a navy sailor, before being shot dead by security personnel.
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Trump is pulling the US out of another arms control deal. The Open Skies Treaty is designed to reduce the risk of war by allowing Russia and western nations to conduct observation flights over each other’s territory, but the US president accused Russia of failing to adhere to its terms.
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The man who filmed Ahmaud Arbery’s death has been charged with his murder. William “Roddie” Bryan Jr, 50, claims he was not involved, but lawyers for Arbery’s family say he helped trap Arbery as he fled from Gregory and Travis McMichael, the other men arrested over the killing.
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Microplastic pollution in the oceans has been vastly underestimated, according to a study, which suggests that in some waters there may be more microplastic particles than zooplankton, the tiny organisms that underpin the marine food chain.
Great reads
How I got stranded in a California ghost town
In 2018, Brent Underwood bought an abandoned 19th-century mining town 200 miles from Los Angeles, hoping to turn it into an offbeat tourist destination. But with renovations still under way, he’s now stuck there alone during the lockdown: “I’ve eaten a lot of out-of-date beans.”
Music stars reflect on pop’s post-coronavirus future
With the live performance business in tatters and livestreaming on the rise, pop music may have been changed forever by the coronavirus lockdown. Alexis Petridis talks to several stars about their hopes and fears for the future of the music industry.
Opinion: This is humanity’s chance to find a new ‘normal’
A group of UN environmental experts says the necessary global reset brought about by the pandemic is an opportunity to create a new social contract that puts humanity back in harmony with the natural world.
In the new normal, climate risks and opportunities need to be incorporated into the financial system as well as all aspects of public policymaking and infrastructure.
Last Thing: Pac-Man’s 40th birthday
The game that ate the world made its debut on this day in 1980. Exactly 40 years later, Keith Stuart celebrates Pac-Man’s anniversary with 40 facts about its (his?) legacy. Great material for your next Zoom quiz.
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