- New Jersey and Biden’s home state of Delaware vote in primaries today
- Pompeo suggests US “certainly looking at” banning TikTok
- $1.2m bail set for driver that hit Seattle protesters, killing Summer Taylor
- Phoenix police fatally shoot man in parked car, sparking new wave of protest
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12.26pm BST
Reuters are reporting that the US government has awarded Novavax a $1.6 billion contract to cover the testing, commercialisation and manufacturing of a potential coronavirus vaccine in the US. The aim is to deliver 100 million doses by January 2021.
It is the highest award yet from the so-called “Operation Warp Speed” White House program which is aimed at accelerating access to vaccines and treatments to fight the coronavirus.
Related: Coronavirus vaccine tracker: How close are we to a vaccine?
12.14pm BST
Michael H Fuchs, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, has written for us today addressing the scandal of the Trump administration’s reaction – or lack of it – to intelligence that suggested Russia might be paying a bounty to Taliban fighters for attacks on US military personnel.
Despite the fact that this information was known to the Trump administration for at least months, there is no indication that the president has done anything to punish Russia. The White House has not even attempted to convince the public otherwise. To the contrary, Trump has continued his obsequious behavior towards Vladimir Putin. Since the intelligence on bounties was reportedly provided to Trump in February 2020, Trump has spoken with Putin numerous times, praised Putin publicly, invited Russia to rejoin the G7 group of democracies, and announced the withdrawal of thousands of troops from Germany without consulting US allies – a giant gift to the Russian president.
Related: Russia is killing US soldiers. Trump’s response is a shameful dereliction of duty | Michael H Fuchs
Continue reading…New Jersey and Biden’s home state of Delaware vote in primaries todayPompeo suggests US “certainly looking at” banning TikTok$1.2m bail set for driver that hit Seattle protesters, killing Summer TaylorPhoenix police fatally shoot man in parked car, sparking new wave of protestSign up to our First Thing newsletter 12.26pm BSTReuters are reporting that the US government has awarded Novavax a $1.6 billion contract to cover the testing, commercialisation and manufacturing of a potential coronavirus vaccine in the US. The aim is to deliver 100 million doses by January 2021.It is the highest award yet from the so-called “Operation Warp Speed” White House program which is aimed at accelerating access to vaccines and treatments to fight the coronavirus. Related: Coronavirus vaccine tracker: How close are we to a vaccine? 12.14pm BSTMichael H Fuchs, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, has written for us today addressing the scandal of the Trump administration’s reaction – or lack of it – to intelligence that suggested Russia might be paying a bounty to Taliban fighters for attacks on US military personnel.Despite the fact that this information was known to the Trump administration for at least months, there is no indication that the president has done anything to punish Russia. The White House has not even attempted to convince the public otherwise. To the contrary, Trump has continued his obsequious behavior towards Vladimir Putin. Since the intelligence on bounties was reportedly provided to Trump in February 2020, Trump has spoken with Putin numerous times, praised Putin publicly, invited Russia to rejoin the G7 group of democracies, and announced the withdrawal of thousands of troops from Germany without consulting US allies – a giant gift to the Russian president. Related: Russia is killing US soldiers. Trump’s response is a shameful dereliction of duty | Michael H Fuchs Continue reading…