Protests against Covid restrictions turn violent in Milan and Turin; US deaths up 10%; Pope to celebrate Christmas without congregation. Follow the latest updates
- Global coronavirus report: Italian police use tear gas to disperse anti-lockdown rally
- Pope Francis criticised for rarely wearing face masks
- Survey uncovers widespread belief in ‘dangerous’ Covid claims
- See all our coronavirus coverage
Tumbling numbers of pregnancies and marriages in Japan during the coronavirus pandemic are likely to intensify a demographic crisis in the rapidly ageing nation, Reuters reports.
Japan has the most aged society in the world, with more than 35% of its population expected to be 65 and over by 2050, a trend that poses risks for economic growth and straining government finances.
“I reckon the spread of the coronavirus is having many people worried about getting pregnant, giving births and rearing babies,” Tetsushi Sakamoto, minister in charge of responses to Japan’s declining birthrates, told a news conference on Friday.
Recently published official data showed the number of notified pregnancies in the three months to July fell 11.4% from a year earlier, while the number of marriages over the same period dropped 36.9%. The sharp decline in marriages matters because the majority of babies in Japan are born in wedlock.
The US Trump administration will this week announce a plan to cover out-of-pocket costs of Covid-19 vaccines for millions of Americans who receive Medicare or Medicaid, Politico reported late on Monday, citing four people with knowledge of the plan.
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According to the plans, Medicare and Medicaid will now cover vaccines that receive emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration. The changes are expected to be announced on Tuesday or Wednesday by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the report added.
The planned rule will also address other Covid-19 related issues like expanding flexibility for Medicaid patients seeking care for the coronavirus, Politico reported.
CMS did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular working hours.
Guardian World News
Democrats hold Senate floor overnight to protest Amy Coney Barrett confirmation – live
- Trump aide admits ‘we’re not going to control pandemic’ as Pence staff test positive
- Nearly 60 million Americans cast early vote as record-shattering turnout expected
- Many midwest Democrats stayed home in 2016. Will they turn out for Biden?
The summer has been characterised by a series of extreme weather events on both coasts of the US, and that looks set to continue.
Hundreds of thousands of Californians lost power as utilities sought to prevent the chance of their equipment sparking wildfires and the fire-weary state braced for a new bout of dry, windy weather.
Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy has just described himself as “sad and furious” on his way home from the Senate in the early hours of the morning having been part of the Democrats night long occupation of the Senate floor.
Just finished the 3-5am shift on the Senate floor in protest of the vote later today on radical Amy Coney Barrett.
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She will rule to invalidate Obamacare, causing 23M to lose insurance in the middle of a pandemic. Catastrophic.
Both sad and furious on my rainy drive home. pic.twitter.com/hVEw3AvibW
Amy Coney Barrett: key moments from the supreme court confirmation hearings – video
Amy Coney Barrett spent most of her time avoiding key questions during three days of Senate hearings to confirm her as a supreme court justice.
Barrett would become the third justice on the court to be appointed by Donald Trump – and her confirmation would give conservatives a bulletproof, six-justice majority on the nine-member court, which decides cases by a simple majority.
Barrett, a conservative Christian who has criticized the high court’s decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act (ACA), who has publicly opposed reproductive rights and who was a trustee at a school whose handbook included a stated opposition to same-sex marriage, is seen on the left as part of a power play by Donald Trump
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Amy Coney Barrett hearing begins third day with more questioning from senators – live
- Each committee member will get 20 minutes to speak
- Barrett dodges abortion and healthcare questions
- Trump and Biden offer different visions of US role in world
- Trump in trouble as Florida’s seniors shift towards Biden
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A bit of non-hearing news: a judge has extended the voter registration deadline in Virginia after an accidentally cut cable caused the online system to shut down yesterday.
The AP reports:
Wednesday’s order by U.S. District Judge John A. Gibney, Jr. in Richmond is an effort to make up for several hours of lost time on Tuesday, which had been the last day to register before the November general election.
The shutdown of the state’s website caused ‘a tremendous harm’ to the people who want to register to vote, Gibney said.
During his questioning of Amy Coney Barrett, Republican Chuck Grassley made the bizarre claim that Democrats “don’t really care about Obamacare.”
“This is all a charade. It’s time to get real. This is all just a distraction,” Grassley said. “They want government-run Medicare for All.”
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Kamala Harris questions Amy Coney Barrett over the Affordable Care Act – video
Supreme court nominee Amy Coney Barrett was questioned by Democratic vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris over the Affordable Care Act, known popularly as Obamacare, during day two of the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing. Barrett made the claim that she was not aware of Donald Trump’s campaign promise to appoint justices who would dismantle Obamacare. Harris also tackled Barrett’s views on abortion, making a carefully laid-out case that despite Barrett’s equivocation and insistence that she is unbiased on the issue of reproductive rights, she is far from it. Republicans want to have Barrett confirmed before election day
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- Amy Coney Barrett dodges abortion, healthcare and election law questions
- Kamala Harris grilling prompts doubtful claim from Amy Coney Barrett
Amy Coney Barrett supreme court nomination hearings begin in Washington – live
- Supreme court hearing sets stage for partisan clash
- Barrett was member of anti-abortion group that promoted clinic criticized for misleading women
- Barrett to say she will judge cases on law not personal views
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During the break in Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination hearing, Trump urged Republicans to push their own healthcare agenda in their opening statements.
“We will have Healthcare which is FAR BETTER than ObamaCare, at a FAR LOWER COST,” Trump said in a tweet. “PEOPLE WITH PRE EXISTING CONDITIONS WILL BE PROTECTED AT AN EVEN HIGHER LEVEL THAN NOW.”
We will have Healthcare which is FAR BETTER than ObamaCare, at a FAR LOWER COST - BIG PREMIUM REDUCTION. PEOPLE WITH PRE EXISTING CONDITIONS WILL BE PROTECTED AT AN EVEN HIGHER LEVEL THAN NOW. HIGHLY UNPOPULAR AND UNFAIR INDIVIDUAL MANDATE ALREADY TERMINATED. YOU’RE WELCOME!
We have reached the first break in Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination hearing before the Senate judiciary committee.
The hearing is scheduled to reconvene in about 35 minutes, when more members of the committee will deliver their opening statements.
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Trump claims he no longer has Covid-19 and is ‘immune’ – live updates
- Biden retains double-digit national lead over Trump as election looms
- Forecast projects 395,000 US Covid-19 deaths by February
- Taliban says it hopes Trump wins election
- Republicans express fears Trump will lose presidential election
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Democratic Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer has said Donald Trump’s supreme court nominee Amy Coney Barrett should, if confirmed, step aside from contentious cases.
Reuters reports:
Democratic opposition to Barrett on policy issues has focused on her possible role in deciding a case before the Supreme Court in which Trump and Republican-led states are seeking to invalidate the Affordable Care Act (ACA) healthcare law, often called Obamacare.
“She doesn’t come unbiased and that’s why she should recuse herself,” Schumer said on Sunday.
Donald Trump claims he is immune to Covid-19 – video
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Fears for Obamacare if Amy Coney Barrett confirmed to supreme court
Case due before court seeks to strike down landmark Affordable Care Act – which could leave millions of Americans adrift
This month, Congress is expected to begin confirmation hearings for Donald Trump’s nominee for the supreme court, Amy Coney Barrett. If confirmed, she could be the decisive vote in a case being heard days after the election, which seeks to strike down the landmark Affordable Care Act – a move that could leave millions of Americans without healthcare in the middle of a pandemic.
Related: Amy Coney Barrett: what will she mean for women's rights?
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Trump signals he won’t agree to rules changes for debates – live
- Trump: ‘Why would I allow the Debate Commission to change the rules?’
- McEnany refuses to outright condemn white supremacy at briefing
- Biden plans late-election in-person campaign push
- US officials were directed to make sympathetic comments about Kyle Rittenhouse, report says
- Facebook removes Trump ads with misleading refugee claims
- Sign up for Fight to Vote – our weekly US election newsletter
Frmo Erum Salam in Houston and Sam Levine in New York:
Texas is already one of the hardest places in America to vote, and Greg Abbott, the Texas governor, on Thursday made it even harder.
Related: Outrage as Texas governor orders closure of multiple ballot drop-off sites
A procedural vote on a bill that would stop Trump’s Justice Department from intervening in a lawsuit to strike down the Affordable Care Act has failed.
In a rare move, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer forced a procedural vote to consider the measure, in an attempt to force Republicans – many of whom had said they support protections for people with pre-existing conditions – to prove it with their votes. The bill would “protect the health care of hundreds of millions of people of the United States and prevent efforts of the Department of Justice to advocate courts to strike down the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” per Senate Democrats.
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Breonna Taylor: family attorney says wanton endangerment charge ‘doesn’t make sense’ – live updates
- Two officers shot amid Breonna Taylor killing charging decision
- Protesters despair for justice in Breonna Taylor killing
- Louisville: man charged in shooting of two officers
- Trump booed while paying respects to RBG
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Donald Trump said that Medicare beneficiaries will soon be receiving a $200 card in the mail to help them afford their prescriptions.
“Nobody’s seen this before. These cards are incredible,” Trump said. “I will always take care of our wonderful senior citizens.”
While unveiling his “America First Healthcare Plan” in a speech in Charlotte, North Carolina, Donald Trump is veering away from healthcare and is trying to paint the Democratic party as “socialism”.
“Under the Democrats plan, costs would skyrocket,” he said. “Seniors, they’ve been paying their entire lives.” Trump said, seeming to talk about healthcare, but then seemed to veer off saying that the Democrats support “socialism and open borders”.
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