Thursday,  July 9th, 2020

Delta Air Lines ends service to 11 airports in an effort to reduce domestic flights by 80% and international flights by 90% due to aviation restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. (Business Insider)

The United States surpasses three million cases of COVID-19 and sets a daily record of 62,021 new cases. (USA Today)

Romania surpasses 30,000 cases of COVID-19 and sets a daily record of 555 new cases. (Romania Insider)

U.S. President Donald Trump hosts a meeting at the White House with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to discuss the new United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declines to attend. (The Washington Post)

In a 7–2 decision on Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v. Pennsylvania, the United States Supreme Court upholds regulations that allow employers with religious or moral objections to decline to provide contraception coverage under the Affordable Care Act.  (The Washington Post)

Former Governor of Chihuahua and wanted fugitive César Duarte Jáquez is arrested by police in Miami, Florida, after being in hiding since 2017. He is wanted on corruption charges in Mexico, after allegedly misappropriating public funds. (Reuters)

Ivory Coast’s Prime Minister and candidate for the presidential election Amadou Gon Coulibaly dies in office after falling ill at a ministerial meeting. He had recently returned from France after undergoing treatment for heart problems. (BBC)

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Wednesday,  July 8th, 2020

The United States officially declares its intent to withdraw from the World Health Organization in 2021. (The Guardian)

Sinovac Biotech is starting Phase III trials of its potential COVID-19 vaccine following a fast-track approval for the trials by Brazilian regulators last week. The study, done in partnership with Brazilian vaccine producer Instituto Butantan, will recruit nearly 9,000 healthcare professionals working in COVID-19-specialized facilities and start this month. (Al Jazeera)

President Jair Bolsonaro tests positive for COVID-19. (The Guardian)

Chile surpasses 300,000 cases of COVID-19. (Cooperativa)

Connecticut reports zero deaths for the first time in four months. (The Hill)

Texas surpasses 200,000 cases of COVID-19. (USA Today)

The United States has averaged just under 50,000 new cases daily over the last week, twice as high as a month ago. (CNN)

Contact tracing is no longer possible across the Southern United States due to rapid COVID-19 surges in the region. (Fox8)

Iran reports a record high death toll of 200 in the last 24 hours. (AFP via Al Arabiya)

 

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Tuesday,  July 7th, 2020

U.S. reports 27th straight day of record COVID-19 cases The U.S. reported its 27th straight day of record high coronavirus cases Sunday, based on a seven-day average, though the virus is spreading at different rates in different parts of the country. Florida, Texas, California, and Arizona are recording alarming numbers of new cases every day, but they aren’t alone — 13 states reported new highs, including Montana, Delaware, and Alaska. In Texas, hospitals in Houston and Austin are 10 days to two weeks away from hitting capacity, local officials warned, and Gov. Greg Abbott (R) made face masks mandatory in public spaces, punishable by $250 fines. The average number of COVID-19 deaths continues to fall, to 485 from 562 on June 28, but public health experts warn deaths are a lagging indicator and that they will likely rise. Source: The Washington Post

 

Supreme Court unanimously rules against ‘faithless electors’ The Supreme Court settled a long-running Electoral College controversy Monday when it unanimously ruled that electors must vote as state laws direct in presidential elections. Most states require electors to pledge to vote for the presidential candidate who wins the state’s popular vote, but there’s long been a debate about whether the pledges can actually be enforced when it’s time to vote. In the past, including in 2016, a few “faithless electors” have voted differently, although this has never actually altered the final outcome of a presidential race. Lower courts had issued conflicting decisions in recent years, but the Supreme Court ruling settles the matter for now. That doesn’t mean the Electoral College is immune from change going forward, however. States will have the ability to enforce their requirements, but they can always alter those directives, presumably including an interstate agreement already ratified by more than a dozen states that would assign all of their electors to the presidential candidate who wins the national popular vote. Source: NBC

 

 

 

India has recorded 24,000 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, surpassing Russia, to become the 3rd highest number of cases in the world at 697,413 cases. (BBC)

Qatar exceeds 100,000 cases, becoming one of the world’s highest per capita infections, having a population of 2.8 million. (Al Jazeera)

Kuwait surpasses 50,000 infections after reporting 538 new cases in the past 24 hours. Its death toll jumps to 373. (Al Jazeera)

A court in Hong Kong denies bail to Tong Ying-kit, a 23-year-old man who was arrested last week for driving a motorbike into police officers and carrying a separatist banner. Also, prominent pro-democracy activists Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow appear in court. Wong pleads not guilty to inciting others to participate in an unlawful assembly last year while Chow pleads guilty to similar charges. (Reuters)

 

In Beijing, authorities arrest Xu Zhangrun, a law professor who published essays strongly criticizing President Xi Jinping over censored academia on the COVID-19 pandemic and accusing him of ruling “tyrannically”. (Al Jazeera)

 

 

 

 

 

Monday, July 6th, 2020

A bus driver in the French city of Bayonne was left brain dead after reportedly being assaulted by passengers who refused to wear face masks. Bus services in the city have been severely disrupted as drivers refuse to work following the incident. (BBC)

The End