Coronavirus in Israel: 1,977 new cases in a day; death toll hits 430

https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/coronavirus-cases-climb-1977-in-the-last-day-635906

 Israel hit another coronavirus peak on Wednesday: Some 1,977 people tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Tuesday - the highest number in a single day since the start of the crisis.

With just more than 27,000 people screened, the infection rate is over 7%. Another 303 people were diagnosed since midnight.

 

Bill banning gay conversion therapy passes initial vote, enraging ultra-Orthodox

https://www.timesofisrael.com/bill-banning-gay-conversion-therapy-passes-initial-vote-enraging-ultra-orthodox/

A bill outlawing controversial “gay conversion therapy” passed a preliminary vote in the Knesset on Wednesday, drawing cheers from LGBT rights advocates and angering Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ultra-Orthodox political allies.

The bill advanced after Benny Gantz’s Blue and White party supported the legislation, in a move that generated a fresh coalition crisis. The government’s Labor party also broke with the coalition to back the bill. 

Though discouraged by the Health Ministry, the practice remains legal in Israel, and is still accepted in some conservative and Orthodox circles.

The bill still has to pass three readings and be approved by a Knesset committee before it becomes law and the practice is outlawed.

After the vote results were announced, many in the plenum started applauding, but ultra-Orthodox lawmakers were visibly furious.

They shouted at Gantz, “You will not be prime minister,” an apparent threat to topple the government before the defense minister is set to replace Netanyahu as premier in November 2021.

Trump Told U.S. Ambassador to Get U.K. Government Help Steering British Open to His Resort

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/07/trump-ambassador-woody-johnson-uk-help-british-open-golf-tournament.html

The umpteenth example of President Donald Trump trying to profit off the presidency comes via the New York Times, which reports that in 2018 Trump pressured his newly appointed ambassador to the U.K., Woody Johnson, to try to get the British government to help steer the British Open golf tournament to his Trump Turnberry resort in Scotland. The British government doesn’t normally have anything to do with the selection of the venue for the high-profile yearly tournament, which, as a major driver of publicity and interest, could have been a financial boon for the Trump-owned course. But that’s how Trump sees government generally and his position within it specifically—something to be leveraged for personal gain. You’d like to think that the American ambassador, as a representative of his country, upon hearing such an improper, unethical request, disregarded the president’s desire for a personal favor. But you’d be wrong.

 

More than a dozen mayors join Portland in asking Trump administration to withdraw federal forces

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/22/us/portland-protests-mayors-withdraw-federal-forces/index.html

 More than a dozen mayors have joined Portland in asking the Trump administration to remove federal forces from or stop plans to send them to major American cities.

In a letter Monday addressed to Attorney General William Barr and Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Chad Wolf, the mayors called the administration's intention to deploy federal forces against protesters an "abuse of power."

The letter -- signed by the mayors of Portland, Seattle, Atlanta, Chicago, Washington, DC, Boston, Philadelphia, Denver, Los Angeles, San Jose, Oakland, Tucson, Sacramento, Phoenix and Kansas City, Missiouri -- calls on the administration to withdraw federal forces from the cities where they are currently deployed and halt plans to send them elsewhere.

 

Fauci: I was not invited to Trump's coronavirus briefing

Trump: Covid-19 crisis will probably get worse before it gets better

Why Bill Barr Faces A Reckoning If Trump Loses | The Beat With Ari Melber | MSNBC

Cooper: ‘Everyone Should Be Inspired By Trump. If He Can Be President, You Can Do Anything’ | MSNBC

Sen. Tammy Duckworth warns Trump: Don't even think about it

New Court Filings in Cohen, Flynn Cases: Barr/DOJ Punishes Trump's Enemies & Rewards Trump's Friends

Portland protests: US federal agents 'will not retreat', Chad Wolf says

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53489995

 Speaking during a press conference on Tuesday, Mr Wolf said federal law enforcement officers in Portland were only targeting and arresting demonstrators who had been identified as being involved in "criminal activity".

U.S. Homeland Security confirms three units sent paramilitary officers to Portland

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-race-protests-agents/us-homeland-security-confirms-three-units-sent-paramilitary-officers-to-portland-idUSKCN24M2RL

  The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection arm confirmed on Tuesday it has deployed officers from three paramilitary-style units to join a federal crackdown on protests against police violence in Portland, Oregon.

Trump blasts Beijing in public, but privately Trump org imports tons of Chinese goods

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/21/politics/trump-org-china-imports/index.html

 President Donald Trump has cast himself as tough on China and promised that his trade negotiations with Beijing would economically benefit everyday Americans, even as Trump-owned properties have continued to contribute to the trade deficit with the country he rails about.

Since September of last year, Trump properties in the US have imported more than eight tons of goods from China, CNN has learned by reviewing US customs data compiled by ImportGenius, which tracks information companies are legally bound to provide to US customs when they import goods to the US. The imports have arrived to decorate his properties while the President has sought to dress down China.

More than six tons of tables were delivered to Trump International Hotel in New York last fall. On the same day, Trump tweeted, "We are doing very well in our negotiations with China."

 

Coronavirus vaccine: When will we have one?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-51665497

 When will we have a coronavirus vaccine?

A vaccine would normally take years, if not decades, to develop. Researchers hope to achieve the same amount of work in only a few months.

Most experts think a vaccine is likely to become widely available by mid-2021, about 12-18 months after the new virus, known officially as Sars-CoV-2, first emerged.

That would be a huge scientific feat and there are no guarantees it will work.

Four coronaviruses already circulate in human beings. They cause common cold symptoms and we don't have vaccines for any of them.