Pending home sales rebounded strongly in May and June amid declining mortgage rates. Existing home sales also rose sharply in June. Soaring jobless claims began declining in March as states started to reopen and the unemployment rate declined from a high of 14.7 percent in April. But the increase last week suggested the fresh wave of virus cases and a return to stricter lockdown orders in some states has dented the labor market comeback.

Economists say a great deal has to go right for this rosiest of scenarios to play out including swift passage of further enhanced jobless benefits, rapid progress in vaccine development and the survival of thousands of businesses that are unlikely to make it through further lockdowns.

Not many are confident that all of this will come together.

To me it seems like a pipe dream. I cannot image a V-shaped recovery in the offing any time soon, said Beth Ann Bovino, chief U.S. economist at Standard & Poors Ratings Services. Aside from the fact that Covid-19 doesnt seem to be under control, this is a $22 trillion economy. You cant turn it off and on like a light bulb.

The most likely scenario painted by economists is that a significant bounce back does arrive in the third quarter given the depth of the drop in the second. But the persistence of the virus, reluctance of Americans to go back to their offices or go out to shop and eat and spend money keeps a lid on the scale of the recovery.

Under this scenario, the unemployment rate could stagnate or even rise again before the election as fresh lockdowns cause more businesses to lay off workers and widespread uncertainty over the future keeps a lid on business investment.

Any significant lapse in expanded jobless benefits, which officially expire July 31 but have already run out for many, could also put a major dent in spending and lead to increases in defaults on mortgages, credit cards, automobiles and other loans.

We still have a large part of the population that still depend on these benefits, Moya said. And its not easy to be optimistic about large swaths of the labor market. I once thought we might see the unemployment rate drop to around 8 percent this year but now it looks like it will probably be higher.

Moya added that good vaccine news probably wont arrive until October or November with the completion of the first Phase III trials. And that means Americans will probably remain hesitant to engage in a lot of normal economic activity. The work-from-home economy will remain resilient but you arent going to see a widespread return to normalcy very quickly.

Evidence of a slowing recovery pace is also piling up. Consumer confidence sank to 92.6 in July from 98.3, according to the Conference Board, amid mounting fears of rising virus cases. The index hit a near 20-year high of 132.6 in February before the virus slammed the U.S.. Retail sales bounced in July but could fade again as virus cases mount. Further virus-driven declines in consumer activity are likely, Goldman Sachs analysts wrote in a recent note. We estimate that if all states currently tightening policy imposed stricter measures similar to those just imposed in California, this would reduce U.S. consumption back to the June level.

The doomsday scenario would feature Covid-19 raging out of control again without enough good news from Phase III vaccine trials coming this fall. It would also feature Congress failing to extend jobless benefits and pump enough streams of cash into the economy through direct payments and more aid to individuals, small businesses and state and local governments. In essence this would be a return to fiscal austerity at a time when over 30 million are receiving jobless aid and the virus remains unchecked.

Under this scenario, the jobless rate would begin rising again by August and September and the fourth quarter would see a much smaller GDP gain and perhaps even a return to contraction.

Several things could turn this already slow recovery into a nosedive including bad health outcomes and a premature return to fiscal austerity, said Bovino. Her teams worst-case scenario with the virus going out of control would show a GDP drop of 8.7 percent for 2020 and 14.6 overall from the peak of the economic cycle to the trough.

A rising jobless rate, widespread new lockdowns and increased Covid-19 deaths could make Trumps reelection prospects close to impossible. The president once enjoyed a solid lead on the economy over Biden. But recent polls show that lead has essentially evaporated. Its likely to go negative if the economy goes in the tank again. And while not the most likely scenario, it could certainly happen.

The worst case is we reverse all the job gains and any progress in terms of economic activity, said Farooqi. And that sort of spreads from the service side of the economy to manufacturing. And then instead of a strong rebound we get a slower pace of growth or even a return to contraction.

View post:

Trumps dream of a V-shape rebound slowly slips away - POLITICO

Trump's explanation to reporters about the withdrawal, announced Wednesday morning by Defense Secretary Mark Esper, misrepresented how NATO works and contradicted his own military officials, raising questions about what strategy -- if any -- drove the decision.

Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah described Trump's move as "a gift to Russia" and a "slap in the face at a friend and ally." Romney added that the "consequences will be lasting and harmful to American interests."

Rep. Mac Thornberry of Texas, the senior Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, said aspects of the move, including the cap on US personnel in Germany, were "troubling."

Rachel Rizzo, director of programs at the Truman National Security Project, who specializes in European security, said, "It's hard, if not impossible, to see any benefit."

Counterproductive

The former commanding general of US Army Europe, retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, said in a tweet that he was "sickened by this decision and explanation. It is not tied to any strategic advantage and in fact is counterproductive to showing strength in Europe."

And retired US Navy Adm. Jim Stravidis, the former top military commander in Europe and NATO, said in a tweet that "abruptly pulling 12,500 troops out of Germany (to put half of them in countries who spend LESS on defense) doesn't make sense financially, hurts NATO solidarity overall, and is a gift to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin."

Removing US troops from Germany pulls them from a central location with a sophisticated transport and logistical network that speeds the movement of troops and equipment in Europe and beyond -- allowing for a powerful counterweight to Russia, analysts say.

Reducing the American footprint in Germany could waste billions spent on recent upgrades to US military facilities there and require spending billions more to replicate those resources elsewhere. Among other issues, military analysts also say that replacing permanent troops with rotational forces can make training with host countries more challenging and create morale issues.

Trump himself seemed to underscore that thinking Wednesday, saying the troop reductions had to do with Berlin's failure to meet defense spending targets and not the strategic reasons Esper laid out when he announced the move, which included countering Moscow.

The President most recently spoke to Putin last Friday, the latest in a series of phone calls that CNN's Marshall Cohen has documented as the most sustained publicly disclosed period of contact between the two leaders. In an interview released Wednesday, Trump told Axios that in that conversation, he did not raise US intelligence that alleges Moscow offered bounties to Taliban fighters to kill US troops in Afghanistan.

It's not clear if the two leaders discussed Trump's plan to reduce the US military presence in Germany, meant to be a bulwark against potential Russian aggression. But after Esper announced the troop drawdown, Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the "champagne must be flowing freely this evening at the Kremlin."

Esper explained the current plan is to move approximately 11,900 military personnel from Germany, reducing numbers from roughly 36,000 to 24,000. Of the troops leaving Germany some 5,400 will be "staying in Europe," a senior US defense official said. The remaining 6,400 forces and their families will be returned to the US and will, in time, redeploy to Europe.

While Esper said the move was intended to help deter Russia, it did not appear that any US troops are being permanently repositioned to countries closest to NATO's eastern frontier with Russia, despite those countries' long-standing requests for such forces.

Italy and Belgium

The President of one of those countries, Lithuania, posted on Twitter, "We are ready to accept more US troops."

But the vast majority of the troops permanently remaining in Europe will instead be relocated to Italy or Belgium, not posted in countries most concerned about the Russian threat.

"There are or may be other opportunities as well to move additional forces into Poland and the Baltics," Esper said, without offering much in the way of specifics.

Removing US troops from Germany takes them from what Jeff Rathke, president of the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies at Johns Hopkins University, calls "the best place from which they can operate. The German logistical network, which the US is able to access, is very sophisticated -- airfields and bases, the rail network, which allows the US to move equipment."

Germany is also "a central location from which the United States can move," Rathke said. Pointing to the combination of Germany's location along with its transportation and logistics, Rathke said, "You can't replicate that in other places. They don't exist in Poland or farther east."

Menendez noted in a statement that Germany doesn't just allow for "an enhanced forward presence effort in Eastern Europe to counter Russia," but also "for US security interests across the Middle East and Africa."

"That platform is not easily replicated elsewhere," Menendez said.

There's also the question of how much this will cost American taxpayers at a time of record-setting US budget deficits. The military move will potentially cost "several billion dollars," Esper said Wednesday.

The Pentagon would be walking away from billions spent between 2004 and 2011 on upgrades to secure and consolidate key US military locations in Germany, Hertling said, only to have to replicate facilities such as housing, schools, HQs and barracks in new locations.

Rathke points out that there also are costs to bringing troops back to the US. "If you're going to bring people back from Germany, where are you going to put them and has it been budgeted for, whether it's housing or the base infrastructure for these people returning from Europe."

NATO said in a statement that the announcement "underlines the continued commitment by the United States to NATO and to European security."

But Hertling said that "what is obvious to me -- having served 12 years in Germany and having participated in the last force structure change from 2004-2011, this is not a 'strategic' move." Instead, he said, "it is disruptive, and affects readiness ... especially when this is all happening without a previous plan."

'Punishing Merkel'

Moreover, Hertling was among many who argued that the President's decision is about "punishing Merkel" and "is specifically a directed personal insult from Trump to our great & very supportive ally Germany."

Agathe Demarais, global forecasting director at The Economist Intelligence Unit, said the move is part of a broader story of disintegration in US-German relations that "is partly because of a mutual enmity between the political leaders of the two countries." Merkel and Trump "are different characters and have failed to build any sort of rapport since Trump came to power in 2016."

Germans themselves pointed out that in moving US troops, the Trump administration seems to be working against some of its stated goals.

"In withdrawing 12.000 soldiers from Germany, the USA achieve the exact opposite from what Esper outlined," the head of the German Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, Norbert Roettgen, who is a staunch Merkel ally, tweeted on Wednesday. "Instead of strengthening #NATO it is going to weaken the alliance," Roettgen said. "The US's military clout will not increase, but decrease in relation to Russia and the Near & Middle East."

In Bavaria, which hosts several US bases, the state governor, a member of Merkel's conservative block, said, "We very much regret the decision of the US government."

"Unfortunately, this seriously damages German-American relations," Markus Soeder said. "A military benefit cannot be seen. It weakens NATO and the USA itself."

CNN's Fred Pleitgen in Berlin contributed to this report.

See the original post here:

Trump's decision to move troops from Germany slammed as 'a gift to Putin' - CNN

Gleeson looks convincing as Donald Trump.

The Comey Rule, a mini-series based on James Comey's book A Higher Loyalty, is set to be shown on Showtime on September 27 and 28. It stars Jeff Daniels as Comey himself, with Brendan Gleeson taking on the role of Donald Trump.

In a new trailer released today, we finally get to see brief glimpses of Gleeson's performance as Trump. It seems... good.

(Disclosure: CNET is owned byViacomCBS, which also owns Showtime.)

Which is to be expected since Gleeson is one of the best actors in the business.

We're used to seeing Trump parodied. Everyone does a Trump impression. And while spoofs like Alec Baldwin's recurring role on Saturday Night Live are good in their own way, Gleeson's take appears to be far more menacing. I'm hoping this signifies that Glesson's take is less of an impression and more of a performance. Seems promising so far.

According to Vanity Fair, who first revealed the trailer in a feature story published today, Gleeson initially turned the role down, but later agreed to get on board with the project.

Entertain your brain with the coolest news from streaming to superheroes, memes to video games.

The Comey Rule is written and directed by Billy Ray, best known for his work on Captain Phillips. He was intent on making sure this series was released before the 2020 election.

"I wanted this series to air before the 2020 elections," Ray told Vanity Fair. "I think our democracy is on the line right now. And I wanted this series to be part of that conversation."

View original post here:

Your first look at Donald Trump, as played by Brendan Gleeson in The Comey Rule - CNET

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Read the latest coronavirus news, get updates on Donald Trump and his administration and see more stories trending online today.

Trump doubles down on defense of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 despite efficacy concerns (ABC)

Twitter removes tweet highlighted by Trump falsely claiming COVID-19 cure (NBC News)

Trump administration is refusing to fully reinstate DACA (Vox)

Trump administration in talks with Oregon governor to draw down federal agents: report (Fox News)

White House, lawmakers tangle over scope of new coronavirus legislation (Reuters)

Fauci says there are early signs coronavirus outbreaks are brewing in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee (CNBC)

21 states now in federal red zone for serious coronavirus outbreaks (The Hill)

Misleading coronavirus video spreads online (NY Times)

Hong Kong on verge of large-scale outbreak (BBC)

States resist mask rules as Midwest virus uptick stirs alarm (AP)

These womens coronavirus symptoms never went away. Their doctors willingness to help did. (NBC)

Readcomplete prior coronavirus coverage.

Biden says he will pick running mate by end of next week (Washington Post)

Agriculture officials warn not to open unsolicited packages of seeds labeled from China (ABC News)

U.S. expands charges against ex-Twitter employees accused of spying for Saudi Arabia (CBS News)

Virgin Galactic unveils the interior cabin of its tourist spaceplane (The Verge)

Tempers flare in Dodgers-Astros game following sign-stealing punishment (CNN)

New Hubble image of Saturn released (CBS)

Read more:

Latest Donald Trump news, coronavirus updates and more: Whats trending today - cleveland.com

Leave it to a member of Congress to make Mark Zuckerberg seem relatable.

The opening statements at Wednesday's House antitrust hearing had barely cooled when Republican Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin accused Facebook of temporarily suspending the account of Donald Trump, Jr. There was just one problem, which the Facebook CEO wasted no time in addressing: Congressman Sensenbrenner had confused Facebook with Twitter.

That's right, it was not Facebook which took the described action against the president's son for sharing dangerous coronavirus misinformation. Rather, it was Twitter which briefly suspended Trump Jr. for sharing a video that hyped the drug hydroxychloroquine and suggested masks aren't necessary to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

"I think what you might be referring to happened on Twitter."

But no one apparently told that to Congressman Sensenbrenner, who, at the antitrust hearing, appeared fixated on the baseless claim that Facebook censors conservatives.

"It was reported that Donald Trump, Jr. got taken down for a period of time because he put something up on the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine," Sensenbrenner said to Zuckerberg. "Now, I wouldn't take it myself, but there still is a debate on whether it is effective either in treating or preventing COVID-19, and I think that this is a legitimate matter of discussion and it would be up to a patient and their doctor to determine whether hydroxychloroquine was the correct medication, you know, given the circumstances. Why did that happen?"

Congressman Sensenbrenner trying really hard to miss the point.

Image: screenshot / house Judiciary hearing

Zuckerberg, likely relieved to not have to address any of the substantive antitrust arguments against his company, took it upon himself to patiently explain why Donald Trump, Jr. had been suspended from Twitter.

"Congressman, well, first to be clear, I think what you might be referring to happened on Twitter so it's hard for me to speak to that," replied the Facebook CEO. "But I can talk to our policies about this. We do prohibit content that will lead to imminent risk of harm, and stating that there's a proven cure for COVID, when there is in fact none, might encourage someone to go take something that could have some adverse effects."

To drive the point home, Zuckerberg added that Facebook would remove content promising an unproven cure for COVID-19.

"So we do take that down," explained the clearly exasperated CEO. "We do not prohibit discussion around trials of drugs, or people saying that they think that things might work, or personal experiences with experimental drugs. But if someone is going to say that something is proven, when in fact it is not, that then could lead people to make a decision with their health."

SEE ALSO: Facebook, Amazon, Apple, and Google deserve to be grilled at the House antitrust hearing

In fact, the misleading viral video in question was viewed 17 million times on Facebook before it was taken down by Facebook. Versions of it were still being shared across Facebook-owned Instagram as of yesterday, however.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, meanwhile, was not in attendance at the hearing. Perhaps, instead, he's spending the day drinking salt juice in his EMF-shielded tent.

See the original post here:

Facebook CEO corrects confused congressman over Trump Jr. Twitter ban - Mashable

Good morning. Donald Trumps serious new approach to the pandemic lasted all of one week. Speaking at his daily White House coronavirus briefing on Tuesday, the president described as very impressive a doctor who claims face masks do not combat the spread of Covid-19 and says DNA from aliens is being used in medical treatments.

Trump had shared an online video featuring the doctor and other supposed experts recommending the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, and contradicting official government guidelines on the disease. The clip, which was also touted as a must-watch by the presidents son, Donald Trump Jr, has since been removed by Facebook and YouTube for containing false public health information.

Meanwhile, US officials say Russian intelligence services are using English-language websites to spread disinformation to Americans about the pandemic, as part of an ongoing effort to sow confusion before the presidential election in November.

The US attorney general clashed with Democrats on the House judiciary committee on Tuesday, as he denied the interventions of federal agents in Portland and in Washington DCs Lafayette Square were motivated by Trumps re-election efforts. The president wants footage for his campaign ads, and you appear to be serving it up to him as ordered, the committee chairman, Jerry Nadler, told Bill Barr, who insisted the federal forces cracking down on protests in Portland were not out looking for trouble.

Meanwhile in New York, there was outcry after police apparently bundled a protester into an unmarked minivan, in an arrest described by the American Civil Liberties Union as dangerous, abusive, and indefensible.

Trump is damaging Americas reputation abroad not only with his own antics, but also through those of his ambassadors, according to a report by Senate Democrats, entitled Diplomacy in Crisis. A record number of the presidents ambassadorial appointments have been political, and many such senior diplomats had no qualifications besides being big-money Republican donors, writes Julian Borger.

Woody Johnson, the billionaire Trump backer who became the US ambassador to London, has been accused of making sexist and racist remarks (which he has denied). Jeffrey Ross Gunter, the US ambassador to Iceland and a dermatologist by trade reportedly became so paranoid about security that he asked to carry a gun and to travel in an armoured car, despite the absence of security concerns in Reykjavik, the Icelandic capital.

The Five Eyes intelligence alliance could expand by adding Japan to its existing membership: the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Some British Conservative lawmakers say widening the longstanding alliance would pool key strategic resources and help to lessen the wests dependency on China.

As the Guardian continues its climate countdown in the run-up to the presidential election and to Trumps threatened withdrawal of the US from the Paris climate agreement Emily Holden examines the environmental plans of the presumptive Democratic nominee. Joe Biden has pledged to link the climate fight to jobs, by spending $2tn on clean energy as quickly as possible within four years, and transitioning the US entirely to clean electricity by 2035.

The US needs collective action and systemic change to fight the climate battle, argues Prof Michael Mann and the simplest way to start that systemic change is by voting:

Your vote will reverberate for years, as the efforts that have grown in the dark shade of the Trump administration are poised to bloom with a President Joe Biden, a climate-friendly Congress and state and local politicians who favour climate action.

The Esselen tribe of northern California has regained part of its ancestral land after 250 years, buying a 1,200-acre ranch near Big Sur, which tribal leaders say will be used for education and cultural purposes, and to conserve local flora and fauna.

Mark Zuckerberg will tell Congress companies arent bad just because they are big, when he appears with other top tech CEOs at a hearing on Wednesday, part of a major antitrust investigation into the power and size of the big tech firms.

Abortion could be decriminalised in Mexico as the result of a potentially historic supreme court ruling on Wednesday, which is hotly anticipated by activists on both sides of the countrys abortion debate.

Americans have been warned not to plant seeds from packets reportedly sent to residents in several US states from China. The seeds are thought likely to be part of a brushing scam, whereby people receive unsolicited items from a seller who then posts false customer reviews to boost sales.

The photographer snapping New Yorkers private thoughts

Photographer Jeff Mermelstein has spent most of his career emulating the classic, 35mm sidewalk reportage of Diane Arbus or Joel Meyerowitz. But for the past three years he has been pursuing a new project: capturing New Yorkers private messages as they compose them on their phones, as he explains to Alex Rayner.

The white women defecting from Trump

Trump won in 2016 with help from a crucial and somewhat unlikely demographic: white women with college degrees. Four years later, finds Adam Gabbatt, some of them bitterly regret their decision and are trying to make amends in 2020.

In a new interview, Ed Sheeran admits he used to binge-eat and vomit at the height of his fame. The revelation is a reminder that its not just women who can have a tortuous relationship with food, writes Arwa Mahdawi.

The late Steve Jobs is another example of how we mythologise rather than pathologize unhealthy eating in important men. According to his official biography, Jobs would sometimes live on only apples and carrots for weeks and would fast for days on end in an attempt to induce euphoria. That is something I did when I was 15 and it was quite rightly labelled anorexia.

Virgin Galactic has unveiled images from the interior of the VSS Unity, the craft in which the commercial space firm plans to take paying tourists to the edge of Earths atmosphere. For most of us, the photographs are the closest well get to a suborbital flight on Sir Richard Bransons passion project: tickets cost $250,000 each.

First Thing is delivered to thousands of inboxes every weekday. If youre not already signed up, subscribe now.

See original here:

First Thing: Trump's 'serious' approach to Covid-19 lasted a week - The Guardian

Michael Cohen, President Trumps former personal attorney, was released from prison today by a judge who ruled on Thursday that Cohen had been returned to federal custody from home confinement because he refused to agree to not write a book.

I make the finding that the purpose of transferring Mr. Cohen from furlough and home confinement to jail is retaliatory. And its retaliation because of his desire to exercise his First Amendment rights to publish a book and to discuss anything about the book or anything else he wants on social media and with others, said Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein of Federal District Court.

David Dee DelgadoGetty Images

Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to criminal campaign finance violations (for arranging hush-money payments to women who said theyd had affairs with Trump) and for lying to Congress. He was released on medical furlough in May but was sent back to prison on July 9 after what he and his lawyer had thought would be a routine parole meeting.

Instead, according to Cohen, he was asked to sign a document promising he would not continue work while he served his sentence on a book he is writing about the President. When he refused, Cohen said he was abruptly taken back into custody.

Earlier this week, Cohen filed suit against Attorney General William Barr and federal prison officials (the ACLU also filed a petition on Cohens behalf) claiming, among other things, that his First Amendment rights had been violated. The suit stated that Cohens book, tentatively titled Disloyal: The True Story of Michael Cohen, Former Personal Attorney to President Donald J. Trump, would allege that President Trump made anti-Semitic remarks and racist statements, including about President Obama and Nelson Mandela. On Wednesday, the Department of Justice denied it had taken retaliatory action against Cohen.

Hellersteins order was the most recent setback in a series of legal efforts to prevent or curtail the publication of books critical of the President written by former staffers, political appointees, and a family member. Its very hard to prevent a book from being published, says James Zirin, a former Assistant United States Attorney and the author of Plaintiff in Chief: A Portrait of Donald Trump in 3500 Lawsuits. Courts view most attempts at prior restraint as a violation of the First Amendment right to free speech.

So what have all the lawsuits achieved?

Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the Worlds Most Dangerous Man

Simon & Schusteramazon.com

Plot Twist: President Trumps nieces first-hand account of growing up in the New York real estate dynasty shines a bright light on the dark history of their family, according to its publisher, Simon & Schuster.

Legal Case: President Trumps brother Robert Trump sued Mary Trump and Simon & Schuster to block publication, claiming she violated a confidentiality agreement that was part of a 2001 settlement of the estate of his father and her grandfather, Fred Trump Sr. The case against the book went all the way to the New York State Supreme Court, which ultimately vacated a restraining order on July 13. Interestingly, even though the book is aimed at President Trump, the suit was brought by his brother, said Zirin. The President would have been subject to deposition and interrogatories [if he had brought the suit himself] and he probably wanted to stay out of all that.

Howd it do? Too Much and Never Enough sold 950,000 copies on its first day of publication, a record for Simon & Schuster, and 1.35 million copies in its first week.

The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir

amazon.com

Plot Twist: The former national security advisors memoir includes behind-the-scenes details of his time at the White House, including descriptions of his many disagreements with President Trump and fellow White House advisors over policy issues.

Legal Case: The Trump Administration sued Bolton, claiming his book contained classified information, but a judge refused to issue an injunction. The courts only agree to [prevent publication] in extreme cases, usually involving national security. said Zirin. In this case, most of the juicy parts of Boltons book had already been described in newspaper and on website articles. The information was already public, and an injunction would have been moot.

Howd it do? The Room Where it Happened sold 780,000 copies in its first week of publication and has been on the New York Times Best Seller list for non-fiction ever since.

A Warning

Twelveamazon.com

Plot Twist: This book, by the same author who wrote an un-bylined piece in the New York Times opinion page in September 2018 titled I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration," claims to offer a first-hand perspective by a senior administration official of President Trump and to explain why electing him to a second term would be a terrible idea.

Legal Case: Treason? tweeted President Trump on the day the op-ed came out. And while there was no mention of that particular charge from the Department of Justice, one of its lawyers did send a letter a year later to the publisher Hachette and literary agent Javelin warning that the author of the forthcoming book might be breaching non-disclosure agreements. Both refused to comply with DOJs request for information, and no further action was taken.

Howd it Do? Shortly after its publication, A Warning appeared at the top of the New York Times Best Seller list in the non-fiction category.

Unhinged: An Insider's Account of the Trump White House

Gallery Booksamazon.com

Plot Twist: A tell-all by one of Donald Trumps former co-stars on The Apprentice who went on to become communications director for the Office of Public Liaison in the White House, a position from which she was fired in 2018.

Legal Case: The Trump Campaign filed an arbitration case against Manigault Newman, claiming she had violated a non-disclosure agreement she signed in 2016. Two days later, she released a secret recording she made in which the Presidents daughter-in-law Lara Trump discussed a potential job offer. Final results of the arbitration filing were not made public.

Howd it Do? Unhinged reached the number one spot on the New York Times Best Seller list for non-fiction in August of 2018, a few weeks after the arbitration case became public.

Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House

1250158060amazon.com

Plot Twist: After being granted unprecedented access to the Trump White House, Wolff wrote an unsurprisingly (to anyone who had ever read anything by the author) unflattering book about its inner workings.

The Case: In January 2018, a lawyer for President Trump sent an 11-page legal demand to the publisher Henry Holt claiming the forthcoming book included defamation, libel, and invasion of privacy. A spokesperson responded, Henry Holt confirms that we received a cease and desist letter from an attorney for President Trump. We see Fire and Fury as an extraordinary contribution to our national discourse, and are proceeding with the publication of the book. The legal demand didnt stand a chance, says Zirin. All it did was boost sales for a book.

Howd it Do? Debuted at number one on the New York Times Best Seller list when it came out on January 4, 2018. By the end of the month it had sold over 1.5 million copies.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io

This commenting section is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page. You may be able to find more information on their web site.

Visit link:

Donald Trump Doesn't Want You to Read the Tell-All. That's Why You Want to Read the Tell-All. - TownandCountrymag.com

As is often the case with these briefings, however, Trump's scripted message eventually devolved into a series of false and misleading claims about the state of the pandemic. At one point, Trump claimed that "large portions" of the US are "corona free" (not true). He also claimed that protests in Seattle and Portland were leading to spiking cases there (also not true).

Trump again touted what he claims are the benefits of hydroxychloroquine as a successful drug to fight the coronavirus, despite numerous studies that fail to bear that out. Despite warnings from the Food and Drug Administration, Trump even claimed that the drug was completely safe to use.

"It's safe. It doesn't cause problems," Trump said, anecdotally noting that he "had absolutely no problem" when he took the drug earlier this year. "Felt no different. Didn't feel good, bad or indifferent."

Facts First: The FDA has said there are many safety issues with using hydroxychloroquine against the coronavirus, including kidney injury, heart rhythm problems, liver problems, and more.

Downplaying the spread of the virus

Trump tried to paint a rosy picture of how well the country is responding to the coronavirus by downplaying its spread and saying that the virus has been eliminated in large parts of the country.

"We're seeing improvements across major metro areas, and most hotspots, you can look at large portions of our country, it's corona-free. But we are watching very carefully California, Arizona, Texas and most of Florida, it's starting to head down in the right direction. And I think you'll see it rapidly head down very soon."

Facts First: This is misleading. No areas of the country have eliminated the virus, and the only places that are "corona-free" have no human population, or are rural areas that have an extremely small population.

Every state in the US has reported new Covid-19 cases in the past week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and13 statessaw their highest 7-day averages for new daily cases yesterday, per data from Johns Hopkins University.

There is some truth to the President's claim that some states are heading in the right direction, and in the past week several of the states he's mentioned have begun to flatten the curve of new cases, but they're still exponentially higher than where they were two months ago and show no signs of "rapidly head down very soon."

Tribal communities

Trump touted his administration's work serving tribal communities by noting that "under the CARES Act we provided $8 billion" to tribal communities who are "very vulnerable to this horrible plague." He also claimed it is the "largest investment in Indian country in US history. There has never been an investment that big in Indian country."

Facts First: It's not true that the Trump administration has provided $8 billion to tribal communities. While the CARES Act did allocate $8 billion in funding to tribal communities, only 60 percent of it has actually been disbursed so far, and that only happened after a lawsuit was filed against the Trump administration to release the money. It's unclear if and when the rest will be released.

Protests in Portland and Seattle

Trump claimed that coronavirus cases in both cities have increased as a result of these recent protests.

"In the wake of the recent mass gathering Americans have witnessed in the streets of Portland and Seattle, we are also tracking a significant rise in cases in both metropolitan areas because of what's been going on," Trump said.

Despite these gatherings of sometimes large amounts of people, the protests have had a limited impact on coronavirus cases so far, possibly in part because the protests took place outdoors, where the virus is transmitted less efficiently than in indoor spaces; possibly in part because a significant percentage of protesters wore masks; and possibly because some non-protesters may have reduced their in-person interaction as they tried to avoid the protests.

See original here:

Fact check: Trump falsely says 'large portions' of the US are 'corona-free,' repeats claim that protests are leading to rising cases - CNN

Trump told WRAL he would announce the exact location of his acceptance speech in the coming week.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, the Republican National Convention was set to take place in Charlotte. But as cases and deaths mounted in North Carolina over the spring, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper insisted a scaled-down convention was necessary.

Trump bristled at the possible denial of a blockbuster event and wrote on Twitter on June 2 that he would be moving the main action of the convention away from North Carolina.

Nine days later, the Republican National Committee picked Jacksonville as its new destination, with Trump scheduled to deliver the keynote acceptance address as part of a multinight event. But the shift to Jacksonville proved to be too fraught with complications as Floridas Covid-19 caseload spiked, straining the state's resources.

As recently as July 21, Trump campaign officials were assuring the public the event could go on safely, even as local law enforcement sounded warning signs. Trump called off the Jacksonville event on July 23.

It's just not the right time, Trump said.

The North Carolina Democratic Party blasted Trumps acceptance speech flip-flop as evidence of his bungled response to the coronavirus.

See the original post:

Trump says he will accept Republican nomination in North Carolina after all - POLITICO

President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday.Alex Wong/Getty Images

The Trump administration announced on Tuesday that it will continue to defy a federal court order compelling the full restoration of DACA, the Obama-era program that allows 700,000 immigrants to live and work in the United States legally. By doing so, the administration has chosen to flout a decision by the Supreme Court, effectively rejecting the judiciarys authority to say what the law is.

Donald Trump first attempted to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in September 2017, a move that wouldve stripped its beneficiaries of work permits and subjected them to deportation. But his administration continually cut corners, failing to explain the basis for its decision and refusing to consider the impact of DACA repeal on immigrants, their communities, and their employers (including the U.S. Army). This June, the Supreme Court ruled that the administrations actions were arbitrary and capricious under federal law and therefore set aside DACA repeal.

To implement that decision, U.S. District Judge Paul Grimm compelled the administration to restore DACA to its pre-repeal condition on July 17. Grimms order required the Department of Homeland Security to let DACA beneficiaries renew their status for two years, accept new applicants, and restore advance parole, which permits travel outside the country. But DHS did not do that. Instead, the agency maintained that it would reject new DACA applicants. It also declined to accept DACA renewals or reinstate advance parole.

At a hearing Friday, Grimm tore into Justice Department attorneys for flouting his order. The governments actions, he explained, created a feeling and a belief that the agency is disregarding binding decisions from the Supreme Court. DOJ attorneys insisted that DACA applications were merely on hold, or placed into a bucket, while the administration decided how to proceed. But, as Grimm retorted, it is a distinction without a difference to say that this application has not been denied, it has been received and it has been put in a bucket. The judge once again directed DHS to comply with the law by accepting new applicants and processing renewals.

Incredibly, the agency has decided to disobey this order, as well. On Tuesday, acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf declared that it would not accept new applications and would only grant one-year extensions to current beneficiaries on a case by case basis. This tactic will make it easier for Trump to deport DACA beneficiaries if he wins reelection, since their status will expire sooner. The agency will also deny advance parole absent exceptional circumstances. This new policy is nothing less than brazen defiance of a federal court ruling. Grimm, and the Supreme Court itself, ordered DACAs full resuscitation, which requires the acceptance of new applicants and the conferral of two-year renewals. There is simply no legal basis for DHSs zombie version of the program.

The administration has tried this malfeasance before with a different policyand it didnt work then, either. After the Supreme Court blocked Trumps addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 census, Trump insisted they would find a way to do it anyway. That court decision, too, found that the government had violated the law through dishonest incompetence. And in its aftermath, the administration scrambled to work around SCOTUS and snatch a victory from the jaws of defeat. It failed, though not before tiptoeing up to the line of defying the Supreme Court.

Now the administration has crossed that linesprinted past it, really, without any apparent hesitation. It is true that SCOTUS allowed the Trump administration to take another stab at rescinding DACA. But Wolfs memo does not purport to initiate a new process of winding down the program. Rather, Wolf presented these new rules as interim changes while DHS decides how to repeal DACA legally. Certainly, the agency can go back to the drawing board and devise a new method of killing the program. But neither the Supreme Courts decision nor Grimms order gave Wolf the power to limit [DACAs] scope in the interim.

It is no surprise that DHS, whose agents are unconstitutionally kidnapping and brutalizing peaceful protesters in Portland, Oregon, would disregard the law. Trump is doubling down on his smash-and-grab approach to governance. While the president demands law and order and Attorney General William Barr complains about mass disrespect of authority, the administration is intent on getting its way even when it means ignoring a federal court order. The presidents men are restrained only by their own sense of what they can get away with.

For more of Slates news coverage, subscribe to What Next on Apple Podcasts or listen below.

Readers like you make our work possible. Help us continue to provide the reporting, commentary, and criticism you wont find anywhere else.

Read more here:

Trump Is Now Openly Defying the Supreme Court - Slate

The author of more than 90 books and 500 articles, Molefi Kete Asante is one of the worlds most prolific African American scholars. Professor and chair of the College of Liberal Arts Department of Africology and African American Studiesone of the oldest in the U.S. and the first to offer a doctoral programAsante is the founding and current editor of the Journal of Black Studies, the top peer-reviewed journal in the field.

The young people are writing a new history of America. They believe that its possible to have a narrative of American society that is not based on negativity, Asante said. That even if there were things that happened in the past that were negative, the future doesnt have to be that way. And this futurism is I think something thats going to generate change.

We spoke with Asante about the George Floyd protests, Afrocentricity and how people can bring about lasting change.

Temple Now: Youre a pioneer of Afrocentricity. What is that and how does it relate to the protests against racial and social injustice that are happening now?

Molefi Kete Asante: I think that this movement is fundamentally an Afrocentric-inspired movement. Afrocentricity is the idea that people of African descent are subjects of the human narrative and not marginal to the European experience. That in order to understand world history and African history or African experiences, whether they are transgenerational, meaning from different centuries, or whether they are transcultural, meaning whether they are on the continent of Africa or in South America and North America or Europe, or in Asia. That African people must be viewed and must learn to view ourselves in the middle of our own story. Otherwise we participate in the racist discourse of Europe. So basically what I have seen in this current movement is that there is now a critical mass of Black people, white people, Asian people and Latinx people who understand this fundamental idea.

The assumption is that African people are less than. And if you make that assumption, then you feel that African people do not deserve equal treatment in any way. And I think thats what the society has done for so many years.

-- Molefi Kete Asante, professor and chair of the Department of Africology and African American Studies

TN: In your book, Erasing Racism, you wrote, Racism often becomes somebody elses problem, when it is really a national concern. What did you mean by that?

MKA: Racism is not anything more than a problem that engulfs the entire nation. Race is a constructed phenomenon. There [is] no scientific basis to the notion of race. Theres one race, the human race. But what has happened is that in the way the Eurocentric world views things, you have the ranking of human beings on the basis of skin color, texture, religion, gender, previous conditions of servitude, etc. This ranking, this hierarchy perhaps is the very generator of what we call racism. That is the fundamental problem of Europe: The notion that was established in the European mind by many of the best European writersI mean beginning in the 15th [or] 14th centurythat the Nordics or the Aryans were at the top and the Africans and the Native Americans were at the bottom, and everybody else was in between. This hierarchy had emerged. Our former PhD student who is very brilliant and has written How to be an Antiracist, Ibram Kendi, CLA 07, has argued that racist policy is what has really crippled the African American community, that you have to deal with the question of policies, what people enact.

But my argument is a little before that, and it is that racism is generated by the notion of ranking people on the basis of skin color and hair texture and so forth. The hierarchy is the problem. Because if we solved the problems of police brutality tomorrow, and we defunded all the police programs and reconstruct them, we will still have other areas such as education, such as housing, such as banking, such as university programsall these things will still be there and be arenas of racism. Because the generator is still the same. The assumption is that African people are less than. And if you make that assumption, then you feel that African people do not deserve equal treatment in any way. And I think thats what the society has done for so many years.

Molefi Kete Asante feelsyoung people are writing a new history of the United States. (Photo by Joseph V. Labolito)

TN: There have been protests against racial and social injustice and police brutality before. What makes the ones inspired by George Floyds death different?

MKA: The most prominent thing that comes to my mind is that probably for the first time, there is such a broad understanding on the part of the young white people. That racism is endemic to the American way of life. The second part would be the social media because social media itself creates its own energy and dynamics. I remember the Kerner Commission report [which examined the cause of the 1967 race riots in the U.S.]. One of the things that it blamed the uprising and the African American communities for was creating a national consciousness of discrimination. People would look at television and they would see something going on in Birmingham and maybe people in Houston would have their own uprising. The television stations stopped showing incidents in cities where there was an uprising on the national news. And in a sense, basically shut down the distribution of information about what was going on in one city and in one place. So, you didnt get the idea that it was happening everywhere. But the incredible thing about social media now is that it is not dependent on the networks or the cable news. People were showing me images of things happening after the George Floyd murder that people had taken on their own cell phones. Lots of people were becoming journalists.

TN: How can people who have already been working toward racial equity make the best use of this moment?

MKA: I would love to see some of these young people take on particular issues in the American community, for example, the whole issue of the statues of the Confederacy. It seems to me logical that they should have been pulled down a long time ago. There are many African Americans who have called for this for generations. But the problem now is what is the narrative of American history? Ive traveled to Germany many times. And in Germany, you do not see any statues to Nazis. They dont want to honor the Nazi regime. In fact, its against the law.

But in America, what happened was that when the Confederacy was defeated in 1865 there was no transformation of the philosophies of the South, or even of the nation to the degree that we were able to change the way people thought about race. When you have a treasonous rebellion against the state, almost no society would honor the traces and put those traces up as statues. But this country did it because again, I go back to hierarchy: As far as the whites who had left the union were concerned, the four and a half million Black people who had been enslaved for 246 years did not count as much as the white people who had rebelled against the government. In fact, there were many people in the North that still thought that white people were a higher race and deserving of more worth.

TN: What advice would you give people who would like to get involved in their communities in some way?

MKA: I think that there are probably a couple of things that people can do. I would like to see students organize chapters of clubs that deal with revisiting the historical experiences of America itself. I dont know what the name of such clubs would be, but it just seems to me that what is happening in the African American community is that at least a certain part of that community has a much wider appreciation for historical facts about European invasions than the white community. For example, if you talk to a Black person, immediately, Black people take the side of the Native Americans and say their country was stolen from them. But if you talk to white people about this, this becomes an issue of contention only because white people have an assumption that they have a right to take the native peoples land. And that assumption is based, again, on the ranking of people. Its a hierarchy. These people do not farm the land. They are only hunters, so they can not be as highly ranked as people who farm or engage in agriculture. So whites have the right to take the land from them and to do something with it. That is the European mentality. African people understand that. We know that that kind of thing doesnt take into consideration any of the philosophy or traditions of native peoples and thats a flaw.

Edirin Oputu

Read the rest here:

Racial injustice has been fuelled by centuries of prejudiced hierarchies - Temple University News

Nepal's agricultural goods import bills continue to expand, ballooning to an all-time high crossing Rs250 billion in the fiscal year 2019-20 as a result of the countrys import-promoting policies, high production costs and change in consumer behaviour, among other factors.

While the countrys overall imports dropped by 15.63 percent to Rs1.19 trillion in the last fiscal year, ending mid-July, due to Covid-19 pandemic related restrictions, agricultural goods imports continued to increase. The share of agro products in the total import bill has swelled to 21 percent.

The agricultural goods imports bill in 2009-10 amounted to Rs 44.43 billion. In 10 years, it has grown by almost six times.

Agriculture economist Devendra Gauchan said that the government has been putting no restriction on imports.

Although in a liberal economic policy curbing the imports of cheaper goods is against consumer rights, we could still make it more difficult for imports with strict quality check and imposition of quarantine, said Gauchan, also the director of Nepal Agriculture Economic Society

Pawan Kumar Golyan, chairman of the Golyan Group, one of the leading private sector enterprises promoting agri business, agrees.

The government had imposed mandatory quarantine at the borders to stop imports of vegetables that have high levels of pesticide residues, he said. But that has been lifted now.

The problem is also factors that affect productivity in Nepal.

There is high land fragmentation, and the cost of agricultural labour is high, said Chandan Sapkota, an economist. Absence of scientific land reform to enable proper utilisation and distribution of land is a factor. Smaller agricultural holdings are increasing but larger holdings are decreasing, and this obviously results in low production.

According to the Department of Customs statistics, cereal tops the list of agro imports followed by edible oil, vegetables, fruits and nuts and seeds. Cereal import bill amounted to Rs56.88 billion, almost a fifth of the total agriculture import bill.

Nepal started importing cereals nine years ago, according to government statistics.

Of the total cereal imports, rice accounts for Rs22.23 billion and maize comes second with Rs14.75 billion.

Imports of maize have been growing at an alarming rate and it's due to the demand of livestock feed. Besides, Nepal spends Rs15 billion on the imports of animal fodder alone.

The rise in the income mainly from remittance has given people a choice, said Gauchan.

Choice is the reason behind the growth of rice imports too, according to Rameshore Khanal, a former finance secretary.

Nepal is importing fine varieties of rice mainly due to the expanding number of middle-income Nepalis who prefer to eat basmati rice, and Nepal doesnt grow such fine rice in sufficient quantities, he said. Its a preference. People will buy what they like.

After cereals, the biggest import bill is for vegetable fats and oils which stands at Rs50.24 billion, up from Rs37.12 billion in the previous fiscal year.

A significant share of this is taken by the import of crude palm oil which is then exported to India, taking advantage of the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA), according to government officials.

As the SAFTA agreement provisions zero tariffs on goods exported from underdeveloped countries like Nepal, Nepali traders have been importing crude palm oil from other countries paying minimum tariffs and then exporting the finished product to India with zero tariffs.

Its sad to know that the vegetable import bill is increasing every passing year. In vegetables, we can be self-sufficient within six months, said Golyan, who has acquired 35 hectares (220 bighas) of land in Jhapa for commercial fruits, vegetables and cereal production. The basic things that we lack are the basic infrastructure like processing zones, cooling centres and agriculture rural roads.

Nepal is the third largest producer of ginger and fifth largest producer of lentils but it is yet to take full advantage, according to Golyan. This is simply because there is a lack of attention to the agriculture sector.

According to Gauchan, Nepal can learn some lessons from India which provides massive subsidies to farmers. It has become cheaper to buy from India than produce inside the country due to high production costs, said Gauchan. Traders import in larger volumes, as a result it becomes cheaper as transaction costs are low.

Meanwhile, in Nepal it is difficult being a farmer.

According to Sapkota, multiple factors, including timely unavailability of key inputs such as chemical fertilizers, seeds, irrigation, finance, labour, machinery/technology diffusion, and infrastructure like roads, energy and ICT, make productivity costs high in Nepal.

So basically, its an import-promoting policy of the government that is stopping the country from being self-sufficient on its production, said Gauchan, the agriculture economist. Because the government is focused on making revenueno matter from where it comes.

Read the original here:

Nepal's overall imports have gone down but agriculture import continues to expand, hitting record Rs 250 billion - The Kathmandu Post

West Coast Fever star Verity Charles will join The West Live this morning ahead of her team's move to a Queensland's new mega netball hub.

The 29-year-old and her West Australian teammates are gearing up to start the 2020 Suncorp Super Netball season on August 1.

The fixture for the first six rounds of the condensed season that will be based out of Brisbane, with a tough five games in 13 days draw handed to the Fever.

Also joining podcast host Ben O'Shea, constitutional lawyer Greg McIntyre Eddie Koiki Mabo's solicitor in Australia's landmark Aboriginal land rights case will weigh in on Clive Palmer's high-profile legal battle to tear down WA's border.

Yesterday was the first day of the stoush with the Queensland mining billionaire in the High Court, with Mr Palmer arguing there's no justification for WAs interstate border to be closed and that it's "unconstitutional" because it restricts the free movement of Australians across the country.

Later on the show, Tenancy WA executive manager Carmen Acosta has slammed REIWAs calls this week to end COVID-19 tenant rules restrictions on landlords seeking to evict tenants due to rental arrears as a result of the pandemic.

Ms Acosta is pushing for the moratorium on residential tenancy evictions to be extended like the Federal Government's JobKeeper package.

Shadow Health Minister Zak Kirkup will also join O'Shea to discuss the WA Liberal's response to the States $5.5 billion coronavirus recovery plan.

While opposition leader Liza Harvey said she would back any proposal to create WA jobs, her opposition finance spokesman Steve Thomas called for WA Premier Mark McGowan to immediately reveal the full details of the recovery plan.

Sunrise Perth correspondent Matt Tinney will also be in the studio with WA's latest news headlines.

After 9am, The West Australian's AAA/Confidential Reporter Lily Hoffman will be on to share some quirky stories from across the State and provide the latest in national and international celebrity, entertainment and culture news.

Tune in here at 8.45AM.

Link:

The West Live: West Coast Fever gear up for Queensland for mega netball hub - The West Australian

US President Donald Trump speaks as he departs the White House in Washington, DC, on July 29, 2020 en route to Texas.

Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump on Wednesday made one of his most overt appeals so far in the campaign to White, suburban voters, saying in a tweet that they will no longer be "bothered" by low income housing in their suburbs.

The tweets come as polls show Trump's reelection effort is faltering in the suburbs, fueled by his administration's failed response to the coronavirus pandemic, the ensuing recession, and Trump's aggressive opposition to the Black Lives Matter movement, which polls show most suburban voters support.

Trump's tweet refers to the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule, an Obama administration update to the 1968 civil rights legislation, the Fair Housing Act. The rule required local governments receiving federal funds for housing and development to account for biased practices and craft a plan to fix them.

Earlier this month, the Trump administration announced that it was replacing the fair housing rule with its own rule, one it dubbed "Preserving Community and Neighborhood Choice."

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson said the Obama-era rule "proved to be complicated, costly, and ineffective."

"We found it to be unworkable and ultimately a waste of time for localities to comply with, too often resulting in funds being steered away from communities that need them most," Carson said in a press release at the time.

Yet studies have shown for decades that concentrating low-income families into small geographic areas one consequence of the urban housing projects built in the 1960s and 1970s only serves to exacerbate the difficulties that poor residents face.

More recent research has also shown that one of the most successful ways to help low-income families get good educations for their children and integrate into the middle class is by actively integrating low-income housing into middle- and upper-middle-class neighborhoods.

But for Trump, an incumbent president behind in the polls, fierce opposition to integrating low-income housing is about much more than just zoning policy.

Wednesday's tweets mark an escalation in Trump's ongoing effort to stoke fear in suburban voters that poor urban residents, who are overwhelmingly people of color, will move to their suburbs if low-income housing is permitted to be built in single-family home neighborhoods.

In an election year defined by a pandemic, a financial crisis, and a racial justice movement, Trump's appeal to White suburban voters are a key part of his campaign strategy.

Trump's line of attack has been condemned by Democrats and by some Republicans, who say it echoes racist appeals made to White voters during the Civil Rights era.

Not only is this strategy drawing condemnation from across the political spectrum, according to polls, it's also failing.

A recent Fox News poll showed Trump trailing presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden by 11 points nationwide among suburban voters. An ABC News/Washington Post poll released July 19 revealed a similar spread, with Trump down 9 points in the suburbs to Biden.

Despite these ominous numbers, Trump has so far rejected advice from campaign strategists who have urged him to expand his base of support by appealing to more moderate Republicans, especially women. Instead, Trump has doubled down on racist and divisive messages, aiming them directly at the very women that surveys show are not receptive to overtly racial appeals.

In the past month, the president has also defended Confederate monuments and the Confederate flag, and he has threatened to veto a Defense bill that would rename military bases currently named for Confederate soldiers.

CNBC's Kevin Breuninger contributed to this report.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Continued here:

Trump tells suburban voters they will 'no longer be bothered' by low-income housing - CNBC

One of the passengers who was supposed to join the President, Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert, tested positive during a pre-flight screening at the White House.

And the state Trump is visiting has seen a surge in cases, forcing the Republican governor there to reimpose some restrictions in an attempt to contain the virus.

Trump had hoped to use his visit to West Texas to highlight his record in rolling back regulations, encouraging investment in energy infrastructure and promoting American energy production -- along with working to secure votes in a state he won decisively in 2016 but where polls now show a narrow contest with former Vice President Joe Biden.

But the realities of the pandemic remain ever-present even as Trump encourages states to reopen and undercuts the health experts in his administration.

When he descended from Air Force One, Trump wasn't wearing a mask, despite previously saying that Americans should wear them when socially distancing is impossible.

Most of the people he met on the tarmac were wearing masks, though his onetime physician and now-candidate for Congress, Dr. Ronny Jackson, was seen without one.

In Texas, Trump is due to make remarks at a Double Eagle Energy oil rig touting his administration's energy policies. The company is one of the largest crude oil and natural gas operations in the Permian Basin.

The Midland, Texas, oil rig will be the first that Trump has visited as president. The city is where former President George W. Bush was raised. His wife, former first lady Laura Bush, was born in Midland.

Earlier in the day, Trump is headlining a fundraising lunch in Odessa, where the most expensive tickets went for $100,000.

Like all events he attends, the participants who come into close proximity with Trump will likely be tested for coronavirus. Texas has seen a surge in cases, placing it near the top of states by number of confirmed cases.

To counter the slide, Trump's aides have recently attempted to recalibrate his approach, reviving daily White House briefings and persuading Trump to promote mask-wearing and social distancing.

But he continues to tout unproven theories and undercut some of the administration's health experts, including by promoting an anti-malarial that has not been shown to be effective against coronavirus.

One of the people who has backed Trump up in his efforts to promote hydroxychloroquine is Jackson, his former White House physician, who is currently running for Congress in Texas. During his campaign he has downplayed the necessity of wearing masks.

Jackson was on hand on Wednesday to meet Trump when he arrived in Texas.

Read the original here:

Pandemic overshadows Texas trip where Trump will fundraise and tout American oil - CNN

President Donald Trump's reelection campaign violated the law by masking millions in spending, a nonprofit democracy group alleged in a complaint filed with the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday.

The Campaign Legal Center said in the81-page filingthat the president's reelection campaign and campaign committee hid $170 million in spending to major vendors as well as family members and associates by diverting the money through firms headed by Brad Parscale, who was replaced as campaign manager earlier this month, as well as other senior campaign officials.

The nonprofit alleged that the campaign effectively laundered money in order to hide payments to contractors and advisors, including the maker of a campaign app, as well asLara Trump, the president's daughter-in-law, and Kimberly Guilfoyle, a former Fox News host who is dating the president's son Donald Trump Jr.

"This scheme flies in the face of transparency requirements mandated by federal law, and it leaves voters and donors in the dark about where the campaign's funds are actually going," said Trevor Potter, a former Republican FEC chair and the president of the Campaign Legal Center.

The complaint is unlikely to lead to any penalties. The FEC has just three confirmed commissioners, and it requires the vote of four in order to take action.Caroline Hunter, a Republican commissioner, resigned last month.

Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh said in a statement that "the campaign complies with all campaign finance laws and FEC regulations."

The complaint alleges that the Trump campaign and the Trump Make America Great Again Committee have shielded their spending primarily through a clearinghouse firm calledAmerican Made Media Holding Corporation, whose directors include campaign operations director Sean Dollman and campaign counsel Alex Cannon.

Further spending was obscured through payments to Parscale's consulting firmParscale Strategy, it claims.

Federal election law requires the disclosure of payments greater than $200, including to subcontractors if they are not sufficiently independent of the campaign. In the complaint, the Campaign Legal Center says the Trump campaign unlawfully evaded that requirement by "laundering the funds."

"These schemes have disguised millions in payments to companies engaged in significant work for the campaign, as well as payments to Trump family members or senior campaign staff like Lara Trump and Kimberly Guilfoyle," the complaint says.

"By failing to report payments to the campaign's true vendors and employees, the Trump campaign and Trump Make America Great Again Committee have violated, and continue to violate, federal law's transparency requirements and undermine the vital public information role that reporting is intended to serve," it adds.

The complaint alleges that the campaign has used American Made Media Holding Corporation to obscure payments made to the software developerPhunware for the creation of a campaign app.

Citing Phunware's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Campaign Legal Center said that American Made Media has paid Phunware about $4 million in 2019 and 2020, making it Phunware's "top client."

The complaint says that other companies the campaign has paid through American Made Media and failed to disclose to the FEC include Realtime Media, an agency run by Trump campaign digital directorGary Coby,Opn Sesame, a peer-to-peer text message company also run by Coby, andHarris Sikes Media, which placed the campaign's $5.6 million Super Bowl advertisement.

Murtaugh said that American ade Media "is a campaign vendor responsible for arranging and executing media buys and related services at fair market value."

"AMMC does not earn any commissions or fees. It builds efficiencies and saves the campaign money by providing these in-house services that otherwise would be done by outside vendors. The campaign reports all payments to AMMC as required by the FEC," Murtaugh said.

The complaint cited media reporting that Parscale Strategy has been paying the salaries of Guilfoyle and Lara Trump, the wife of Eric Trump, the president's son. According to the Campaign Legal Center, the campaign has paid Parscale Strategy more than $2 million in the 2020 cycle, including nearly $50,000 a month since the start of the year.

While the campaign has reported payments to Parscale's consulting firm, it has not "directly reported making any salary payments to campaign manager Brad Parscale, nor has it reported any salary payments to Kimberly Guilfoyle or Lara Trump," the complaint reads.

Parscale was replaced at the top of the campaign earlier this month byBill Stepien, who was formerly deputy campaign manager.

Continue reading here:

Trump campaign accused of masking $170 million in spending - CNBC

CLEVELAND, Ohio President Donald Trump and challenger Joe Biden will meet in Cleveland in September for their first debate in whats shaping up to be an especially spirited election.

You can listen online here.

Cleveland.com editor Chris Quinn says Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Clinic are teaming up to host the debate on Sept. 29 after the University of Notre Dame in Indiana bowed out because of concerns about the coronavirus pandemic. The debate will be at the Sheila and Eric Samson Pavilion, part of the Health Education Campus, but its unclear if an audience will be allowed to watch in person. Meanwhile, the Cleveland Clinic is ranked the No. 2 hospital overall in the U.S., and the FBIs investigation into corruption at the statehouse is taking a look at bills that predated the bailout of FirstEnergy.

Hear these stories and more in todays podcast.

The podcast is a summary of cleveland.coms morning newsletter The Wake Up. You can receive The Wake Up through email at 5:30 a.m. each weekday by subscribing here.

You can get our podcasts delivered directly to your phone, and we have an Apple podcasts channel exclusively for this podcast. Subscribe here.

Do you get your podcasts on Spotify? Find us here.

If you use Stitcher, we are here.

RadioPublic is another popular podcast vehicle, and we are here.

On Google Podcasts, we are here.

On PodParadise, find us here.

See more here:

Donald Trump and Joe Biden will square off in a Cleveland debate: The Wake Up podcast - cleveland.com

(For a live blog on the U.S. stock market, click or type LIVE/ in a news window)

* Moderna up as late-stage study for COVID-19 vaccine begins

* Hasbro tumbles after profit miss

* Senate Republicans likely to unveil $1 trillion aid proposal

* Indexes up: Dow 0.28%, S&P 0.62%, Nasdaq 1.46% (New throughout, updates prices, market activity and comments to late afternoon, changes byline, adds NEW YORK dateline)

By Sinad Carew

July 27 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were higher on Monday as investors monitored progress in government stimulus efforts along with rising U.S. COVID-19 cases and restrictions around the world.

Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc, Facebook Inc and Alphabet Inc were among the top boosters of the S&P 500 ahead of their quarterly reports due out this week. The technology-heavy Nasdaq outperformed the S&P and the Dow.

U.S. Senate Republicans were expected on Monday to unveil a $1 trillion coronavirus aid proposal, which would need to be negotiated with Democrats before enhanced unemployment benefits expire on Friday.

Investors anxiously awaited a stimulus agreement, yet some worried the aid package would provide insufficient support for the economy in unemployment benefits particularly. These concerns were reflected in gains in assets viewed as safe havens such as the big growth companies and gold, according to Kristina Hooper, Chief Global Market Strategist at Invesco in New York.

"Today's story is about concerns that the economic recovery will be slow and halting. That's from a combination of an inability to bend the virus curve and what is shaping up to be a small stimulus package that may not address all the needs being created by this terrible crisis," said Hooper.

"We know the fragility of U.S. households and we also know that much of the economic recovery we've seen so far can be attributed to stimulus," she added.

Trillions of dollars in fiscal and monetary stimulus have been pivotal in bringing the S&P 500 to within 5% of its February record high.

On Monday, as the world confronted the prospect of rising COVID-19 infections, nations in Asia and Europe imposed new restrictions.

In the United States, where infection rates have climbed since June, two baseball games were canceled due to the virus while President Donald Trump's national security adviser Robert O'Brien was the most senior official to test positive.

Other concerns included a diplomatic row between the United States and China, and an unexpected rise in U.S. jobless claims last week.

At 2:24 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 73.1 points, or 0.28%, to 26,542.99, the S&P 500 gained 20.06 points, or 0.62%, to 3,235.69 and the Nasdaq Composite added 151.62 points, or 1.46%, to 10,514.80.

The technology sector, up more than 1%, was the biggest percentage gainer among the S&P's 11 major sectors while materials was next, boosted by shares of gold miners. Financials, utilities and energy were the only sectors in the red.

Investors maintained their focus on earnings, with 189 S&P 500 companies scheduled to report results this week. About 80% of the 130 S&P 500 firms that have reported so far have beaten a low bar of earnings estimates, according to IBES Refinitiv data.

Few expected any major announcement at a two-day Federal Reserve meeting, but analysts said policymakers were likely to lay the groundwork for more action later this year.

Moderna Inc jumped 9% as it started a U.S. government-backed late-stage trial to assess its COVID-19 vaccine candidate in about 30,000 adults.

Hasbro Inc dropped 7% after the toymaker missed quarterly estimates due to production shutdowns during coronavirus lockdowns.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.48-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.23-to-1 ratio favored advancers.

The S&P 500 posted 16 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 56 new highs and 26 new lows. (Additional reporting by Medha Singh and Devik Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and David Gregorio)

Read more:

US STOCKS-Wall Street rises as investors monitor progress of stimulus and virus - Yahoo Finance

Welcome to Monday's Overnight Health Care.

President TrumpDonald John TrumpRead: Attorney General William Barr's written testimony to the House Judiciary Committee Barr expected to blast Democrats for efforts to 'discredit' him in upcoming hearing 22 people facing federal charges in connection to Portland protests MORE's meeting with pharma execs isn't happening, but he is touting the administration's progress on a vaccine. Moderna is set to begin its Phase 3 trial, and Tennessee and Kentucky have very different reactions to the White House recommendations about closing bars.

We'll start with Trump:

Trump hits road to tout progress toward vaccine

President Trump and Vice President Pence hit the road on Monday to highlight progress on the development of a vaccine for COVID-19, seeking to project optimism about the administration's response to a pandemic that has killed more than 145,000 people in the U.S.

Trump visited a biotech facility in North Carolina that is producing a vaccine developed by Novavax, while Pence headed to Miami with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Stephen Hahn to highlight the progress made by Moderna.

The visits highlight the administration's attempt to shift the narrative from Trump's failures in responding to the pandemic to instead focus on his efforts to deliver a vaccine in record time possiblybefore November.

Trump spoke optimisticallyaboutthe prospects for a vaccine that experts have cautioned may not be widely available for another year, and he made scant mention of the rising number of cases most states are seeing.

The White House view:Trump has pinned his hopes for a quick economic bounce back and return to normalcy from the pandemic on the rapid development of a vaccine. Experts have expressed optimism about the chances of having more than one approved vaccine by early 2021.

Reality: But avaccine is not going to be a magic bullet. The initial vaccine may not be as effective as some are hoping itcould reduce the severity of illness, but not totally prevent infection. And it may not be widely available to the general public until several months into 2021.

Read more here.

Speaking of Moderna: First phase 3 test of coronavirus vaccine candidate begins in US

An investigational vaccine developed by drugmaker Moderna and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases began phase three trials on Monday, becoming the first U.S. candidate to reach that step in testing.

The vaccine will be tested in 30,000 participants: half will get a placebo, and half will be dosed with the vaccine.

The vaccine will require two doses, administered several weeks apart. It's unclear how long it will take to see a clear picture of success or failure.

Several drug manufacturers, including Moderna, are receiving support from the federal government through its Operation Warp Speed program, with the company announcing Sunday that the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority has provided $472 million more for the phase three study and later development, for a total of $955 million thus far.

Read more here.

Senate GOP proposing second round of $1,200 stimulus checks

Senate Republicans are proposing a second round of stimulus checks as part of a coronavirus relief proposal theyunveiled on Monday.

The GOP package would provide a $1,200 check to individuals who make up to $75,000 per year or a $2,400 check for married couples who make up to $150,000, according to details from Senate Finance Committee ChairmanChuck GrassleyCharles (Chuck) Ernest GrassleyOvernight Health Care: Trump hits road to tout progress toward vaccine | First phase 3 test of coronavirus vaccine candidate begins in US | Senate GOP proposing second round of ,200 stimulus checks Senate GOP proposing second round of ,200 stimulus checks GOP plan would boost deduction for business meals MORE(R-Iowa).

Those amounts would then be scaled down until an income threshold of $99,000 for an individual or $198,000 for married couples is reached.

The language largely mirrors the March-passed coronavirus bill. Like the CARES Act, Republicans are proposing an additional $500 per dependent.

Unlike the March bill, dependents of any age would qualify for an additional $500 check.

Read more here.

Related:Republicans want to send second round of PPP loans to smaller, hard-hit businesses

About that drug pricing meeting on Tuesday.

A White House meeting with pharmaceutical executives thatPresident Trumpsaid would occur on Tuesday is now off, people familiar with the matter said.

A pharmaceutical industry source said that "there was concern that this would not have been a productive meeting" and that companies are still discussing how to move forward after Trump signed a series of executive orders on Friday taking aim at drug prices.

Trump had announced during Friday's signing ceremony that there would be a meeting at the White House with industry executives on Tuesday, which he said would give drug companies a chance to propose an alternative to one of his executive orders. Drug companies, however, never publicly confirmed that they would attend the meeting.

The White House on Monday indicated it was still interested in having the meeting, but it appears executives do not want to move forward, at least not yet.

"The White House has been more than accommodating in attempts to schedule this meeting," a White House official said.

Read more here.

Kentucky orders bars to close, restaurants to reduce indoor capacity

All bars in Kentucky will be shut down for the next two weeks in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus, Gov.Andy Beshear(D) announced Monday.

The move, effective Tuesday, marks the second time that bars have been shut in the state and comes amid a major uptick in coronavirus cases.

Indoor dining at restaurants will be reduced to 25 percent capacity, Beshear said. Outdoor seating can remain at full capacity as long as physical distancing is enforced, and everyone needs to be seated.

The state has recorded nearly 12,000 COVID-19 cases in July, almost double the number of positive cases in June.

"The line and the trend is undeniable," Beshear said in a press conference.

He announced 522 new positive cases of COVID-19, raising the seven-day positivity rate to 5.58 percent.

Beshear's moves are backed by the Trump administration.

His announcement comes after he and health leaders in Kentucky met on Sunday with Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, who recommended that the state close bars and curtail restaurant capacity.

Read more here.

Tennessee governor shoots down Birx recommendation to close bars

But the reaction in neighboring Tennessee was vastly different.

Despite facing rising coronavirus infections, Gov. Bill Lee (R) shot down White House adviser Deborah Birxs recommendation to close bars and limit indoor seating at restaurants during a joint press conference on Monday.

Birx made her recommendation to shut down bars and limit indoor dining during the press conference, warning that Tennessee was on the verge of rapid COVID-19 spread.

It is at this very moment where we could change the trajectory of the epidemic before it goes into full of what we call logarithmic spread, as weve seen across the South, Birx said.

But shortly after Birx spoke, Lee said he had no interest in doing any of what Birx recommended; he would not close bars, limit indoor dining or even give county officials the authority to be able to do so.

Only a few areas are able to close businesses without the governor's approval.

Beyond the regions that currently have restrictions, that's not a plan for us now. Ive said from the very beginning of this pandemic that theres nothing off the table, Lee said. Ive also said that we are not going to close the economy back down, and we are not going to. But I appreciate their recommendations and we take them seriously.

Read more here.

American Resilience: The Future of Small BusinessThursday, July 30

Small businesses are fundamental to the idea of America. What steps should be taken to ensure that businesses that really need the help are receiving aid, particularly minority-owned businesses that are often overlooked? On Thursday, July 30, The Hill Virtually Live hosts a discussion on public and private efforts to support Americas entrepreneurs featuring Sen. Jeanne ShaheenCynthia (Jeanne) Jeanne ShaheenOvernight Health Care: Trump hits road to tout progress toward vaccine | First phase 3 test of coronavirus vaccine candidate begins in US | Senate GOP proposing second round of ,200 stimulus checks On the Money: GOP lowers unemployment plus-up in new COVID-19 bill | Collins to vote against Fed nominee Shelton | Worries grow over job growth On The Money: Congress set for brawl as unemployment cliff looms | Wave of evictions could be coming for nation's renters | House approves 9.5B spending package MORE and Rep. Steve ChabotSteven (Steve) Joseph ChabotOn The Money: Congress set for brawl as unemployment cliff looms | Wave of evictions could be coming for nation's renters | House approves 9.5B spending package The Hill's Coronavirus Report: Rep. Lauren Underwood says Americans face economic crisis if Senate fails to act on unemployment benefits extension; US surpasses 4 million cases, 1,000+ deaths for third straight day Internal poll shows tight race brewing in key Ohio House race MORE. RSVP today.

What we're reading

The US sees early signs that new coronavirus cases may have hit a plateau (CNN)

The doctor behind the disputed Covid data (New York Times)

Employers require COVID liability waivers as conflict mounts over workplace safety (Kaiser Health News)

Covid-19 vaccines may cause mild side effects, experts say, stressing need for education, not alarm (Stat News)

State by state

New Jersey gym owners arrested after defying coronavirus order: 'We will not be backing down' (CNBC)

States with stricter covid-19 restrictions watch lax neighbors warily, knowing the virus does not respect borders (Washington Post)

Joseph Costa, ICU doctor at Mercy Medical Center, dies of coronavirus (Baltimore Sun)

Op-eds in the Hill

Publicly funded vaccines must be priced fairly and available for all

The integrity of science is vital politics cannot interfere

Read the original post:

Overnight Health Care: Trump hits road to tout progress toward vaccine | First phase 3 test of coronavirus vaccine candidate begins in US | Senate GOP...

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo., July 27, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NetworkWire Bullfrog Gold Corp (BFGC:OTCQB; BFG:CSE; 11B:FSE) (Bullfrog, BFGC or the Company) is pleased to summarize progress during the first half of 2020 and its exploration and development plans for the coming 12 months at the Bullfrog Project (Project) located 125 miles NW of Las Vegas, Nevada.

ProgressA key event in 2020 was the C$2.0 million private placement completed in mid-January that funded Company and Project obligations while achieving main objectives while advancing the Project as follows:

Project PlansSubject to funding, exploration and development plans for the next 12 months mainly include:

Table 1

As hole BM-20-22 intersected 24 meters at 0.54 g gold/t and 2.1 g silver/t about 40 meters under the MS pit and the nearest hole along strike to the northeast is barren but 190 meters away, two or more holes are planned in this area to test for significant potential extensions toward the northeast. No additional drilling is currently needed in the MH and Bullfrog pit areas. Several additional holes and related studies are planned to further define and test the Paradise Ridge exploration target as well as several other targets generated by the Company.

About Bullfrog Gold Corp. and Current ResourcesBullfrog Gold Corp. is a Delaware corporation that controls the commanding land and mineral positions in the Bullfrog Mine area where Barrick produced 2.3 million ounces of gold by mining and conventional milling beginning in 1989 and ending in 1999 when ore reserves were depleted. Measured and indicated (M&I) 43-101 compliant resources were estimated in mid-2017 by Tetra Tech Inc. at 525,000 ounces of gold, averaging 1.02 gold g/t in base case plans of the MS and Bullfrog pits, the latter of which included minor MH resources. Most of these resources are in the north extension to the Bullfrog pit. Inferred resources were estimated at 110,000 ounces of gold averaging 1.2 g/t, of which most were in the Mystery Hill area It is noted that the 3-year trailing average gold price is now $185 higher than the $1,200 average price used in 2017. The resource estimates were also based on a heap leach gold recovery of 72% compared to the average 85% leach test recoveries recently achieved on four bulk samples. Much additional technical and corporate information may be sourced at http://www.bullfroggold.com.

Quality Control/Quality AssuranceThe drill program was designed by David Beling, CEO and P.E., and managed by Clive Bailey, CPG and Lead Consultant responsible for all aspects of field activities, geological services and quality assurance and control requirements. On-site personnel log and track all samples prior to sealing and shipping. Quality control is monitored by the insertion of blind, certified standard reference materials, duplicate splits, and blanks into each sample shipment. All samples are shipped to American Assay Laboratories (AAL) in Reno, Nevada, for preparation and assaying. AAL is independent of the Company, and its quality system complies with the requirements for the International Standards ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 17025:1999. Analytical accuracy and precision are monitored by the analysis of reagent blanks, reference material and duplicate samples. Upon receipt of all assays, additional field samples and pulps may be assayed by other labs to further validate and verify results. Mr. Beling has verified the data underlying the information disclosed herein, including sampling, analytical and test data, and reviewing the reports of AAL, methodologies, results and all procedures undertaken for quality assurance and quality control in a manner consistent with industry practice.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking StatementsThis press release contains certain "Forward-Looking Statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein with respect to the objectives, plans and strategies of the Company and those preceded by or that include the words "believes," "expects," "given," "targets," "intends," "anticipates," "plans," "projects," "forecasts" or similar expressions, are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking information in this press release includes but is not limited to statements regarding increased liquidity for the Companys shareholders and the application of metallurgical testing results.

Such forward-looking information and statements are based on numerous assumptions, including among others, the Company's ability to successfully maintain its listings, the stability of industry and market costs and trends and the Company's ability to obtain all regulatory approvals required for its planned objectives. Furthermore, by their very nature, forward-looking information involves a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual plans, intentions, events, results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such risks, uncertainties and other factors include, without limitation, those related to: (a) adverse regulatory or legislative changes (b) market conditions, volatility and global economic conditions (c) industry-wide risks (d) the Company's inability to maintain or improve its competitive position and (e) the ability to obtain financing needed to fund the continued development of the Company's business.

We use certain terms in this valuation such as mineralization and mineral inventory estimates that are not defined in Canadian National Instrument 43-101; or recognized under the U.S. SEC Industry Guide 7. The Company is presently an exploration stage company. Exploration is highly speculative in nature, involves many risks, requires substantial expenditures, and may not result in the discovery of mineral deposits that can be mined profitably. Furthermore, the Company currently has no resources or reserves on any of its properties. As a result, there can be no assurance that such forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Additional information regarding important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations is disclosed in the Company's documents filed from time to time with the United States Securities & Exchange Commission. Investors are urged to consider closely the disclosures in our Form 10-K and other SEC filings, which can be obtained from the SECs website at https://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml.

Qualified PersonDavid Beling, P.E. has 56 years of project and corporate experience in the mining industry and is a qualified person as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure or Mineral Projects. Mr. Beling has prepared, supervised the preparation of, or approved the technical information that forms the basis of the Companys disclosures, but is not independent of Bullfrog Gold Corp, as he is the CEO & President and holds common shares and incentive stock options of the Company.

For further information, please contact David Beling, CEO & President, at (970) 628-1670.

Corporate Communications:InvestorBrandNetwork (IBN)Los Angeles, Californiawww.InvestorBrandNetwork.com310.299.1717 OfficeEditor@InvestorBrandNetwork.com

Read the rest here:

Bullfrog Gold Summarizes Exploration/Development Progress and Plans at its Project in the Bullfrog Mining District of Nevada - GlobeNewswire