First thing: what the Kremlin newspapers said about Trump |

Hello.

The Guardian yesterday exposed the history of the Kremlin newspapers, documents allegedly revealing that Vladimir Putin personally authorized a multi-agency covert spy operation to support Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential election.

Looking further into the articles, it appears that the plot was presented as being entirely defensive: “Right now the Russian Federation is in a difficult situation. The American measures continue to be felt in all areas of public life, ”the newspapers began.

• Newspapers list Trump’s personality flaws and “inferiority complex” as reasons why it would be perfect to weaken the US negotiating position.

• Evidence of Trump’s flaws has been gathered from surveillance and observation of his previous trips to Russia, the documents say.

• Meanwhile, Joe Biden welcomed German Chancellor Angela Merkel to the White House, where they promised to work together to defend against Russian aggression.

At least 81 dead in devastating floods in Germany

Merkel expressed her deep sympathy for the victims of the flood “disaster” that devastated the states of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia, as the death toll rose to 81 on Friday morning.

• The authorities were always trying to locate around 1,300 people Thursday evening, although they believed the figure was high due to damaged mobile phone networks.

• Climate scientists were shocked by flooding in Germany, saying they didn’t expect records to be broken so much, over such a large area, so soon.

Congresswoman Joyce Beatty among nine arrested at vote for the right to vote

Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, a Democrat from Ohio, was participating in a protest on Capitol Hill calling on the Senate to pass the For the People Act when she was taken in a tie. “Let people vote,” she tweeted. “Fight for justice. “

Western United States and Canada brace for new heat wave as more than 70 wildfires continue to burn

The fourth scorching heat wave in five weeks is expected to worsen wildfires that are already ravaging an area larger than Rhode Island in the western United States and Canada this weekend.

In other news …

• Death row inmate Rodney Reed has been called off, a few days ahead of schedule, after Kim Kardashian West took up her case. His case is yet another in the debate over the role that celebrities and advertising have come to play in the US justice system.

• Texas Democrats who fled state to thwart restrictive ballot bill energized voters in the fight for the right to vote.

• The full picture of the racial impact of the pandemic in the United States is unclear due to systemic failures to collect race and ethnicity data around Covid-19 – even in states that are leaders in promoting health equity.

• The Supreme Court judge Stephane Breyer he said hadn’t decided when to retire, amid calls from liberal activists and Democratic lawmakers who want to see Biden appoint a younger liberal judge.

Statistics of the day: At least 5.5 million Americans received water in excess of lead levels approved by the Environmental Protection Agency

Across the country, lead pipes still connect homes to local water supplies. As the White House lobbies for a national plan, Newark, New Jersey has cut more than 20,000 lead water pipes.

Not to be missed: an interview with the Olympian who turned away from the flag

Hammer thrower Gwen Berry became a face of athlete activism when she secured a spot on her second Olympic team in June, when she turned on the podium and draped a shirt with it written on it “Militant athlete” on his head. “I’m trying to fight for a better America for everyone,” she said in an interview with The Guardian. “That doesn’t make me anti-American.”

Last thing: stop telling women to smile

Over the past 400 years, a picture restorer has decided that a Dutch vegetable seller in a mysterious, unsigned painting needs to cheer himself up and smile. English Heritage has brought it back to its previous enigmatic state.

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