Even COVID-19 isn’t enough to stop the power of two politicians’ mutual dislike.
Happening in the world: A week after first entering a St Thomas’ Hospital in London—a week which included a multi-day stay in the intensive care unit—UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been discharged and is now recuperating in the UK countryside. Foreign secretary Dominic Raab will remain as the deputized head of the government as Johnson recovers. As of today, there are more than 84,000 confirmed cases on COVID-19 in the UK, with over 10,000 deaths. (BBC)
Happening in the US: Alaska reported that in its Democratic primary—which is the first to practice all-mail voting due to the pandemic and the first to vote following Bernie Sanders’ campaign suspension—Joe Biden won with 55 percent of the vote, while Sanders, whose name remains on the ballot, took 45 percent. Alaska, which had used a caucus-style primary system in the 2016 election, saw an increase in voter participation with this primary, despite the outbreak and Biden’s status as the presumptive nominee. (NYT)
Happening in NYC: Even a pandemic isn’t enough to stop the political rivalry of NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio and NY Governor Andrew Cuomo: on Saturday, de Blasio announced the closure of NYC public schools through the rest of the academic year, a decision which Cuomo quickly labeled the Mayor’s “opinion” during a press briefing, stating that there had been no official decision on the future of public schools in the city nor the state as a whole. While NYC public schools are generally not expected to cede decision-making to the state level, Cuomo made it clear that only he has the authority to reopen or close schools across the state. (Gothamist)
How to start your week: Do your best to be more mature than New York leaders. Inversely, the next time your quarantine companions say you’re doing something to aggravate them, deride it as merely being their “opinion.”
Image of lovely Alaskan nature to distract from political in-fighting via Pixabay