Footage shows how clean the air is after three months of coronavirus lockdown in Bangkok, Thailand. 

The tropical skyline was clouded in a toxic smog made of harmful PM2.5 particles at the start of the year, caused by construction, cars and agricultural fires.

Among locations hit by the escalating rate of infections there has been San Quentin prison, with 900 new cases in the past fortnight.

The state’s outbreak, however, has been centred on Los Angeles county, which has hit its own milestone of 100,000 cases, including 3,300 deaths, with the LA county public health director, Barbara Ferrer, warning of “alarming increases in cases, positivity rates and hospitalisation” following the loosening of restrictions.

Administration officials have not denied that the intelligence reports exist but have blamed news outlets for covering information that the White House says has not been verified. But as the scandal nears its fifth days, US officials warned that the administration was receiving reports as early as last year.

Ms McEnany said that “the president was never briefed on this” but “has been briefed about what’s in the public domain,” suggesting a gap between US intelligence and the Oval Office.

The stout in the Darnley Lodge Hotel must be something to write home about – and a review on Booking.com says that the three-star guesthouse has a “well-stocked bar”.

They certainly proved that yesterday.

Hours before the law came into effect Joshua Wong, Nathan Law and Agnes Chow, three of the best-known activists, announced that the protest group Demosisto they had founded was disbanding.

Mr Wong wrote online that Hong Kong was entering a terrifying new era “with arbitrary prosecutions, black jails, secret trials, forced confessions, media clampdowns and political censorship”. He added: “If my voice will not be heard soon, I hope that the international community will continue to speak up for Hong Kong. I will continue to guard my home until they silence me.”