Foreign Affairs

United States President Donald Trump's signature will go on economic stimulus cheques the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is rushing to send to millions of people, according to US media reports.

The decision to put Trump's signature on the memo line on the left side of the payment cheques of $1,200 a person is delaying delivery of the stimulus funds to 70 million people by several days , top IRS officials told the Washington Post.

An unprecedented and time-consuming move, it is the first time a president's name will appear on any IRS payments to Americans, whether routine or one of the few times - as now - US Congress has authorised direct payments.

While his signature is not legally required or authorised by law, Trump had requested Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin to allow him to formally sign the cheques,. the Post reported, citing three Trump administration officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The economic stimulus cheques were authorised in a $2.2 trillion economic rescue package approved by Congress at the end of March.

It is standard practice for a non-partisan civil servant to sign IRS disbursement cheques, in this case, an official with the Bureau of the Fiscal Service.

Payments have already been distributed electronically to about 80 million taxpayers who have linked their bank accounts to the IRS in the past for payments or refunds.

The IRS will mail printed cheques to those for whom it does not have banking information. Those checks will be distributed at a rate of five million a week through September.

Historically, the IRS avoids politics, but Trump's name on printed cheques delivered to mailboxes gives him a tangible claim to helping people through the pandemic crisis.

Trump has received harsh criticism from opposition Democrats for his handling of the pandemic crisis, and on Wednesday, they took aim at this latest move as well.

"Delaying direct payments to vulnerable families just to print his name on the check is another shameful example of President Trump's catastrophic failure to treat this crisis with the urgency it demands," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement.

Mobile phone masts have been torched amid theories linking coronavirus to 5G, despite ministers saying there is no credible evidence to back them.

Masts were set alight in Sparkhill, Birmingham, on Thursday and Melling, Merseyside, on Friday.

Trade body Mobile UK said false rumours and theories linking 5G and coronavirus were "concerning".

The government said "there is absolutely no credible evidence of a link" between the two.

Posting on Twitter, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport added it was "aware of inaccurate information being shared online about 5G".

In Melling, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service said it extinguished a 5G mast tower fire near the M57 motorway.

There was damage to the mast and control panels, a spokesman said.

West Midlands Fire Service said the fire in Birmingham involved a 70ft tower on a telecommunications site. However, the service said the cause was yet to be identified and could not confirm the mast was 5G.

A West Midlands Police spokesman said: "We're aware of a fire involving a phone mast, but are awaiting further details on its cause."

On Friday, Facebook removed a page which showed several videos claiming to show 5G towers on fire and encouraged others to do the same.

In addition to warning on the theories about the safety of 5G technologies, Mobile UK added: "More worryingly some people are also abusing our key workers and making threats to damage infrastructure under the pretence of claims about 5G.

"This is not acceptable and only impacts on our ability as an industry to maintain the resilience and operational capacity of the networks to support mass home working and critical connectivity to the emergency services, vulnerable consumers and hospitals."

Analysis
By Leo Kelion, BBC technology desk editor

Conspiracy theories linking 5G signals to the coronavirus pandemic continue to spread despite there being no evidence the mobile phone signals pose a health risk.

Fact-checking charity Full Fact has linked the claims to two flawed theories.

One suggests 5G suppresses the immune system, the other claims the virus is somehow using the network's radio waves to communicate and pick victims, accelerating its spread.

While 5G uses different radio frequencies to its predecessors, it's important to recognise that the waveband involved is still "non-ionising", meaning it lacks enough energy to break apart the DNA in our cells to cause damage.

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US Coronavirus Stimulus Cheques To Feature Trump's Signature

Mast Vandalized In UK Over 5G Coronavirus Claims

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US Coronavirus Stimulus Cheques To Feature Trump's Signature

Mast Vandalized In UK Over 5G Coronavirus Claims