| Flight attendants see a very different future for airplane travel in the age of coronavirus Posted: 09 May 2020 03:00 AM PDT  "Recognize that there are going to be social distancing practices at the airport. So there's no running to the gate at the last minute," said Sara Nelson, the international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA in an interview with Yahoo News.
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| Fauci becomes third member of White House coronavirus task force to enter quarantine Posted: 09 May 2020 06:58 PM PDT  The head of the Food and Drug Administration will also self-quarantine; all three are on the coronavirus task force.
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| 'What about COVID-20?' U.S. cuts funding to group studying bat coronaviruses in China Posted: 09 May 2020 02:00 AM PDT  Funding for EcoHealth Alliance's research into bat-borne coronaviruses in China was abruptly terminated. It hasn't been given a full explanation why.
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| 'Fear kills:' WWII vets recall war, reject panic over virus Posted: 08 May 2020 11:39 PM PDT  On the 75th anniversary of the allied victory in the World War II, The Associated Press spoke to veterans in ex-Soviet countries and discovered that lessons they learned during the war are helping them cope with a new major challenge — the coronavirus pandemic. As they recalled the horrors of the war, they also talked about how strength and tenacity were key to survival both then and now. For Russian World War II veteran Valentina Efremova, the coronavirus pandemic is like going through the war all over again.
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| South Korea recorded a new spike in COVID-19 cases after a man attended three night clubs in the capital's gay district. Now the local LGBTQ community fears discrimination Posted: 09 May 2020 05:30 AM PDT  On Saturday, South Korea confirmed 18 new coronavirus cases — the first time in five days that the number jumped above 10.
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| Indian and Chinese troops 'clash on border' in Sikkim Posted: 10 May 2020 04:41 AM PDT  Four Indian soldiers and seven Chinese soldiers are reportedly injured in a border fist fight.
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| Venezuela says troops seize abandoned Colombian combat boats, weapons Posted: 09 May 2020 11:08 AM PDT  Venezuela's military said it seized three abandoned Colombian light combat vessels that soldiers found on Saturday while patrolling the Orinoco river, several days after the government accused its neighbor of aiding a failed invasion. In a statement, the Defense Ministry said the boats were equipped with machine guns and ammunition, but had no crew, adding they were discovered as part of a nationwide operation to guarantee Venezuela's "freedom and sovereignty." According to a preliminary investigation the boats were dragged away by strong river currents, Colombia's Navy said in a statement.
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| Germany's infection rate rises above one after they ease lockdown Posted: 10 May 2020 09:37 AM PDT  Germany's coronavirus reproduction rate – the crucial measure shows how widely the virus is spreading in the community – has risen to 1.1, giving rise to fears that a second wave of infections may be imminent. The findings come just days after the country begun the first phase of relaxing its coronavirus lockdown measures, while anti-lockdown protests have been building across the country. Germany has been lauded internationally for its coordinated response to the virus and its corresponding low death rate, with 7,549 having fallen victim to the disease there until Saturday, compared with 31,587 in the UK, which has a much smaller population. But the rise in infections suggests that the lockdown relaxations may have been premature, and is a headache for Chancellor Angela Merkel who has limits on her powers in Germany's decentralised system. Britain will be watching the developments closely as it begins to move towards easing lockdown. When she announced a relaxation of lockdown measures on Wednesday, Germany's reproduction rate was at 0.65, before rising to 0.81 on Friday and 1.1 on Saturday. A rate of 1 or more means that each carrier of the virus infects at least one more person, ensuring it continues to spread. Germany's Robert Koch Institute which compiled the figures, said it that while the rate has been increasing rapidly since Wednesday, at this stage it cannot be determined whether the relaxed lockdowns were responsible. It said: "The increase in the estimated (reproduction) value makes it necessary to watch the development very carefully over the next few days.|" The findings come from data compiled on Saturday, and show that the infection rate has now effectively doubled in the three days since the relaxation of lockdown restrictions. On Saturday, outbreaks at several meatpacking plants in North Rhine-Westphalia – the country's most populous state - prompted the state leadership to promise to test each of the estimated 18-20,000 meatworkers in the state. In the western town of Coesfeld, where 151 of 200 slaughterhouse workers tested positive for the virus, authorities decided to suspend lockdown relaxations. Despite the outbreaks, Armin Laschet, Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, called for the country's border with France to be reopened in order to foster European solidarity. Merkel struck a different tone when announcing the first phase of relaxations midweek, reminding the German public "we still have a long fight against the virus ahead of us". It was a rare example of contradicting sentiments between the German leader and the man favoured to succeed her as leader of the Christian Democrats when she steps down next year. Despite the continued danger posed by Covid-19, protesters took to the streets across Germany at the weekend to criticise the lockdown measures. Thousands gathered in Berlin, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and other German cities, saying their rights were being infringed and complaining that the government and medical workers were spreading panic. In Munich, more than 3,000 people – many without masks and not respecting social distancing rules - gathered in the city's central Marienplatz, with signs critical of "health fascism" and proclaiming: "We want our lives back". Although there have been consistent protests against the measures since they were first put in place in March, the weekend's demonstrations were the biggest seen so far since the outbreak of the virus. The German Press Agency reports that although the group was well over the maximum of 50 people allowed to attend demonstrations under the government's coronavirus restrictions, police decided not to break up the largely peaceful demonstration in the interests of "proportionality". Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter was heavily critical of the protesters on Sunday. Despite saying he empathised with their desire "to return to a certain normality", Reiter told German media "I have absolutely no understanding of actions or demonstrations that, due to the lack of distance and mouth / nose protection, counteract any positive developments in the infection and more likely to jeopardise further loosening than to enable it." Reiter also said he found it "absolutely unbearable" that the protests had a heavy presence from known far-right groups.
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| Colombian airline Avianca files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in US Posted: 10 May 2020 02:10 PM PDT  Avianca, the second-largest airline in Latin America, filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States on Sunday to reorganize its debt "due to the unpredictable impact" of the coronavirus pandemic. In a statement issued in Bogota, Avianca said that along with "some of its subsidiaries and affiliates," it had asked to "voluntarily file for Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code" in a New York court. The airline's operations "have been dramatically affected by the COVID-19 pandemic," as well as federal air travel restrictions.
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| Historic unemployment rate damages Trump's reelection bid Posted: 09 May 2020 09:43 AM PDT  The record unemployment rate reported Friday showed that tens of millions of jobs vanished, devastating the economy and forcing President Trump to overcome historic headwinds to win a second term.
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| Brother of Lori Vallow died of natural causes, medical examiner says Posted: 09 May 2020 01:25 PM PDT  An attorney for Vallow's niece said the medical examiner's report proves Alex Cox's death "had no sinister aspect."
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| Shutdown of tribal casinos deals blow to Indian Country Posted: 10 May 2020 08:11 AM PDT  When the Kalispel Tribe of Indians closed its casino as the coronavirus took hold in Washington state, it essentially shut down its economy. "We can't fund any programs without the casino" — no health care, education, law enforcement or fire protection, said Phil Haugen, chief operating officer of the Kalispel Tribal Economic Authority. Its Northern Quest Casino near Spokane closed for nearly two months, costing the tribe millions of dollars.
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| Trump says he turned out the way that he did because he 'couldn't do any wrong' in his mother's eyes Posted: 09 May 2020 05:46 AM PDT  The president has frequently praised his mother as being a key influence on his life decisions. She died in 2000 aged 88.
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| India to 'gradually' restart rail operations in lockdown easing Posted: 10 May 2020 05:01 PM PDT  One of the world's largest train networks will "gradually" restart operations from Tuesday as India eases its coronavirus lockdown, as the number of cases passed 60,000 with more than 2,000 deaths. "Indian Railways plans to gradually restart passenger train operations from 12th May, 2020... Thereafter, Indian Railways shall start more special services on new routes," the railways ministry added in a statement. The vast train network, which had carried more than 20 million passengers daily, was halted in late March as India imposed a strict lockdown to stem the spread of the deadly novel coronavirus.
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| Factbox: Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus Posted: 10 May 2020 09:33 AM PDT  **Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged Britons to "stay alert" to the coronavirus, as he prepared to outline plans for a gradual easing of lockdown measures. **New coronavirus infections are accelerating again in Germany just days after its leaders loosened social restrictions, raising concerns that the pandemic could once again slip out of control. **Spain registered its lowest daily number of coronavirus deaths since mid-March, as half the population prepared for an easing of one of Europe's strictest lockdowns.
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| Outcry in Afghanistan after Iran border guards accused of forcing drowned migrants into river Posted: 10 May 2020 09:08 AM PDT  The drowning of at least 18 young Afghans allegedly forced at gunpoint into a river by Iranian border guards has caused a diplomatic strain between Kabul and Tehran and international calls for an investigation. Hanif Atmar, Afghan foreign minister, has pledged to use "all diplomatic affords to bring justice and investigate this unforgivable crime" and said he had held "tense" meetings with Iranian officials. Accounts of the incident and video of the bodies laid out in desert have provoked outcry across Afghanistan. The US State department said: "Iran's cruel treatment and abuse of Afghan migrants alleged in these reports is horrifying. We support calls for a thorough investigation. Those found guilty of such abuse must be held accountable." Tehran has denied its border guards had any involvement in the deaths, but has agreed to cooperate in any investigation. Survivors told the Telegraph that a party of more than 50 young men were caught north of the Western city of Herat as they tried to smuggle themselves into Iran earlier this month. Iranian guards beat them, then forced them into the Harirod river.
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| China's Wuhan reports first virus infection in over a month Posted: 10 May 2020 05:41 AM PDT  China on Sunday reported the first case of coronavirus in over a month in Wuhan, the city where the outbreak first started in December last year. China's National Health Commission also reported the first double-digit increase in countrywide cases in nearly 10 days, saying 14 new infections had been confirmed. The virus first emerged in Wuhan, a major industrial and transport city in central China, in December.
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| Gavin Newsom has been the leader California needs during coronavirus. But he can still do better Posted: 10 May 2020 06:00 AM PDT  Newsom has stepped up to be the leader California needed during the coronavirus crisis. But he has stumbled at times.
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| Armed 'mob' allegedly tried to enter black family's North Carolina home, white deputy charged Posted: 10 May 2020 08:27 AM PDT  Among the people demanding to enter the home was a person carrying an assault weapon and another with a shotgun, according to local reports.
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| NYC hospital staff gifted free vacations Posted: 10 May 2020 02:02 PM PDT  The hospital's workers, from doctors and nurses to the facilities and food service teams, will receive round trip flights and three-night hotel stays.
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| Italian aid worker kidnapped in Kenya in 2018 returns home Posted: 10 May 2020 09:38 AM PDT  Silvia Romano, 25, was freed on Saturday in Somalia, in an operation by Italy's secret services.
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| South Dakota Governor demands Sioux tribes 'immediately' remove COVID-19 checkpoints because they interfere with traffic Posted: 09 May 2020 02:44 PM PDT  South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem sent letters to two Sioux tribes demanding they remove COVID-19 checkpoints because they interfere with traffic.
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| Pence self-isolating after exposure to aide with virus Posted: 08 May 2020 09:37 PM PDT  Vice President Mike Pence was self-isolating Sunday after an aide tested positive for the coronavirus last week, joining three of the nation's top scientists in taking protective steps after possible exposure. An administration official said Pence was voluntarily keeping his distance from other people in line with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Vice President Pence will continue to follow the advice of the White House Medical Unit and is not in quarantine," spokesman Devin O'Malley said Sunday.
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| Rise in German virus infections spurs concern Posted: 10 May 2020 05:29 PM PDT  Germany's coronavirus spread appears to be picking up speed again, official data showed Sunday, just days after Chancellor Angela Merkel said the country could gradually return to normal. The Robert Koch Institute for public health said Germany's closely watched reproduction rate (R0) had climbed to 1.1, meaning 10 people with COVID-19 infect on average 11 others. The RKI has warned that for the infection rate to be deemed under control and slowing down, the R0 has to stay below one.
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| Airline middle seats won't stay empty forever in the name of social distancing. Here's why Posted: 10 May 2020 12:14 PM PDT  Permanently blocking middle seats and limiting the number of passengers per flight is a costly move for airlines and would increase ticket prices.
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| World Health Organisation denies China influence allegations Posted: 10 May 2020 08:30 AM PDT  The World Health Organization on Sunday denied allegations that the president of China asked it to delay issuing a global warning about the Covid-19 virus amid an intensifying war of words between Beijing and Washington over the handling of the pandemic. Der Speigel on Friday cited sources in Germany's Federal Intelligence Service (BND) saying that Xi Jinping, China's head of state, had asked Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the World Health Organisation, to withhold information about human-to-human transmission and delay sounding a global alarm. The WHO said in a statement that the report was "unfounded and untrue." "Dr Tedros and President Xi did not speak on 21 January and they have never spoken by telephone. Such inaccurate reports distract and detract from WHO's and the world's efforts to end the COVID-19 pandemic," it said in a statement. China publicly confirmed human-to-human transmission of the novel coronavirus on 20 January. Der Speigel did not explain why president Xi would ask Dr Tedros to suppress information China had already released. The WHO declared the outbreak had become a pandemic on March 12. The same report said the BND believed Donald Trump had fabricated a claim that the virus escaped from a Wuhan research laboratory as a "diversion." Mr Trump and Mike Pompeo, the US Secretary of State, have claimed to have seen intelligence and "enormous evidence" that the Wuhan lab was responsible for the pandemic. They have not made the alleged evidence public. Most scientists believe the virus jumped from bats to humans via an animal host at a food market in Wuhan. No Western intelligence agency has said there is evidence that the virus escaped from a lab, although they have expressed concern over a lack of transparency in China's response. China on Sunday issued a lengthy rebuttal of what it said were 24 "preposterous allegations" by some leading U.S. politicians over its handling of the new coronavirus outbreak. The document included references to media reports that there were infections in America before the outbreak in Wuhan, a claim for which there is no evidence. China has also been accused of pressuring the European Union to delay and change a report that accused China or spreading disinformation about the virus. Donald Trump suspended US funding for the WHO on April 15 over what he called its "mismanagement" of the epidemic and alleged influence by China.
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| California governor says community spread started at nail salon Posted: 10 May 2020 04:27 PM PDT  He said he couldn't provide more information because of health and privacy concerns.
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| Sheriff’s Deputy Charged After Leading Armed Mob to Home of Black Teen: DA Posted: 09 May 2020 06:05 PM PDT  A white sheriff's deputy in North Carolina is facing criminal charges after allegedly leading an armed mob to the home of a black teenager and trying to force their way inside as part of a botched vigilante mission.New Hanover & Pender County District Attorney Ben David on Friday announced the charges against Jordan Kita, a New Hanover Sheriff's Office detention officer accused of wearing his uniform while leading the group of people—one of whom was allegedly packing an AR-15—to confront a high school student at his home. Kita has since been fired from the sheriff's office. The teenager, Dameon Shepard, was playing video games late one evening when the group of men arrived at his door, demanding to know the whereabouts of a 15-year-old girl named Lekayda Kempisty who had been reported missing. Three in the group were said to be armed, carrying a shotgun, a semi-automatic rifle, and a handgun. Kita wore his New Hanover County Sheriff's deputy uniform and gun, though he had not come to Shepard's house on official business. The group said they were going to enter the house and question him, the Port City Daily reports. But in addition to having no legal authority to question or detain Shepard, they also had the wrong guy. The mob was in search of a man whose first name was Josiah. Josiah had reportedly previously lived in the neighborhood, but the only thing he apparently had in common with Shepard was being African-American in the predominantly white neighborhood. The armed group reportedly did not believe Shepard when he told them he wasn't who they were looking for. "There's one in a police uniform, and he speaks to me first," Shepard told the Port City Daily. "He says, 'We're looking for a missing girl. We were given this address, we were given your name, and we were told that she's here. So we're going to enter,'" Shepard was quoted as saying. He said he told the group they could not come inside and tried to shut the door, but Kita planted his foot so the door could not close. According to a letter from the Shepards' attorney, James Lea, "Dameon became very frightened and hysterical, and kept repeating that his name was Dameon and that he attended Laney High School."Shepard's mother, awoken by the confrontation, then came to the front door. "The crowd was angry, and I still did not know what was going on," Monica Shepard told the Port City Daily. "[Kita] kept saying, 'I'm going to step inside, close the door, and talk to you,' and I said, 'No, you're not.'"She told the vigilantes that her son was not named Josiah. Kita is said to have insisted he be allowed inside, but the mob eventually left. The missing girl, who had run away from home, was located later that evening."The whole time, I was worried the worst would happen," said Monica Shepard. "I'm still in shock. I don't sleep well." When Pender County sheriff's deputies arrived later that night to investigate, they made no arrests and, according to Lea, took no names. Monica Shepard said, "Coming to the door like that with a mob of people with guns, what do we expect? What were their intentions? What if he was the person they were looking for or what if I was not home? What would've happened? I don't want to have that conversation. I don't want him to be a statistic. It's scary."Dameon and his mother Monica plan to file a civil lawsuit, according to their attorney. Lea called the sheriff's department's conduct an "outrageous and egregious violation." "We obviously cannot have armed groups of citizens patrolling the streets of Pender County or New Hanover County terrorizing innocent families," the lawyer wrote.Kita has been fired from the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office, and the office is conducting an internal affairs investigation, The News & Observer reports. He's charged with breaking and entering, forcible trespassing, and failure to discharge duties. A second man, Austin Wood, is charged with "going armed to the terror of the public."Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Up to 43m Americans could lose health insurance amid pandemic, report says Posted: 10 May 2020 03:00 AM PDT  Prior to pandemic, 160 million got insurance through their job – but up to 7 million are unlikely to find new plans, say researchers * Coronavirus – live US updates * Live global updatesAs many as 43 million Americans could lose their health insurance in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Urban Institute.Prior to the pandemic, 160 million Americans, or roughly half the population, received their medical insurance through their job. The tidal wave of layoffs triggered by quarantine measures now threatens that coverage for millions.Up to 7 million of those people are unlikely to find new insurance as poor economic conditions drag on, researchers at the Urban Institute and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation thinktanks predict.Such enormous insurance losses could dramatically alter America's healthcare landscape, and will probably result in more deaths as people avoid unaffordable healthcare."The status quo is incredibly inefficient, it's incredibly unfair, it's tied to employment for no real reason," said Katherine Hempstead, a senior policy adviser for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. "This problem exposes a lot of the inadequacies in our system."If the pandemic results in a 20% unemployment rate, as some analysts expect, researchers at the Urban Institute and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) predict anywhere from 25 to 43 million people could lose health insurance. Many will use social safety nets to obtain insurance, including Medicaid, the public health insurance program for low-income people. However, eligibility criteria varies from state to state, with more restrictions in Republican-led states."It's incredibly segmented and every state has a different story," said Hempstead. "There's 50 different experiences."Christine Mohn, 51, lives in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and worked as a physical therapist. She lost her job of 18 years when her company was bought out in November 2019."You walk in the door one day, and they said: 'Your job is not here and neither is your health insurance – bye,'" Mohn said.For several months, Mohn, her husband and college-age daughter relied on a program called Cobra, which allows Americans to continue the benefits they once received from a job. But the benefits came at a steep cost. Mohn paid $1,700 a month for insurance using a line of credit on her mortgage until April 2020, when she finally got a new job.Mohn only worked two weeks before the job indefinitely furloughed its workers because the pandemic closed down all non-urgent health services.The company that furloughed Mohn allowed her to keep her health insurance, even though it is under no obligation to do so. The insurance costs Mohn $400 a month, and after four weeks she still has not received her first unemployment check. When she finally does go back to work, she said: "I can get to paying off my line of credit I've been living off."Of those who lose employer-based insurance, an estimated 7 million Americans will remain uninsured, and will lack access to healthcare during the worst pandemic in a century, RWJF predicted. Another 30 million people lacked insurance even before the pandemic, according to the Urban Institute. "You have people who think they have an infectious disease, but they don't want to come forward to get tested or get treatment because they're so worried about what kind of financial liabilities they will have," said Hempstead. "This problem exposes, really, a lot of the inadequacies in our system."Emily Jones, 22, is one of them. She lives with her mother and sister in Flushing, Michigan, and is a cancer survivor. People's Action, an advocacy group, said her insurance lapsed when she missed renewal paperwork just as the pandemic set in. Now, she is without insurance even as her mother is an essential worker.Estimating the number of people who lack insurance is a complicated task. America's fragmented health system lacks a single metric for how many people are shut out. Some researchers believe insurance losses will be low relative to job losses, because many lacked insurance despite working."The American healthcare financing system was not built to withstand the combined impact of a pandemic and a recession," said Dr Adam Gaffney, the president of Physicians for a National Health Program. PNHP advocates for a single-payer health system in the US, similar to the NHS. "It's inevitable that people will die because they can't get the care they need, because of the looming recession."
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| Warning, graphic: Las Vegas man threatens to kill officers with sword before deadly shooting Posted: 10 May 2020 12:02 PM PDT  Raw video: Las Vegas Metropolitan Police released footage from a deadly shooting after a man wielding a Samurai sword approached officers and threatened to kill them.
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| Taliban say they don't have missing US contractor Posted: 09 May 2020 09:26 PM PDT  Taliban leaders searched their ranks, including in the much-feared Haqqani network, and on Sunday told The Associated Press they are not holding Mark R. Frerichs, a Navy veteran turned contractor who disappeared in Afghanistan in late January. "We don't have any information about the missing American," Sohail Shaheen, the Taliban's political spokesman, told the AP. A second Taliban official familiar with the talks with the United States said "formally and informally" the Taliban have notified U.S. officials they are not holding Frerichs.
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| The accusation against Joe Biden has Democrats rediscovering the value of due process Posted: 09 May 2020 05:37 AM PDT  Some Democrats took "Believe Women" literally until Joe Biden was accused. Now they're relearning that guilt-by-accusation doesn't serve justice.
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| Emirates predicts 18-month lull in air demand Posted: 10 May 2020 01:43 AM PDT  Gulf aviation giant Emirates said Sunday it would take at least 18 months for travel demand to return to "a semblance of normality", despite reporting bumper pre-pandemic profits. The Dubai carrier, the largest in the Middle East, posted 1.1 billion dirhams ($288 million) in net profit for the financial year ending March, up from $237 million the previous year. Emirates Group chief Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum said the airline had performed strongly in the first 11 months of the fiscal year.
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| Trump White House adviser says unemployment rate could pass 20% during coronavirus pandemic Posted: 10 May 2020 12:46 PM PDT  White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said Sunday he thinks the USA will reach the 20% unemployment mark "by next month."
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| Letters to the Editor: Risking death to eat out isn't 'resistance,' it's recklessness Posted: 10 May 2020 03:00 AM PDT  Pictures of restaurant employees and patrons gleefully violating California's social-distancing rules do no favors to businesses that behave responsibly.
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| The man who recorded Ahmaud Arbery's death has received threats after police said they were investigating him, his lawyer said Posted: 10 May 2020 12:51 PM PDT  An attorney for William Bryan, who filmed the video, said his client did not associate with the suspects and has cooperated in the investigation.
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| U.S. CDC reports 1,248,040 coronavirus cases, 75,477 deaths Posted: 08 May 2020 06:46 PM PDT  The CDC reported its tally of cases of the respiratory illness known as COVID-19, caused by the new coronavirus, as of 4 p.m. ET on May 7, compared with its count https://bit.ly/2WfXuu1 a day earlier. The CDC figures do not necessarily reflect cases reported by individual states.
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| Record-breaking cold and snow blast through Mother's Day weekend Posted: 09 May 2020 01:44 PM PDT  "Passing along a message from Mother Nature," the National Weather Service in Binghamton, New York, tweeted alongside a photo of a car covered in light snow. "Happy Mother's Day Weekend."
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| Mike Rowe: I have a front row seat to the greatest self-inflicted economic disaster in history Posted: 09 May 2020 05:45 PM PDT  TV host Mike Rowe reacts to the 'unintended consequences' of applying one safety standard to the entire country for COVID-19.
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| 'F--- Elon Musk': California assemblywoman responds to Tesla CEO's threats to move the company's main factory Posted: 10 May 2020 08:49 AM PDT  The comment comes after Musk announced that he would file a lawsuit against Almeda County, which has ordered Tesla's main factory to remain closed.
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| French parents anguish over sending children back to school Posted: 10 May 2020 12:42 AM PDT  As France prepares to start letting public life resume after eight weeks under a coronavirus lockdown, many parents are deeply torn over a question without a clear or correct answer: Should I send my child back to school? The French government is easing some of the closure and home-confinement orders it imposed March 17 to curb infections, with businesses permitted to reopen, residents cleared to return to workplaces and schools welcoming some students again starting Monday. Only preschools and elementary schools are set to start up at first, and classes will be capped at 10 students at preschools and 15 elsewhere.
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| Under Trump, American exceptionalism means poverty, misery and death Posted: 09 May 2020 10:00 PM PDT  No other advanced nation denies healthcare and work protections, or loosens lockdown while fatalities mountNo other nation has endured as much death from Covid-19 nor nearly as a high a death rate as has the United States.With 4.25% of the world population, America has the tragic distinction of accounting for about 30% of pandemic deaths so far.And it is the only advanced nation where the death rate is still climbing. Three thousand deaths per day are anticipated by 1 June.No other nation has loosened lockdowns and other social-distancing measures while deaths are increasing, as the US is now doing.No other advanced nation was as unprepared for the pandemic as was the US.We now know Donald Trump and his administration were told by public health experts in mid-January that immediate action was required to stop the spread of Covid-19. But according to Dr Anthony Fauci, "there was a lot of pushback". Trump didn't act until 16 March.> Around the world, governments are providing generous income support. Not in the USEpidemiologists estimate 90% of the deaths in the US from the first wave of Covid-19 might have been prevented had social distancing policies been put into effect two weeks earlier, on 2 March.No nation other than the US has left it to subordinate units of government – states and cities – to buy ventilators and personal protective equipment. In no other nation have such sub-governments been forced to bid against each another.In no other nation have experts in public health and emergency preparedness been pushed aside and replaced by political cronies like Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who in turn has been advised by Trump donors and Fox News celebrities.In no other advanced nation has Covid-19 forced so many average citizens into poverty so quickly. The Urban Institute reports that more than 30% of American adults have had to reduce their spending on food.Elsewhere around the world, governments are providing generous income support. Not in the US.At best, Americans have received one-time checks for $1,200, about a week's worth of rent, groceries and utilities. Few are collecting unemployment benefits because unemployment offices are overwhelmed with claims.Congress's "payroll protection program" has been a mess. Because funds have been distributed through financial institutions, banks have raked off money for themselves and rewarded their favored customers. Of the $350bn originally intended for small businesses, $243.4m has gone to large, publicly held companies.Meanwhile, the treasury and the Fed are bailing out big corporations from the debts they accumulated in recent years to buy back their shares of stock.Why is America so different from other advanced nations facing the same coronavirus threat? Why has everything gone so tragically wrong?Some of it is due to Trump and his hapless and corrupt collection of grifters, buffoons, sycophants, lobbyists and relatives.But there are also deeper roots.> American workers are far less unionized than workers in other advanced economiesThe coronavirus has been especially potent in the US because America is the only industrialized nation lacking universal healthcare. Many families have been reluctant to see doctors or check into emergency rooms for fear of racking up large bills.America is also the only one of 22 advanced nations failing to give all workers some form of paid sick leave. As a result, many American workers have remained on the job when they should have been home.Adding to this is the skimpiness of unemployment benefits in America – providing less support in the first year of unemployment than those in any other advanced country.American workplaces are also more dangerous. Even before Covid-19 ripped through meatpackers and warehouses, fatality rates were higher among American workers than European.Even before the pandemic robbed Americans of their jobs and incomes, average wage growth in the US had lagged behind average wage growth in most other advanced countries. Since 1980, American workers' share of total national income has declined more than in any other rich nation.In other nations, unions have long pushed for safer working conditions and higher wages. But American workers are far less unionized than workers in other advanced economies. Only 6.4% of private-sector workers in America belong to a union, compared with more than 26% in Canada, 37% in Italy, 67% in Sweden, and 25% in Britain.So who and what's to blame for the worst avoidable loss of life in American history?Partly, Donald Trump's malfeasance.But the calamity is also due to America's longer-term failure to provide its people the basic support they need. * Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley and the author of Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few and The Common Good. His new book, The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It, is out now. He is a columnist for Guardian US
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| Coronavirus: China offers to help North Korea fight pandemic Posted: 09 May 2020 06:12 AM PDT  President Xi Jinping expresses concern about the threat to its neighbour, and offers to help.
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| Additional video shows Georgia jogger Ahmaud Arbery did nothing illegal before being killed, attorneys say Posted: 10 May 2020 05:04 PM PDT  Surveillance video recorded minutes before the slaying of jogger Ahmaud Arbery proves the Georgia man was not involved in a crime, attorneys say.
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| White House considers more coronavirus stimulus, with conditions - officials Posted: 10 May 2020 09:46 AM PDT  The White House has started informal talks with Republicans and Democrats in Congress about next steps on coronavirus relief legislation, officials said on Sunday, but they stressed any new federal money would come with conditions. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told Fox New Sunday he was having discussions with lawmakers from both parties to understand their concerns about state budgets. "Let's take the next few weeks," Mnuchin said.
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| He Had Never Sold a Ventilator. New York Gave Him an $86 Million Deal. Posted: 09 May 2020 07:35 AM PDT  NEW YORK -- The offer to the Federal Emergency Management Agency sounded promising: A Silicon Valley engineer said that he could deliver thousands of ventilators from manufacturers across China to help hospitals treat coronavirus patients.The engineer was asked for more details. Within 12 hours, he responded with a 28-page digital catalog of medical supplies at his disposal, including protective masks and goggles.But there were also a series of caveats: Interested buyers had to sign a contract within four hours of receiving a quote and pay the entirety of the order upfront. "Nonnegotiable," the catalog said. And the engineer, Yaron Oren-Pines, had no apparent background in procuring medical equipment.Federal officials passed on the vendor's information to senior officials in New York and, within days, the state struck a deal to buy 1,450 ventilators from Oren-Pines for $86 million, one of the largest contracts for medical supplies since the outbreak.The deal, however, began to unravel as quickly as it had come together.In a matter of days, a bank had frozen funds that the state had wired to Oren-Pines because it found a transaction from his account suspicious. State officials were then warned by Oren-Pines and his business partners of possible shipping complications and were told that the ventilators might have to be routed through Israel, where they said they had connections.Before long, Oren-Pines and his partners began accusing the state of breach of contract. State officials later tried to send inspectors to confirm the stockpile in China; that effort was unsuccessful, and the contract was terminated.Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office said that the contract was canceled because the state's hospitalization rate fell far short of projections and New York's need for ventilators lessened, diminishing the urgency to proceed with a contract mired in complications.But interviews with state and federal officials as well as emails obtained by The New York Times underscore how the challenges of a pandemic may have clouded a decision that placed millions of taxpayer dollars at risk.The voided contract illustrated the desperate measures New York took at the height of the pandemic to procure precious medical equipment as officials scrambled to find as many of the 40,000 ventilators that the state believed it needed to stave off a catastrophe. As the state scoured the globe for supplies, it eschewed competitive bidding protocols to expedite acquisitions and resorted to vendors that had never done business with the state.Without a coordinated federal approach to distributing medical equipment based on need, states were left to fend for themselves, bidding against one another amid a global shortage.Federal officials, in fact, also referred Oren-Pines to New Jersey. But officials in that state said they were troubled by a series of warning signs and declined to procure equipment from Oren-Pines, according to a person familiar with the matter.New Jersey officials saw Oren-Pines' insistence for upfront payment as problematic, and they balked at the price of the ventilators and how long it would take for them to be delivered, according to the person.But in New York, officials decided to take a chance.Oren-Pines' offer to help was originally fielded by a team of inexperienced young volunteers recruited at FEMA by President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. New York officials said they were told by an official assigned to the Department of Health and Human Services that the federal government had vetted Oren-Pines and that a consulting firm had conducted a video inspection of the ventilators in China.A spokeswoman for FEMA said the agency did not recommend Oren-Pines to New York and noted, "While the volunteers played an important role, they were not FEMA employees."A Trump administration official involved in the White House coronavirus task force defended the vetting process of leads that were funneled through FEMA but said that states should still be doing their own due diligence.New York officials said Oren-Pines provided certificates for the ventilators and passed a background check conducted by the state."While New York was struggling to purchase ventilators to meet the demand of the federal government's projection models, the Department of Health and Human Services referred us directly to Oren-Pines, confirming they were vetted and approved by the federal government themselves," said Richard Azzopardi, a senior aide to the governor. "The idea that the federal government is now effectively saying states cannot trust the federal government's own recommendations is bizarre."A spokeswoman for the HHS said it was "reviewing this matter and has nothing further to add at this time."Oren-Pines rejected several requests for interviews, saying in a text message that a confidentiality agreement prohibited him from talking to reporters. "Keep on following your leads and sources and hopefully one day the truth will come out and my name will be cleared," he wrote.A graduate of the University of Maryland who studied electrical engineering, Oren-Pines, 50, has experience in mobile communications technology and has worked in a number of technology-related roles, including as a consultant for Google, according to his LinkedIn profile.He is also a co-founder of a networking company called Legasus Networks; its other co-founders, Douglas Lee and Thao Tran, said the firm had nothing to do with ventilators. Tran said Oren-Pines was the type of person who would jump at an opportunity if he spotted one."His personality is, he will go take a chance and do any kind of business outside his field," he said.It is unclear when Oren-Pines reached out to the federal government offering to provide medical equipment. But his offer was received by Kushner-appointed FEMA volunteers who were drawn from venture capital and private equity firms and had little to no experience with government procurement procedures.On March 24, one of the volunteers, an associate at a private equity firm in New York City, thanked Oren-Pines for reaching out and asked him to fill out a form detailing the stock and price of the supplies he had access to, according to emails.Oren-Pines quickly emailed back the form along with the 28-page catalog.The volunteers passed on the lead to two federal officials -- both of whom worked for the HHS -- who then sent it to Cuomo's aides by March 27.But Oren-Pines and his associates appeared to become impatient with the pace of the process and simultaneously took to Twitter in search of other prospective buyers.On March 27, after Trump used Twitter to urge General Motors and Ford to expedite ventilator production, Oren-Pines addressed a tweet to the president: "We can supply ICU Ventilators, invasive and non-invasive. Have someone call me URGENT."The tweet by Oren-Pines was reported last week in a BuzzFeed News article that suggested that the Twitter post to the president may have been connected to the New York state contract. Oren-Pines, however, had been in touch with federal officials days before he posted his sales pitch on Twitter.One of Oren-Pines' two partners, Segev Binyamin, also used Twitter to try to get the attention of the Israeli defense minister, writing, "I own a Chinese company that is capable of shipping 1,400 machines to Israel."In an email to a New York official March 28, Oren-Pines urged the state to expedite the process because he said he had access to the ventilators for "a limited time." He said he had been vetted by FEMA.On March 30, New York formalized the $86 million contract for 1,450 ventilators, or about $59,000 per ventilator, and agreed to pay Oren-Pines $69 million upfront. It was a steep price: At the time, Cuomo said officials had witnessed ventilator prices surge to $45,000, up from $25,000.The contract did not go through the typical procedures that require the state comptroller to independently review contracts before issuing a payment. Earlier that month, Cuomo had issued an emergency order exempting emergency contracts from going through such procedures.In early April, Wells Fargo, Oren-Pines' bank, froze his funds after it flagged a transaction as suspicious, state officials said. Oren-Pines, however, had been able to transfer $10 million before the funds were frozen.After the freeze, and as the state's need for ventilators began to subside, New York officials sought to arrange their own inspection of the ventilators in China. They were unsuccessful.On April 9, Guy Peleg, another of Oren-Pines' business partners, sent an email to Judith Mogul, a special counsel to Cuomo, accusing New York officials of acting unlawfully, breaching the contract and freezing their bank account. He said they had retained lawyers and were unlikely to deliver the ventilators by the agreed-upon date, April 29.Regardless, Peleg said, Chinese regulations were complicating ventilator shipments to the United States, so he proposed funneling the machines through Tel Aviv."Our participation in this venture is crucial in order for these precious ventilators to leave Chinese soil and land in Israeli territory, and then sent to the U.S.," he wrote. "As you can see we have established a very expert and tight outfit here to serve your demands. No other constellation can achieve our goal to supply these vents to the U.S."Mogul replied that it was Wells Fargo, not New York, that imposed the freeze and informed the men that the state would terminate the contract unless they could begin to secure ventilators with the $10 million they had on hand."In light of the changing facts, we are not willing to place additional funds of the state at risk with no certainty when or whether we will receive the specified goods," she wrote.New York eventually terminated the contract. Azzopardi said the state had recovered $59 million, with the remaining $10 million being negotiated among the parties.Mark Werksman, a lawyer for Oren-Pines, said his client and his partners hoped to arrive at an amicable resolution with the state."They worked tirelessly to begin delivery of the promised ventilators, and they would have fulfilled the terms of the contract if the state hadn't abruptly canceled it before they were able to deliver the first set of 150 ventilators," he said. "Yaron acted swiftly and in good faith to provide vital medical equipment to the state in its hour of need."Last weekend, Oren-Pines emailed New York officials describing the personal and financial fallout from the botched ventilator deal, pleading with them to issue a statement to clear his name.In a reference to the BuzzFeed News story, he said he was being victimized by a "fictional/fake story" about his connection to the White House and that he and his family were now receiving threats and anti-Semitic messages.A spokesman for BuzzFeed News did not address Oren-Pines' criticism but said that the outlet was "proud to have been first to report that New York state gave a $69 million contract to an unqualified vendor who failed to deliver."In the email to New York officials, Oren-Pines said, "What has happened to me personally over the past few days is worse than death itself." He said the sudden cancellation of the order had left him and his partners "with tens of millions of dollars in liabilities and contracts.""In Israel, I am called a traitor and accused of a Sting operation against NYS," he wrote. "I have done Nothing wrong! All I wanted was to help New York state and in the process got thrown under a bus."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
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