| Fox News says the coronavirus death toll is inflated. Experts say the opposite. Posted: 09 Apr 2020 06:20 AM PDT  In his 2017 book "The Loudest Voice in the Room," journalist Gabriel Sherman reported that top Fox News executives meet every morning to strategize about how the network can angle its daily coverage to advance the Republican Party's political agenda.
|
| Animal shelters say in coronavirus lockdown people are looking for new friends Posted: 10 Apr 2020 03:03 PM PDT  Kelsey Pierce, a musician and songwriter in New York City, had always wanted to foster a dog with her roommate, Allyson Backus, but because of their busy schedules it was never a real possibility. Since all of New York is currently on a stay-at-home order because of the coronavirus pandemic, the pair were finally able to take on a furry friend.
|
| Joe Biden rolls out Medicare and college debt plans after Bernie Sanders suspends campaign Posted: 09 Apr 2020 01:57 PM PDT  Joe Biden has unveiled two proposals in what he calls a step towards easing the "economic burden on working people" in the wake of Bernie Sanders' exit from the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, but the moves are far more conservative than the ones at the centre of his progressive rival's campaign and crucial to his supporters.The former vice president has proposed lowering the age eligibility for Medicare from 65 to 60 and eliminating student debt for some lower-income families, moves that he says "will not only help people right now when they may need the help most, but will also help people find more secure footing in the long term once we have emerged" from the coronavirus crisis.
|
| U.S. spy agencies collected raw intel hinting at public health crisis in Wuhan, China, in November Posted: 09 Apr 2020 03:43 PM PDT  Current and former officials say there was no formal assessment in November but that there was raw intelligence that fueled formal assessments written in December.
|
| Top oil producers except Mexico agree to output cuts: OPEC Posted: 10 Apr 2020 12:03 AM PDT  Major oil producers except Mexico agreed to cut output in May and June by 10 million barrels per day, OPEC said Friday, after marathon talks to counter a collapse in prices. The videoconference led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has been seen as the best chance of providing support to prices, which have been wallowing near two-decade lows due to the coronavirus pandemic and a price war between key players Saudi Arabia and Russia. The agreement, which also reduces production by eight million bpd from July to December, depends on Mexico's consent for it to take effect, the oil cartel said after the meeting.
|
| UN agency says 280 migrants are stranded in unsafe port in Libya, banned from disembarking Posted: 10 Apr 2020 07:25 AM PDT  The Libyan coast guard rescued 280 migrants in distress in the Mediterranean Sea on Thursday and diverted them to the shores of the North African country, only to have them banned from disembarking, the U.N. migration agency said.
|
| Leading Scientific Journal Nature Apologizes for ‘Associating’ Coronavirus with China Posted: 09 Apr 2020 12:05 PM PDT  The leading British scientific journal Nature apologized in an article published on Tuesday for "associating" the coronavirus with its origin place in China on the grounds that the linkage had inspired racist attacks against people with Asian heritage across the world."That we did so was an error on our part, for which we take responsibility and apologize," the journal said in an article published Tuesday.The coronavirus outbreak originated in Wuhan, China and first appeared in bats thought to have infected wild animals that were sold in the city's wet markets. Since then, it has spread to at least 177 countries and infected 1.4 million people. As of Thursday morning, at least 89,000 people had died after contracting the respiratory illness."It's clear that since the outbreak was first reported, people of Asian descent around the world have been subjected to racist attacks, with untold human costs – for example, on their health and livelihoods," the article read.Nature remarked that the World Health Organization's dubbing the new coronavirus COVID-19 was a subtle reminder to "those who had erroneously been associating the virus with Wuhan and with China in their news coverage – including Nature."The publication urged that "Coronavirus stigma must stop – now.""It would be tragic if stigma, fueled by the coronavirus, led Asia's young people to retreat from international campuses, curtailing their own education, reducing their own and others' opportunities and leaving research worse off – just when the world is relying on it to find a way out," the journal said.The Nature report also chastised "a minority of politicians," who are "sticking with the outdated script.""Continuing to associate a virus and the disease it causes with a specific place is irresponsible and needs to stop," the report said.President Trump briefly referred to the coronavirus as the "Chinese virus," defending his use of the term by saying "it comes from China," but later backed away from the phrase after reports of an uptick in violence against Asian Americans."Look, everyone knows it came out of China, but I decided we shouldn't make any more of a big deal out of it," Trump said early last month.The Communist Chinese government has denied that the virus originated in China and said that it is "strongly indignant" over the phrase, calling it "a kind of stigmatization." Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang demanded last month that the U.S. "immediately stop its unjustified accusations against China."
|
| The first ER doctor to die from the coronavirus in the US said he was infected because he had to wear the same mask 4 days in a row Posted: 10 Apr 2020 07:58 AM PDT  Frank Gabrin worked in New York emergency rooms where, he told friends, there was a shortage of protective equipment. The hospitals denied a shortage.
|
| Coronavirus: New York ramps up mass burials amid outbreak Posted: 10 Apr 2020 10:03 AM PDT  Drone footage shows coffins stacked in a pit in the city, as the state logs more cases than any country.
|
| Using his own 'metrics,' Trump says ending U.S. shutdown is biggest decision yet Posted: 10 Apr 2020 11:28 AM PDT  President Donald Trump said on Friday he faced his biggest decision yet with regard to when to re-open the U.S. economy from its coronavirus shutdown and pledged to listen to health experts when making that determination. Speaking at a White House coronavirus briefing, Trump said he would unveil a new advisory group next week that would focus on the process of economic opening. The president, who faced criticism for playing down the threat from the virus in its early stages, has chafed at the devastating economic impact of the strict social distancing measures his administration has recommended.
|
| A federal program promised small businesses up to $2 million in loans. Now it's maxing out at $15,000. Posted: 10 Apr 2020 08:03 AM PDT  A federal disaster loan program offering up to $2 million in relief is now capping out at $15,000 — and is leaving some borrowers wondering if they'll even get that.The Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, an offshoot of the Small Business Administration's emergency funds system, has faced an unprecedented number of requests amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and is having trouble keeping up and following through with promised loan amounts, The New York Times reports.Several applicants reportedly said SBA representatives told them funding for the program was running out. Deb Wood-Schade, a chiropractic wellness business owner, told the Times she had been approved for a nearly $25,000 loan, but was given documents on Wednesday telling her the loan had been cut to less than a third of that amount.As part of the $2 trillion relief bill signed by President Trump last month, applicants to the program were also supposed to be made eligible for a $10,000 advance in the form of a grant that would not have to be repaid, and the money was reportedly supposed to be distributed within three days of applying. According to the Times, that money has yet to be dispensed."I'm afraid I won't see a penny," Virginia Warnken Kelsey, an opera singer who applied on March 29, told the Times.The sudden onslaught of requests caused by the virus has handed the SBA a "historic influx of loan applications," The Washington Post reports, leading to a major applicant backlog. The $10 billion in federal funding provided by the CARES act would cover the $10,000 advances of around one million businesses. But in three days, the program reportedly received more than three million applicants.Lawmakers in Washington are still negotiating over a bill that would inject more money to small businesses, with Democrats blocking the latest attempt by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and demanding double the amount.More stories from theweek.com Sting, Jimmy Fallon, and the Roots perform 'Don't Stand So Close to Me' remotely, creatively Google, Apple elicit praise and concern over massive coronavirus partnership 5 scathingly funny cartoons about Joe Biden's shaky campaign
|
| Coronavirus Helps Bury Controversy in the World’s First Pandemic Election Posted: 09 Apr 2020 06:47 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- South Korea is the first major country to hold a general election in the throes of a coronavirus crisis. That may turn out to be a boost for its president, Moon Jae-in.The election for all 300 National Assembly seats comes as Moon basks in the glow of global praise for South Korea's approach to getting one of the world's worst outbreaks under control without resorting to the most punitive measures. When early voting got underway Friday, the country reported 27 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, the fewest in about seven weeks.The easing Covid-19 tally has helped Moon's Democratic Party of Korea rebuild support battered by an economic slowdown, corruption scandals involving presidential aides and resurgent tensions with North Korea. The turnaround is all the more remarkable because Moon had faced criticism for a lax approach after the epidemic began in neighboring China, having predicted that the virus would be terminated "before long" -- only to see cases spike days later."It looked like Moon's party was headed for a complete defeat in the election amid a fragile economic recovery," said Kim Man-heum, head of the Korea Academy of Politics and Leadership and the author of several books on Korean politics. "Then came the coronavirus outbreak, which swallowed up all other controversies like a black hole, leaving only the government's out-performance in the worldwide Covid-19 war visible."The vote comes about halfway through Moon's single, five-year term, a point when an electoral defeat made his predecessor, former President Park Geun-hye, a lame duck and ultimately paved the way for her impeachment and removal. While a win by the conservative United Future Party could open Moon to similar peril, victory by the Democratic Party would free his hand to set up a successor.If Moon can win the election without contributing to a subsequent spike in infections, he may also provide a road map for other leaders seeking to navigate a period of unprecedented economic and social upheaval. Places from U.S. states to Singapore have been currently re-evaluating their political calendars and election practices as surging coronavirus outbreaks consume the public debate and make the democratic exercises of campaigning and voting dangerous.How Kim Jong Un Keeps Advancing His Nuclear Program: QuickTakeIn South Korea, candidates have campaigned in masks and relied more heavily on video messages to reach voters. People who visit the polls will be asked to stand at least one meter (3 feet) apart, cover their faces, wear disposable gloves and be ready to submit to temperature checks. Voting booths will be subject to frequent disinfection.The decision to go ahead with voting contrasts with U.S. states that have delayed presidential primaries and France, which suspended some local elections after cases began to multiply. Singapore has held off on calling an expected vote as it orders people to stay in their homes to avoid spreading the disease. Poland plans to conduct its May 10 presidential election by mail-in ballot.The timing of South Korea's vote appears to be working in Moon's favor. His focus on mass testing and isolation of the sick to corral coronavirus clusters has been credited with a sharp slowdown in infection increases. While South Korea once had the second-largest case tally outside China, it was the 17th globally as of Friday, with just over 10,000 cases, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg News.Moon was among the first people to cast ballots when two days of early voting started Friday. As of 10 a.m., 2.5% of the registered voters had gone to the polls, compared with 1.2% as of the same time on the first day in the previous general election four years ago, according to the national election committee. The turnout was the lowest in Daegu, South Korea's epicenter for the virus spread.A Gallup Korea poll released last week, before restrictions on publishing poll results took effect Thursday, showed that the Democratic Party was leading the opposition 41% to 23%. Still, the complexity of South Korea's vote and a history of surprises like Park's shock defeat in 2016 make predictions difficult.More than 1,100 candidates from 21 political parties have signed up for 253 constituencies with direct elections. Another 300 candidates are fighting for 47 seats decided by support for the parties."The results are often a surprise because opinion polls fail to capture each candidate's competitiveness," said Kim, of the Korea Academy of Politics and Leadership.Heavy HittersThe coronavirus crisis has loomed large in a closely watched race in central Seoul, a political proving ground that has produced three future presidents and is sometimes called South Korea's "No. 1 district." The contest features two former prime ministers -- Lee Nak-yon, of the Democratic Party, and opposition leader Hwang Kyo-ahn -- in what could be a preview of the 2022 presidential election."Grabbing a victory here is like winning nationwide support," said Hwang in a written reply to questions. "Only a landslide win would empower us to stop the ruling power's policies."Hwang's party is pushing to take a tough line with North Korea, scrap Moon's decision to raise the minimum wage and cut back on regulations on business.Lee declined to be interviewed. Beside pushing through a dramatic wage increase, Moon has tightened rules on urban redevelopment to rein in a property bubble and sought to wean the economy away from nuclear energy in favor of hydrogen and solar power.The Democratic Party is predicting that it will win at least 130 seats, while the United Future Party forecasts that it will take between 110 and 130 seats, according to Yonhap.However, surveys have shown about one out of five voters are undecided or unwilling to say whom they support. The threat of infection at polling station only adds to the uncertainty."It's highly likely to be an extremely polarized election," said Park Won-ho, who teaches voting behavior at Seoul National University. "Only those willing to pay for the cost of a possible infection will come to the polls, which will result in over-sampling" of voters on the extreme right and left, Park said.(Updates with details on early voting)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
|
| Biden joins growing call for release of racial data on virus Posted: 09 Apr 2020 01:41 PM PDT  Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden is joining a growing call for the release of comprehensive racial data on the coronavirus pandemic, which he says has put a spotlight on inequity and the impact of "structural racism." Biden's Medium post on Thursday said he is joining Democratic congressional members Ayanna Pressley, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren and others who have also called for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other agencies to release more data. Biden said he wants data released on income, too, to better help allocate resources to communities in need.
|
| 'We've taken nothing off the table': US Defense Secretary open to reinstating fired navy captain who sent letter asking for coronavirus help Posted: 10 Apr 2020 03:27 AM PDT  Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said he would consider reinstating US Navy Captain Brett Crozier, who was relieved of duty from the USS Theodore Roosevelt after sending a letter requesting the ship be evacuated over a spreading coronavirus infestation on board."We've taken nothing off the table," Mr Esper told CBS News. "My inclination is always to support the chain of command, and to take the recommendations seriously."
|
| Virus appears to strike men, overweight people harder Posted: 10 Apr 2020 06:54 AM PDT  In the emergency rooms of virus hotspots around the world, medical staff are seeing a greater number of men than women suffering severe symptoms of COVID-19, with obesity emerging as another potentially aggravating factor. What first began to appear as a pattern in China, where the virus emerged at the end of last year, has echoed through hospitals in Europe and the United States as the pandemic spreads. "More men than women have serious problems, and patients who are overweight or have previous health problems are at higher risk," said Derek Hill, Professor of Medical Imaging Science at University College London.
|
| Italy and Austria share a border, but while one nation grapples with crippling coronavirus deaths, the other is preparing to lift its lockdown Posted: 09 Apr 2020 02:34 PM PDT  Despite announcing "a step-by-step resurrection" of Austria's economy, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said, "We are not out of the woods."
|
| Almost Everything on Levi’s Site is 40 Percent Off Posted: 10 Apr 2020 03:52 PM PDT |
| Moscow mayor warns city of 'serious test' as coronavirus numbers climb Posted: 10 Apr 2020 12:43 AM PDT  The mayor of Moscow urged residents of the capital to brace for a "serious test" from the new coronavirus and said the city would introduce a system of permits for movement to help enforce a lockdown, as infection numbers shot up across Russia. The country reported 1,786 new cases, bringing its tally to 11,917, even as Moscow and many other regions neared the end of their second week in a state of lockdown aimed at halting the contagion.
|
| Rare look at stockpile handouts shows which states got ventilators, masks amid coronavirus Posted: 10 Apr 2020 08:02 AM PDT  A federal report gives the nation its closest look yet at how the secretive Strategic National Stockpile distributed supplies amid the coronavirus.
|
| Trump’s Once-Exiled Body Man Now Leads White House’s New Purge Posted: 09 Apr 2020 07:29 PM PDT  Even in the midst of a global pandemic and economic collapse, President Donald Trump is charging ahead on his mission to purge his administration of watchdogs who are tasked with exposing waste, fraud, and abuse. And as he goes about this mission, he's leaning on a 29-year-old loyalist once exiled from the Trump administration for a reported gambling problem, as well as a cadre of conservative firebrands who have fed his paranoia that government careerists are trying to destroy him.Early this month, Trump fired Michael Atkinson, inspector general of the intelligence community, who had been asked to handle the anonymous whistleblower complaint last year that triggered the president's impeachment at the hands of House Democrats. On Monday, the president used his daily coronavirus press briefing at the White House to take swipes at Christi Grimm, a Department of Health and Human Services inspector general, after being asked about her report documenting the "severe shortages of testing supplies" in certain U.S. hospitals during the coronavirus crisis. On Tuesday, the news broke that Trump had replaced Glenn Fine, an acting Pentagon inspector general who had been assigned to oversee $2 trillion in coronavirus relief money.Those actions are just the beginning of Trump's plans to remake much of the federal government by appointing Trump-supportive partisans, including to inspector-general posts, four administration sources say. And they reflect the degree to which the president's obsession with purging and denigrating his perceived enemies within the government continues to animate him, even as the White House struggles to respond to the coronavirus outbreaks and the increasing number of deaths throughout the country.For the task, Trump has increasingly leaned on the White House Presidential Personnel Office (PPO), headed by recently rehired Trump aide John McEntee. In the past two months, Trump and McEntee have discussed the topic of replacing inspectors general—a number of whose nominations require approval by the Senate—along with various other positions in the federal government. The president has made clear that he is adamant about quickly filling those posts (there are more than 70 such watchdogs across the government) with those more submissive to him and ousting appointees he often baselessly lambasts as "corrupt," according to a senior administration official.McEntee, Trump's former presidential body man and a 2016 campaign veteran, was fired two years ago from his White House job by then-Chief of Staff John Kelly, reportedly for an excessive online-gambling habit and related tax issues that had hindered him from getting a proper security clearance. Still, he was given a soft landing at the 2020 Trump campaign and remained beloved by the president, the Trump family, and senior Trump staffers who considered him part of "the originals," a term affectionately used to describe longtime confidants and advisers. Late last year, it was reported that McEntee would head back to the White House for his new gig, with Kelly long out of the picture. And he was given a broad mandate by Trump when he arrived, staffing up with those he trusted, including a college senior as one of his chief deputies.Even within that tight clique of "originals," the president views McEntee as one of his most trusted lieutenants and has specifically tasked him with being a point man on staff purges for, at a minimum, the rest of Trump's first term in office. And McEntee takes the perceived disloyalty to the president just as personally, or perhaps more so, than the president himself. Unlike Trump, who can be chummy with Democrats and reporters even as he decries them publicly, McEntee doesn't have an off switch, those who know him say."Bashing the press is fashionable in Trumpworld, but a lot of people are faking it. Not Johnny. He genuinely believes your only agenda is taking down Trump," said a former White House official.The work being carried out by the president, McEntee, and other top officials has started sending shockwaves through various federal agencies and departments. Two officials with knowledge of the situation tell The Daily Beast that they view the White House's efforts to target inspectors general as part of an ongoing campaign to root out individuals perceived to be disloyal to Trump. "IGs aren't supposed to be employees of the Trump Organization," another U.S. official said. "But it's clear that the president thinks they should be… It's grotesque."As part of a broader effort to gather intelligence on allegedly disloyal administration officials, McEntee's office has relied on outside advice and research from conservative operatives and Trump allies about which inspectors general and senior officials to look into, the sources added. McEntee's office has also reached out to the offices of GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill for guidance, one of those officials said.Purging inspectors general who show insufficient subservience to Trump has been a longtime obsession of several key Trump allies. Groundswell, a right-wing activist network headed by activist Ginni Thomas, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' wife, has pushed memos to the president with suggestions for how he can remake the federal government by staffing it to the hilt with Trump fanboys. Tony Shaffer, a retired lieutenant colonel and member of the Trump 2020 media advisory board, posted to Twitter on Thursday: "Fine & Atkinson are the protectors of the Deep State… they all need to be replaced."And Tom Fitton, who helms the right-wing watchdog group Judicial Watch, helped spearhead a lawsuit in December demanding emails and texts from Atkinson. Fitton is a regular guest on some of the Fox News shows that Trump frequently watches and from which he takes cues. Asked if he'd been in touch with PPO or anyone else in the White House, Fitton wouldn't confirm or deny "any conversations with the White House that may or may not have happened" but said in a brief interview Thursday that it is his opinion that "President Trump should fire all the IGs he didn't appoint." Fitton added that it's his read that the president wants "fresh blood" and deserves to have an administration staffed with inspectors general who are "more in sync with him and who are as aggressive as he is."But while Trump is being egged on to find "fresh blood," others in his party have grown nervous about the gutting of one of the few potential oversight mechanisms still in existence. The ousting of Atkinson in particular has raised questions about the president's thinking and motivations during one of the worst global pandemics in history. Over the past several days, the president has drawn scrutiny from Democratic and Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill, including Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), who are demanding answers from the White House about why Atkinson was fired. And the matter might not end there. A Democratic aide familiar with the situation told The Daily Beast that several House committees are in the process of strategizing on oversight efforts related to Trump's efforts to purge the administration's top watchdogs.Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet 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.
|
| China ZTE executive quits amid sex assault allegations Posted: 10 Apr 2020 08:34 AM PDT  Bao Yuming steps down from the tech giant's board after reports of a police investigation.
|
| Esper on possibly reinstating Navy captain fired for memo on virus Posted: 10 Apr 2020 07:45 AM PDT  More than 400 crew members on the USS Theodore Roosevelt have tested positive for the coronavirus so far.
|
| Recovered coronavirus patients test positive again in blow to immunity hopes Posted: 10 Apr 2020 09:17 AM PDT  South Korea reported on Friday that 91 recovered coronavirus patients have tested positive for the disease again, raising questions over health experts' understanding of the pandemic. The prospect of people being re-infected with the virus is of international concern, as many countries are hoping that infected populations will develop sufficient immunity to prevent a resurgence of the pandemic. The reports have also prompted fears the virus may remain active in patients for much longer than was previously thought. Korean health officials reported Friday that 91 patients thought to have been cleared of the virus had tested positive again, up from 51 people on Monday. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) announced it had sent a team to the city of Daegu, the worst hit area, to investigate why patients there were testing positive again.
|
| China Reclassifies Dogs from Livestock to Pets in Response to Coronavirus Posted: 09 Apr 2020 02:59 PM PDT  China's agriculture ministry has reclassified dogs, which it previously deemed livestock, as pets in response to the coronavirus pandemic."As far as dogs are concerned, along with the progress of human civilization and the public concern and love for animal protection, dogs have been 'specialized' to become companion animals, and internationally are not considered to be livestock, and they will not be regulated as livestock in China," the Ministry of Agriculture said in guidelines published on Wednesday that are now open to public comment.The new coronavirus is thought to have originated in bats that then infected wild animals that were sold in the so-called wet markets of Wuhan, where the outbreak began.In February, as the virus was beginning to spread and before it reached global pandemic status the next month, China temporarily banned the farming and consumption of "terrestrial wildlife of important ecological, scientific and social value," and plans to sign the ban into permanent law later this year. But the wildlife trade is widespread in the country, and previous efforts to curtail the market have had little effect.The guidelines list 18 traditional livestock species, including cattle, pigs, poultry, and camels, as well as 13 "special" species that will also be allowed to be sold, including reindeer, alpaca, pheasants, ostriches, and foxes.Several U.S. lawmakers have criticized China's wildlife trade and called on the country to do more to prevent outbreaks like the coronavirus from occurring again in the future."While I welcomed the announcement last month that the People's Republic of China (PRC) has permanently banned the trade and consumption of non-aquatic wild animals, I share the concerns of many in the conservation community that this ban does not go far enough," said Representative Mike McCaul (R., Texas). "The policy does not ban the trade of wild animals for fur, medicine, or research, and I believe that these loopholes may be exploited to illegally sell or trade these animals."
|
| FBI arrests Texas man for coronavirus hoax meant to empty grocery stores Posted: 09 Apr 2020 08:38 AM PDT  A Texas man is facing federal charges for allegedly posting on Facebook that he had paid a person with coronavirus to spread the virus in San Antonio-area grocery stores in an attempt to get people to stop shopping.
|
| Over 1 million unclaimed bodies are buried on a little-known island in New York City — a mass graveyard where some coronavirus victims will go to rest Posted: 10 Apr 2020 01:45 PM PDT  Each week, the bodies of unknown or unclaimed people are taken by ferry to New York's potter's field on Hart's Island where they are laid to rest.
|
| German minister criticises U.S. coronavirus response as too slow: Spiegel Posted: 10 Apr 2020 04:16 AM PDT  German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has criticised the United States' handling of the coronavirus outbreak as too slow, the latest sign of tensions between the two allies as they respond to the crisis. China took "very authoritarian measures, while in the U.S., the virus was played down for a long time," Maas said in an interview with Der Spiegel magazine in a preview sent to the media on Friday. Germany was among countries that last week accused the United States of "Wild West" tactics in outbidding or blocking shipments to buyers who had already signed deals for vital medical supplies.
|
| Inmates at Kansas prison take over cell block, damage property Posted: 09 Apr 2020 11:43 PM PDT  There have been COVID-19 cases involving inmates at the prison, but a cause of the disturbance at Lansing Correctional Facility was not clear.
|
| 29 years on death row, Pakistan woman suffers mental illness Posted: 10 Apr 2020 05:35 AM PDT  Kanizan Bibi was 16 when she was charged with murdering her employer's wife and five children. The police said she was having an affair with her employer, who was also arrested and later hanged. Until his execution in 2003, Khan Mohammad swore he and Bibi had never had an affair and had not killed anyone.
|
| An 86-year-old woman with dementia was pushed and killed in an NYC emergency room over social distancing Posted: 09 Apr 2020 08:42 AM PDT  Janie Marshall grabbed onto a 32-year-old patient's IV pole to regain her balance, and the woman threw her to the floor, The New York Times reported.
|
| Coronavirus infection may cause lasting damage throughout the body, doctors fear Posted: 10 Apr 2020 03:03 PM PDT  Some patients who have recovered from coronavirus infection are suffering lasting damage, including liver damage, heart damage and blood clotting problems.
|
| US-Mexico border: Thousands of migrants expelled under coronavirus powers Posted: 10 Apr 2020 05:19 AM PDT  The Trump administration is using an emergency public health order to turn back irregular migrants.
|
| Bill Gates thinks schools will be able to re-open by fall, but 'low-income students will be hurt the most by these school closures' Posted: 09 Apr 2020 06:11 AM PDT  Bill Gates highlighted the inequalities surfaced by online learning, and expects low attendance as students finish this school year at home.
|
| Italy's daily coronavirus death toll and new cases both accelerate Posted: 09 Apr 2020 09:03 AM PDT |
| Army Designs New Camera Drones to Be Fired from Grenade Launchers Posted: 10 Apr 2020 06:51 AM PDT  Army scientists have created a reconnaissance drone that soldiers will be able to fire from their 40mm grenade launchers.
|
| Barr Slams Media ‘Jihad’ Aimed at Discrediting Hydroxychloroquine Posted: 09 Apr 2020 07:39 AM PDT  Attorney General Bill Barr called the media's reaction to the use of hydroxychloroquine as a possible treatment for coronavirus "quite strange," and criticized the "jihad" aimed at discrediting the drug following President Trump's touting of it as a potential "game-changer.""The politicization of decisions like hydroxychloroquine has been amazing to me," Barr said in an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham. "Before the president said anything about it, there was fair and balanced coverage of this very promising drug, and the fact that it had such a long track record that the risks were pretty well known, and as soon as he said something positive about it, the media's been on a jihad to discredit the drug. It's been quite strange."Ingraham reportedly brought two doctors whom she regularly features on her show to a private meeting with Trump last week to talk up the efficacy of the drug.Trump tweeted on March 21 that the anti-malarial drug had "a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine," following anecdotal evidence that it had been effective in treating coronavirus patients.Following Trump's promotion of the drug, which White House coronavirus task force member Dr. Anthony Fauci has cautioned against, NBC News reported on March 23 that an Arizona man died after ingesting fish-tank cleaner that contained chloroquine phosphate on his wife's recommendation, citing Trump's praise of hydroxychloroquine. The Washington Free Beacon later revealed that the woman was a prolific donor to Democratic causes.A Tuesday New York Times story highlighting President Trump's "small personal financial interest" in a French maker of hydroxychloroquine went viral, despite the fact that the brand-label drug is not available in the U.S. Further reporting revealed that the stake was likely less than $1,000.Senator Kamala Harris (D., Calif.) on Wednesday told ABC's The View that President Trump is a "drug-pusher" for promoting hydroxychloroquine.
|
| Hit by virus, Pentagon warns enemies: don't test us Posted: 10 Apr 2020 10:53 AM PDT  With an aircraft carrier forced into port and staff at bases handling nuclear missiles hit by COVID-19, the US military wants rivals to understand: don't test us, we have not been weakened. Statement after statement from the Pentagon has sought to deliver that message amid questions this week over whether the US fighting force can maintain full readiness, with cases among service members now at 2,031. "We're still capable and we're still ready no matter what the threat," Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley said Thursday.
|
| Mississippi court won't undo 12-year sentence for jail phone Posted: 10 Apr 2020 05:54 AM PDT |
| Why some doctors are moving away from ventilators for virus patients Posted: 09 Apr 2020 06:11 AM PDT  Some hospitals have reported unusually high death rates for COVID-19 patients on ventilators, and some doctors worry that the machines could be doing harm.
|
| Turkey's COVID-19 infection rate is the fastest rising in the world. Here's why it got so many cases so quickly. Posted: 09 Apr 2020 10:36 PM PDT  Less than a month ago, Turkey didn't have a single case. As of April 10, it had 42,282 confirmed cases with 908 deaths.
|
| Teams are retrieving up to 280 bodies a day from NYC homes. Not all of them are counted in the official death tally. Posted: 10 Apr 2020 10:01 AM PDT  Health officials say the actual number of people dying from COVID-19 in New York City is likely far higher than the official daily death tolls show.
|
| Russia launches criminal investigation after Prague removes Soviet military statue Posted: 10 Apr 2020 04:26 AM PDT  Russia said on Friday it had opened a criminal investigation after Czech authorities dismantled the statue of a Soviet military commander last week despite Moscow's protests, escalating a rancorous diplomatic row over the issue. The statue to Marshal Ivan Konev, who led Red Army forces during World War Two that drove Nazi troops from Czechoslovakia, is reviled by some in Prague as a symbol of the decades of Communist rule that followed the war. The statue to Konev, who also played a leading role in crushing the 1956 Hungarian uprising and building the Berlin Wall in 1961, was taken down on April 3 by municipal Prague authorities who said they planned to put it in a museum.
|
| When can we travel again? Experts share their predictions Posted: 10 Apr 2020 07:40 AM PDT  As U.S. faces its most trying coronavirus pandemic days, industry leaders imagine the future of travel.
|
| Trump news: President says American money built China in scathing attack as he threatens WHO funding in coronavirus briefing Posted: 10 Apr 2020 10:20 AM PDT  Donald Trump continued to assure Americans living under stay-at-home orders that the US economy will soon see a "big bounce" — despite an unprecedented number of families now seeking emergency relief from food banks across the country and record unemployment claims this week.More Americans have died of coronavirus this week than in the entire Iraq War, which claimed the lives of more than 4,500 US troops between 2003 and 2011. Mr Trump, frequently describing himself as a "war-time president," now is faced with a daily death toll that has eclipsed that of both world wars.
|
| White House slams Voice of America, VOA fights back Posted: 10 Apr 2020 02:20 PM PDT  The White House on Friday launched an unusual attack on the congressionally funded Voice of America, the U.S. broadcaster that for decades has provided independent news reporting around the world. In a broadside directed against VOA's coverage of the pandemic and China on Friday, an official White House publication accused it of using taxpayer money "to speak for authoritarian regimes" because it covered the lifting of the lockdown in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the new coronavirus first emerged. VOA promptly fired back, defending its coverage.
|
