| 'Sleeping while black': Family seeks justice for Breonna Taylor, killed in her bedroom by police Posted: 13 May 2020 02:08 PM PDT  Breonna Taylor was asleep in her Louisville, Ky., home when three police officers forced their way inside and unloaded eight bullets into her body, according to a lawsuit filed by Taylor's family.
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| U.S. House Democrats float $3 trillion coronavirus bill, Republicans reject it Posted: 12 May 2020 08:27 PM PDT  Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday unveiled a $3 trillion-plus coronavirus relief package with funding for states, businesses, food support and families, only to see the measure flatly rejected by Senate Republicans. The new legislation, which would more than double Congress' financial response to the crisis, includes nearly $1 trillion in long-sought assistance for state and local governments that are bearing the brunt of a pandemic that has infected 1,359,000 in the United States and killed at least 80,600. It also includes $75 billion for testing people for the novel coronavirus, direct payments of up to $6,000 per U.S. household, $10 billion in emergency grants for small business and $25 billion for the U.S. Postal Service.
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| 'Unrepentant racist' and 'bulls---': Both Republicans and Democrats lawmakers condemn the idea of reinstating Steve King after racist comments Posted: 13 May 2020 05:18 PM PDT  "Steve King is an unrepentant racist," one Democratic lawmaker tweeted. "The GOP was right to try to exclude him."
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| A black delivery driver filmed himself being trapped in an Oklahoma City neighborhood as an HOA president demanded to know why he was there Posted: 14 May 2020 01:45 PM PDT  Travis Miller, a delivery driver in Oklahoma City, says the HOA president demanded to know how he got into the gated community.
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| Ex-FBI official reportedly undercut DOJ's argument for dropping the Flynn case, and nobody's informed the judge Posted: 14 May 2020 12:52 AM PDT  Allies of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, up to and including President Trump, have pointed to a handwritten February 2017 note by Bill Priestap, then the FBI's counterterrorism director, to argue that FBI agents set out to trick Flynn into lying about his conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak before Trump's inauguration. Attorney General William Barr said FBI agents intended to "lay a perjury trap." Acting U.S. Attorney Timothy Shea, Barr's long time adviser, cited Priestap's memo when petitioning U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan to drop Flynn's case, despite a guilty plea Flynn affirmed before seeking to withdraw.Justice Department officials involved in the Flynn case interviewed Priestap last week, two days before Shea signed the extraordinary motion to dismiss the case, The New York Times reports. Priestap said their interpretation of his memo — and the one pushed by Flynn's lawyers and Fox News personalities — was wrong. "He said that FBI officials were trying to do the right thing in questioning Mr. Flynn and that he knew of no effort to set him up," the Times reports.Priestap's memo reflected his own thoughts on the FBI'S internal debate about inteviewing Flynn. "What's our goal? Truth/admission or to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired?" Priestap wrote, adding: "Protect our institution by not playing games." His notes also show the FBI "softened its interview strategy" with Flynn, giving him hints to refresh his memory of his conversations, the Times reports. Nevertheless, Flynn "lied repeatedly, and prosecutors have said that agents gave him 'multiple opportunities to correct his false statements by revisiting key questions.'"Justice Department officials "did not tell Judge Sullivan about Mr. Priestap's interview," though an official said they will submit a report on the interview soon, the Times reports. That may not sit well with Sullivan, who has already expressed skepticism over the DOJ's motion to dismiss the case. Barr's push to drop the case has also drawn strong rebukes from hundreds of former Justice Department officials, and another former top official cited in Shea's motion, Mary McCord, wrote in a New York Times op-ed it's "disingenuous for the department to twist my words" to support Barr's "contorted argument." Read more about Priestap's memo at The New York Times.More stories from theweek.com The conservative victimhood complex has made America impossible to govern 5 hilarious cartoons about Trump's vague 'Obamagate' allegations The strange conflation of masks and masculinity
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| California hospitals brace for fresh coronavirus wave as Mexico comes hotspot Posted: 14 May 2020 10:35 AM PDT  Hospitals in southern California have reported a spike in coronavirus admissions as people flee the growing crisis over the border in Mexico. San Diego and a number of frontier towns are bracing for a larger exodus of dual American-Mexican citizens should the outbreak in Mexico worsen. Over the past few weeks, cases have increased dramatically in National City, Chula Vista and El Cajon counties, according to new data. Hospital Chula Vista said it is already near capacity for patients critically ill with Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus. While Scripps Mercy Hospital Chula Vista now has roughly 30 to 35 beds occupied by coronavirus patients on any given day, the most it can handle. "I think we are concerned with border cities and are starting to see some activity related to what might be happening in Mexico," Scott Evans, CEO of Sharp's Grossmont, which runs Hospital Chula Vista, told local KPBS news network. "There are lots of people that go back and forth between Mexico and the United States even for work. That remains a concern for us."
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| China may test all of Wuhan amid fears of virus comeback Posted: 13 May 2020 03:30 AM PDT  Authorities in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the coronavirus pandemic first broke out, are planning to test all 11 million residents in the next 10 days, Chinese media reported. No official announcement has been made, but district officials confirmed receiving marching orders from the city's coronavirus task force, the reports said. China has moved quickly to snuff out new outbreaks wherever they pop up, even as it relaxes restrictions on the movement of people and reopens public attractions to limited numbers of visitors.
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| Only 2 migrants allowed to seek refuge under emergency border order Posted: 13 May 2020 09:02 PM PDT  More than 20,000 migrants, including unaccompanied children, have been expelled from the southern border under the emergency directive.
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| Questions for Ambassador Cui Tiankai Posted: 14 May 2020 01:30 PM PDT  Authors' Note: On May 6, the Washington Post published an op-ed by Cui Tiankai, Chinese ambassador to the United States. The article contained a series of factual misrepresentations and omissions, while painting a picture of Communist China as a victim of slander by those who "always blame" the regime for the spread of COVID-19. Cui Tiankai claimed such unfair accusations were a "burden" on China and were "undercutting" the international struggle against the virus. The op-ed is an element in China's global PR and disinformation offensive aimed at obfuscating the truth about the regime's willfully bungled handling of the pandemic. In response, we would thus like to present this public letter to Ambassador Cui Tiankai.* * * Your Excellency:Your article was entitled, "Ignoring the facts to blame China will only make things worse." While you cited several facts about the origin of COVID-19 and your government's response, a number of additional facts that can best be provided by Chinese authorities are needed as governments and societies around the world struggle to deal with the virus.We would thus like to ask for your clarification on a series of key factual problems. We seek these answers not to "blame China," but to establish what really happened in China, and what that can teach us about responding to the coronavirus pandemic. The American and international public will be deeply grateful for these clarifications. 1. When did the top leadership of China first learn about the outbreak, and what information was available to them? The South China Morning Post reported that the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed on November 17, 2019. Were governmental and medical authorities aware of it? If so, what was done? 2. Why did Chinese authorities on January 1, 2020, order labs that discovered the virus to destroy the samples and stop further examinations? 3. Why were Dr. Li Wenliang and seven other doctors reprimanded by the authorities for reporting about the new virus? Why did Chinese Central TV and other state-run media publicly humiliate them, accusing them of propagating rumors and claiming they deserved punishment? What role did top leaders of the Chinese Communist Party have in these decisions? 4. The National Health Commission did not confirm human-to-human transmission of the virus until January 20, but between January 1 and January 11, at least seven Chinese medical doctors contracted COVID-19, which is clear evidence that the disease can be transmitted between individuals. Were Chinese authorities aware of this, and if so, did they communicate this to the World Health Organization (WHO)? 5. On December 31, 2019, Wuhan public-health authorities reported 27 infected cases. But the South China Morning Post, which has close ties to the Communist Party, reported 266 cases. What steps has your government taken to ensure that official data with regard to the pandemic, including the death toll, are accurate? 6. When did General Secretary Xi Jinping first learn about the outbreak? What was he told? According to the Communist Party–run journal Qiush, Xi knew about the virus as early as January 7 and gave a comprehensive order to the Politburo for the government's response. Official Party top publications made no reference to the epidemic or the government's response until January 20, and the government's actions during that time were as if the outbreak were not happening at all. In Wuhan, for example, both the city government and the provincial government convened 1,200-plus-people meetings. The local government then organized a 40,000-family banquet to celebrate the Chinese New Year. On January 23, the day when the Wuhan lockdown was declared, the People's Daily newspaper did not mention the lockdown but instead headlined the news that Secretary Xi Jinping had hosted a grand new-year party, at which he did not mention a word about Wuhan or the virus outbreak.Given normal confidentiality requirements, what can you tell us about this order? 7. Americans have seen a video of Chinese vice premier Sun Chunlan's inspection trip on March 5 to a Wuhan residential compound, where distraught residents shouted to her, "Fake, fake," "It's all fake," and, "We protest." Can you explain their concerns, and has your government addressed them? 8. Why has China, to date, refused international requests, including from the WHO, to undertake on-site investigations into the origin of the virus? 9. The Wuhan lockdown was declared on January 23, and Wuhan residents were prohibited from traveling to other parts of China. Why were many thousands still allowed to travel to other countries? 10. Xu Zhiyong, Chen Qiushi, Fangbin, and Li Zehua are journalists, activists, and businesspeople. All have disappeared after their critical reporting about responses to COVID-19. Is your government investigating these disappearances? Why are state authorities investigating tycoon Ren Zhiqiang, who raised legitimate questions about how COVID-19 has been handled? Why has scholar Xu Zhang Run, whose concerns have been aired in this publication, been silenced? Was Dr. Ai Fen pressured by authorities after her reports on COVID-19?Your Excellency, we agree: Facts must not be ignored, or obfuscated with propaganda. Global public health depends on respect for truth. We all share the urgent need to bring COVID-19 under control. Honest dialogue with civil society and international cooperation based on scientific integrity and transparency are of paramount importance at this critical time. Thank you in advance for your attention to our questions.Jianli Yang is the founder and president of Citizen Power Initiatives for China. Aaron Rhodes is the human-rights editor of Dissident magazine and the president of the Forum for Religious Freedom Europe.
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| Kushner wouldn't rule out delaying 2020 election Posted: 13 May 2020 10:16 AM PDT  On Tuesday, senior White House adviser Jared Kushner said he wouldn't rule out delaying the 2020 election because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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| EU pushes to reopen borders for summer tourism amidst coronavirus Posted: 12 May 2020 08:36 PM PDT  The European Union on Wednesday pushed to reopen internal borders and restart travel, although the prospects of reviving tourism ahead of the summer season were mixed as public fears over health and safety weigh heavily during the coronavirus pandemic. With the tourism sector, which usually accounts for about a tenth of the bloc's economy, now decimated by the pandemic, the EU's executive Commission urged a return to "unrestricted free movement", albeit with safety measures such as face masks on airplanes. "Our thoughts are now turning toward summer and to the places that we love to travel," said Margrethe Vestager, a Commission deputy.
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| Ousted director testifies that Trump has no plan and unrealistic timetable for a coronavirus vaccine Posted: 14 May 2020 06:58 AM PDT  Rick Bright testifies before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce's health subcommittee after he filed a whistle-blower complaint.
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| Suspect in Ahmaud Arbery killing called 911 days before about alleged trespasser Posted: 14 May 2020 12:47 PM PDT  On the night of Feb. 11, Travis McMichael said he was driving his pickup truck past a construction site when he spotted someone he deemed suspicious, according to audio of a 911 call.
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| France gives online firms one hour to pull 'terrorist' content Posted: 14 May 2020 09:05 AM PDT  Websites will have just one hour to pull content reported by police, or face huge fines.
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| Experts believe Mexico's coronavirus cases could be 17 times higher than official tally Posted: 13 May 2020 08:38 PM PDT  The Mexican government has said it assumes the true number of coronavirus cases in the country is eight times higher than what is officially reported, but experts believe the actual number of cases could be 17 times higher, Vox reports. As of Wednesday, Mexico has reported 38,000 coronavirus infections and close to 4,000 deaths. Funeral home directors, mayors, doctors, and former officials have said they reported deaths that haven't been reflected in the government's tally; the mayor of Chimalhuacán told Al Jazeera the town had 87 coronavirus deaths, but the government "counted us as having 24 dead."It's unclear if the discrepancy is due to inefficiency or if the numbers are deliberately being undercounted, Vox notes. "If Mexico is good at anything, it's hiding numbers," said Dr. Laurie Ann Ximénez-Fyvie of the National Autonomous University of Mexico. El País reports that Mexico, which has a low testing rate, likely has between 620,000 and 730,000 COVID-19 cases. "We don't even know who the sick people are, and we don't know where they are," Ximénez-Fyvie said.Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has been criticized for his response to the coronavirus and accused of not taking it seriously. In late March, he traveled to several cities and met supporters, even shaking hands with the mother of convicted drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman in Badiraguato. Read more about how the Mexican government is handling the coronavirus pandemic and the state of its health care system at Vox.More stories from theweek.com The conservative victimhood complex has made America impossible to govern 5 hilarious cartoons about Trump's vague 'Obamagate' allegations The strange conflation of masks and masculinity
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| Official says suicide attack in eastern Afghanistan kills 5 Posted: 14 May 2020 03:26 AM PDT  A suicide bombing in Afghanistan's eastern Paktia province on Thursday that looked to target a military compound but exploded before its destination killed five civilians and wounded at least 29 others, including civilians and military personnel, Afghan officials said. The Taliban took responsibility for the bombing, calling it retaliation for statements by President Ashraf Ghani blaming it for an attack earlier this week against a maternity hospital that killed 24 people, including two newborns as well as several mothers and nurses. The Taliban were quick to deny responsibility and condemn that attack on Tuesday.
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| 25 Graduation Gifts They Need (And Want) Post-College Posted: 14 May 2020 12:43 PM PDT |
| Mitch McConnell is pushing the Senate to pass a measure that would let the FBI collect Americans' web-browsing history without a warrant Posted: 13 May 2020 01:09 PM PDT  Another amendment blocking the FBI surveillance failed by just one vote Wednesday, bringing McConnell's proposal one step closer to becoming law.
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| U.S. says it condemns China-linked 'cyber actors' trying to steal COVID research Posted: 14 May 2020 09:49 AM PDT  The United States on Thursday condemned attempts by China-linked "cyber actors and non-traditional collectors affiliated" to steal U.S. intellectual property and data related to coronavirus research, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said. "The PRC's behavior in cyberspace is an extension of its counterproductive actions throughout the COVID-19 pandemic," Pompeo said in a statement. "While the United States and our allies and partners are coordinating a collective, transparent response to save lives, the PRC continues to silence scientists, journalists, and citizens, and to spread disinformation, which has exacerbated the dangers of this health crisis," he said.
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| Cuomo is letting billionaires plan New York's future. It doesn't have to be this way Posted: 14 May 2020 06:01 AM PDT  The New York governor is replacing elected representatives with private, unaccountable monopolists, and lawmakers across the US are doing the same thing * Coronavirus – live US updates * Live global updatesLast week, New York's governor, Andrew Cuomo, announced that Bill Gates would be responsible for "reimagining" New York's education system. Cuomo also asked former Google chief executive Eric Schmidt to lead a panel planning New York's post-Covid tech infrastructure.As Naomi Klein writes, the appointments of Schmidt and Gates represent a "Pandemic Shock Doctrine … that is being rushed into being as the bodies still pile up [and] treats our past weeks of physical isolation not as a painful necessity to save lives, but as a living laboratory for a permanent – and highly profitable – no-touch future".As she points out, the two billionaires have disastrous records in the precise areas of public policy they are charged with leading. The Gates Foundation was the driving force behind high-stakes testing regimes and the Common Core fiasco. And Schmidt's vision of the future is Black Mirror with a bow on it: mass surveillance plus public investment in companies in which he has a stake.Even if Schmidt and Gates had good policies, Cuomo's knighting of them is offensive to American self-government. Nobody voted for them and they are accountable to no one. Cuomo, often accused of being too close to big campaign donors, is tripling down: he is simply allowing billionaires to plan our future directly, taking out the middlemen.In case you had any doubt that this is a new form of government worming its way into our old democratic ways, Cuomo anointed these tsars at the exact same time that he took vast new powers away from the state legislature, which has not been holding regular legislative hearings since 1 April. Lawmakers are notably MIA in the middle of a pandemic – and by all accounts Cuomo likes it that way.Turning away from locally-elected representatives, and towards billionaires with no accountability, represents a terrible erosion of democratic decision-making: Cuomo is quite literally replacing elected representatives with private, unaccountable monopolists. And too many other lawmakers across the US are doing the same thing.From California to Florida, states are turning to big corporations, CEOs and trade associations to not only decide when and how these states should "reopen", but also what the post-virus economy should look like. The various taskforces and panels states have convened to chart a way forward are populated by executives from Pepsi, Dell, Disney and other corporations.The White House has trotted out a steady stream of Wall Street bankers, pharma executives, and big-box store CEOs to make promises about pandemic recovery measures. (Which haven't been kept – for instance, weeks later, the promised Target and Walmart parking lot testing sites hadn't materialized.)Meanwhile, the Cares Act, Congress' coronavirus rescue package, is an authoritarian, top-down, big business restructuring of the already monopolized American economy. It gives extraordinary powers to the treasury secretary to reshape manufacturing, retail and banking in America, with almost no oversight, via easy access to trillions of dollars from the Federal Reserve.Too many decision-makers are ceding their policy to corporate power and private sector privilege.> Even before this pandemic, turning to big businesses and their wealthy owners was a common condition of policymakingEven before this terrible pandemic, turning first to big businesses and their wealthy owners was a common condition of American policymaking. When federal lawmakers want to juice the economy, they pass tax cuts for big corporations and the wealthy. When state and city lawmakers want to promote economic development, they dole out giveaways to big companies, providing them a leg up over smaller, more local competitors, often without letting constituents know until the contracts have all been signed.When those deals become well-publicized enough – like Amazon's HQ2 deal with New York – local communities have shown they can fight back and stop them. These battles aren't just about subsidies and inequality, they are about democracy: who governs us?Deference to big business isn't smart. The extremely concentrated, too-smart-to-fail medical industry failed; monopolization and bad trade policy, championed by the very men who now want to govern us, has led to mass death and suffering. The medical system couldn't take the shock of the pandemic, thanks to outsourced supply chains and a rotting for-profit hospital system.Coronavirus has created a constitutional crisis of sorts, one where the rules of representation, power and decision-making are up for grabs. As during the Great Depression, the fundamental facets of power – who has it, what constrains its use – are changing before our eyes. Monopolists are seizing power and market share for themselves, setting themselves up as the arbiters of our collective futures.The pandemic has revealed just how far apart the incentives of big business and workers and community members are: big business wants to acquire power and profit. Owners get to stay at one of their many homes, sanitized, safe, while employees face terrible choices about the risks they create for their family members by going to work. The stock market is booming while low-wage, and disproportionately female and minority, employees get sick and die in the name of economic recovery.It doesn't have to be this way. We must build a post-pandemic economy that is not only more resilient to external shocks but also fairer for the workers who bear the brunt of downturns. That's a lesson everyone - from the president to Andrew Cuomo to your local city council member – needs to learn, fast. * Zephyr Teachout is an associate professor at Fordham Law School and the author of Break 'Em Up: Recovering Our Freedom from Big Ag, Big Tech, and Big Money * Pat Garofalo is director of state and local policy at the American Economic Liberties Project and the author of The Billionaire Boondoggle: How Our Politicians Let Corporations and Bigwigs Steal Our Money and Jobs
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| 'I should have stopped them': Unsigned note raises more questions over Ahmaud Abery's death Posted: 14 May 2020 12:08 PM PDT  A cryptic, unsigned note was left on a card at the memorial for Ahmaud Arbery, a black man who was killed while jogging by a white father and son who attempted to stop him at gunpoint.Local news station WJXT first reported on the anonymous note, which reads "Ahmaud - I am so sorry. I should have stopped them. I am so sorry."
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| Israel eyes closing down evangelical channel Posted: 13 May 2020 08:48 AM PDT  "There are 9 million people in Israel who need to hear the gospel of Jesus," channel CEO Ward Simpson said.
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| Biden is crushing Trump among older Wisconsin voters in new Marquette poll Posted: 12 May 2020 11:41 PM PDT  A poll of Wisconsin voters from Marquette University Law School released Tuesday shows former Vice President Joe Biden beating President Trump in the crucial swing state by 3 percentage points, 46 percent to 43 percent, within the margin of error. But mind the age gap: Trump leads Biden among voters 30-59, "a pattern that has held in most of the Marquette Law School polls since August," Marquette notes, but Biden's lead among voters 60 and older — 18 points — is larger than his 10-point advantage in voters 18 to 29.> In presidential race in WI, Biden holds an advantage over Trump among 18-29 year old voters, leading in that group 51% to 41%. Biden also leads among voters 60 and over, 55% to 37%. mulawpoll> > — MULawPoll (@MULawPoll) May 12, 2020Biden also led Trump by 3 points, 48 percent to 45 percent, in the last Marquette poll in March, and polls since August have shown a close race, with Trump leading in November and the two candidates tied in February. Marquette's new poll was conducted via phone May 3-7 among 811 Wisconsin registered voters. The margin of error is ±4 percentage points.Nationally, Trump won voters 65 and up by 7 points, and he led Democrat Hillary Clinton by 5 points at this point in 2016, The New York Times notes. Some public polls and internal campaign polling now show Biden winning by at least 10 points nationally, the Times reports, and some Trump campaign officials attribute the dangerous softening of support among older voters to Trump's coronavirus briefings, arguing that "older voters will return now that Mr. Trump has phased out his self-congratulatory version of a fireside chat."Vox's Sean Collins writes that publicly available national polling still has Trump leading among seniors but consistently losing to Biden among the general electorate, and "much of what is driving Biden's advantage appears to be support among Generation Z and millennial voters." But even if Biden just peels off some of Trump's support among senior citizens, one of the president's most important constituencies, that could tip what is expected to be a close election, the Times notes, in Wisconsin and other swing states.More stories from theweek.com The conservative victimhood complex has made America impossible to govern Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, and Seth Meyers consider why Trump, GOP, Fox News are gunning for Fauci GOP senators release list of Obama officials who asked to 'unmask' Flynn. It 'backfired,' Biden campaign says.
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| France requires face masks but still bans Islamic face coverings Posted: 13 May 2020 06:31 AM PDT  All citizens must wear a mask — but women in face-covering Islamic garb could be punished.
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| Lebanon to reinstate total lockdown amid spike in infections Posted: 13 May 2020 04:33 AM PDT  Lebanese rushed to food stores to stock up on vegetables and basic items, hours before the government reinstated a nationwide lockdown Wednesday, following a spike in reported coronavirus cases. The government called on the public to stay home for four days starting Wednesday evening and until dawn on Monday, reversing measures that were gradually implemented since last month that phased out restrictions imposed since mid-March. The new shutdown is a rare reversal and comes as many countries have started easing restrictions despite grave concerns of a setback as they seek to balance economic and health care needs.
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| 4-foot-long lizards that can eat 'just about anything they want' are taking over Georgia Posted: 14 May 2020 09:07 AM PDT  Argentine black and white tegu lizards, which can grow up to four feet long and weigh more than 10 pounds, are an invasive species in Georgia.
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| Taiwan says WHO has 'forgotten' neutrality by barring island Posted: 14 May 2020 02:28 AM PDT  The World Health Organization (WHO) has "forgotten" its professionalism and neutrality in locking Taiwan out of the body for political reasons, Taiwan Vice President Chen Chien-jen said on Thursday. Taiwan says China and the WHO have conspired for political purposes to keep it out of key meetings, that the WHO has not responded to requests for coronavirus information and has misreported the number of its infections. The WHO and China have strongly dispute the accusations, saying Taiwan has been given all the help it needed, but that only China, which claims democratic Taiwan as one of its provinces, has the right to fully represent it in the WHO.
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| China fears alienation from new global economic order Posted: 13 May 2020 02:53 AM PDT  One of China's top trade negotiators warned that his country's handling of the coronavirus pandemic could lead to alienation from the new global economic order. Long Yongtu, the former vice-minister of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation who helped secure China a place at the World Trade Organization in 2001 added to growing concern in Beijing over the long-term fallout. "China is an important participant in globalisation," Long said at an online finance summit. "When people begin to talk about 'deglobalisation,' it also indicates some level of 'de-sinicisation.' Therefore, we need to be highly wary of that."
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| UN chief urges faith leaders to challenge harmful messages Posted: 12 May 2020 07:46 PM PDT  U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged religious leaders on Tuesday to challenge "inaccurate and harmful messages" that are fueling rising ethno-nationalism, stigma, hate speech and conflict as the coronavirus pandemic circles the globe. The U.N. chief warned a video meeting on the role of faith leaders in addressing the challenges of COVID-19 that "extremists and radical groups are seeking to exploit eroding trust in leadership and feed on people's vulnerability to serve their own ends."
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| For refugees, a plea: You can’t beat a pandemic by leaving people out Posted: 13 May 2020 11:55 AM PDT |
| Trump Calls for Obama to Be Hauled Before Congress for Massive Crimes He Declines to Outline Posted: 14 May 2020 08:56 AM PDT  If President Donald Trump's Twitter feed is an indication of where his head is at, his thoughts on Thursday morning were far from the 84,000 Americans that have died from COVID-19. The president's morning obsessions included Barack Obama, a government whistleblower, his 22-0 record on congressional endorsements, and unspecified "good numbers" coming out of states that have begun to wind back pandemic-related shutdowns. In a tweet tagging Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, Trump called for former President Obama to be brought before Congress to testify about unspecified crimes that Trump thinks constitutes the biggest scandal in history.Bill Barr Can't Investigate Barack Obama. Who Says So? Bill Barr."If I were a Senator or Congressman, the first person I would call to testify about the biggest political crime and scandal in the history of the USA, by FAR, is former President Obama," he wrote. "He knew EVERYTHING. Do it @LindseyGrahamSC, just do it. No more Mr. Nice Guy. No more talk!"Trump has been loudly complaining about "OBAMAGATE!" in recent days, first amplifying the allegations in a stream of 120 tweets and retweets on May 10. But he has conveniently declined to say what crimes Obama is supposed to have committed.Asked by a Washington Post journalist this week, Trump responded: "Obamagate. It's been going on for a long time. It's been going on from before I even got elected. And it's a disgrace that it happened."When pressed to say what offense was committed, Trump said: "You know what the crime is. The crime is very obvious to everybody. All you have to do is read the newspapers, except yours."Trump and his allies have long claimed, without evidence, that the investigation into Russian election meddling, started by the FBI in 2017, was a hit job by the outgoing Obama administration. Since the Department of Justice sensationally moved to drop its case against Trump's one-time National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contact with Russian officials, Trump's "Obamagate" conspiracy theories have reached fever pitch. Richard Grenell, Trump's acting director of national intelligence, released a declassified list on Tuesday of Obama administration officials who sought to "unmask" Flynn—a fairly common practice by senior officials who want to know the names of people under government surveillance. (Under privacy laws and intelligence regulations, the names of Americans picked up on foreign wire taps are concealed unless officials ask that they be unmasked.)Trump and his supporters claimed the list shared by Grenell, which included Trump's likely 2020 opponent Joe Biden, was more proof that the Obama administration sought to sabotage the incoming Trump administration.Graham, whose panel is investigating the origins of the Russia probe, is unlikely to take up Trump's call to bring Obama before Congress. "I don't think now's the time for me to do that. I don't know if that's even possible," he told Politico on Thursday, reiterating his comments from earlier in the week that he was not anticipating calling Obama. "I understand President Trump's frustration, but be careful what you wish for," he added.Attorney General William Barr also launched a separate investigation into the origins of the FBI's Russia investigation, but the prosecutor he put in charge has not interviewed at least five key potential witnesses or targets, multiple sources told The Daily Beast.While Trump's call for Obama to participate in a quasi-show trial seems outlandish, some presidents and former presidents have been called to testify before Congress on rare occasions.After tweeting about "OBAMAGATE!" on Thursday, Trump pivoted to trashing the reputation of Rick Bright, a government scientist-turned-whistleblower who is testifying before Congress on Thursday. Bright claims he was ousted from his job overseeing coronavirus vaccine research after questioning the efficacy of an anti-malarial drug favored by the president.By Wednesday, at least 84,239 Americans had died of the coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University. 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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| Afghan attack: Maternity ward death toll climbs to 24 Posted: 13 May 2020 01:23 PM PDT  Afghan mothers and babies make up most of the dead in militant violence condemned for its savagery.
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| New York City on 'high alert' after 100 cases of COVID-19 linked to inflammatory disease in children Posted: 14 May 2020 08:16 AM PDT  New York City is on "high alert" after reporting 100 cases of a rare inflammatory disease apparently tied to COVID-19 in children.New York recently began reporting rising cases of pediatric multi-system inflammatory syndrome, an illness that officials say is similar to toxic shock or Kawasaki disease, with symptoms including a fever and abdominal pain and which "appears to be linked to an immune response to COVID-19," The New York Times reports.New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio in a press briefing on Thursday said "we are now on high alert in addressing" the syndrome after the number of confirmed cases of pediatric multi-system inflammatory syndrome in the city has reached 100. Among those cases, 55 children have tested positive for COVID-19 or the antibodies, de Blasio said, and one child has died. Two other children have also died from the illness in New York State, according to the Times. De Blasio had reported 82 cases of the syndrome in the city on Wednesday.These developments continue to be "really troubling" after it was previously thought that "children seemed to have very little effect from this disease," de Blasio said. He urged parents to "call your doctor immediately" if a child has a persistent fever, a rash, abdominal pain, vomiting, and "especially" a combination of these symptoms.More stories from theweek.com The conservative victimhood complex has made America impossible to govern 5 hilarious cartoons about Trump's vague 'Obamagate' allegations The strange conflation of masks and masculinity
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| The US Navy has released incident reports from pilots describing their encounters with UFOs, including one detailing a silver object 'the size of a suitcase' Posted: 14 May 2020 04:02 AM PDT  The documents were released following a Freedom of Information request. While some appear to be drone sightings, others seem more mysterious.
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| First to close and last to open? California takes 'appropriately cautious' path in combating coronavirus Posted: 14 May 2020 03:24 AM PDT  California was the first state to lock down because of the coronavirus. Will it be the last one to open? The Golden State is taking measured steps.
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| Mystery deaths in Nigeria provoke fear of unrecorded coronavirus surge Posted: 14 May 2020 07:09 AM PDT  Authorities in Nigeria's northern Yobe state have reported hundreds of unusual deaths over the last few weeks, prompting fears that the coronavirus is spreading rapidly through Africa's most populous nation. Yobe authorities said that 471 people have died in the last five weeks in the state. The Yobe State Commissioner for Health, Dr Muhammad Lawan Gana, said that most of those who died were elderly people or had underlying health issues. It is not clear whether or not the Yobe deaths are linked to coronavirus because the Nigerian government is struggling to carry out many tests. In the last few weeks, there have been a spate of hundreds of unexplained deaths across northern Nigeria. Kano state, which is nearby Yobe, has seen at least mysterious 600 deaths. Doctors in Kano say they are being overwhelmed by patients showing clear signs of coronavirus, like temperatures and respiration issues.
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| US military offers condolences over Iran accident killing 19 Posted: 13 May 2020 10:40 PM PDT  The U.S. military offered condolences Thursday to Iran over a friendly fire incident in the Islamic Republic that saw an Iranian missile kill 19 Iranian troops, identifying the weapon that detonated as an anti-ship cruise missile. Iranian authorities on Monday said that the missile struck the Iranian navy vessel Konarak near the port of Jask, some 1,270 kilometers (790 miles) southeast of Tehran in the Gulf of Oman.
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| Surrogates left holding the baby as coronavirus rules strand parents Posted: 14 May 2020 01:00 AM PDT  The US surrogacy business is in turmoil, with parents overseas unable to pick up their baby and others unable to leave AmericaA week before Sierra Martin's 27 February due date, she received an email. It was from the couple that Martin was carrying a baby for, as a gestational surrogate. This was Martin's first surrogacy; she was carrying a boy for a gay couple from China.Due to the coronavirus travel ban, the email read, the couple wouldn't be able to get into the US to collect their son. Would Martin look after him, until the restrictions were lifted?"I waited a full day before replying, because I didn't know what to do," says Martin, who is 22 and works as a barista and childminder in Lake Bay, Washington. "I have nothing to look after a baby!"After thinking about it, she agreed. Martin gave birth to baby Steven on 23 February, and took him home. She is raising him alongside her two children, aged three and five, until his parents can get into the US, sort the paperwork, and bring Steven home to China.Spending nearly three months raising a baby she has given birth to, but who she is not biologically related to and will be giving back to his parents eventually, is emotionally wearing. "I love having the baby snuggles," says Martin, "but it's definitely hard knowing that he is not mine. I love him, but I know that he has to go back to his own parents eventually."Martin and baby Steven are caught up in a nationwide surrogacy crisis of growing proportions. Commercial surrogacy is legal in some US states, making it a hotspot for parents looking to have children through assisted reproduction. But the coronavirus travel ban has seen President Trump close the country's borders to almost all international visitors, while a nationwide US passport office shutdown has made it impossible for parents who do manage to get into the country to obtain the necessary documentation to take their children home.As a result, babies are being born without their parents present at the birth (immigration authorities will only let parents in once the surrogate has given birth to the child). In at least one case, a mother flew from France to attend the birth of her child, only to be turned back by border control. Some parents aren't being allowed in the country at all. Surrogates and surrogacy agencies are scrambling to look after babies themselves. "It's unprecedented for a surrogate to be looking after the baby," says Rich Geisler, a Californian surrogacy lawyer. "We as an industry really try to avoid that. We want to avoid the possibility of the surrogate bonding with the child."Martin is adamant that she'll be able to give Steven back to his parents when the time is right. "It will be hard to give him back, because I'll miss him," Martin says. "But I know he's not mine, and that I have to give him up, which is totally OK with me." She pauses. "But there's definitely a bit of attachment there," Martin says. "I care for him. When you love on a baby, you love on a baby."To avoid leaving children in the care of their surrogates, with the emotional challenges this can entail, some surrogacy agency workers are taking babies into their own homes. "I never anticipated something of this nature happening," says Katie Faust, a 26-year-old surrogacy case worker from Tampa Bay. Faust is caring for a three-week-old baby girl, whose name we have withheld at her parents' request.When it became apparent that her parents, a heterosexual couple living in China, would be unable to collect her, Faust, her husband, and three children flew to California to collect the baby, rented a car, then drove for five days back to Florida. (As the baby doesn't have a passport, they couldn't take her on a commercial flight.) "We're just kind of planning it as we go along," says Faust. "We're trying to figure out a way to get her reunited with her parents as soon as we can. But I'm OK looking after her, until they get here."For the parents on the other end of the coronavirus shutdown, there is an excruciating wait to meet their children for the first time. "I feel really sad about almost everything to do with my son's birth," says John, a 41-year-old airline worker from Shanghai.John's baby son with his partner Will, a 39-year-old finance worker, was born on 24 February: they have not been able to enter the US to meet him due to the travel ban. (Both men have requested anonymity, as they are not out to their employers.)When Trump issued an order preventing Chinese nationals from entering the US in January, John wept. "I cried and cried," he remembers. "It was really important for me to be there for the birth."Fortunately, Will's elderly parents live in Portland, and are caring for the baby. "We speak to the baby by WeChat almost every day," says John. "When I look at his photos or videos, I feel like my heart is melting." But Will's parents are elderly, and he worries what would happen should they, or the baby, fall sick with coronavirus – the baby is uninsured, as the shutdown means they can't get the documentation they would need to insure him. John wants more than anything to get into the US and bring his son home. "Here in China, life is returning to normal," John says. "I think the US government should open the border, so I can get my son. Most people here are healthy and do not have the disease."In addition to the logistical challenges of arranging care for a child you have never met on the other side of the world, the shutdown means that parents like John and Will are missing out on those precious early months with their children. Martin is sending Steven's parents pictures and videos, but it's not the same. "For Steven's sake it would be nice for him to bond with his parents instead of with me," Martin says. "Those first three months of his life are instrumental in the bonding process for the baby."And even if you can get into the US to collect your child, your problems don't end there. Surrogacy is an expensive process. Having to wait in the US for the passport office to reopen – at the moment, it is only issuing documents for life-and-death emergencies, which do not include surrogacy – all add to the cost. "People are running out of funds," says New Jersey reproductive lawyer Melissa Brisman. "They've already spent so much money on this. They can't afford another £2,000 a week on a certified nurse to take care of the baby."When I speak to Nir Tcik, he sounds almost frantic. "We are under huge pressure, because every day our money is getting lower and lower," he says. Tcik, 47, and his husband Avi, 46, are from Israel, where same-sex surrogacy is illegal. Their daughter Noga was born on 2 April. Since Noga's birth, the family of four – the Tciks have a four-year-old son, also born via surrogate – have been stuck in a New Jersey hotel room, waiting in vain for the authorities to issue her a birth certificate. Even when the birth certificate comes through, they will probably still be stuck, unless the Israeli embassy can make an exception and issue Noga emergency travel documents to fly home, in lieu of a US passport.The Tciks did not budget for nearly two months in the US. They estimate they have spent almost $20,000 in additional costs due to the coronavirus shutdown, on top of the approximately $150,000 cost of the surrogacy. "If this goes on much longer," Tcik says, "we are going to have to borrow money from family and friends."He is terrified that Noga will fall ill – as Noga has no official paperwork, she is uninsured. As a result, the Tciks are terrified to take her outside, lest she contracts coronavirus. "We are stuck in this hotel," says Tcik. "All the time, we're in this hotel room. We don't feel safe."The solution, Brisman says, is for the US immigration authorities to allow parents into the US to collect their children, and expedite the process by which they can leave the country. "I would like to see the government allow these people in quickly, and allow them home quickly," she says. "We need expedited passports, birth certificates and visas for people whose babies are being born."The administrative and bureaucratic nightmare in which the Tciks now find themselves means that coronavirus has cast a pall over what should be a joyful experience. "We thank God that we have a daughter who is healthy, and that the surrogate is also OK," says Tcik. "That is the most important thing. But this coronavirus shutdown, and us being stuck here, has ruined everything."
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| Biden’s Latest Virtual Event Was a Gretchen Whitmer Praisefest Posted: 14 May 2020 03:02 PM PDT  Four Democrats were present at former Vice President Joe Biden's latest virtual event, a roundtable to discuss states' responses to COVID-19. But among the trio of male voices, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer took center stage. "I think you've done one hell of a job," Biden said to Whitmer from his home porch in Wilmington, Delaware on Thursday afternoon, teeing up a lengthy conversation filled with overt praise of the woman who is thought to be in the mix as his potential running mate."Gretchen's got it exactly right," Gov. Ned Lamont (D-CT) said a few minutes later to a response from Whitmer about her approach in Michigan. "Gretchen said it," Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ) added at another point. Throughout the round table, Biden, Murphy, and Lamont continued to elevate Whitmer—one of a dozen names thought to be considered by Biden's newly announced vice presidential vetting committee—who has been overseeing the state-wide response to the novel coronavirus pandemic. On the virtual campaign trail, Biden is routinely asked about the most important traits in selecting a running mate. He often responds with a "simpatico" relationship and preparedness to lead as top traits."The first and most important attribute is, if something happens to me, the moment after it does, that that person is capable of taking over as President of the United States of America," Biden said during a virtual fundraiser on Wednesday night, according to a pool report of the event. "I want to make sure that the person I pick is bright, has capacities in areas that I do not, that I'm not as qualified, that I don't have as much capacity. And in fact, is ready to be president on day one. And that process is underway, and I can't tell you that it's been narrowed down at all, we're just beginning."During Thursday afternoon's panel, Whitmer provided the most detailed answers to Biden's questions about efforts being done on the front lines to mitigate the spread of the virus, acknowledging that the state's "aggressive actions are starting to pay off," but cautioning that "we've still got a lot of work to do," and that "there's no question that we need help from the federal government."At one point, when asked by Biden about the likelihood that the pandemic could rebound in the fall—a scenario that health experts have cautioned the public about for several weeks—Whitmer was not shy about jumping in first. "Maybe I'll start if that's all right," she said. "What we know is that until there's a vaccine or a cure, the best tool that we have, aside from social distancing, is testing. We have the capabilities to keep up testing. But what we don't have are some of the critical simple supplies."Biden, who pledged to select a woman as his running mate in mid-March, largely steered clear of a political conversation, opting instead for questions about specific needs on the ground. Towards the end of the conversation, however, when addressing the former vice president's request for the governors' final thoughts, Murphy and Lamont veered into politics, saying the country needs Biden to defeat President Donald Trump in the White House.Whitmer, notably, did not. Instead, she turned the panel's attention back to the bigger picture in the fight against coronavirus. "I hope we've learned a lot about racial disparities," she said. "I hope that we have learned to embrace science."Gretchen Whitmer's Chilling Call With the White HouseRead 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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| 20,000 migrants have been expelled along border under coronavirus order Posted: 13 May 2020 07:55 PM PDT  More than 90% of the families, children and single adults that Border Patrol encountered in April were expelled under a public health order.
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| China relocates villagers living in 800m-high cliffs in anti-poverty drive Posted: 14 May 2020 04:49 AM PDT  The village became famous for the precarious rattan ladder its residents used to get home.
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| The conservative victimhood complex has made America impossible to govern Posted: 14 May 2020 02:50 AM PDT  The United States has had the worst national response to the coronavirus pandemic among rich nations largely because President Trump is an incompetent leader whose narcissism means he can focus on little beyond his own approval ratings. From the start of the crisis to today, he has completely failed to take the virus seriously, and refused to do anything meaningful to stop it. It was his job to protect America, and he can't do the job.But Trump's appalling failure is only the most visible part of a vast ocean of right-wing dysfunction. For conservative zealots and media figures, the pandemic is quickly becoming just another culture war battleground — an axis of postmodern symbolic conflict, another vent for bottomless grievance, and fuel for a screeching victimhood complex. The practical effect will be to fuel infection and hamstring economic recovery. It's a stark obstacle before fixing this or any other crisis.Let's take mask-wearing. As research about the coronavirus has developed, the effectiveness of masks in slowing the spread of the disease has become clear, above all in confined indoor spaces. Studies have found that being outdoors is relatively low-risk, and most infections happen when people are in proximity to each other indoors for a long time — but also that masks can drastically reduce the possibility of infecting others if you happen to be contagious. Offices, public transportation, stores, restaurants, church services, and especially homes are where most transmission happens. Wearing a mask whenever one is indoors around strangers is a cheap and no-consequence way of protecting one's community — even if it only helps a little, it's a minuscule inconvenience.Yet a developing narrative on the right holds that masks are a sign of weakness and cowardice. Trump refuses to wear one even to set an example, reportedly because he thinks it will make him look bad. Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) refuses to wear one even though it is not clear he is permanently immune after recovering from the disease. Vice President Pence refused to wear one even while visiting COVID-19 patients. On Fox News, Laura Ingraham defended Pence from critics, saying "They'll say this whole mask thing is settled science just like they do with climate change. Of course, it's not and they know it," despite having previously endorsed wearing them. (Naturally, after two cases of coronavirus cropped up in the White House last week, all staffers are now required to wear masks when in the building.)Further down the conservative food chain, anti-mask fulmination has gotten more extreme and much weirder. First Things editor R.R. Reno claimed on Twitter that "Masks=enforced cowardice." A city order in Stillwater, Oklahoma requiring masks in businesses was quickly reversed when conservative lunatics threatened violence against workers trying to enforce the rule. The conservative base is taking the elite cue — in a recent poll, just 47 percent of Republicans report wearing masks in public, against 69 percent of Democrats. At New York, Ed Kilgore reports that in a suburban Georgia grocery store, conservatives glared daggers at him for wearing a mask.Something similar is holding true with pandemic control measures like business closures. Smallish groups of mask-less protesters have swarmed state capitols across the country, demanding the economy be somehow reopened. When one Dallas salon owner refused to obey business closure rules and was locked up for a week, Texas Governor Greg Abbott quickly reversed his own action. "Throwing Texans in jail who have had their businesses shut down through no fault of their own is nonsensical, and I will not allow it to happen," he said. The salon owner, of course, successfully claimed victimhood and collected over half a million dollars from a crowdfunding campaign (which very well might have been the entire point).It shouldn't be surprising that the reality of masks and other pandemic control measures is the precise opposite of the conservative agitprop line. Most masks and lockdown orders are primarily a way to protect others, not just yourself — which you would think would be exactly in line with purported conservative values of traditional masculinity. But facts have never stood in the way of the conservative persecution complex. Nothing gets their blood flowing like playing martyr before imaginary liberal tyranny. Casting oneself as Anne Frank for having to wear a two-dollar cloth mask at Walmart during the worst pandemic in a century would be a stretch for most people in the world, but not American movement conservatives.This instinct is strengthened by how badly Trump has botched the crisis. He is the hero-president, the man before whom all Republicans must bow five times per day. His gargantuan, world-historical failure cannot be admitted, but neither can it be avoided. Therefore scapegoats and distractions must be found to relieve the cognitive dissonance. The virus is fake, or it only kills worthless old people, or it's a Chinese conspiracy. Measures to fight it are howling liberal tyranny, even if it's Republican governors enacting them.Conservative media probably just can't help itself. The entire "perpetual misinformation machine," as Alex Pareene calls it, runs on whipping elderly white conservatives into a frothing rage over whatever is happening. Plus today, the president and half of the Republican congressional caucus are themselves eager right-wing propaganda addicts, forming a perfectly-sealed loop of insanity. It was likely inevitable that the pandemic would get sucked into the hysteria industrial complex, because that's what right-wing media does with everything.Already this has created an ideal coronavirus transmission pool — a critical mass of right-wing extremists who are unwilling to obey government pandemic control measures and are convinced personal measures to do so are beta male cowardice. Many will become sick as a result, and some will die — but not only conservatives, as the virus will infect any available host. This will keep the pandemic raging, and hence further delay the restoration of the economy.A different president who wasn't an addle-brained dolt would certainly have done something to fight the pandemic. But he or she still would have run directly into the conservative lunacy problem. It's hard to see how America can be governed when much of the country has taken leave of its senses.Want more essential commentary and analysis like this delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for The Week's "Today's best articles" newsletter here.More stories from theweek.com 5 hilarious cartoons about Trump's vague 'Obamagate' allegations The strange conflation of masks and masculinity Disney is closing Broadway's Frozen for good because of the coronavirus pandemic
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| EU top diplomat wants independent probe into coronavirus origins Posted: 14 May 2020 01:10 PM PDT  The European Union's foreign policy chief called on China on Thursday to contribute significantly to the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and said there should be an independent scientific investigation into the origins of the pandemic. In a guest column in Friday's edition of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper, Josep Borrell said China should act to help protect the world from future pandemics. "An independent scientific investigation of the origin of this pandemic is also necessary," he wrote.
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| Immigrants in the U.S. on work visas must have a job or be forced to leave country during pandemic Posted: 13 May 2020 09:20 AM PDT  Unlike Americans, foreign workers are not entitled to unemployment benefits, despite paying taxes, because they are on foreign work visas. And if they fail to find similar jobs soon, they must leave the country.
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| The most common coronavirus symptoms in children — and how to know if they have a rare post-virus inflammatory syndrome Posted: 14 May 2020 11:28 AM PDT  Children seem to be less vulnerable to the disease than older populations, but some are experiencing serious illness. Here's how to spot the signs.
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| 911 call, text hint at confrontation days before Arbery shot Posted: 13 May 2020 12:14 PM PDT  Days before Ahmaud Arbery was pursued by two white men and fatally shot after being spotted inside a home under construction, neighbors — including one of the suspects — reported an earlier encounter with a person wandering through the open-framed structure. Owner Larry English found nothing stolen from the site where he's building a home in the Satilla Shores subdivision where 25-year-old Arbery was slain Feb. 23, English's attorney said Wednesday. "Nothing was ever taken from the English property," attorney J. Elizabeth Graddy said in a statement Wednesday.
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