| Biden apologizes for telling radio host 'you ain't black' if you are considering voting for Trump Posted: 22 May 2020 08:46 AM PDT  Former Vice President Joe Biden suggested Friday morning that an African-American radio personality "ain't black" if he was questioning whether he should support the presumptive Democrat nominee over President Trump in the upcoming general election.
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| 'This is a bad practice': Doctors question FDA protocol for plasma treatment of coronavirus patients Posted: 22 May 2020 02:00 AM PDT  The story of convalescent plasma is one of a federal medical establishment wanting badly to compensate for its slow response to the coronavirus.
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| Ahmaud Arbery: Third man charged over death of black jogger Posted: 22 May 2020 02:45 PM PDT  The motorist is accused of murder and attempted false imprisonment over the shooting in Georgia.
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| Restrictions eased while virus deaths decline in New York Posted: 23 May 2020 05:06 AM PDT  New Yorkers experiencing cabin fever after two months of coronavirus quarantine received an unexpected reprieve when Gov. Andrew Cuomo eased the state's ban on gatherings in time for the Memorial Day weekend. New York state on Saturday reported its lowest number of daily coronavirus deaths — 84 — in weeks in what Cuomo described as a critical benchmark. "In my head, I was always looking to get under 100," Cuomo said.
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| Russia welcomes delivery of ventilators from U.S. agency it banned Posted: 22 May 2020 07:26 AM PDT  Delivery of 50 ventilators comes in exchange of "sincere humanitarian gestures," but it also highlights ongoing tension between Washington and Moscow.
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| Man charged with fraud for lying about coronavirus test, forcing employer to shut plant Posted: 22 May 2020 07:14 AM PDT  A man from Atlanta, Georgia is facing fraud charges after telling his employer he had tested positive for coronavirus while in fact uninfected – causing the plant where he worked to be shut down for cleaning and costing his employer some $100,000.Santwon Antonio Davis, who works in Atlanta at a Fortune 500 company, appeared in court this week accused of faking a dubious medical excuse letter saying he had Covid-19 – a letter that was neither signed nor written on formal letterhead, and which said he had been discharged in November 2019.
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| Trump tells Fox News to 'fire their Fake Pollster' after network reports him 8 points behind Biden Posted: 22 May 2020 09:38 AM PDT  President Trump on Friday suggested Fox News should fire its pollster after the cable news network's latest national survey showed Joe Biden leading.
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| CanSino coronavirus vaccine appears safe in first human trial Posted: 22 May 2020 09:56 AM PDT |
| Republicans call for DOJ investigation into Planned Parenthood over coronavirus relief loans Posted: 22 May 2020 03:11 PM PDT  Republican lawmakers have asked the Department of Justice to look into how Planned Parenthood affiliates received Paycheck Protection Program loans.
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| Jamal Khashoggi's family were pressured into pardoning his killers, Saudi activists believe Posted: 21 May 2020 05:33 PM PDT  The son of Jamal Khashoggi announced that his family has forgiven the Washington Post journalist's killers on Friday, in a surprise gesture that Saudi activists believe was secured by multi-million dollar payouts and intense pressure from the Kingdom's authorities. In a statement on Friday, Salah Khashoggi wrote: "We, sons of the martyr Jamal Khashoggi, announce that we forgive those who killed our father." He added: "On this virtuous night of this holy month, we recall the words of God Almighty in his holy book: 'The repayment of bad actions, is one equivalent to it, But whoever pardons and makes reconciliation, his reward lies with God. He does not love the unjust.'" Khashoggi, a columnist for the Washington Post, was kidnapped, killed and dismembered by Saudi agents when he visited the Saudi embassy in Istanbul to obtain paperwork to marry his fiancée in October 2018. It has been alleged that Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince and de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, had personally ordered his assassination, though he vehemently denies this and says the murder was carried out by rogue agents without his knowledge. Saudi activists claimed on Friday that the family's decision to pardon Mr Khashoggi was made following intense pressure by the Saudi authorities, which is paying out vast sums of compensation to the family each month.
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| Coronavirus: New York state daily death toll drop below 100 Posted: 23 May 2020 02:01 PM PDT  A total of 84 people died in 24 hours, the lowest daily toll since March in the worst-hit US state.
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| Brazil passes 20,000 virus deaths after record 24-hour toll Posted: 21 May 2020 06:23 PM PDT  The novel coronavirus death toll in Brazil surpassed 20,000 on Thursday, after a record number of fatalities in a 24-hour period, the health ministry said. Brazil has now recorded more than 310,000 cases, with experts saying a lack of testing means the real figures are probably much higher. The death toll -- the sixth highest in the world -- has doubled in just 11 days, according to ministry data.
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| McConnell says coronavirus rescue package coming soon Posted: 22 May 2020 10:03 AM PDT  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Thursday another stimulus package to deal with the impact of the coronavirus was "not too far off."
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| 'She's Doing Well:' Esper Discusses Young Sailor Who Took Down Corpus Christi Gunman Posted: 22 May 2020 08:21 AM PDT  Defense Secretary Mark Esper said that, when the gunman tried to get through the gate, he was stopped by a young sailor.
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| Trump demands states reopen houses of worship 'right now' Posted: 22 May 2020 12:02 PM PDT  President Trump said Friday that he wanted state governors to allow the nation's houses of worship to reopen "right now" despite the ongoing health risks from the coronavirus pandemic posed by large gatherings of people.
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| 'We need answers': VA has given hydroxychloroquine to 1,300 vets with COVID-19 amid troubling studies Posted: 22 May 2020 03:06 PM PDT  Democrats are raising concerns over the Department of Veterans Affairs using hydroxychloroquine to treat veterans diagnosed with COVID-19, a path of treatment that has been shown to increase mortality in some patients.
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| Guatemala president scolds U.S. for deporting migrants with coronavirus Posted: 21 May 2020 08:51 PM PDT  Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei criticized the United States on Thursday for sending back migrants infected with the novel coronavirus to his Central American country and straining its weak health system. Despite the coronavirus pandemic, and Giammattei's attempts to curb deportation flights from the United States, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has been sending Guatemalan migrants back to their home country.
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| Missouri hairstylist may have exposed 91 people to Covid-19, officials say Posted: 23 May 2020 09:20 AM PDT  Stylist worked at a salon on eight different days while experiencing symptoms after governor allowed businesses to reopen * Coronavirus – live US updates * Live global updatesA Missouri hairstylist may have exposed 91 customers and coworkers to coronavirus, public health officials said, after the state's governor allowed businesses including salons to reopen on 4 May. The stylist who tested positive for Covid-19 worked at a salon in Springfield on eight different days while experiencing coronavirus symptoms.Because the stylist and the customers wore face coverings, health officials said on Friday, they hoped the interactions would lead to "no additional cases". Those potentially exposed would be contacted and offered testing, officials said.The potential exposures started little more than a week after Missouri allowed salons to reopen.The push by Donald Trump and some state governors to reopen most businesses with some public health modifications, such as social distancing and masks, comes as public health officials warn that relaxing restrictions will certainly lead to new outbreaks.Dr Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House's coronavirus taskforce, said on Friday that new local outbreaks were "inevitable" as prevention measures are loosened.But on Thursday, at a visit to a Ford automobile plant in Michigan, the president once again emphasized his focus on getting the economy moving, and the stock market recovered, as soon as possible."A permanent lockdown is not a strategy for a health state or a healthy country," Trump said on Thursday. "Our country wasn't meant to be shut down."This country is poised for an epic comeback," he said. "Just watch. It's already happening."As of Saturday morning, according to figures collected by Johns Hopkins University, more than 1.6m cases of Covid-19 had been confirmed in the US, with more than 96,000 deaths.In debates over how quickly to reopen different businesses across the country, barbershops and hair salons have become a political flashpoint among conservative Americans, with some owners reopening in defiance of public health measures.In Michigan, a barber who refused to close his shop despite shelter-at-home orders staged a hair-cutting protest at the state capitol which he dubbed "Operation Haircut", the Lansing State Journal reported.In Texas, a hair salon owner who was briefly jailed after keeping her business open in defiance of public health orders, and who then refused to apologize in court for what she had done, has been championed by Republican leaders. The Texas senator Ted Cruz visited her salon for a haircut.In Missouri, county health officials said local residents who had been in the same location as the hairstylist with coronavirus but who had not had direct contact were "believed to be at very low risk". While infectious, the same individual also visited a Walmart and a Dairy Queen and made three visits to a local gym, they said.Missouri's governor, Michael Parson, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the potential exposures of 91 people at a hair salon would alter the state's thinking on whether salons and barbershops should remain open during the pandemic.Missouri's current public health guidance will expire on 31 May. The state has said it will re-evaluate the plan and may tighten some restrictions or loosen others.
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| 11-year-old girl says racism behind white woman’s assault Posted: 22 May 2020 01:41 PM PDT  An 11-year-old African American girl from South Carolina said she didn't think a white woman who accused her of stealing mail was being racist until the woman's husband told the girl that if she were "a different type," things would have turned out differently. Elizabeth Shirey, 38, was charged with assault and battery after grabbing Skhylur Davis' arm as she walked back to her grandmother's house in Aiken with her mail, according to a police report. When Shirey saw the address on the mail she let the girl go, apologized and then offered Skhylur cookies, the girl told officers.
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| Expletive-filled video of Bolsonaro swearing at cabinet meeting released by Brazil's Supreme Court Posted: 23 May 2020 03:31 AM PDT  Expletive-filled footage of Brazil's far-right president complaining about not being able to get intelligence from the police has been released by the country's Supreme Court.Jair Bolsonaro vows, in the clip, that he will not let his friends and family get "screwed" because he is unable to overhaul law enforcement officials.
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| Trump wants justices' help to stymie investigations and lawsuits Posted: 22 May 2020 11:05 AM PDT  President Trump won at least a temporary reprieve from the Supreme Court this week in keeping secret grand jury materials from the Russia investigation away from Democratic lawmakers. The president and his administration are counting on the justices for more help to stymie other investigations and lawsuits.
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| Biden strikes a populist tone but stops short of embracing Warren's economic plans Posted: 23 May 2020 03:14 AM PDT  The apparent Democratic nominee weighed in this week on some signature policies of his primary season rival — and rumored vice presidential contender.
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| A Chinese biotech just published the first human data for its coronavirus vaccine candidate, supporting further trials Posted: 22 May 2020 07:12 AM PDT  The experimental vaccine is now being tested in a larger, mid-stage trial. Researchers said the early findings in 108 people support further study.
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| Palestinians report first coronavirus death in Gaza Posted: 23 May 2020 09:07 AM PDT  A woman has died in Gaza Strip after contracting coronavirus, the Palestinian enclave's first known fatality from the global pandemic, the health ministry said on Saturday. Blockaded and short on medical facilities, Gaza, run by the Islamist group Hamas, has reported only 55 coronavirus infection cases among its population of two million. Meanwhile, in the Israeli occupied West Bank, where Palestinians have limited self-rule, there have been two deaths and 423 cases.
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| North Dakota governor on brink of tears as he decries ‘mask shaming’ Posted: 23 May 2020 11:51 AM PDT  Republican Doug Burgum called out 'senseless dividing line' between Americans over whether masks should be worn in public * Coronavirus – live US updates * Live global updatesIn North Dakota on Friday, the Republican governor, Doug Burgum, decried a "senseless dividing line" between US citizens over whether masks should be worn in public during the coronavirus pandemic.As he pleaded with citizens of his state to "try to dial up your empathy and your understanding", Burgum was moved to the brink of tears."We're all in this together and there's only one battle we're fighting," he said. "And that's the battle of the virus."As Donald Trump encourages states to reopen their battered economies, federal authorities are recommending covering the face in public when social distancing is difficult, for example in grocery stores.Some states require residents to wear masks in public settings. North Dakota, where Burgum allowed reopening to start from 1 May, does not.The president has notably refused to wear a mask in public, although he was photographed wearing one on a visit to a Ford plant in Michigan this week.On Saturday, Secret Service officers who were with the president on a trip to a golf course were pictured wearing masks. Trump was not.Some rightwing protesters have attracted publicity by refusing to wear masks, while some shopkeepers have reportedly sought to deny service to people wearing face coverings.Speaking to reporters at the state capitol in Bismarck on Friday, Bergum said he "would really love to see in North Dakota that we could just skip this thing that other parts of the nation are going through, that they're creating a divide. Either it's ideological or political or something around mask versus no mask."This is I would say a senseless dividing line and I would ask people to try to dial up your empathy and your understanding. If someone is wearing a mask, they're not doing it to represent what political party they're in or what candidates they support."As he continued, Burgum struggled not to break down in tears."They might be doing it because they've got a five-year-old who's been going through cancer treatments," he said."They might have vulnerable adults in their life who currently have Covid-19 and are fighting."So again, I would just love to see our state, as part of being 'North Dakota smart', also be 'North Dakota kind', 'North Dakota empathetic', 'North Dakota understanding', to do this thing. Because if somebody wants to wear a mask, there should be no mask shaming."According to Johns Hopkins University, by Saturday North Dakota had recorded 2,317 coronavirus cases and 52 deaths.
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| UK warns China to respect Hong Kong's autonomy as Beijing pushes for laws that would 'crush dissent' Posted: 21 May 2020 06:17 PM PDT  Downing Street warned China to respect the autonomy of Hong Kong after the Chinese Communist Party submitted plans for a controversial new law that could crush dissent in the former British colony. The intervention from No 10 came as Hong Kong braced for its first mass pro-democracy protests for months after Beijing said it would bypass the city's legislature to bring in sweeping new powers limiting freedom. At the opening of its National People's Congress (NPC) this week, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said China would establish a "sound" legal system and enforcement mechanisms to ensure national security in Hong Kong and Macau. But pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong, as well as much of the international community, said the plan was an assault on Hong Kong's freedoms, with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo calling it a "death knell" for the city's high degree of autonomy. Under the agreement signed when Hong Kong became a Chinese region, rather than a British colony, in 1997, China pledged to respect the "one country, two systems" principle, guaranteeing Hong Kong freedoms not seen on the mainland. A Downing Street spokesman said: "We expect China to respect Hong Kong's rights and freedoms and high degree of autonomy. As a party to the joint declaration the UK is committed to upholding Hong Kong's autonomy and respecting the one country, two systems model." Asked if the proposals breach that model, he said: "We are monitoring this closely and our immediate priority is to clarify the details of what is being suggested." Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, said he was "deeply concerned". In a joint statement with Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne and Canadian Foreign Minister François-Philippe Champagne, he said China was "undermining the principle of 'One Country, Two Systems'". US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, already at odds with China on a number of fronts including a blame game over the coronavirus pandemic and robust opposition to countries working with the Chinese company Huawei to develop 5G networks, condemned the move.
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| William Bryan Jr., the man who took video of the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery, arrested on felony murder charge Posted: 21 May 2020 06:20 PM PDT  William Bryan Jr., 50, was arrested Thursday in connection to the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery. He's the third man to be arrested in the case.
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| Record virus infections, deaths are ravaging Latin America Posted: 21 May 2020 10:58 PM PDT  A surging coronavirus is ravaging parts of Latin America, setting records for cases and deaths Friday in some countries in the world's most unequal region even as the pandemic's march slows in much of Europe, Asia and the United States. Latin America's two largest nations — Mexico and Brazil — reported record numbers of infections and deaths almost daily this week, fueling criticism of their presidents, who have slow-walked shutdowns in an attempt to limit economic damage. Brazil reported more than 330,000 confirmed cases as of Friday, surpassing Russia to become the nation with the second-highest number of infections, behind only the U.S., according to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University.
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| This Giant Monument to Elon Musk Has Tulsa Residents Furious Posted: 22 May 2020 06:04 PM PDT  In a dystopian bid to lure Tesla's Cybertruck Gigafactory to Tulsa, the Oklahoma state monument—a seven-story, 22-ton statue of an oil worker called The Golden Driller—has been redesigned as an effigy of Elon Musk. The likeness of X Æ A-12's multibillionaire father, now called The Driller 'Golden Elon,' is one of the largest free-standing statues in the U.S. "Tulsa is a city that doesn't stifle entrepreneurs - we revere them!" Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum wrote on Facebook, prompting an onslaught of enraged replies. "Golden @elonmusk is now the 6th-tallest statue in the United States. TulsaforTesla @Tesla." The gargantuan statue, unveiled earlier this week at a community event and on Bynum's social media, now features a red Tesla logo painted on its chest. The Driller's 48-foot belt, which once read "TULSA," was changed to read "TESLA." If you squint, the statue's head now looks like a low-budget YouTube cartoon of Musk. "I was told onsite it was an 'Elon Musk Face Skin,'" one worker wrote on Facebook. "It went on like a fruit roll-up." "It's this weird, ghostly, white mask-like thing," said Lucas Wrench, a 28-year-old Tulsa Artist Fellow, who runs an arts space called OK 1. "It sort of looks like if you FaceSwapped with some creature. I just couldn't believe it. I'm shocked at how transparent it is—the kind of a symbol they created in putting this enormous billionaire, literally a giant towering billionaire in Tulsa—the lack of self-awareness. They're groveling."The redesign was spearheaded by a "community-led group" called Tulsa For Tesla, in coordination with the Tulsa County Fairgrounds, a spokesperson for Bynum told The Daily Beast. The group has no online profile, although there is a Facebook page for a group called "Tulsa 4 Tesla," which was started May 17 and boasts 104 followers as of Friday. The administrator of that page told The Daily Beast they had not organized the redesign, but simply wanted Musk to move there. "I had no idea [the other Tulsa For Tesla] existed until a few days ago," the Tulsa 4 Tesla administrator wrote. "I would have thought they would have [a Facebook] page. When I named this one I looked [for others], even using '4' instead of 'For' Tulsa." "The City did not coordinate the Driller Golden Elon," the mayor's spokesperson wrote. "Mayor Bynum spoke at the community-led event earlier this week." Still, Bynum has made similar suggestions to redesign city structures in Musk's image. Earlier this week, reported by CBS News, Bynum posted an image of a Tesla Cybertruck sporting the Tulsa Police logo on Instagram, suggesting police officers would use the pixelated, sci-fi-looking monstrosities if the factory came to town. "The Golden Driller is something that's commonly decorated for special events and holidays," said Sydney Smith, a 22-year-old from Tulsa, who now studies at the Kansas City Art Institute. "Sometimes they paint it to look like wacky stuff, but painting it to paint like the face of Elon Musk is one of the most disturbing things I've ever seen. It's asking a billionaire to come in and just bring his billionaire status to our town."The Golden Driller has undergone makeovers in the past. The first iteration was constructed in 1952 for the International Petroleum Exposition, an annual trade fair in Tulsa. At the time, the belt buckle read "MID-CONTINENT," after the company that commissioned it, The Mid-Continent Supply Company of Fort Worth. In 1959, after the statue attracted attention, the company built a second for that year's expo, before donating it to the Tulsa County Fairgrounds Trust Authority. In 1966, the Trust had it installed permanently by the Tulsa Expo Center, to commemorate the city as the "Oil Capital of the World." When the state adopted it as its official monument in 1979, they changed the massive buckle to read "TULSA."White Anti-Quarantine Protesters Have Cruelly Co-opted an Enslaved Black Woman from the 18th CenturyThe Kentucky Miner Who Scammed Americans by Claiming He Was Hitler and Plotting a 'Revolt' With 'Spaceships'At the base of the statue, which "wears" a size-112 hard hat and size-393DDD shoes, an inscription reads, "The Golden Driller, a symbol of the International Petroleum Exposition. Dedicated to the men of the petroleum industry who by their vision and daring have created from God's abundance a better life for mankind."The redesign reorients a city literally nicknamed the "Oil Capital of the World" toward green energy, at least symbolically. Some residents are riled for precisely that reason. "What a fantastic use of tax dollars!! �� ," a Facebook user named Stacy Spohn Bay wrote. "Tulsa was built on oil, not electric/solar power. How degrading, desperate and embarrassing to see this." Progressives like Smith aren't sure how far the gesture goes. "Sure, they're making efforts to make a sustainable vehicle, but it's not necessarily something that's affordable," she said. "It's more of a status symbol and a way for a billionaire to make billions of dollars than something that's going to actually make a positive contribution to the environment, especially in a place like Tusla that's surrounded by refineries.""Our mayor, G.T. Bynum, I think he gets a lot of credit for being this sensible Republican," Wrench added. "Yeah, we're an oil town, but he's not afraid of clean energy. I think maybe, that is where this started. But they ignored the fact that Elon is just an insanely hated billionaire and that is by the far the dominant symbol that comes across to most people." Wrench plans to host a talk next Thursday called The Colossus of Musk, with Art History Professor Bill Anthes and Rome Prize Winner Classics Professor Michelle Berenfeld, both of Pitzer College, about the history of mega sculptures and what the "Golden Elon" means from an art perspective.The race to determine Tesla's new home came after Musk sued Alameda County in California, demanding to reopen his plant in Fremont, in flagrant violation of the state's stay-at-home order. On Twitter, Musk announced plans to move Tesla's "HQ and future programs to Texas/Nevada immediately." "While we love the idea of Tesla's Cybertruck plant moving to Tulsa, which would provide good paying jobs for Oklahoma families, move our state towards clean energy, and transition TPD to green vehicles, we have concerns pertaining to the fair treatment of workers," Tulsa activist publication The Progressive Report told The Daily Beast. "Led by Musk, Tesla committed several violations to the US National Labour Relations Act in 2017 & 2018\. Knowing Tesla's history of violating workers' rights, it's important we keep a watchful eye on them, especially if they decide to reside in T-Town."According to Electrek, Tesla plans to announce their new factory's site as soon as this month, and by July at the latest. "Maybe there's some benefit by bringing some jobs to Tulsa," Smith said, "But at the same time—outside of any opinions I have about Telsa or Elon Musk—a lot of times big corporations will propose bringing a headquarters to Tusla, and it will go to another city like Austin. The gentrification that comes to cities that used to have a similar vibe to Tulsa has the impact of raising the rent and raising the property taxes for the people that live there and call that place home." 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.
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| US to sanction nine Chinese entities for rights violations Posted: 22 May 2020 01:44 PM PDT  The US Department of Commerce said Friday it would sanction a Chinese government institute and eight companies for human rights abuses against Uighurs and other minorities in China's western Xinjiang region. "These nine parties are complicit in human rights violations and abuses committed in China's campaign of repression, mass arbitrary detention, forced labor and high-technology surveillance against Uighurs, ethnic Kazakhs, and other members of Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region," the Commerce Department said in a statement. The sanctions followed China's move to impose a national security law to quash the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong, which US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called a "disastrous proposal."
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| ‘Wise Guy’ Biden Apologizes for ‘You Ain’t Black’ Gaffe Posted: 22 May 2020 09:01 AM PDT  Former Vice President Joe Biden apologized on Friday afternoon just hours after telling radio host Charlamagne Tha God that he "ain't black" if he had additional questions about whether to support Biden's presidential bid over Donald Trump's."I should not have been so cavalier. I've never, never, ever taken the African-American community for granted," Biden said on a call with the Black Chamber of Commerce. "I shouldn't have been such a wise guy."Before Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, addressed the remark, his campaign had moved quickly to clarify it, saying that he was speaking in jest. "The comments made at the end of the Breakfast Club interview were in jest, but let's be clear about what the VP was saying: he was making the distinction that he would put his record with the African American community up against Trump's any day. Period," Symone Sanders, a senior adviser to Biden, wrote on Twitter after the segment aired. Biden made the comment on Friday morning during an interview with Charlamagne on popular radio show "The Breakfast Club." After being asked about his search for a vice presidential candidate, Biden first answered vaguely by saying he's "not acknowledging anybody who is being considered" before adding that he could "guarantee" there were "multiple black women being considered."African-American voters are the most loyal constituency in the Democratic Party and played a key role in elevating Biden's candidacy to the status of presumptive nominee.Pressed for additional details, an advisor interrupted to wrap up the interview. Charlamagne then said, "You can't do that to black media!""I do that to white media and black media because my wife has to go on at 6 o'clock," Biden replied, while looking at his watch and saying, "I'm in trouble." "Listen, you've got to come see us when you come to New York, VP Biden," Charlamagne said. "It's a long way until November. We've got more questions." Biden said, in an apparent light-hearted fashion: "You've got more questions? Well, I tell you what, if you have a problem figuring out whether you're for me or Trump, then you ain't black."Charlamagne said it had nothing to do with Trump but was about wanting something "for my community.""Take a look at my record, man!" Biden responded. "I have a record that is second-to-none. The NAACP has endorsed me every time I've run, I mean, c'mon. Take a look at the record."Within minutes, Trump-aligned Republicans happily seized on the moment. Hosting an impromptu call with reporters, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) and Katrina Pierson, a senior adviser on Trump's reelection campaign, called Biden's comment "extremely racist.""We hear a lot on the left, particularly in the media, about white privilege," Pierson said. "And I think this video... of an 80-year-old man telling a young black man how to be black is the definition of white privilege." (Biden is 77.) She added: "He basically says, 'how dare you,' as if black America has the audacity to ask more questions about a candidate who is running for president of the United States."Scott, the only African-American Republican in the Senate, said he was "shocked and surprised" by Biden's remark. Choosing not to respond directly to a question about the suggestion it was said in jest, Scott said he was "struck by the condescension and the arrogance in his comments.""I could not believe my ears that he would stoop so low to tell folks what they should do, how they should think, and what it means to be black. That is as arrogant, and offensive, and demeaning as I can imagine in this time that we're living," the senator said.A handful of Bernie Sanders' supporters and African-American celebrities were quick to dunk on Biden for apparently assuming he had the black vote sealed."Aye bruh," rapper P Diddy tweeted at Biden. "I already told you the BlackVoteAintFree"But other Democrats and prominent media figures weighed in delicately, with some brushing off the moment as unlikely to sway voters. Jonathan Capehart, a Washington Post opinion writer who is African-American, wrote that it was clearly a joke when considered in the context of the 18-minute interview. His argument was retweeted by Charlamagne. One Democratic strategist close to the Biden campaign downplayed the exchange as "bubble stuff," referring to flash moments that insiders and D.C. press talk about, but that won't resonate widely with voters in November.Tiffany Cross, author of Say It Louder! Black Voters, White Narratives, & Saving Our Democracy, who wrote an open letter with several prominent black public figures, agreed it was unlikely to influence votes or turnout. But, she added, "his appeal to Black voters needs to be something beyond 'I'm better than the other guy.'" "Biden makes the mistake of assuming he has the Black vote in the bag. He does not. He needs a ticket that will energize people," Cross said, emphasizing for the need for Biden to select a black female running mate. "He may feel comfortable making comments in jest. But he should know all Black voters are not yet comfortable with him. There's still work to be done. That doesn't mean Black voters will cast a ballot for Trump. But he doesn't just want our votes. He has a responsibility at the top of the ticket to think down ballot. Hence, he and the party wants our votes, our dollars, our canvassing, our phone banking, our enthusiasm."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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| Trump admin won't require nursing homes to count COVID-19 deaths that occurred before May 6 Posted: 22 May 2020 02:43 PM PDT  The most recent computation by NBC News found that as of May 11 at least 27,000 older Americans who were residents of long-term care facilities had died.
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| Judge Andrew Napolitano reacts to Trump saying houses of worship are essential Posted: 22 May 2020 12:05 PM PDT  Fox News senior judicial analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano weighs in on 'The Daily Briefing.'
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| UK PM Johnson to update the public on coronavirus Posted: 23 May 2020 02:05 PM PDT  British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will next week update the public on the coronavirus crisis as his government launches its test-and-trace system in an attempt to prevent a second deadly spike of the outbreak when people return to work. The United Kingdom's $3 trillion economy is facing the steepest recession in three centuries and Johnson is facing criticism for the worst death toll in Europe after opposition parties said he acted too slowly to counter the outbreak. As the government begins its test and trace system, Johnson is due to advise the public on what the data and research is indicating about the outbreak.
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| Pompeo reportedly privately met with big Republican donors at taxpayer expense while on official State Department trips Posted: 21 May 2020 10:54 PM PDT  Last year, Sen. Bob Menendez called for a special counsel investigation to see if Pompeo's frequent trips to Kansas were legal.
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| Racist incidents against Africans amid China's virus crackdown spark outcry Posted: 23 May 2020 05:31 AM PDT  Images of Africans sleeping on the street after being evicted from their homes have incited backlash.
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| Suspected IS member arrested after being deported to Germany Posted: 22 May 2020 03:26 AM PDT |
| Before and after: See destruction of Michigan flooding in satellite images Posted: 22 May 2020 12:19 PM PDT  The Landsat 8, an American observation satellite, depicts the two mid-Michigan dams — Edenville and Sanford — that failed and the Tittabawassee River.
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| Businesses 'will have to pay a fifth of furloughed workers' wages' Posted: 22 May 2020 07:02 PM PDT  Businesses will have to pay at least a fifth of the wages of furloughed workers in coming months, it has been reported. Chancellor Rishi Sunak has said the furlough scheme will be in place until at least October with companies to be asked to "start sharing" the cost from the start of August. The Times reports that the Treasury has devised a scheme which would see employers cover between 20 per cent and 30 per cent of a worker's wage. The plans would also see firms paying national insurance contributions, which are approximately 5 per cent of people's wages. The furlough scheme - which pays 80 per cent of a worker's salary up to a £2,500 monthly cap - currently supports around 7.5 million jobs, with Mr Sunak saying earlier this month he was preparing to "wean" workers and business off the programme amid concerns that the nation was becoming "addicted" to it. The latest report comes a day after new data showed the total volume of retail sales dropped a record 18.1 per cent in April as hundreds of thousands of businesses were forced to shut up shop to help tackle coronavirus.
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| Justice Department joins push against Illinois coronavirus restrictions Posted: 22 May 2020 04:49 PM PDT  DOJ suggested Gov. Pritzker has exceeded his authority with his stay at home orders, and also sent a warning letter to LA Mayor Eric Garcetti
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| Density, poverty keep Los Angeles struggling against virus Posted: 23 May 2020 08:12 AM PDT  While most of California welcomed more places to eat, shop and play this holiday weekend, Los Angeles did not join the party. The nation's most populous county is not planning to reopen more widely until the next summer holiday, July 4th, because it has a disproportionately large share of the state's coronavirus cases and can't meet even new, relaxed state standards for allowing additional businesses and recreational activities. In recent days, death and hospitalization trends have improved, but on Friday the White House coronavirus response coordinator named LA as a region where spread of the virus is a concern.
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