| '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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| 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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| '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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| 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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| 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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| 25 Graduation Gifts They Need (And Want) Post-College Posted: 14 May 2020 12:43 PM PDT |
| 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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| 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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| 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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| 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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| Company tied to Trump campaign manager gets PPP loan Posted: 14 May 2020 05:03 PM PDT  CloudCommerce received nearly $800,000 on May 5.
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| Apple's top lobbyist resigned after getting tapped to work on Joe Biden's campaign Posted: 14 May 2020 04:23 AM PDT  Apple's head of policy and government affairs Cynthia Hogan has a long history of working with Joe Biden.
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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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| 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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| 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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| Austrian-German border to fully reopen in a month, Austria says Posted: 13 May 2020 12:01 AM PDT |
| Protesters descend on Michigan capitol but rain washes away demonstration Posted: 14 May 2020 11:05 AM PDT  State senate and house cancelled sessions as downpour and lighting pushed protesters, some armed, away after 90 minutes * Coronavirus – live US updates * Live global updatesFollowing a week of escalating tensions over threats of violence made against Michigan's Democratic politicians and an ongoing, emotional debate over Gretchen Whitmer's stay-at-home order, dozens of conservative protesters descended on the state capitol on Thursday morning.Some arrived armed with assault rifles while others held up signs portraying the governor with a Hitler moustache and one speaker taunted police and called for Whitmer to be pulled outside and arrested for breaking the law with her emergency orders.But the fears of serious violence that had preceded the event proved unfounded. Instead, a steady downpour and lightning pushed most of the protesters to their vehicles after about 90 minutes. Tempers only briefly flared when a scuffle ensued after one demonstrator grabbed a sign from another. Police quickly broke up the fight and no one was arrested or hurt, the Michigan state police said in a tweet.The state senate and house also cancelled their Thursday morning sessions.Adam de Angeli, an organizer with militia-linked Michigan United For Liberty, told the crowd: "We are not going to be intimidated and we are not going to be silent," he said. "This is the biggest infringement on our rights in our history. This is devastating to our country and economy."Many of the demonstrators also questioned the constitutionality of the governor's orders."What's worse – having a cough or having a tyrannical leader who takes your freedoms away?" asked Tom, who told the Guardian he belonged to a Michigan militia but declined to give his full name. He held an assault rifle as he stood on the capitol lawn in full camouflage.Michigan in recent weeks has become a flashpoint in the debate over stay-at-home orders, but in no other state has there been a serious threat of violence. The state has recorded the seventh highest number of Covid-19 cases, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, and Wayne county, which holds the city of Detroit, has seen some of the US's highest rates of infection.Whitmer has instituted strict emergency orders in an attempt to control the virus's spread, and while that has led to protests that received national attention, recent polling shows bipartisan support for her management of the crisis.Still, tensions ratcheted up on 30 April when armed militia members glared and shouted at lawmakers from the Senate gallery during an emotional debate over extending Whitmer's stay-at-home order through the end of May. Democrats charged that the protests were intimidating lawmakers.Organizers had billed Thursday's protest as "Judgment Day". State police and the attorney general, Dana Nessel, responded with warnings that those who brandish weapons, obstruct police or did not follow social distancing guidelines would be ticketed or arrested.But the protest was largely calm. Some demonstrators wore masks, but few followed social distancing guidelines. Police mostly stayed inside the capitol building or in small groups along the capitol grounds' perimeter.Phil Robinson, a member of the Michigan Liberty Militia, carried an assault rifle and wore full armor. He told reporters that the idea that militia members were there to intimidate was wrong and characterized his group as peacekeepers and "law-abiding citizens".Whitmer's stay-at-home orders have so far survived legal challenges in federal court. But the Republican-controlled legislature filed a suit that the Michigan supreme court will soon hear. Though conservatives hold a 4-3 majority on the court, it frequently does not rule along party lines.Meanwhile, the Republican congressman Paul Mitchell and well-funded conservative groups have launched a citizen-initiated ballot drive that would exploit a loophole in Michigan's constitution to allow the GOP-controlled legislature to repeal the 1945 state law that gives governors their emergency powers.
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| Fox News' Bret Baier says Dr. Bright testimony may be 'politically damaging' for Trump Posted: 14 May 2020 01:37 PM PDT  Dr. Rick Bright, the ousted federal official who was formerly leading coronavirus vaccine development, on Thursday delivered testimony before Congress that, according to Fox News' Bret Baier, may be "politically damaging" for President Trump.Bright testified before Congress after filing a whistleblower complaint alleging "cronyism" at the Department of Health and Human Services after being removed as director of its Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. In addition to urging the federal government to ramp up its response to the coronavirus pandemic to prevent more lives from being lost, he alleged in his testimony the administration was not adequately prepared for the pandemic and that warnings from experts like him were "overlooked" as "pages from our pandemic playbook were ignored by some in leadership.""This is significant testimony today," Baier said on Fox News. "...He does have a lot of experience, and he's telling a story about not being prepared for this pandemic. This is potentially politically damaging for the president."Trump has dismissed Bright as just a "disgruntled employee," but Bright, Baier said, "is not discredited easily." The Fox News host added the testimony, which was of "substance," can be seized on by Democrats as an example of Trump "dropping the ball" on the crisis.Bright has alleged he was removed from his position in part because he wouldn't back the Trump-touted hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment, and the Office of Special Counsel recently found "reasonable grounds" to believe his ouster was retaliatory. Watch the latest video at foxnews.comMore 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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| Rep. Devin Nunes on GOP flipping California House seat, Obama officials' pursuit of Michael Flynn Posted: 13 May 2020 08:25 PM PDT  California Rep. Devin Nunes, ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, joins Shannon Bream on 'Fox News @ Night.'
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| Sweden's per-capita coronavirus death toll is among the highest in the world — a sign its decision to avoid a lockdown might not be working Posted: 14 May 2020 04:35 PM PDT  Sweden's strategy to fight the coronavirus did not include a mandatory lockdown. Its high death toll raises new questions about the approach.
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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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| 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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| Coronavirus: US accuses China of hacking coronavirus research Posted: 13 May 2020 04:48 PM PDT  The FBI said it had seen hacking attempts on groups researching vaccines, treatments and testing.
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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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| Italy's daily coronavirus death toll and new cases climb Posted: 14 May 2020 09:02 AM PDT  Deaths from the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy climbed by 262 on Thursday, against 195 the day before, the Civil Protection Agency said, while the daily tally of new cases rose to 992 from 888 on Wednesday. The total death toll since the outbreak came to light on Feb. 21 now stands at 31,368 the agency said, the third highest in the world after those of the United States and Britain.
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| 'They threw us into chaos': Wisconsin lockdown ruling is latest in partisan war Posted: 14 May 2020 12:39 PM PDT  Wisconsin supreme court ruling striking down Democratic governor's stay-at-home order underscores division in the stateA conservative majority on the Wisconsin supreme court struck down a stay-at-home order from the state's Democratic governor on Wednesday, further illustrating the remarkable amount of power Republicans have in the state and the way they have been able to curb the authority of their Democratic rivals.The Wisconsin decision is the most significant legal victory for conservatives, egged on by Donald Trump, who are beginning to challenge stay-at-home orders across the country through protests and legal actions. Republican lawmakers in Michigan, where the legislature is extremely gerrymandered, are also challenging the legal authority of a similar order issued by the state's Democratic governor there. Other suits from businesses challenging stay-at-home orders in other states have been largely unsuccessful, so far.The decision was the latest in a nasty partisan battle in Wisconsin between Republicans and Democrats that has shaped the last decade. The state is narrowly divided politically and seen as a crucial state to win for both campaigns in the November presidential election.The case also shows the extreme significance of state supreme court races, long overlooked, in shaping state policy. Justice Daniel Kelly, a conservative on the court, lost his seat to Jill Karofsky, a liberal challenger, last month. Kelly, who is set to leave the court this summer, cast the deciding vote in the Wednesday ruling.In Wisconsin, conservatives hold a 5-2 majority on the state supreme court, and all but one of the conservative justices voted to strike down the order on Wednesday, saying Tony Evers, the Democratic governor, didn't follow proper procedure when he issued the order. Some businesses immediately opened after the ruling and some bars were flooded with patrons."Republican legislators have convinced four justices to throw our state into chaos," Evers said in a statement.In a remarkable passage in a concurring opinion, Justice Rebecca Bradley drew comparisons between the case and Korematsu v United States, the 1946 US supreme court decision allowing the internment of Japanese-Americans during the second world war. She cited the case "to remind the state that urging courts to approve the exercise of extraordinary power during times of emergency may lead to extraordinary abuses of its citizens".Since 2012, Republicans have held significant majorities in both chambers of the state legislature, in large part because they drew boundaries for districts at the beginning of the decade that gave them a severe political advantage. They have maintained that advantage even though the state is extremely competitive politically – Trump narrowly won the state in 2016, but Evers and other Democrats swept statewide races in 2018.Republicans have been trying to strip Evers of power even before he took office. During a 2018 lame duck session, Republicans quickly passed laws that stripped Evers and the state's incoming attorney general of some of their power. The move was ultimately upheld by the state supreme court in a 4-3 vote along partisan lines.The state supreme court also voted along partisan lines last month to override a last-minute order from Evers to cancel in-person voting for the state's 7 April election. The decision was widely seen as a partisan effort to boost Kelly, who was on the ballot, but he wound up losing handily to Karofsky.The state supreme court is also expected in the near future to take up a closely watched case deciding whether Wisconsin election officials need to remove more than 200,000 people from the voter rolls ahead of the November election – a decision that could have huge political consequences in the state.Justice Rebecca Dallet, a liberal on the court, wrote in a dissenting opinion on Wednesday that the supreme court had done "the legislature's bidding" in striking down the measure."This decision will undoubtedly go down as one of the most blatant examples of judicial activism in this court's history," she wrote. "And it will be Wisconsinites who pay the price."A majority of this court falls hook, line and sinker for the legislature's tactic to rewrite a duly enacted statute through litigation rather than legislation."
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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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| Reward for return of Colorado woman who went missing on Mother's Day increased to $200,000 as FBI join search Posted: 14 May 2020 01:01 PM PDT  A woman who disappeared while riding her bike on Mother's Day is still missing, and the FBI is joining the search.Suzanne Morphew, 49, of Colorado, disappeared on Sunday while riding her bike, triggering a major search effort by more than 100 people and numerous dogs.
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| Nebraska health officials stop reporting COVID-19 confirmations at meatpacking plants as case counts continue to rise Posted: 13 May 2020 10:49 AM PDT  Gov. Pete Ricketts announced that state health officials would no longer share numbers of infected at each plant, according to The Washington Post.
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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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| 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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| 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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| 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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| 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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| House Democrats push new round of stimulus checks in coronavirus bill Posted: 13 May 2020 05:37 AM PDT  The Democratic legislation would provide for another $1,200 per person with income thresholds similar to those in the CARES Act.
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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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| 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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| 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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| Letters to the Editor: Trump told us not to fear the coronavirus, so why should he? Posted: 14 May 2020 03:00 AM PDT  The president reassured Americans they had little to fear about the coronavirus. Will he take his own advice now that it's in the White House?
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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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| 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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| Georgia officials trying to stop large, invasive lizard that eats 'anything they want' Posted: 13 May 2020 11:46 AM PDT  Argentine black and white tegus have not been a threat to humans and common household pets, but do pose a danger to native species.
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| Venezuelan prison director and five soldiers charged in prison massacre case Posted: 13 May 2020 01:30 PM PDT |
| Taliban claim deadly attack on Afghan army base Posted: 14 May 2020 04:45 AM PDT  The Taliban said they carried out a deadly attack Thursday on an Afghan army base after the government ordered forces to resume strikes against the militants. The defence ministry said a truck bomb targeted the base in the eastern city of Gardez, killing five civilians. It comes after a particularly violent week which saw President Ashraf Ghani rescind the government's recent "defensive" stance aimed at promoting peace talks with the Taliban, and order troops back onto the offensive.
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| GBI probes local prosecutors in Ahmaud Arbery case Posted: 13 May 2020 11:53 AM PDT  Reaction and analysis from criminal defense attorney Philip Holloway on 'The Daily Briefing.'
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| Russia registered 60% of all coronavirus deaths that happened in Moscow last month to other causes Posted: 14 May 2020 07:11 AM PDT  Russia has the second-highest number of coronavirus cases in the world but claims to have one of the lowest death tolls.
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| Senate narrowly rejects new limits on internet surveillance Posted: 13 May 2020 02:47 PM PDT  The Senate came one vote short Wednesday of approving a proposal to prevent federal law enforcement from obtaining internet browsing information or search history without seeking a warrant. The bipartisan amendment won a solid majority of the Senate but just shy of the 60 votes needed for adoption. The amendment's authors, Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Republican Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, have long opposed the expansion and renewal of surveillance laws that the government uses to track and fight terrorists.
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| A Civil War Has Erupted in the Anti-Vaxx Movement and It’s Just as Ridiculous as You’d Expect Posted: 14 May 2020 01:03 AM PDT  One would think that a global pandemic resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans would present a fair number of challenges for anti-vaccine activists. But in the wake of the spread of the novel coronavirus, the community is—to borrow an overused phrase—having a moment. They're pushing their dangerous views at anti-lockdown protests across the country, raising fears about the risks of any future COVID-19 vaccine. Plandemic, the coronavirus conspiracy-theory video starring a discredited doctor allied with anti-vaccine activists, racked up millions of views on social media before it was banned from YouTube and Facebook. In Australia, a crowd called for billionaire Bill Gates to be arrested—all for the "crime" of funding vaccine research. And yet, with increased visibility comes heightened pressure. And as the anti-vaccine movement tries to take advantage of the pandemic, it's been torn in half by a new feud and multiple lawsuits over the most damaging claim someone can make about an anti-vaccine activist: that they secretly support vaccines.The Anti-Vax Doctor Undermining the COVID-19 Response in MontanaOn one side of the fight is Robert F. Kennedy Jr., perhaps the country's most prominent anti-vaccine activist, whose own family members have disowned his anti-vaccine views. On the other is Shiva Ayyadurai, the self-styled "inventor of email" who's running in the Republican primary for a Massachusetts Senate seat. Last week, their simmering fight over leadership of the anti-vaccine movement spilled into court, with Ayyadurai suing Kennedy for $95 million for defamation.Ayyadurai has been publicly feuding with Kennedy since at least January, when he claimed on Twitter that Kennedy was afraid to take a picture with him at an anti-vaccine event and tying Kennedy to Hillary Clinton, who has been dubbed in the community as the "vaccine queen." The clash between the two has only accelerated in the coronavirus era, as Ayyadurai, who holds a Ph.D. in biological engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has long associated himself with fringe right-wing activists, styled himself as a coronavirus expert. Ayyadurai's claims about "coronavirus fear-mongering" were cited by Fox News host Sean Hannity, while QAnon conspiracy theorists pushed for Ayyadurai to replace Dr. Anthony Fauci as the face of the country's coronavirus response. At the same time, Ayyadurai has clashed with other prominent anti-vaccine activists, even as he himself argued that the coronavirus could be dealt with through vitamins. Ayyadurai dubbed Kennedy a member of the "Kennedy Klinton Klan," portraying him as a secret ally of Gates and the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee. Ayyadurai appears to have picked Kennedy as a foil because he's preparing to face Kennedy's nephew, Rep. Joe Kennedy (D-MA) in the Senate general election. The younger Kennedy is currently polling ahead of incumbent Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) in the Democratic primary. This isn't Ayyadurai's first Senate run. In 2018, he badly lost an independent Senate bid for the seat held by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) in which he urged voters to back "the REAL Indian." Ayyadurai faces only one GOP primary opponent, attorney Kevin O'Connor.Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shot back against Ayyadurai on April 28, suggesting in a blog post that Ayyadurai is "controlled opposition" working on behalf of unnamed forces intent on dividing and undermining anti-vaccine activists with "venomous salvos." "When Shiva calls Movement leaders 'controlled opposition,' is he speaking of himself?" Kennedy wrote. Kennedy's blog post included a host of accusations against Ayyadurai, many of them meant to tie Ayyadurai himself to the Clinton family or Gates, whose funding of vaccine research has turned him into a top enemy for anti-vaccine activists. Most damning of all, Kennedy claimed that CytoSolve, a company that Ayyadurai runs, is involved in vaccine production—with the supposedly damning implication that Ayyadurai is secretly a supporter of vaccines."Shiva never mentions the fact that he is a vaccine maker," Kennedy wrote. Few charges are more serious in the anti-vax community. Ayyadurai quickly denied that CytoSolve makes vaccines. And on May 8, he took the fight to federal court with a lawsuit claiming that Kennedy defamed him with the allegation, insisting that the allegation that he makes vaccines and other claims mentioned in Kennedy's blog post had caused him a whopping $95 million in damages. It's not clear how Ayyadurai arrived at the figure of $95 million, which he claims he'll use to fund centers devoted to the "importance of boosting the immune system." Ayyadurai filed a separate lawsuit against a Kennedy supporter over a related blog post. In his complaint, Ayyadurai alleged that Kennedy's claim that Ayyadurai makes vaccines was "intended to discredit him.""Dr. Ayyadurai is not a vaccine maker," the lawsuit reads. "He has never made a vaccine, nor, as explained further below, have any of his companies made a single vaccine."Ayyadurai didn't respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit, which is now being considered in the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts. So far, no hearing date has been set in the case. Kennedy couldn't be reached for comment. 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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