| Trump demands appreciation from governors for coronavirus response Posted: 27 Mar 2020 04:31 PM PDT  President Trump used his daily coronavirus to attack Democratic governors who in his estimation had shown insufficient gratitude for his administration's response to the pandemic.
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| Americans stranded in India fear for their safety and wonder when they can return home Posted: 27 Mar 2020 09:04 AM PDT  A California couple waiting to adopt a child in India was days away from completion when the country's coronavirus lockdown brought the process to a halt.
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| A Wuhan seafood vendor believed to be one of the first coronavirus patients says 'a lot fewer people would have died' if the Chinese government acted sooner Posted: 28 Mar 2020 04:45 AM PDT  Wei Guixian, a 57-year-old seafood vendor in Wuhan, China, was among the first 27 people to be diagnosed with the coronavirus.
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| Alabama girl, 4, missing for nearly two days, found safe Posted: 27 Mar 2020 03:43 PM PDT  Evelyn Vadie Sides and her dog have been reunited with worried loved ones.
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| Fact check: Could your December cough actually have been coronavirus? Experts say more research is needed Posted: 27 Mar 2020 06:56 AM PDT  A handful of widely circulated Facebook posts have asserted that people in the United States contracted the coronavirus as early as last fall.
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| US eyes new outbreaks as infections worldwide top 590,000 Posted: 26 Mar 2020 10:48 PM PDT  New Orleans rushed to build a makeshift hospital in its convention center Friday as troubling new outbreaks bubbled in the United States, deaths surged in Italy and Spain and the world warily trudged through the pandemic that has sickened more than a half-million people. In a reminder no one is immune to the new coronavirus, it pierced even the highest echelons of global power as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson became the first leader of a major country to test positive. The escalation of cases worldwide came as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared a new rapid test from Abbott Laboratories, which the company says can detect the coronavirus in about 5 minutes.
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| Iran urges U.S. to free Iranian prisoners amid coronavirus Posted: 27 Mar 2020 02:56 AM PDT  The Tehran government urged the United States on Friday to release Iranians held in U.S. jails on sanctions-related issues due to fears about the coronavirus epidemic. The death toll in Iran, one of the countries worst hit by the disease, meanwhile rose to 2,378 on Friday, a jump of 144, while its number of cases rose to 32,332, according to Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif accused the United States of holding a number of Iranians in its prisons and said that under the circumstances they should be set free.
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| Rhode Island Governor Announces National Guard Will Go 'Door-to-Door' to Identify New Yorkers to Slow COVID-19 Spread Posted: 28 Mar 2020 02:15 PM PDT  Rhode Island officials will order anyone coming from New York into quarantine
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| 'Extraordinary' recovery: 101-year-old Italian man with COVID-19 was released from the hospital Posted: 27 Mar 2020 10:53 AM PDT  "Mr. P." was born during the Spanish flu pandemic. His recovery from COVID-19 gives Italy "hope for the future," Rimini's deputy mayor said.
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| Stay In the Lines With These Neat Science Coloring Pages Posted: 28 Mar 2020 06:00 AM PDT |
| New Yahoo News/YouGov coronavirus poll: 59 percent of Americans say Trump's Easter timeline is 'too soon' to restart economy Posted: 27 Mar 2020 08:58 AM PDT  A large majority of Americans disagree with President Trump that the nation's battle against the coronavirus is winding down and that normal economic activity should resume sooner rather than later, according to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll.
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| Virus Onslaught Deepens Gulf Disquiet Over Saudi Oil-Price War Posted: 26 Mar 2020 08:00 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Saudi Arabia's oil-price war with fellow exporting giant Russia bewildered the kingdom's Gulf allies, unexpectedly shattering their fiscal defenses just when they're most needed to combat the coronavirus.The United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, along with smaller neighbors, want a return to talks among the OPEC+ cabal of oil powers but the central protagonists, including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, are digging in.As the pandemic shuts down major chunks of the global economy, that posture is helping to drive oil even lower, to below $10 in the physical market, sharply curtailing fire-power in Gulf economies still struggling to recover from the last oil price plunge in 2014.Three officials with a deep knowledge of oil policy in the region, as well as industry insiders, described the Saudi decision early this month to cut prices and lift production as Saudi-driven and unnerving for its partners, who felt compelled to fall in line and have had to push the issue to one side as they focus on the wider problems posed by the virus.The longer the standoff between Saudi Arabia and Russia persists, however, the more strain it could put on the Gulf's broader foreign policy efforts that come with their own, sometimes hefty, costs. Saudi Arabia and its Arab neighbors have closely linked strategies toward containing fellow OPEC member Iran -- encouraged by Washington."This was a Saudi-first, Saudi-only move," said Barbara Leaf, a former U.S. ambassador to the U.A.E., describing the dispute as highly disruptive to other Gulf producers. "The Emiratis have aligned themselves with Riyadh and topped up the volume -- they closed ranks. But I can't imagine they think an open-ended price war with Moscow is the best course of action."Turning Up VolumesThe U.A.E., which prides itself on being a stable, predictable oil supplier, is especially concerned about the disorder the price war brought to the market, but tends to refrain from airing disagreement with its larger partner in public. An Abu-Dhabi based diplomat said the U.A.E. would not divert from its energy partnership with Saudi Arabia. Even so, U.A.E Energy Minister Souhail Al Mazrouei struck a more conciliatory tone than Saudi Arabia after the breakdown of oil talks in Vienna."We are hoping that our friends from Russia need more time to think about it and maybe come back and meet anytime, we could meet anytime," he said on March 6.Abu Dhabi worked hard behind the scenes in the immediate aftermath of the meeting to bridge the gap between Riyadh and Moscow and restore stability, according to people familiar with the matter. It is "maximizing efforts to try to drive everybody back to the table", said Leaf. So far, there's little indication its pressure will bring rapid results.Under its de facto leader Prince Mohammed, Saudi Arabia says it's comfortable with oil around $30 a barrel, and has indicated it will seek to maximize the financial pain felt in the Kremlin -- despite already having had to slash this year's planned spending by $13 billion. That's feeding oil market suspicions that that the kingdom has embarked on a policy to structurally weaken competitors as the climate crisis forces an energy revolution.Russia and Saudi Arabia were the architects of a cooperation deal in 2016 to end a slump in oil prices, and it met with initial success. Over time, the alliance became increasingly unbalanced as the Saudis took on a greater share of output curbs and Russia flouted its obligations. Tensions came to a head as Moscow refused Saudi requests for greater production cuts to prop up oil prices during the virus pandemic.Government officials weren't immediately available to publicly comment in the U.A.E. and Kuwait for this story. U.A.E. Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei said in a tweet that his country believes that a "new agreement is essential to support a balanced and less volatile market."The impact of sharply lower crude will be felt hardest in countries like Bahrain and OPEC's No. 2 producer Iraq, where governments have smaller financial reserves, and in the case of Baghdad, a massive reconstruction bill following the war with Islamic State. But even more affluent countries in the U.S-allied region are having to find resources to plot their way through an economic storm that was ill-timed and largely avoidable.The U.A.E. and Kuwait need an oil price of $70 and $54.7 a barrel respectively to break even fiscally in 2020, according to International Monetary Fund projections. Together with neighbors they are now unleashing stimulus worth billions of dollars for economies that never truly recovered from 2014's slump in oil prices.The United Arab Emirates has unveiled a stimulus package worth some $34 billion to fend off the economic impact of coronavirus but its position as both a major crude exporter and a global trade and travel hub means its economy is particularly vulnerable to airline and shipping disruptions wrought by the coronavirus. Non-oil growth in 2019 is expected to have grown just 1.1.% last year, down from 1.3.% a year earlier, and concerns were already growing that malls and real estate in Dubai were becoming oversupplied.Saturated MarketsIt's unlikely other Gulf OPEC members can make up for lost revenue by selling more oil, said Kamel Harami, an independent oil analyst and former executive of state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corp. "The market is already saturated. And Saudi will grab any available opportunities to send additional crude at the expense of OPEC countries," he said.The kingdom's bid to win market share could end up angering allies further afield. In the U.S., where shale oil producers championed by President Donald Trump are especially vulnerable to cheap oil, nine senators called for an investigation into what they described as the "excessive dumping" of crude into the market by Russia and Saudi Arabia. Trump spoke with Prince Mohammed by phone before the Saudi leader escalated the price war, according to the White House, although it wasn't clear if the two discussed Saudi plans.This week, the U.S. made its most direct intervention yet in the oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia, with Secretary of State Michael Pompeo urging Prince Mohammed to "rise to the occasion and reassure" energy markets at a time of economic uncertainty.The Saudi move will likely reignite concern among some in the U.S. Congress who have attacked the Saudi prince over the killing of Saudi dissident and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi and the kingdom's war in Yemen."I don't think anyone expected the Saudis to respond quite like this," said Matthew Reed, vice president of Washington-based consulting firm Foreign Reports, which focuses on how developments in the Middle East affect oil markets. "The longer this drags on, however, the more relations will be strained."For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Africa lockdowns begin as coronavirus cases rise above 1,000 Posted: 27 Mar 2020 06:08 AM PDT  Uganda, Eritrea and Angola announced their first cases, meaning 42 of Africa's 54 countries are now affected.
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| NOT REAL NEWS: Debunking yet more false coronavirus content Posted: 27 Mar 2020 02:03 PM PDT  None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. CLAIM: Nancy Pelosi snuck $25 million worth of pay raises for Congress into the federal relief bill intended to help Americans amid the coronavirus pandemic. THE FACTS: A proposal in the economic rescue package sets aside $25 million for the House of Representatives but "none of those funds will go to member salaries," Evan Hollander, the communications director for the House Appropriations Committee, told The Associated Press.
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| Germany looks at tracking patients to rein in coronavirus - reports Posted: 27 Mar 2020 02:21 AM PDT  Germany has proposed using big data and location tracking to isolate people with coronavirus once social distancing measures now in force have slowed its spread, media reported on Friday. The Interior Ministry's strategy paper recommends following South Korea in aggressively testing for COVID-19 and using smartphone location data to help trace people who have come into contact with those infected with the flu-like disease. Surveillance is a sensitive topic in Germany, where memories of the dreaded East German Stasi secret police and its extensive network of informants are still fresh in the minds of many.
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| Woodland Park boy donates 1,000 sanitizer sprays to town amid coronavirus concerns Posted: 27 Mar 2020 02:11 PM PDT  11-year-old Jayden Perez and his family donated 1,000 hand sanitizer sprays to his New Jersey community as concerns around the spread of COVID-19 grow.
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| South Korea virus test-kit makers approved to export to US Posted: 28 Mar 2020 08:07 AM PDT  The companies won pre-approval under emergency use authorisation from the US Food and Drug Administration that allows for the products to be sold in America, South Korea's foreign ministry said, without naming the firms. The US has more confirmed cases of the coronavirus than anywhere else in the world. South Korean President Moon Jae-in said earlier this week that his US counterpart Donald Trump had asked for test kits, although the White House has not confirmed the request.
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| In reversal, Trump uses Defense Production Act to force GM to make ventilators Posted: 27 Mar 2020 02:41 PM PDT  Trump ends vacillating and uses government powers to force GM to make ventilators
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| Can I walk outside? Is the virus on my shoes? Q&A with experts Posted: 26 Mar 2020 11:46 PM PDT  "CBS This Morning" assembled a panel of experts to answer questions from viewers who want to know how the coronavirus and its economic impact affects them.
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| 'Each day we get news of another brother or sister who has fallen': United Auto Workers announce death of fourth Fiat Chrysler employee due to the coronavirus Posted: 27 Mar 2020 08:23 AM PDT  The fourth FCA death comes as some plants among the Detroit Big Three, whose workers are unionized with the UAW, prepare to come back online.
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| China sends medical aid to Pakistan to combat virus outbreak Posted: 28 Mar 2020 02:51 AM PDT  China sent a plane loaded with medical personnel and supplies Saturday to help Pakistan fight the spread of the coronavirus in one of the world's most populous nations. In Iran, which is battling the worst outbreak in the region, state TV said Saturday another 139 people had died from the virus. China has sought to portray itself as a global leader in the fight against the outbreak, which began a few months ago in its Wuhan province.
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| Neanderthals didn't just hunt mammoths. They actually knew how to fish, researchers discover. Posted: 27 Mar 2020 07:29 AM PDT  A new study suggests that Neanderthals were skilled fishermen and that seafood was a key ingredient in their diets.
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| Want to Escape a Lockdown? Try Sweden Posted: 27 Mar 2020 12:09 AM PDT |
| Asia virus latest: People return to China epicentre, security talks off Posted: 28 Mar 2020 08:31 AM PDT  Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the coronavirus first emerged last year, partly reopened on Saturday after more than two months of near total isolation for its population of 11 million. A top Asian security conference that gathers defence ministers -- including from the US and China -- and senior military officials was cancelled due to the pandemic. Thousands of migrant workers in India, left jobless and penniless by the full shutdown of the country, are walking long distances back to their home villages after all transport was stopped except for essential services.
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| Cuomo responds to idea of an 'enforceable' New York quarantine Posted: 28 Mar 2020 11:54 AM PDT  New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo responded during a Saturday news conference to President Trump's idea of an "enforceable" quarantine in the New York tri-state area.
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| Coalition Out of Crisis: Why Gantz Threw in with Netanyahu Posted: 27 Mar 2020 01:28 PM PDT  After more than a year of bitter political dispute and maneuvering, Israel is about to have a coalition government. It took three elections and an unprecedented public-health crisis to get the country to this point.Benny Gantz, a former chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces and the leader of the opposition Blue and White Party, was faced with a choice this week. He could join Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, or he could stick to the commitment he'd made to his supporters to bring Bibi down. As the country dealt with the coronavirus pandemic, Gantz's continued refusal to join a coalition would likely have plunged it into the agony of a fourth election in less than two years. He chose to throw in with Netanyahu.The price of that decision, which Gantz described as a patriotic duty at a time of national distress, was the destruction of the Blue and White. The year-old political alliance had presented the most potent challenge to Netanyahu's grip on power in more than a decade, propelling Gantz to the brink of becoming his successor.In the new coalition, Gantz will reportedly serve as foreign minister, with Netanyahu continuing as prime minister. The agreement calls for him to switch places with Netanyahu after 18 months, ending the latter's run as the country's longest-serving prime minister. But this will not be a broad unity coalition with Netanyahu's Likud and its right-wing and religious-party allies; rather, Gantz will take only part of his faction into the new government.Gantz took his decision in the midst of a tense and complicated squabble. The Knesset that was elected earlier this month struggled to organize itself in the absence of a governing majority for either Netanyahu or Gantz. Netanyahu and his bloc had 58 seats in the 120-seat parliament, leaving him three short of the votes he needed to continue in power. Gantz had the endorsement of 61 members, but that included the 15 seats held by the Arab Joint List, an alliance of four parties comprising Islamists, Palestinian nationalists, and Communists. A number of Knesset members from the Blue and White refused to serve in a government that depended on the votes of an alliance with the declared intent of ending Israel's status as a Jewish state. Thus Gantz, too, lacked the votes to create a government.A similar impasse after the two previous elections, held in April and September 2019, had led to the March 2 general election. On both sides of the political divide, there were some who were prepared to take their chances a fourth time in order to get a decisive result. But fate in the form of the coronavirus pandemic intervened.Netanyahu, as the head of a caretaker government, embraced the crisis as only an experienced policymaker and wartime leader could. Some of his leftist critics decried the emergency measures he ordered to contain the coronavirus contagion, charging him with exploiting the crisis to bolster his political standing and to distract the country from the fact that he is still facing trial on three corruption charges. Indeed, some regarded his decision to close the courts, one result of which was to postpone the start of his trial, as an assault on democracy. But polls show that most Israelis believe he is once again demonstrating his competence in dealing with an emergency.The incumbent prime minister knew that, though his opponent couldn't form a government, Gantz did have the votes to effectively prevent Netanyahu from remaining in power. The critical factor was the position of Speaker of the Knesset, which has been held by a Netanyahu loyalist. A coalition of the Blue and White, smaller leftist parties, and the Joint List could have elected a new Speaker, and the Knesset could then have passed a law banning anyone under indictment from serving as prime minister. To members of the opposition, this was Gantz's golden opportunity to take Netanyahu down. Indeed, the Blue and White — a diverse alliance including former members of the once-dominant Labor Party, a right-wing faction led by former general and Likud defense minister Moshe Ya'alon, the left-leaning Yesh Atid Party, and Gantz's own centrist faction — was united by only one common purpose: pushing Netanyahu out the door.Though Gantz entered politics as a much-needed fresh face a year ago, after three bruising election campaigns he is now widely seen as lacking the energy and political skills that Netanyahu possesses. Moreover, Gantz had campaigned on a promise not to form a government that would be dependent on the anti-Zionists of the Joint List, and his flirtation with that alliance in the weeks since the last election had soured voters on the Blue and White. Going to a fourth election was therefore a big risk for the party, with polls suggesting not a big or even a narrow win but in fact a decisive defeat. The electorate leans right to begin with, on top of which it was most likely to want a familiar steady hand to lead the country through the pandemic crisis. Thus Gantz came to the conclusion that joining the prime minister was the only reasonable choice.But if he thought he could bring all of his party with him into Netanyahu's cabinet, he was dead wrong. Leaders of the factions within the opposition regarded Gantz's decision as a betrayal, not only of them personally but of the million Israelis who voted for them. Much of Israel's left-leaning mainstream media, especially columnists in Haaretz, the newspaper that dubs itself Israel's version of the New York Times, echoed this sentiment, lambasting Gantz for his cowardice and for just being too exhausted to carry on the fight.So what becomes of the Blue and White? Some factions will stay in the opposition, and since they will have more Knesset seats than Gantz's own faction, they will likely retain the Blue and White label. But in effect, this split spells the end of the party that had presented the most formidable challenge that Netanyahu has faced since 2009. Moreover, given that the factions disagree on most policy questions, the ability of the party, or what's left of it, to serve as an effective opposition is questionable.The exact terms of Gantz's deal with Netanyahu have yet to be formalized. Gantz signaled his deal with the prime minister by having himself elected Speaker of the Knesset with Likud support — presumably only until the final bargain is sealed. In doing so, he prevented the Blue and White from wielding any remaining leverage to block the coalition. The arrangement hinges on a rotation of the office of prime minister after 18 months and on allowing Gantz's allies to lead the ministries of defense and justice. Having one of Gantz's allies in the latter post will ensure that, once the national coronavirus lockdown has been lifted and the courts reopened, Netanyahu's trial will go forward.As things stand, it appears that Netanyahu's rule will end either with a conviction or with the prime minister's scheduled handing over of the office to Gantz — whichever comes first. Still, many in the Likud as well as Blue and White believe that if Netanyahu is acquitted, he will find a way to renege on his deal with Gantz. Indeed, it may be that Gantz suspects the same thing.Gantz has gone from the savior of Israel's left-wing opposition to its bête noire. But he understood that the political stalemate could not go on: It was preventing the country from passing a budget that was needed, most urgently, to provide relief to citizens in the face of the pandemic and to shore up the economy. Dragging out the stalemate was neither rational policy nor good politics. Deciding to end it may have cost Gantz a political future, since it's unlikely he will be able to reassemble another formidable coalition. Whether or not he really does become prime minister in September 2021, Gantz decided that destroying his party was not too high a price to pay for saving his country from further chaos in the midst of a pandemic.
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| Sanders is still running, and he may not stop anytime soon Posted: 28 Mar 2020 11:10 AM PDT  The Vermont independent faces long odds of winning the Democratic nomination, but in the pandemic, allies see a moment for his message.
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| A US aircraft carrier could be stuck in port for almost a month for coronavirus testing, but the Navy is trying to cut that time down Posted: 27 Mar 2020 12:03 PM PDT  At the current pace, testing the entire crew could leave the carrier stuck in port for nearly a month.
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| Ex-Venezuelan spy chief Carvajal discussing surrender with U.S. authorities: sources Posted: 28 Mar 2020 10:28 AM PDT  CARACAS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The former head of Venezuela's military intelligence unit, Hugo Carvajal, is discussing his possible surrender with U.S. authorities, three people familiar with the matter said on Saturday, after prosecutors charged him this week with drug trafficking alongside Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Carvajal, a former general and ally of late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, has been in hiding since a Spanish court in November approved his extradition to the United States.
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| American Airlines flight attendant dies of coronavirus, elevating fears in the industry Posted: 27 Mar 2020 11:21 AM PDT  Paul Frishkorn, a Philadelphia-based flight attendant, has died from coronavirus, fueling fears in a profession on the front lines of the pandemic.
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| Australia Unemployment Could Hit 12% in Fastest Slump Since WWII Posted: 26 Mar 2020 10:08 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Australia's jobless rate could soar to around 12% and the economy contract 5% in the second quarter -- and a further fall in the three months after that would bring the fastest decline in activity since World War II, according to National Australia Bank Ltd."The nature of this shock is of course very different to traditional recessions -- in particular, there is hardly any lag between falling output and employment," Alan Oster, chief economist at NAB, said in a research note Friday. He estimates gross domestic product would contract by 3% in 2020, but rebound to 3.5% the following year.Unemployment is likely to prove more stubborn, soaring to 12% and holding there until year-end. Even with a sharp growth recovery in 2021, Oster expects the unemployment rate to still have a "7" as its first digit.Australia's central bank and government have rolled out the stimulus firehose, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison pledging about A$80 billion ($49 billion) in fiscal measures and the Reserve Bank cutting interest rates to near zero and lower borrowing costs across the economy.Measures taken to halt the spread of the coronavirus are inevitably damaging the economy. The stimulus in place should allow activity to bounce back in the recovery phase, but it's not without risks, Oster said."While policy is highly stimulatory and will support recovery, persistently weak business and consumer confidence could see ongoing restraint and a slower recovery," he said. "Adjustments to household and business balance sheets" could also weigh on growth, he added.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Trump tweets blame in all directions over ventilators for coronavirus, except at himself Posted: 27 Mar 2020 10:37 AM PDT  Hours after a Fox News interview in which he downplayed a national shortage of hospital ventilators to treat patients infected with the coronavirus, President Trump fired off a number of tweets Friday blaming General Motors and its CEO, Mary Barra, for not manufacturing more of them.
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| Now That Canada Is Rationing Masks, Trudeau Faces Backlash for Donating Medical Supplies to China Posted: 27 Mar 2020 10:34 AM PDT  Canada's Official Opposition Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer took aim at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for shipping tons of medical supplies to China in February, calling the move "outrageous" with current concerns that Canada is running short on supplies amid its own fight against coronavirus."Drs. across the country are facing urgent shortages of critical supplies. PM must explain why he sent 50,118 face shields, 1,101 masks, 1,820 goggles, 36,425 medical coveralls, 200,000 nitrile gloves and 3,000 aprons from Canada's own gov't reserves overseas in Feb," Scheer tweeted.> Outrageous. Drs across the country are facing urgent shortages of critical supplies. PM must explain why he sent 50,118 face shields, 1,101 masks, 1,820 goggles, 36,425 medical coveralls, 200,000 nitrile gloves and 3,000 aprons from Canada's own gov't reserves overseas in Feb. https://t.co/OkXFErFw57> > -- Andrew Scheer (@AndrewScheer) March 26, 2020 Canada's Foreign Affairs department announced on February 9 that "Canada has deployed approximately 16 tonnes of personal protective equipment, such as clothing, face shields, masks, goggles and gloves" overseas to China, the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic.The move came after the World Health Organization warned the international community that "further international exportation of cases may appear in any country" and that "severe coronavirus-related disruptions" would occur as a result."It was absolutely certain in early February that we would need this equipment," Amir Attaran, a professor at University of Ottawa's school of epidemiology and public health and its faculty of law, told The Globe and Mail. "This decision went beyond altruism into high negligence and incompetence because Canada did not, and does not, have surplus equipment to spare."A spokesman for Foreign Affairs explained to the paper that the decision was made "when the spread of COVID-19 was primarily limited to China," and that Canada had since "welcomed donations from Chinese companies" to boost its own stockpiles.Local European news outlets reported this week that the majority of rapid coronavirus test kits supplied by China to Spain and the Czech Republic are faulty.
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| Catholics allowed to eat meat on Lenten Fridays Posted: 27 Mar 2020 09:18 AM PDT  Some bishops this year are telling parishioners that they've sacrificed enough as the coronavirus pandemic denies people of gatherings, outside entertainment and everyday conveniences.
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| The US's coronavirus death rate is currently 1.6% — one of the lowest of any hard-hit country. Here's how it compares to places like China and Italy. Posted: 27 Mar 2020 05:00 PM PDT  The US is one of the hardest-hit countries in the world by the coronavirus pandemic. But its death rate from the COVID-19 illness is low: 1.6%.
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| 4 passengers dead aboard cruise ship anchored off Panama coast Posted: 27 Mar 2020 03:59 PM PDT  Four passengers have died aboard a cruise ship now anchored off the coast of Panama and two people aboard the ship have tested positive for the coronavirus, the cruise line said Friday, with hundreds of passengers unsure how long they will remain at sea.
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| South Korean test kit makers swamped as coronavirus cases explode in U.S., Europe Posted: 27 Mar 2020 01:42 AM PDT  Last year, South Korean biotech firm SolGent made diagnostic kits for 300,000 tests. SolGent, which is one of the five firms that have received fast-track approval to make test kits for South Korea, is capitalizing on the country's success in containing its outbreak to boost exports, with cases slowing down at home. SolGent has even got offers from three U.S. biotech firms to license its technology so that they can manufacture test kits in the United States, You said, adding nothing has been decided.
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| Coronavirus: 3 migrant children in US custody in New York test positive Posted: 26 Mar 2020 09:50 PM PDT  Three migrant children in U.S. government custody in New York test positive for coronavirus, officials said.
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| Merkel Pleads With Germans for Patience on Lockdown Measures Posted: 27 Mar 2020 02:57 AM PDT |
| The mistakes that turned New York into an epicenter of the coronavirus epidemic Posted: 27 Mar 2020 02:00 AM PDT  Caught between a mayor's indecision and a president's inattention, the nation's largest city was left dangerously exposed to the coronavirus pandemic.
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| QAnon Mom Charged With Kidnapping Her Kids Posted: 28 Mar 2020 02:01 AM PDT  A QAnon conspiracy theorist, fascinated with the crackpot legal theories of the anti-government "sovereign citizen" movement, allegedly kidnapped her two daughters last week. It is just the latest example of the growing and increasingly dangerous overlap between right-wing conspiracy theories and real-life violent crime.QAnon believers have been charged in the past with two murders, a terrorist incident near the Hoover Dam, and an incidence of church vandalism, all of which appear to have been motivated by their bizarre beliefs. Kentucky resident Neely Blanchard, whose two daughters are legally in their grandmother's sole custody, allegedly took the children from their grandmother's house in Logan County, Ky., on March 20, according to police. An amber alert sent out after the alleged abduction warned that Blanchard was armed with a handgun. Blanchard was eventually arrested early Thursday morning, and her two daughters were recovered unharmed. Blanchard now faces two kidnapping charges and two charges of custodial interference, according to Logan County Sheriff Stephen Stratton, who said that law enforcement officials traced her cellphone location to the home of a group of anti-government extremists known as sovereign citizens. What Is QAnon? The Craziest Theory of the Trump Era, ExplainedSovereign citizens believe in an elaborate set of legal theories that holds that American citizens can unilaterally use certain code phrases to proclaim that the United States government has no jurisdiction over them — and thus get out of hot water with the justice system. While these ideas have no actual force in law, a series of Facebook groups and YouTube personalities have promoted sovereign citizen theories to parents desperate to regain custody of their children, drawing them into the fringe movement. The FBI considers sovereign citizens a potential source of domestic terrorism. A 2018 Southern Poverty Law Center report found that sovereign citizens had killed six law enforcement officials since 2005. Blanchard, for example, is the moderator of a Facebook group called "E-Clause"—a hotbed for sovereign citizen legal discussion—and drives a car with an "ECLAUSE" license plate. While Blanchard avoided police, other sovereign citizen E-Clause supporters posted encouragingly on her Facebook page. E-Clause founder Kirk Pendergrass did not respond to a request for comment. While on the run with her children, Blanchard posted a "non-consent" statement on Facebook that appeared to be a reference to sovereign citizen ideas. "I do not consent, I do not contract, I do not acquiesce nor trade, or allow access or enquiry to my nor my children's Cestui que vie trust," Blanchard's strange statement read. "All deemed authorities are now notified & therefore have no legal jurisdiction against me, I am now not 'deemed dead lost at sea.'"The letter appears to be a sovereign citizen tactic meant to help Blanchard regain custody of her children and avoid kidnapping charges. Copies of the letter were also delivered to baffled legal officials around Logan County, according to Stratton. "She is claiming that she's a sovereign citizen, and she had actually sent letters to myself and the county attorney here stating those things," Stratton told The Daily Beast. According to her Facebook posts, Blanchard is also an ardent promoter of the QAnon conspiracy theory, a pro-Trump fringe movement that believes Trump is engaged in a shadowy war with a global cabal of pedophiles in the Democratic Party who eat children. Blanchard's Facebook account includes a number of QAnon-related memes, as well as pictures of her at Trump rallies wearing QAnon shirts referencing the QAnon idea that John F. Kennedy Jr. faked his death to help Trump defeat the deep state. QAnon is popular on the sovereign citizen child custody groups, in part because its believers claim that the government and child protective agencies are abusing the children they take from their parents' custody—an idea referenced in Blanchard's sovereign citizen letter. This isn't the first time a child custody dispute has had the potential to turn violent over QAnon. In January, the FBI arrested QAnon believer Cynthia Abcug in Montana for allegedly plotting to kidnap her son, who was not in her custody, with the help of another armed QAnon supporter. Abcug allegedly discussed people "dying" in a "raid" on the home where her son lived. Abcug had been on the run before her arrest, and became a cause célèbre on the same sort of sovereign citizen child custody Facebook groups that Blanchard belonged to. The hunt for Blanchard and her children was complicated by the coronavirus pandemic, according to Stratton. When officers arrived at the sovereign citizen home where Blanchard was allegedly hiding out with her daughters, several people in the house claimed to have fevers, in an apparent attempt to scare off law enforcement.Teen-Texting QAnon Creep Quits Campaign"From what we've been reading, they've been using the coronavirus epidemic as a government conspiracy theory type thing," Stratton said. Blanchard had previously tried to take another one of her children out of custody in 2013, after allegedly paying a friend 20 Xanax tablets to make a false abuse report. After Blanchard's arrest in Kentucky, a woman claiming to be one of her friends posted on her Facebook account describing the arrest. The woman complained that the sheriff's deputies ignored Blanchard's sovereign citizen legal document and arrested her anyway—a predictable outcome, given that sovereign citizen arguments have no relation to actual laws."We gave them the non-consent paper, showed it to them, it didn't matter," the woman said. 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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