| Schiff proposes postelection 9/11-style commission to study coronavirus response Posted: 03 Apr 2020 09:03 AM PDT  Rep. Adam Schiff's proposal for a 9/11-style commission to study the nation's response to the coronavirus outbreak "is not an exercise in casting blame or scoring political points, but something that the American people should rightly expect from their government as an exercise in accountability," he said.
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| As coronavirus ravages Spain, doctors get a grim order on 'futility of care' for the very old and very sick Posted: 03 Apr 2020 01:24 PM PDT  A document circulated by the health department of Catalonia recommends that emergency teams and health care workers stop using ventilators for patients older than 80, and further recommends that extremely ill victims of COVID-19 be allowed to die at home rather than being taken to the hospital.
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| U.S. sounds alarm on coronavirus in Japan, Tokyo pushes for state of emergency Posted: 02 Apr 2020 08:49 PM PDT  The U.S. government on Friday sounded alarm about the surge in coronavirus cases in Japan, adding to a chorus of prominent domestic voices - including the governor of Tokyo - who have called for decisive action to avoid an explosive outbreak. Amid growing clamour for tighter curbs on people's movements to stem a rising tide of infections, the government has so far been reluctant to pull the trigger, warning of the heavy damage that could ensue in the world's third-biggest economy, already close to recession. Instead, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has urged school closures and called on citizens to avoid unnecessary and non-urgent gatherings and outings while preparing to roll out an economic stimulus plan next week - even as he acknowledged the country was barely avoiding a major jump in infections.
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| The NRA is suing Gov. Cuomo after New York closed gun shops as non-essential businesses Posted: 04 Apr 2020 10:05 AM PDT  Under Cuomo's "PAUSE" order, which is in effect until at least April 15, gun stores were deemed non-essential and ordered to close.
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| 'Protective bubbles': How 2 Army generals stopped the spread of coronavirus among their soldiers Posted: 03 Apr 2020 02:01 AM PDT  Two Army generals took critical actions early to stop the spread of the coronavirus in Asia and Europe from spreading to military bases.
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| Indonesia Beefs Up Central Bank’s Powers to Handle Virus Crisis Posted: 03 Apr 2020 12:13 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Besieged by the worst turmoil since the Asian financial crisis more than two decades ago, Indonesia has given its central bank unprecedented powers to shield the economy from the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.The government has already cut its growth forecast by more than half and unveiled $25 billion in fiscal support to cushion the economic blow. Now Bank Indonesia will be allowed to buy sovereign bonds in the primary market and extend a lifeline to banks in the event of insolvency.Authorities are scrambling to stabilize the economy and financial markets amid a sell-off in emerging markets, which has led to a 16% plunge in the rupiah against the dollar so far this year. The expanded role for the central bank came in an emergency ruling earlier this week by President Joko Widodo, who also temporarily scrapped a cap on the budget deficit to allow the government to spend more."The Indonesian government is reinforcing its defenses as the global economy looks likely to engage in a long war against Covid-19 outbreak," said Satria Sambijantoro, an economist at PT Bahana Sekuritas in Jakarta. "By waiving the fiscal rule, expanding the central bank's role, and giving legal protection to economic policy makers, Indonesia is sending a signal: 'Come, we are prepared.'"Here's a look at the additional powers conferred on Bank Indonesia:Bond PurchasesBank Indonesia can now purchase long-term bonds and Treasury bills issued by the Finance Ministry in the primary market to help the government fund its fiscal measures and provide stability to the financial system. The central bank will purchase the bonds only as a "last resort" when the market can't absorb the supply, according to Governor Perry Warjiyo.Bank Indonesia and the Finance Ministry said they'll take into account financial-market conditions and the bond purchases' impact on inflation.Bank RescueUnder the new rules, Bank Indonesia can buy the repurchase securities owned by Indonesia Deposit Insurance Corp. if it needs to address bank insolvencies. The central bank can also extend short-term liquidity loans or financing based on Shariah principles to banks.Forex ManagementBank Indonesia can now control the management of foreign exchange owned by Indonesian citizens. The provision will allow the authority to force holders of foreign currencies to surrender, repatriate and convert it, in order to maintain macroeconomic and financial-system stability.The ability to manage foreign exchange doesn't amount to capital controls and applies only to citizens, Warjiyo said Thursday. Foreign direct investment and non-resident portfolio investments, which the country needs, will be outside the purview of this rule, he said.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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| Putin says Russia ready to cooperate on cutting oil production Posted: 03 Apr 2020 05:03 PM PDT  Russia is ready to cooperate with Saudi Arabia and the United States to cut oil production, President Vladimir Putin said Friday. Putin said Russia was willing to make agreements within the framework of the OPEC+ group and that "we are ready for cooperation with the United States of America on this issue," according to a statement published by the Kremlin. Oil prices have tumbled in recent weeks in the face of a drop in demand and global economic uncertainty over the new coronavirus pandemic.
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| MSNBC Host Stephanie Ruhle Shuts Down Marco Rubio’s Coronavirus Spin Posted: 03 Apr 2020 09:26 AM PDT  "Can we talk about your state of Florida?" MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle asked Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) midway through their interview Friday morning. Explaining Florida is "one of the last states" to issue a stay-at-home order for its residents, Ruhle asked, "What in the world is going on down there? You have a whole lot of senior citizens and last I checked, they're pretty high risk."Despite the fact that Gov. Ron DeSantis waited until this Wednesday to lockdown his state, Rubio claimed that "for all practical purposes, we were in a stay-at-home order" and that "virtually every county in the state had restrictions in place.""Senator, come on now, stop it," Ruhle said, interrupting him. "Sir, hold on," she added. "Those handful of counties don't have walls around them. You and I both saw pictures of partiers on beaches jamming on it, right? They're not bound by those counties. They can get all over the state. Come on!" Rubio dismissed those photos of crowded beaches by noting that they are mostly from two or three weeks ago. "What I'm trying to say is just because you didn't have a stay-at-home order doesn't mean people weren't staying at home," he added. After saying DeSantis did the right thing by deferring to local officials, he admitted, "That said, I think he made the right decision at this point yesterday with regards to it." Fox News Host Martha MacCallum Nails Kellyanne Conway for Rewriting Trump's Coronavirus History"So you support how he's handled it?" Ruhle asked. "You don't think he should have done it two weeks ago, three weeks ago?" "You know, honestly, I think that we will have plenty of time to look back when this is all done and see all the mistakes that were made, all the errors that were committed at every level, starting at the CDC, congressional oversight, maybe we should have started on the relief bill a week earlier in Congress," Rubio answered. "Right now, though, we can't stop to do that. We have to focus on the emergency that's at hand right now." But Ruhle wasn't done. "With all due respect, sir, you're not immune to finger pointing yourself," she said. "Earlier this week you called out people that share my job." She was referring to a tweet Rubio posted this past Sunday that read, "Some in our media can't contain their glee & delight in reporting that the U.S. has more CoronaVirus cases than China." He added that "beyond being grotesque" it is "bad journalism." "I need to ask you this because I am a journalist, we're not just some personalities," Ruhle said. "You called out journalism. And I need to understand why on earth you did this." When he attempted to defend his tweet as an effort to counter "Chinese propaganda," she added, "Sir, just a moment ago you said we shouldn't be wasting any time pointing fingers or criticizing and that's exactly what you did in that tweet." 'Inexcusable': Dr. Sanjay Gupta Goes Off on Georgia Governor's 'Stunning' Coronavirus AdmissionRead 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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| Medical stockpile seized from alleged hoarder to be distributed Posted: 03 Apr 2020 04:39 AM PDT  U.S. officials have seized a stockpile of personal protective equipment from an alleged hoarder.
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| CDC gives 'voluntary' guidance on wearing coronavirus masks. Trump isn't volunteering. Posted: 03 Apr 2020 03:55 PM PDT  President Trump said Friday that despite new CDC guidance recommending that American citizens wear masks or facial coverings to help slow the spread of the coronavirus, "I don't think that I'm going to be doing it."
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| FISA court orders FBI to review if wiretaps are invalid after errors found during investigation Posted: 03 Apr 2020 03:22 PM PDT  The directive comes just days after an internal Justice Department review found new problems with the FBI's management of wiretap applications.
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| Airline refutes Mexican authority's account of spring break coronavirus outbreak Posted: 04 Apr 2020 02:25 AM PDT  College students from Texas who tested positive for the novel coronavirus after spring break in Los Cabos traveled to the Mexican beach resort on Viva Aerobus, the airline said, and were there a week later than reported by the local tourist board. At least part of the Texas group stayed at the luxury Pueblo Bonito Los Cabos hotel, two people familiar with the arrangements told Reuters.
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| China declared whistleblower doctor Li Wenliang a 'martyr' following a local campaign to silence him for speaking out about the coronavirus Posted: 03 Apr 2020 03:01 AM PDT  Li Wenliang sounded the alarm about the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan on December 30. He died of the virus on February 7.
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| UN chief: Cease-fire appeal backed by parties in 11 nations Posted: 03 Apr 2020 09:23 AM PDT  U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Friday that warring parties in 11 countries have responded positively to his appeal for a global cease-fire to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, but turning words into peace is enormously difficult and fighting has escalated in major conflicts including Yemen, Libya and Afghanistan. Guterres told a briefing at U.N. headquarters in New York that his appeal 10 days ago was rooted in the recognition that "there should be only one fight in our world today: our shared battle against COVID-19."
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| U.S. warns Americans to leave Japan as COVID-19 cases rise fast Posted: 02 Apr 2020 07:54 PM PDT  Strongest message to date from U.S. Embassy comes as experts warn Japan could be heading for a surge in new coronavirus infections.
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| Bernie Sanders calls for guaranteed paid medical leave, $2,000 monthly checks in new coronavirus relief proposal Posted: 03 Apr 2020 02:17 PM PDT  Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is looking ahead to the next few steps in the coronavirus pandemic response.On Friday, Sanders unveiled his "Priorities for the Next Coronavirus Relief Package," proposing a number of relief measures from guaranteeing paid medical and sick leave to all workers to expanding food programs like Meals on Wheels.The proposal unsurprisingly includes a major expansion of Medicare. "We were facing a catastrophic health care crisis before the pandemic, and now that crisis has become much, much worse," writes Sanders. The legislation would use Medicare to cover all health care expenses, notably including anyone who is sick, "regardless of immigration status." In addition to further invoking the Defense Production Act, Sanders says payment on all rent, mortgage payments, and forms of debt should be suspended entirely, not just deferred during the pandemic only to cause "financial ruin" once they become due. Building on the one-time $1,200 payments, Sanders calls for monthly $2,000 payments.The entire plan fits alongside policy ideas Sanders has touted throughout his presidential bid, but are ramped up in both scale and urgency now that the COVID-19 pandemic has quickly exploded to affect millions of Americans both medically and economically. This week's jobs reports showed that likely 3.5 million Americans have lost employer-provided health insurance since the pandemic began.Bloomberg's Joe Weisenthal noted the similarities between Sanders' presidential platform and his latest proposal to Congress, but argued the ideas now sound remarkably "un-radical." The suggestions are "obviously on par with the scale of this crisis," says Weisenthal, and in line with the $2.2 trillion relief package Congress previously passed, "except on a sufficient scale to really counteract the damage." "To prevent the collapse of the economy is far more humane and cost effective than rebuilding the economy after it collapses," Sanders told MSNBC. See Sanders' proposal, which does not yet have a budget estimate, here.More stories from theweek.com Social distancing is going to get darker The noble lie about masks and coronavirus should never have been told 5 brutally funny cartoons about Trump's TV ratings boast
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| BA cabin crew virus fears after long-haul flights Posted: 04 Apr 2020 02:10 AM PDT  Pilots and cabin crew say the airline was slow to take action to protect them from the coronavirus.
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| 3M Refuses White House Directive to Send Masks from Singapore to U.S., Citing Concern for Asian Medical Workers Posted: 03 Apr 2020 06:09 AM PDT  Health care manufacturer 3M has resisted pressure from the White House to import about 10 million N95 respirator masks from the company's hub in Singapore originally destined for Asian countries, in part due to concern for health care workers in those countries, the Financial Times reported on Friday.While 3M agreed to import a similar amount from a factory in China, President Trump and his administration have criticized the company for being less than cooperative with the mobilization effort — and Trump announced he would invoke the Defense Production Act to compel 3M to deliver masks to the U.S."The administration had worked very hard to ease some rules for 3M and other respirator manufacturers because those companies, 3M chief among them, had essentially promised that they would immediately be putting 35m N95s into the US marketplace. It became clear recently that wasn't happening," one White House official told the Financial Times."We hit 3M hard today after seeing what they were doing with their Masks," Trump wrote on Twitter Thursday night. "'P Act' all the way. Big surprise to many in government as to what they were doing - will have a big price to pay!"Director of Trade and Manufacturing Policy Peter Navarro, who also serves as the Defense Production Act coordinator for the White House, criticized 3M earlier on Thursday."To be frank, over the last several days we've had some issues, making sure that all of the production that 3M does around the world, enough of it is coming back here to the right places," Navarro said.On Friday, 3M CEO Mike Roman countered that the company was concentrating all its efforts to help fight the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S."The idea that the 3M isn't doing everything it can…is absurd," Roman said on CNBC. "We are doing everything we can to maximize our efforts."In earlier stages of the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic, Trump was initially reluctant to rely on the DPA, which allows the executive branch to compel companies to produce goods in times of national emergency. However, on March 27 Trump used the legislation to order General Motors to begin production of ventilators, saying negotiations over contracts with the company had dragged on too long."Our negotiations with GM regarding its ability to supply ventilators have been productive, but our fight against the virus is too urgent to allow the give-and-take of the contracting process to continue to run its normal course" Trump said at the time. "GM was wasting time."
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| Israel sends army to ultra-Orthodox city over coronavirus Posted: 03 Apr 2020 10:23 AM PDT  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday gave the green light for soldiers to be deployed in a mostly ultra-Orthodox Jewish city considered the centre of Israel's novel coronavirus outbreak. "In light of the special situation in Bnei Brak following the restrictions due to the coronavirus, the IDF (army) will immediately present the necessary civil assistance to Bnei Brak municipality in fulfilling its responsibilities," Netanyahu's office said after talks with security and health officials. Authorities have enforced restrictions on access to Bnei Brak, a majority ultra-Orthodox city near Tel Aviv that is home to around 200,000 people.
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| 3M pushes back at Trump over order to produce more face masks Posted: 03 Apr 2020 04:48 PM PDT  Manufacturing giant 3M pushed back Friday against criticism from President Trump over production of face masks that are badly needed by American health care workers.
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| New York Gov. Cuomo says he expects the peak of the coronavirus outbreak to hit in the 'seven-day' range as cases skyrocket Posted: 04 Apr 2020 11:33 AM PDT  New York has 11,000 new cases and China's donating 1,000 ventilators: Here are all the key takeaways from Gov. Cuomo's coronavirus press conference.
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| Coronavirus and Hunter Biden: Congressional investigators prepare for war over 2020 election Posted: 03 Apr 2020 08:49 AM PDT  As the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage across the United States, it has, for the moment, brought the partisan investigations taking shape on Capitol Hill that could swing the balance of the 2020 election to a screeching halt.Lawmakers, scattered across the country in their home states and districts for the indefinite future, have the health and economic welfare of their constituents to attend to.
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| Indian state authorities warn coronavirus lockdown could be extended Posted: 03 Apr 2020 10:21 PM PDT  Authorities in some India states warned on Saturday that lockdowns to rein in the coronavirus pandemic could be extended in parts of the nation as the number of domestic coronavirus cases rose above the 3,000 mark. Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered a three-week lockdown of India's 1.3 billion people on March 24 to avert a massive outbreak of infections. The country has recorded 3,072 coronavirus cases, of which 75 people have died.
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| Barr orders increase in home confinement as virus surges Posted: 03 Apr 2020 07:07 PM PDT  Attorney General William Barr ordered the Bureau of Prisons on Friday to increase the use of home confinement and expedite the release of eligible high-risk inmates at three federal prisons where coronavirus cases have skyrocketed. Officials were told to give highest priority to inmates who are being held at FCC Oakdale, a prison complex in Louisiana where five inmates have died and more than a dozen others remain hospitalized. Also listed were FCI Elkton in Ohio — where three inmates have died — and FCI Danbury in Connecticut, which has reported 20 inmates testing positive for coronavirus.
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| Making your own face mask? Some fabrics work better than others, study finds Posted: 03 Apr 2020 03:03 PM PDT  Some fabrics were found to work better at filtering small particles than medical grade masks.
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| Coronavirus: Nearly 1,500 Americans killed in 24 hours, the worst single-day death surge in the world Posted: 03 Apr 2020 06:28 PM PDT  The United States recorded nearly 1,500 deaths from the coronavirus in the past 24 hours, the worst 24-hour death toll globally since the pandemic began. According to figures from Johns Hopkins University, 1,480 deaths were counted between Thursday morning and Friday morning, and the total number of people who have died since the start of the pandemic in the US is now 7,406. It tops the record set by the US on the previous day with 1,169 deaths. The US also far has more cases than any other country in the world with more than 275,000, at least double that of Italy which has the second highest number. It comes as Donald Trump advised all Americans to wear masks in public to protect against the virus over fears that the illness that has infected more than one million people worldwide may be spreading by normal breathing. Mr Trump said the government recommendation for all 330 million Americans to wear non-medical masks in places such as grocery stores would last "for a period of time", though he said that he would not wear one.
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| A Kentucky resident who was potentially exposed to the coronavirus and refused to self-isolate was forced to wear an ankle monitor Posted: 03 Apr 2020 07:53 PM PDT  One man who tested positive for the coronavirus was put under house arrest after he went out shopping and violated his quarantine.
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| 'Not acceptable': Navy claims it fired the captain dealing with coronavirus outbreak for sending 'blast out' email to at least 20 people with 'unclassified' system Posted: 02 Apr 2020 06:09 PM PDT  The Navy commander sent an urgent letter pleading for help with a coronavirus outbreak aboard his ship. He was just fired.
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| U.K.’s Labour Set to Name Starmer Leader as Party Trails Tories Posted: 03 Apr 2020 04:00 PM PDT |
| New York reports deadliest day from coronavirus, makes plea for help Posted: 03 Apr 2020 08:42 AM PDT  New York suffered its deadliest single day from the novel coronavirus, with 562 additional deaths in the last 24 hours for a total of 2,935 fatalities, by far the most of any U.S. state, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Friday. Cuomo warned that people were "going to die in the near term" due to a lack of ventilators and hospital beds and called for resources from across the United States to be deployed to New York to help it deal with the growing crisis in the state - the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak.
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| Biden to name VP vetting team, thinking about Cabinet makeup Posted: 03 Apr 2020 05:55 PM PDT  Joe Biden said Friday that he will announce a committee to oversee his vice presidential selection process and is already thinking about whom he'd choose to join his Cabinet. Biden, who holds a significant lead in delegates over Sen. Bernie Sanders in the Democratic presidential primary race but has yet to officially clinch the nomination, also said he's spoken to Sanders to let him know he'd be proceeding with the vice presidential vetting process. Biden, a former vice president himself, has previously committed to choosing a woman as his running mate.
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| Asia virus latest: China mourns dead, S. Korea extends social distancing Posted: 04 Apr 2020 01:08 AM PDT  China came to a standstill to mourn the patients and medical staff who died because of the coronavirus outbreak, with the country observing a nationwide three-minute silence. At 10 am Saturday, Citizens paused as cars, trains and ships sounded their horns, and air-raid sirens rang out in memory of the more than 3,000 lives lost to the virus in mainland China. In Beijing's Tiananmen Square, the national flag flew at half-mast, and state media showed President Xi Jinping and other officials standing outside a government compound wearing white flowers.
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| Provincial Communist Party Officials Are Concealing Extent of Coronavirus Outbreak from Beijing, According to U.S. Intelligence Posted: 03 Apr 2020 07:51 AM PDT  The U.S. intelligence community has concluded that the Chinese government does not know the full extent of the coronavirus outbreak within the country, the New York Times reported on Thursday.China's government has encountered difficulties collecting accurate data on the spread of the coronavirus because mid-level bureaucrats in Wuhan and elsewhere in China have been lying about the number of cases, current and former intelligence officials told the Times. Local administration officials in China fear that their superiors will punish and even fire them if they report high numbers of cases.U.S. intelligence believes that China does conceal the extent of the outbreak known to higher-level Communist Party officials. However, because of inaccurate reporting of cases at local levels of government, the C.I.A. and other agencies have themselves been unable to determine the full scope of coronavirus cases in China.While doctors in Wuhan were sounding the alarm about the then-unidentified illness in late December and early January, local government and hospital administrators attempted to prevent doctors from spreading news of the infections, the Wall Street Journal reported. In one case, the administration of Wuhan Central Hospital reprimanded Dr. Ai Fen, head of the hospital's emergency department, for "spreading rumors" and damaging "the stability of Wuhan" after she alerted authorities to the spread of the SARS-like virus.On Tuesday Dr. Deborah Birx, response coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force, suggested that the U.S. responded slowly to the pandemic in part because of faulty data from China."The medical community interpreted the Chinese data as, this was serious, but smaller than anyone expected," Birx said at a press conference. "Because, probably … we were missing a significant amount of the data, now that we see what happened to Italy and we see what happened to Spain.
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| 'I just don't understand': Anthony Fauci shows support for more state stay-at-home orders Posted: 03 Apr 2020 08:42 AM PDT  On Wednesday, Trump said, "you have to look at states. You have to give a little bit of flexibility."
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| Coronavirus: Islamophobia concerns after India mosque outbreak Posted: 03 Apr 2020 01:54 AM PDT  Outrage over a Muslim congregation that led to new Covid-19 cluster turns hateful.
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| Trump Sent Them to the Coronavirus Front Line but Denied Them Health Care Posted: 04 Apr 2020 02:06 AM PDT  Thousands of National Guardsmen around the country are in contact with people who've contracted COVID-19. But while the federal government has called on them for frontline assistance in battling the pandemic, it's not giving them what they need to protect themselves: access to the military's health insurance.The approximately 20,000 guardsmen who have been called up to help states around the country deal with the spread of the coronavirus are federalized on what's called Title 32 status, which puts them in command of their various state governors but with the federal government paying costs. But according to the National Guard's advocates and the U.S. governors' association, the guardsmen are activated on orders that last 30 days. That puts them one single day shy of the requirement allowing the military health insurance system known as TRICARE—think of it as Medicare For All In Uniform—to cover them. Military Times first reported the eligibility shortfall. It's an urgent problem for guardsmen now that the pandemic-spurred economic collapse has exposed the folly of the current system of employer-provided health insurance. Some proportion of the guardsmen who may expose themselves to COVID-19 will have lost their jobs, and more surely will in the weeks to come.If their jobs came with health insurance, they would be qualified to shop on the Obamacare exchanges. But that process can be cumbersome and expensive at a moment when they face unemployment. If they never had job-based insurance, then they've lost their income right at the moment they are being asked to risk their own health and what remains of their financial security. Similarly, Guardsmen on orders short of 31 days qualify for an aspect of TRICARE called TRICARE Reserve Select. But that's an optional purchase, and while its premiums are lower than civilian health insurance, Guardsmen will still have to pay.'New York Is in Crisis': Cuomo Pleads for Help as State Suffers Worst Single-Day Death Toll The lack of TRICARE eligibility puts guardsmen and their families "in a terrible position," said J. Roy Robinson, a retired one-star general and the president of the National Guard Association of the United States. "These kids are in jeopardy, and it's wrong." Robinson, who served for 33 years as an officer in the Mississippi National Guard, continued: "Leadership at the Pentagon, either knowingly or unknowingly, are putting soldiers and airmen, in my opinion, in harm's way without them having proper medical coverage."On April 1, Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) asked Trump to ensure federalized guardsmen's TRICARE eligibility during an "unprecedented situation." "During this time, we should do all we can to support the men and women being asked to assist our nation's response to this pandemic and ensure that they are put on orders long enough to make them eligible for TRICARE," Daines wrote.The first U.S. servicemember to die from coronavirus was 57-year-old New Jersey National Guardsman Douglas Linn Hickok, an Army captain. Hickok had not deployed to respond to COVID-19 when he contracted it, but he was preparing to deploy when he grew sick on March 21. He died on March 28. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to The Daily Beast's request for comment. GOP Plows Forward on Plans to Kill Obamacare, Pandemic Be DamnedAs coronavirus has spread, the Trump administration has faced mounting pressure to expand health insurance coverage options for the broad universe of the uninsured. But it has so far resisted allowing a special enrollment period for Obamacare, claiming that there are other options for those in need to get insurance and that cash assistance from the government could help instead. The issue is more acute with members of the Guard who are being tasked by the government to help combat the spread of the pandemic. A senior administration official told The Daily Beast that the governors were receiving "full federal funding of the state National Guard"—a separate issue from the guardsmen's TRICARE access. The official, who would not speak for the record, said that every "request granted is set for a full month," which confirms the activation period falling just short of TRICARE eligibility. "We are working with states and the National Guard by continuously monitoring the situation on the ground to determine any Title 32 extension," the official said. The official would not address why the current orders fall short of the TRICARE eligibility period. Without TRICARE, warned Robinson, members of the Guard will "have to fall back on their personal health insurance. I hate to say it, but in a lot of those areas, a lot of these guys don't have health insurance." Robinson lamented that as of Friday, "there is no agreement to fix this." "We appreciate the administration's willingness to take steps to address this need, however, we are concerned that the current orders coming down from the Department have been limited to only 30 days," said James Nash, a spokesman for the National Governors' Association. "As you note, service members will not have full federal protections for anything under 31 days. We would encourage the administration to look at this and extend orders."Some 24 states and territories are receiving Title 32 funding for their National Guard operations, with other states continuing to submit funding requests, the senior official said. It's unclear how many guardsmen are currently operating without health insurance and require TRICARE—let alone how many of their private insurance companies will charge them substantial deductibles for any COVID-19-related treatment they might require as a consequence of their service. On Friday morning, with no agreement in place to extend the Guard's orders to ensure TRICARE eligibility, President Trump tweeted, "Thank you @USNationalGuard, keep up the great work!"\-- Sam Stein contributed reportingRead 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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| Sleeping in the attic: How a NYC nurse is trying to keep her family safe from the coronavirus as she works on the front lines Posted: 04 Apr 2020 06:08 AM PDT  Diana Torres, a nurse who works in Manhattan, moved into her attic to avoid exposing her family to the coronavirus when she comes home after shifts.
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| Vietnam protests Beijing's sinking of South China Sea boat Posted: 03 Apr 2020 10:36 PM PDT |
| NRA Sues New York State Governor Over Closure of Gun Stores Posted: 03 Apr 2020 07:06 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- The National Rifle Association sued New York Governor Andrew Cuomo for closing gun shops during the coronavirus pandemic, saying the restriction is unconstitutional and leaves citizens defenseless while prisoners are being released early as a result of the crisis.Cuomo's March 20 executive order that included firearms retailers as non-essential businesses which must close is a "pointless and arbitrary attack on the constitutional rights of New York citizens and residents," the NRA said in a complaint filed late Thursday in Syracuse, New York.New York ordered most businesses to close to prevent the spread of the virus, but deemed grocery stores, liquor stores, pharmacies and restaurants that do take-out as essential and allowed them to remain open. New York City is the center of the outbreak in the U.S., accounting for more than 1,300 of the 5,700 deaths in the country.New York officials are "going out of their way to protect liquor stores and release criminals onto the streets, while ignoring the public's outcry over the suspension of Second Amendment rights," the suit says.The New York lawsuit follows similar action the NRA took in Northern California, where it sued several cities including San Jose for ordering gun stores to close. Earlier this week in New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy lifted a temporary ban on the sale of guns in the state after the NRA filed suit to block it, and Los Angeles County also backed off an earlier ban.Gun shops around the country have reported surges in sales, and shares of gun and ammunition manufacturers have risen. The final week of February saw the third largest number of background checks since at least 1998, behind the weeks following the Sandy Hook and San Bernardino shootings, according to the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System, known as NICS.New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, said before the lawsuit was filed that she'd defend the state's decision.New York's take on what's essential is at odds with the Trump administration, according to the complaint. On March 28, the Department of Homeland Security issued a list of critical infrastructure, including: "Workers supporting the operation of firearm or ammunition product manufacturers, retailers, importers, distributors, and shooting ranges," the NRA said. The gun-rights organization also says that law enforcement may not be sufficient to protect citizens during the crisis.New Yorkers "have read about the release of thousands of prisoners by state officials, and they are concerned about the ability of police forces to maintain order when officers fear contact with Covid-19 or have fallen ill themselves," the complaint says."Government officials, including Governor Cuomo and Letitia James, are bound by the U.S. Constitution," William Brewer, counsel to the NRA, said in an email. "The NRA will aggressively defend the Second Amendment freedoms of its members and all New Yorkers."(Michael Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, helped launch Everytown for Gun Safety and backs candidates who support measures such as universal background checks.)(Updates with rise in gun sales, Los Angeles County sheriff's statement.)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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| Controversial Soviet-era statue removed in Prague Posted: 03 Apr 2020 07:14 AM PDT  Prague authorities on Friday said they had removed a controversial Soviet-era statue, despite protests from Moscow, to make way for a World War II memorial. The Russian embassy on Friday protested the removal of the bronze statue of Soviet general Ivan Konev, terming it an "unfriendly" act of "vandalism by unhinged municipal representatives." While Konev is regarded as a hero in Russia, many Czechs see him as a symbol of Soviet-era oppression.
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| Boris Johnson's pregnant fiancee Carrie Symonds suffers coronavirus symptoms Posted: 04 Apr 2020 09:49 AM PDT  Boris Johnson's pregnant fiancee Carrie Symonds has revealed she has "spent the past week in bed" after suffering coronavirus symptoms but is now recovering. The 32-year-old, who is expecting the couple's baby in early summer, falls into the group of vulnerable people urged to avoid contact with those with symptoms of Covid-19. Prime Minister Mr Johnson said last week that he had tested positive for coronavirus and has now spent more than a week in self-isolation in Downing Street. Shortly after his announcement, Ms Symonds - who usually lives with the Prime Minister in the Number 11 flat - shared a photograph of herself self-isolating in Camberwell, south London, with the couple's dog Dilyn. But on Saturday evening she revealed she too has suffered coronavirus symptoms. She tweeted: "I've spent the past week in bed with the main symptoms of Coronavirus. I haven't needed to be tested and, after seven days of rest, I feel stronger and I'm on the mend. "Being pregnant with Covid-19 is obviously worrying. To other pregnant women, please do read and follow the most up to date guidance which I found to be v reassuring."
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| Trump nominates McConnell ally to powerful appeals court Posted: 03 Apr 2020 10:21 AM PDT  President Donald Trump is nominating a 37-year-old judge and former clerk to Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh to a seat on the powerful U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Walker drew a "Not Qualified" rating from the American Bar Association when Trump nominated him last year to be a federal judge in Kentucky.
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| 3M stockholder Geraldo Rivera 'shocked' and 'embarrassed' that masks are being sold to other countries Posted: 03 Apr 2020 07:08 AM PDT  Geraldo Rivera reacts on 'Fox & Friends' to reports that 3M is selling N95 masks to foreign countries while U.S. health care workers face a shortage.
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| Coronavirus: 'Tiger King' star now in virus isolation, says husband Posted: 03 Apr 2020 06:00 AM PDT  Joe 'Exotic' is among the 146,000 federal inmates the US prisons bureau is placing in quarantine.
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| Experts are questioning China's reported coronavirus case and death counts. Here's why it's so important to get the data right. Posted: 04 Apr 2020 05:54 AM PDT  Case counts and death tolls are "often misleading," one epidemiologist said, but China's informed early perceptions of the coronavirus.
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| Pandemic pushes U.S. gun sales to all-time high Posted: 03 Apr 2020 03:11 PM PDT  The FBI conducted 3.7 million background checks last month, the highest total since the national instant check system was launched in 1998.
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