| Trump berates reporters during coronavirus briefing: 'You will never make it' Posted: 06 Apr 2020 06:20 PM PDT  Trump used Monday's briefing of the coronavirus task force to lash out at several members of the press, despite having recently praised media coverage of his response to the crisis as "very fair."
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| 'Who gets the kids?' I took an oath to serve my patients. My family didn't, but we're all in this together. Posted: 06 Apr 2020 05:52 AM PDT  A doctor treating COVID-19 patients sits down with her husband to make a will.
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| Mideastern burial traditions clash with fears of contagion Posted: 06 Apr 2020 11:05 PM PDT  Mohammed al-Dulfi's 67-year-old father died on March 21 after a brief struggle against the new coronavirus, but it would take nine days for his body to find a final resting place in the Shiite holy city of Najaf in southern Iraq. On two occasions, the family rejected remote burial plots proposed by the government outside Baghdad for him and seven other coronavirus victims, al-Dulfi said. A fight broke out between the families and the Health Ministry's team.
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| Wisconsin Supreme Court overrules governor's attempt to postpone election, despite coronavirus concerns Posted: 06 Apr 2020 01:05 PM PDT  Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers on Monday issued an executive order to postpone state elections scheduled for Tuesday until June 9, a dramatic last-minute move that capped weeks of indecision by state leaders.
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| Iran supreme leader approves withdrawal of 1 billion euros from sovereign wealth fund to fight coronavirus Posted: 07 Apr 2020 07:28 AM PDT  Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has approved the withdrawal of 1 billion euros from the country's sovereign wealth fund to help fight the coronavirus epidemic, President Hassan Rouhani's official website said on Monday.
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| Coronavirus live updates: Boris Johnson in intensive care, U.S. death toll tops 10,000 Posted: 06 Apr 2020 09:04 PM PDT  Here are the latest coronavirus updates from around the world.
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| Acting U.S. Navy secretary apologizes to carrier commander after rebuke Posted: 06 Apr 2020 06:14 PM PDT  Acting U.S. Navy Secretary Thomas Modly issued an apology on Monday to the former commander of a coronavirus-stricken aircraft carrier after sharply criticizing him in a speech to his crew, just days after firing him. "I do not think Captain Brett Crozier is naive nor stupid," Modly said amid calls for his removal, including from the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, a Democrat. The apology, which Modly also extended to the carrier's crew and Crozier's family, was a reversal from a statement the Navy's top civilian issued hours earlier that said: "I stand by every word I said."
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| Biden Says November Election Can’t Be Delayed: Campaign Update Posted: 07 Apr 2020 07:34 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Joe Biden said unequivocally Tuesday the November election couldn't be delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic."We cannot delay or postpone a constitutionally required election," Biden said in an interview on NBC's "Today."Biden, the likely Democratic presidential nominee, repeated his calls for states to plan ahead for remote voting options, including expanding vote by mail. The former vice president said he hoped people can vote in person, but it would "depend on the state of play.""We're going to have to conduct the election on November 3," he said.Biden's comments come as voters in Wisconsin stood in line to vote in the state's primary Tuesday after the Republican-controlled legislature refused the governor's request to delay in-person voting amid a stay-at-home order.John Lewis, Civil Rights Icon, Endorses Biden (5:30 a.m.)Representative John Lewis of Georgia, an icon of the Civil Rights movement, endorsed Joe Biden on Tuesday, becoming the latest Democrat to support the former vice president as he tries to wrap up the Democratic presidential nomination.Lewis' endorsement comes as Biden has amassed a nearly insurmountable lead in delegates over his only remaining competitor, Senator Bernie Sanders. Biden is looking to extend that lead Tuesday when Wisconsin holds its primary contest.Lewis has represented Georgia in Congress for more than 30 years, after serving as one of the leaders of the American civil rights movement. He was the chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and worked with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to organize the March on Washington in 1963."I have stared down the deepest, and darkest forces in this nation," Lewis said in a statement. "Vice President Joe Biden and I both believe that we are in a fight to redeem the soul of America. I know Joe Biden as a man of character and dignity - A man who can not, and will not rest when he sees injustice in our American home."In December, Lewis, 80, announced he had been diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer, but last month, he made a surprise appearance in Selma, Alabama, joining Biden and many other Democratic presidential candidates, to mark the 55th anniversary of "Bloody Sunday," when peaceful marchers were attacked by the police. Lewis himself was beaten and badly injured."We must go out and vote like we never, ever voted before," Lewis said at the commemoration.Georgia's Democratic primary was initially scheduled for March 24, but it was pushed back to May 19 because of the coronavirus pandemic. -- Tyler PagerFor 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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| Is Trump leading a 'war' against the coronavirus? Posted: 06 Apr 2020 06:48 AM PDT  While the term "warfare" is a useful metaphor for the kind of mobilization necessary to save lives in this crisis, it's not a useful way to think about the primary responsibility of ordinary citizens right now, which is to stay at home.
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| As New York Posts Highest One-Day Death Toll, Cuomo Says No Victim Died ‘Because We Couldn’t Provide Care’ Posted: 07 Apr 2020 10:30 AM PDT  New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday that no victim of the coronavirus has died because the state could not provide health care for them, even as New York posted its highest number of deaths in one day."You can't save everyone. This virus is very good at what it does, and it kills vulnerable people," Cuomo said at his daily briefing providing updates on the outbreak. "The question is, are you saving everyone you can save? And there the answer is yes, and I take some solace in that fact.""Our health care system is operating. I don't believe we've lost a single person because we couldn't provide care," the Democratic governor continued. "People we lost we couldn't save despite our best efforts."A record 731 New Yorkers died between Monday and Tuesday, Cuomo reported. He cautioned that the death rate is a "lagging indicator," meaning that those who died are often sick for weeks before they pass. More than 138,000 people in the state have been infected with the respiratory illness, with 8,157 new positive cases on Tuesday, the lowest rate in a week. The number of patients being hospitalized and moved to intensive care has dropped as well.The governor warned Thursday that New York state only had enough ventilators for six days and was considering how to increase the supply. The state released 400 ventilators to New York City a day earlier. Cuomo has worked to get as many ventilators as possible to the city, which has emerged as the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak with nearly half the total deaths in the country. On Friday, the governor issued an executive order allowing the state to take ventilators and personal protective equipment from hospitals and transfer them to places that need them.New York has also received medical equipment from other states and countries, including Oregon and China, where the coronavirus outbreak originated.
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| US sees coronavirus window to push Taiwan's global status Posted: 05 Apr 2020 09:32 PM PDT  The Trump administration is seizing the opportunity of the coronavirus pandemic to push a cause that has long been an irritant in U.S. relations with China: Taiwan. The virus has added yet another dimension to U.S.-China tensions that were already wracked by a trade war and heated discussions over intellectual property, human rights and Chinese policies in Hong Kong and the South China Sea. As the pandemic has grown, U.S. officials and lawmakers have stepped up alternately bashing China for a lack of transparency over the outbreak and praising Taiwan for its response to the outbreak.
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| Supreme Court won't hear Catholic Church challenge to ban on religious advertising Posted: 06 Apr 2020 09:40 AM PDT  The case would have been the latest example of religious freedom appeals to be heard by the conservative-leaning court.
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| Wisconsin delays primary election despite Trump calling for it to go ahead Posted: 06 Apr 2020 11:19 AM PDT  The governor of Wisconsin has issued an executive order to postpone the state's embattled elections on Tuesday for at least two months due to the coronavirus pandemic, following mounting criticism over the upcoming in-person vote.Governor Tony Evers (D-WI) delayed the presidential primary until 9 June, saying in a statement about the executive order: "Frankly, there's no good answer to this problem—I wish it were easy. I have been asking everyone to do their part to help keep our families, our neighbors, and our communities safe, and I had hoped that the Legislature would do its part—just as the rest of us are—to help keep people healthy and safe."
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| Boris Johnson's government reportedly believes the coronavirus may have accidentally leaked from a Chinese laboratory Posted: 06 Apr 2020 04:50 AM PDT  "Perhaps it is no coincidence that there is that laboratory in Wuhan," one UK government official told the Mail on Sunday.
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| Your Home (and Mind) Needs One of These High-Design Mobiles Posted: 07 Apr 2020 12:28 PM PDT |
| Former Labour Leader Ed Miliband Makes Comeback to U.K. Opposition Posted: 06 Apr 2020 09:47 AM PDT |
| Scammers try selling world's tallest statue as pandemic boosts India's cyber crime Posted: 06 Apr 2020 10:46 PM PDT  Police in India lodged a case this week against an unknown online fraudster who tried selling the world's largest statue for $4 billion, claiming the proceeds would be used to help the Gujarat state government fund its fight against the coronavirus. With scams ranging from free mobile recharges, to offers of free Netflix subscriptions, federal home ministry officials say there has been 86% percent rise in cyber crime in the past four weeks. Police and internal security officials said scammers have created fake versions of the flagship 'PM CARES Fund' payments interface that look deceptively similar to the original and many Indians and Non-Residents Indians (NRIs) have fallen prey.
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| 'I have a PhD': The spotlight is now on Peter Navarro's role in White House coronavirus response Posted: 06 Apr 2020 12:15 PM PDT  Peter Navarro has a Harvard degree, and he isn't shy about letting it be known. "You can always tell a Harvard man, but you can't tell him much," Navarro joked after President Trump introduced him last week as director of supply-chain issues related to the coronavirus pandemic.
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| The Bureau of Prisons just bought $60,000 worth of hydroxychloroquine, the unproved coronavirus treatment touted by Trump Posted: 07 Apr 2020 09:13 AM PDT  The novel coronavirus has been spreading rapidly throughout federal prisons, and the BOP reported Monday that eight inmates have died so far.
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| McGrath outpaces McConnell in fundraising for Kentucky race Posted: 07 Apr 2020 06:27 AM PDT  Democrat Amy McGrath raised substantially more campaign cash than Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in the first three months of 2020, showing her staying power against the Republican lawmaker in setting a blistering fundraising pace in Kentucky. Hours after McConnell's campaign reported raising nearly $7.5 million in the quarter, McGrath upped the ante.
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| The Vatican Welcomes Back Cardinal Pell After Stunning Sex Abuse Reversal in Australia Posted: 07 Apr 2020 05:04 AM PDT  ROME—About an hour after Cardinal George Pell was discharged from Melbourne's Barwon Prison on Tuesday, a courier left a case of wine at the monastery where he would spend his first night as a free man. The wine was not the kind used in Catholic mass. It was the kind for toasting victories: Pells' clerical sex abuse conviction had just been overturned by Australia's highest court. It's not clear who ordered the wine, but for sure not everyone is celebrating the decision. The reversal of the conviction—which had been upheld by an appellate court in Melbourne last year—has deeply divided the Catholic Church around the world. Many Vatican insiders who felt Pell was a scapegoat convicted for the sins of many others will now feel vindicated, while survivors of clerical sexual abuse feel as if they have been victimized all over again.Pope Francis earlier said he would refrain from commenting until all the Australian court processes played out. But at his televised mass Tuesday morning, he seemed to send a subtle message of support for Pell. "I want to pray today for all those who suffer unjust sentences," Francis said. "In these days of Lent, we've been witnessing the persecution that Jesus underwent and how he was judged ferociously, even though he was innocent. Let us pray together today for all those persons who suffer due to an unjust sentence because of someone who had it in for them."Convicted Cardinal Pell's Second Secret Sex Abuse Trial Is Called OffThe Vatican issued a statement on Tuesday in Rome in which they "expressed confidence in the Australian judicial authority" and "welcome the High Court's unanimous decision concerning Cardinal George Pell, acquitting him of the accusations of abuse of minors and overturning his sentence." The statement goes on to say that Pell has "always maintained his innocence, and has waited for the truth to be ascertained" but that "the Holy See reaffirms its commitment to preventing and pursuing all cases of abuse against minors."Pell, formerly the Vatican's finance czar, had served more than a year of his six year prison sentence after he was convicted two years ago of assaulting two 13-year-old choirboys in Melbourne's St. Patrick's cathedral in the '90s. One of the victims testified that Pell had exposed himself and touched the boy inappropriately. The other alleged victim had taken his own life years ago, but his family spoke on his behalf, recounting the spiral of substance abuse and personal strife experienced by so many victims of clerical sex abuse. The seven-judge panel presiding over an empty courtroom, which was cleared due to the coronavirus pandemic, read its ruling on line: "The jury, acting rationally on the whole of the evidence, ought to have entertained a doubt as to the applicant's guilt with respect to each of the offenses for which he was convicted."The cardinal issued a statement of his own, in which he said he had suffered a "serious injustice" that the high court now "remedied." He added that he held "no ill will to my accuser," who had testified in his trial. "I do not want my acquittal to add to the hurt and bitterness so many feel," he said. "There is certainly hurt and bitterness enough."Lisa Flynn, who represents the father of Pell's alleged victim who took his life by suicide, said her client has lost faith in Australian justice because of the ruling. "Our client is currently in shock," Flynn said in a statement to The Daily Beast. "He is furious the man he believes is responsible for sexually abusing his son was convicted by a unanimous jury only to have that decision overturned today, allowing George Pell to walk free from jail."Flynn added that her client is "heartbroken" for the surviving victim who came forward to testify. "Our client says he is heartbroken for the surviving victim who stuck his neck out by coming forward to tell his story but was ultimately let down by a legal process that forced him to re-live his pain and trauma for no benefit," she said. "Our client says this man, who the jury believed, is an upstanding citizen who had nothing to gain from speaking out other than to protect other children from the pain and suffering he has to live with on a daily basis.""This is not the message we need to be sending to vulnerable survivors of sexual abuse," said Flynn. "It suggests that even if survivors of child sexual abuse report their abuse, convince police to lay charges, convince the prosecution to pursue those charges, convince a jury to convict the accused, convince a Court of Appeal to uphold the jury's decision, they can still be denied justice by the country's highest court."Pell has expressed a desire to stay in his native Australia, but he might also be welcomed back in Rome, where he could live more anonymously inside the walls of Vatican City. He has become a divisive figure in Australia and might face a constant barrage of criticism and protest should he stay. He is also facing civil suits from the victims, which he does not have to stay in Australia to fight. Because he was never stripped of any clerical status, he will be eligible to vote in a conclave to elect the next pope should it happen before he turns 80 in 2021. Pell's new status is devastating for victims who may now choose to stay silent. "Do not let this decision stop you from speaking your truth," Flynn wrote in her statement. "Instead, use today's decision to free George Pell to ignite your fire and take on your abuser."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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| 86-year-old and three sons die after contracting COVID-19 Posted: 07 Apr 2020 04:19 PM PDT  The mother and three sons all died within days of each other, the New Orleans Coroner's Office confirmed.
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| China lifts Wuhan travel ban, Britain, NY report record deaths Posted: 07 Apr 2020 02:21 PM PDT  China lifted a travel ban on Tuesday on residents of Wuhan, where the coronavirus pandemic began last year, and reported no new deaths, but the situation remained grim elsewhere as Britain and New York State recorded their highest number of fatalities yet. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson remained in intensive care, meanwhile, after being admitted to a London hospital on Monday evening, 10 days after being diagnosed with the virus. The shocking hospitalization of a major world leader underscored the global reach of COVID-19, which has put more than four billion people -- over half of the planet -- on some form of lockdown, upended societies and battered economies worldwide.
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| Iranian Health Official Calls Chinese Coronavirus Stats a ‘Bitter Joke’ Posted: 06 Apr 2020 05:05 AM PDT  Iranian health ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur on Sunday criticized Chinese government statistics on the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak, appearing to blame those statistics for other countries' slow response to the emerging pandemic."It seems statistics from China [were] a bitter joke, because many in the world thought this is just like influenza, with fewer deaths," Jahanpur said during a video conference in remarks translated by Radio Farda. "This [impression] were based on reports from China and now it seems China made a bitter joke with the rest of the world."Jahanpur added, "If in China they say an epidemic was controlled in two months, one should really think about it."The remarks caused a spat with Chinese officials, with China's ambassador to Iran saying the country should " show respect to the truths and great efforts of the people of China." Jahanpur took to Twitter to criticize Chinese statistics yet again, but subsequently offered praise of China, an ally of Iran."The support offered by China to the Iranian people in these trying times is unforgettable," Jahanpur wrote on Monday.While Iran has reported over 60,000 cases of coronavirus with more than 3,700 deaths as of Monday, U.S. officials believe the extent of the outbreak is much wider than the government has revealed. In late February, Iranian parliament members criticized their own government for concealing "horrific numbers" of deaths in the country.
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| Spain’s New Virus Infections Fall as Austria Eases Lockdown Posted: 06 Apr 2020 04:20 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Spain reported the lowest number of new coronavirus cases in more than two weeks and German infections were the fewest in six days, tentative signs that the spread of the deadly disease is slowing in Europe's worst-hit countries.The most recent figures from Spain, Italy, Germany and France suggest containment measures that have idled millions of workers are having an effect. While most leaders pleaded for patience, Austria became the first country in Europe to ease restrictions and Denmark may follow later.After weeks of measures designed to limit contact between people, European governments are seeing growing evidence that shutting down much of the economy is containing the disease. Italy, Spain, France and the U.K. have suffered the most deaths worldwide, accounting for nearly 60% of all fatalities.New infections in Spain were 4,273, the lowest since March 22, according to Health Ministry data on Monday. The death toll in Europe's biggest outbreak rose by 637, the lowest number of daily fatalities since March 24.German infections rose by 4,031 to surpass 100,000, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. With 140 fatalities, it was the lowest daily increase in nearly a week. The coming days will show if the trend holds. New cases and deaths in Germany have consistently dropped over weekends as regional health authorities have been slower to report figures.Chancellor Angela Merkel's chief of staff said it's critical to reduce the number of infections before taking decisions on easing social-distancing rules. The concern is that patients require ventilation for a longer period of time than initially anticipated "because more and more older people get infected," Helge Braun told Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung on Sunday.Reports on Covid-19 related outbreaks in nursing homes and hospitals are increasing, and the number of deaths is relatively high in some of these outbreaks, Germany's health authority said. Europe's largest economy continues to have the third-highest number of confirmed cases in Europe.Spain and Italy -- the epicenters of the pandemic in region -- have the highest death tolls worldwide. That means officials have to weigh any attempts to restart parts of the economy against the risk of reigniting the outbreak.In Spain, public opinion of the government's management of the crisis has consistently deteriorated. Just 27.7% of voters approve of the efforts by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's administration, compared with 35.1% three weeks ago, according to a GAD3 poll published Monday by Spanish newspaper ABC."It's the lockdown measures that are helping us," Silvio Brusaferro, head of Italy's public health institute, said in Rome on Sunday. Rules designed to limit contact between people have led to a "significant slowdown in the spread," he said.Italy reported 525 new deaths on Sunday, the lowest daily number in more than two weeks, and new confirmed cases also declined. France reported an additional 518 deaths, the fewest since last Tuesday.Crisis ExitIn Austria, small retailers, hardware stores and gardening shops will reopen next week after national lockdown measures succeeded in slowing the spread. The number of active coronavirus patients has declined, with recoveries outnumbering new positive tests for three consecutive days.Despite easing restrictions, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz called on Austrians to sacrifice traditional Easter holiday celebrations with friends and family this weekend and stick to social-distancing rules at least until the end of April. Should Covid-19's spread be contained, more shops could reopen in May and schools in mid-May."We have reacted faster and more restrictive than other countries," Kurz said in Vienna. "We'll also get out of the crisis faster if everybody continues to stick to the measures."Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen may also announce initial steps toward a return to normal life as early as Monday. Still, she's made clear that any slight uptick in the number of cases would be followed by an instant return to tight restrictions.Italy is heading into its fifth week under lockdown, and Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday that he can't say when it will be lifted.He is expected to announce revised rules and timelines by the end of next week, Il Messaggero newspaper reported. Italy's measures have been extended through at least April 13, and Spain's will now be in force at least until April 25.Italy's new confirmed cases totaled 4,316 on Sunday, lower than the day before. Total infections rose to 128,948 cases, slightly fewer than Spain.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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| Congo mine gun attack kills three Chinese nationals: Xinhua Posted: 07 Apr 2020 07:24 AM PDT  A gun attack in a mining area in the Democratic Republic of Congo has killed three Chinese nationals, China's official Xinhua news agency reported, citing the Chinese embassy in the mineral-rich central African country.
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| Dr. Fauci says America getting back to normal and where it was before the coronavirus crisis 'might not ever happen' without a vaccine Posted: 06 Apr 2020 05:05 PM PDT  "If you want to get back to pre-coronavirus, that might not ever happen in the sense that the threat is there," Fauci said.
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| 3rd Guatemalan tests positive for virus after US deportation Posted: 07 Apr 2020 12:05 PM PDT  Guatemala said Tuesday that a third deportee has tested positive for the coronavirus after being flown home by the United States. The report came a day after authorities announced they were suspending deportation flights from the U.S. over concerns about spreading the virus. The Health Ministry said the latest positive case was a 37-year-old man who was deported March 26 from Mesa, Arizona, and had been in quarantine since his return.
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| Coronavirus: Japan to declare emergency as Tokyo cases soar Posted: 06 Apr 2020 04:54 AM PDT  The measures aim to avert a major outbreak in its major cities but fall short of a lockdown.
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| Saudi Arabia says it could reach 200,000 coronavirus infections Posted: 07 Apr 2020 08:07 AM PDT  The new coronavirus could eventually infect between 10,000 and 200,000 people in Saudi Arabia, the kingdom's health minister said on Tuesday, urging the public to adhere more closely to state directives against mixing and movement. The country of some 30 million has so far reported 2,795 cases and 41 deaths, the highest in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), despite halting all passenger flights, suspending most commercial activities and imposing a 24-hour curfew in major cities including the capital Riyadh. "We stand today at a decisive moment as a society in raising our sense of responsibility and contributing together with determination to stop the spread of this pandemic," Health Minister Tawfiq al-Rabiah said in a rare televised address.
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| Coronavirus is disproportionately killing black Americans Posted: 07 Apr 2020 07:37 AM PDT  Celebrities may be calling COVID-19 a "great equalizer," but statistics from across the U.S. show that's far from the truth. Coronavirus case numbers and death tolls have revealed the virus is disproportionately affecting black Americans in many parts of the country — though statistics from some of the hardest hit areas haven't been revealed yet, The New York Times reports.Black Americans make up just about a third of Louisiana's population. But according to numbers released Monday by the state government, more than 70 percent of those who've died of COVID-19 were black. Chicago is less than a third black, but 72 percent of those who've died of the new coronavirus were black. And while the county around Milwaukee is about 27 percent black, around twice as many black residents tested positive for COVID-19 as white residents.There's not enough data to fully explain the overwhelmingly disproportionate numbers, experts tell the Times. But the fact that black Americans are less likely than white Americans to be insured, suffer racial bias in medical testing and treatment, and more often have jobs that haven't let them stay home during the pandemic all certainly contribute.California, New Jersey, New York and Washington are among the states COVID-19 has hit the hardest, but they haven't yet released statewide information about the race of patients, the Times notes. Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), have demanded the federal government track and release this data.More stories from theweek.com What America needs to do before lockdown can end Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey pledges $1 billion to coronavirus relief Is Trump's 'campaign of retaliation' about to get worse?
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| Why Army Helicopters Are Launching From a Navy Ship Posted: 07 Apr 2020 10:50 AM PDT  The USS Puller is acting as a floating base for Army attack helicopters.
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| Pompeo to Afghan leaders: Make a deal with the Taliban or risk full U.S. troop pullout Posted: 07 Apr 2020 04:00 AM PDT  The stern message, delivered two weeks ago, underscores Trump's concern that the absence of a unified government in Kabul threatens to unravel his tenuous Taliban peace deal.
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| Coronavirus Model Used by White House Changed to Reflect Decrease in Projected Fatalities Posted: 06 Apr 2020 07:27 AM PDT  A coronavirus projection used by the White House to warn that the country could face between 100,000 and 200,000 deaths in a "best case scenario" has dramatically reduced its estimates, cutting the number of hospital beds needed by 58 percent and the death forecast by 12 percent.The IHME model, produced by the University of Washington, updated its numbers overnight to show that projected deaths decreased from 93,531 to 81,766, and the projected total bed shortage fell from 87,674 to 36,654, after projected needed hospital beds fell 45 percent from 262,000 to 141,000 and needed ICU beds decreased 26 percent from almost 39,700 to 29,200. While the model remained unchanged in estimating a peak of April 15, it also moved forward its projected date of fewer than 200 daily deaths from June 3 to May 18.A state-by-state breakdown suggested that a number of the U.S.'s hotspots were gaining ground on the virus, with death projections falling for California, Florida, Louisiana, Michigan, New York, Washington State, and others. New Jersey's projection rose dramatically from 2,100 to 9,690, while the projection for Illinois remained essentially the same.The University of Washington model, led by Professor Chris Murray, has been widely cited and circulated to illustrate the seriousness of the coronavirus outbreak. Its estimates were also used by Dr. Debbie Birx, the coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, to inform her own models."If you go on [Murray's] website, you can see the concern that we had with the growing number of potential fatalities," Birx told reporters last week.The model also helped inform a projection made by Birx and Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of the task for and head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, that the country would face "a best case scenario" of 100,000 to 200,000 coronavirus deaths.
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| Photos show how China's novel coronavirus outbreak unfolded as Wuhan's 76-day lockdown ends Posted: 07 Apr 2020 04:21 PM PDT  Wuhan's 76-day lockdown has ended. Photos show how China's novel coronavirus outbreak unfolded from the start.
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| US says airstrike in Somalia kills an al-Shabab leader Posted: 07 Apr 2020 05:54 AM PDT |
| Cardinal George Pell to Walk Free From Prison After Court Overturns His Sex-Abuse Conviction Posted: 06 Apr 2020 05:28 PM PDT  Cardinal George Pell is allowed to leave jail immediately after Australia's highest court overturned his conviction for sexually abusing two choir boys."The High Court found that the jury, acting rationally on the whole of the evidence, ought to have entertained a doubt as to the applicant's guilt with respect to each of the offences for which he was convicted, and ordered that the convictions be quashed and that verdicts of acquittal be entered in their place," the court said in a two-page summary of the ruling, according to The Guardian.The ruling cited the court case Chidiac v The Queen, saying there was "a significant possibility that an innocent person has been convicted because the evidence did not establish guilt to the requisite standard of proof."Pell, 78, will now be released from Barwon Prison, near Melbourne, after spending more than 400 days behind bars. In 2018, he became the highest ranking Catholic Church official to face such criminal sexual-abuse charges, and the High Court's stunning decision brings his long-running court case to an end.Pell, Pope Francis' former finance minister, was convicted in December 2018 by a unanimous jury that found him guilty of five counts related to the abuse of two 13-year-old choir boys at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Melbourne in December 1996. He was sentenced to six years in prison. "I hold no ill will to my accuser," Pell said in a statement responding to the High Court's decision to overturn his conviction. "I do not want my acquittal to add to the hurt and bitterness so many feel; there is certainly hurt and bitterness enough. However my trial was not a referendum on the Catholic Church; nor a referendum on how Church authorities in Australia dealt with the crime of paedophilia in the Church. The point was whether I had committed these awful crimes, and I did not."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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| Coronavirus is revealing how broken America’s economy really is Posted: 06 Apr 2020 12:00 AM PDT  We are told by everyone from the United Nations to Donald Trump that the US is a 'developed' economy. The statistics suggest otherwiseWhen Susan Finley developed flu-like symptoms, she didn't go to the doctor because she was frightened about the cost. Finley's grandparents later found her dead in her apartment. She was 53.Finley did not die as a result of Covid-19. She died in 2016 as a result of America's healthcare system – a system that led her to avoid treatment for the common flu in order to avoid debt. It is that same system that is currently creaking under the pressure of a pandemic that experts warned was coming but governments failed to prepare for. It is a system that does not qualify for the term "developed".The United States of America, we are told by everyone from the president to the United Nations, is a developed economy. That term, "developed economy", sounds like an endpoint, like man standing upright after a series of hunched and hairy iterations. It's the contrast that makes the definition – developed economies can only really exist if they are compared to their poorer "developing" counterparts. Covid-19 has merely shown the cracks in a very successful marketing campaign about which category the US falls into.There are 2.9 hospital beds for every 1,000 people in the United States. That's fewer than Turkmenistan (7.4 beds per 1,000), Mongolia (7.0), Argentina (5.0) and Libya (3.7). In fact, the US ranks 69th out of 182 countries analyzed by the World Health Organization. This lack of hospital beds is forcing doctors across the country to ration care under Covid-19, pushing up the number of preventable deaths.America's numbers are similarly unimpressive when it comes to medical doctors. The United States has 2.6 doctors per 1,000 people, placing it behind Trinidad & Tobago (2.7), and Russia (4.0 doctors per 1,000, for a country that is described as being "in transition"). Life expectancies at birth are lower in the US than they are in Chile or China. The US has a higher maternal mortality rate than Iran or Saudi Arabia.It's not just health. Access to the internet is better in Bahrain and Brunei (two countries the UN does not consider developed economies) than it is in the US. Inequality scores are higher in America than they are in Mali and Yemen. A closer country to America in inequality is Israel, a country which functions as an apartheid state.And the US ranks 81st in the world in terms of women's political representation. So, you've got a better chance of making it into office as a woman if you live in Vietnam, or Albania. Sub-Saharan Africa is most comparable to America - 24% of seats in the region's parliaments are held by women, the same figure as in the US.In the United States, 83% of students graduate high school. That figure is higher in Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Barbados, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as Montenegro. None of those countries are considered "developed economies" by the United Nations.So why does the United Nations consider the US as a developed economy when its own statistics so clearly suggest otherwise? One might argue that it's about simple wealth, or gross domestic product (GDP), the broadest measure of the economy, per capita.But if that were the measure of development then European countries such as Romania, Hungary and Slovakia should not qualify for the term "developed economy" while Bermuda, Qatar, Singapore and China should all make the list. Besides, GDP per capita is no reliable measure of wellbeing in a country like the US where the richest 5% of people own two-thirds of the national wealth.The facts are as exhaustive as they are exhausting. There's one simple conclusion from all of this. We've been tricked. We've been told that America, like most other majority-white countries, deserves the title "developed economy". It does not. You can not charge a woman $39.95 to hold the baby that she has just given birth to. You can not constantly operate hospitals at close to capacity in order to maximize profits. The pursuit of private money in systems built for public good has not worked ethically or practically.Why does it matter whether a country is defined as developing or not? Because it means that policymakers here can distract voters into thinking that crises are constantly diplomatic, military or trade based when actually the problems that America needs to fix most urgently are right here – they're the crises of health and education. Had those problems been better addressed, the nation would not be struggling as desperately as it is right now.
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| Sen. Rick Scott wants congressional probe into World Health Organization's coronavirus response Posted: 06 Apr 2020 06:15 PM PDT  Florida Sen. Rick Scott, Republican member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, joins Tucker Carlson on 'Tucker Carlson Tonight.'
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| Trump just ousted the inspector general overseeing coronavirus relief spending Posted: 07 Apr 2020 10:05 AM PDT  President Trump has removed the inspector general tasked with overseeing how the federal government's coronavirus relief package is spent.After Trump signed $2.2 trillion in federal spending, a panel of inspectors general from across Cabinet departments were tasked with ensuring it was distributed and spent as intended. The panel chose Defense Department Inspector General Glenn Fine as its chair, but Trump ousted him from the department on Monday, thus removing him from the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee.News of Fine's ouster started circulating Tuesday, and a Pentagon spokesperson confirmed he was removed both from office and the committee to Politico. Michael Bromwich, a Justice Department inspector general under former President Bill Clinton, declared it "the latest step in the president's wholesale assault on the inspector general community" in a tweet.> 2/2 Glenn Fine was selected by his peers to chair the panel of IGs responsible for overseeing all aspects pandemic response spending. His 25-years experience in the IG community and his reputation for independence and integrity clearly posed a clear and present danger.> > — Michael R. Bromwich (@mrbromwich) April 7, 2020Trump has since designated EPA Inspector General Sean O'Donnell as the Pentagon's temporary IG and head of the accountability committee, and nominated Jason Abend, a senior policy adviser at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, to fill Fine's role. The panel of inspectors general will be able to select a new chair to oversee the massive spending bill soon.More stories from theweek.com What America needs to do before lockdown can end Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey pledges $1 billion to coronavirus relief Is Trump's 'campaign of retaliation' about to get worse?
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| Many Americans won't get coronavirus checks. Here's a look at who is ineligible. Posted: 06 Apr 2020 05:59 PM PDT  Stimulus check funding leaves out most college kids, immigrants without Social Security numbers and some disabled adults.
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| U.S. reports 1,200 coronavirus deaths in one day as China lifts lockdown Posted: 07 Apr 2020 03:48 AM PDT  Nation's top infectious diseases expert said he is "cautiously optimistic" that worst projections may be avoided "if we keep our foot on the accelerator."
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| Israeli security agency says it arrested alleged Iran spy Posted: 07 Apr 2020 08:49 AM PDT |
| New York Reports Largest Single-Day Death Toll From Coronavirus Posted: 07 Apr 2020 08:36 AM PDT  Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday that New York has recorded the largest single-day increase in the number of deaths related to the novel coronavirus, despite indications that hospitalizations are plateauing in the state.So far, more than 5,500 people have died and 138,836 more have been infected with the virus in New York State. Over the last 24 hours alone, 731 people died, the state's highest single-day death toll since the first known infection last month, Cuomo said."Behind every one of those numbers is an individual, is a family, is a mother, is a father, is a sister, is a brother," Cuomo said during a press conference in Albany. "So a lot of pain again today for many New Yorkers."The devastating increase comes just one day after Cuomo was cautiously optimistic about New York seeing a "possible flattening of the curve" after two days in which the rate of new deaths seemed to slow. Cuomo said that despite the spike in deaths over the last day, New York is still seeing a falling rate in the number of hospitalizations and an increase in discharged patients. Cuomo Suggests 'Possible Flattening of the Curve' in New York"We are projecting that we are reaching a plateau on the number of hospitalizations," Cuomo said, stating that the number of infected patients in the ICU saw its smallest increase since the outbreak began in New York. "This virus is very good at what it does. And it kills vulnerable people. We can't stop that. The question is, 'Are you saving everyone you can save?' There the answer is yes. And I take some solace in that fact."To date, over 11,008 have died and 368,533 people have been infected with the virus nationwide, with New York accounting for about 50 percent of the total cases. Despite the increase, Cuomo reassured residents on Tuesday that "social distancing is working" after previously extending the state-wide "pause" until April 29.The projection models, he said, indicate that New York is near its apex of cases, and stressed that even if the number of cases decreases, hospitals and morgues across the state are still facing an enormous strain on their resources if residents don't do their part and stay indoors. "To the extent that we see a flattening or a possible plateau, that's because of what we are doing and we have to keep doing it," he said."Social distancing is working. That's why you see those numbers coming down."Cuomo said Tuesday that despite the ongoing situation, state officials are already starting to look at life after the pandemic, noting that in his personal opinion, "it's going to come down to how good we are with testing.""You have 19 million people in the state of New York," Cuomo said. "Just think of how many people you would need to be able to test and test quickly."The New York State Department of Health has already developed a COVID-19 antibody test, and state officials are now working with the FDA to get it approved and bring it to scale, Cuomo said.The test would allow residents who already had the virus, or are immune to it, to return back to public life. New York will work with New Jersey and Connecticut to scale the "rapid 15 minutes test" for use across the region, he said, noting that New York has tested more individuals per capita than anywhere else worldwide. "We need to start planning a restarting life. But we're not there yet," Cuomo said, noting states will need "a federal stimulus bill" to go back to normal life because "there's no other way to do this."Discussing the impact of the economic shutdown, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday that initial projections suggest that half a million New Yorkers "are either already out of work or soon will be."He said it's a dire situation that is "only getting worse."'This Is a War': Cuomo Pleads for Help From Doctors Across U.S. as Coronavirus Death Toll Surges"The only comparison you could make for that is the Great Depression, which scares me to death to even say that," de Blasio said.But de Blasio did offer one piece of uplifting news as the city continues to fight the pandemic. On Tuesday, he said that doctors and nurses across the five boroughs may finally have enough supplies to combat the surge of new patients. De Blasio said Tuesday that Elmhurst Hospital Center, a 545-bed public facility in Queens that lost 13 patients within 24 hours last month, is now "pretty much breaking even" on ventilators and other supplies. This is the first time the total number of patients on ventilators at the hospital did not increase, the mayor said. The Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, originally converted into a makeshift, 3,000-bed overflow hospital facility to alleviate overcrowding, will now be fully dedicated to COVID-19 patients, Cuomo said. Central Park has also been transformed into a field hospital to help house COVID-19 patients, and construction has begun on a 350-bed facility at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens for patients without the virus. The USNS Comfort—a naval ship docked in Manhattan with 1,000 beds, 12 operating rooms, a medical laboratory, and over 1,000 officers—is now also treating more than 50 coronavirus patients after initially being tasked to help relieve hospitals of residents without the virus. On Tuesday, the Navy confirmed a crew member aboard the converted super tank has tested positive for the flu-like virus and is currently in isolation. These steps, Cuomo said, have allowed hospitals across the state to unload their patient burden, share supplies, and provide a safe environment for patients who do not have the virus."This is not an act of God we're looking at. It's an act of what society actually does," Cuomo 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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