| Trump's candidate loses in Wisconsin, despite help from courts Posted: 14 Apr 2020 12:18 PM PDT  The president floated conspiracies of voter fraud after a progressive challenger knocked off a conservative incumbent in the race for a state Supreme Court seat.
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| Intelligence officials weigh possibility coronavirus escaped from a Chinese lab Posted: 14 Apr 2020 12:49 PM PDT  Though the the U.S. intelligence community has long since dismissed the notion that the coronavirus is a synthesized bioweapon, it is still weighing the possibility that the pandemic might have been touched off by an accident at a research facility rather than an infection from a live-animal market.
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| Trump news: President throws wild accusations at WHO about coronavirus as he threatens to adjourn House and Senate Posted: 15 Apr 2020 02:13 PM PDT  Donald Trump has carried through with his threat to end US funding to the World Health Organisation (WHO), depriving the body of $500m (£399m) per year at the height of the global coronavirus pandemic, blaming the body for "covering up" the outbreak in its early stages without offering any evidence for his contention.He contended on Tuesday that the US is a "developing nation" and complained about "unfair" treatment from the organisation after accusing its officials of "knowing exactly what was going on" as the outbreak developed. His remarks this week follow several reports illustrating his failure to heed multiple warnings over several weeks to prepare for the virus, which analysts predict cost thousands of lives.
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| Florida inmate freed over COVID-19 fears killed man the next day, police say Posted: 14 Apr 2020 09:57 PM PDT  Edward Williams, 26, was released based on concerns over coronavirus but was eligible to be freed on bond.
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| Photos show nearly a dozen Iranian attack boats harassing US Navy and Coast Guard ships in 'dangerous' exchange Posted: 15 Apr 2020 02:30 PM PDT  The US Navy said 11 Iranian boats "conducted dangerous and harassing approaches," crossing the bows and sterns of the US ships repeatedly.
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| Biden campaign denies ex-aide's sexual assault allegation Posted: 15 Apr 2020 10:48 AM PDT  A former assistant has accused the White House hopeful of attacking her nearly 30 years ago.
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| To slow pandemic, Trump should release nonviolent immigrants from detention centers Posted: 15 Apr 2020 08:01 AM PDT  As the virus spreads in detention facilities, it will threaten not only immigrants but also attorneys, visitors, guards, maintenance staff and others.
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| Bolsonaro expected to fire defiant Brazilian health minister Posted: 15 Apr 2020 05:30 AM PDT  Brazilian health officials braced on Wednesday for President Jair Bolsonaro to fire his health minister over disagreements on how to handle the coronavirus outbreak, with at least one secretary offering his resignation in protest. In a defiant news conference, Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta acknowledged his differences with Bolsonaro and said he had discussed a search for his replacement with the presidential chief of staff. "The president has made clear that he would like a different position from the Health Ministry," Mandetta said in televised remarks.
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| Emirates launches first rapid virus test for passengers Posted: 15 Apr 2020 07:23 AM PDT  Aviation giant Emirates has launched a 10-minute coronavirus blood test for passengers departing from its Dubai home base, in what it claimed Wednesday as a first for the industry. The airline resumed limited passenger flights earlier this month after the United Arab Emirates grounded all commercial aircraft. The flights are open to foreign citizens who wish to leave the country, but no incoming passengers are allowed.
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| Trump chides Cuomo for seeking 'independence' in coronavirus response Posted: 14 Apr 2020 08:52 AM PDT  The president continued to assert his absolute in authority in reopening the country following the shutdown to slow the spread of coronavirus.
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| Germany Mulls Easing Curbs as Europe’s Virus Struggle Progresses Posted: 15 Apr 2020 12:15 AM PDT |
| Taiwan virus aid sparks calls to rename China Airlines Posted: 15 Apr 2020 02:58 AM PDT  Taiwan's aid shipments to countries battling the coronavirus have sparked a fierce debate on the island about whether it should rebrand its national carrier China Airlines. The self-ruled island has been held up as a model for tackling the virus with fewer than 400 confirmed cases despite its proximity to China. Much of that aid has been ferried on China Airlines jets, sparking some confusion on arrival -- and online -- over whether the largesse has come from Taiwan or China.
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| Lagos unrest: The mystery of Nigeria's fake gangster attacks Posted: 15 Apr 2020 05:50 AM PDT  Residents of two Nigerian states, where there is a lockdown, panicked after fake reports of mass attacks.
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| Obama convinced Bernie Sanders to drop out by arguing that he already succeeded in pushing Biden to the left, new report says Posted: 15 Apr 2020 03:12 AM PDT  The former president and Vermont senator had four lengthy talks starting in late March which led to Sanders ending his Democratic presidential bid.
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| Iran parliament: Virus deaths nearly double reported figures Posted: 15 Apr 2020 06:09 AM PDT  The death toll in Iran from the coronavirus pandemic is likely nearly double the officially reported figures, due to undercounting and because not everyone with breathing problems has been tested for the virus, a parliament report said. Iranian health officials offered no comment on the report, which represents the highest-level charge yet from within the Islamic Republic's government of its figures being questionable, something long suspected by international experts. Iran on Wednesday put the death toll at 4,777, out of 76,389 confirmed cases of the virus — still making it the Mideast's worst outbreak by far.
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| Newsom offers time line for lifting of stay-at-home orders in Calif. Posted: 14 Apr 2020 02:09 PM PDT  Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday provided a potential time line for when stay-at-home orders would be lifted in the state.
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| Pelosi: Trump coronavirus missteps 'caused unnecessary death and economic disaster' Posted: 14 Apr 2020 04:56 PM PDT  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi released a letter in which she charged President Trump with missteps in handling the coronavirus pandemic that "caused unnecessary death and economic disaster" in the U.S.
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| Court Rules Against Epstein Victims on Controversial Plea Deal Posted: 14 Apr 2020 11:27 AM PDT  A federal appeals court has denied relief to victims of Jeffrey Epstein under the Crime Victims' Rights Act, refusing their requests for remedies such as the release of FBI documents and a public hearing on Epstein's criminal case in Florida.The opinion comes as part of a 12-year legal battle between Courtney Wild, who was underage when Epstein sexually abused her, and the federal government. After Epstein secured a controversial plea deal in 2008, Wild was one of two "Jane Does" to sue the feds, alleging the U.S. Attorney's Office in Miami violated the Crime Victims' Rights Act (CVRA) by keeping more than 30 victims in the dark about Epstein's non-prosecution agreement.In May of 2007, Epstein was facing a 53-page indictment for trafficking underage girls and could have spent life behind bars, if charged and convicted. But Epstein's lawyers secretly negotiated with federal prosecutors to scrap the drafted indictment, and the perverted financier pleaded guilty to lesser state charges instead. (Epstein served 13 months in a private wing of the Palm Beach County jail. The money-manager was permitted to spend 12 hours a day, six days a week, on "work release," and during that time, he continued to abuse young women.)On Tuesday, the appeals court ruled the CVRA does not apply to Wild's case because "the government never filed charges or otherwise commenced criminal proceedings against Epstein" and thus "the CVRA was never triggered."Jeffrey Epstein's Hollywood Pipeline Ran Straight to Harvey Weinstein"Despite our sympathy for Ms. Wild and others like her, who suffered unspeakable horror at Epstein's hands, only to be left in the dark—and, so it seems, affirmatively misled—by government lawyers, we find ourselves constrained to deny her petition," wrote the panel, which included judges Kevin C. Newsom, Gerald Bard Tjoflat and Frank M. Hull. (The decision was written by Newsom, with Tjoflat concurring. Judge Hull dissented.)"We hold that at least as matters currently stand—which is to say at least as the CVRA is currently written—rights under the Act do not attach until criminal proceedings have been initiated against a defendant, either by complaint, information, or indictment," the judges' decision continued."Because the government never filed charges or otherwise commenced criminal proceedings against Epstein, the CVRA was never triggered. It's not a result we like, but it's the result we think the law requires."Brad Edwards, a lawyer for the victims, told The Daily Beast he would request a hearing before the full Eleventh Circuit court to reconsider the panel's decision. "It is clear that even the majority detested the government's treatment of the victims but apparently felt there was a loophole in the CVRA that the prosecutors and Epstein successfully exploited," Edwards said in an email. "For all the reasons given in the 60-page dissenting opinion, we strongly disagree with today's ruling—which leaves victims like Ms. Wild without any remedy, even for victims like her who have been 'affirmatively misled' by federal prosecutors."In February of 2019, U.S. District Judge Kenneth A. Marra ruled federal prosecutors in Miami violated the CVRA by secretly negotiating with Epstein's lawyers to downgrade his charges to state court. "Petitioners and the other victims should have been notified of the Government's intention to take that course of action before it bound itself under" a plea agreement, Marra wrote in his decision.But in September, Marra rejected victims' requests for remedies, which included voiding the plea deal's immunity provisions that protected Epstein and his alleged accomplices. The alleged co-conspirators, according to the agreement, include "Sarah Kellen, Adriana Ross, Lesley Groff, or Nadia Marcinkova." Wild petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit to reverse Marra's decision and order the district court to grant victims "all appropriate remedies," including rolling back "the NPA's immunity provisions, holding a public hearing on the case, release of documents, and an award of attorneys' fees."The appeals court's decision suggests the CVRA doesn't apply to Epstein's victims at all.According to the federal law, crime victims have rights—which include the right to timely notice of any public court proceeding involving the crime; the right to be heard at any public proceeding in the district court involving pleas or sentencing; and the right to confer with the attorney for the government in the case."The interpretation of the CVRA that petitioner advances, and that the district court adopted, is not implausible; the CVRA could be read to apply pre-charge," the panel stated. "We conclude, though—reluctantly, especially given the mistreatment that petitioner seems to have suffered at the hands of federal prosecutors—that the Act is neither best nor most naturally read that way.""On balance, we conclude that the Act's terms—including the provisions on which petitioner relies—demonstrate that its protections apply only after the commencement of criminal proceedings."The panel majority adds, "Again, must prosecutors consult with victims before law-enforcement officers conduct a raid, seek a warrant, or conduct an interrogation? That seems exceedingly unlikely."In a dissenting opinion, Judge Hull said the panel majority "patently errs in holding, as a matter of law, that the crime victims of Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirators had no statutory rights whatsoever under the CVRA.""Instead, our Court should enforce the plain and unambiguous text of the CVRA and hold that the victims had two CVRA rights—the right to confer with the government's attorney and the right to be treated fairly—that were repeatedly violated by the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of Florida," Hull wrote.The dissenting judge warned that the majority's "pre-charge rule will deny victims' CVRA rights to confer and fairness in cases involving white-collar and other wealthy defendants who commonly engage in pre-charge plea negotiations.""Jeffrey Epstein's case illustrates my point," Hull added. Hull pushed back on the majority's claim that pre-charge CVRA rights would result in prosecutors having to consult with victims before authorities "conduct a raid, seek a warrant, or conduct an interrogation.""The Majority is more afraid of a future 'crime victim' potentially asking a 'readily identifiable' government 'attorney' to confer 'reasonably' with her pre-charge, than it is of secret pre-charge plea deals for wealthy defendants, even though it's now common practice for them to seek the best plea deal in advance of indictment," Hull continued. "The Majority's new blanket restriction eviscerates crime victims' CVRA rights and makes the Epstein case a poster-child for an entirely different justice system for crime victims of wealthy defendants."Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| China reports fewer coronavirus cases but local infections rise near Russian border Posted: 14 Apr 2020 05:43 PM PDT  China reported a decline in new confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the mainland on Wednesday, but there was an increasing number of local transmissions in its far northeast bordering Russia. China had 46 new confirmed cases on Tuesday compared with 89 a day earlier, according to the National Health Commission. The 10 remaining cases were new locally transmitted infections, with the northeastern Heilongjiang province accounting for eight and the southern Guangdong province two.
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| These Engineers Just Solved the Biggest Problem with N95 Masks Posted: 15 Apr 2020 11:55 AM PDT  Not bad for a couple of guys who usually create fuel cells for next-gen cars.
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| Stacey Abrams, a top choice for vice president, pitches herself to Joe Biden: ‘I would be an excellent running mate’ Posted: 15 Apr 2020 11:57 AM PDT  Stacey Abrams, the former Democratic gubernatorial candidate from Georgia who lost in a race mired in voter suppression controversies, has said she would make an "excellent running mate" for Joe Biden in a new interview.The popular Georgia Democrat told Elle Magazine she would be "honoured" to serve as the former vice president's running mate in the race for the White House against Donald Trump, while outlining her qualifications and enthusiasm for the role.
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| Carnival's CEO said the company has enough money to make it through the rest of 2020 without bringing in any revenue Posted: 14 Apr 2020 03:16 PM PDT  Carnival has raised over $6 billion in debt and equity this year after drawing $3 billion from its credit lines.
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| Sen. Graham defends Trump's early action to combat COVID-19 against media attacks Posted: 14 Apr 2020 05:53 AM PDT  Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham joins 'Fox & Friends' after a contentious press conference between the president and the media on the White House response.
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| Missteps mar Puerto Rico's response to the coronavirus Posted: 15 Apr 2020 09:13 AM PDT  Puerto Rico officials say data that show COVID-19 cases on the island are much lower than in some U.S. states constitute proof they are containing the new coronavirus, but a series of missteps is raising concerns it could be more widespread than believed. Local officials, meanwhile, have favored televised discussions over press conferences in a situation that has angered many and drawn comparisons to Hurricane Maria. "We're basically operating blindly," said Mónica Feliú-Mójer, spokeswoman for CienciaPR, a nonprofit group of Puerto Rican scientists who are demanding widespread testing.
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| 'Starve or get sick': Africa's lockdown dilemma Posted: 14 Apr 2020 12:34 PM PDT  Women and children fell to the ground, bloodied and trampled in a desperate surge for food being handed out in a Nairobi slum, as police fired teargas and men with sticks beat the hungry. As African countries grapple with the coronavirus pandemic, observers warn that the traumatic scenes which played out last Friday will not be the last if governments fail to help millions of urban poor who live hand-to-mouth. Kenya has so far cordoned off the capital and parts of its coastline and imposed a night-time curfew and other social distancing measures.
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| 3 California churches sue Gov. Gavin Newsom over coronavirus orders Posted: 14 Apr 2020 02:59 PM PDT  One pastor, Patrick Scales, said he believes he can have in-person services while also keeping congregants safe.
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| Iran's Rouhani forecasts bumper wheat output, says food supplies secure Posted: 15 Apr 2020 05:33 AM PDT  Iran expects to produce 14 million tonnes of wheat by March 2021, President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday, adding that the coronavirus outbreak had not hit its farm sector and Iranians did not need to worry about food supplies. "Our forecast is some 3.5%-4% increase in agricultural products and we predict production of 14 million tonnes of wheat during this (Iranian) year," Rouhani said during a televised cabinet meeting. Rouhani said Iran's domestic grain production had been boosted by heavy rainfall that could cover its needs until the next Iranian year, which starts on March 21, 2021.
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| Was a Liberal Victory in a Wisconsin Supreme Court Race a ‘Stunning Upset’? Posted: 14 Apr 2020 12:15 PM PDT  Conservative Wisconsin supreme court justice Dan Kelly lost his race for a ten-year term to liberal challenger Jill Karofsky by eleven percentage points in the state's spring election, according to official results released Monday night.New York Times reporter Reid Epstein calls the liberal win a "stunning upset," but that seems to be an overstatement. There was certainly a great deal of uncertainty over how an election would play out in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. But for well over a year, the (sensible, obvious, and bipartisan) conventional wisdom was that the liberal candidate would be a strong favorite because there was a Democratic presidential primary at the top of the ticket, while Donald Trump would not face serious opposition in the Republican primary.In 2018, Republicans were so worried about the advantage the primary would give the liberal candidate down-ballot that they considered moving the supreme court and primary elections to different dates. As the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported in April 2019, following the surprise loss of liberal supreme court candidate Lisa Neubauer, "Liberals had hoped to have Neubauer win this year so they could be on a path to taking control of the court next year, when conservative Justice Daniel Kelly's term is up. The April 2020 election will coincide with Wisconsin's presidential primary, when Democratic turnout is expected to be high."The last-minute fight between the Democratic governor and the Republican legislature over postponing the election may have had some effect on the size of the liberal victory, but it probably wasn't a big one. A record 1.1 million votes out of 1.5 million total votes in the April elections were cast absentee (either by mail or in-person early voting), but most of those votes were cast before the fight over postponing the election erupted. Democratic governor Tony Evers did not call for postponing the election until the afternoon of Friday, April 3, and the deadline to request absentee ballots was 5 p.m. that day. Absentee ballots had to be postmarked by April 7 to be counted.The Democratic primary at the top of the ticket and the absence of a competitive GOP presidential primary still seem to be the biggest factors determining the outcome of the down-ballot supreme court race.Total turnout for the April 7 elections ended up being roughly what could have been reasonably expected under normal circumstances when a Democratic presidential primary is combined with a state supreme court election.In 2019, when a supreme court race was the most important contest in Wisconsin's statewide spring election, the conservative candidate won with 606,000 votes, defeating the liberal candidate by less than one percentage point. In 2020, losing conservative candidate Dan Kelly got 693,000 votes — 87,000 more votes than the victorious 2019 conservative candidate. But in 2020, nearly 900,000 votes were cast in the Democratic presidential primary (about 100,000 fewer than were cast in the 2016 Democratic primary), and the liberal supreme court candidate won 856,000 votes down-ballot.In Wisconsin's spring 2016 elections, there were competitive Republican and Democratic presidential primaries, and the performance of supreme court candidates down-ballot corresponded almost perfectly with the turnout in the presidential primaries. That year, 97,219 more ballots were cast in Trump–Cruz–Kasich GOP race than in the Clinton–Sanders Democratic race, and the conservative supreme court candidate won by 95,515 votes.What does the liberal victory in Wisconsin mean going forward? It shrinks the conservative majority to 4–3, and it gives liberals a chance to win a majority in 2023. But it's hard to find any relationship between Wisconsin supreme court elections and presidential elections. A narrow conservative victory in the spring of 2011 was followed by a decisive win for Barack Obama in 2012. A double-digit liberal supreme court victory in 2015 was followed by Donald Trump's surprise upset in 2016. Another double-digit liberal victory in 2018 was followed by a one-point loss for former GOP governor Scott Walker that fall.Whether Republicans pay a price in November for the GOP legislature's refusal to postpone the election remains to be seen. Democratic governor Tony Evers deserves his fair share of blame for waiting until April 3 to call for delaying the election and then issuing an executive order the day before the election to postpone it — a unilateral action Evers had until then described as illegal. Though four weeks passed between the coronavirus outbreak in the United States and Wisconsin's April 7 elections, Evers, the GOP legislature, and local officials collectively failed to use that time to ensure in-person voting throughout the state would be as safe as going to a grocery store. But if there is a spike in COVID-19 cases and deaths in the coming weeks that can be attributed to in-person voting, Wisconsin voters may indeed punish Republicans in November.
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| New York City mayor says grocery stores should require customers to wear masks Posted: 15 Apr 2020 08:06 AM PDT  New York City is asking grocery stores to require their customers to wear face coverings to protect workers and customers.
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| Emergency room doctor, near death with coronavirus, saved after experimental treatment Posted: 13 Apr 2020 10:48 PM PDT  A Seattle emergency-room doctor contracted COVID-19 while treating patients infected by coronavirus. He owes his life to physicians who used an experimental treatment.
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| Coronavirus relief checks won’t have to be repaid, feds say Posted: 14 Apr 2020 02:59 PM PDT  The checks will be directly deposited into bank accounts or mailed to households, depending on how you've filed your tax returns in the past. In recent days, social media posts have falsely claimed there's one catch to this money -- that you'll eventually have to pay it back. The video has also been shared widely on social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok.
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| Coronavirus: Is President Trump right to criticise the WHO? Posted: 15 Apr 2020 11:06 AM PDT  The World Health Organization "failed in its basic duty" over coronavirus, Donald Trump claims.
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| Coronavirus: Dead people are receiving $1,200 stimulus checks and their families don't know what to do Posted: 15 Apr 2020 03:09 PM PDT  Untold numbers of dead people have received up to $1,200 from the government as the Treasury Department began sending out coronavirus stimulus checks via direct deposit this week.Most — if not all — of the stimulus money that has accidentally been paid out to Americans who have died recently appears to have been sent to formerly joint bank accounts of the deceased and their surviving loved ones from when they filed taxes jointly.
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| Former CDC director says WHO helps protect Americans, data not date should decide when to re-open America Posted: 14 Apr 2020 05:10 PM PDT  We need a strong World Health Organization, says Dr. Tom Frieden, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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| China, U.S. must cooperate amid coronavirus, top Chinese diplomat tells Pompeo Posted: 15 Apr 2020 08:18 AM PDT  It is crucial that China and the United States properly manage their relations amid the coronavirus pandemic, top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi told U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported. Yang told Pompeo in their telephone conversation he hoped the United States would meet China halfway, focus on cooperation and help to promote bilateral relations in line with the fundamental interests of their countries, according to CCTV.
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| Republicans wary of Mnuchin's coronavirus relief talks with Dems Posted: 15 Apr 2020 10:05 AM PDT  "Mnuchin can make all the deals he wants to with Speaker Pelosi ... but I think it's going to have a tough time in the Senate."
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| Gov. Gavin Newsom says 6 things need to happen before California even thinks about loosening its stay-at-home restrictions Posted: 14 Apr 2020 02:50 PM PDT  Increased testing is essential, but even after restrictions are loosened, life is not expected to look normal for a while.
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| US military chief: 'Weight of evidence' that Covid-19 did not originate in a lab Posted: 14 Apr 2020 01:33 PM PDT  * Chair of joints chiefs says 'natural' origin more likely * 2018 cable expressed concern about Wuhan laboratory * Coronavirus – latest US updates * Coronavirus – latest global updates * See all our coronavirus coverageThe Pentagon's top general has said that US intelligence has looked into the possibility that the coronavirus outbreak could have started in a Chinese laboratory, but that the "weight of evidence" so far pointed towards "natural" origins.The chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Gen Mark Milley, was speaking on the day of a Washington Post report about state department cables in 2018 in which US diplomats raised safety concerns about the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) which was conducting studies of coronavirus from bats."During interactions with scientists at the WIV laboratory, they noted the new lab has a serious shortage of appropriately trained technicians and investigators needed to safely operate this high-containment laboratory," a cable dated 19 January 2018 said, according to the Post.The diplomats urged further US support for the laboratory to address the concerns, but no support was given, at a time when the Trump administration was cutting back on the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) outreach abroad.Beijing's official version of the start outbreak was the Covid-19 virus (Sars-CoV-2) was transmitted to humans from animals at Wuhan's wild animal markets, though some Chinese officials have circulated conspiracy theories suggesting it was engineered in a US bioweapons laboratory.The cables reported by the Washington Post have emerged at a time when the administration is seeking to focus blame for the pandemic on China and the World Health Organization. The Republican senator Tom Cotton has raised the possibility that the pandemic was a deliberate Chinese bioweapon attack, though he has argued natural transmission from animals to humans, or a lab accident, were more likely scenarios."There's a lot of rumour and speculation in a wide variety of media, blog sites, etc," Milley told reporters at the Pentagon on Tuesday. "It should be no surprise to you that we've taken a keen interest in that, and we've had a lot of intelligence look at that. And I would just say at this point, it's inconclusive, although the weight of evidence seems to indicate natural. But we don't know for certain."Most scientists say that this coronavirus probably originated in bats but found its way to humans through an intermediary animal.There is no conclusive evidence that this happened at Wuhan's notorious "wet" markets where wild animals were sold for meat. Analysis of the first 41 Covid-19 patients in medical journal the Lancet found that 27 of them had direct exposure to the Wuhan market. But the same analysis found that the first known case did not.
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| Democratic bills call for racial breakdown of COVID-19 cases Posted: 14 Apr 2020 12:39 PM PDT  Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday introduced legislation to compel federal health officials to post data daily that breaks down COVID-19 cases and deaths by race and ethnicity. The lawmakers say the demographic data is needed to address any disparities in the national response to the coronavirus outbreak, which is taking a disproportionate toll on African Americans and other nonwhite populations. "Because of government-sponsored discrimination and systemic racism, communities of color are on the frontlines of this pandemic," Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, one of several sponsors of the legislation in the Senate, said in a statement.
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| Cardi B goes live with Bernie Sanders to poke holes in Trump's coronavirus response Posted: 15 Apr 2020 10:02 AM PDT  Politics' odd couple, rapper Cardi B and Sen. Bernie Sanders, had a video chat to discuss his exit from the presidential race and Trump's coronavirus plan.
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| Climate change: Blue skies pushed Greenland 'into the red' Posted: 15 Apr 2020 06:30 AM PDT  Cloud-free skies played a key role in one of the worst years for Greenland's ice sheet.
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| Stimulus Checks Are Being Sent to Millions of Americans This Week. Here's How to Get Yours Faster Posted: 15 Apr 2020 02:42 PM PDT  The IRS is sending stimulus checks to millions of Americans starting this week. Here's how to get your stimulus check faster.
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| Hannity Goes After Obama’s Old Pastor. No, It’s Not 2008. Posted: 14 Apr 2020 08:08 PM PDT  Fox News host Sean Hannity on Tuesday night accused former President Barack Obama of being obsessed with him and the network—all while dredging up a 12-year-old controversy about Obama's ex-pastor.Earlier in the day, the former president took a veiled shot at Fox News during his video endorsement of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, and Hannity couldn't help but complain about Obama's not-so-subtle broadside."And he can't get Fox News out of his head," Hannity exclaimed, after leading off his Tuesday night primetime broadcast by mocking Obama's endorsement. "He can't. We live in his mind. He takes a shot at Fox again. Me, yours truly, I live in his mind!"Hannity, who devoted years of his show to attacking the former president, proceeded to play a clip of Obama saying it "won't be easy" to defeat President Donald Trump because the "other side has a propaganda network with little regard for the truth."The longtime Fox News star wondered aloud why "in the middle of a global pandemic" Obama couldn't stop attacking his channel—then played a montage of the former president taking jabs at Hannity himself. (Throughout the video clip, an on-air graphic blared "FLASHBACK: OBAMA'S 'HANNITY' OBSESSION.")Once again insisting—without a hint of irony—that it was Obama who couldn't get Fox News out of his head, Hannity then went on a rant running down the purported scandals of the Obama era that Fox News covered incessantly, boasting that "we are the only ones that exposed" them."We did a deep dive into the radical hate preacher. We were right about Reverend 'G-D America'—Reverend Wright," Hannity bellowed, referencing Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama's former pastor.Besides Wright, Hannity also brought up former Weather Underground leader Bill Ayers, noting that Hannity and Fox News were also the "ones who exposed" Obama's ties to the former domestic terrorist. Numerous news outlets would later report that the two never had a close association, something Ayers himself would later confirm.During the 2008 election, Hannity and other Fox News hosts devoted round-the-clock coverage to Obama's relationship with the pastor following news coverage of inflammatory comments Wright had made during sermons. Even after Obama denounced Wright's remarks, the criticism continued, eventually leading to the then-candidate's famous "A More Perfect Union" speech, which touched on racial tension and anger in an effort to provide context to Wright's controversial statements. Eventually, after the controversy wouldn't go away, Obama withdrew from his church and condemned Wright.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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