| Trump sees 'hard days' ahead in coronavirus fight, with as many as 240,000 Americans dead Posted: 31 Mar 2020 08:05 PM PDT  Nearly a quarter million people in the United States could die as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, Trump administration officials said Tuesday.
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| Liberty University students choose sides after fallout from coronavirus reporting Posted: 31 Mar 2020 03:30 PM PDT  The New York Times reported this week that almost a dozen Liberty University students have come down with COVID-19 symptoms since the school reopened last week. But Liberty University officials have since pushed back on these claims, calling the Times story "fake news". Now, students are choosing sides in who they believe is telling the truth.
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| Amazon says it will investigate after we obtained a photo appearing to show a lack of social distancing at Indiana warehouse Posted: 01 Apr 2020 06:24 PM PDT  A photo obtained by Business Insider appears to show company managers sitting close together at a warehouse. Amazon says it's investigating.
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| China under-reported coronavirus cases and deaths, U.S. intelligence reportedly concludes Posted: 01 Apr 2020 09:06 AM PDT  There has been some skepticism about China's reporting on the novel COVID-19 coronavirus for some time, especially as smaller countries like Italy surged past the world's most populous nation in both overall cases and deaths. On Wednesday, U.S. intelligence officials told Bloomberg on condition of anonymity that the skepticism is valid.Per Bloomberg, the U.S. intelligence community reportedly concluded in a classified document that China, where the pandemic originated, has under-reported its totals. The officials didn't reveal any of the reports contents, but said the gist of it is China intentionally left death and cases reports incomplete — two officials reportedly said the numbers out of China are fake.Officially, China has tallied more than 82,000 cases and 3,300 deaths, whereas the U.S. already has more than 189,000 cases and 4,000 deaths. Beijing somewhat acknowledged their stats were skewed after they changed their methodology to include some asymptomatic cases, but it's unclear how many more asymptomatic infections were discounted overall. Thousands of urns outside funeral homes have reportedly led people to doubt the Chinese government's death total, as well. Read more at Bloomberg.More stories from theweek.com The Trump administration is adding an extra barrier for Social Security recipients to get their stimulus check Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is what real coronavirus leadership looks like New Jersey newspaper carrier does double duty, delivering groceries free of charge to people along his route
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| Trump: US to deploy anti-drug Navy ships near Venezuela Posted: 01 Apr 2020 11:55 AM PDT  President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that Navy ships are being moved toward Venezuela as his administration beefs up counter-narcotics operations in the Caribbean following a U.S. drug indictment against Nicolás Maduro. "The Venezuelan people continue to suffer tremendously due to Maduro and his criminal control over the country, and drug traffickers are seizing on this lawlessness," Defense Secretary Mark Esper said after the president's announcement. The deployment is one of the largest U.S. military operations in the region since the 1989 invasion of Panama to remove Gen. Manuel Noriega from power and bring him to the U.S. to face drug charges.
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| Another US-Mexico border tunnel has been discovered – with nearly $30 million worth of drugs, officials say Posted: 01 Apr 2020 07:40 AM PDT  Federal agents uncovered a tunnel used to smuggle drugs between warehouses in San Diego, California, and Tijuana, Mexico.
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| Great Recession showed countries can’t fight the coronavirus economic crisis alone Posted: 01 Apr 2020 03:02 PM PDT  Trade represents close to 60% of world GDP, and national economies can't thrive in isolation. We needed a global response in 2008 and we need one now.
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| Latest on the spread of the coronavirus around the world Posted: 31 Mar 2020 11:06 PM PDT  Transport hubs that should be teeming with travellers such as New York's Grand Central Terminal or Istanbul's Eminonu ferry docks are all but deserted. * Italy will extend lockdown restrictions to April 13, as data from this week suggests a slowdown of growth in total cases, though its national health institute says official death toll could be underestimated. * Cases in Spain topped 100,000 on Wednesday, and two planes with protective equipment arrived to restock an overloaded public health system.
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| Spain Suffers Deadliest Day as Europe Considers Longer Lockdowns Posted: 31 Mar 2020 08:00 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Spain suffered its deadliest day of the coronavirus pandemic, as European governments doubled down on efforts to maintain rigid lockdowns amid tentative signs that the infection rate is slowing.Italy and the Netherlands are discussing prolonging measures to limit personal contact, and German officials warned that it's too soon to ease restrictions as things could still get worse.Alongside the battle for public health, wider implications of the crisis are starting to emerge. Concerns are growing about European unity as the financial cost of the shutdown risks deepening divisions between member nations.In a letter to euro-area finance ministers, Eurogroup President Mario Centeno warned that the bloc will emerge from the crisis with much higher debt levels, and government policy must take care to prevent this from fragmenting the currency union.Total Spanish virus deaths rose by 849 to 8,189 in the past 24 hours, according to the latest Health Ministry data. The number of new cases increased by 9,222 -- the most in a single day -- to bring total confirmed infections in the country to 94,417.The Spanish government is betting that severe restrictions on public life at least through the Easter weekend will help curtail the spread of the disease, which has killed more people in Spain than in China where the pandemic started.On Europe's eastern fringe, Romania is suffering a surge in fatalities after tens of thousands of its citizens returned from Italy and Spain, making it the worst-hit nation in central and eastern Europe. The death toll surged to 69 in the past 24 hours, with more than 2,100 people infected. That's almost the combined number of deaths in Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic.The grim figures come after the World Health Organization called on governments to maintain containment measures, saying Europe's curbs on movement are starting to have an effect.Mike Ryan, head of health emergencies at the WHO, said Monday that "our fervent hope" is that Italy and Spain -- the epicenters of the pandemic in Europe -- are approaching a peak. He urged countries to step up efforts to find and isolate patients.Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte's government may extend restrictions through the May 1 holiday weekend, with a gradual opening of the country from May 4, local media reported.New infections in Italy, which has the most cases after the U.S., totaled 4,050, compared with 5,217 the previous day, civil protection authorities said late Monday. This was the lowest increase since March 17. Fatalities from the disease rose by 812 compared with 756 on Sunday, bringing the total to 11,591.Even as Italy reported the smallest number of new coronavirus cases in almost two weeks, the country will extend current containment measures until at least Easter, Health Minister Roberto Speranza confirmed on Monday.Conte is also trying to stave off the risk of social unrest and his administration is preparing an emergency handout for workers trapped in Italy's underground economy.The prime minister is expected to host a cabinet meeting on Wednesday or Thursday to approve a new request to parliament for a wider budget deficit, paving the way for a second stimulus package worth at least 30 billion euros ($33 billion), according to officials who asked not to be named discussing administration strategy. Italy's initial package was worth 25 billion euros.Austria faces economic costs of 0.53% of annual output for every week of full lockdown measures, according to the country's central bank. In a "moderate" scenario -- some measures will be relaxed as soon as mid-April and gradually expire by the end of May -- the crisis will lead to a contraction of 3.2% this year.In the Netherlands, Prime Minister Mark Rutte's government is expected to extend measures including school and restaurant closures beyond April 6, according to local media. On Monday, the rate of new confirmed cases rose by 8% to 11,750, the lowest daily increase since the first case was reported at the end of February.The premier of the southern German state of Bavaria said earlier Tuesday it's too early to consider easing containment measures as the situation remains "very, very serious.""We are detecting a very, very slight flattening of this exponential curve, the infection numbers are declining somewhat," Markus Soeder, whose state has the most confirmed cases in the country, told ARD TV. "But whether that's a lasting trend remains to be seen."The impact on Europe's largest economy is becoming more evident. German companies filed almost half a million applications for financial aid under a government support program in March, the Federal Labor Agency said.The head of Germany's public health authority said he expects the pandemic to continue for several more months and the nation's death rate -- a relatively low 0.8% -- to rise. Carmakers Volkswagen AG and Daimler AG and sports-apparel maker Puma SE are among those planning to idle tens of thousands of staff.(Updates with Romanian figures, German aid)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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| Iran warns U.S. over Iraq deployment amid virus Posted: 01 Apr 2020 07:06 AM PDT  On Wednesday Iran warned the U.S. it was "warmongering during the coronavirus outbreak," after it deployed Patriot air defense missiles to Iraq.
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| The top infectious disease expert in the US says we're seeing 'glimmers' that social distancing is helping, but says a turnaround is yet to come Posted: 31 Mar 2020 08:12 AM PDT  Dr. Anthony Fauci said in an interview with CNN on Tuesday that social distancing seems to be dampening the spread of the coronavirus.
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| Serbia sets the stage for Beijing's mask diplomacy Posted: 01 Apr 2020 07:48 PM PDT  When six Chinese doctors landed in Belgrade two weeks ago, Serbia's president greeted them with elbow-bumps before laying a kiss on their country's flag, a gesture of gratitude that sent Chinese social media aflutter. For weeks China has been showering European countries with millions of face masks, test kits and other aid, recasting itself as the hero in the battle against coronavirus.
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| 'We are on the verge of a massive collapse': Ex-Energy Secretary Perry says COVID-19 will ravage oil industry Posted: 01 Apr 2020 04:53 PM PDT  "I'm telling you, we are on the verge of a massive collapse," Perry said of the impact the plunge in oil prices could have on U.S. operators.
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| China is bracing for a second wave of coronavirus Posted: 01 Apr 2020 01:59 PM PDT  A Chinese county that was largely unscathed by the novel COVID-19 coronavirus went into lockdown Wednesday, signaling fears of a possible second wave in the country where the virus originated, The South China Morning Post reports.The county of Jia in Henan province, home to 600,000 people, is now in lockdown after infections reportedly spread at a local hospital. There were previously only 12 confirmed cases in Henan, despite it being situated just north of Hubei province, where China's epicenter, Wuhan, is located. However, U.S. intelligence reportedly believes China under-reported the actual number of cases.Either way, the new lockdown, which shuts down all non-essential business and requires people to carry special permits to leave their homes, and wear face masks and have their temperature taken when out and about, comes at a time when the country clearly wants to get its economy up and running again. It's unclear if such measures will be limited to the county or if it's a sign of things to come for the rest of the world's most populous country, but President Xi Jinping has warned that China must return to normal gradually in the hopes of preventing a full-scale COVID-19 return. Read more at The South China Morning Post.More stories from theweek.com The Trump administration is adding an extra barrier for Social Security recipients to get their stimulus check Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is what real coronavirus leadership looks like New Jersey newspaper carrier does double duty, delivering groceries free of charge to people along his route
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| U.S. records 700 coronavirus deaths in a single day for first time Posted: 31 Mar 2020 02:01 PM PDT  The U.S. government raced to build hundreds of makeshift hospitals to ease the strain on overwhelmed healthcare systems as the United States marked 700 deaths in a single day from COVID-19 for the first time on Tuesday. Nearly half those deaths were in New York state, still the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio pleaded for reinforcements from the Trump administration, saying the worst may still be weeks away. De Blasio, a Democrat, said he had asked the White House for an additional 1,000 nurses, 300 respiratory therapists and 150 doctors by April 5 but had yet to receive an answer from the Trump administration.
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| Syrian ex-VP, foreign minister dies of heart attack in Paris Posted: 01 Apr 2020 05:38 AM PDT  Abdul-Halim Khaddam, a former Syrian vice president and foreign minister who was one of the most influential figures in the country before defecting in 2005 to France, has died of a heart attack in Paris, his son said Wednesday. Jihad Khaddam told The Associated Press his father had been in good health, and that the heart attack happened after he fell on his back three days ago. Khaddam played a pivotal role during the civil war in Lebanon and Syria's three-decade domination of its smaller neighbor.
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| Coronavirus: Stock markets suffer worst quarter since 1987 Posted: 31 Mar 2020 02:12 PM PDT  The Dow Jones and FTSE 100 have fallen more than 20% since the start of the year.
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| Differing death tolls in California and Louisiana hint at the urgency to 'flatten the curve' Posted: 01 Apr 2020 12:21 PM PDT  In the past week, California has seen its number of deaths slowing down, while the tally in Louisiana has accelerated.
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| A Doctor Who Met Putin Just Tested Positive, and Russia’s COVID-19 Crackdowns Could Get Real Ugly. Posted: 31 Mar 2020 01:49 AM PDT  MOSCOW—Amid a growing uproar in newly locked-down Russia, news broke on Tuesday that a doctor President Vladimir Putin met with just a week ago during a highly publicized visit to a coronavirus treatment facility has now tested positive for the infection himself. Widely disseminated photos of the visit showed Putin donning an orange hazmat suit, but he had also talked to Dr. Denis Protsenko extensively without protection and photographs show them together with very little "social distancing."Putin's spokesman says the Russian president is tested frequently for coronavirus infection and is just fine. But the news is bound to shake a country already racked by uncertainty, fear, and not a little anger."You should find abandoned cells used to punish prisoners, cold ones with no food in them, lock them up there," Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov declared as the Russian Federation went into a nationwide lockdown over the weekend. He was telling his security force commanders how to treat those who disobeyed the curfew and quarantine orders. "Throw them in a big hole, bury them, let them die in it."Most Russian officials are not as blunt and brutal as Kadyrov, a Putin protégé and the point man for some of the more ruthless actions carried out in support of the president. But the coronavirus crisis has brought to the fore the grim authoritarian instincts of several leaders in what was once the Soviet Bloc. As their people try to find masks and rubber gloves to protect themselves, dictators are raising their iron fists, not least, to protect their regimes. Others are still trying to pretend there's no problem at the moment. The crackdowns will come later.One of the most stunning moves was taken in Hungary, a member of the European Union, where the parliament passed a bill giving Prime Minister Viktor Orbán—one of Putin's closest EU soulmates—virtually unlimited powers to rule by decree; suspending parliament; canceling elections; threatening up to five years in prison for those who spread "fake new" and rumors (read, criticism of the regime); and up to eight years in prison for those who break the quarantine. All this for as long as Orbán wants. "And there it is," tweeted historian and columnist Anne Applebaum, "The European Union's first dictatorship. None of these powers is needed to fight the virus. But they will help distract and deter opposition, especially when it becomes clear that the government has no better plan."Here in the Russian capital the picture is more mixed, because Putin himself has sent messages to the public almost as confusing and contradictory as those of President Donald J. Trump in the United States.For weeks and months, as thousands began dying from the disease in China—then Italy, France, Spain, around the world and now with a vengeance in the United States—many epidemiologists warned COVID-19 will kill millions if drastic measures are not taken to stop it. But Russia delayed the actions needed to prevent the worst outbreak scenarios.Putin Worries Coronavirus Could Screw Up His Constitutional 'Coronation'It was obvious, as we reported, that President Vladimir Putin and his supporters did not want anything to interfere with a planned April 22 referendum to ratify his continued rule for at least another 16 years. It was also apparent that Russia did not want to let anything interfere with its May 9 Victory Day celebrations marking 75 years since the defeat of the Nazis. So the official number of infections in this country that borders the Chinese and European epicenters of the spreading plague remained implausibly low.Last week, the numbers caught up with the Kremlin, as cases became too numerous to deny, and Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said flatly the infection rate was much higher than the government was admitting. The number of officially diagnosed Muscovites now exceeds 1,000, with at least nine people killed by the virus. On Tuesday last week, Russia's Channel One announced: "Our president is on the front lines of the main war on the planet, the war with coronavirus." Over the last two decades, Russians have seen Putin as a self-styled man of action mobilizing resources to make Russia stronger, richer, greater. TV channels showed the commander-in-chief in the cockpit of a fighter jet wearing a pilot's uniform. His shirtless shots became iconic. He even appeared to guide migrant birds as he flew an ultra-light aircraft. And now the country watched Putin in a bright yellow hazmat suit touring Moscow's new coronavirus hospital, although it appears he did not actually meet any coronavirus patients. Putin was giving the public its cue, once again, to follow the leader. And he did meet with the hospital's chief physician, Dr. Denis Protsenko, whose positive test for coronavirus was just announced this Tuesday.Protsenko, 44, sounded straightforward when he spoke to the BBC last week. He said he was convinced that Russia should be ready for the "Italian scenario," and that he personally was prepared to put diapers on and work 12 hours a day in intensive care units, like Chinese doctors did at the peak of the epidemic. "I personally would put Moscow on quarantine," he declared, adding with tact worthy of Trump advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci, "The question is about the price for closing down."But in Putin's address to the nation the next day, he did not use the word "quarantine" at all. To the relief of many, he announced that nobody would have to go to work until April 5, but they would be paid, and nobody would have to go to the polls to vote for constitutional changes on April 22. The referendum would be postponed."If Putin made Russians go to polling stations next month, that would threaten thousands of lives; he is careful choosing his words now, he tries to secure his reputation," Ilya Yashin, a Moscow municipal deputy, told The Daily Beast.After coronavirus cases tripled in many Russian regions on Thursday, Putin ordered most public places closed, including city parks."If Russia's epidemics develop like the Italian scenario, which is quite possible, there will be no way for him to secure his reputation—the entire responsibility will be on the government," said Yashin. If that happens, one can expect even Putin himself to show the iron fist. But for the moment in the nation's capital that has not yet hammered down. And many Russians, a famously fatalistic people, appear unimpressed with the twin threats of tyranny and pandemic.On Sunday, most of the Russian capital's downtown was still open, and public transport as well. Bars were closed, but young people continued to hang out in hidden corners. Skateboarders focused on their kickflips, as if no epidemic mattered. A group of hipsters outside a still-open bookstore listened to a girl read aloud, her face pink in the light of sunset. The poem was one of Joseph Brodsky's: "They loved to sit together on a hillside..." Then on Sunday night, Russia slammed its doors a little harder, in a pattern now familiar to countries around the world: governments first try to persuade, and when that fails, as it usually does, they try to enforce the quarantines and distancing. A few hours before midnight Sunday night, authorities finally announced a complete lockdown for the capital and its 11 million residents. Police cars with loudspeakers began to order pedestrians to hurry back home: everyone in the city now had to stay in their apartments, leaving only for the closest grocery or drug store, or to walk a dog no more than 100 meters from home—the kinds of restrictions imposed in much of Western Europe for weeks now, and in Italy for more than a month. Moscow was joining the club of almost three billion self-isolating people around the globe. Moscow Mayor Sobyanin declared that the epidemic was entering "a new phase."Yet, as of Monday, authorities reported every fifth Muscovite violated the new regime. Even pro-Kremlin Russian experts said the measures came too late—with all the terrifying examples in the West to prove the point. "It was great we closed down Russia's border with China in January, but Moscow should have given people a week off from work earlier this month, and authorities should have banned all travel by trains and airplanes from Moscow to other regions," pro-Kremlin political analyst Sergei Markov told The Daily Beast on Monday morning. "That would have protected more than 55 regions, which are now also infected." By Monday afternoon, 71 out of 85 Russian regions had reported coronavirus cases—the epidemic is spreading around the world's largest country like windblown fire through dry grass, affecting its poorest and most vulnerable people even in remote corners of the federation.An infected resident who apparently contracted the disease on a trip to Cuba brought it to the remote town of Apatity, about 1,000 miles north of Moscow, in the Murmansk region. By the weekend, according to television reports, dozens of people in Apatity and nearby Kurskiy were checking into hospitals with coronavirus symptoms, so authorities had to shut down both towns for self-isolation on Monday.The sale of alcohol, wine as well as vodka, has jumped by at least 20 percent compared to March 2019. As for protection from the virus, there was none available. As happened in so many other countries, every pharmacy in town was out of masks and hand sanitizer. Yet many Russians found a kind of perverse courage by comparing what seemed the hypothetical threat of the virus with all too substantive difficulties and dangers of everyday life.A video clip of a song steeped in slavic fatalism mocked the pandemic. Russia is used to nightmares, it proclaimed: "First, our blood is full of alcohol, the whole of life is folded into a black hole; Authorities hypnotize us and sell us out, but we have no infected fellas in our favelas." Why be worried about COVID-19 if you risk being eaten by a bear or getting killed by a policeman, the authors say. "We lost all our ability to be afraid," the song concluded: "We don't give a shit." The polls reflect that sort of attitude. According to social research by Romir Holding, 54 percent of Russians do not believe in the danger of the COVID-19 pandemic. And, even now, the only man Russians listen to, commander of the coronavirus war Vladimir Putin, still has not given clear instructions about the deadly outbreak, or how to avoid getting infected. Nobody clearly predicted the scale of the epidemic's storm coming to Russia, nobody talked about the exponential growth of the outbreak in the United States and Europe except to crow as if Russia somehow were exempt.In announcing the week off, Putin did ask Russians not to rely on traditional "avos," the typical carelessness and fatalism traditional in the nation's approach to the dark promise of the future, but the message seems to have been taken with, well, fatalism and carelessness.Moscow is still in the early stages of the inevitable nightmare, when confusion and defiance mingle with fear. So hairdressers are still working, and without masks. Women are going to them without taking the slightest precautions. This, even as thousands of people who suspect they've been infected are calling a coronavirus hotline.Russia Claimed It Created a Coronavirus Cure, but It's an American Malaria DrugEarlier this week Yulia Galyamina, a Moscow politician and scientist lost her sense of smell, developed a fever, and felt weak. Those are all signs of infection. But as in other countries, she found it impossible to get a test unless she could prove she was at death's door. She called a doctor and the agency supervising tests, but they said they could do nothing for her. "A district [government] doctor said since I was not terribly sick, I could not get tested," Galyamina told The Daily Beast. "Private labs ask you not to show up if you have had symptoms in the past week." On Saturday, authorities admitted that 166,000 Russians are on a coronavirus watch list—not confirmed with infection, but suspected of having the contagion or of being at risk. That's a worrisome number. It suggests the observable cases are vastly higher than those confirmed, and again raises the question of why no clear determination had been made about many of them weeks ago."Moscow Mayor Sobyanin had guts to tell Putin right into his face on Tuesday that the real situation is much worse than the official reports say," Vladimir Ryzhkov, professor at the Higher School of Economics, told The Daily Beast. Earlier this month, Putin said that the situation with coronavirus was "under control." Authorities told Russians not to spread fake news about the pandemic threat. When there were still just a few cases of COVID-19 in Russia, Anastasia Kirilenko, The Insider's investigative reporter, heard tragic news from Novosibirsk: her 34-year-old cousin died of pneumonia. The Russian health system is in miserable shape in the regions, dozens of district clinics closed in rural remote towns all across the country in the past few years."Regional paramedics diagnosed my cousin, a young and healthy man, with acute respiratory viral infection but did not do an x-ray to check why he had a high temperature during the last month of his life," Kirilenko told The Daily Beast. "Now we wonder if my cousin had coronavirus just like thousands of other Russians who are said to have only pneumonia." Christopher Dickey also contributed to this article.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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| How the coronavirus death toll compares to other pandemics, including SARS, HIV, and the Black Death Posted: 01 Apr 2020 10:14 AM PDT  So far, COVID-19 has killed four times as many people as the Ebola outbreak of 2014, but far fewer than the swine flu pandemic in 2009.
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| Germany to Help Startups With $2.2 Billion Aid Package Posted: 01 Apr 2020 02:20 AM PDT |
| Coronavirus live updates: US toll tops 5,100 after deadliest day yet; Florida, 3 other states issue stay-at-home orders; CDC considers masks Posted: 01 Apr 2020 10:13 PM PDT  Florida announced a stay-at-home order, and officials weighed recommending more Americans wear masks. Here are the latest coronavirus updates.
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| Migrants returned to Mexico have hearings postponed — but still have to show up at the border to get a new date Posted: 01 Apr 2020 09:01 AM PDT  The COVID-19 pandemic is only exacerbating immigration courts' million-case backlog.On Wednesday, the Executive Office of Immigration Review, which runs the Justice Department's removal proceedings, announced it was pushing off asylum hearings for migrants who'd been returned to Mexico upon reaching the southern border due to the coronavirus pandemic. But even though hearings through May 1 have been postponed, migrants forced back to Mexico will still have to return to the border to get a piece of paper listing their rescheduled hearing date.Under the U.S. Migration Policy Protocols, also known as Remain in Mexico, any asylum seekers who reach the southern border must remain in Mexico as they await hearings. The border towns and makeshift camps where they've gathered have been ripe with reports of kidnappings and violence, not to mention close conditions that make it easy to spread the coronavirus. Some people have tried to settle away from those packed camps, but have ended up on buses that take them thousands of miles from the border. It's difficult enough for those migrants to make their way back for hearings, and with Wednesday's announcement, they'll have to do so at least twice.The Justice Department previously warned that a delay or shutdown in hearings could cause a "rush" to the border after the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked MPP in early March but issued a stay on the program until the Supreme Court could hear it; the court eventually allowed the policy to continue.More stories from theweek.com The Trump administration is adding an extra barrier for Social Security recipients to get their stimulus check Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is what real coronavirus leadership looks like New Jersey newspaper carrier does double duty, delivering groceries free of charge to people along his route
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| Postcards from Wuhan: residents tell the world to stay strong, stay indoors Posted: 01 Apr 2020 01:40 AM PDT  Life in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the coronavirus first emerged, is slowly returning to normal as the government relaxes a more than two-month-old lockdown that cut the city off from the world and kept most of its 11 million residents at home. Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, was once the epicentre of the now global pandemic and was subjected to the strictest curbs on movement and business. The virus is believed to have emerged from a seafood market in Wuhan last year and the city accounted for about two-thirds of China's total number of infections.
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| Trump warns Iran of 'heavy price' in case of attack on US troops Posted: 01 Apr 2020 05:00 PM PDT  President Donald Trump warned Iran on Wednesday of a "heavy price" if it or its allies in Iraq attack US troops stationed there. "We don't want hostility, but if they are hostile to us, they're going to regret it like they've never regretted anything before," he said of Iran at a White House press briefing on the coronavirus pandemic. "If this happens, Iran will pay a very heavy price, indeed!" Trump tweeted earlier in the day.
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| Trump responds to questions about whether impeachment diverted his attention from the coronavirus outbreak Posted: 31 Mar 2020 04:56 PM PDT  President Trump on Tuesday responded to the idea that the impeachment trial kept his attention away from the growing coronavirus outbreak around the world.
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| Woodworking Can Bring Solace in Times of Uncertainty Posted: 01 Apr 2020 12:00 PM PDT |
| April to treat stargazers to 1st meteor shower in months and these other celestial events Posted: 31 Mar 2020 11:32 AM PDT  Springtime stargazers will have plenty to look for throughout April, ranging from a meteor shower to the rare opportunity to see a comet.The wide variety of astronomy events this month will be great for people looking to spend some time outside under the night sky, including families with young children, as they will not require any special equipment apart from a blanket, warm clothes and a clear sky.Here are the top three astronomy events to look for in April:1\. Super Pink Moon When: April 7-8 The moon will be the main feature in the night sky during the first full week of April as it will be the biggest and brightest supermoon of 2020.The supermoon will rise on the night of April 7, glowing all night long, and will be bright enough to cast shadows on the ground. Although it will appear slightly bigger and brighter than normal, the difference will be subtle and may be difficult for the average observer to notice.April's full moon is also known as the Pink Moon, but contrary to its name, the moon will not appear pink. Instead, it has been given this nickname due to the phlox, a perennial plant that blooms in April with pink flowers. A view of the full pink moon, in Lakatamia, a suburb of capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Friday, April 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias) 2\. Lyrid meteor shower When: April 21-22April 22 is known around the world as Earth Day, and the global event will kick off with a light show from Mother Nature as the Lyrid meteor shower reaches its peak.This is the first major meteor shower since January and will bring 15 to 20 shooting stars per hour on the night of April 21 into the early hours of April 22. This year will be a particularly good year for the "Earth Day meteor shower" as it occurs on a moonless night, meaning darker skies for onlookers.CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP"These meteors are best seen from the Northern Hemisphere where the radiant is high in the sky at dawn," the American Meteor Society explained on their website. "Activity from this shower can be seen from the Southern Hemisphere, but at a lower rate." Folks that miss the Lyrids will only have to wait about two weeks for the next chance to see a meteor shower, with the Eta Aquarids set to peak during the first full week of May.3\. Comet ATLAS When: Late AprilA newly discovered comet will soon make a splash in the night sky as it grows brighter throughout April, potentially becoming bright enough to see with the naked eye by the end of the month.Comet ATLAS, also known as Comet C/2019 Y4, was discovered on Dec. 28, 2019, by astronomers using the Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) in Hawaii. It is still too dim to see without a telescope, but it is expected to get much brighter in the coming weeks. Animation of a comet. (NASA/JPL-Caltech) "If predictions are correct, Comet ATLAS might reach a visual magnitude of +5 around May 1, 2020. That is theoretically bright enough to be seen with the eye, but the fuzziness of faint comets can make them harder to spot than comparably bright stars," Earthsky explained on their website."To spot the comet, look in the northern sky. It is not far from the Big and Little Dippers," AccuWeather Astronomy Blogger Dave Samuhel said.Comet ATLAS is projected to make its closest approach to Earth on May 23, followed by its closest approach to the sun on May 31.On March 19 at 11:50 p.m., winter transitioned to spring across the Northern Hemisphere during the earliest March equinox since 1896.Hours later, just before sunrise, early risers were treated to a celestial alignment as the crescent moon fell in line with Jupiter, Mars, Saturn and Mercury in the morning sky.Around the same time, a newly released photo revealed a stunning view of Jupiter like we've never seen it before. The image was captured by the Juno spacecraft which is orbiting the solar system's largest planet.At the beginning of March, NASA announced that it was accepting applications for the astronaut program that would fly on future trips to space. This includes the possibility of being on one of the upcoming trips to the moon in the 2020s.A few days later, the space agency announced the name of the next visitor being sent to the Red Planet. The Mars 2020 rover was officially given the name Perseverance, chosen from a nationwide student competition. Perseverance was once of 28,000 name entries and was proposed by an elementary school student from Virginia.The first mission of the U.S. Space Force launched from Earth on March 26 as an Atlas V rocket blasted into space. The rocket launched a $1.1 billion communications satellite that will be used by the military.Meanwhile, NASA was forced to suspend work on the Space Launch System (SLS) megarocket due to the coronavirus. The rocket is still in development and was preparing for a major test at the Stennis Space Center, but the test has been delayed "due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the community around the center," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said.Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
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| The US intelligence community has reportedly concluded that China intentionally misrepresented its coronavirus numbers Posted: 01 Apr 2020 10:39 AM PDT  US officials have accused China of spreading disinformation, and even some Chinese residents have expressed skepticism about the numbers.
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| 'Reckless': Louisiana pastor arrested for holding services with up to 1,000 attendees Posted: 01 Apr 2020 07:00 AM PDT  Central Police Chief Roger Corcoran called Spell's decision to hold service despite the social distancing orders "reckless and irresponsible."
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| Prince Charles speaks on 'unprecedented and anxious time' after contracting coronavirus Posted: 01 Apr 2020 07:08 AM PDT  Prince Charles is offering a hopeful message amid the coronavirus pandemic after recently testing positive for COVID-19 himself.Charles, heir to the British throne, spoke in a video message on Wednesday after it was announced last week that he had contracted COVID-19. The Prince of Wales in his message said he was lucky in that he had "relatively mild symptoms," and he said that he continues to practice social distancing, although his seven-day period of self-isolation ended earlier this week."I find myself on the other side of the illness, but still in no less a state of social distance and general isolation," he said. In addition to Charles, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also announced last week he tested positive for COVID-19, saying his symptoms are mild and he is self-isolating.Charles went on to reflect on the "strange, frustrating, and distressing experience" of living through the coronavirus pandemic, an "unprecedented and anxious time," saying he and his wife are thinking of those who have lost loved ones. He also praised medical professionals and volunteers for their "utter selfless devotion to duty" that makes "us so very proud." The video message concludes on an optimistic note as Charles says that "none of us can say when this will end, but end it will," and "until it does, let us try and live with hope and, with faith in ourselves and each other, look forward to better times to come." > As Patron of @age_uk, The Prince of Wales shares a message on the Coronavirus pandemic and its effect on the older members of the community. pic.twitter.com/a6NEFPOtvQ> > -- Clarence House (@ClarenceHouse) April 1, 2020More stories from theweek.com The Trump administration is adding an extra barrier for Social Security recipients to get their stimulus check Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is what real coronavirus leadership looks like New Jersey newspaper carrier does double duty, delivering groceries free of charge to people along his route
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| FDA wants heartburn meds off the market due to contamination Posted: 01 Apr 2020 09:49 AM PDT  U.S. health regulators are telling drugmakers to immediately pull their popular heartburn drugs off the market after determining that a contamination issue with the medications poses a greater risk than previously thought. The move from the Food and Drug Administration Wednesday applies to all prescription and over-the-counter versions of ranitidine, best known by the brand name Zantac. Patients should stop taking any of the medications they currently have and throw them away, the FDA said.
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| Iran warns US after Patriot deployment to Iraq Posted: 01 Apr 2020 03:06 AM PDT  Iran warned the US Wednesday that it was leading the Middle East to disaster in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic after it deployed Patriot air defence missiles to Iraq. Washington had been in talks with Baghdad about the proposed deployment since January but it was not immediately clear whether it had secured its approval or not. Iran, which wields huge influence in its western neighbour, said that it had not.
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| Russia sends plane with medical supplies to U.S. for coronavirus response Posted: 01 Apr 2020 06:51 AM PDT  The plane will arrive today, after President Donald Trump accepted an offer by Russian President Vladimir Putin to send personal protective equipment and other gear.
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| Kellyanne Conway Keeps Attacking Joe Biden for Staying Inside Posted: 01 Apr 2020 01:48 PM PDT  While leaders across the country are urging Americans to stay in their homes to stop the spread of the coronavirus, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway is openly mocking former Vice President Joe Biden for setting that example. "Why doesn't Vice President Biden call the White House today and offer some support? He's in his bunker in Wilmington," Conway said Wednesday morning on Fox & Friends. In her next breath she added, "I have to tell you, we're not talking about politics here at the White House at all. We're talking about ventilators and vaccines, not Biden and Bernie."And yet Conway continued to attack Biden for criticizing President Donald Trump's response to the crisis from inside his home later in the day.During a press gaggle outside the White House, Conway called it "completely unhelpful" to have the former vice president "in his bunker in Wilmington just lobbing criticisms" at the current president. She called Biden's interviews "painful to watch" before adding, "He's got a lot of fans out there that can't get enough of Joe Biden in the bunker in Delaware."At that point, a reporter asked her, "When you say he's 'in his bunker,' are you suggesting Vice President Biden should be disregarding federal guidelines and be out there mixing with people?""You know I'm not," Conway shot back. "Let's not be silly. Let's not be silly about it." When the reporter said she just wanted to know what Conway was "implying" with her repetition of the "bunker" line, she replied, "I'm not implying anything. In fact, I'm not implying a single thing. I wonder what you're implying.""I'm not implying anything," she added again later. "He can stay in the bunker all he wants. He can cough into or sneeze into his hand all he wants. He can read from prepared notes all he wants. I'm yet to hear a single idea from Vice President Biden that would be helpful to the American people or is different from what we're doing." In a statement responding to Conway, Biden deputy communications director Kate Bedingfield said, "Vice President Biden has been extending his advice for months, and he did so again on the air last night." But as the presumptive 2020 nominee told MSNBC on Tuesday night, "I don't get a sense that the president wants to hear from anybody. It's all about, like, asking governors to thank him for what he's doing as president."Biden has repeatedly stated that he does not believe the coronavirus pandemic is Trump's "fault" but has pointed out that his lack of speed in trying to contain it within the United States has made the situation far worse than it needed to be. One of his biggest suggestions has been to let the medical experts handle the daily briefings and take the microphone away from the president. 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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| Most cruise lines don't pay federal income tax — just one of the reasons they aren't getting a bailout Posted: 01 Apr 2020 02:08 PM PDT  "They're not giving up their tax exemption," said one analyst. "I assure you that is sacrosanct."
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| I followed New York City 'deathcare' workers as they collected the bodies of people killed by the coronavirus, and I saw a growing, chaotic, and risky battle Posted: 31 Mar 2020 11:31 AM PDT  As hospitals and morgues fill with the bodies of coronavirus patients, mortuary professionals face a growing struggle in putting the dead to rest.
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| India and Pakistan crack down on Muslim group emerging as COVID-19 cluster Posted: 31 Mar 2020 01:21 AM PDT  India and Pakistan sealed off centers belonging to a Muslim missionary group on Tuesday and began investigating how many coronavirus cases were linked to its activities. Tablighi Jamaat is a Deobandi Sunni Muslim missionary movement that preaches worldwide. India has so far registered 32 deaths from 1,251 confirmed infections, and Pakistan 20 from 1,914.
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| An evangelical pastor who was charged after holding in-person church services says he doesn't like livestreams because he can't touch parishioners Posted: 01 Apr 2020 09:38 AM PDT  Tony Spell, an evangelical pastor at the Life Tabernacle Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was charged with six misdemeanor charges on Tuesday.
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| Russian plane makes its way to U.S. with coronavirus medical equipment Posted: 01 Apr 2020 01:12 PM PDT  A Russian military transport plane was headed to the United States on Wednesday carrying tons of medical equipment and masks to help Washington fight the coronavirus outbreak, Russian state TV reported and a U.S. official said.
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| Researchers record 1st-ever heat wave in East Antarctica Posted: 31 Mar 2020 01:01 PM PDT  This January, East Antarctica — an area that previously seemed to be spared from climate warming — experienced its first recorded heat wave.The heat wave was recorded at the Casey Research Station between Jan. 23 and 26, marking the area's highest temperature ever at 48.6 degrees Fahrenheit, while minimum temperatures stayed above 32 degrees Fahrenheit, according to research in Global Change Biology.A rarity in Antarctica, heat waves are known as "three consecutive days with both extreme maximum and minimum temperatures," according to the research.Meanwhile, Denman Glacier — a large glacier in East Antarctica — appears to be rapidly retreating. Its position above the world's deepest known canyon may be causing it to melt faster than it can recover, according to a letter in Geophysical Research Letters, Live Science reports.As the glacier retreats, warm water fills the canyon, which could cause a feedback loop that returns all of the glacier's ice to the ocean, leading to about 5 feet of global sea level rise, reports Live Science. Researchers concluded the retreating of the glacier should be a "wake-up call" to scientists who believed melting in East Antarctica to be less of a threat than that of west Antarctica."Although it is too early for full reports, this warm summer will have impacted Antarctic biology in numerous ways," researchers wrote in their letter on Global Change Biology, noting disruption to ecosystem, community, and populations scales.More stories from theweek.com Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is what real coronavirus leadership looks like Celebrities didn't get the memo that April Fools' Day is canceled Coronavirus is making American workers say enough is enough
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| Six-week-old newborn dies of coronavirus in US: state governor Posted: 01 Apr 2020 05:03 PM PDT  A six-week-old infant has died of complications relating to COVID-19, the governor of the US state of Connecticut said Wednesday, in one of the youngest recorded deaths from the virus. Governor Ned Lamont tweeted that the newborn was "brought unresponsive to a hospital late last week and could not be revived." "Testing confirmed last night that the newborn was COVID-19 positive," Lamont said.
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| Trump threatens Iran – again – if it attacks U.S. interests in Iraq Posted: 01 Apr 2020 03:32 PM PDT  The latest threat comes as both Iran and the United States battle the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
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| Los Angeles mayor tells 4 million to wear masks Posted: 01 Apr 2020 10:02 PM PDT  The mayor of Los Angeles urged 4 million residents to wear masks to combat the coronavirus when they walk out in public, even as state health officials shied away from requiring a coverup. Homemade cloth masks, or even a "tucked-in bandanna," will help reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus in the nation's second-largest city and remind people to practice safe social distancing, Mayor Eric Garcetti said Wednesday as he donned a black cloth mask to make his point. Garcetti also said people should only use masks when they are going out to shop for food or perform other essential tasks.
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| Taiwan to Donate Ten Million Masks to U.S., E.U. Posted: 01 Apr 2020 10:23 AM PDT  Taiwan will donate ten million face masks to countries struggling with the coronavirus pandemic, a move that will likely rile China, which claims Taiwan as a territory and has donated far fewer masks to other countries despite its role in covering up the risk posed by a deadly virus that originated within its borders."At the previous stage, we formed a national team, now we need to play an international match and fight the pandemic together with other countries," said Taiwan's president, Tsai Ing-wen. "At this stage, we will donate 10 million masks."According to Taiwan's foreign ministry, 7 million of the masks will be sent to European Union countries, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland. Taipei also plans to send masks to the U.S.Taiwan has done a remarkable job containing the spread of the virus, with only 322 confirmed cases of coronavirus and five deaths resulting from infection as of Tuesday.China criticized an agreement between Taiwan and American Institute in Taipei on coronavirus cooperation, calling it "a political plot to pursue independence with the help of the epidemic."China shipped only two million masks to be distributed across Europe, while Jack Ma, China's richest man, donated another two million."Today, we're grateful for China's support," EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said of the mask shipments.China also supplied rapid test coronavirus test kits to Spain and the Czech Republic, but the majority of the tests turned out to be faulty. Up to 80 percent of the 150,000 portable test kits China delivered to the Czech Republic earlier this month did not produce correct results. Spain, which has the second-highest number of coronavirus fatalities in the world after Italy, found that the rapid coronavirus test kits it purchased from Chinese company Bioeasy only correctly identified 30 percent of virus cases.In December, local and national officials issued a gag order to labs in Wuhan after scientists there identified a new viral pneumonia, ordering them to halt tests, destroy samples, and conceal the news. A recent collaborative study by scientists based in both China and the U.S. found that 95 percent of infections could have been prevented had China implemented measures to stem the spread just three weeks earlier.The U.S. intelligence community concluded in a classified report Wednesday that China deliberately provided incomplete public numbers for coronavirus cases and deaths resulting from the infection.
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| Nancy Pelosi's idea to retroactively lift the limit on state and local tax deductions would be almost useless for people who need the most help Posted: 31 Mar 2020 08:22 AM PDT  Almost all the benefits of tossing out the SALT cap would go towards richer households — and not average Americans weathering the coronavirus fallout.
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