| Media can't fall into 'opposition party' trap in covering Trump, argues White House reporter Jonathan Karl Posted: 28 Apr 2020 10:21 AM PDT  Jonathan Karl, chief White House correspondent for ABC News, writes in his new book that President Trump is waging "an assault on truth," but also details the ways in which the celebrity star turned commander in chief strategically baits the press into personal grudge matches that undercut the credibility of the media.
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| Coronavirus conspiracy theories make Fauci the villain, because someone has to be Posted: 28 Apr 2020 07:00 AM PDT  Dr. Anthony Fauci has emerged as the latest target in the vast web of COVID-19-related conspiracy theories that have been circulating on social media.
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| Stacey Abrams on Tara Reade Allegation: Biden ‘Will Make Women Proud as President’ Posted: 29 Apr 2020 06:16 AM PDT  Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams on Tuesday said she backed Joe Biden despite new allegations of sexual assault against the former vice president."I believe women deserve to be heard, and I believe that has happened here," Abrams told the Huffington Post. "The allegations have been heard and looked into, and for too many women, often, that is not the case. The New York Times conducted a thorough investigation, and nothing in the Times review or any other later reports suggests anything other than what I already know about Joe Biden: That he will make women proud as the next President of the United States."Abrams has been lobbying to be Biden's pick for vice president, declaring her intentions publicly and, before Biden's presumptive victory, meeting with Democratic candidates privately regarding the position.Biden accuser Tara Reade, who alleges Biden assaulted her in Spring 1993 when she worked in his former Senate office, told National Review that she was disappointed in the Democratic response to her allegations."I was just hoping to get a fair and equal treatment," Reade said, "but because it's Joe Biden I've been silenced or smeared."A former neighbor of Reade come out in support of her account, telling Business Insider that Reade described the ordeal to her in detail in 1995 when they were neighbors. The Biden campaign has vehemently denied Reade's allegations but the candidate himself has yet to weigh in. Biden on Tuesday held a virtual town hall on women's issues with Hillary Clinton, who gave him her endorsement.Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D., N.Y.) on Tuesday also said she backed the former vice president. Gillibrand in 2018 called for an FBI investigation into allegations of sexual assault against Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh."I stand by [former] vice president Biden," Gillibrand told reporters during a conference call. "He's devoted his life to supporting women and he has vehemently denied this allegation."
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| Infectious disease expert warns people are treating coronavirus models 'too seriously' Posted: 28 Apr 2020 08:35 AM PDT  You've probably noticed that graphs and charts are having a moment during the coronavirus pandemic. Governments are using them to make informed decisions about when to re-open economies, and they pop up daily to present people around the world with a look at how the pandemic is trending. But some would argue people are putting a little too much stock in models without accounting for their potential pitfalls.Carl Bergstrom, an expert on both emerging infectious diseases and networked misinformation from the University of Washington, told The Guardian in an interview he doesn't think people have done a good job of "thinking about what the purpose of models are, how the purposes of different models vary, and then what the scope of their value is." That's led people to over-rely on them and "treat them too seriously," and when reality eventually differs from the projections, models tend to get criticized "for not being perfect at everything."Bergstrom's point is that science, especially in fast moving scenarios like the pandemic, is "provisional" and "can be corrected." He believes researchers can improve at communicating that point by "deliberately stressing the possible weaknesses of our interpretations." A really good paper, he said, will lay out all the reasons why it could be wrong. Read more at The Guardian.More stories from theweek.com How Tara Reade's allegations could bring down Joe Biden The perils of Hooverism This visualization shows how droplets from a single cough can infect an entire airplane
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| In Race for a Coronavirus Vaccine, an Oxford Group Leaps Ahead Posted: 28 Apr 2020 12:17 PM PDT  In the worldwide race for a vaccine to stop the coronavirus, the laboratory sprinting fastest is at Oxford University.Most other teams have had to start with small clinical trials of a few hundred participants to demonstrate safety. But scientists at the university's Jenner Institute had a head start on a vaccine, having proved in previous trials that similar inoculations -- including one last year against an earlier coronavirus -- were harmless to humans.That has enabled them to leap ahead and schedule tests of their new coronavirus vaccine involving more than 6,000 people by the end of next month, hoping to show not only that it is safe but also that it works.The Oxford scientists now say that with an emergency approval from regulators, the first few million doses of their vaccine could be available by September -- at least several months ahead of any of the other announced efforts -- if it proves to be effective.Now, they have received promising news suggesting that it might.Scientists at the National Institutes of Health's Rocky Mountain Laboratory in Montana last month inoculated six rhesus macaque monkeys with single doses of the Oxford vaccine. The animals were then exposed to heavy quantities of the virus that is causing the pandemic -- exposure that had consistently sickened other monkeys in the lab. But more than 28 days later all six were healthy, said Vincent Munster, the researcher who conducted the test."The rhesus macaque is pretty much the closest thing we have to humans," Munster said, noting that scientists were still analyzing the result. He said he expected to share it with other scientists next week and then submit it to a peer-reviewed journal.Immunity in monkeys is no guarantee that a vaccine will provide the same degree of protection for humans. A Chinese company that recently started a clinical trial with 144 participants, SinoVac, has also said that its vaccine was effective in rhesus macaques. But with dozens of efforts now underway to find a vaccine, the monkey results are the latest indication that Oxford's accelerated venture is emerging as a bellwether."It is a very, very fast clinical program," said Emilio Emini, a director of the vaccine program at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is providing financial support to many competing efforts.Which potential vaccine will emerge from the scramble as the most successful is impossible to know until clinical trial data becomes available.More than one vaccine would be needed in any case, Emini argued. Some may work more effectively than others in groups like children or older people, or at different costs and dosages. Having more than one variety of vaccine in production will also help avoid bottlenecks in manufacturing, he said.But as the first to reach such a relatively large scale, the Oxford trial, even if it fails, will provide lessons about the nature of the coronavirus and about the immune system's responses that can inform governments, donors, drug companies and other scientists hunting for a vaccine."This big U.K. study," Emini said, "is actually going to translate to learning a lot about some of the others as well."All of the others will face the same challenges, including obtaining millions of dollars in funding, persuading regulators to approve human tests, demonstrating a vaccine's safety and -- after all of that -- proving its effectiveness in protecting people from the coronavirus.Paradoxically, the growing success of efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, may present yet another hurdle."We're the only people in the country who want the number of new infections to stay up for another few weeks, so we can test our vaccine," professor Adrian Hill, the Jenner Institute's director and one of five researchers involved in the effort, said in an interview in a laboratory building emptied by Britain's monthlong lockdown.Ethics rules, as a general principle, forbid seeking to infect human test participants with a serious disease. That means the only way to prove that a vaccine works is to inoculate people in a place where the virus is spreading naturally around them.If social distancing measures or other factors continue to slow the rate of new infections in Britain, he said, the trial might not be able to show that the vaccine makes a difference: Participants who received a placebo might not be infected any more frequently than those who have been given the vaccine. The scientists would have to try again elsewhere, a dilemma that every other vaccine effort will face as well.The Jenner Institute's coronavirus efforts grew out of Hill's so-far unsuccessful pursuit of a vaccine against a different scourge, malaria.He developed a fascination with malaria and other tropical diseases as a medical student in Dublin in the early 1980s, when he visited an uncle who was a priest working in a hospital during the civil war in what is now Zimbabwe."I came back wondering, 'What do you see in these hospitals in England and Ireland?' " Hill said. "They don't have any of these diseases."The major drug companies typically see little profit in epidemics that afflict mainly developing countries or run their course before a vaccine can hit the market. So after training in tropical medicine and a doctorate in molecular genetics, Hill, 61, helped build Oxford's institute into one of the largest academic centers dedicated to nonprofit vaccine research, with its own pilot manufacturing facility capable of producing a batch of up to 1,000 doses.The Jenner Institute's effort against the coronavirus uses a technology that centers on altering the genetic code of a familiar virus. A classic vaccine uses a weakened version of a virus to trigger an immune response. But in the technology that the institute is using, a different virus is modified first to neutralize its effects and then to make it mimic the one scientists seek to stop -- in this case, the virus that causes COVID-19. Injected into the body, the harmless impostor can induce the immune system to fight and kill the targeted virus, providing protection.Hill has worked with that technology for decades to try to tweak a respiratory virus found in chimpanzees to elicit a human immune response against malaria and other diseases. Over the last 20 years, the institute has conducted more than 70 clinical trials of potential vaccines against the parasite that causes malaria. None have yet yielded a successful inoculation.In 2014, however, a vaccine based on the chimp virus that Hill had tested was manufactured in a large enough scale to provide 1 million doses. That created a template for mass production of the coronavirus vaccine, should it prove effective.A longtime colleague, professor Sarah Gilbert, 58, modified the same chimpanzee virus to make a vaccine against an earlier coronavirus, Middle East respiratory syndrome. After a clinical trial in Britain demonstrated its safety, another test began in December in Saudi Arabia, where outbreaks of the deadly disease are still common.When she heard in January that Chinese scientists had identified the genetic code of a mysterious virus in Wuhan, she thought she might have a chance to prove the speed and versatility of their approach."We thought, 'Well, should we have a go?' " she recalled. "'It'll be a little lab project, and we'll publish a paper.'"It did not stay a "little lab project" for long.As the pandemic exploded, grant money poured in. All other vaccines were soon put into the freezer so that the institute's laboratory could focus full-time on COVID-19. Then the lockdown forced everyone not working on COVID-19 to stay home altogether."The whole world doesn't usually stand up and say, 'How can we help? Do you want some money?' " Hill said."Vaccines are good for pandemics," he added, "and pandemics are good for vaccines."Other scientists involved in the project are working with a half-dozen drug manufacturing companies across Europe and Asia to prepare to churn out billions of doses as quickly as possible if the vaccine is approved. None have been granted exclusive marketing rights, and one is the giant Serum Institute of India, the world's largest supplier of vaccines.Donors are currently spending tens of millions of dollars to start the manufacturing process at facilities in Britain and the Netherlands even before the vaccine is proven to work, said Sandy Douglas, 37, a doctor at Oxford overseeing vaccine production."There is no alternative," he said.But the team has not yet reached an agreement with a North American manufacturer, in part because the major pharmaceutical companies there typically demand exclusive worldwide rights before investing in a potential medicine."I personally don't believe that in a time of pandemic there should be exclusive licenses," Hill said. "So we are asking a lot of them. Nobody is going to make a lot of money off this."The Jenner Institute's vaccine effort is not the only one showing promise. Two U.S. companies, Moderna and Inovio, have started small clinical trials with technologies involving modified or otherwise manipulated genetic material. They are seeking both to demonstrate their safety and to learn more about dosing and other variables. Neither technology has ever produced a licensed drug or been manufactured at scale.A Chinese company, CanSino, has also started clinical trials in China using a technology similar to the Oxford institute's, using a strain of the same respiratory virus that is found in humans, not chimps. But demonstrating the effectiveness of a vaccine in China may be difficult because COVID-19 infections there have plummeted.Armed with safety data from their human trials of similar vaccines for Ebola, MERS and malaria, though, the scientists at Oxford's institute persuaded British regulators to allow unusually accelerated trials while the epidemic is still hot around them.The institute last week began a Phase I clinical trial involving 1,100 people. Crucially, next month it will begin a combined Phase II and Phase III trial involving another 5,000. Unlike any other vaccine project now underway, that trial is designed to prove effectiveness as well as safety.The scientists would declare victory if as many as a dozen participants who are given a placebo become sick with COVID-19 compared with only one or two who receive the inoculation. "Then we have a party and tell the world," Hill said. Everyone who had received only the placebo would also be vaccinated immediately.If too few participants are infected in Britain, the institute is planning other trials where the coronavirus may still be spreading, possibly in Africa or India."We'll have to chase the epidemic," Hill said. "If it is still raging in certain states, it is not inconceivable we end up testing in the United States in November."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
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| Florida governor announces plans to reopen state Posted: 29 Apr 2020 02:55 PM PDT  DeSantis' announcement came as 350 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Florida, along with 47 new deaths.
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| What happened to Carole Baskin's last husband? Reporter works to solve 'Tiger King' mystery Posted: 29 Apr 2020 06:30 AM PDT  Jerry Mitchell, central to reopening long-unsolved murders from the civil rights era, saw amid the "Tiger King" lunacy an unsolved homicide.
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| Russia flies nuclear-capable bombers over Baltic Sea in training exercise Posted: 29 Apr 2020 07:27 AM PDT |
| New York reportedly paid $69 million for ventilators to an engineer with no background in medical supplies at the recommendation of the White House coronavirus task force Posted: 29 Apr 2020 05:52 PM PDT  New York has since terminated its contract with the man and is working to recover its money.
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| 20+ Cocktails To Celebrate Moms Everywhere Posted: 29 Apr 2020 11:30 AM PDT |
| Biden under pressure to address sexual assault claims after alleged victim's neighbour comes forward Posted: 28 Apr 2020 10:36 AM PDT  Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential candidate, has come under pressure to address sexual assault claims by a former Senate aide after the woman's neighbour came forward to corroborate the allegation. Tara Reade said the alleged assault occurred on Capitol Hill in 1993 while she was working as a staff assistant for Mr Biden, who was representing Delaware in the US Senate at the time. Mr Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, has not commented on the allegations but his campaign has denied them and underscored his record on women's rights. But the former US vice president is now facing growing pressure to address the claims after Lynda LaCasse, who was Ms Reade's neighbour in the 1990s, came forward this week to claim that Ms Reade told her about the alleged assault around the time it happened. Ms LaCasse claimed that while the two women were neighbours in 1995 or 1996, Ms Reade had told her that the senator she had worked for "had put his hand up her skirt". "She felt like she was assaulted, and she really didn't feel there was anything she could do," Ms LaCasse, 60, told Business Insider.
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| Pelosi Rejects McConnell’s Proposed Coronavirus-Liability Protections for Businesses Posted: 29 Apr 2020 02:43 PM PDT  House speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday rejected a Republican proposal to provide businesses with protection from lawsuits should they choose to reopen during the coronavirus pandemic."Especially now, we have every reason to protect our workers and our patients in all of this. So we would not be inclined to be supporting any immunity from liability," Pelosi told reporters at a press briefing.Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell indicated this week that he would "insist" the next coronavirus-relief package include liability protections for companies and health-care workers as they reopen amid the pandemic. Such protections are a "red line," McConnell has said, and must be included before he would consider Democratic demands that additional relief be provided to state and local governments."The next pandemic coming will be the lawsuit pandemic in the wake of this one. So we need to prevent that now when we have the opportunity to do it," the Kentucky Republican told Politico on Monday.Democrats do not have "any interest in having any less protection for our workers," Pelosi responded.Senators will return to Congress on Monday to begin hashing out the next relief package.
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| Inmate who gave birth on ventilator dies of Covid-19 Posted: 29 Apr 2020 08:13 AM PDT  The 30-year-old appears to be the the first US federal female prisoner to die from coronavirus.
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| Hundreds at funeral spark NYPD response and mayor warning Posted: 29 Apr 2020 11:35 AM PDT  Hundreds of people gathered in Brooklyn Tuesday evening for a rabbi's funeral, sparking a stern warning for New York City's mayor.
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| U.S. forces surprise Holocaust survivor, play Israeli national anthem via Zoom Posted: 29 Apr 2020 04:23 AM PDT  "The most important thing in life is life itself," Holocaust survivor Abba Naor told NBC News.
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| US panel wants India on religious freedom blacklist Posted: 28 Apr 2020 11:02 PM PDT  A US government panel on Tuesday called for India to be put on a religious freedom blacklist over a "drastic" downturn under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, triggering a sharp rebuttal from New Delhi. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom recommends but does not set policy, and there is virtually no chance the State Department will follow its lead on India, an increasingly close US ally. In an annual report, the bipartisan panel narrowly agreed that India should join the ranks of "countries of particular concern" that would be subject to sanctions if they do not improve their records.
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| Trump urges states to consider reopening schools before end of academic year Posted: 28 Apr 2020 03:32 AM PDT  President Trump suggested Monday in a call with governors that states "seriously consider" reopening schools before summer.
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| Trump argues 1 million coronavirus cases in the U.S. is a reflection of 'superior' testing Posted: 29 Apr 2020 11:34 AM PDT  President Trump suggested Wednesday that the United State surpassing one million coronavirus cases is a statistic that sounds worse than it is, because it's really a reflection of the country's "superior" testing efforts, despite experts arguing testing needs to ramp up significantly.> On US reaching 1 million cases of COVID, Trump says the big number is "because of testing." > "So it's a number that, in one way, sounds bad, but in another way is really actually an indication that our testing is so superior."> > -- Jordyn Phelps (@JordynPhelps) April 29, 2020He also claims he received some outside validation about the U.S.'s performance from none other than South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Seoul has been heralded as the gold standard for handling the COVID-19 pandemic thanks to its intense and efficient testing program that helped the country keep infections and deaths relatively low, while also avoiding a full-scale economic shutdown as has been seen in many other parts of the world. > Trump says Moon Jae-in "called me to congratulate me on the testing." He claims Moon said, "Your testing is the greatest in the world...I want to just tell you, what you've done with testing is incredible." (The usual caveats about Trump phone call stories apply.)> > -- Daniel Dale (@ddale8) April 29, 2020More stories from theweek.com How Tara Reade's allegations could bring down Joe Biden Report: Trump incensed by internal polling that shows him losing to Biden The perils of Hooverism
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| U.S. coronavirus outbreak soon to be deadlier than any flu since 1967 as deaths top 60,000 Posted: 29 Apr 2020 12:54 PM PDT  America's worst flu season in recent years was in 2017-2018 when more than 61,000 people died, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/past-seasons.html. The United States has the world's highest coronavirus death toll and a daily average of 2,000 people died in April of the highly contagious respiratory illness COVID-19, according to a Reuters tally. The first U.S. death was recorded on Feb. 29 but recent testing in California indicates the first death might have been on Feb. 6, with the virus circulating weeks earlier than previously thought.
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| The South Korean government says it's 'aware of Kim Jong Un's location' Posted: 28 Apr 2020 09:34 AM PDT  It was one of South Korea's most unequivocal statements yet, after roughly two weeks of downplaying rumors about the North Korean leader's health.
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| McConnell open to state aid in next virus relief package Posted: 29 Apr 2020 09:09 AM PDT  Shifting tone, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday he is "open" to considering additional funds for state and local governments in the next coronavirus relief bill as the chamber returns to session during the pandemic. The Republican leader faced a storm of criticism from the nation's governors after panning Democrats' proposal for more than $500 billion to help cash-strapped local governments cover the sudden extra costs of police, fire and other front-line workers in the crisis. While saying he's willing to consider new funds, McConnell insisted the next package must also include federal liability protections from what he warned will be an "avalanche" of lawsuits against businesses that reopen during the pandemic.
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| New Zealand health official claims 'elimination' of coronavirus as new cases hit single digits Posted: 28 Apr 2020 07:53 AM PDT  New Zealand's top health official said that the country has "achieved our goal of elimination" of coronavirus as the country eased its lockdown.
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| Class action suit aims to free all transgender ICE detainees Posted: 29 Apr 2020 12:49 PM PDT  As hundreds of coronavirus cases are reported at U.S. immigration facilities, the suit calls for the release of dozens of trans migrants from what it calls ICE "death traps."
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| Trump: Dems 'enjoying' vacation, should come back Posted: 28 Apr 2020 11:12 AM PDT 
"The Democrats, they don't want to come back... I think they should be back here, but they don't, they are enjoying their vacation," Trump said. "I think they should be back and think they should all come back and we should work on this together." Hoyer, a Democrat, said the decision was made after he talked to Congress' physician on Monday. "The House's physician's view was that there was a risk to members," Hoyer told reporters.
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| NYC Mayor de Blasio accused of racism after breaking up Hasidic Jewish funeral and warning mourners Posted: 29 Apr 2020 07:12 AM PDT  Bill de Blasio, New York's mayor, broke up a Hasidic Jewish funeral in Brooklyn for breaching social distancing rules and lashed out at mourners, prompting accusations of racism. Hundreds gathered on Tuesday to pay respects to a rabbi who had died from coronavirus, despite an order by the state not to gather in large numbers. "My message to the Jewish community, and all communities, is this simple: the time for warnings has passed," Mr de Blasio tweeted after police dispersed the funeral in the Williamsburg area of Brooklyn.
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| China Accuses U.S. Politicians of Telling ‘Barefaced Lies’ about Beijing’s Coronavirus Response Posted: 29 Apr 2020 05:23 AM PDT  The Chinese foreign ministry on Tuesday accused U.S. politicians of telling "barefaced lies" regarding China's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, after President Trump suggested that the U.S. might seek damages from China because of the outbreak."American politicians have repeatedly ignored the truth and have been telling barefaced lies," foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a press conference. "They have only one objective: shirk their responsibility for their own poor epidemic prevention and control measures, and divert public attention."U.S, politicians should "reflect on their own problems and find ways to contain the outbreak as quickly as possible," Geng added.President Trump, who initially praised Beijing's handling of the virus, on Monday said the U.S. could seek to hold China "accountable" for the outbreak."We are not happy with China," Trump told reporters at the White House. "We are not happy with that whole situation because we believe it could have been stopped at the source."The coronavirus has infected at least 3,000,000 people worldwide since it originated in Wuhan, China. According to one study, China could have prevented or at least slowed a wider outbreak of coronavirus if it had quarantined at-risk populations several weeks earlier.U.S. officials have proposed various strategies to compel China to compensate Americans affected by the coronavirus pandemic, whether through infection or loss of work due to business closures. Last week, Missouri attorney general Eric Schmitt announced that his office would sue China for damages to state residents."I think as people take a look at the complaint, I wouldn't be surprised at all if other states follow suit," Schmitt told National Review.
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| Incumbent Democrat Joyce Beatty wins Ohio primary against liberal Morgan Harper Posted: 29 Apr 2020 01:17 AM PDT  Ohio held mostly mail-in primaries due to the coronavirus pandemic after voting originally scheduled for March 17 was delayed and in-person voting curtailed, as the outbreak further disrupted the U.S. election season. The contest in the district, which includes most of the city of Columbus, saw a four-term incumbent Beatty, 70, facing a challenge from Harper, 36. After 100% votes being reported and posted early on Wednesday, the results showed that Beatty won about 68% of the vote share with just under 44,000 votes, compared to Harper's 32%.
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| Kentucky's governor apologized to a man named Tupac Shakur after he accused him of using a fake name to file for unemployment Posted: 28 Apr 2020 10:12 PM PDT  Gov. Andy Beshear called out a man named Tupac Shakur as using a fake name to reap state benefits, but Shakur is a real person living in Kentucky.
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| Pence refused a mask at Mayo Clinic because he wanted to thank workers by 'looking them in the eye' Posted: 28 Apr 2020 02:11 PM PDT  Vice President Mike Pence has a very simple explanation for why he avoided wearing a mask around coronavirus patients.On Tuesday, Pence visited the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, to meet with health care workers and even a COVID-19 patient at the hospital and research center. A photo later showed Pence ignored hospital policy and didn't wear a mask on his tour — and later said it was because he wanted to "look" the workers "in the eye" when thanking them."As Vice President of the United States, I'm tested for the coronavirus on a regular basis, and everyone who is around me is tested for the coronavirus," Pence said later Tuesday, citing CDC guidance that says masks help stop people who have the coronavirus from spreading it. "I thought it would be a good opportunity for me to be here, to be able to speak to these researchers, these incredible health care personnel, and look them in the eye and say thank you," Pence continued. While masks do cover one's mouth, it is still possible to speak with one on, and they have nothing to do with one's eyes.> Pence comment on why he didn't wear a mask at the Mayo Clinic per their policy, per pool: pic.twitter.com/JarWBgCgL2> > — Kathryn Watson (@kathrynw5) April 28, 2020The Mayo Clinic tweeted that it had told Pence about the mask policy prior to his arrival, but deleted it shortly after. It now has a tweet saying the clinic was "grateful" to have Pence visit.More stories from theweek.com How Tara Reade's allegations could bring down Joe Biden The perils of Hooverism Elon Musk, who predicted 'close to zero' new coronavirus cases by the end of April, demands we 'free America'
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| Romania: Orthodox Church blasts posters of doctors as saints Posted: 29 Apr 2020 01:39 PM PDT  Romania's Orthodox Church on Wednesday criticized a billboard campaign showing doctors dealing with the coronavirus epidemic as saints with halos shaped like the virus. According to a church spokesman, the "blasphemous" campaign created by international advertising agency McCann Worldgroup in conjunction with local artist Wanda Hutira is "a visual abuse of Christian iconography." The campaign is "marked by bad taste fed by ignorance and a hideous ideology that only knows how to caricaturize Christianity," said spokesman Vasile Banescu.
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| Myanmar's Military May Be Committing War Crimes While the World Is Distracted by Coronavirus, Says U.N. Rights Expert Posted: 29 Apr 2020 03:29 AM PDT  She says the Myanmar military is using the distraction of COVID-19 to escalate attacks on civilians
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| Worker who died was never moved into new role, away from sick inmates Posted: 29 Apr 2020 04:48 PM PDT  Robin Grubbs, a caseworker at the United States Penitentiary in Atlanta, was found dead in her home Tuesday and posthumously tested positive for the virus.
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| Army Says It Has Found the Best Fabric for DIY Face Masks Posted: 29 Apr 2020 09:43 AM PDT  The Army's Chemical Biological Center ran tests that have revealed the best fabric to use for making homemade face coverings.
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| Turkish president backs cleric who said homosexuality 'brings disease' Posted: 28 Apr 2020 08:06 AM PDT  The cleric claimed thousands of people are exposed to HIV annually due to homosexuality and adultery and called on worshipers to fight "this kind of evil."
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| Under pressure by Trump, elite colleges turn down emergency coronavirus financial aid Posted: 29 Apr 2020 08:23 AM PDT  The nation's most selective and richest colleges are turning down millions in federal money meant to aid students in crisis because of coronavirus.
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| Senate Democrat says Republican leader's plan to resume work puts lives in danger Posted: 29 Apr 2020 01:11 PM PDT  A U.S. Senate Democrat on Wednesday accused Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of endangering the lives of Senate staff if he brings them back to work next week without effective safeguards against coronavirus infection in place. Senator Chris Van Hollen, whose state of Maryland contains several suburbs of Washington where federal workers live, said he had written to McConnell to demand details of how staff will be protected when the Senate returns to session on Monday. "I am ready to see senators resume work in the Capitol, but without effective safeguards in place, Mitch McConnell is endangering the lives of the staff who work there – including many of my constituents – and undermining regional efforts to prevent the spread of the coronavirus," Van Hollen said in a statement.
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| An unprecedented coalition of Amazon, Walmart, FedEx, Target, Instacart, and Whole Foods workers is planning to strike over pandemic working conditions Posted: 29 Apr 2020 03:03 PM PDT  A coalition of workers from some of the US's largest essential businesses are protesting what they say are insufficient and unsafe conditions.
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| This visualization shows how droplets from a single cough can infect an entire airplane Posted: 29 Apr 2020 06:55 AM PDT  The coronavirus pandemic has likely turned people off from air travel for a bit, and this visualization produced by Purdue University probably won't change their minds.The motion graphic shows the aftermath of just a single cough on an airplane, with tiny invisible droplets dispersing widely throughout the cabin, potentially infecting a large number of fellow travelers. That's not a pleasant thought, even in non-pandemic times.> Well, the Washington Post's story about how droplets spread on airplanes wins the award for "gif most likely to give me nightmares FOREVER" https://t.co/vwW3w1Ti3v pic.twitter.com/tQSLMRufN1> > — damned sinker (@dansinker) April 28, 2020(Qingyan Chen, Purdue University School of Mechanical Engineering)It's not exactly news that airplanes pose a risk for getting sick since folks are in close quarters for hours at a time, and developments to combat the spread of viruses are well underway. That might not be comforting right now, but researchers believe breakthroughs are possible, The Washington Post reports. One solution may be ultraviolet lights that can destroy viruses and not harm humans — they're being tested by Columbia University. Read more at The Washington Post.More stories from theweek.com How Tara Reade's allegations could bring down Joe Biden Report: Trump incensed by internal polling that shows him losing to Biden The perils of Hooverism
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| NYC mayor takes heat after lashing out at Jewish funeral Posted: 29 Apr 2020 05:39 AM PDT  New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio defended his tweets criticizing a large Orthodox Jewish funeral. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said daily deaths are down but still "disgustingly high." Front-line health care workers and first responders will be mass tested for antibodies.
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| ‘Let’s do this in the most nonpartisan way possible’: Pelosi picks four members of colour and three women for coronavirus oversight panel Posted: 29 Apr 2020 11:49 AM PDT  Speaker Nancy Pelosi has named the seven Democrats who will sit on the House Select Committee on the Coronavirus Crisis that will oversee the government's roll-out of trillions of dollars in aid to states, small businesses, and health care workers.They are:
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| US Navy ship sails through Chinese-claimed waters in South China Sea Posted: 29 Apr 2020 09:07 AM PDT  A US Navy guided-missile destroyer sailed through waters near the Paracel islands in the South China Sea challenging China's claim to the area, the Navy said Wednesday. The USS Barry undertook the so-called "freedom of navigation operation" on Tuesday, a week after Beijing upped its claims to the region by designating an official administrative district for the islands. "Unlawful and sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea pose an unprecedented threat to the freedom of the seas, including the freedoms of navigation and overflight and the right of innocent passage of all ships," it said.
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| India coronavirus lockdown: Stranded migrants can return home Posted: 29 Apr 2020 06:40 AM PDT  Millions of people stranded by a lockdown to curb coronavirus can return to their home states.
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| Company says drug was effective against COVID-19 in U.S. study Posted: 29 Apr 2020 10:18 AM PDT  A biotech company says its experimental drug has proven effective against the new coronavirus in a major U.S. government study that put it to a strict test.
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| First drugs, then oil, now Mexican cartels turn to human trafficking Posted: 29 Apr 2020 12:25 PM PDT  "A lot of criminal groups are mutating," says Santigo Nieto, head of Mexico's financial intelligence unit. Sex trafficking may the country's third-largest criminal activity.
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| Trump Says U.S. Will Run 5 Million Daily Virus Tests 'Very Soon.' His Testing Chief Says That's Impossible Posted: 28 Apr 2020 07:59 PM PDT  President Trump says the U.S. will be able to carry out five million coronavirus tests a day. The official overseeing testing strategy tells TIME that goal isn't feasible
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| McConnell says business protection a condition for next COVID bill Posted: 29 Apr 2020 07:14 AM PDT  U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday doubled down on his demand that Congress protect businesses from coronavirus-related liabilities in its next legislative package for combating the pandemic. "We're going to insist on this reform, which is not related to money, as a condition for going forward," McConnell told Fox News Radio. "We're willing to discuss the way forward, provided we have protections for the brave people who've been on the front lines," McConnell said.
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| Jared Kushner mocks the 'eternal-lockdown crowd,' says he hopes the US will be 'really rocking again' by July Posted: 29 Apr 2020 08:28 AM PDT  Kushner leaned into optimism, saying that instead of focusing on why testing took so long "you should look at how did we do this so quickly."
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| Navy Orders Deeper Investigation into Crozier Firing Over 'Unanswered Questions' Posted: 29 Apr 2020 12:25 PM PDT  Gilday last week recommended that Crozier be reinstated as commanding officer of the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt.
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