| White House encourages hydroxychloroquine use for coronavirus again Posted: 28 May 2020 02:03 PM PDT  Speaking during a press briefing on Thursday, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany strongly endorsed the "prophylactic" use of hydroxychloroquine: that is, to prevent contracting the coronavirus.
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| Republican lawmakers accused of hiding positive COVID-19 test result from Democrats, who call it 'immoral' Posted: 28 May 2020 11:54 AM PDT  Democratic lawmakers in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives are demanding answers after learning that one of their Republican colleagues tested positive for COVID-19, shared that information with GOP leadership, but never informed them.
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| ‘A murderer lives here': Grafitti scrawled outside home of white police officer who knelt on neck of George Floyd Posted: 28 May 2020 08:33 AM PDT  Angry Minneapolis residents protesting the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis Police Officer scrawled the phrase "A murderer lives here" on the road outside the officer's house Wednesday night.Mr Floyd was killed when Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for eight minutes, despite Mr Floyd crying out that he couldn't breathe. Eventually Mr Floyd lost consciousness and died.
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| Can you contract coronavirus from a surface or object? Posted: 29 May 2020 03:48 PM PDT  The CDC says that it may be possible to contract COVID-19 by coming in contact with a surface or object that has the virus on it, but you're much more likely to get the coronavirus through person-to-person transmission.
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| CNN reporter arrested live on air at George Floyd Minnesota protest Posted: 29 May 2020 04:15 AM PDT  A CNN crew was arrested by police Friday morning while giving a live television report in Minneapolis, where the crew was covering ongoing protests over the death of George Floyd.
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| China plans to extend curbs on international flights until June 30: U.S. embassy Posted: 29 May 2020 01:54 AM PDT  Chinese civil aviation authorities plan to extend until June 30 their curbs on international flights to contain the spread of the coronavirus, the U.S. embassy in Beijing said in a travel advisory on Friday. China has drastically cut such flights since March to allay concerns over infections brought by arriving passengers. A so-called "Five One" policy allows mainland carriers to fly just one flight a week on one route to any country and foreign airlines to operate just one flight a week to China.
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| Greece to open airports to arrivals from 29 countries from June 15 Posted: 29 May 2020 07:42 AM PDT  Greece said Friday it would reopen its airports in Athens and Thessaloniki to arrivals from 29 countries from June 15, the start of the tourist season. Visitors would be allowed to fly into Greece from 16 EU countries, including Germany, Austria, Denmark, Finland, the Czech Republic, Baltic countries, Cyprus and Malta, the tourism ministry said in a statement. Outside the European Union, holidaymakers from Switzerland, Norway, and neighbouring Balkan countries such as Albania, Serbia and North Macedonia will be allowed to land at Greece's main airports from June 15.
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| Ethiopian army ‘shot man dead because phone rang’ - Amnesty Posted: 29 May 2020 07:28 AM PDT  It was one of several incidents in a crackdown in Oromia in 2019, Amnesty International says.
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| Twitter fact-checked a Chinese government spokesman after he suggested the US brought COVID-19 to Wuhan Posted: 28 May 2020 04:23 AM PDT  Twitter applied the label to the tweets after being questioned by the New York Post over a potential double standard, The Post reports.
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| Defense secretary says coronavirus vaccine will be available within months, but experts skeptical Posted: 28 May 2020 01:30 PM PDT  Pentagon leaders expressed strong confidence Thursday that a coronavirus vaccine will be available by January, and possibly as early as this fall — claims that were met with skepticism by scientific experts.
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| Denmark and Norway cut coronavirus-hit Sweden out of free travel deal Posted: 29 May 2020 08:21 AM PDT  The governments of Denmark and Norway have cut Sweden out of a deal allowing each other's tourists to travel freely between the two countries — citing their Nordic neighbour's higher levels of coronavirus infection. The deal, announced at parallel press conferences in Oslo and Copenhagen on Friday afternoon, showed Sweden has failed in its diplomatic efforts to be included in the first stage of a Nordic travel bubble. Under the deal, people from Denmark will from June 15 be allowed to enter Norway without needing to quarantine, while tourists from Norway will be able to enter Denmark, so long as they have booked accommodation for at least six days. As she announced the agreement, Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen acknowledged that it would be difficult for many Swedes. "Danes and Swedes have family, lovers, and holiday homes across the border," she said. "Denmark and Sweden are at different places in relation to the coronavirus [epidemic], and this has a bearing on what we can decide in relation to the border."
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| 'If you say you can't breathe, you're breathing': A Mississippi mayor who defended the officer who stood on George Floyd's neck has been asked to resign Posted: 29 May 2020 10:57 AM PDT  Petal, Mississippi, Mayor Hal Marx tweeted Floyd likely "died of overdose or heart attack" and that Minneapolis police are being "crucified."
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| Long Island serial killer victim IDed 2 decades later Posted: 28 May 2020 11:13 AM PDT  A woman whose skeletal remains were found along a suburban New York beach highway, in an area where body parts of 10 other people had been strewn, was identified as a Philadelphia escort who went missing two decades ago, police said Thursday. Suffolk County police said the woman previously known as "Jane Doe No. 6" was identified through genetic genealogy technology as Valerie Mack, who also went by Melissa Taylor and was last seen in 2000 near Atlantic City, New Jersey. Determining the victim's identity has brought clarity to a long-running Long Island mystery that attracted national headlines, was featured on true-crime TV shows and was the subject of a recent Netflix film, Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart said.
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| Burundi first lady hospitalised in Nairobi: government sources Posted: 29 May 2020 07:28 AM PDT  Burundi's first lady was in hospital in Nairobi on Friday, after being flown in on a late-night medical flight, according to sources at the airport and in the presidency. First lady Denise Bucumi was flown out of Burundi on a Pilatus plane by the AMREF air ambulance service, according to a source at the Melchior Airport in Bujumbura. A high-ranking government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that Bucumi had gone to Nairobi "for treatment as she caught the coronavirus".
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| China and U.S. should respect each other's core interests - Premier Li Posted: 28 May 2020 03:26 AM PDT  China and United States should respect each other's core interests and manage their differences, Premier Li Keqiang said on Thursday, adding that a decoupling of their economies is not good for the world. "I believe both countries should respect each other and develop a relationship on the basis of equality, respect each other's core interests and major concerns and embrace cooperation," Li said in his annual news conference after the close of the annual meeting of parliament.
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| One of the coldest places on Earth is experiencing a record-breaking heat wave Posted: 29 May 2020 09:46 AM PDT  Heat wave sparks concerns about devastating wildfire season and melting permafrost.
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| Why India must battle the shame of period stain Posted: 28 May 2020 10:38 AM PDT  Award-winning photographer Niraj Gera takes on stigma surrounding menstruation in India.
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| It looks like Trump's draft executive order targeting Facebook and Twitter got leaked online Posted: 28 May 2020 04:48 AM PDT  President Donald Trump is expected to sign such an order on Thursday.
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| Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto withdraws from Biden VP consideration Posted: 28 May 2020 03:54 PM PDT  "I support Joe Biden 100% and will work tirelessly to help get him elected this November," Cortez Masto said in a statement.
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| Russian warplanes in Libya could open new phase in Middle East's biggest proxy war Posted: 29 May 2020 10:15 AM PDT  The U.S. says Russian warplanes sent to back Moscow's favored militia leader in Libya could open a new phase in the Middle East's biggest proxy war.
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| Body found in Tulsa creek believed to be 2nd missing child Posted: 28 May 2020 07:18 AM PDT  A body found in an east Tulsa creek is believed to be that of a second missing toddler who disappeared with his sister last week, according to police. "We do know it's a young, young male," and the body was sent to the medical examiner for identification, Tulsa police Lt. Richard Meulenberg said. Searchers found the body about 5 p.m. Wednesday, less than a day after the body of a young girl was found in the Arkansas River.
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| Britain pushing US to form 5G club of nations to cut out Huawei Posted: 29 May 2020 10:15 AM PDT  Britain said Friday it was pushing the United States to form a club of 10 nations that could develop its own 5G technology and reduce dependence on China's controversial telecoms giant Huawei. The issue is expected to feature at a G7 summit that US President Donald Trump will host next month against the backdrop of a fierce confrontation with China that has been exacerbated by a global blame game over the spread of the novel coronavirus. Britain has allowed the Chinese global leader in 5G technology to build up to 35 percent of the infrastructure necessary to roll out its new speedy data network.
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| U.S. high court rejects church challenge to Illinois pandemic rules Posted: 29 May 2020 04:22 PM PDT  The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday rejected a challenge to Illinois' restrictions on religious services during the coronavirus pandemic, noting that the state had lifted the limits in question. Two churches in Illinois had asked the court to exempt them from Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker's ban on religious worship services of more than 10 people, arguing that it infringed on the constitutionally protected free exercise of religion.
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| Rep. Mark Green on suing House Speaker Pelosi Posted: 28 May 2020 03:04 AM PDT  House GOP sue over proxy voting; Tennessee Republican Rep. Mark Green weighs in.
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| Coronavirus quietly started spreading as early as January, CDC says Posted: 29 May 2020 10:35 AM PDT  By early February, there was "cryptic circulation" of the virus.
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| Don Lemon Erupts: ‘No One Wants to Hear From the Birther-In-Chief’ on George Floyd Posted: 28 May 2020 06:42 PM PDT  CNN anchor Don Lemon unloaded on President Donald Trump after the Justice Department said Thursday that the president was "actively monitoring" the investigation of four Minneapolis police officers over the death of an unarmed black man, exclaiming that nobody "wants to hear from the Birther-in-Chief."During a press conference late Thursday afternoon, local and federal investigators insisted that they "can't rush" bringing charges for the death of George Floyd, who was pronounced dead after an officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes. With protests raging across the country, U.S. Attorney Erica MacDonald said the investigation was a "top priority" for the feds before adding that Trump and Attorney General William Barr were paying high attention to the case.Moments after the presser wrapped up, Lemon blew up over MacDonald invoking the president in this particular situation, bringing up a number of incidents Trump has been involved in over the years that have widely been seen as racist."I know she has a tough job, but guess what, as long as we are being honest right now, nobody wants to hear from the White House or the attorney general right now," Lemon exclaimed. "No one wants to hear from the man who wanted the death penalty to come back for the Central Park Five.""No one wants to hear from the man who says that the former president was not born in this country," the CNN anchor continued, in something of a call-and-response fashion. "No one wants to hear from the man who said there are 'very fine people on both sides.' Do you understand what I am saying?""No one wants to hear from the person that they perceive as contributing to situations like this in this society," Lemon kept going. "Not directly, but allowing people like that to think they can get away from this. No one wants to hear from the Birther-in-Chief, from the 'sons of bitches'-calling person, who says that athletes are kneeling for this very reason."After scolding federal investigators for seemingly having more urgency in telling protesters to calm down than investigating police brutality, Lemon concluded by expressing some solidarity with demonstrators amid the increasingly violent clashes."I understand the anger of the people upset in Minneapolis, Minnesota," he said. "I don't condone the actions. I don't understand the actions, but I understand the anger."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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| Google has rescinded thousands of job offers to temporary and contract workers, as the company continues to feel the sting of the pandemic Posted: 29 May 2020 08:23 AM PDT  In its latest cost-cutting measure, Google has reportedly rescinded job offers to more than 2,000 contractors who were preparing to join the company.
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| Marauding monkeys attack lab technician and steal Covid-19 tests Posted: 29 May 2020 05:00 AM PDT  A band of marauding monkeys has attacked a laboratory technician and stolen three Covid-19 test samples, raising fears they will infect themselves and then spread the deadly disease to humans. The worker was attacked outside a medical college in Meerut, northern India, while transporting samples from patients suspected of having coronavirus. The monkeys ran off into a residential area. The employee is said to have been unharmed, but has angered officials after filming the aftermath of the attack, rather than attempting to retrieve the samples from the fleeing monkeys. Monkeys can contract Covid-19 and then infect humans, according to scientists. Some Indians have been worried about catching the deadly virus from animals and it led to pet dogs being released onto the streets during the start of the pandemic. Others saw the funny side of the monkey attack, with the incident coming days after the Indian authorities detained a pigeon in Jammu & Kashmir on suspicion of spying for Pakistan. "The nation wants to know if Pakistan has sent those monkeys to steal coronavirus samples," joked one user on Twitter. "These are highly trained monkeys and very intelligent monkeys." In India, groups of monkeys are attacking people with increasing regularity as they are displaced from their natural habitats by urban sprawl. Their attacks can prove deadly - particularly for young children who are vulnerable to their powerful bites. In 2018, a 12-day-old baby boy died after he was bitten by a monkey in the city of Agra, home of the Taj Mahal.
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| Powell: Fed to soon begin 'challenging' Main Street lending Posted: 29 May 2020 09:32 AM PDT  Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged Friday that the Fed faces a major challenge with the launch in the coming days of a program that will lend to companies other than banks for the first time since the Great Depression. The Fed's Main Street Lending is geared toward medium-sized companies that are too large for the government's small business lending program and too small to sell bonds or stock to the public. Powell said that Main Street will make its first loans in a "few days."
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| Peter Manfredonia, the 23-year-old college student suspected of double murder, has been captured after a weeklong, multi-state manhunt Posted: 28 May 2020 05:05 AM PDT  Peter Manfredonia had been on the run since last Friday. He is suspected of killing two men and kidnapping one woman.
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| Crashed Pakistan plane hit runway three times on first approach, minister says Posted: 28 May 2020 02:42 AM PDT  The captain of a Pakistani airliner that crashed last week, killing 97 people on board, approached Karachi airport without announcing he couldn't open his landing gear and hit the runway three times, a government minister said on Thursday. Search teams recovered the cockpit voice recorder from the wreckage of the Pakistan International Airlines Airbus A320 that crashed into a residential neighbourhood of Karachi last Friday, a spokesman for the airline said. Minister for Civil Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan told reporters the plane's engines touched the ground three times on the first attempt at landing.
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| IKEA manager in Poland charged for firing worker over anti-gay comments Posted: 28 May 2020 11:27 AM PDT  The manager was charged with religious discrimination for firing an employee who called homosexuality "an abomination" on the company's internal website.
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| Trump Announces U.S. ‘Terminating’ Relationship with World Health Organization Posted: 29 May 2020 12:21 PM PDT  President Trump announced Friday that the U.S. is "terminating" its relationship with the World Health Organization over its failure to enact reforms in response to the administration's criticisms of its handling of the coronavirus pandemic."Because they have failed to make the requested and greatly needed reforms, we will be today be terminating our relationship with the World Health Organization and redirecting those funds to other worldwide and deserving urgent global public health needs," Trump said at a press conference.The announcement comes after Trump had threatened to cut U.S. funding to the WHO, alleging that the organization had helped China conceal the severity of the initial coronavirus outbreak in the city of Wuhan. The president noted that the U.S. government provides the WHO with roughly $450 million a year, compared with China's annual contribution of $40 million.Last week, Health Secretary Alex Azar blamed the WHO for mishandling the emerging pandemic."We must be frank about one of the primary reasons this outbreak spun out of control," Azar said. "There was a failure by this organization to obtain the information that the world needed, and that failure cost many lives."
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| Texas Children's Hospital treating several children with inflammatory illness linked to COVID-19 Posted: 28 May 2020 07:28 PM PDT  Some of the children are reportedly in critical condition. Though the illness itself isn't contagious, but could be deadly if left untreated.
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| UK chief negotiator rules out fish for financial services Brexit deal Posted: 29 May 2020 02:57 AM PDT  Britain's chief Brexit negotiator has ruled out any deal giving European boats access to UK waters in return for better conditions for British financial services in the EU's Single Market. The EU and the UK are deeply divided over fishing in free trade negotiations ahead of the next round of talks, which start on Monday, David Frost told peers in the European Union Select Committee on Thursday. Brussels also rejected British calls for an improved system of regulatory recognition for the City of London than the "equivalence" model currently on offer, during the last round of negotiations. Those talks ended in deadlock and mutual recrimination with both sides urging each other to drop their red lines. Leo Varadkar, the Irish prime minister, and Phil Hogan, the EU's trade commissioner, have both suggested that a "fish for financial services" compromise could be struck to break the deadlock between the two sides. Mr Hogan, who is Ireland's EU commissioner, said yesterday, "Perhaps the United Kingdom has come to the conclusion that there's not going to be a deal." "I don't think fisheries is something we are going to link to anything," Boris Johnson's top Brexit official said. The Political Declaration, a joint document for the trade talks, said that a deal on fishing and financial services should be completed by July, ahead of the end of year deadline for the trade deal to be finalised. Mr Frost said he thought the deadline would be missed and repeated that the UK would not ask for an extension to the transition period to allow time for more trade negotiations beyond December 31. "I'm sure we'll carry on talking after June 30. Obviously, at some point, there will need to be a negotiation on the arrangements for 21, whether there's an agreement or not," Mr Frost said. "If there isn't an agreement that will reflect the fact that we're in the independent coastal state, and we'll control access, and fishing in our waters at that point." He added, "So, that is the reality that we have to contend with, if the EU doesn't evolve its position and try and reach an agreement with us."
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| 41 million jobs lost; homebound gear up to get out, way out Posted: 28 May 2020 07:43 AM PDT  Following are developments Thursday related to the national and global response, the work place and the spread of the virus. — American Airlines will cut its 17,000 management and support staff by 30%, about 5,100 jobs.
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| How to Screw Up a Vice-Presidential Pick Posted: 29 May 2020 08:12 AM PDT  Joe Biden's choice for vice president is arguably the biggest decision of his campaign—and it could go very, very wrong. And no one knows more about failed veep picks than Steve Schmidt and Philippe Reines, who worked on the McCain/Palin and Clinton/Kaine campaigns.In Episode 12 of The New Abnormal, The Daily Beast's podcast for a world gone off the rails, Schmidt and Reines tell Molly Jong-Fast and Rick Wilson about what went south with Hillary Clinton's VP approach, and how Biden can avoid the same fate."It's not a matter of who you want to go to the movies with. It's a matter of being able to do it on day one," says Reines. "In a perfect world, he would pick Bernie Sanders," he adds. "I mean that would be a horrible world, but in that world he would pick Bernie to consolidate the party and money."On this planet, Reines says, Elizabeth Warren is the best person to help with that consolidation. (Reines says also he wanted Warren on the Clinton ticket in 2016, and that the Massachusetts senator was a finalist for the role.) Schmidt thinks Kamala Harris better rounds out the Biden ticket.Schmidt and Reines also talk about Stacey Abrams and why choosing her would ultimately do more harm than good: "This is not a time to gamble."Asked about Trump's re-election chances, neither of them think things look too good right now. Julián Castro on Why Everyone Hates Ted Cruz"I think right now, Trump is losing," says Schmidt. Reines chimes in: "For those who wanted to make things better, this is a failed experiment and amateur hour is over. Forty million Americans are out of a job. How the hell does a president get re-elected?" Plus! Our dynamic duo asks the important questions, like: What exactly is wrong with Mark Zuckerberg? And will the caregivers at the White House assisted-living facility try to give Donnie the pudding he likes?Listen to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Stitcher.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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| House Democrats demand probes of police killings of black Americans Posted: 28 May 2020 03:06 PM PDT  The Democratic-controlled U.S. House Judiciary Committee on Thursday asked the Justice Department to investigate systemic police misconduct following a spate of high-profile police killings of African Americans. The killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis, who died when a white officer pinned him down with a knee to the neck, and Breonna Taylor, shot in her Louisville, Kentucky, apartment, raise questions as to whether police were engaged in a "pattern or practice of unconstitutional conduct," House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler and the other Democratic members told Attorney General William Barr in a letter.
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| India quarterly growth worst in two decades as lockdown bites Posted: 29 May 2020 07:50 AM PDT  India's economy grew at its slowest pace in at least two decades last quarter, government data showed Friday, with warnings of far worse to come as it grapples with the fallout of the world's largest coronavirus lockdown. The figures beat even gloomier forecasts, with Bloomberg News predicting growth would slow to just 1.6 percent, but analysts are bracing for a severe contraction in the current quarter after manufacturing, services and consumer spending came to a grinding halt. The shutdown is widely expected to plunge the country into recession, with Goldman Sachs predicting a 45 percent contraction in the April-June quarter from the previous year.
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| Pompeo adviser at center of personal errand probe asks former staffers to support secretary Posted: 27 May 2020 07:52 PM PDT  The staffers are being asked to sign a letter in solidarity against the "unfounded attacks," claiming a "smear campaign" had been launched against the secretary of state.
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| US Air Force looks to up-gun its airlift planes Posted: 28 May 2020 02:03 PM PDT  Two demonstrations of a new "palletized munitions" concept have shown promise, an Air Force general said.
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| One chart shows a noticeable correlation between how late a country started its coronavirus lockdown and the number of excess deaths Posted: 28 May 2020 06:30 AM PDT  Analysis from the Financial Times has shown that the number of excess deaths correlates to when a country decided to lock down.
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| Is international travel allowed yet? See when Spain, Mexico, Italy, UK plan to reopen borders Posted: 29 May 2020 07:13 AM PDT  Spain has announced that it will reopen its borders to foreign tourists in July and Mexico will start reopening in June. See when others will follow.
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| More than £3 million in drugs and cash seized in biggest Government-backed assault on county lines gangs Posted: 28 May 2020 12:31 PM PDT  Cash and drugs worth £3 million have been seized by police in the biggest operation against county lines gangs backed by a dedicated Government fund. The campaign - by four forces - saw police make more than 650 arrests, close nearly 140 "deal" lines supplying drugs from cities to suburban and rural towns and seize more than 100 weapons including guns and knives. Some 140 children being exploited by the gangs were also safeguarded in the raids conducted over five months from November to March this year. Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, said: "I am determined to roll up county lines drugs gangs and stop them from terrorising our towns and exploiting our children. "I have seen first-hand the important work the police are doing to tackle county lines, and these impressive results show just how much of an impact our investment is having." The "surge" operations - British Transport Police, the Metropolitan Police, Merseyside Police and West Midlands Police -were funded by £5 million from the Government's £25 million package to tackle county lines. The Met and Merseyside forces closed 131 lines, while the British Transport police made the most arrests at 276 as drug couriers were caught on their way to and from the county drug dealerships. Merseyside seized £1.5 million class A drugs, thought to be predominantly cocaine. Andy Cooke, Merseyside Police Chief Constable, said: "It is vital that we keep up this relentless level of activity targeting criminals and protecting the young and vulnerable who they groom to do their dirty work. "Those responsible for these County Lines bring misery to our local communities through their drug dealing." Met deputy assistant commissioner Graham McNulty, national lead for county lines, said: "This issue is not being tackled in isolation. Dedicated teams in forces across the nation are identifying lines, locating those running them and dismantling their operation entirely. "This work will not cease – it will increase and intensify over the coming months."
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| Pharma chiefs see coronavirus vaccine by year-end, but challenges 'daunting' Posted: 28 May 2020 01:05 PM PDT  Pharmaceutical company executives said Thursday that one or several COVID-19 vaccines could begin rolling out before 2021, but warned the challenges would be "daunting" as it was estimated that 15 billion doses would be needed to halt the pandemic. Well over 100 labs around the world are scrambling to come up with a vaccine against the novel coronavirus, including 10 that have made it to the clinical trial stage. "The hope of many people is that we will have a vaccine, hopefully several, by the end of this year," Pascal Soriot, head of AstraZeneca, told a virtual briefing.
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