| White House press corps confirms 'suspected case' of coronavirus in the briefing room Posted: 23 Mar 2020 02:10 PM PDT  A member of the White House press corps who has been in the briefing room several times with President Trump has come down with a suspected case of coronavirus.
|
| "I hope to be roaming outside freely and without a face mask very soon," says an American quarantined in Beijing Posted: 23 Mar 2020 04:21 PM PDT  Patrick, who is an American citizen, returned back to his current home in Beijing recently and per law is being quarantined in his apartment for 14 days since his arrival back to China. "Right now, [I'm] keeping my spirits up and enjoying it. I hope to be roaming outside freely and without a face mask very soon."
|
| US newspapers urge China not to expel their journalists Posted: 24 Mar 2020 02:00 AM PDT  The publishers of three major American newspapers have written an open letter asking China to reverse its recent decision to expel many of their correspondents working in the country. It was signed by the publishers of The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. China said last week that most Americans working for the three publications would have to surrender their press cards within 10 days.
|
| A 39-year-old otherwise healthy New Orleans woman who showed signs of the novel coronavirus died alone in her kitchen awaiting test results Posted: 23 Mar 2020 03:20 PM PDT  "I don't want to be sick anymore," Natasha Ott, a 39-year-old social worker, texted days before her death. Her COVID-19 results are still unknown.
|
| Coronavirus: New York has 'exhausted every option' to tackle outbreak, says Cuomo as cases double every three days Posted: 24 Mar 2020 08:13 AM PDT  New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has warned the public about the "troubling" situation in the state, as he reveals coronavirus cases are accelerating at a faster rate and doubling every three days."We've exhausted every option available to us," the governor said on Tuesday during his daily press briefing.
|
| Half of Iranian government employees to work remotely amid coronavirus: Rouhani Posted: 24 Mar 2020 01:09 AM PDT  President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday about half of all Iranian government employees were staying at home as part of measures to contain the coronavirus outbreak in the Middle East's worst-affected country, state television reported. "Many government employees will continue to work from home but civil servants with sensitive jobs that are vital for the public will be allowed to work from the office," said Rouhani. The death toll from the respiratory pandemic in Iran increased by 122 to 1,934 on Tuesday, among a total of 24,811 infections, according to Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur.
|
| No bipartisan coronavirus bill yet, Pelosi warns Posted: 22 Mar 2020 10:30 AM PDT  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said her fellow Democrats plan to introduce their own bill aimed at limiting the coronavirus outbreak's toll on the American economy even though she still hopes to agree upon a deal with Republicans.
|
| Fourteen inmates escaped from jail, 6 still on the loose Posted: 24 Mar 2020 06:48 AM PDT  "Despite the governor's shelter-in-place or stay-at-home order, apparently they didn't want to do that, so they are out and about," said the county sheriff.
|
| Sen. Rand Paul, Who Opposed Coronavirus Relief Bill, Tests Positive Posted: 22 Mar 2020 05:42 PM PDT  Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who was the only senator to oppose a coronavirus relief package last month, announced Sunday that he has tested positive for the virus."He is feeling fine and is in quarantine," an announcement on his Twitter said. "He is asymptomatic and was tested out of an abundance of caution due to his extensive travel and events."It added, "He expects to be back in the Senate after his quarantine period ends and will continue to work for the people of Kentucky at this difficult time."In addition to being the only senator to vote against an $8.3 billion emergency coronavirus package, Paul also was one of the eight senators who voted against paid sick leave in a stimulus bill that passed with an overwhelming 90-8 vote last week. "I think that the paid sick leave is an incentive for businesses to actually let go employees and will make unemployment worse," Paul, a physician who has a Kentucky-issued medical license, explained to Newsweek.CNN reported that Paul closed his Capitol Hill offices over a week ago and urged employees to work from home due to concerns over the coronavirus outbreak. Two people who attended the annual Speed Art Museum ball in Kentucky with the senator on March 7 later tested positive for the virus, according to the Courier-Journal. But despite reportedly being tested roughly a week ago, Paul continued to interact with colleagues and even worked out at the Senate gym—and was swimming in the pool—on Sunday morning, shortly before he received his positive test results, Politico reported. Paul is the first senator to test positive for the novel coronavirus. Two other members of Congress, Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) and Ben McAdams (D-UT), have also gone public with positive test results.According to the World Health Organization, COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, is particularly dangerous for people with lung problems. In August 2019, Paul had part of his lung removed after an altercation with his neighbor Rene Boucher. The two had a long-running dispute over lawn care.Second Member of Congress Tests Positive for COVID-19On March 2, Paul appeared on Fox News and downplayed the global threat of the coronavirus. "While it is worldwide, I think there is room for optimism that this thing may plateau out in a few weeks and not be as bad it as it may have been portrayed," he said to host Neil Cavuto. "We've seen pockets of this around the world and even in Italy and Iran where we have it, but none of it is approaching what started in China."When asked about institutions taking larger measures to limit the spread of the virus, Paul was resistant to the idea. "I think closing down the Smithsonians would be way too premature and I wouldn't advise something like that."And when Cavuto asked Paul about making personal adjustments to avoid infection, the Senator was particularly defiant. "I mean, I fly all the time and I'm not cutting back on my flying... I was on a plane today," he said. "I could be wrong and this could be really bad in two or three weeks or a month, but I'm hoping it's not going to be. I'm not ready to buy all the toilet paper at Target."The senator's father, Dr. Ron Paul, a physician and a former Republican congressman from Texas, published an essay called "The Coronavirus Hoax" last week for the New River Valley News, a local outlet based in Virginia. "People should ask themselves whether this coronavirus 'pandemic' could be a big hoax, with the actual danger of the disease massively exaggerated by those who seek to profit—financially or politically—from the ensuing panic," the elder Paul wrote.As of Sunday afternoon, there are 30,000 COVID-19 cases in the U.S., and nearly 400 people have died.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.
|
| Trump boasts of 'great early result' against coronavirus in one Florida man Posted: 23 Mar 2020 12:39 PM PDT  President Trump again touted the promise of the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine on Monday for use treating COVID-19, retweeting a story that appeared in the New York Post.
|
| Indian police clear out anti-government protest citing coronavirus Posted: 24 Mar 2020 02:38 AM PDT  Police in India's capital broke up the longest-running protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's citizenship law on Tuesday, citing a ban on public gatherings because of the coronavirus outbreak. Dozens of people, many of them women, have been staging a sit-in protest since early December on a street in the Shaheen Bagh neighbourhood, which has become a focal point for opposition to the law seen as discriminating against Muslims. Hundreds of police in riot gear surrounded the protesters early on Tuesday and told them to leave, said Delhi's joint police commissioner D. C. Srivastava. "It is a dangerous environment, with this coronavirus, we urged them to leave," he told reporters. Some demonstrators resisted the police and at least nine people had been detained, six of them women, Srivastava said, adding there was no violence. Television showed police taking down tents and billboards at the protest site with bulldozers. Delhi is under a lockdown until the end of the month to halt the spread of the virus and public gatherings of more than five people have been banned. The Citizenship Amendment Act, which eases the path for non-Muslims from neighbouring Muslim-majority countries to gain citizenship, triggered weeks of sometimes violent protests against Modi's government after it was passed in December. At least 78 people have been killed in demonstrations triggered by the law across the country, a large number of them in another part of Delhi in clashes between Hindus and Muslims. Critics say the law discriminates against Muslims and it has deepened concern that Modi's administration is undermining India's secular traditions. Modi's ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party denies any bias against India's 180 million Muslims. Even before the coronavirus epidemic, the protest at Shaheen Bagh had become a thorn in the government's side, and there had been calls by hardline Hindu groups linked to Modi's alliance and residents in the area to clear it out. India has reported 471 cases of the coronavirus but health experts have warned that a big jump is imminent, which would likely overwhelm the underfunded and crumbling public health infrastructure.
|
| Mexican man dies in ICE custody; 10th since October Posted: 23 Mar 2020 10:43 AM PDT |
| 11 air traffic control centers have been temporarily closed after workers tested positive for coronavirus, highlighting a vulnerability in air travel Posted: 23 Mar 2020 03:28 PM PDT  The spread of the novel coronavirus into FAA air traffic facilities has the ability to grind air travel in the US to a halt if not properly contained.
|
| We need an immediate five-week national lockdown to defeat coronavirus in America Posted: 23 Mar 2020 01:12 PM PDT  Locking down the country would reduce infections and allow time for massive testing. There will be staggering human and economic costs if we delay.
|
| 'Friend of coronavirus': Police in north India shame those defying lockdown Posted: 24 Mar 2020 06:43 AM PDT  Police in India's northern city of Meerut are making citizens who break its lockdown hold up signs reading, "I am a friend of coronavirus," or "I am the enemy of society," before posting their pictures on Twitter. Most of India, which had 482 infections and nine deaths by Tuesday, is under lockdown to curb the spread of the virus, including Meerut, in the most populous state of Uttar Pradesh. Meerut police tweeted a picture of Alim holding a sign that read "I am a friend of coronavirus" with the caption, "Some people do not care about society's safety."
|
| Twitter Says China Claiming Coronavirus Started in U.S. Not a Violation of Rules Posted: 23 Mar 2020 01:34 PM PDT  A Twitter spokesperson said widely shared claims from Chinese officials alleging that the coronavirus originated in the U.S. did not violate its rules and terms of service.The spokesperson pointed The Daily Beast to the company's loose approach to statements from government officials. "Presently," Twitter explains, "direct interactions with fellow public figures, comments on political issues of the day, or foreign policy saber-rattling on economic or military issues are generally not in violation of the Twitter Rules."The tech company has recently ramped up efforts to combat misinformation, and earlier this month applied a "manipulated media" tag to a doctored video of former vice president Joe Biden that was retweeted by President Trump.The Chinese Communist Party has stepped up propaganda efforts to blame the U.S. for the coronavirus pandemic. Lijian Zhao, an official spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, tweeted on March 12 that "it might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan."> 2/2 CDC was caught on the spot. When did patient zero begin in US? How many people are infected? What are the names of the hospitals? It might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent! Make public your data! US owe us an explanation! pic.twitter.com/vYNZRFPWo3> > -- Lijian Zhao 赵立坚 (@zlj517) March 12, 2020The Chinese embassy in South Africa wrote on March 7 that "although the epidemic first broke out in China, it did not necessarily mean that the virus is originated from China, let alone 'made in China.'"> Although the epidemic first broke out in China, it did not necessarily mean that the virus is originated from China, let alone "made in China". pic.twitter.com/EVXLkQnyfF> > -- Chinese Embassy in South Africa (@ChineseEmbSA) March 7, 2020On Monday, China's French embassy tweeted Trumppandemic in response to a story about White House efforts to step up scrutiny against China.> Les États-Unis comptent sur les mensonges et le racisme au lieu de la science et de mesures efficaces pour freiner COVID19. Jeter un coup d'œil @thedailybeast sur les tactiques vilaine de la Maison Blanche pour détourner les critiques sur Trumpandémie. https://t.co/eplfhhiBlL pic.twitter.com/3RIIK3XQa7> > -- Ambassade de Chine en France (@AmbassadeChine) March 23, 2020Independent news reports have detailed how Chinese authorities silenced labs in Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the outbreak, which discovered in December that the novel coronavirus closely resembled the deadly SARS virus of the early 2000s.Last week, Senator Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) called for a "full, international investigation" into the CCP over the coverup. "There needs to be a full, international investigation of China Communist Party's actions that helped turn coronavirus COVID19 into a global pandemic," he tweeted Wednesday morning.
|
| 'It's unprecedented': Las Vegas darkens neon lights, leaving thousands unemployed Posted: 23 Mar 2020 06:00 PM PDT  After Nevada shut down casinos and restaurants, the city's service workers face an uncertain future. "No one knows what's going to happen," one worker said.
|
| Texas Lt. Gov: Senior Citizens Willing to Die to Save Economy for Grandkids Posted: 23 Mar 2020 06:36 PM PDT  Piggybacking on President Donald Trump's desire to quickly end social distancing restrictions to restart the U.S. economy, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick suggested Monday that senior citizens would be willing to sacrifice their lives to the new coronavirus in order to save the economy for their kids and grandchildren.With the president and many of his allies (including several Fox News hosts) currently pushing to reject health experts' advice on slowing the spread of the virus so the economy can be restarted in a matter of weeks, Fox News host Tucker Carlson kicked off his Monday night show by hearing from "both sides" of the issue.After hosting a doctor who noted that he couldn't give definitive answers on how long quarantines and social distancing policies needed to stay in effect in order to "flatten the curve," Carlson turned to Patrick, who had recently texted the Fox host to explain why he thought all Americans should quickly get back to work.Fox News Stars Begin Pushing Trump to End Coronavirus Restrictions"I don't pretend to be speaking for everyone 70-plus," Patrick's text read. "But I think there are lots of grandparents out there who would agree with me that I want my grandchildren to live in the America I did.""I want them to have a shot at the American Dream but right now there's a virus which all the experts say that 98 percent of all people will survive... is killing our country in another way," the text continued. "It could bring about a total economic collapse and potentially a collapse of our society. So I say let's give this a few more days or weeks but after that, let's go back to work and go back to living. Those we want to shelter in place can still do so but we can't live with uncertainty."The Texas Republican told Carlson that while at 70 he is in the greatest risk pool for the virus, he's not living in fear of COVID-19 but rather is scared of "what's happening to the country.""No one reached out to me and said as a senior citizen, 'Are you willing to take a chance on your survival in exchange for keeping the America that all America loves for your children and grandchildren?'" Patrick declared. "And if that is the exchange, I'm all in."Adding that "there are lots of grandparents" who would make the same choice because "they don't want the whole country sacrificed," Patrick said that, as a small businessman, his "heart is lifted" by the president's recent pivot."So my message is that let's get back to work," he continued. "Let's get back to living and be smart about it and those of us who are 70 plus, we will take care of ourselves but don't sacrifice the country. Don't do that."Patrick concluded by insisting that the "biggest gift" grandparents can give their grandkids is "the legacy of our country," all while wondering why we need to "shut down the whole country" since the "mortality rate is so low."As of publication, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center, there were 43,901 coronavirus cases confirmed in the United States, resulting in 557 deaths. Monday was also the first day the U.S. reported more than 100 deaths in a single day. Lou Dobbs Is Still Praising Trump's Coronavirus Response Under Self-QuarantineRead 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.
|
| Pelosi pushes forward with her own emergency coronavirus package Posted: 22 Mar 2020 11:26 AM PDT  As talks stalled on the Senate deal, the speaker said she'll move forward with a House proposal.
|
| Man sentenced to 25 years for trying to bomb Oklahoma bank Posted: 23 Mar 2020 11:43 AM PDT  An Oklahoma man was sentenced Monday to 25 years in prison after being convicted of trying to blow up an Oklahoma City bank with a massive vehicle bomb, according to federal prosecutors. Jerry Drake Varnell, 26, of Sayre, was sentenced in federal court in Oklahoma City. Varnell was arrested in August 2017 after he tried to detonate what authorities said he believed was a half-ton (450-kilogram) bomb outside BancFirst in downtown Oklahoma City.
|
| Dramatic photos show doctors and nurses struggling on the front line of the coronavirus pandemic around the world Posted: 23 Mar 2020 09:41 AM PDT  Healthcare workers around the world have been working around the clock and risking their own lives to treat coronavirus patients.
|
| Coronavirus stayed on surfaces for up to 17 days on Diamond Princess cruise, CDC says Posted: 24 Mar 2020 06:01 AM PDT  A new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report indicates the strength of the new coronavirus to live on surfaces for more than two weeks.
|
| Pence says U.S. coronavirus guidance to be re-evaluated after 15-day period ends Posted: 23 Mar 2020 01:00 PM PDT  U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, who is leading a U.S. task force to address the coronavirus outbreak, said on Monday the Trump administration would re-evaluate its guidance after the current 15-day guidance period ends. "At the end of this 15 days, we're going to get with our health experts, we're going to evaluate ways in which we might be able to adjust that guidance for the American people," he told reporters when asked whether the guidance could be eased to help protect the economy. "But those measures right now were all in the belief that we could ... impact the trajectory of the curve of the coronavirus in America, in a way that would that would spare many Americans from being exposed or contracting the disease and, of course, save lives," he added.
|
| Italy sees second successive drop in virus deaths Posted: 23 Mar 2020 09:20 PM PDT  Italy reported a second successive drop in daily deaths and infections from a coronavirus that has nevertheless claimed more than 6,000 lives in a month. Italy's National Health Institute (ISS) chief Silvio Brusaferro was more guarded. Saturday's record toll was followed by a late-night address to the nation in which Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced the additional closure of "non-essential" factories.
|
| 'It's unprecedented': Las Vegas darkens neon lights, leaving thousands unemployed Posted: 23 Mar 2020 06:00 PM PDT After Nevada shut down casinos and restaurants, the city's service workers face an uncertain future. "No one knows what's going to happen," one worker said.
|
| Mozambique jihadists seize key town in Cabo Delgado Posted: 23 Mar 2020 10:21 AM PDT  Security forces are trying to retake the town where militants raised their flag at an army base.
|
| Rupert Murdoch Put His Son in Charge of Fox. It Was a Dangerous Mistake. Posted: 23 Mar 2020 12:15 PM PDT  The chief executive of Fox News, Suzanne Scott, reacted swiftly to the threat of the coronavirus in late February: She ordered the bright, open new offices disinfected, installed hand sanitizer stations around the office and boldly canceled the company's major ad sales event.But her influence doesn't extend to the most important part of Fox News: its programming in prime time.There, for two crucial weeks in late February and early March, powerful Fox hosts talked about the "real" story of the coronavirus: It was a Democratic- and media-led plot against President Donald Trump. Hosts and guests, speaking to Fox's predominantly elderly audience, repeatedly played down the threat of what would soon become a deadly pandemic.The person who could have stopped the flow of misinformation was Scott's boss, Lachlan Murdoch, the chief executive of the Fox Corp. But he wasn't paying much attention. The 48-year-old heir to his family's media fortune was focused instead on buying a streaming company called Tubi for $440 million, a person who has spoken to him said. The acquisition would drive "long-term growth," he proudly announced in a news release on March 17.That same day, the number of coronavirus cases in the United States surpassed 5,600.Critics sometimes compare Fox, in its loyalty to Trump, to "state TV," but that description is off. State TV implies command and control. The most-watched news channel in America has become, since the fall of its powerful founder, Roger Ailes, much more like the Trump White House: a family business where it's not entirely clear who is in charge.Coronavirus has tested leaders across governments, communities and businesses. Some have risen to the challenge, others have disappointed.Fox failed its viewers and the broader public in ways both revealing and potentially lethal. In particular, Lachlan Murdoch failed to pry its most important voices away from their embrace of the president's early line: that the virus was not a big threat in the United States.Murdoch is likable and handsome. But even his allies told me they no longer think he has the political savvy or the operational skills his job demands.His father has urged him to develop a politically astute kitchen cabinet that he can rely on, and remains concerned that he hasn't, according to two people who have spoken to the elder Murdoch. Lachlan has delegated much of the running of the company to Viet Dinh, a high-powered Republican lawyer without much experience in the media business, people who work with them said. Dinh earned more than $24 million in salary and stock last year as the company's chief legal officer.People close to Lachlan Murdoch describe him as a laid-back executive who doesn't spend his days watching Fox and is sometimes surprised to learn of a controversy it has generated."People act like Fox is a virus -- beyond our control," said Bill Kristol, who worked for the Murdochs for 15 years and appeared on Fox until 2012. "There are people who run it, who have responsibility for it, and they could be held accountable."Through a spokesman, Steven Rubenstein, Lachlan Murdoch declined to comment on any aspect of his performance.The Murdochs have always been hands-off leaders, and the peculiar challenge for generations of their public relations employees has been deciding whether to portray them as culpable or out-of-touch for various on-air debacles. But since the powerful Ailes was ousted amid a sexual harassment scandal in 2016, the network seems more and more like an asylum in the firm control of its inmates.Soon after Lachlan Murdoch won an internal family struggle to take charge in 2018, he appointed Scott, who'd risen through the ranks, as chief executive of Fox News. It was good public relations: She was the first woman to run the company, which was reeling from the Ailes scandal. And she was a safe insider whom the Murdochs liked, even if she lacked a powerful profile inside and outside Fox.The job, at that point, didn't matter all that much. Trump had given the network's prime-time hosts, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, and others, unusual access and political relevance -- not to mention huge ratings. The hosts, in turn, were far more responsive to him than to their nominal bosses, providing a platform for the president and his supporters to air their grievances about the rest of the media.Scott, in turn, could focus on cleaning up a toxic workplace, managing the less-watched daytime programming and take credit for the ratings.The arrangement seemed a happy one. But then, the coronavirus happened.By January, Lachlan Murdoch knew the virus was coming. He'd been getting regular updates from the family's political allies and journalists in his father's native Australia, an Australian News Corp. staff member told me. The Fox host he's closest to, Carlson, had been a rare voice on the network urging Trump to act more urgently. Even Hannity had hosted Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, early on his show and warned of the risks.But as the crisis took hold, there were more than two weeks of statements like Laura Ingraham's assertion on Feb. 27 that Democratic criticism was "more unsettling" than the virus and Hannity's allegation on March 9 that political opponents were trying to "bludgeon Trump with this new hoax." Finally, after an obscure Fox Business host, Trish Regan, ranted that the coronavirus issue was "another attempt to impeach the president," the network pivoted.The damage Fox did appears likely to extend beyond the typical media hits and misses. I asked Ashish Jha, the director of the Harvard Global Public Health Institute, who appeared on Fox News recently, whether he believes people will die because of Fox's coverage."Yes," he said. "Some commentators in the right-wing media spread a very specific type of misinformation that I think has been very harmful."The communications chief at Fox News, Irena Briganti, said, "The cherry picking of clips from our opinion programs is the definition of politicizing this serious threat, as is irresponsibly attacking Fox News in the middle of a pandemic that has evolved considerably over the last few weeks." She added, "Suzanne Scott's exceptional leadership of Fox News Media throughout this crisis is unprecedented, and she is committed to both protecting our employees while keeping the audience informed 24/7 on all our platforms and providing an important public service."There are a lot of theories about what went wrong at Fox: that the network's dug-in hostility toward climate science spilled over to medicine, or that its executives cared about ratings above all else. But interviews with 20 current and former Fox staff members and Murdoch family associates in recent days paint a different picture: The network is in thrall to the president and largely beyond the control of the family that owns it.When Lachlan Murdoch started to hear complaints about the coronavirus coverage on Fox, a person who has spoken to him said, he mistook it for the usual partisan noise."Everyone saw it as part of the normal rough and tumble for all things Trump -- everyone but Fox goes after him, Fox defends him," this person said.Now, Fox is consumed by internal finger-pointing.Network executives are blaming Trump, their own powerful hosts or Meade Cooper, the executive vice president who theoretically runs prime time programming, people familiar with their conversations said. Scott's internal critics say it's telling that only the little-known Regan lost her show -- while the stars remain untouchable. And Scott has been furiously, belatedly, trying to get hold of the programming, insisting that Fox & Friends -- the show on which Jerry Falwell Jr. suggested that the North Koreans were to blame for the virus -- now always have a doctor involved in the show.The finger-pointing extends to the very top. Lachlan Murdoch never called Hannity, whom he had just signed to a new contract, about his coverage. The closest Fox executives have come to taking decisive action appears to be boasting, off the record of course, that they have taken decisive action. Their explanations collide almost comically. A person who spoke to Rupert Murdoch says that the 89-year-old chairman reached out to Hannity to tell him to take the virus "seriously." But other executives said they had no knowledge of the call, and Hannity said in a statement that "this is absolutely false and never happened."One level down, Briganti has complained that Carlson is casting himself to reporters as a heroic truth-teller in contrast with other hosts, according to two people who heard directly of the conversations.But little seems to have changed in the Fox ethos. Fox's shift to more serious coverage of coronavirus followed Trump's own, and the hosts are now embracing his new strategy for rallying their shared base. Along with trying to persuade their audience to be safe (particularly in the less-watched daytime programming), they're sharing unproven positive health news. And they're recapturing partisan momentum by picking a fight about race and political correctness, emphasizing the Chinese origins of the virus, with no apparent concern for inciting bias against Asians.On Saturday night, Scott sent another memo to the company's rattled staff: The fourth case of coronavirus had been reported in Fox News' headquarters on Sixth Avenue in Manhattan."We are continuing to take every necessary precaution and to follow every protocol which includes deep cleaning all surfaces these employees were in contact with, in addition to the daily sanitizing and disinfecting that has been performed multiple times a day throughout all areas of the building."Employees on Sunday were exchanging panicked texts about whether they should go to work on Monday. But one person who surely wasn't exposed inside Sixth Avenue was Lachlan Murdoch. He hasn't been seen in the company's New York headquarters for weeks.This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
|
| ‘Taking Hostages’: Sasse Slams Pelosi for Adding ‘Liberal Wish List’ to Coronavirus Bill Posted: 24 Mar 2020 05:16 AM PDT  Senator Ben Sasse (R., Neb.) took aim at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) for hijacking Senate negotiations over a phase-three economic relief package with an "ideologically-driven wish list" of Democratic policies unrelated to coronavirus.Pelosi's 1,404 page bill, introduced Monday after the House Speaker returned to Washington D.C. on Sunday, includes numerous provisions that Sasse labeled "a ton of crap that has absolutely nothing to do with the public health emergency that we face at this moment.""Instead of taking that legislation — urgent, necessary legislation — and passing it quickly, Democrats have now decided to allow Speaker Pelosi to block it through proxies here in the Senate so that she can rewrite the bill with a ton of crap that has absolutely nothing to do with the public health emergency that we face at this moment," Sasse stated in a speech on the Senate floor Monday night.Republicans have accused Pelosi of ruining days of productive negotiations in the Senate over the trillion-dollar package that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) introduced last week, after Majority Whip James Clyburn (D., S.C.) told House Democrats last week that the bill was "a tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision."On Monday, McConnell stated that "Democrats won't let us fund hospitals or save small businesses unless they get to dust off the green New Deal," while Senator Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) called the tactics "disgraceful" and "dangerous to the lives of our people and their economic well-being."In making the case that Democrats are more concerned about unrelated legislative priorities than the health of the economy, Sasse pointed to Pelosi's "liberal wish list," which includes mandatory diversity reports on corporate boards, requiring same-day voter registration in all 50 states, a bailout of the U.S. Postal Service, establishing a $15-an-hour minimum wage, and new environmental regulations for airlines."We've got families that are suffering," Sasse said. "We've got small businesses that are closing literally by the hour. We have doctors fighting to prevent their hospitals from being overwhelmed. And what does Speaker Pelosi try to do? She's trying to take hostages about her dream legislation, all sorts of dream legislative provisions that have nothing to do with this moment and say the American public can't get access to the public health piece of legislation or the economic relief pieces of legislation unless she gets hostages that are entirely unrelated to this moment."Sasse slammed Pelosi for trying to smuggle pro-choice funding into the House's phase-two coronavirus stimulus package earlier this month. "We need to be ramping up our diagnostic testing, not waging culture wars at the behest of Planned Parenthood. Good grief," Sasse said at the time.
|
| Biden consults Obama on running mate as vetting process begins Posted: 23 Mar 2020 04:44 AM PDT  On Sunday Joe Biden said he's been discussing possible running mates with former President Barack Obama.
|
| Op-Ed: I'm an ER doctor ready and able to save your life. Want to keep me safe from coronavirus? Stay home Posted: 23 Mar 2020 03:00 AM PDT  If more healthcare workers become infected with the coronavirus, we will get to a point where we won't have enough people to care for patients.
|
| Airbnb hosts are furious that the company is sticking them with the cost of letting guests cancel due to the coronavirus crisis Posted: 23 Mar 2020 05:04 PM PDT  Airbnb overrode hosts' cancellation policies in response to the coronavirus. But hosts are having to pay the cost of refunds.
|
| Mexican president vows to bail out the poor, not big companies, in coronavirus response Posted: 23 Mar 2020 08:41 PM PDT  Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Monday he would focus his response to the coronavirus outbreak on helping the poor rather than major companies as the virus spreads in Mexico, and that he would unveil more details on Tuesday. Although the government has yet to take drastic measures to slow the contagion, such as issuing travel bans or requiring self-isolation, it has banned large events, suspended classes in primary schools and recommended people keep distance from others. Lopez Obrador later wrote on Twitter that he would speak at his daily news conference on Tuesday about plans to protect Mexico's most "vulnerable" population, adding that the country had sufficient public finances.
|
| US orders first shutdown of website over coronavirus fraud Posted: 22 Mar 2020 07:46 PM PDT  The US Department of Justice announced Sunday it had shut down a website claiming to sell a coronavirus vaccine, in its first act of federal enforcement against fraud in connection with the pandemic. Lawsuits had been filed against the site coronavirusmedicalkit.com, which claimed to sell vaccines for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, when in fact there is no such vaccine, the Justice Department said in a statement. The Justice Department did not specify how many people fell victim to the scam, but the investigation is ongoing to identify who is behind the fraud and how much money was stolen.
|
| US slashes aid to Afghanistan after Pompeo visit to Kabul Posted: 22 Mar 2020 11:51 PM PDT  The Trump administration is slashing $1 billion in assistance to Afghanistan and threatening further reductions in all forms of cooperation after the country's rival leaders failed to agree on forming a new government. The decision to cut the aid was made on Monday by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo after he made an unannounced, urgent visit to Kabul to meet with Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, the rival Afghan politicians who have each declared themselves president of the country after disputed elections last year. Pompeo had hoped to break the deadlock but was unable to.
|
| Russia Swore It Whipped the Virus, and Fox and CNN Bought It Posted: 24 Mar 2020 02:03 AM PDT  As the world reels from the novel coronavirus pandemic, Russia is doing its best to turn global turmoil into propaganda fodder. To date, a country of 146 million people straddling Europe and Asia and that has a great deal of commerce with those two great epicenters of the disease reports only 438 confirmed coronavirus cases and no deaths. One previously disclosed fatality has been dismissed by authorities as attributable to other causes. But according to official statistics from Russian state media, over 52,000 people remain under medical supervision "in connection with suspected coronavirus infection." Perhaps the real number of Russia's coronavirus patients lies somewhere in between. Garry Kasparov, a world-renowned former world chess champion and the chairman of the Renew Democracy Initiative, told The Daily Beast why the Kremlin's dubious claims shouldn't be taken at face value: "Of course Russia is lying about their coronavirus stats and I can say that confidently because they lie about everything," said Kasparov. "Dictatorships lie when they have to—and when they don't; it's about control. Control of information, shaping reality, and, most importantly, appearing all-powerful and all-knowing. If the regime can be surprised or overwhelmed by a virus, maybe it's not so powerful after all, a dangerous line of thought for a repressed population to have. Until there is truly independent testing—and the stories we're hearing out of Russia are not encouraging—we just don't know what's going on." Even so, Western media outlets have disregarded the Kremlin's less-than-sterling reputation for honesty and transparency, and lauded Russia's self-proclaimed success in controlling the deadly virus.In January, Fox News reported Russia's decision to close its border with China and in early February uncritically repeated the claim that "Russia has only two confirmed cases of the virus, but authorities have taken measures to prevent its spread by hospitalizing people returning from China as a precaution." In late February, Fox News stated that "Russia only has three confirmed cases of the COVID-19 disease caused by the virus," without questioning the probability of such fantastic statistics in light of a pandemic raging in neighboring China. Last Sunday, showcasing Russia's coronavirus aid to Italy, Fox News posted photographs released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, with the doors of Russian military trucks adorned with heart-shaped flags that read: "From Russia with love." Apparently accepting Russia's claims as ironclad facts, Fox News fawned: "Russia has so far reported very few confirmed coronavirus cases, noting just 306 infections and one death. As the U.S. and Europe struggle to contain the virus, nations once viewed as rivals are stepping up in the global coronavirus response." CNN wrote on Saturday that, "According to information released by Russian officials, [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's strategy seems to have worked. The number of confirmed Russian coronavirus cases is surprisingly low, despite Russia sharing a lengthy border with China and recording its first case back in January." Kasparov, a persistent critic of Putin, wonders why anyone would believe this stuff, much less report it. "Repeating Russia's numbers is ridiculous. Trust must be earned, and Putin lies about everything from his invasion of Ukraine to the more directly comparable epidemic of HIV in Russia that officially doesn't exist. Why should western governments and media treat Putin's dictatorship in good faith when it's not returned, and in fact is exploited?" Putin Worries Coronavirus Could Screw Up His Constitutional 'Coronation'Russia's alleged triumph over the coronavirus coincides with Putin's maneuvers to become the country's president for life, a role all but assured through pending constitutional changes. Amendments in question have already been approved by both houses of parliament and are now pending a nationwide vote on April 22, which will take place come rain or shine—coronavirus notwithstanding. The possibility of conducting the vote by mail is currently under consideration. In the meantime, the Kremlin-controlled Russian state media are reminding citizens that the country's very survival depends on Putin's leadership. Dmitry Kiselyov, the host of Russia's most popular Sunday news program, Vesti Nedeli, is leading the way. "Let's be honest," he insisted earlier this month: "Russia without Putin is non-viable." But there is ample evidence the regime's information war is being disregarded by Russians in the trenches trying to deal with the reality of the disease. On Monday, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin gave the authorities five days to develop a system that would track and notify people who have come in contact with any known carriers of coronavirus. The system would simultaneously notify special regional headquarters set up to fight the pandemic.Authorities have begun building a 500-person hospital to house coronavirus patients near Moscow and Russian doctors reportedly are alarmed that some cases are being ascribed to pneumonia and seasonal flu without testing. The same state media TV shows that would have you believe everything is under control are being filmed without audiences. Everyday Russians are stocking up on astronomical quantities of toilet paper and buckwheat, disregarding the government's assurances that coronavirus is being contained. Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of state media outlets RT and Sputnik, launched a Twitter initiative designed to prove that Russian grocery stores show no signs of panic buying. Simonyan's idea backfired, as multiple citizens responded with photographs of emptied store shelves.Lingering memories of Soviet-era cover-ups are exacerbated by more recent denials, such as Russia's covert warfare in Ukraine, its role in the downing of the Malaysian aircraft MH-17, clumsy denials of the Skripal poisonings and obfuscation of crucial details about a radioactive explosion involving a nuclear-powered missile in northern Russia last year. But the Kremlin's persistent aim to keep the coronavirus numbers down is paying off thus far, since Russia's international flights are unimpeded by worldwide bans. While U.S. President Donald J. Trump barred travelers from China, its largest neighbor continues to receive the benefit of the doubt."Just as China's information crackdown led directly to the massive outbreak now threatening the world," says Kasparov, "Putin's will also have an impact across the Russian border. The radioactive cloud from Chernobyl poisoned much of Europe. The flights still coming out of Russia—not on the banned list because of the low official numbers—could spread disease all over the globe." Painting a rosy picture of Russia's future, the Kremlin-controlled state media predicted doom and gloom for everybody but the motherland, especially the hated United States.Last week, experts on The Evening with Vladimir Soloviev were crowing about economic troubles for the West. Russian economist Mikhail Khazin opined that Russia is the only region that can grow and prosper economically during the challenging times of the coronavirus pandemic. Other experts on the show suggested that America is withering as a superpower, while a new age is dawning for Russia and China. They concurred that "Soviet-like regimes are winning" and the new world will be more authoritarian. Host Vladimir Soloviev concluded: "Enough talk about individual freedoms." With angry animus, Soloviev argued that history would disprove the premise of Francis Fukuyama's book, The End of History and the Last Man and would lead to the uprooting of liberal democracies.As he has in the past, Soloviev referred to President Trump as "Donald Ivanovych" and marveled at the statements and actions of the American leader who is himself in the risk group for contracting coronavirus. The Russian Models Instagramming From China's Coronavirus CapitalStill, Russian state TV pundits kept their usually sharp ridicule to the minimum. Their exchanges revealed the hope that Western sanctions imposed after the annexation of Crimea and other Putin abuses of international law would soon be lifted, with the coronavirus pandemic overshadowing all prior concerns. Dmitry Kiselyov argued during this Sunday's episode of Vesti Nedeli that multiple Western governments will be undergoing deep changes and the sanctions against Russia will soon become obsolete. As for the short-term propaganda goals, the Kremlin still anticipates the arrival later this spring of U.S. National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien for Moscow's big 75th anniversary celebration of victory over the Nazis. President Donald J. Trump reportedly "wanted to go but faced pressure from advisers not to embark on such a journey." The parade is scheduled for May 9—the very month the coronavirus epidemic is expected to have reached a peak in Russia.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.
|
| 'He understands': Trump sidesteps whether Fauci agrees on new timetable to end quarantine in three weeks Posted: 23 Mar 2020 12:54 PM PDT Donald Trump says the top health official leading the administration's coronavirus response "understands" the president's demands to end the effective US shutdown.Asked if Dr Anthony Fauci agrees with him, the president said: "He doesn't not agree with me."
|
| Dem Rep. Told Colleagues Coronavirus Bill Is ‘Tremendous Opportunity to Restructure Things to Fit Our Vision’ Posted: 23 Mar 2020 07:52 AM PDT  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) worked to scupper the phase-three coronavirus relief package on Sunday after Majority Whip James Clyburn (D., S.C.) told caucus members last week that the bill was "a tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision."Clyburn's comments came on a Thursday call featuring more than 200 House Democrats, during which caucus members laid out a list of provisions they wanted to be included in the Senate's trillion-dollar package.Republicans have said that Democrats have reportedly demanded increased bargaining powers for unions, as well as environmental regulations for airlines and more wind and solar tax credits.> A bit of a clap back from republicans. pic.twitter.com/8iiwtHs4HC> > -- Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) March 23, 2020Pelosi flew into Washington, D.C. over the weekend to add demands to negotiations, a move that Senate Republicans have cited as the reason why the procedural vote to fast-track the legislation fell by a party-line vote on Sunday night.Speaking after the vote, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) slammed Democrats for playing politics in a time of crisis."All of a sudden, the Democratic leader and the speaker of the House shows up and we're back to square one," McConnell said, saying the shift amounted to "obstruction.""We're fiddling here, fiddling with the emotions of the American people, fiddling with the markets, fiddling with our health care. The American people expect us to act tomorrow," McConnell said. "And I want everybody to fully understand if we aren't able to act, it'll be because of our colleagues on the other side continuing to dicker when the country expects us to come together and address this problem."
|
| With China gunning for aircraft carriers, US Navy says it must change how it fights Posted: 24 Mar 2020 07:01 AM PDT  The U.S. Navy can't afford to throw up its hands when it come to the vulnerability of aircraft carriers, its new top officer says.
|
| New York state plans to treat severe coronavirus patients with a 100-year-old blood therapy, which uses the plasma of recovered patients Posted: 24 Mar 2020 03:50 AM PDT  The state will treat critically ill patients with convalescent plasma to lessen their symptoms. The therapy dates back to the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic.
|
| Cambodia uses coronavirus crisis to arrest 17 critics - rights group Posted: 23 Mar 2020 10:36 PM PDT |
| 'A mess in America': Why Asia now looks safer than the U.S. in the coronavirus crisis Posted: 23 Mar 2020 07:09 PM PDT  In a clear sign that the U.S. botched its coronavirus response, some Americans are relieved they stayed in countries closest to the outbreak's origin.
|
| U.S. shames squabbling Afghan leaders' obstinance as pandemic looms Posted: 24 Mar 2020 05:23 AM PDT  Rift between President Ashraf Ghani and former Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah — both linked to warlords — put a pall over the deal since its signing.
|
| ‘We're all in this together’: An American under lockdown in Spain, one of the world's coronavirus hot spots Posted: 23 Mar 2020 12:30 PM PDT  Native New Yorker Giselle Abinader thought she'd be spending weekends traveling around Europe while studying abroad in Barcelona for the year. But the coronavirus pandemic has upended her plans because she's now quarantined to her flat. In a video diary, she shares with Yahoo News her firsthand account of what it's like under lockdown in the country with the third most coronavirus fatalities.
|
| Trump’s Megachurch Allies Promise COVID-19 Snake Oil and ‘Miracles’ Posted: 23 Mar 2020 01:30 AM PDT  Several prominent pastors tied to Donald Trump have claimed to have the power to cure the coronavirus through prayer, hyping up religious miracle cures amid the pandemic. While many Americans have turned to prayer as the coronavirus death toll mounts, these religious leaders have gone much further, promising that they can physically cure the disease. As the public scrambles for information on the illness, these religious leaders have claimed they can solve it themselves—with one even claiming he'll cure the entire state of Florida.Texas minister Kenneth Copeland, who visited the White House in 2018 for a dinner for evangelical leaders, claims to have a novel delivery method for a coronavirus cure: television screens. Appearing on the Victory Channel, which his church operates, Copeland claimed on March 12 to heal coronavirus-infected viewers who touched their TVs."Put your hand on that television set," Copeland told his viewers. "Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord Jesus. He received your healing."A few days later, he said God had told him the pandemic would soon be over, as Christians praying all over the country had "overwhelmed it." While Christians would save the country, he said, it was the president's critics who "opened the door" to the pandemic with their "displays of hate" that had interfered with "divine protection."Copeland isn't the only Trump-supporting pastor promoting the idea that the coronavirus can be healed through religion. The coronavirus poses a conundrum for many evangelical pastors because healing is a key part of their appeal, according to Peter Montgomery, a senior fellow at Right Wing Watch. After decades of promoting themselves as healers, they now face a global pandemic."For those people and those leaders, being able to miraculously heal people is sort of central to their religious identity," Montgomery said. That group includes Pastor Frank Amedia, founder of Touch Heaven Ministries and the POTUS Shield Ministry, and a former "liaison for Christian policy" to President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign. On Feb. 17, Amedia told stories of "supernatural healings" in virus-wracked China—and repeated conspiracy theories about the virus' origin—during an appearance on the podcast of Stephen Strang, an evangelical publisher who has written multiple books in support of the president, including God and Donald Trump. "We have reports of Christians being healed of this virus by the power of God and the healing of God," Amedia said. Apostle Guillermo Maldonado has both visited the White House and hosted Trump at his massive El Rey Jesús church, where the president kicked off his "Evangelicals for Trump" campaign in January. In a recording posted to his YouTube channel on March 17, Maldonado declared that he had ordered the virus to "dissolve, disintegrate, die in Jesus' mighty name" and told those infected to "be healed in Jesus' mighty name.""I curse that virus from the root and from the seed, in Jesus' mighty name, right now," Maldonado said. "Disintegrate, dissolve like the dust, in Jesus' mighty name."Another Trump ally, Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne, vowed to cure the entire state of Florida of coronavirus. Howard-Browne, who was among the evangelical leaders who laid hands on the president in an Oval Office ceremony in 2017, claimed in February he would cure the state. More recently, he encouraged his congregation to shake hands at March 15 services, claiming "this has to be the safest place." He vowed in the same sermon that "this church will never close." Like Howard-Browne, other pastors resisted calls to shutter their churches. Maldonado initially refused calls to close his church, claiming that the idea of shutting down to avoid spreading the disease was a "demonic spirit." But on Wednesday, Maldonado relented and announced that his church would be closed for in-person events."On Sunday, he was literally mocking from the pulpit people who stayed home," Montgomery said. "I don't know how you walk that back."Why Evangelicals Are Born Again for Donald TrumpRead 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.
|
| A 36-year-old New York City principal is the first known public school staff member to die from the new coronavirus Posted: 24 Mar 2020 01:37 AM PDT  "She gave her entire self to that community, and it did not matter how incredibly complex a problem was," Courtney Winkfield told Chalkbeat.
|
| Purell maker made 'misleading' claims to customers about killing germs, new suit says Posted: 22 Mar 2020 12:20 PM PDT  The manufacturers of Purell hand sanitizer is facing a new class-action lawsuit accusing them of "false and misleading" claims.
|
| The UK has gone into full coronavirus lockdown with the public barred from leaving home for nonessential reasons Posted: 23 Mar 2020 01:33 PM PDT  The UK has gone into full coronavirus lockdown after a surge in cases across the country.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment