| Intelligence officials weigh possibility coronavirus escaped from a Chinese lab Posted: 14 Apr 2020 12:49 PM PDT  Though the the U.S. intelligence community has long since dismissed the notion that the coronavirus is a synthesized bioweapon, it is still weighing the possibility that the pandemic might have been touched off by an accident at a research facility rather than an infection from a live-animal market.
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| U.S. coronavirus deaths increase by record amount for second straight day: Reuters tally Posted: 15 Apr 2020 11:14 AM PDT  The United States recorded its first coronavirus fatality on Feb. 29. U.S. confirmed cases topped 635,000 in the United States and 2 million globally. Governors of about 20 states with few coronavirus cases believe they may be ready to start the process of reopening their economies by President Donald Trump's May 1 target date, a top U.S. health official said on Wednesday.
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| 'Commander' of New Mexico group that detained migrants near border is sentenced Posted: 15 Apr 2020 07:52 PM PDT  Larry Mitchell Hopkins, 70, was arrested in 2019. He was a "commander" of a group accused of detaining migrants at the New Mexico-Mexico border.
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| GOP Senator: ‘We Gotta Reopen’ Country and Virus ‘Is Gonna Spread Faster’ When We Do Posted: 15 Apr 2020 07:09 PM PDT  Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) authoritatively declared on Wednesday night that the American people understand that the economy needs to be reopened very soon and that when that happens, the deadly coronavirus is "gonna spread faster."Appearing on Fox News' Tucker Carlson Tonight, Kennedy—whose home state has been one of the hardest hit during the COVID-19 pandemic—insisted that social-distancing restrictions need to be quickly reversed because "very soon, the can is going to run out of road."After asserting that the world economy would soon collapse if the United States isn't opened up in the near future, the Louisiana lawmaker went on to claim that nationwide shutdowns "did not stop the spread of virus.""I wish it had," he added. "But it's too late for that. The shutdown slowed the spread of the virus at enormous cost, but it still spread."Because, according to Kennedy, social-distancing guidelines and widespread closures didn't slow the expansion of the virus enough, it will spread much faster when those measures are pulled back, he said."That's just a fact," he asserted. "And the American people understand that."The conservative senator went on to say that "somebody's got to make the call" on how the country goes about reopening, noting that it can't be "in the middle of a hot spot" and that potentially high-risk people should be encouraged to quarantine."But, you know, this is like choosing between cancer and a heart attack," he continued.Kennedy also took issue with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, who had preceded him on Carlson's program and recommended that the economy stay closed until July to help stem the spread of the virus. "Do you really believe the American people are going to stand for that?" Kennedy exclaimed. "They are not. They are not. They're going to go back to work."The senator, meanwhile, said he didn't want to hear any "sophomoric accusations" that he is "morally tainted" if he doesn't "want to see the economy crash," adding that while he values life, this is "a question of making a hard decision with cold, hard facts.""The American people get it," he concluded. "We've got to reopen, and when we do, the coronavirus is gonna spread faster, and we've got to be ready."Host Tucker Carlson, who has been one of the loudest Fox News voices calling on President Donald Trump to end the shutdowns, applauded Kennedy for his stance."Yep. You know what kills more people every year than coronavirus? A lot more. Poverty," he reacted. "Poverty kills people in massive numbers, we should remember that. Senator, thank you for those wise words."According to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, 28,364 Americans have died from coronavirus and 637,359 have been infected. In Kennedy's home state, there have been nearly 22,000 confirmed cases and more than 1,100 deaths.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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| What should Democrats do about the sexual assault allegation against Joe Biden? Posted: 15 Apr 2020 02:55 AM PDT  After the brief but intense drama of the early primaries, things have settled down quite quickly in the contest for the Democratic nomination for president. With former Vice President Joe Biden already the presumptive nominee, it should be a moment of well-earned healing and consolidation for the party. Yet instead it's one marked by anxiety about a sexual assault allegation that threatens to weaken Biden's general election prospects even before the campaign gets started.Biden's bid for the presidency wouldn't have been threatened by the kind of allegations originally brought forth by Tara Reade, a former staff assistant to Biden's Senate office in the early 1990s. Interviewed by The Associated Press last April about Biden's handsiness problem with numerous women down through the decades, she indicated only that Biden had rubbed her shoulders, neck, and hair. That's inappropriate and more than a little creepy by today's standards of professionalism but hardly unusual for a male politician of Biden's age.But then, during an interview on a podcast last month, Reade alleged far more: that back in 1993, Biden shoved her against a wall and penetrated her with his fingers. That's sexual assault. An allegation of that seriousness would have rocked a presidential campaign at any point in the past. But it's especially awkward and highly charged now — several years into the MeToo movement that has inspired countless women to speak up forthrightly against sexual abuse in the workplace. At least one predator has been sent to jail, while the careers and reputations of hundreds of men — from powerful politicians to prominent figures in media, entertainment, journalism, finance, sports, and other fields — have been adversely effected by MeToo allegations.Will Democrats now apply the same exacting and often unforgiving standards to the man who's locked down the party's presidential nomination?The problem is real. But it's not quite as bad as some appear to think.That certainly includes Republicans. They insist Democrats accepted the activist slogan and hashtag BelieveWomen and used it as a bludgeon against Brett Kavanaugh during his Supreme Court confirmation hearings when psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford accused him of a drunken sexual assault at a high school party three decades in the past. Republicans claim that for Democrats to be consistent, they need to apply precisely the same standard to Reade and Biden: They must believe her without question, drag Biden through the mud, and presumably keep him off the Democratic ticket for his alleged behavior 27 years ago. Anything less would be a blatant double standard.It's pretty rich for Republicans to accuse Democrats of hypocrisy for failing to live up to standards that Republicans themselves show no sign of caring about when it comes to their own party and president. The term bad faith is far too mild to capture the chutzpah of people who carry water for the Trump White House 24/7 feigning outrage at others struggling to live up to moral principles and apply consistent standards. Yet the charge would nonetheless sting if it were true that leading Democrats cared less about accusations against a leading member of their own party than against a Republican Supreme Court nominee.Thankfully, the core of the problem isn't the application of the principle but the principle itself: BelieveWomen should never have been the standard for adjudicating such issues in the first place, in either a court of law or the court of public opinion.Yes, women accusing men of bad behavior have too often and easily been ignored or dismissed. That was wrong, and the proper response is to take allegations more seriously, applying less doubt and suspicion to them, along with less deference to the accused. But that's very different than denying the possibility of doubt altogether. To the extent that some activists, writers, and officeholders favored doing this at the time of Kavanaugh's confirmation battle, they were wrong and should admit it. Female accusers need to be heard, but to treat them as infallible and incapable of lying about or misremembering details decades in the past is to do the opposite. It is to pretend that women are inhumanly perfect and incorruptible.As I wrote at the time of the Kavanaugh hearings, we knew nothing for certain about what, if anything, happened between the nominee and Blasey Ford when they were in high school. I found the latter to be a credible witness. When paired with Kavanaugh's bizarre, unhinged, wildly defensive, and dishonest response to her testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, I concluded that, on balance, the best option was for his nomination to be withdrawn and for the president to nominate an alternative conservative jurist to the high court in his place. But I never for a moment supposed that I knew for certain that Kavanaugh had done what Blasey Ford accused him of doing.Based on what we know at the moment, Reade's accusation against Biden is flimsier than Blasey Ford's. Democrats would be foolish to BelieveReade over the Biden campaign's blanket denial when her account of events from nearly three decades ago has changed so dramatically in just the past few weeks. As Michelle Goldberg recently pointed out in The New York Times, Reade also has a history of saying … peculiar things about Russia and Vladimir Putin that raise questions about her judgment. That doesn't mean that the events she now describes didn't happen. But in deciding whether to accept her account, we must make our own judgment about her credibility and trustworthiness — and as Cathy Young at Arc Digital has shown with care and skill, there is a lot of reason for doubt, and so ample reason for Democrats to treat her claims with skepticism.If another accuser emerges with more credible claims, or Reade presents additional compelling evidence of her own accusation, that could certainly change my view, just as it likely would that of many rank-and-file Democrats. In that case, Biden would be in serious trouble. (If it's going to happen, let's hope it does before he becomes the official nominee at the party's convention, which is now slated for August.)But short of such developments, the matter should be considered closed — and without too much agonizing about double standards. The standards that some Democrats have latched onto over the past three years have overcompensated for past errors. There's nothing shameful in recognizing a mistake and making a course correction. Now would be an excellent time to do precisely that.Want more essential commentary and analysis like this delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for The Week's "Today's best articles" newsletter here.More stories from theweek.com Michigan governor says protesters against stay-at-home order 'might have just created a need to lengthen it' Late night hosts deconstruct Trump's coronavirus 'buck-passing,' doubt its efficacy Why can't you go fishing during the pandemic?
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| Checking blood for coronavirus antibodies – 3 questions answered about serological tests and immunity Posted: 16 Apr 2020 05:20 AM PDT  Coronavirus testing in the United States is moving into a new phase as scientists begin looking into people's blood for signs they've been infected by SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. This technique is called serological testing.Virologist Daniel Stadlbauer helped develop a serological test to detect SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and helped transfer it from the research lab to the clinical setting. Epidemiologist Aubree Gordon regularly uses serological assays in her research studies on influenza and dengue fever. She's now established serological testing for SARS-CoV-2 in her research lab.Here, the collaborators explain how the technology works. What do these tests look for?Serological tests for SARS-CoV-2 are blood tests. They look at serum or plasma – basically blood that has been processed to remove the cells – for evidence that at some point you've been infected with the coronavirus.These tests look for antibodies that your body's immune system generated to fight the infection. So, the tests detect the response to the virus, not the virus itself. They cannot be used early in infection, before a patient's body has mounted an antibody response. A serological test may focus on different types of antibodies. It can measure what are called neutralizing antibodies, which protect against the virus in question. Or it may measure what are called binding antibodies, a type that recognizes SARS-CoV-2 but does not necessarily protect against it.Several types of serological tests for SARS-CoV-2 exist. Clinical laboratories and research laboratories typically use what's called an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) that consists of plastic plates that are coated with lab-made proteins that match those on the surface of the virus. For the test to be specific, it uses the spike protein from the surface of SARS-CoV-2 that gives the coronavirus its crown-like appearance.This spike protein is immunogenic, meaning it's one of the main targets of the body's immune response; an infected person would make antibodies against the spike protein. The test measures if and how many serum antibodies in the sample bind to the viral proteins on the plates. Another type of serological test uses what's called a lateral flow assay. A variety of medical tests, including at-home pregnancy tests, use this technique. It relies on liquid flowing over a pad treated with chemicals that will interact with the molecule you are testing for. Usually the test will indicate the presence or absence of antibodies through easy-to-read lines. They have the benefit of being relatively simple and rapid, but are generally less sensitive and do not give a measure of the amount of antibody present. The FDA has so far approved one test of this type, from the company Cellex. Why is it helpful to know who has antibodies against the virus?From a public health perspective, knowing who has already been exposed to SARS-CoV-2 paints a clearer picture of how widespread the virus is in the local population. Some people are asymptomatic or only came down with mild symptoms, so they might not be counted in other COVID-19 statistics. Epidemiologists can use the serology results to determine how common those cases are. Serological studies can also help figure out a death rate for COVID-19, by clarifying how many people in total have been sick.Serosurveys are currently generating this kind of data. They use the serological techniques to test a large number of serum samples from people without a confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, coming up with statistics about the group as a whole.Knowing a true rate of infection allows public health workers to better predict the likely future course of the pandemic in individual locations and figure out what interventions are needed to control an outbreak. That's because researchers think, although no one's entirely sure yet, that once you have antibodies to the virus it will confer immunity, meaning you'll be protected for some period of time.Serological testing could also be used to make strategic staffing decisions about essential workers, including medical personnel – for instance, assigning to the front lines those who are have antibodies and are thus presumably immune. These people would be able to go back to work without the risk of getting sick or infecting others.Identifying individuals who were already infected and who are now potentially immune could play an important part in when and how social distancing restrictions are lifted. Broad SARS-CoV-2 antibody testing could help control the pandemic until a potent vaccine is available – the real coronavirus "end game." Where are these tests being performed so far?Serological testing is already being used to identify people who can serve as plasma donors. In a process called plasmapheresis, doctors transfer plasma that contains antibodies to a disease into an ill person. Plasmapheresis has been used for decades to treat a variety of diseases.In this case, plasma from someone who has recovered from COVID-19 – or was infected with the disease but didn't develop symptoms and has a high level of antibodies – is transferred into a sick patient, typically someone critically ill. At Mount Sinai hospital in New York City, medical workers have started transferring plasma into patients with the hope of neutralizing the virus and alleviating the disease. In other locations, hospitals have started or are preparing to begin this process as well.Serological testing is also being used to diagnose individual patients who are suspected SARS-CoV-2 cases, but have not tested positive for the virus using the molecular test that looks for the virus's genetic material.Multiple serosurveys are underway, or soon will be, in medical systems and in the general population. For instance, Beaumont Hospital System in Michigan has begun a large serosurvey in their medical staff. The Krammer and Simon research labs at Mount Sinai have started a serosurvey with samples from New York City.Commercial companies have also developed serological tests, including many rapid tests, that are making their way into the marketplace. Ultimately these may be very useful for letting individuals know their infection status. But the currently available commercial tests haven't been validated by the FDA or a similar authority to say they work well.There is such high, unmet demand that for the most part, clinical laboratories are choosing to put together their own serological tests, using publicly available instructions, something which is common in research laboratories, but not done as often in U.S. clinical laboratories. Though it takes more time and effort than purchasing ready-to-go tests, which are hard to come by anyway, it provides the clinical labs access to serological tests that have been proven to work well.[You need to understand the coronavirus pandemic, and we can help. Read The Conversation's newsletter.]This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.Read more: * Antibodies in the blood of COVID-19 survivors know how to beat coronavirus – and researchers are already testing new treatments that harness them * Want to know how many people have the coronavirus? Test randomlyThe authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
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| House Conservatives Who Attacked Dr. Fauci Should Know Better Posted: 15 Apr 2020 03:30 AM PDT  Congressmen Andy Biggs (R., Ariz.) and Ken Buck (R., Colo.) are so callous, they think -- I'm quoting them here -- "just 20,000 fatalities" from the coronavirus is no big deal.Now, it is atrocious of me to say such a thing. After all, it's not true. And I know it's not true. Yet, to intimate that it is true, I have plucked their words, written in a recent Washington Examiner op-ed, and quoted them completely out of context.Now, rest assured, I have done this only to make a point. In reality, I am quite confident that these two gentlemen believe every COVID-19 death is one death too many. I'm sure they are horrified by the thought of 20,000 fatalities in one place, over a short period of time. But if I were doing this for real, if I were distorting their statements for political reasons, with a motive to make you believe they just don't care, I'd be the worst kind of demagogue.Here's the problem: In their op-ed, Representatives Biggs and Buck did it for real . . . to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top infectious-disease adviser on President Trump's coronavirus task force.The point of the Biggs/Buck op-ed was to portray Dr. Fauci as if he were a callous, bean-counting bureaucrat, devoid of human compassion for COVID-19 victims.Let me quote them at length, so you don't think I'm misrepresenting them:> Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, recently said, "It's inconvenient from a societal standpoint, from an economic standpoint to go through this." It is interesting sometimes that a brief comment can reveal the heart and mind — and in this instance, a special degree of tone deafness.Of course, the word on which the lawmakers seize is "inconvenient."As we've all heard over the past month, Dr. Fauci has worked long hours through seven-day weeks trying to save American lives. He also has made countless statements in scores of interviews and White House Task Force press conferences. Consistently, he has been a model of empathy. Again and again, he has agonized over the excruciating choice that government officials have no choice but to make: The choice between the well-being of (a) those sick from, dying of, and vulnerable to a potentially lethal infectious disease, and (b) those whose financial, emotional, and physical well-being are being shattered by the shutdown. It has worn on him, like it would wear on any of us. Like it would wear on Andy Biggs and Ken Buck.Yet, in their op-ed, these congressmen risibly mined from Fauci's voluminous body of written and oral presentations a single invocation of the word "inconvenient" to describe the effects of social-distancing and business restrictions. It shows, they say, that the 79-year-old doctor, who has dedicated his life to healing, is insensitive to human suffering. "For Fauci," they harrumph, "is it merely a societal or economic inconvenience that about 17 million workers are unemployed because of the government's response to the coronavirus pandemic?"In the moment, was Fauci's use of "inconvenient" an understatement? Okay, sure, but c'mon. He clearly said it to conform to White House messaging: The restrictions are necessary even though there are significant costs; but the administration believes those costs will be temporary and does not want to alarm the country by suggesting that they are ruinous.Biggs and Buck need to man up.Fauci's job is public health, with a focus on infectious disease. It is to be expected that he is predisposed to emphasize the risks of a pandemic, from which over 20,000 Americans have died. If the congressmen believe that this is the wrong emphasis, and that the president is getting too much input from the doctors and not enough from economists, then their problem is with the president, not the doctors.Biggs and Buck posit, "The economic calamity lies largely with the origination of policies resulting from Fauci's recommendations." Really? Who, after hearing from the experts, adopted the policies? Is it now known as the Fauci administration?In their craven essay, the congressmen note recently revised models that forecast "just 20,000 fatalities in the [United Kingdom]." Of course, they are not really suggesting that "just 20,000 deaths" are trivial. "Just" was an unfortunate choice of words. Their point, plainly, was that 20,000 fatalities, while tragic, paled in comparison to the 510,000 deaths projected by an earlier model.In context, they were showing how much they care about lost lives. Wouldn't it be shameful to take them out of context and suggest otherwise? Wouldn't it be disgraceful to imply that, because they phrased something poorly in the heat of the moment, there is something lacking in their character? Especially when we know the opposite is the case?Wouldn't you agree, congressmen?
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| Immigrants living illegally in California to receive cash amid coronavirus Posted: 16 Apr 2020 04:23 AM PDT  California is giving cash payments to immigrants living in the country illegally who are being affected by the coronavirus.
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| Pelosi: Trump coronavirus missteps 'caused unnecessary death and economic disaster' Posted: 14 Apr 2020 04:56 PM PDT  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi released a letter in which she charged President Trump with missteps in handling the coronavirus pandemic that "caused unnecessary death and economic disaster" in the U.S.
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| Lagos unrest: The mystery of Nigeria's fake gangster attacks Posted: 15 Apr 2020 05:50 AM PDT  Residents of two Nigerian states, where there is a lockdown, panicked after fake reports of mass attacks.
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| Trump administration aims to buy milk, meat to help farmers hit by coronavirus: Perdue Posted: 15 Apr 2020 09:19 AM PDT  The decision comes amid rising pressure from the U.S. farm lobby for government purchases as growers and ranchers struggle to get their goods to market because of disruptions caused by the pandemic, forcing some of them to throw out their supplies. "We want to purchase as much of this milk, or other protein products, hams and pork products, and move them into where they can be utilized in our food banks, or possibly even into international humanitarian aid," Perdue said in an interview on Fox News. Reuters reported on Monday that Department of Agriculture will spend up to $15.5 billion in the initial phase of its plan to bolster the nation's food supply chain against the impacts of the outbreak, the first big push to ensure the pandemic doesn't trigger consumer food shortages.
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| GOP Sen. Josh Hawley introduces legislation targeting China for withholding coronavirus info Posted: 14 Apr 2020 11:03 AM PDT  Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) announced new legislation Tuesday targeting the Chinese Communist Party for its role in the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.> Today I'm announcing legislation to hold China accountable. My bill would strip China of its immunity in US courts and create a private right of action against the Chinese Communist Party for silencing whistleblowers & withholding critical information about COVID19> > -- Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) April 14, 2020From Hawley's perspective, Beijing needs to pay up -- figuratively and literally -- for not alerting the rest of the world in a truthful and timely manner about the virus during the early stages of its spread after it originated in the city of Wuhan. The bill, which is called the Justice for Victims of COVID-19 Act, would strip the Chinese government of sovereign immunity so Americans can sue "for any reckless actions it took that caused the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States."It would also establish a task force dedicated to investigating how Beijing's "decisions to distort and conceal" information about COVID-19 led to the pandemic, as well as securing compensation from the CCP.Unsurprisingly Hawley and some of his colleagues, like Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), have received pushback from Beijing over their criticism of the party, but some analysts in the U.S. have also expressed concern that their efforts to shift the blame to China are obscuring Washington's own failures. > It's easy to dismiss this as crazy, but the easiest way for the GOP to shift responsibility for their poor coronavirus choice is to whip up nationalism and blame China. > > This should scare you. https://t.co/p46dNRyhoG> > -- Emma Ashford (@EmmaMAshford) April 12, 2020More stories from theweek.com Why can't you go fishing during the pandemic? Trump reportedly scrapped idea for his own daily radio show to avoid competition with Rush Limbaugh The new mysteries of coronavirus
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| Study: Nearly all pregnant women who had coronavirus were asymptomatic Posted: 16 Apr 2020 05:36 AM PDT  Of the 33 pregnant women who tested positive for coronavirus in a new study, 29 were asymptomatic.
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| Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega reappears after absence Posted: 15 Apr 2020 05:50 PM PDT  Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega re-appeared Wednesday after 34 days in which he was not seen in public. Ortega made a televised address to the nation in which he said Nicaragua had suffered only one death from the coronavirus pandemic and that the country's three confirmed cases were "imported." Ortega has refused to adopt the social-distancing and lock-down measures used in other countries, and has in fact encouraged Nicaraguans to participate in mass gatherings.
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| AOC Calls Out Hypocritical Response to Biden Sexual Assault Allegation: ‘Believe Women…Until It Inconveniences Us’ Posted: 15 Apr 2020 10:07 AM PDT  Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) criticized the lack of mainstream discussion surrounding the recent sexual assault allegation against Joe Biden made by former Senate staffer Tara Reade, calling the situation a "silencing of all dissent" that amounted to "a form of gaslighting.""I think it's legitimate to talk about these things. And if we want, if we again want to have integrity, you can't say both believe women, support all of this, until it inconveniences you, until it inconveniences us," Ocasio-Cortez said in response to a question during an online conversation Tuesday night with The Wing, a networking and community space for women.She added that the dismissing of allegations was the "exact opposite of integrity," after the Biden campaign categorically denied the allegation and caused the New York Times to retroactively edit its coverage of the allegation after complaining "that the phrasing was awkward." The Times's coverage came nearly three weeks after the story was first reported, while CNN has yet to detail the allegations."It almost felt like we started this cycle where we had kind of moved on from, you know, from all of this. And now it feels like we're kind of back in it," Ocasio-Cortez said. "And, you know, the most diverse field that we've ever seen — that we're kind of back kind of replaying old movies in a way."Ocasio-Cortez revealed on Wednesday that the Biden campaign had reached out to her after she told the Times in an interview that she had never spoken with the former vice president, but would not say if she would endorse Biden's campaign.> .@AOC speaking on Playbook event says that since NYT article Monday, her and Biden's teams have been in touch. She says "we'll see" on if she's going to endorse him or be a surrogate. But she said it is important to support Biden in November.> > -- Eliza Collins (@elizacollins1) April 15, 2020The freshman congresswoman, who is up for reelection in November, has clashed with Biden in the past. She said the former vice president would not be a "pragmatic" choice as the Democratic 2020 presidential nominee in June before endorsing Senator Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.). After Biden implied in December that Ocasio-Cortez did not represent the mainstream position of the Democratic Party, the New York progressive fired back by saying the party was. "too big of a tent.""In any other country, Joe Biden and I would not be in the same party, but in America, we are," Ocasio-Cortez told New York Magazine.
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| Israel's Netanyahu, Gantz miss midnight deadline to form unity govt Posted: 15 Apr 2020 05:02 PM PDT  Israel's parliament speaker Benny Gantz and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu missed a deadline to form a unity government on Thursday, prolonging the country's unprecedented political crisis. The right-wing premier Netanyahu and centrist Gantz, Israel's former army chief, have gone head-to-head in three stalemated elections over the past year. With the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in more than 12,500 confirmed infections in Israel, there were widespread calls for an interim emergency alliance.
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| Vietnam to extend coronavirus lockdown in 12 provinces for seven days Posted: 15 Apr 2020 05:00 AM PDT  Vietnam will extend its coronavirus lockdown in 12 provinces, including Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, for seven days, although restrictions will be lifted in some areas outside of the Southeast Asian country's main cities, the government said on Wednesday. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc made the decision to extend the lockdown until April 22 at a meeting on Wednesday, the government said, adding that those 12 provinces were highly prone to the new coronavirus, which has infected 267 people in the country, but no deaths. "This is a difficult decision as there are opinions to support the extension of the social distancing measures, but there are also opinions calling for the lifting of the measures to revive economic activities," Phuc said in the statement.
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| India coronavirus: Tablighi Jamaat leader on manslaughter charge over Covid-19 Posted: 16 Apr 2020 07:50 AM PDT  The head of Tablighi Jamaat faces arrest after a gathering spawned Covid-19 clusters across India.
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| Indiana congressman picks saving economy over preventing infections Posted: 14 Apr 2020 08:56 PM PDT  Favoring the economy over Americans' health "is the lesser of two evils," Rep. Trey Hollingsworth said.
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| American Shipments of Coronavirus Supplies Stranded in China Under Export Restrictions Posted: 16 Apr 2020 08:55 AM PDT  American companies have seen their shipments of coronavirus medical equipment, such as face masks and test kits, stranded in China after the country implemented new export restrictions this month.The shipments of personal protective equipment and other medical equipment currently remain in warehouses in China, unable to obtain the new clearances required to be shipped out of the country.About 1.4 million coronavirus test kits made by Massachusetts-based PerkinElmer are not able to leave the company's Suzhou factory under the new restrictions, according to a State Department document obtained by the Wall Street Journal.The document also noted that Minnesota-based 3M was told by a Shanghai vice mayor that Shanghai "relies on 3M's locally produced N-95 respirators for its Covid-19 prevention efforts and lacks viable alternatives." Lifting the restrictions would require permission from the upper echelons of the Chinese government, the mayor indicated, according to the State Department.General Electric was able to extract its shipment of parts needed to make ventilators after days of negotiations. Other companies, however, have not been able to do the same. Healthcare logistics company Owens & Minor, hospital operator Emory Healthcare, and biotech company Cellex have been unable to ship their medical equipment, which includes N95 face masks, isolation gowns, and coronavirus antibody tests.China's rules governing exports "disrupted established supply chains for medical products just as these products were most needed for the global response to Covid-19," one of the State Department documents said. Beijing has said the rules were meant to ensure quality control of medical products and to prevent necessary items from leaving China"Countries across the world are all hunting for medical supplies, causing a big challenge for China's efforts of quality control and regulation of export," the Chinese Embassy in Washington said.U.S. ambassador to China Terry Branstad said Wednesday that he does not believe China is intentionally blocking exports to the U.S. of medical supplies required to fight the pandemic."Yes, they want to enforce their laws and regulations," the ambassador said. "We're trying to say let's use some common sense in doing this, and if it's Food and Drug Administration approved and companies like 3M have already been shipping these things to the United States, it doesn't make sense to hold them up when we feel confident that it meets the quality requirements that we have."U.S. officials have criticized U.S. dependence on Chinese supply chains for medical products as the coronavirus outbreak has caused shortages of desperately needed medical equipment in hospitals across the country."Unfortunately, like others, we are learning in this crisis that over-dependence on other countries as a source of cheap medical products and supplies has created a strategic vulnerability to our economy," U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said early this month.
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| Ivanka Trump broke her own stay-at-home advice and traveled 200 miles from DC to a Trump resort in New Jersey to celebrate Passover Posted: 16 Apr 2020 03:27 AM PDT  Ivanka Trump traveled to the Trump golf resort in Bedminster while other Americans were canceling their Passover celebrations.
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| Rockets rain on Libyan capital after Haftar loses key towns Posted: 14 Apr 2020 12:31 PM PDT  The forces of Libyan military strongman Khalifa Haftar rained rockets on Tripoli on Tuesday after being ousted by unity government loyalists from a string of strategic towns west of the capital. The capture Monday of the coastal towns of Sorman and Sabratha and smaller settlements further south was seen as a major blow to Haftar, who in April last year launched an offensive to seize Tripoli. The oil-rich but poverty-stricken North African country has suffered almost a decade of conflict since longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi was toppled and killed in a 2011 uprising backed by several Western powers.
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| Coronavirus clue? Most cases aboard U.S. aircraft carrier are symptom-free Posted: 16 Apr 2020 08:24 AM PDT  Sweeping testing of the entire crew of the coronavirus-stricken U.S. aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt may have revealed a clue about the pandemic: The majority of the positive cases so far are among sailors who are asymptomatic, officials say. The possibility that the coronavirus spreads in a mostly stealthy mode among a population of largely young, healthy people showing no symptoms could have major implications for U.S. policy-makers, who are considering how and when to reopen the economy. It also renews questions about the extent to which U.S. testing of just the people suspected of being infected is actually capturing the spread of the virus in the United States and around the world.
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| Agriculture secretary: Trump administration aims to buy milk, meat to help farmers hit by coronavirus Posted: 15 Apr 2020 01:27 PM PDT  The Trump administration plans to buy milk and meat from U.S. farmers as part of an initial $15.5 billion effort to help them weather the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said on Wednesday.
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| Coronavirus: How India's Kerala state 'flattened the curve' Posted: 15 Apr 2020 07:24 PM PDT  India's first case was reported from Kerala, but since then the state has been been a striking outlier in containing the infection.
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| Coronavirus map of the US: latest cases state by state Posted: 16 Apr 2020 04:28 AM PDT  • Coronavirus: world map of deaths and cases • See all our coronavirus coverage • Coronavirus – latest global updatesThe number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 continues to grow in the US. Mike Pence, the vice-president, is overseeing the US response to the coronavirus.So far, 80% of patients experience a mild form of the illness, which can include a fever and pneumonia, and many of these cases require little to no medical intervention. That being said, elderly people and those with underlying conditions such as diabetes or heart and lung issues are the most vulnerable. The coronavirus death rate in China for people 80 or over in the government's study of more than 72,000 cases, was 14.8%.default default default • Due to the unprecedented and ongoing nature of the coronavirus outbreak, this article is being regularly updated to ensure that it reflects the current situation at the date of publication. Any significant corrections made to this or previous versions of the article will continue to be footnoted in line with Guardian editorial policy
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| Orban Allies’ Shares Are Winners of Hungary Power Grab Posted: 14 Apr 2020 08:00 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's decision to start ruling by decree indefinitely triggered European Union criticism and a currency sell-off in response to what was seen as a thinly-veiled power grab during the pandemic.But the prospect of Orban calling all the shots has done wonders for stocks owned by the premier's family and friends.Shares of Opus Global Nyrt., a conglomerate controlled by Orban's boyhood friend and closest business ally Lorinc Meszaros, surged 57% since parliament approved Orban's power play on March 30, versus a 5.7% gain in the benchmark BUX index. Real-estate group Appeninn Nyrt., co-owned by Meszaros and Orban's son-in-law, was runner-up with a 25% gain, followed by 4iG Nyrt., a technology group in which Meszaros also has a stake. All three rely heavily on state contracts.The day after assuming emergency powers, Orban's government filed a bill to classify for 10 years contracts relating to a $2 billion, Chinese-funded Budapest-Belgrade rail construction. An Opus unit based in Orban's home town has a 50% stake in the consortium running the project.The rail link was green-lighted despite earlier criticism about the project's viability and its cost, especially during the coronavirus crisis. The government estimates a deep recession this year due to the pandemic. The rail project's cost is equivalent to half of the budget funds the cabinet earmarked for its economic stimulus plan.While the details of the stimulus package are still hazy, Opus shares surged 20% on back-to-back trading days after Orban said he'd channel government funds to the sectors worst-hit by the pandemic, including tourism and construction -- areas in which Opus is active."The Meszaros Group is continuously monitoring government measures aimed at moderating the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the national economy," according to an emailed statement. "Management will decide after a comprehensive assessment what kind of assistance the group will accept."Hungary's opposition has long accused Meszaros -- who went from village gas-fitter to Hungary's richest person in the span of the past five years thanks largely to an avalanche of government contracts -- of being a front for Orban's personal business, an allegation the premier and Meszaros have rejected."I've never had a business relationship with the prime minister," Meszaros, 54, said in a written reply to questions last year, one of the rare instances when he's talked about his business. "Our relationship is private in nature. I've known Viktor Orban since my childhood."For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| More states finally paying $600 extra in unemployment aid Posted: 15 Apr 2020 10:50 AM PDT  The bills are mounting for Justin Conrad, who lost his warehouse job three weeks ago and is anxiously awaiting his first state-provided unemployment check. Compounding his stress, his state, Connecticut, can't say when Conrad will get the additional $600 a week in benefits that the federal government is providing in an economic relief package. "I have no money coming in," says the 39-year old in Norwich, Connecticut.
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| State Department is reportedly concerned China is conducting nuclear tests Posted: 15 Apr 2020 11:09 AM PDT  A new arms-control report expected to be made public by the State Department shows the United States is concerned that China is conducting secret nuclear tests despite a pledge against doing so, The Wall Street Journal reports.There's reportedly no proof China is violating the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and the alleged tests are reportedly not very powerful, but Washington's suspicions are driven by "high tempo" activity at China's Lop Nur test site, extensive excavations at the site, and Beijing's "purported use of of special chambers to contain explosion," per the Journal.Additionally, the U.S. noticed interruptions in data transmission of radioactive emissions and seismic tremors from Chinese monitoring stations — which are part of an international network of sites to verify treaty compliance — in recent years. The Trump administration's report claims the data was deliberately blocked by Beijing, but a spokesperson for the body that oversees the international test ban treaty said those interruptions came during a negotiating process between the CTBT organization and the Chinese government.Either way, the report could certainly exacerbate tensions between Washington and Beijing, which are already rising because of longstanding trade disputes and, more recently, the U.S.'s criticism of China's handling of the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak that originated in Wuhan. Read more at The Wall Street Journal.More stories from theweek.com Michigan governor says protesters against stay-at-home order 'might have just created a need to lengthen it' Why can't you go fishing during the pandemic? Trump's performance against Biden reportedly improves after voters watch 90 seconds of a coronavirus briefing
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| Director of Italy's top infectious-disease hospital said Fauci would be welcomed 'with open arms' if Trump fired him Posted: 15 Apr 2020 09:23 PM PDT  "There is no one else who has written the history of medicine and infectious diseases like Tony Fauci," the director told the Associated Press.
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| Climate change: Blue skies pushed Greenland 'into the red' Posted: 15 Apr 2020 06:30 AM PDT  Cloud-free skies played a key role in one of the worst years for Greenland's ice sheet.
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| More Americans OK with businesses not serving gays based on religion, survey finds Posted: 14 Apr 2020 02:40 PM PDT  Solid majorities of all age groups and parties support same-sex marriage and prohibiting LGBTQ discrimination.
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| Poll: Trump approval rating rises, but more Americans support Biden for president Posted: 14 Apr 2020 04:34 PM PDT  The number of Americans who approve of President Trump rose by 5 percentage points over the past week, but registered voters still favored Democrat Joe Biden for president by a small margin, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Tuesday.
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| Mexico sees widespread noncompliance with business closures Posted: 15 Apr 2020 06:15 PM PDT  Mexico's coronavirus point-man said Wednesday there has been widespread non-compliance with orders for all non-essential businesses to close. Assistant Health Secretary Hugo López-Gatell said those firms that don't comply would be inspected, fined and possibly subject to criminal investigations for endangering the health of employees. While there have been widespread reports that border assembly plants known as maquiladoras had failed to close during the pandemic, López-Gatell cited only one border state — Baja California — as having a high level of non-compliance.
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| ‘I Would Be An Excellent Running Mate’: Stacey Abrams Offers Her Services to Biden Posted: 15 Apr 2020 08:06 AM PDT  Stacey Abrams, the former Democratic gubernatorial candidate for Georgia who made headlines for calling out alleged voter suppression during her election, is offering to run alongside Joe Biden on the Democratic presidential ticket this year."Yes. I would be honored," Abrams told Elle when asked whether she would accept an offer from the former vice president to serve as his running mate. "I would be an excellent running mate.""I have the capacity to attract voters by motivating typically ignored communities. I have a strong history of executive and management experience in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. I've spent 25 years in independent study of foreign policy. I am ready to help advance an agenda of restoring America's place in the world. If I am selected, I am prepared and excited to serve," she continued.Abrams shot to notoriety in 2018 when she ran in Georgia to become the country's first black female governor. She lost the election by 1.4 percentage points to her Republican opponent, Georgia's secretary of state at the time, Brian Kemp, who enforced one of the strictest voter ID laws in the country while he was running against Abrams. Abrams has refused to concede the election ever since, alleging that Kemp engaged in voter suppression.She originally signaled her willingness to run alongside Biden in February, saying she would be doing a "disservice to every woman of color, every woman of ambition, every child who wants to think beyond their known space" if she refused such an offer.Rumors swirled earlier this year that Abrams is one of the top contenders to be tapped as Biden's running mate. Biden is now the presumptive Democratic nominee to take on President Trump in November after Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders dropped out of the race last week.Weeks earlier, Abrams said she intends to be elected president someday, saying "that's my plan," and that she believes the country will elect her to the top executive office over the next two decades.Her openness to joining the Democratic ticket as vice presidential nominee comes after she signaled last year she would only run as a presidential candidate."You don't run for second place," she remarked during an appearance on ABC's The View in March of 2019."The VP's job is to be chief lieutenant and partner by taking on the roles and responsibilities assigned to you by the president," Abrams said in her interview with Elle. "I am very self-aware, and I know that my résumé … is usually reduced to 'She didn't become the governor of Georgia.' But it is important to understand all the things I did to prepare for that contest. … I am able to stand effectively as a partner, to execute a vision, and to serve the vision of the president."
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| China knew the coronavirus could become a pandemic in mid-January but for 6 days claimed publicly that there was no evidence it could spread among humans Posted: 15 Apr 2020 04:38 AM PDT  By January 14, China knew that the coronavirus could be transmitted among humans, but it said nothing until January 20, The Associated Press found.
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| India charges Muslim leader with culpable homicide for coronavirus surge Posted: 15 Apr 2020 11:20 PM PDT  India has brought charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder against the chief of a Muslim seminary for holding a gathering last month that authorities say led to a big jump in coronavirus infections, police said on Thursday. The headquarters of the Tablighi Jamaat group in a cramped corner of Delhi were sealed and thousands of followers, including some from Indonesia, Malaysia and Bangladesh, were taken into quarantine after it emerged they had attended meetings there in mid-March. Police initially filed a case against Muhammad Saad Kandhalvi, the chief of the centre, for violating a ban on big gatherings but had now invoked the law against culpable homicide, a police spokesman said.
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| Elon Musk’s promised 1,000 ventilators haven’t been delivered, California governor’s office says Posted: 15 Apr 2020 09:40 AM PDT  The 1,000 ventilators that Elon Musk had promised to send California in an effort to help its hospitals cope with the coronavirus have not been delivered, said the office of governor Gavin Newsom.On 23 March Gov. Newsom announced that the machines, which can provide life-saving support to critical coronavirus patients, had already arrived in the state.
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| Brazil Negotiating With Maduro to Repatriate Staff in Venezuela Posted: 15 Apr 2020 09:31 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Brazil is negotiating with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to airlift diplomatic and military staff who are stranded after his government denied permission for a Brazilian Air Force cargo jet to land in Caracas, two people familiar with the matter said.The plane was scheduled to land in the Venezuelan capital on Friday to pick up diplomatic officials and their family members as part of Brazil's repatriation efforts during the coronavirus pandemic, said the people, who asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to discuss the subject publicly.But Venezuelan military officials on Wednesday told the Brazilian embassy a permit to land would no longer be provided, without providing a reason. More than 50 embassy and consular employees and their relatives now don't know if and how they will be able to leave the country, the people said.Brazil's foreign ministry said late Wednesday night it was following the case and insisted no citizen would be left behind, citing the more than 10,000 Brazilians who have so far been brought home in the wake of the pandemic. The international department of Brazil's justice ministry said it's aware of the situation.Calls requesting comment to Venezuela's Ministry of Communication and Information outside of regular business hours went unanswered.Brazil was on track to withdraw its personnel in Venezuela even before the pandemic. In February, Brazil decided to withdraw its diplomatic personnel from the country in another attempt to increase Maduro's isolation. But the move was set up as a gradual process in which diplomats and other employees used then-available commercial flights.Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a U.S. ally, recognizes opposition leader Juan Guaido as the legitimate leader of Venezuela and has provided Guaido's envoy in Brasilia full ambassador status. The U.S. campaign to try to oust Maduro with economic sanctions, diplomatic isolation and backing for Guaido has so far failed to dislodge the Venezuelan leader, who has remained solidly entrenched with the apparent support of his military.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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