| Trump starts new coronavirus feud with Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan Posted: 20 Apr 2020 06:06 PM PDT  President Trump has started feuds with several governors during the coronavirus response. Monday presented Trump with a new target: Republican Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland.
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| COVID-19 risk factors hint at how pandemic will play out Posted: 21 Apr 2020 05:46 AM PDT  The more we find out about the coronavirus, the more worrisome it becomes.
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| China may be keeping coronavirus data for commercial gain: Trump adviser Posted: 20 Apr 2020 03:52 PM PDT |
| 9 Homes For Sale With Beautiful Workout Facilities Posted: 21 Apr 2020 02:36 PM PDT |
| Israel police kill Palestinian who launched van, stabbing attack Posted: 22 Apr 2020 03:09 AM PDT  A Palestinian man was shot dead Wednesday after he hit an Israeli police officer with a van at a West Bank checkpoint and then stabbed him with a pair of scissors, police said. A pipe bomb was found at the scene which the attacker had apparently intended to hurl at the officers, police said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wished a "speedy recovery" to the policeman -- who was taken to hospital but was not in a life-threatening condition -- and congratulated the forces who had "acted speedily and neutralised the terrorist".
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| Kim Jong Un may be seriously ill, though South Korea casts doubt Posted: 21 Apr 2020 08:03 AM PDT  U.S. officials say the North Korean dictator may be incapacitated after heart surgery, but South Korea says Kim is working.
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| Fox’s Brit Hume Says Biden Is Senile: I Have the ‘Same Kind of Memory Problems’ Posted: 21 Apr 2020 07:15 PM PDT  Fox News senior political analyst Brit Hume chose an unexpected tack to back up his accusations that presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is senile on Tuesday night—he pointed to his own age and memory issues.Appearing on Fox News' Tucker Carlson Tonight, Hume was asked to weigh in on host Tucker Carlson's theory that Democratic Party leaders will look to replace Biden as the party's nominee with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo over fears about the former vice president's mental acuity. (Carlson has been pushing this prediction for weeks now.)Hume, who has repeatedly claimed that Biden is suffering from cognitive mental decline, said he thinks Democrats "have to be worried about Biden." Pointing to recent gaffes in TV interviews, Hume asserted that the 77-year-old ex-veep is "having a hard time keeping his thoughts together and being able to say what he needs to say."The 76-year-old longtime Fox personality then decided to use himself as an example to make the case that Biden had lost his mental faculties."I have no doubt about what the problem is," Hume continued. "I'm about the same age as he is and I experience the same kind of memory problems he does. I think he's senile and I don't think there can be much doubt about it."The Fox News analyst said "it's not necessarily crippling but it doesn't help," insisting that Biden is President Donald Trump's "best hope" of getting re-elected due to concerns over Biden's mental fitness."I think Donald Trump will have an uphill struggle," he added. "Biden might save him by being Biden."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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| Article 370: Concern as Kashmir police investigate journalists Posted: 22 Apr 2020 04:42 AM PDT  Several reporters in Indian-administered Kashmir are accused of "glorifying terrorism".
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| Airlines, Amazon Upped Lobbying as Virus Hit Economy Posted: 21 Apr 2020 01:22 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- U.S. industries including airlines, pharmaceutical firms and Big Tech boosted their lobbying in the first three months of 2020 as the coronavirus went from a regional concern to a worldwide pandemic that prompted governments to spend trillions of dollars in aid.The airline trade association Airlines for America spent nearly $2 million in the first quarter, up more than 50% from almost $1.3 million in the same period a year earlier, and secured financial assistance as demand for air travel plunged, according to lobbying disclosures filed with Congress Monday.The U.S. Treasury Department disbursed $2.9 billion to passenger airlines Monday in the first round of payroll assistance to industries.The airlines had sought $58 billion in aid for passenger and cargo carriers from Congress, and with supportive messages from President Donald Trump, the industry eventually secured $50 billion in loans and payroll assistance for passenger carriers and $8 billion for cargo carriers as part of the $2.2 trillion stimulus that Congress assembled at the end of March. The forms represent lobbying from the start of the year to March 31.The government is also requiring large carriers to repay some of the assistance at low interest rates, and the Treasury has the ability to take stock warrants. On both provisions, there was pushback from the industry, as carriers have cut capacity as much as 80% while parking thousands of planes and flying many routes nearly empty.Several lobbying groups including the National Association of Manufacturers and the National Association of Realtors, as well as companies including Gilead Sciences Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., increased their spending on government influence in the first quarter, according to disclosures filed with Congress.Records SetCalifornia-based Gilead, a major producer of HIV and hepatitis C drugs, spent almost $2.5 million on lobbying in the second quarter, a record for the company and up more than 30% from a year earlier, when it set its prior record. Earlier in April, the company's shares jumped after a report that a group of patients being treated in Chicago with one of its drugs as part of an experimental trial were "seeing rapid recoveries in fever and respiratory symptoms."Amazon and Facebook Inc. also set records in the quarter. Amazon spent more than $4.3 million, up more than 11% from the first quarter of 2019 and beating its previous quarterly record of $4.2 million, which it set in the last three months of 2019. The e-commerce giant, which has become a lifeline for Americans in lockdown seeking to obtain supplies without venturing outside, reported lobbying on combating price gouging in response to the pandemic, among other issues. Some sellers on Amazon had raised prices of goods on the platform dramatically as the virus outbreak took hold in the U.S.Facebook spent nearly $5.3 million, up more than 50% from the same period a year earlier, on "Coronavirus response" alongside its more typical issues such as privacy, competition and cryptocurrency.Manufacturers' IssuesThe National Association of Manufacturers, meanwhile, spent nearly $3.4 million, up almost 50% from a year earlier. The group called for the federal government to create a $1.4 trillion fund with interest-free loans to manufacturers affected by the outbreak. It praised the $850 billion in financing and guarantees for large and small businesses ultimately included in the stimulus legislation that its members could tap.Manufacturers also pushed the administration to designate the supply chain as "essential" to avoid business disruptions and keep workers on the job.Realtors, meanwhile, spent almost $14 million, an increase of nearly 20% from the first quarter of 2019. The National Association of Realtors worked on a number of issues related to the coronavirus response, including relief for independent contractors and the self-employed, according to its filings. It reached out to Congress, the White House, the Treasury Department, the U.S. Small Business Administration and the Labor Department.The Business Roundtable spent nearly $5 million, up more than a third from the same period in 2019. The group, which counts chief executives of major companies as its membership, said in its filing that it lobbied on the financial stimulus, as well as labor and supply chain issues related to the virus and federal recommendations on workers who should be labeled "essential" amid lockdowns.Earlier: From Banks to Plumbers, Lobby Groups Win Lockdown ReliefBRT, some of whose members are advising the White House on reopening the economy, recently urged the administration to follow a strategy that is "guided by public health officials." Spending by groups including the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Retail Federation was flat to lower despite lobbying in response to the outbreak, which intensified in the final weeks of the reporting period.The American Hotel & Lodging Association, the Cruise Lines International Association and the International Franchise Association spent less than the year before.(Updates to add BRT lobbying in fourth from last paragraph. Figures for approved airline aid were corrected in an earlier version of the story.)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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| Who is behind the coronavirus social distancing protests? Posted: 21 Apr 2020 09:54 AM PDT  State capitals across the nation have seen protests of the measures meant to limit the coronavirus spread. Conservative activists, GOP donors and InfoWars are among those promoting them.
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| Turkey says Syria violating truce in rebel-held north Posted: 20 Apr 2020 11:19 AM PDT |
| Vietnam to ease nationwide coronavirus lockdown Posted: 22 Apr 2020 05:22 AM PDT  Vietnam, which has reported under 300 cases of coronavirus and no deaths since the first infections were detected in January, said on Wednesday it would start lifting tough movement restrictions as most of Southeast Asia remained in lockdown. No provinces in Vietnam were now seen as "highly prone" to the pandemic, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said in a statement, although some non-essential businesses will remain closed. Vietnam has won plaudits for appearing to contain the virus despite being less wealthy than other places seen as relatively successful such as South Korea and Taiwan.
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| California becomes 1st state to endorse coronavirus testing for people without symptoms Posted: 21 Apr 2020 07:03 PM PDT  California is changing up who can receive coronavirus testing, becoming the first state to broaden the strict federal guidelines.Public health officials in the state said Tuesday they are now recommending that asymptomatic people who work or live at places where the coronavirus could spread easily, like prisons or nursing homes, get tested, labeling them "Priority 1.""California is leading the way," Brandon Brown, an epidemiologist at the University of California, Riverside, told the Los Angeles Times. "We will be able to test more individuals, identify more people with COVID-19, isolate them, and thereby both flatten the curve and prevent the future spread of infection."The federal guidelines established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention list hospitalized patients and health care workers displaying coronavirus symptoms as the primary people eligible for testing, followed by elderly symptomatic patients and those with underlying health conditions. People who do not show any symptoms are a non-priority. While doctors do have a say in who can get tested, hospital administrators have been citing CDC guidelines in order to hold on to tests for the sickest patients, the Times reports.Last Wednesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said there was a shortage of testing swabs in the state, and on Monday, Los Angeles County announced it was experiencing a testing backlog. Bob Kocher, a member of Newsom's task force on testing, told the Times while some labs do have shortages of extraction chemicals, "we've come up with good plans to resolve bottlenecks. We have a nice supply." He also said that combined, high-volume labs in the state are able to run more than 80,000 coronavirus tests every day.More stories from theweek.com The Navajo Nation outbreak reveals an ugly truth behind America's coronavirus experience How close are we to herd immunity? Georgia's dangerous coronavirus experiment
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| Alexis Martin: Governor commutes sentence of sex trafficking survivor supported by Kim Kardashian West Posted: 21 Apr 2020 07:52 AM PDT  The governor of Ohio has commuted the sentence of a woman previously imprisoned in relation to the fatal shooting of the man who allegedly forced her into sex work.Governor Mike DeWine announced on Friday that he had granted seven commutation requests and denied 84.
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| Joe Biden said he'd pick Michelle Obama as his running mate 'in a heartbeat' but wouldn't commit to choosing a woman of color Posted: 21 Apr 2020 07:44 AM PDT  Former Vice President Joe Biden said Monday his 2020 campaign was "just beginning the process" of selecting his running mate.
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| China calls virus lawsuit brought by US state 'very absurd' Posted: 22 Apr 2020 03:06 AM PDT  China on Wednesday slammed a lawsuit brought against it by the U.S. state of Missouri over the coronavirus pandemic as "very absurd." Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the legal action has "no factual and legal basis at all" and repeated China's defense of its response to the outbreak, which has largely subsided in the country where it was first detected. The ministry and other Chinese government departments have strenuously denied accusations that officials delayed reporting on the extent of the outbreak in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year, despite reports that worries over political stability were placed above public health concerns.
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| Birx says Georgia residents 'can be very creative' about getting tattoos and haircuts while social distancing Posted: 21 Apr 2020 05:19 PM PDT  Dr. Deborah Birx tried to reconcile the controversial order by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp reopening some businesses across the state with the task force recommendations that call for continued social distancing.
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| Mexico admits it can't stop drug cartels distributing virus aid Posted: 21 Apr 2020 05:15 AM PDT  Drug cartels have been distributing aid packages amid the coronavirus pandemic, Mexico's president said Monday.
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| Opinion: Thanks to the Supreme Court, '10 Angry Men' can no longer send you to prison Posted: 20 Apr 2020 03:16 PM PDT  An overdue decision says that juries in major state trials must be unanimous.
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| Asia virus latest: Virgin Australia collapses; oil rebounds Posted: 21 Apr 2020 01:14 AM PDT  Cash-strapped Virgin Australia collapsed Tuesday, making it the largest carrier to buckle under the strain of the coronavirus pandemic, which has ravaged the global airline industry. In an announcement to the Australian Stock Exchange, Virgin said it planned to keep operating flights despite handing over the keys to administrators. Chief executive Carrie Lam said social distancing measures and some business restrictions would continue for another two weeks until at least May 7.
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| Hong Kong teens charged with murder over protest death Posted: 22 Apr 2020 03:55 AM PDT  Luo Chang-qing died in November when pro-democracy supporters and government loyalists started hurling bricks at each other in the border town of Sheung Shui. Luo, 70, died from a blow to the head. Hong Kong's protests were sparked by an attempt to allow extradition to China's opaque justice system but soon morphed into a popular revolt against Beijing's rule.
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| ‘This Has Changed Everything’: Saudi Economy Shaken by Oil Crash Posted: 21 Apr 2020 10:04 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- The meltdown in oil markets is turning back the economic clock for Saudi Arabia, putting it on track for the deepest contraction in two decades.Already under lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, the world's largest crude exporter is bracing for a second impact from the oil rout and unprecedented production cuts negotiated by OPEC and its allies. Both will slash government revenue, and in turn derail a fragile economic recovery. Brent crude traded at under $19 a barrel on Tuesday -- a quarter of the level Saudi Arabia needs to balance its budget -- leaving officials with limited options to offset economic pain without crippling public finances."This has changed everything," said Monica Malik, chief economist at Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank. "So much of the recent recovery was based on the fact that the oil price had been above $50-$60, providing support to economic activity, and that's just been decimated."The setback presents difficult choices for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. After the last oil price slump, from 2014 to 2016, he announced a major economic transformation plan. While officials have made significant progress -- developing fledging sectors like entertainment and lifting non-oil revenue with taxes and fees -- the economy still hinges on crude. Now the price shock is threatening many of the government's gains, making it difficult to fund projects and investments when over 60% of revenue this year was meant to come from oil.Ricardo Hausmann, an economist at Harvard University, compared the situation facing Saudi Arabia to "war being fought on at least two fronts," according to a recent presentation for Saudi officials, seen by Bloomberg, that outlined the dual hit from the pandemic and the oil crisis."Each shock in itself is huge," Hausmann wrote. "Both at the same time makes things much more complex."Aggressive MeasuresSo far, Saudi Arabia has reported one of the lowest rates of Covid-19 infection in the region, with less than 12,000 cases among 34 million people. That's partly due to aggressive measures to slow the spread, steps that are also shutting down swaths of the $779 billion economy.When the government put major cities under a 24-hour curfew this month, business surged for Ayman Alsanad, co-founder of one of the kingdom's most popular delivery applications. He was sleeping four hours a night as his company, Mrsool, rushed to recruit couriers to meet the spike in demand from people stuck at home. But even as he commended the government's help for companies, he was worried about the looming oil crisis."Everyone is scared about coronavirus and the lockdown situation, but look, everything is around the oil prices here," Alsanad said at the time. "If this goes down, you should expect huge implications on anyone's business."As oil prices in the U.S. plummeted below zero for the first time in history, Saudi phones pinged with text messages and tweets asking what it meant for the kingdom.The collapse in the price of West Texas Intermediate crude has little direct impact for Saudi Arabia, since it sells only about a 10th of its oil to the U.S. The kingdom's fate is more closely tied to the price of global benchmark Brent crude, which is also falling, in part because of low U.S. prices."Yesterday's price slump was psychologically very important," said Eugen Weinberg, Commerzbank AG's head of commodity research. "There is a possibility it will change perceptions forever."The price rout was partly caused by a supply surge during a bitter oil-price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia -- but underlying it is expectations of a drawn-out period of lower demand. Warnings from U.S. President Donald Trump that he'll consider blocking imports of crude from Saudi Arabia only add to concerns.Recovery derailedMany Saudi business owners were looking forward to 2020 after several tough years. Now, economists say they can hardly cut their forecasts fast enough.Gross domestic product could shrink more than 3% this year in what would be the first contraction since 2017 -- and the biggest since 1999 -- according to Malik. Unemployment is poised to spike as businesses struggle to stay afloat.The government's budget deficit could widen to 15% of economic output, said Mohamed Abu Basha, head of macroeconomic analysis at investment bank EFG Hermes in Cairo. The fiscal shortfall reached 4.5% last year after peaking at just over 17% in 2016, according to the International Monetary Fund.Despite the grim outlook, many Saudis are grateful for officials' swift response to the pandemic. Business owners say that the government's stimulus package saved them from collapse. A few weeks ago, Faisal AlSager -- who employs more than 1,500 people at a firm that provides call centers and customer-service solutions -- was on the verge of laying off workers as clients pulled back.But when the government announced it would cover 60% of salaries for some Saudis in the private sector, his company, Etisal International, suspended layoffs."Such measures taken by the government will help us at least survive," he said.So far, officials say they plan to borrow more to fill the widening budget gap, and have announced only minor spending cuts. Fawaz al-Fawaz, a Saudi economic consultant, said the government has significant reserves and a low debt-to-GDP ratio compared to other big economies. He pointed out it wasn't the first time Saudi Arabia had lived through an oil crash."The cyclicality of the oil industry is not new to the Saudi decision makers," al-Fawaz said. "They have seen this drama before, so they have experience."(Updates with additional quotes and context from fourth paragraph onwards.)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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| For many black women during salon closures, home styling is a hair-raising challenge Posted: 21 Apr 2020 06:39 AM PDT  "Corporate America does not understand I can't perm or straighten my own hair."
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| Trump Opens Coronavirus Briefing by Taking Shots at Republican Governor Posted: 20 Apr 2020 03:12 PM PDT  President Donald Trump kicked off his Monday coronavirus task force briefing by criticizing one of the leading Republican governors during the coronavirus pandemic.At the start of the briefing, the president said the nation's governors had been given "a list of the names, addresses, and phone numbers of the labs where they can find additional testing capacity within their states." "Hundreds and hundreds of labs are ready, willing, and able," he insisted. "Some of the governors, like as an example the governor from Maryland, didn't really understand the list. He didn't understand too much about what was going on, so now I think he'll be able to do that. It's pretty simple." Georgia Governor Allows Gyms, Salons, and Bowling Alleys to Reopen Friday as Coronavirus Cases ClimbLarry Hogan, the Republican governor of Maryland, has emerged as one of the more hands-on state leaders during the pandemic. Hogan was mentioned frequently as a possible GOP primary challenger to Trump before publicly abandoning the idea in June. The president's relationship with the nation's governors has been tense during the coronavirus pandemic, as some have not been shy about their issues with the federal government's response. During an appearance on CNN soon after Trump's early briefing attack, Hogan said he didn't "want to get into criticizing back and forth," noting that Trump "was not on the call." Hogan guessed that what Trump may have been talking about was a list that was sent out to governors "of all of the different lab facilities in their states." He said "most of the governors already knew where the lab facilities were in their states."While the list was appreciated, Hogan said, a large number on the Maryland list were federal facilities. "They were either federal health facilities that we've been desperately trying to get help from or military installations, none of which were state owned labs or facilities where we could actually do any testing," Hogan said. "But I'm not sure what the president's referring to. I have a pretty good understanding of what's going on, and I appreciated the information that was provided by his team, but he wasn't there for, I'm not sure what he was trying to say." Trump has made a point of criticizing Democratic governors, even calling on three Democratic states to be "liberated" on Twitter Friday. He continued to antagonize them early during Monday's briefing. States have to look at "their complete inventory of available capacity," Trump said, before lashing out at Gov. J. B. Pritzker of Illinois. "Some states have far more capacity than they actually understand, and it is a complex subject, but some of the governors didn't understand it," Trump said. "The governor as an example, Pritzker from Illinois did not understand his capacity. Not simply ask the federal government to provide unlimited support. You have to take the support where you have it, but we are there to stand with the governors and to help the governors and that's what we're doing." Trump became defensive again on the topic of ventilators and testing—which have become flash point issues during the public-health crisis—suggesting ventilators were a national talking point simply because people wanted to attack him."Remember it was all ventilators," Trump said. "And the reason it was all ventilators, they said there's no way he'll ever be able to catch this one. And not only did we catch it, we are now the king of ventilators all over the world." During the press conference, Dr. Deborah Birx, the coronavirus task force response coordinator, was also asked about South Carolina, where, according to the Columbia, S.C. newspaper The State, certain non-essential retail outlets can soon reopen. "Shouldn't they not be reopening stores today?" a reporter asked Birx.Birx seemed to throw shade on South Carolina's Republican leader, Gov. Henry McMaster, saying they have asked the nation's governors to follow the guidance provided by the federal government. "But each of the governors can decide for themselves whether they've reached specific guidelines in specific areas," she conceded. Hogan was further scorned by Trump before the briefing was over. The Maryland Republican's office said Monday the state will get "500,000 COVID-19 tests from South Korea's LabGenomic." "I don't know what the governor of Maryland is doing in South Korea, but there is excess capacity every day," said Brett Giroir, the assistant secretary for Health at HHS. Vice President Mike Pence then said he "wouldn't begrudge him or his health officials for ordering tests." But moments later, Trump said the governor could have called Pence and "could have saved a lot of money." "No, I don't think he needed to go to South Korea," Trump insisted. "I think he needed to get a little knowledge. Would have been helpful."The briefing went off the rails before it ended. At one point, the president answered a reporter's question by saying "a lot of people love Trump." "Lot of people love me, you see them all the time, right?" Trump said. "I guess I'm here for a reason. To the best of my knowledge I won, and I think we're going to win again. I think we're going to win in a landslide." Not long after, he returned to attacking the press, saying he thinks the media "foments a lot of anger," and complained about times where he's asked a "tremendously hostile question." "And then I'll answer in a hostile way, which is appropriate, otherwise you look foolish," Trump said. "Otherwise it looks like, just walk off the stage and bow your head. I can't do that. I just can't do that." Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| China detects African swine fever in another pig truck Posted: 21 Apr 2020 04:14 AM PDT  China's agriculture ministry said on Tuesday it had detected the deadly African swine fever virus in pigs transported to the southwestern province of Sichuan, the latest in a dozen such cases in the last two months. China has been battling African swine fever since August 2018, after the disease spread rapidly throughout the world's top pork producer, killing millions of pigs and sending pork prices soaring. "The government has easier access to pig transport trucks than having to rely on farmers' willingness to report outbreaks," said Dirk Pfeiffer, professor of veterinary epidemiology at City University of Hong Kong.
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| Delaware medical supplier says FEMA seized 400,000 N95 masks; now he's out millions of dollars Posted: 22 Apr 2020 09:32 AM PDT  A Delaware importer says the Federal Emergency Management Agency seized a shipment of N95 masks two weeks ago, accusations FEMA denies.
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| Pastor who defied virus ban arrested on assault charge Posted: 21 Apr 2020 08:56 AM PDT  Video shows a white bus accelerating in reverse and stopping just a few feet away from a man carrying a sign in front of the church.
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| Poisonings linked to cleaning supplies spike in US during pandemic Posted: 20 Apr 2020 01:50 PM PDT  Calls to US poison centers have risen 20 percent this year because of exposure to bleach and other disinfectants, health authorities said Monday, linking the surge to COVID-19 cleaning recommendations. From January to March 2020, poison centers received 45,550 calls about dangerous exposure to cleaning chemicals, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a report, up from 37,822 the year before. Exposure to bleaches, non-alcoholic disinfectants and hand sanitizers all saw sharp rises, with the main route being inhalation.
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| Anthro Is Taking 25 Percent Off Mother's Day Gifts—Here's What to Buy Posted: 21 Apr 2020 10:45 AM PDT |
| Missouri lawsuit alleges China caused coronavirus pandemic Posted: 21 Apr 2020 10:27 AM PDT  The state of Missouri filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Chinese government over the coronavirus, alleging that nation's officials are to blame for the global pandemic. The lawsuit, filed in federal court by the state's top lawyer, alleges Chinese officials are "responsible for the enormous death, suffering, and economic losses they inflicted on the world, including Missourians." Republican Attorney General Eric Schmitt in a written statement said the Chinese government lied about the dangers of the virus and didn't do enough to slow its spread.
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| Trump slams Maryland's GOP governor for following his advice and buying coronavirus tests Posted: 20 Apr 2020 06:21 PM PDT  Facing a shortage of coronavirus tests in his state, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) moved quickly to secure 500,000 tests from South Korea, a feat he accomplished with the help of his wife, Yumi Hogan."The administration made it clear over and over again they want the states to take the lead, and we have to go out and do it ourselves, and that's exactly what we did," Hogan, who is also chair of the National Governors Association, said during a Monday press conference. He praised his wife, who was born in South Korea, for her assistance, saying she "not only used her native language to help secure the tests but also helped negotiate the deal."Data compiled by the Covid Tracking Project shows that so far, the United States has conducted more than 3.5 million coronavirus tests. Hogan has been vocal about the importance of having access to tests, saying the "No. 1 problem facing us is lack of testing. We can't open up our states without ramping up testing. It should not have been this difficult."President Trump swiftly criticized Hogan, telling reporters during his Monday evening coronavirus briefing that Hogan was not able to "understand" a list of labs in his state that are conducting tests. Hogan, he added, "could've saved a lot of money ... he needed to get a little knowledge, that would've been helpful."At the same time Trump was talking, Hogan was being interviewed live on CNN. He said his state "already knew where the lab facilities are," but "more than half" were "federal facilities that we have desperately been trying to get help from, or military facilities." Not long after, Vice President Mike Pence appeared at the podium during the briefing, and said the administration would make federal and military facilities "available to governors across the states."More stories from theweek.com Excess mortality data suggests as many as 25,000 uncounted coronavirus deaths The Navajo Nation outbreak reveals an ugly truth behind America's coronavirus experience Nurses protest lack of PPE in front of White House: 'The administration and Congress have failed'
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| Vietnamese refugee went from 7-Eleven cashier to resettling thousands Posted: 20 Apr 2020 01:12 PM PDT  2020 is the 45th anniversary of Southeast Asian American refugees' arrival in the U.S., still the largest group to be resettled since then.
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| 'Like the horror of war': mayor of virus-ravaged Ecuador city calls for drastic response Posted: 22 Apr 2020 03:40 AM PDT  Cynthia Viteri, leader of Latin America's hardest-hit city, says Guayaquil offers a lesson to other governments * Coronavirus – latest updates * See all our coronavirus coverageThe mayor of the Latin American city hardest hit by the coronavirus has urged regional governments to take drastic steps to slow its spread and avoid the devastation she said had left Guayaquil looking like a war zone.Cynthia Viteri told the Guardian she believed thousands had probably lost their lives in the Ecuadorian port city in recent weeks and compared Covid-19's deadly impact there to "an unexpected bomb falling on a peaceful town"."It was as if we were attacked from the air like in Hiroshima," said Viteri, a 54-year-old lawyer and former presidential candidate who sent desperate tweets as the scale of the dystopia unfolding there became clear."It was the horror of a war – there were dead in the streets, dead in homes, there were dead outside the hospitals," remembered Viteri, who was infected and placed in quarantine but has recovered.The precise scale of Guayaquil's tragedy remains unclear although few doubt the number of deaths far exceeds Ecuador's official nationwide death toll of 507.Viteri said independently gathered figures from cemeteries and graveyards suggested the death toll in Guayaquil alone could be more than 8,000.She claimed the figures showed that in the first two weeks of April alone, more than 5,000 people had died of Covid-19 in Ecuador's main commercial hub, which has close to 3 million inhabitants.Last week, official data suggested the number of deaths in Guayas province – of which Guayaquil is the capital – leapt from a normal average of 3,000 to nearly 11,000 in the six weeks between the beginning of March and mid-April.Viteri said she hoped the political leaders of other Latin American countries and cities could learn from Guayaquil's calamity.Last week, Brazil's former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva told the Guardian he feared some parts of his country could witness similar scenes to the "horrific, monstrous images we saw in Guayaquil" in the coming weeks and months.Lula accused Brazil's current leader, Jair Bolsonaro, of leading Brazilians "to the slaughterhouse" by deliberately undermining social distancing measures and efforts to lock down major cities such as Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, which have been partially paralysed by their governors.Viteri said such shutdowns were essential."If we have learned a lesson that Guayaquil can leave for the world, and it's a painful lesson, it is: 'Don't run from the disease; pursue it, knock on doors and save people before [the virus] gets in their lungs,'" she said.Viteri said any country that had so far failed to lock down should "look in our mirror and apply preventive measures straight away".Three weeks after the collapse of Guayaquil's health and mortuary services shocked the world, Viteri claimed authorities were regaining control and said officials had "resisted [the virus] like Spartans".Soldiers and police have cordoned off often poorer virus-hit neighbourhoods, enforcing strict lockdowns, and a municipal taskforce made up of medics, firefighters and city workers has gone house to house looking for potential cases while sanitary workers have disinfected and fumigated public areas.Authorities have also created a corpse-collecting taskforce and distributed cardboard coffins to bereaved families.Viteri said Guayaquil was building two cemeteries for victims in addition to two others being built by the central government but she admitted hospitals continued to be overwhelmed by the number of coronavirus patients.Experts say one possible reason for the number of cases in Guayaquil is the high level of air traffic between Ecuador and Spain, which has the world's third-highest number of deaths, after the United States and Italy.Spain, where more than 21,000 people have died, is home to more than 400,000 Ecuadorian migrants and the first Covid-19 case recorded in Ecuador was of a 71-year-old woman who flew into Guayaquil from Madrid in mid-February. She died there on 13 March.A failure to properly enforce social distancing in the weeks after coronavirus arrived is also suspected to have played a role.
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| Coronavirus: Latin American crime gangs adapt to pandemic Posted: 21 Apr 2020 04:57 PM PDT  Crime gangs in Latin America are making changes to the way they operate, but are they gaining strength?
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| Africa's biggest airline fights for 'survival' amid pandemic: CEO Posted: 22 Apr 2020 04:38 AM PDT  In early March, Ethiopian Airlines CEO Tewolde Gebremariam told an aviation conference in Addis Ababa the coronavirus pandemic was "a temporary problem" -- comparable to a natural disaster or a spike in oil prices. Several weeks later Africa's largest carrier is locked in what Tewolde describes as "a struggle that we're performing for survival", ramping up cargo operations while seeking to defer lease payments on aircraft. "To be honest with you, I had never thought that it would reach this stage," Tewolde told AFP in an interview this week.
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| Birx responds to Georgia’s planned reopening Posted: 21 Apr 2020 04:20 PM PDT  Dr. Deborah Birx on Tuesday responded to the planned reopening of the state of Georgia, which is set to begin at the end of the week.
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| How Singapore went from being applauded for its coronavirus response to facing an alarming second wave with thousands of new cases Posted: 22 Apr 2020 06:59 AM PDT  Singapore appeared to contain its outbreak until a cluster of new infections in poorly-kept migrant dorms forced the country to clamp down harder.
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| Worker who died was never moved into new role, away from sick inmates Posted: 20 Apr 2020 03:18 PM PDT  Robin Grubbs, a caseworker at the United States Penitentiary in Atlanta, was found dead in her home Tuesday and posthumously tested positive for the virus.
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| Trump tweets order to destroy harassing Iranian gunboats Posted: 22 Apr 2020 05:48 AM PDT  President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he has ordered the Navy to "shoot down and destroy" any Iranian gunboats that harass U.S. ships, a directive that comes a week after the Navy reported a group of Iranian boats made "dangerous and harassing approaches" to American vessels in the Persian Gulf. Trump did not cite a specific Iranian provocation in his tweet or provide details. Senior Pentagon officials gave no indication that Trump had directed a fundamental change in military policy on Iran.
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| Stacey Abrams slams Georgia governor over decision to reopen businesses this week Posted: 21 Apr 2020 06:55 AM PDT  Trying to push a "false opening of the economy" risks "putting more lives in danger," Abrams said.
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| Japan tests show 11 dead were infected with coronavirus: media Posted: 20 Apr 2020 09:13 PM PDT  Japanese police have reported that 11 people whose deaths were deemed to be unnatural in the past month subsequently tested positive for the new coronavirus, media said on Tuesday. Japan, with more than 260 virus-related deaths according to public broadcaster NHK, has avoided the kind of explosive outbreak that has plagued the United States and many European nations. Six were in Tokyo, the capital, where virus cases have topped 3,000, from a nationwide tally of 11,157.
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| American Farmers Were Already Hurting. Now the Coronavirus Slowdown Might Do Them In Posted: 21 Apr 2020 11:43 AM PDT  "We're going to see a lot more family-size farms go out of business."
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