| New Yahoo News/YouGov poll shows Trump voters worry less about coronavirus — and take fewer precautions — than Clinton voters Posted: 23 Apr 2020 07:55 AM PDT  Voters who cast their ballots for Donald Trump in 2016 are more likely than voters who cast their ballots for Hillary Clinton to say that they have "cheated" on social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic.
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| 30 Best Sides for Hamburgers Posted: 23 Apr 2020 02:40 PM PDT |
| Workers volunteered to live in a factory for 28 days to produce millions of pounds of raw PPE materials to make masks and gowns for frontline medical workers Posted: 23 Apr 2020 08:17 PM PDT  Forty-three Braskem America employees volunteered to live in the factory to limit outside exposure to the coronavirus as they made raw PPE materials.
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| China to prosecute Belize national for Hong Kong 'interference' Posted: 23 Apr 2020 10:17 PM PDT  A Belize national detained in China will be prosecuted on charges of colluding with foreign forces in protest-wracked Hong Kong and funding "hostile elements in the United States", Chinese authorities confirmed Friday. It follows a roundup of pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong, which last year was rocked by months of massive demonstrations and clashes with police. Authorities in the southern city of Guangzhou told AFP that preliminary investigations into Lee Henley Huxiang -- for financing criminal activities against national security -- had been completed a day earlier.
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| Stained sheets, pills but no clarity on Gillum hotel run-in Posted: 23 Apr 2020 11:26 AM PDT  Photos released by Miami Beach police show what a luxury hotel room looked like when officers found former Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum drunk and with two other men. Fire rescue crews and officers were called to the Miami Beach hotel March 13 for a suspected drug overdose. Police say Gillum and two other men were in the hotel room and Gillum was inebriated.
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| Judge: California can't require background checks for ammo Posted: 23 Apr 2020 07:57 PM PDT  "California's new ammunition background check law misfires," wrote U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez.
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| Cartels are scrambling as the coronavirus disrupts the drug trade. One reason? Most fentanyl originates in Wuhan Posted: 24 Apr 2020 03:00 AM PDT  The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted many industries, both legal and illicit. Production of fentanyl, which relies on chemical ingredients sourced mainly from Wuhan, China, has been particularly hard hit.
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| Mitch McConnell gets bipartisan blowback for pushing bankruptcy over federal aid for reeling states Posted: 23 Apr 2020 04:43 AM PDT  The House is expected to clear a $484 billion coronavirus relief package to replenish a small-business loan programs Thursday, sending it to President Trump's desk. Democrats won $100 billion for hospitals and national coronavirus testing in the legislation, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked a Democratic push to include $150 billion for states and local governments. The White House said those funds would be included in the next rescue bill, but McConnell pushed the "pause button" on more aid packages Tuesday, telling The Wall Street Journal he's now worried about the national debt.McConnell told conservative talk-show host Hugh Hewitt on Wednesday that governors "would love to have free money" but he would prefer hard-hit states be allowed "to use the bankruptcy route." States can't legally declare bankruptcy. In a press release, McConnell called relief funds for states "Blue State bailouts."Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) tweeted Tuesday afternoon that he's working with colleagues to provide "additional and more flexible" funding for states, adding: "The skyrocketing unemployment rate and subsequent decline in tax revenue has left local governments stretched to the limit." Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) called McConnell "the Marie Antoinette of the Senate" Wednesday night, arguing it's "shameful and indefensible" to urge "devastated" states to declare bankruptcy, adding it's not "'free money' to provide funds for cops, firefighters, and health care workers."House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) shrugged off McConnell's state funding comments Wednesday, telling Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. that "McConnell will do whatever the president wants," and Trump "needs this" for his re-election. "Look at the language of Mitch McConnell: 'I'm not bailing out blue states, they should go bankrupt,'" she added. "Really? Really? How insecure is he in his own race in Kentucky to have to resort to that pathetic language?" The House will take the lead on the next bill, Pelosi said, and McConnell can take it or make a better offer.More stories from theweek.com Trump reportedly comes into work as late as noon after a morning of 'rage viewing' TV Cuomo rips McConnell's 'blue state bailout' by noting 'your state is living on the money that we generate' Biden predicts Trump will attempt to delay the 2020 presidential election
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| Austria Ski Resort Ishgl, Europe’s Coronavirus Super-Spreader, Reopens Without Party Tourism Posted: 24 Apr 2020 03:10 AM PDT  Before the coronavirus pandemic, the Alpine ski resort of Ischgl, widely known as the "Ibiza of the Alps," knew how to throw a party. The village, which is nestled in the snowy mountains where the borders of Austria, Italy, and Switzerland intersect, billed itself as the winter capital of "party tourism," where après-ski bars were packed every night of the week all season long. Ischgl locked down on March 13, after nearly 800 coronavirus cases, from Iceland to Ireland and beyond, were traced back to the adult playground. That was five days after a bar closed down after one of its staffers tested positive for COVID-19 a week earlier (the bar was disinfected but not shuttered), and nine days after Iceland declared the resort town a hot spot (the bad kind). At the time, local authorities in the Tyrol government, which has jurisdiction over the resort area, shot back that the Icelandic skiers undoubtedly contracted the virus on the flight home, which went through Milan. The ski season brings in revenue of around $120 million a year to Ischgl. Its chalets and hotels are booked years in advance, so authorities feared that raising the alarm would have left many in financial ruin—a fate they suffered anyway.Authorities now say the über-contagion took place over a 14-day period that was left unchecked even as health authorities warned that it was fast-becoming the epicenter of European spread after infected skiers passed it from one to another on the slopes, in the spas and at the bars. The German magazine Der Spiegel traced how the contagion was left unchecked, and how authorities ignored the warning signs that could have helped mitigate the spread to other countries. The investigation focuses on a single traveler from Ireland who brought it back from his ski holiday, and on 14 cases in Iceland involving people who did not all travel together, and who stayed in five different hotels in the resort town. On Thursday—post-quarantine—the village reopened, but not as the party town it once was. "We will question developments of the past years and, where necessary, make corrections," Ischgl Mayor Werner Kurz said in a statement as he unlocked the village, which still has several weeks of good snow left. "That means more quality and less party tourism, prioritizing skiers and fewer day-trippers on buses who only come to party."Reinventing the town that thrived on fast fun is not going to be easy—or cheap. "We are also thinking with all businesses about what an upmarket après-ski culture can look like," Kurz's statement says.But many of the town's businesses lost tens of thousands of euros in the pandemic and just won't have resources to start over to attract more discerning guests. The rebranding also garnered a mea culpa from Tyrol's governor, Guenther Platter, who called the spread "not serious" back in March. Platter has now launched a government review of the handling of the situation in response to a lawsuit brought on by an Austrian consumer-rights group and admitted that "mistakes were made."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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| Blood pressure drugs are in the crosshairs of coronavirus research Posted: 23 Apr 2020 10:09 AM PDT  A disproportionate number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, have high blood pressure. Theories about why the condition makes them more vulnerable — and what patients should do about it — have sparked a fierce debate among scientists over the impact of widely prescribed blood-pressure drugs.
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| Malaysia calls for peaceful end to months-long South China Sea standoff Posted: 22 Apr 2020 10:25 PM PDT |
| These are the 20 cars most likely to reach 200,000 miles, according to sales data Posted: 23 Apr 2020 10:12 AM PDT  Car shoppers looking for a durable daily driver should strongly consider an SUV from Toyota or General Motors, according to a new study.
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| Japan mayor under fire for 'women dawdle at shops' remark Posted: 23 Apr 2020 08:45 PM PDT  The mayor of Japan's Osaka has come under fire for suggesting men should do grocery shopping during the coronavirus outbreak because women are indecisive and "take a long time." Japan is under a state of emergency over the pandemic, and residents in some areas have been asked to shop less frequently and only send one family member out to get supplies to limit contact. Osaka Mayor Ichiro Matsui told reporters on Thursday that men should be entrusted with grocery runs because women "take a long time as they browse around and hesitate about this and that," Kyodo news agency reported.
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| Joe Biden campaign refunds donation from comedian Louis CK Posted: 23 Apr 2020 08:31 AM PDT  Former vice-president Joe Biden has returned a donation from Louis CK.Mr CK's $2,800 donation was not welcome by the Democratic hopeful, with a campaign spokesman saying it has since been refunded and would be reflected in the next report filed to the Federal Election Commission in May.
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| Kentucky lawyer arrested for allegedly threatening governor over lockdown Posted: 23 Apr 2020 05:38 AM PDT  Attorney James Gregory Troutman allegedly said on Facebook that he hopes Gov. Andy Beshear would see the same fate as a former governor, William Goebel, who was assassinated in 1900.
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| Brazil’s Moro Hangs by Thread After Bolsonaro Fires Police Chief Posted: 24 Apr 2020 04:49 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- The future of Sergio Moro as Brazil's justice minister looked increasingly uncertain after President Jair Bolsonaro dismissed the former judge's right-hand man in the federal police.Bolsonaro fired police chief Mauricio Leite Valeixo but still hasn't named a replacement to head the institution, according to a decree published early Friday. Moro, who rose to fame fighting corruption as the head of the sprawling Carwash probe, also appears as having signed off on the decision.Moro will make a public statement at the justice ministry at 11 a.m. local time, according to his office.Bolsonaro's move may give Moro the ability to name a new police chief as a compromise, or it could accelerate a decision to leave after tendering his resignation to the president on Thursday, as reported by local media. Neither Bolsonaro nor Moro have returned requests for comment, nor publicly discussed the issue.His departure would be a blow to Bolsonaro, who could lose part of his base who nearly unconditionally supports the minister. It could also be an attempt to reshape his cabinet with more like-minded people, following his decision to fire Luiz Henrique Mandetta from the health ministry last week.Moro became a national hero for many Brazilians when the Carwash investigation toppled some of Brazil's top business executives and political leaders, including former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. He has enough popularity to challenge Bolsonaro in presidential elections in 2022.The Brazilian real extended losses on Thursday following reports that Moro had offered to resign as traders said the news exacerbated political risk in Latin America's largest economy.(Recasts with Moro's decision to make a statement, adds details)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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| COVID-19 shutdown pay for employees of Las Vegas' The Venetian extended to May 17: CEO Posted: 23 Apr 2020 02:52 PM PDT  While it remains unclear when the Strip will be able to re-open, Las Vegas Sands will continue to pay employees through the shutdown.
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| Trump attacks Washington Post article, claiming CDC chief Redfield was misquoted. Redfield later said he wasn't. Posted: 22 Apr 2020 05:21 PM PDT  At Wednesday's coronavirus task force briefing, President Trump blasted a Washington Post article, claiming that it misquoted CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield about the severity of the coronavirus in the fall. Redfield clarified his remarks but said he was not misquoted.
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| Al-Aqsa preacher's voice echoes across Jerusalem devoid of Ramadan crowds Posted: 24 Apr 2020 04:38 AM PDT  An imam standing atop an 18-foot pulpit in a near-empty Al-Aqsa Mosque delivered the first Friday prayers of Ramadan in Jerusalem, his voice echoing across an empty and windswept plateau almost devoid of worshippers. In normal years during Ramadan Friday prayers Muslim worshippers gather by the tens of thousands on the tree-lined hilltop plateau that lies at the heart of Jerusalem's Old City and is known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) and to Jews as the Temple Mount. In March, Muslim religious authorities closed the gates to worshippers due to the coronavirus epidemic, and this has been extended throughout Ramadan.
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| Pro-China trolls are doing their best to stoke tensions for Taiwan by amplifying racist claims and spreading misinformation about California leaving the US Posted: 23 Apr 2020 10:37 PM PDT  Maria Repnikova, a political scientist at Georgia State University, told the Sydney Morning Herald the trolling was "bottom-up cyber nationalism."
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| Modelo's New Sweet-Spicy Beer Combines Mango Flavor and Chili Peppers Posted: 24 Apr 2020 08:35 AM PDT |
| Armenia decries crimes against 'civilisation' on genocide anniversary Posted: 23 Apr 2020 05:58 PM PDT  Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Friday decried crimes against "civilisation" and demanded an apology from Turkey as his country marked the 105th anniversary of the WWI-era Armenian genocide. The genocide is a "crime not only against our ethnic identity, but also against human civilisation," Pashinyan said in a message after laying flowers at a genocide memorial in the capital Yerevan. Commemorative events were scaled back this year due to the coronavirus restrictions imposed throughout the country, and the Yerevan memorial was closed to the public.
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| Coronavirus vaccine may come sooner rather than later, Bill Gates says Posted: 24 Apr 2020 05:33 AM PDT  "Many countries decided that at the national level, they would orchestrate the testing," Gates said. "That hasn't happened in the United States."
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| As some coronavirus closures lift in the U.S., studies suggest more and earlier infections Posted: 23 Apr 2020 02:49 PM PDT  Studies suggest that coronavirus infections were spreading in the United States farther, faster and earlier than initially thought.
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| AP Explains: What Virgin Australia's bankruptcy move means Posted: 22 Apr 2020 09:09 PM PDT  Virgin Australia has become the world's largest airline to seek bankruptcy protection in the weeks since the coronavirus shutdown created a debt crisis. Virgin Australia owed 5 billion Australian dollars ($3.2 billion) and hadn't posted a profit in seven years when the pandemic virtually grounded the aviation industry. Singapore Institute of Technology economist Volodymyr Bilotkach, author of "Economics of Airlines," says small-to-medium European airlines with small cash reserves are similarly vulnerable.
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| Coronavirus: Why some Nigerians are gloating about Covid-19 Posted: 22 Apr 2020 04:42 PM PDT  Many rich Nigerians, including the political classes, used to go abroad for medical treatment - but no longer.
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| Russia's lockdown surveillance measures need regulating, rights groups say Posted: 23 Apr 2020 12:13 PM PDT  Expanding surveillance measures to police Russia's coronavirus lockdown, including the use of facial recognition technology and collection of personal data, need regulating to ensure they are temporary and proportionate, two rights groups said on Thursday. Moscow, the epicenter of Russia's outbreak, is in partial lockdown along with many of the country's regions and the authorities are using and developing a range of technologies to monitor and regulate residents' movements. Police say Moscow's 178,000 facial recognition cameras had caught 200 people breaking coronavirus lockdown restrictions by mid-March.
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| There's a way to hack an iPhones by sending emails that can infect devices without users even opening the message — though Apple says it hasn't seen any evidence of customers being affected Posted: 24 Apr 2020 05:42 AM PDT  Attackers can send messages through the Mail app that doesn't need to be clicked in order to infect. Apple says it doesn't pose an "immediate risk."
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| Deaths and desperation mount in Ecuador, epicenter of coronavirus pandemic in Latin America Posted: 24 Apr 2020 05:21 AM PDT  Dead bodies are lying at home and in the streets of Guayaquil, Ecuador, a city so hard-hit by coronavirus that overfilled hospitals are turning away even very ill patients and funeral homes are unavailable for burial.Data on deaths and infections is incomplete in Ecuador, as it is across the region. As of April 22, Ecuador – a country of 17 million people – had reported almost 11,000 cases, which on a per capita basis would put it behind only Panama in Latin America. But the true number is likely much higher. The government of Guayas Province, where Guayaquil is located, says 6,700 residents died in the first half of April, as compared to 1,000 in a normal year. A New York Times analysis estimates Ecuador's real coronavirus death toll may be 15 times the 503 deaths officially tallied by April 15.In a pandemic that has largely hit wealthy countries first, Ecuador is one of the first developing countries to face such a dire outbreak. Wealth is no guarantee of safety in an epidemic. Italy and the United States have both run short of necessary medical equipment like ventilators and dialysis machines. But experts agree poorer countries are likely to see death rates escalate quickly. Our own academic research on Ecuadorean politics and human security in past pandemics suggests that coronavirus may create greater political and economic turmoil in a country that already struggles with instability. Ecuador's swift responseThe coronavirus outbreak in Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city and economic engine, began in February, apparently with infected people returning from Spain. Its rapid escalation prompted panicked officials to impose social isolation quickly as a containment strategy. Ecuador's restrictions on movement are strict and getting stricter. Ecuadorians may not leave their homes at all between the hours of 2 p.m. and 5 a.m. Outside of curfew, the may only go out to get food, for essential work or for health-related reasons. They must wear masks and gloves.President Lenín Moreno has opened shelters to get homeless people off the streets and commandeered hotels to isolate those infected. Public transport is canceled. In Quito, Ecuador's capital, people may only drive one day a week as determined by their license plate. This is the second time in a year Quito residents have found themselves under lockdown. In October 2019, a nighttime curfew was established quell massive protests against austerity measures that were imposed in exchange for a large loan from the International Monetary Fund. The protests, led by indigenous groups, dissipated after President Moreno backed away from austerity – but not before at least eight people were killed. Latin America's looming epidemicEcuador has been more proactive in responding to the epidemic than many neighboring countries. In Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro has largely downplayed the severity of the coronavirus, despite thousands of new COVID-19 infections reported every day. In Venezuela the power struggle between the government of Nicolás Maduro and the opposition government of Juan Guaidó impedes any coordinated pandemic response. Most Latin American leaders who have taken decisive action against coronavirus see stay-at-home orders as the only way to avoid collapse of their fragile, underfunded health systems. Panama is limiting outings based on gender, allowing men and women to leave their homes three days each. Everyone stays home on Sundays. El Salvador's president sent soldiers to enforce a 48-hour full lockdown of the city of La Libertad that prohibited residents from leaving home for any reason – including to get food or medicine.It's unclear how such restrictions can persist in a region with considerable poverty and social inequality. Large numbers of Latin Americans live day-to-day on money they make from street trading and other informal work, which is now largely banned. Hunger threatens across the region. Limits of Ecuador's responseIn Ecuador, where the average annual income is US$11,000, the Moreno government is giving emergency grants of $60 to families whose monthly income is less than $400. And an active network of community organizations is working to provide basic food and shelter the needy, which includes most of the quarter million Venezuelan refugees who entered Ecuador in recent years. Despite its active coronavirus response, Ecuador is unlikely to cope well if the epidemic spreads quickly from Guayaquil into the rest of the country. Ecuador has a quarter as many ventilators per person as the United States. Testing for COVID-19 has largely been outsourced to private corporations, making it prohibitively expensive for most. President Moreno's expulsion of 400 Cuban doctors from Ecuador last year – part of his emphatic shift rightward for Ecuador – has left big holes in its already understaffed hospitals.Ecuador's economy is in crisis after the collapse in oil prices and tourism. And while last year's deadly protests are over, politics – and political unrest – continue to polarize the nation. On April 7 Ecuador's highest court sentenced the popular but divisive leftist former President Rafael Correa to eight years in prison on corruption charges. Correa, who now lives in Belgium, says the charges are fabricated to ensure he cannot run for office again. His conviction increases political divisions during a crisis that calls for unity.Ecuador's death rate is starting to slow after more than a month of lockdown. But the specter of COVID-19 victims lying unburied at home, in hospital hallways, and on the streets, hangs as a specter across Latin America. Guayaquil is a grim forecast of how this pandemic kills in the less wealthy world.[Get facts about coronavirus and the latest research. Sign up for The Conversation's newsletter.]
Este artículo se vuelve a publicar de The Conversation, un medio digital sin fines de lucro dedicado a la diseminación de la experticia académica. Lee mas:
The 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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| Unprecedented virus lockdown as Muslims mark sombre Ramadan Posted: 23 Apr 2020 05:42 PM PDT  Mosques stood empty and fast-breaking feasts were cancelled as Muslims around the world began marking Ramadan under coronavirus lockdown on Friday, while a pushback in some countries sparked fears of a surge in infections. Mecca's Grand Mosque, Islam's holiest site, was among those devoid of worshippers as the holy month got under way amid unprecedented bans on family gatherings and mass prayers. A stunning emptiness enveloped the sacred Kaaba -- a large cube-shaped structure in the Grand Mosque towards which Muslims around the world pray -- in the most potent sign of how the daytime fasting month will be a sombre affair across Islamic nations.
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| Members of congress advocate for coronavirus relief on behalf of those who have contracted the virus Posted: 23 Apr 2020 12:18 PM PDT  During a speech on the House floor, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., dedicated a coronavirus relief bill to her sister, who she said is "dying in a hospital" of COVID-19. Later Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., advocated for the passage of the legislation on behalf of a 5-year-old who died from the coronavirus.
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| 'Anyone but Trump': Swing state hit hard by coronavirus could flip on Trump in 2020 Posted: 23 Apr 2020 03:38 AM PDT  Few places have been hit harder by the coronavirus — from both the health and the economic standpoints — than Pennsylvania.
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| High-Seas Energy Fight Off Malaysia Draws U.S., Chinese Warships Posted: 23 Apr 2020 03:58 AM PDT |
| Retired 3-Star: Hasty US Withdrawal Could Undo Hard-Won Gains in Afghanistan Posted: 24 Apr 2020 07:07 AM PDT  Even as much of the world shuts down because of the novel coronavirus, terrorism continues in Afghanistan.
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| WHO chief urges U.S. to reconsider funding, says 'virus will be with us for a long time' Posted: 22 Apr 2020 10:05 AM PDT  The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday that he hoped the Trump administration would reconsider its suspension of funding, but that his main focus was on ending the pandemic and saving lives. There were "worrying upward trends" in early epidemics in parts of Africa and central and South America, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. "Most countries are still in the early stages of their epidemics and some that were affected early in the pandemic are starting to see a resurgence in cases," Tedros told Geneva journalists in a virtual briefing.
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| 2 notoriously unstable regions of Russia could be sitting on a coronavirus outbreak far worse than they admit Posted: 24 Apr 2020 05:51 AM PDT  Russia's neighbours fear Russia's regions of Ingushetia and Chechnya could be concealing worse outbreaks than what the country is reporting.
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| Fact check: Wisconsin is not 'clearly seeing a decline in COVID infections' Posted: 24 Apr 2020 08:19 AM PDT  There are a lot of ways to slice coronavirus data, but a recent claim by top Republican state officeholders in Wisconsin overreaches.
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| India rape: Six-year-old victim's eyes damaged in attack Posted: 23 Apr 2020 07:45 AM PDT  Police in Madhya Pradesh say the child was grabbed near her home and subjected to a horrific attack.
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| Two states: one Democrat, one Republican. Two very different outcomes Posted: 23 Apr 2020 02:00 AM PDT  Kentucky governor Andy Beshear took early measures to halt the spread of Covid-19 while Tennessee limited government mandates * Coronavirus – latest US updates * Coronavirus – latest global updates * See all our coronavirus coverageJust last month, when he was still regularly wearing a suit and tie, Kentucky's rookie governor, Andy Beshear, told schools across the southern state that they needed to be prepared to close down with little notice to contain the spread of Covid-19.At the time, there were just a handful of cases in Kentucky. Bars and restaurants were still open, people shook hands and live sports was on TV. But on 11 March, Beshear, a 42-year-old Democrat, told Kentucky residents that the actions they took over the next month would be critical in determining how the state would fare in the pandemic.As Beshear was wrapping up, the man he defeated by just 5,136 votes in November's gubernatorial election offered a glimpse of how differently he might have handled the health emergency had he been victorious."BREAKING NEWS: Chicken Little has just confirmed that the sky IS indeed falling," wrote the former Republican governor Matt Bevin on Twitter. "Everyone is advised to take cover immediately and bring lots of toilet paper when they do so …"Whether Bevin would have remained so blase if he were actually governor is impossible to know. 'He took the right approach'On paper, Kentucky is not poised to do well in a pandemic. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 43.6% of Kentucky's adult population is at a higher risk for serious illness if infected with Covid-19, putting Kentucky's risk factor second only to West Virginia's in the US.Kentucky had reported 3,373 Covid-19 cases with 185 deaths as of Wednesday. Though it is not out of the woods, experts say the state appears to be flattening the curve."It's encouraging that we are seeing slower acceleration than has been seen in other states and I do think it is largely due to the social distancing measures that were implemented early and aggressively," said Kathleen Winter, an epidemiologist with the University of Kentucky. "It's too soon to say we're really on the right track and whether this will have a longer-lasting impact.""We're not where we want to be ultimately, but we're certainly making progress," said Paul McKinney, associate dean for research at the University of Louisville's school of public health and information sciences. "And we're not nearly as bad as we could have been."While other states lagged behind, Kentucky was nearly keeping pace with measures adopted in coronavirus hotspots like New York: on 5 March Beshear started holding daily press briefings on the virus; on the 6th, he declared a state of emergency; on the 16th he closed down bars and restaurants; on the 19th he banned all mass gatherings, including church services; and on the 22nd he announced the closure of all businesses that were not "life sustaining".Combined with his quick pandemic response, his calm, empathetic daily briefings (which he starts by saying, "Repeat after me: we will get through this.") have seen his popularity explode in recent weeks. Some have likened him to Mr Rogers, but he has also been firm, calling out those that have defied social distancing orders, including dozens of people who protested against the stay-at-home measures last week."I think that the governor here, our current governor, took the right approach," said McKinney when asked about how Kentucky's coronavirus might have looked with different election results.Al Cross, director of the University of Kentucky's institute for rural journalism and community issues and a longtime observer of politics in the Bluegrass state, said he couldn't say that Bevin would necessarily have handled the situation differently and that many had made "a lot of stupid assumptions" about how the former governor might act."It would certainly be in character for Bevin to behave more like the Republican governors who have been more lax than Beshear, but I have to believe that he would keep an open mind on this question because it's so fundamentally important," he said. "Granted, this is the guy who exposed his children to chicken pox because he thought it was the best thing for them." 'A very different outcome' across the borderTo get a sense of how things might have looked with different leadership, Kentuckians have been looking across their southern border into Tennessee, where Governor Bill Lee was initially reluctant to close down bars, restaurants and non-essential businesses, hoping to find a balance between economic security and public health.Lee held off on issuing such a stay-at-home order even as the state's three largest cities – Nashville, Memphis and Knoxville – issued orders of their own. While Lee issued recommendations for Tennesseans to avoid crowds, he said no mandates were necessary to keep them apart, that the state's residents could be trusted to do their part without government interference.In the end, Tennessee adopted many of the same measures that Kentucky did – but they usually came about a week later.As Tennessee lagged behind, Beshear warned Kentuckians not to travel there in late March.Tennessee had reported 7,842 confirmed cases and 166 deaths as of Wednesday. Charts created by Kentucky resident and educator Stephanie Jolly comparing infection rates and numbers in Tennessee and Kentucky show a steeper rise in cases in Tennessee while Kentucky maintained a flatter curve. They have received a fair deal of attention in Kentucky recently as a sign that social distancing efforts have paid off, though there are caveats: Tennessee has conducted more testing and has a higher population and Winter, the epidemiologist, says it's more useful to look at hospitalizations, though that data is harder to acquire. "I think we could have been facing a very different outcome and a lot of Kentuckians are recognizing that as well," said Jolly.Citing the devastating economic impact of the shutdown and an assertion that the virus's spread had been slowed to a manageable level, Lee announced on Monday that he would not be extending Tennessee's stay-at-home order past its 30 April expiration and that some businesses could begin reopening as soon as 27 April."While the health outlook is showing signs of improvement, our economic outlook tells a very different story: record unemployment numbers, thousands of businesses closed," he said. "For the good of our state, social distancing must continue but our economic shutdown cannot."However, the lifting of restrictions does not apply to six Tennessee counties that have their own health departments – among them, the counties home to the state's largest cities. Those areas will formulate their own reopening strategies and timelines.Lee's announcement came as the governors of Georgia and South Carolina said that they, too, would be reopening their economies and relaxing restrictions in the coming days.Across the border in Kentucky, Beshear has remained more cautious, saying a limited reopening is dependent on meeting benchmarks, particularly a 14-day decline in the number of new cases and the expansion of testing capabilities. And although businesses may reopen in the coming weeks and months, Beshear has worked to temper expectations that life will fully return back to normal soon, saying gatherings like summer weddings and even fall sporting events may be in jeopardy.On Monday, the director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr Anthony Fauci, warned that failing to follow careful guidelines of a gradual reopening could "backfire" and result in a surge in cases."It does go to show why elections matter and that elections have consequences," said James Line, 24, a former Beshear campaign staffer who is the administrator of a Beshear meme Facebook group that has gained popularity as a result of the governor's handling of the pandemic. "If 5,000 votes had gone the other way we would have another governor right now and probably a lot more lives lost."
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| Guatemalan wrongly deported amid coronavirus crisis is reunited with family in U.S. Posted: 23 Apr 2020 10:50 AM PDT  "I am very happy," Gilmer Barrios said. "It had been almost a month since I saw my wife, and I am going to see my children in a little while."
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| Somber Congress delivers nearly $500B more in virus aid Posted: 22 Apr 2020 09:20 PM PDT  Congress delivered a nearly $500 billion infusion of coronavirus spending Thursday, rushing new relief to employers and hospitals buckling under the strain of a pandemic that has claimed almost 50,000 American lives and one in six U.S. jobs. The measure passed almost unanimously, but the lopsided tally belies a potentially bumpier path ahead as battle lines are being formed for much more ambitious future legislation that may prove far more difficult to maneuver through Congress. President Donald Trump is scheduled to sign the bill during a White House ceremony Friday.
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| Taliban reject Afghan ceasefire offer during Ramadan Posted: 24 Apr 2020 01:32 AM PDT  The Taliban have dismissed a government call for a Ramadan ceasefire in Afghanistan, saying a truce is "not rational" as they ramp up attacks on government forces. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani appealed to the militants to lay down their arms for the Islamic holy month that began Friday, as the country battles the growing coronavirus pandemic.
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| France coronavirus death toll close to Spain's, still world's fourth highest Posted: 22 Apr 2020 11:10 AM PDT  The number of people who have died from coronavirus infection in France increased by 544 to 21,340 on Wednesday, the fourth-highest casualty tally in the world, but trailing just a few hundred behind Spain, which has a death toll of 21,717. In Spain, the increase in the number of deaths has been close to 2% for four days. The United States has reported 45,241 coronavirus deaths, Italy 25,085, and worldwide more than 178,500 people have died, according to a Reuters tally.
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