| Trump says coronavirus will 'go away without a vaccine' Posted: 08 May 2020 12:51 PM PDT  President Trump on Friday broke with health experts, telling reporters that the coronavirus will "go away without a vaccine."
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| Neighbor of father and son arrested in Ahmaud Arbery killing is also under investigation Posted: 08 May 2020 11:07 AM PDT  The investigation into the fatal shooting in Brunswick, Georgia, will also look at a neighbor of suspects Gregory and Travis McMichael who recorded video of the incident, authorities said.
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| Missing Idaho kids' uncle died of blood clot in Arizona Posted: 08 May 2020 03:14 PM PDT  A pulmonary blood clot killed the brother of an Idaho woman who's facing charges in the disappearance of her children — a case that attracted worldwide attention with revelations of her doomsday beliefs and connection to three mysterious deaths. Autopsy and toxicology reports were released Friday for Alex Cox, who died in Arizona in December. In July, Cox fatally shot his sister's estranged husband, Charles Vallow, in what he said was self-defense.
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| 11 Secret Service employees infected with coronavirus, 60 in self-quarantine Posted: 09 May 2020 06:53 AM PDT  Eleven U.S. Secret Service employees have tested positive for coronavirus and 60 staffers are in self quarantine.
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| Trump says he watched video of Ahmaud Arbery killing: “Very, very disturbing" Posted: 08 May 2020 10:16 AM PDT  President Trump said Friday he had watched the video of Ahmaud Arbery being shot and found it "very disturbing" and "heartbreaking," but said he was confident that the Georgia legal system would come down on the side of justice.
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| Bomb kills six soldiers in SW Pakistan Posted: 08 May 2020 12:28 PM PDT  An improvised explosive device hit a Pakistani security forces vehicle in the restive southwestern province of Balochistan on Friday, killing six soldiers and wounding one other, the army said. The incident took place in the treacherous highlands of Kech district, some 14 kilometres (eight miles) from the Pakistan-Iran border, where soldiers from the paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) were on a routine patrol.
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| Indian and Chinese troops 'clash on border' in Sikkim Posted: 10 May 2020 04:41 AM PDT  Four Indian soldiers and seven Chinese soldiers are reportedly injured in a border fist fight.
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| Venezuela says troops seize abandoned Colombian combat boats, weapons Posted: 09 May 2020 11:08 AM PDT  Venezuela's military said it seized three abandoned Colombian light combat vessels that soldiers found on Saturday while patrolling the Orinoco river, several days after the government accused its neighbor of aiding a failed invasion. In a statement, the Defense Ministry said the boats were equipped with machine guns and ammunition, but had no crew, adding they were discovered as part of a nationwide operation to guarantee Venezuela's "freedom and sovereignty." According to a preliminary investigation the boats were dragged away by strong river currents, Colombia's Navy said in a statement.
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| World Health Organisation denies China influence allegations Posted: 10 May 2020 08:30 AM PDT  The World Health Organization on Sunday denied allegations that the president of China asked it to delay issuing a global warning about the Covid-19 virus amid an intensifying war of words between Beijing and Washington over the handling of the pandemic. Der Speigel on Friday cited sources in Germany's Federal Intelligence Service (BND) saying that Xi Jinping, China's head of state, had asked Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the World Health Organisation, to withhold information about human-to-human transmission and delay sounding a global alarm. The WHO said in a statement that the report was "unfounded and untrue." "Dr Tedros and President Xi did not speak on 21 January and they have never spoken by telephone. Such inaccurate reports distract and detract from WHO's and the world's efforts to end the COVID-19 pandemic," it said in a statement. China publicly confirmed human-to-human transmission of the novel coronavirus on 20 January. Der Speigel did not explain why president Xi would ask Dr Tedros to suppress information China had already released. The WHO declared the outbreak had become a pandemic on March 12. The same report said the BND believed Donald Trump had fabricated a claim that the virus escaped from a Wuhan research laboratory as a "diversion." Mr Trump and Mike Pompeo, the US Secretary of State, have claimed to have seen intelligence and "enormous evidence" that the Wuhan lab was responsible for the pandemic. They have not made the alleged evidence public. Most scientists believe the virus jumped from bats to humans via an animal host at a food market in Wuhan. No Western intelligence agency has said there is evidence that the virus escaped from a lab, although they have expressed concern over a lack of transparency in China's response. China on Sunday issued a lengthy rebuttal of what it said were 24 "preposterous allegations" by some leading U.S. politicians over its handling of the new coronavirus outbreak. The document included references to media reports that there were infections in America before the outbreak in Wuhan, a claim for which there is no evidence. China has also been accused of pressuring the European Union to delay and change a report that accused China or spreading disinformation about the virus. Donald Trump suspended US funding for the WHO on April 15 over what he called its "mismanagement" of the epidemic and alleged influence by China.
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| Trump calls Ahmaud Arbery killing 'very disturbing' but says he trusts Georgia justice Posted: 08 May 2020 10:15 AM PDT  President Trump said he had watched the video of Ahmaud Arbery being shot and found it "heartbreaking," but he has confidence in the Georgia legal system.
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| Brother of Lori Vallow died of natural causes, medical examiner says Posted: 09 May 2020 01:25 PM PDT  An attorney for Vallow's niece said the medical examiner's report proves Alex Cox's death "had no sinister aspect."
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| Ted Cruz says San Antonio's decision to label the term 'Chinese virus' as hate speech is 'nuts' Posted: 09 May 2020 08:33 AM PDT  The council also encouraged residents to report antisemitic and racist incidents that have been on the rise since the pandemic began.
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| Coronavirus hospitalizations in New York drop, but deaths remain 'infuriatingly constant' Posted: 09 May 2020 10:14 AM PDT  New York state, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States, recorded 572 new coronavirus hospitalizations Friday, its lowest daily rise since March. Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) called the total "welcome news," but he was far more somber when it came to the number of daily deaths in his state.While hospitalizations have continuously fallen to essentially the point they were when New York first went into lockdown, the number of deaths has remained flat in recent days. Cuomo said Saturday that the latest daily toll was 226, a figure he described as "infuriatingly constant."> The number of new coronavirus cases per day in New York has dropped, but the number of deaths remains "infuriatingly constant," Gov. Cuomo says https://t.co/t5NBe35MU3 pic.twitter.com/YfGBhLF4rQ> > -- CBS News (@CBSNews) May 9, 2020He also noted that poor and minority communities are "suffering most" from the epidemic, something the state is focusing on. > Of the 21 New York zip codes with the most new COVID-19 hospitalizations, 20 have greater than average black and/or Latino populations, Gov. Cuomo says https://t.co/t5NBe35MU3 pic.twitter.com/GHhtM1mjXC> > -- CBS News (@CBSNews) May 9, 2020More stories from theweek.com The dark decade ahead 5 brutally funny cartoons about Trump's coronavirus strategy 7 scathing cartoons about America's rush to reopen
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| Vanessa Bryant suing Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department over deputies allegedly sharing photos of the helicopter crash that killed her husband Kobe and daughter Gianna Posted: 08 May 2020 11:18 PM PDT  "This is an unspeakable violation of human decency, respect, and of the privacy rights of the victims and their families," Bryant's attorney said.
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| Unusual Mother's Day weather: Polar vortex brings record cold temps, snow to the eastern US Posted: 09 May 2020 11:21 AM PDT  Mother's Day will bring Arctic blasts, wintry conditions and records low temperatures for two-thirds of the US. Meanwhile, a heat wave will hit Alaska
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| Court halts ban on mass gatherings at Kentucky churches Posted: 08 May 2020 09:55 PM PDT  A federal court halted the Kentucky governor's temporary ban on mass gatherings from applying to in-person religious services, clearing the way for Sunday church services. U.S. District Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove on Friday issued a temporary restraining order enjoining Gov. Andy Beshear's administration from enforcing the ban on mass gatherings at "any in-person religious service which adheres to applicable social distancing and hygiene guidelines."
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| South Dakota Governor Demands Tribe Leaders Remove Checkpoints Set Up to Prevent the Spread of COVID-19 Posted: 09 May 2020 03:07 PM PDT  One leader says there's only one positive case of coronavirus on his reservation because of the checkpoints
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| How one doctor is fighting coronavirus — and Trump Posted: 08 May 2020 03:21 PM PDT  A 37-year-old doctor and Texas native is running to replace a pro-Trump conservative in the House of Representatives. He is one of several doctors who are running for Congress and seeking to protect Obamacare.
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| Woman heartbroken by Smithfield Foods' response to grandfather's death from coronavirus Posted: 08 May 2020 01:42 PM PDT  "I want you to know he died in the hospital alone, isolated, and scared," she wrote in an Instagram message to Smithfield Foods.
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| Elon Musk says Tesla will 'immediately' leave California after coronavirus shutdowns forced the company to close its main car factory Posted: 09 May 2020 10:34 AM PDT  In a tweet Saturday morning, Tesla's chief executive said it would file a lawsuit against county officials over not being able to run its factory.
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| No warning, no escape as deadly gas swept through an Indian village Posted: 08 May 2020 09:58 AM PDT  When gas began leaking from a nearby chemical factory and drifting towards his house in southern India, there were no warnings and no alarms, welder Elamanchili Venkatesh said. Venkatesh, who staggered outside blindly, said he coughed up blood before losing consciousness.
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| Pakistanis crowd markets as virus lockdown eased Posted: 09 May 2020 08:16 AM PDT  Pakistanis crowded markets on Saturday after a nationwide coronavirus lockdown was eased, despite the country declaring its second highest daily infection toll. Prime Minister Imran Khan has allowed businesses to reopen in phases from the weekend, citing the economic havoc the virus restrictions have wreaked on the improvised nation. In the garrison city of Rawalpindi, thousands of shoppers were preparing for Eid, which follows the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, with many flouting social distancing rules and advice to wear masks.
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| China's Wuhan reports first virus infection in over a month Posted: 10 May 2020 05:41 AM PDT  China on Sunday reported the first case of coronavirus in over a month in Wuhan, the city where the outbreak first started in December last year. China's National Health Commission also reported the first double-digit increase in countrywide cases in nearly 10 days, saying 14 new infections had been confirmed. The virus first emerged in Wuhan, a major industrial and transport city in central China, in December.
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| Man who recorded Ahmaud Arbery's shooting on video was just a witness, his lawyer says Posted: 09 May 2020 03:17 PM PDT  The lawyer for William "Roddie" Bryan, the Georgia man who recorded video of two white men shooting Ahmaud Arbery, says his client is not a vigilante.
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| Under Trump, American exceptionalism means poverty, misery and death Posted: 09 May 2020 10:00 PM PDT  No other advanced nation denies healthcare and work protections, or loosens lockdown while fatalities mountNo other nation has endured as much death from Covid-19 nor nearly as a high a death rate as has the United States.With 4.25% of the world population, America has the tragic distinction of accounting for about 30% of pandemic deaths so far.And it is the only advanced nation where the death rate is still climbing. Three thousand deaths per day are anticipated by 1 June.No other nation has loosened lockdowns and other social-distancing measures while deaths are increasing, as the US is now doing.No other advanced nation was as unprepared for the pandemic as was the US.We now know Donald Trump and his administration were told by public health experts in mid-January that immediate action was required to stop the spread of Covid-19. But according to Dr Anthony Fauci, "there was a lot of pushback". Trump didn't act until 16 March.> Around the world, governments are providing generous income support. Not in the USEpidemiologists estimate 90% of the deaths in the US from the first wave of Covid-19 might have been prevented had social distancing policies been put into effect two weeks earlier, on 2 March.No nation other than the US has left it to subordinate units of government – states and cities – to buy ventilators and personal protective equipment. In no other nation have such sub-governments been forced to bid against each another.In no other nation have experts in public health and emergency preparedness been pushed aside and replaced by political cronies like Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who in turn has been advised by Trump donors and Fox News celebrities.In no other advanced nation has Covid-19 forced so many average citizens into poverty so quickly. The Urban Institute reports that more than 30% of American adults have had to reduce their spending on food.Elsewhere around the world, governments are providing generous income support. Not in the US.At best, Americans have received one-time checks for $1,200, about a week's worth of rent, groceries and utilities. Few are collecting unemployment benefits because unemployment offices are overwhelmed with claims.Congress's "payroll protection program" has been a mess. Because funds have been distributed through financial institutions, banks have raked off money for themselves and rewarded their favored customers. Of the $350bn originally intended for small businesses, $243.4m has gone to large, publicly held companies.Meanwhile, the treasury and the Fed are bailing out big corporations from the debts they accumulated in recent years to buy back their shares of stock.Why is America so different from other advanced nations facing the same coronavirus threat? Why has everything gone so tragically wrong?Some of it is due to Trump and his hapless and corrupt collection of grifters, buffoons, sycophants, lobbyists and relatives.But there are also deeper roots.> American workers are far less unionized than workers in other advanced economiesThe coronavirus has been especially potent in the US because America is the only industrialized nation lacking universal healthcare. Many families have been reluctant to see doctors or check into emergency rooms for fear of racking up large bills.America is also the only one of 22 advanced nations failing to give all workers some form of paid sick leave. As a result, many American workers have remained on the job when they should have been home.Adding to this is the skimpiness of unemployment benefits in America – providing less support in the first year of unemployment than those in any other advanced country.American workplaces are also more dangerous. Even before Covid-19 ripped through meatpackers and warehouses, fatality rates were higher among American workers than European.Even before the pandemic robbed Americans of their jobs and incomes, average wage growth in the US had lagged behind average wage growth in most other advanced countries. Since 1980, American workers' share of total national income has declined more than in any other rich nation.In other nations, unions have long pushed for safer working conditions and higher wages. But American workers are far less unionized than workers in other advanced economies. Only 6.4% of private-sector workers in America belong to a union, compared with more than 26% in Canada, 37% in Italy, 67% in Sweden, and 25% in Britain.So who and what's to blame for the worst avoidable loss of life in American history?Partly, Donald Trump's malfeasance.But the calamity is also due to America's longer-term failure to provide its people the basic support they need. * Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley and the author of Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few and The Common Good. His new book, The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It, is out now. He is a columnist for Guardian US
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| Sean Hannity on the Obama administration's big lie Posted: 09 May 2020 05:18 PM PDT  Sean Hannity reacts on 'Watters' World' to the Obama administration being caught lying about Russia collusion.
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| US lawmakers blast five large corporations for taking $50 million meant for small businesses. Only one is returning the money. Posted: 09 May 2020 09:34 AM PDT  Collectively, the five companies singled out by a House committee took $50 million in small business loans through the Paycheck Protection Program.
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| Coronavirus spread accelerates again in Germany Posted: 09 May 2020 07:03 PM PDT  New coronavirus infections are accelerating again in Germany just days after its leaders loosened social restrictions, raising concerns that the pandemic could once again slip out of control. The Robert Koch Institute for disease control said in a daily bulletin the number of people each sick person now infects - known as the reproduction rate, or R - had risen to 1.1. Chancellor Angela Merkel, bowing to pressure from leaders of Germany's 16 federal states to restart social life and revive the economy, announced on Wednesday measures that included more shop openings and a gradual return to school.
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| NW Syria clashes kill 22 in highest toll since truce: monitor Posted: 10 May 2020 03:57 AM PDT  Clashes in northwest Syria killed 22 regime fighters and jihadists Sunday in the highest such death toll since the start of a two-month-old ceasefire there, a monitor said. A truce since March 6 had largely stemmed fighting in Syria's last major rebel bastion of Idlib after a months-long regime assault that killed hundreds of civilians and forced almost a million to flee. "It's the highest death toll for fighters since the truce came into force," said Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman, who relies on sources inside Syria.
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| Postcard from Jerusalem: My hunt for hummus after lockdown Posted: 09 May 2020 09:22 AM PDT  Monday After many weeks of lockdown, Israel has reopened for business. I treat myself with a trip to the big supermarket to stock up on hummus. I pass a park in central Jerusalem which is rammed with families and youngsters having picnics. I purchase a small mountain of hummus and head home, counting six police patrols who are looking to fine people who aren't wearing face masks. I tuck in. It has the taste and texture of glue. As a relative new-comer here, I wonder where the good hummus can be found in Israel. Tuesday "Why is the hummus in the supermarkets so bad?" I ask a friend in Jerusalem. "No one buys that stuff," he chortles. "Make your own or get takeaway from the restaurants." I opt for the former, then head to the newly opened hardware shop, where I inquire about a blender. "How much is this?"I ask in broken Hebrew. "130 shekels," says the shopkeeper. "130 shekels!" I think to myself, "you'll not see a penny from me." I buy the blender anyway, and an umbrella as it has just started raining for the first time in weeks. It occurs to me that the hardware shop is a little cramped for social distancing, but if any of the customers inside had the virus then Israel's phone surveillance system would probably have picked it up. Wednesday Strolling through Jerusalem, I notice that you can divide the population into three broad groups based on the type of face mask they wear. There are the fashionistas, who wear stylish black masks with brand names emblazoned on them. There are the no-fuss practical types like me, who got a straightforward disposable surgical mask. And then there are the panic-stricken folks decked out in full-face shields that look like the helmets worn by riot policemen. In fact, there is a fourth group - people who don't wear face masks at all. And their numbers are growing. Thursday A big story has broken about the British government's shipment of PPE gowns from Turkey - as the Telegraph sensationally revealed, they're not fit for purpose. I'm unable to travel to Turkey to track down the businessman who sold the dodgy PPE as virtually all air travel in the Middle East is suspended. Instead, I make contact with a local Turkish reporter and we work together to find out as much as we can about Mehmet Duzen, the mysterious t-shirt-salesman-turned-PPE-baron at the heart of the scandal. Friday Israel shuts down on Friday afternoons for Shabbat, the Jewish sabbath. I nip to the supermarket to pick up some beer. A grumpy security guard points a gun-like thermometer at my forehead. It appears I do not have coronavirus - hurrah! Israelis are supposed to wear latex gloves as well as face masks in public, and while shopping I discover this has an unexpected benefit - it makes it very easy to unstick plastic bags at the checkout till. I help an old lady peel off a few bags and head home, picking up some very expensive hummus from a restaurant on the way. Israel's eateries have reopened, but only for deliveries and collections. I tear off the lid, plunge a breadstick into the creamy mixtures and take a bite. It is the finest hummus ever to pass my lips. I am in hummus heaven, at last. Saturday It's my day off. There is stony silence in Jerusalem, the streets utterly deserted, as always, on Shabbat. I reflect on how the Jewish state is no stranger to coronavirus lockdown as it has been practising for it once a week for the past 72 years. Later today I'm off for a run, but a little confused by the rules on face masks. I can't find any guidance on whether you're supposed to wear them while exercising, and neither do my Israeli friends. Can I even breathe properly while running in a face mask? It is a dilemma. Did I decide to live dangerously, risk a fine, and go without? Well, let's say I'm not foolish enough to incriminate myself in my own newspaper - the head of the Jerusalem police force is a reader, after all.
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| White men accused of killing Ahmaud Arbery won't face Georgia hate crime charges. Here's why. Posted: 08 May 2020 01:16 PM PDT  Gregory and Travis McMichael, who are accused of fatally shooting Ahmaud Arbery, a black man, will not face hate crime charges. Here's why.
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| Donald Trump says US would send an army, not two mercenaries, to overthrow Venezuela's Maduro Posted: 08 May 2020 12:19 PM PDT  Donald Trump has denied the US was behind a failed coup attempt in Venezuela, saying he would send an entire army if he wanted to invade the country.Venezuela president Nicolas Maduro says the president is the "direct chief" of the invasion, and aired an American ex-special forces soldier on state television apparently confessing to the plot.
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| ‘You can’t recover from death’: Argentina’s Covid-19 response has been the opposite of Brazil’s Posted: 10 May 2020 02:00 AM PDT  Argentina closed swiftly, while Brazil downplayed the crisis. The difference is reflected in their pandemic figures When Alberto Fernández took office as Argentina's president in December, his inauguration was boycotted by Brazil's hard-right leader, who dismissed Fernández and his vice-president, the two-time former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, as "leftwing bandits".For Jair Bolsonaro, Argentina's new Peronist government represented a throwback to the "pink tide" of Latin American leaders which coincided with Fernández de Kirchner's time in office from 2007 to 2015. "Argentina is starting to head in the direction of Venezuela," Bolsonaro predicted.Five months on, it is Brazil that is heading in the direction of a humanitarian emergency, amid a devastating coronavirus outbreak propelled by Bolsonaro's dismissive attitude towards the pandemic.The Brazilian president has downplayed the crisis as media "hysteria" and repeatedly rejected his own government's social distancing recommendations, even as the death toll has soared.In contrast, Argentina swiftly imposed a national lockdown, and appears to have successfully flattened the curve of contagion."You can recover from a drop in the GDP," Fernández has said about his decision to implement an early lockdown. "But you can't recover from death."With only 5,611 cases and 293 deaths so far, against Brazil's nearly 136,000 cases and over 9,100 deaths, even diehard Bolsonaro supporters are now looking towards their southern neighbour with an envious eye.The mayor of the crisis-stricken Brazilian city of Manaus, Arthur Virgílio, looked on in horror as Fernández and his deputy swept into power in December. "[They represent] everything that we deplore so much in the world today," the 74-year-old rightwinger told the Guardian. Now, Virgílio is looking towards Argentina in admiration. "Results are results," the mayor said, praising Fernández for taking "the only wise choice any country can take … which is determined social isolation". Fifty days into its tight lockdown, Argentina feels confident enough to start relaxing social distancing rules. "We have slowed the duplication period of cases to 25 days," the presidential cabinet chief, Santiago Cafiero, told the Guardian. "We've managed to flatten the curve, unlike other countries that didn't lock down in time."On Friday, Fernández announced the relaxation of lockdown measures in most of Argentina except the densely populated Buenos Aires metropolitan area, where 86% of cases are concentrated.In the rest of the country, a number of industrial and commercial activities will be reopened but public transport will only be available for essential workers and firms will have to provide private transport for their own employees. "The duplication period is much faster in the city of Buenos Aires: only 18.8 days," admitted Cafiero – compared to an average of 25.1 days in the rest of the country.The rate of spread is even higher in the city's large "villas" or slums, where it is estimated more than 250,000 people live. The worst affected is Villa 31 where some 45,000 people inhabit makeshift homes with deficient water services.Cases there jumped from just a handful to 219 when the "villa" was left without water for some 10 days by a water plant failure that was only resolved in recent days. "What's happening in Villa 31 is a tragedy," said Ofelia Fernández, (no relation of the president), the city's youngest legislator at 20 years old. "When a whole family is crammed in a single room, no amount of hand-washing will slow the spread. There's no way to foresee a happy ending for Villa 31." All commercial activity, with the exception of grocery stores, pharmacies and supermarkets, has been frozen since 20 March, but the city could see a gradual relaxation of the lockdown starting Monday, when Argentina will enter a new phase. Fernández is expected to announce the resumption of activities for some industries such as motor car and clothing factories starting Monday. But bars and restaurants will remain closed, except for deliveries and takeaways, as will schools, universities and entertainment venues. The tight coordination between the central government, governors and mayors in Argentina over lockdown measures stands in sharp contrast to the battles and confrontations in Brazil where Bolsonaro sacked his health minister and clashed with regional governors.But the differences between the two country's experiences of the pandemic are not just down to the contrasting personalities of their presidents, said the Argentinian academic Andrés Malamud, a senior research fellow at the University of Lisbon.Bolsonaro split with the party that brought him to power, whereas Fernández is a product of one of Latin America's most enduring and powerful national movements."Fernández can rely on Argentina's disciplined Peronist party, which has historically been on the side of the most disenfranchised, so informal workers, who make up 49% of the workforce, trust Fernández to provide solutions. Bolsonaro instead is an independent with no party to fall back on. Argentina's governors are also dependent on the fiscal largesse of the federal government, so they fell in line quickly with the nationwide lockdown," said Malamud. Argentina still faces many challenges, chiefly economic: inflation is still around a yearly 50% and the renegotiation of the country's sizable foreign debt is a race against the clock, with the possibility of a technical default soon if a current round of negotiations are not successful. With the country's finances obviously on his mind, Fernández on Thursday tweeted a picture of himself confirming via teleconference a $1.8bn loan from the Inter-American Development Bank. For now at least, the president has said he plans to keep prioritizing saving lives over reviving the economy."I'd rather a factory was empty because its workers are in quarantine, and not because they're ill or dead," Fernández said.
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| The CDC warned against a 'poorly designed' plan to implement temperature screenings at 20 US airports. The White House is reportedly moving forward with it anyway. Posted: 09 May 2020 10:39 AM PDT  The White House reportedly plans to begin temperature checks in 20 airports despite a CDC warning they are a "poorly designed control" strategy.
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| Lockdown Mutiny Brews in California After Guv Blames Nail Salon for Spreading COVID-19 Posted: 09 May 2020 12:00 PM PDT  On Thursday, the Professional Beauty Federation of California published a press release to the "Hot Topics" section of their website. It was titled: "Time to Sue Governor Newsom." The release came in response to Gov. Gavin Newsom's announcement that the following morning, California would officially enter "Phase Two" of the "Safer at Home" order. Select businesses, from florists to clothing retailers to toy stores, would be able to resume operations in a limited capacity. But absent from the list of acceptable businesses: beauty salons. Newsom placed businesses like nail salons and barbershops in "Phase Three"—a stage he believes to be "months, not weeks" away. "This whole thing spread in the state of California—the first community spread—was in a nail salon," Newsom said in a press conference last week, without providing details about the date or location of the case. "Many of the practices that you would otherwise expect of a modification were already in play in many of these salons, with people that had procedure masks on, were using gloves, and were advancing higher levels of sanitation."The news has thrust nail salons onto the frontline of a growing coronavirus revolt in California, a battle being waged in many more American cities, like Dallas, where hairdresser Shelley Luther became a star of the anti-lockdown movement when she opted to go to jail rather than comply with an order to close her hair salon. Anti-Lockdown Protesters Are Now Facing Down Cops Outside of BarsOn Monday morning, the Professional Beauty Federation of California will file a lawsuit in federal court demanding a regulated reopening process of their salons. "We were 100 percent behind the lockdown, so that we would not overwhelm our hospitals," the group's legal counsel Fred Jones said in an interview with The Daily Beast. "However, after two months of the lockdown, in which, by Gov. Newsom's own admission, we have succeeded—we have checked the mark, we have flattened the curve—we were anticipating that the governor would allow for gradual reopenings of our beauty salons under strict new guidelines."Their argument, Jones said, hinges on the fact that, without regulated reopening, stylists will be forced underground to meet financial ends, resulting in a potentially more dangerous risk."A lot of our stylists are on the brink of starvation in order to make their leases and make ends meet," Jones said. "So you have a volatile combination of desperate clients and desperate stylists. We know that will lead to thousands of our stylists going underground and moving kitchen to kitchen and house to house. That's reality. Nobody can argue that. So the real question is: how do you stop that from happening if you're the governor? You can't."He suggested a gradual and controlled reopening would be safer than "stylists going house to house and spreading more than beauty."Unmasked Protesters Storm Huntington Beach After California Governor's ClosureSome salons statewide have already opened, defying the statewide order, like an Orange County nail spa owner who has vowed to stay open despite being handed a citation by local police, who ordered her to appear in court in July. "I have to do what I have to do. I'm fighting to provide for my children and myself and my family," another salon owner, Breann Curtis, of The Clip Cage barbershop in Auburn, California, told Fox40 about her decision to reopen. "It's very hard. I'm pregnant. I have children.""Just going into debt every single day," added Tisha Fernhoff, who owns The Beauty Bar Salon in the same Auburn shopping center. "How much longer am I supposed to just go down the rabbit hole before I just throw in the towel and go back to work?"According to Jones, the California State Board of Barbering and Cosmetology—which issues all 623,442 beauty licenses in the state—has already drafted a protocol for how salons could reopen under the current conditions. He claimed Newsom had blocked the plan from distribution, to avoid mixed messaging. (Newsom's office didn't respond to a request for comment and a spokesperson for the Board of Barbering and Cosmetology said their draft protocols "haven't been published because they are not finished.")"We want him to release the plan so that our professionals can start stocking up," Jones said. "We know we'll need masks. Will shields be required for these services? They probably will."If such a plan was to go into effect, Jones said, salons would use personal protective equipment widely. They would stagger appointments to avoid crowded waiting rooms, spread out work stations and shift schedules, implement a touchless pay system, and remove anything in the waiting rooms that could carry contagion. "So, sorry no more magazines and newspapers for our clientele," Jones said. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends maintaining a distance of six feet from other people—a practice that would be all but impossible in salon settings. Dr. Birx Says What Trump Would Not About ProtestersThere are 53,694 licensed beauty salons in California, representing 313,734 stylists or cosmetologists, 34,093 barbers, 90,392 estheticians, 1,679 electrologists, and 129,802 manicurists, according to the State Board of Barbering and Cosmetology. All of these workers, Jones said, have to complete between 350 and 1600 hours of formal education before acquiring their license, including training in sanitization. Jones emphasized that the lawsuit stemmed from financial desperation, a sentiment shared across the country. The Labor Department announced Friday that the economy lost over 20.5 million jobs in April alone, putting the national unemployment rate at its highest since the Great Depression: 14.7 percent. But the devastation has hit the beauty sector differently than many industries. Over 80 percent of salon workers are independent contractors, meaning each stylist represents their own business. By extension, many salon owners are basically landlords, "whose income relies on those booth owners," Jones said. As a result, most salon workers qualify for unemployment benefits under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, signed by Trump in March—although the program is riddled with loopholes, has frequently run out of money, and may not cover their entire income, which heavily relies on tips. It is salon owners who stand to gain the most from the lawsuit. "Freelance workers do benefit on unemployment benefits," Jones said. "But most of those Paycheck Protection Program reimbursements are based on your payments. If you're a salon owner, you don't have a payroll. Those stylists are their own proprietors."On Friday, Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Ed Markey (D-MA), and Kamala Harris (D-CA) introduced legislation to give a majority of Americans $2,000 a month throughout the pandemic. Asked whether the bill could provide financial relief to salon workers, while allowing them to maintain social distancing, Jones seemed doubtful that it would pass. "It's the proverbial 'check is in the mail' promise," he said. "When you're dealing with true economic devastation, let me tell you, most of our licensees will not be banking on a divided Congress and a White House that is also divided. While Washington fiddles, our stylists are burning." Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. 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| Mike Rowe: I have a front row seat to the greatest self-inflicted economic disaster in history Posted: 09 May 2020 05:45 PM PDT  TV host Mike Rowe reacts to the 'unintended consequences' of applying one safety standard to the entire country for COVID-19.
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| Coronavirus: China offers to help North Korea fight pandemic Posted: 09 May 2020 06:12 AM PDT  President Xi Jinping expresses concern about the threat to its neighbour, and offers to help.
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| What we know about community where Ahmaud Arbery was shot: 911 caller reported 'black guy' on property Posted: 09 May 2020 04:29 AM PDT  Local officials say the community is shocked that racism could have fueled the shooting of Ahmaud Arbery.
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| Warship from Maldives with virus evacuees arrives in India Posted: 10 May 2020 12:14 AM PDT  A navy ship carrying evacuees from the Maldives arrived in India Sunday as part of a massive effort to bring home hundreds of thousands of nationals stranded overseas due to the coronavirus lockdown. Workers and students were unable to return home after India banned all incoming international flights in late March as part of the world's biggest lockdown to combat the spread of the deadly infectious disease. It followed the arrival of 326 Indians from London early Sunday at Mumbai's international airport.
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| Taliban say they don't have missing US contractor Posted: 09 May 2020 09:26 PM PDT  Taliban leaders searched their ranks, including in the much-feared Haqqani network, and on Sunday told The Associated Press they are not holding Mark R. Frerichs, a Navy veteran turned contractor who disappeared in Afghanistan in late January. "We don't have any information about the missing American," Sohail Shaheen, the Taliban's political spokesman, told the AP. A second Taliban official familiar with the talks with the United States said "formally and informally" the Taliban have notified U.S. officials they are not holding Frerichs.
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| Three key U.S. coronavirus officials in self-quarantine after COVID-19 exposure Posted: 08 May 2020 09:38 PM PDT  Anthony Fauci, a high-profile member of the White House coronavirus response team, is considered to be at relatively low risk based on the degree of his exposure, according to a representative for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Fauci, the 79-year-old director of that institute, has tested negative for COVID-19 and he will continue to be tested regularly, the official said in an emailed statement. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), "will be teleworking for the next two weeks" after a "low-risk exposure" on Wednesday to a person at the White House who has the disease, the CDC said in a statement.
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| Seoul officials ordered all bars and nightclubs closed after as many as 40 new COVID-19 cases were linked to them Posted: 09 May 2020 02:07 PM PDT  As of Saturday, South Korean officials said they were tracking down more than 7,000 people who had visited five nightclubs in the region.
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| Meet the Ohio health expert who has a fan club — and Republicans trying to stop her Posted: 09 May 2020 02:04 AM PDT  Some Buckeyes are not comfortable being told by a "woman in power" to quarantine, one expert said.
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| Office of Special Counsel Blocks Removal of HHS Whistleblower to Investigate Claim of ‘Political Retaliation’ Posted: 08 May 2020 12:48 PM PDT  Federal agency the Office of Special Counsel on Friday stayed the removal of a whistleblower who alleged he was fired over resistance to promote hydroxychloroquine in the effort to contain the coronavirus pandemic.The Office of Special Counsel said there were "reasonable grounds" to believe Dr. Rick Bright, head of the biomedical research arm (BARDA) of the Department of Health and Human Services, was ousted on political grounds.Bright's lawyers said the Office "advised that in light of this determination, it would contact the Department of Health and Human Services ('HHS') to request that it stay Dr. Bright's removal as Director of BARDA for 45 days to allow OSC sufficient time to complete its investigation of Bright's allegations."HHS officials in April cast doubt on Bright's claim of political retaliation, saying that Bright had in fact promoted hydroxychloroquine."If Bright opposed hydroxychloroquine, he certainly didn't make that clear from his email — quite the opposite," an HHS official told Reuters."As it relates to chloroquine, it was Dr. Bright who requested an Emergency Use Authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for donations of chloroquine that Bayer and Sandoz recently made to the Strategic National Stockpile for use on COVID-19 patients," HHS spokeswoman Caitlin Oakley said in April.Bright told reporters on Tuesday that the Trump administration "was rushing blindly into a potentially dangerous situation" by ordering 3 million chloroquine pills from Bayer produced in India and Pakistan.While hydroxychloroquine was initially touted by elected officials including President Trump and New York governor Andrew Cuomo as a possible treatment for coronavirus, the FDA has cautioned medical professionals regarding the potential for serious side effects.
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