| Trump disbanding coronavirus task force despite growing number of U.S. cases Posted: 05 May 2020 01:01 PM PDT  President Trump is looking to wind down the White House coronavirus task force in the coming weeks despite the fact that the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. continues to rise.
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| Asia virus latest: Back to school in Wuhan; China hits back at US in lab leak row Posted: 06 May 2020 04:24 AM PDT  Chinese youngsters in Wuhan, where the coronavirus first emerged, filed back to class, wearing masks and walking in single file past thermal scanners. "School is finally reopening!" posted one user on Weibo, China's Twitter-like short messaging platform. China hit back at US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over his claims that the coronavirus originated in a lab in Wuhan, saying he "doesn't have any" evidence.
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| Philippine telecoms body orders TV broadcaster that irked Duterte to shut Posted: 05 May 2020 10:15 AM PDT  Duterte has repeatedly threatened to block the renewal of ABS-CBN's franchise, after the channel refused to air his 2016 presidential campaign commercials.
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| British Scientist Who Spearheaded National Lockdown Quits After Meeting With Married Lover Posted: 05 May 2020 12:55 PM PDT  The British scientist known colloquially as "Professor Lockdown," who pushed Prime Minister Boris Johnson to impose a nationwide lockdown, resigned on Tuesday after he defied social distancing guidelines to have a rendezvous with his married lover in his London home.Professor Neil Ferguson, who had been praised for his expertise and guidance during the U.K.'s coronavirus outbreak, allowed 38-year-old Antonia Staats—who is married with two children—into his home at the same time he was publicly advising everyone else to adhere to strict guidelines banning couples from seeing each other if they didn't live together. Ferguson, who is the head of the Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at Imperial College London, had delivered stark warnings to Downing Street about how many people could die of the coronavirus if the government did not impose restrictions. His renowned work also reportedly informed government responses to coronavirus in the United States, France, and Germany."I accept I made an error of judgment and took the wrong course of action," Ferguson told The Telegraph, which first reported on Ferguson's ouster. "I have therefore stepped back from my involvement in SAGE [the government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies]. I deeply regret any undermining of the clear messages around the continued need for social distancing to control this devastating epidemic. The government guidance is unequivocal, and is there to protect all of us."The scientist's lover reportedly made several trips to his home in March and April even though she admitted to her friends that her husband was experiencing symptoms of the coronavirus. Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jenny Harries and Health Secretary Matt Hancock informed the public one week before the lovers' first reunion on March 30 that "if the two halves of a couple are currently in separate households, ideally they should stay in those households." According to The Telegraph, Staat and her husband are in an open marriage and Staat did not believe their actions to be hypocritical because she considers the households to be one.Ferguson has for years modeled the spread of major pathogen outbreaks such as swine flu and Ebola. He tested positive for the coronavirus on March 19 after speaking at a Downing Street press conference two days earlier. He recently completed two weeks of self-quarantine, according to The Telegraph. "This virus is probably the one that concerns me the most of everything I've worked on," Ferguson said in a February 14 interview in the early days of the coronavirus outbreak.The scientist had been on the forefront of the coronavirus fight in the U.K., frequently appearing in interviews to praise "very intensive social distancing" measures. Ferguson heads an Imperial College team that presented a staggering report to the government that projected more than 500,000 deaths in the UK without enforced restrictions. "Scientists like him have told us we should not be doing it, so surely in his case it is a case of we have been doing as he says and he has been doing as he wants to," said British Member of Parliament Iain Duncan Smith. "He has peculiarly breached his own guidelines and for an intelligent man I find that very hard to believe. It risks undermining the government's lockdown message."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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| Biden losing edge over Trump amid virus, poll reveals Posted: 06 May 2020 04:04 AM PDT  A new poll has revealed that Joe Biden's advantage in popular support over President Trump has been eroding in recent weeks.
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| Indonesia calls for 'equal access' to coronavirus medicine for developing countries Posted: 04 May 2020 11:41 AM PDT  Indonesian President Joko Widodo called on Monday for "equal access" for developing countries to medicine to treat the new coronavirus, as global cases pass three million. "We need to fight for just and timely access to affordable COVID-19 medicine and vaccine," Widodo said in a statement. "Debt relief and debt repayment obligations from official creditors (for developing countries) need be rediverted into financing the handling of COVID-19."
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| Trump dismisses new COVID-19 death forecast: 'It's time to go back to work' Posted: 05 May 2020 09:40 AM PDT  Trump said that the death toll would be lower than projected due to mitigation despite states beginning to reopen even though they're falling short of suggested federal guidelines.
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| The head of Sweden's no-lockdown coronavirus plan said the country's heavy death toll 'came as a surprise' Posted: 06 May 2020 03:01 AM PDT  Anders Tegnell, Sweden's state epidemiologist, said on "The Daily Show" that his team didn't expect to risk lives keeping Sweden open.
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| Where's my check? Answers to common relief payment questions Posted: 05 May 2020 09:07 AM PDT  The US government has distributed about 130 million economic impact payments to taxpayers in less than 30 days. The IRS anticipates sending more than 150 million payments as part of a massive coronavirus rescue package. The distribution has had some hiccups, including an overwhelmed website, payments to deceased taxpayers and money sent to inactive accounts.
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| Virus misinformation fuels hatred against India's Muslims Posted: 05 May 2020 10:52 PM PDT  Gayur Hassan's Hindu neighbours came at night, throwing stones at his family's home in a northern Indian village and setting his workshop on fire. All because his son "liked" a social media post. The Facebook post that Hassan's 19-year-old son endorsed had denounced the targeting of India's Muslim minority since the nation of 1.3 billion went into a coronavirus lockdown in late March.
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| Body of 18-year-old missing since leaving Target in January is found Posted: 05 May 2020 06:48 AM PDT  Abdullahi "Abdi" Sharif was last seen on security video on Jan. 17 leaving the Target store at Merle Hay Mall in Des Moines where he and his sister, Ifrah, had worked for about two years.
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| Drug Smugglers May Have Started COVID-19 Outbreak Aboard Destroyer, SecDef Says Posted: 05 May 2020 02:32 PM PDT  The destroyer Kidd is the second Navy ship to deal with a coronavirus outbreak.
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| China is reportedly silencing coronavirus survivors who want answers on what went wrong with the country's early coronavirus response Posted: 04 May 2020 10:01 PM PDT  According to The New York Times, Wuhan residents who survived the virus or lost loved ones have been threatened for questioning China's response.
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| China warns Hong Kong protesters against 'stirring up trouble' Posted: 06 May 2020 12:28 AM PDT  China warned Hong Kong protesters Wednesday it would not tolerate them "stirring up trouble again" in the semi-autonomous territory that was rocked by months of pro-democracy demonstrations last year. Mass arrests of protesters and a ban on large gatherings due to the coronavirus outbreak in the financial hub have stifled the protest movement, but small demonstrations have been held in recent weeks as contagion fears ease. Hong Kong police used pepper spray to disperse protesters last Friday after a largely peaceful public holiday.
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| New York attorney general's office questioned NBC News employees on sexual harassment Posted: 05 May 2020 11:23 AM PDT  Former anchor Linda Vester and others have been called in.
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| Palestinians extend coronavirus state of emergency to June 5 Posted: 05 May 2020 01:19 AM PDT |
| Schiff: Trump Admin. Using Coronavirus Lab-Origin Story to ‘Deflect Attention’ from U.S. Failures Posted: 06 May 2020 07:58 AM PDT  Representative Adam Schiff said Tuesday that President Trump has embraced the "false narrative" that the coronavirus escaped from a Chinese lab in order to deflect from the administration's "terrible mishandling" of the pandemic."We are told that we are currently informed on the latest intelligence, so I don't know where they're getting this apart from expressing their desire, or they're withholding information from Congress," Schiff, who serves as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said during an MSNBC appearance.President Trump said Thursday that he has seen evidence that the virus escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China.When pressed for details, Trump responded, "I can't tell you that. I'm not allowed to tell you that."U.S. intelligence agencies have not made a determination as to whether the virus was naturally occurring and escaped from the lab, which advertised its research on coronaviruses in the months leading up the pandemic, but the intelligence community has concluded that the pathogen was not manmade.The intelligence community "concurs with the wide scientific consensus that the COVID-19 virus was not manmade or genetically modified," the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a statement Thursday.Secretary of State Mike Pompeo agreed Sunday that there is "enormous evidence" but agreed with the intelligence community's assessment that the virus was not engineered."I think what they're clearly trying to do is deflect attention away from the administration's terrible mishandling of this virus," said Schiff, a California Democrat.Schiff added that after espousing a "false narrative" early on that the virus is not worse than the common flu, the administration has "chosen to go after China.""Look, there's a lot to criticize China about," he added. "They should have been far more transparent about the human to human transmission, and they did conceal things."However "there's a danger in the administration either putting out theories that cannot be substantiated or deliberately provoking a fight during the middle of a pandemic," Schiff said.In December, local and national officials issued a gag order to labs in Wuhan after scientists there identified a new viral pneumonia, ordering them to halt tests, destroy samples, and conceal the news.Schiff added that the president is doing a "tremendous disservice" to the American public by preventing Dr. Fauci, the chief medical advisor to the Trump administration's coronavirus task force, from testifying to Congress about the virus.Trump said Tuesday that his administration blocked Fauci from testifying before House lawmakers about the virus due to "Trump haters" in the Democrat-led chamber."Apart and away from the glare of the president, he's concerned that Dr. Fauci will be even more candid with the country about the dangers of this virus and feel more free to contradict the false claims that the president has been making. That's a very poor reason to keep someone from Congress during a pandemic," Schiff said.
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| Trump allies fall silent amid SCOTUS financial records case Posted: 05 May 2020 07:08 AM PDT  Allies of President Trump are remaining quiet amid a Supreme Court battle over his financial records.
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| Michigan man arrested after wiping face on store clerk who told him to wear a mask, police say Posted: 05 May 2020 11:37 AM PDT  "Here, I will just use this as a mask," the suspect said as he wiped his face on the clerk's sleeve.
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| Iran news agency: Gunmen kill 3 Revolutionary Guard members Posted: 05 May 2020 09:19 AM PDT |
| Italy baffled by unexplained surge in deaths during virus crisis Posted: 04 May 2020 11:09 AM PDT  Italy recorded almost 50 percent more fatalities in March than usual, according to new official data showing that the real coronavirus death toll could be far higher than the 29,000 reported. The data were released on the day Italy eased nine weeks of confinement. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte hopes a drop in infections and a gradual return to business can help the economy start recovering from what might be its worst downturn since the 1930s.
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| High-rise 48-storey tower catches fire in UAE Posted: 05 May 2020 01:43 PM PDT  A high-rise tower caught fire on Tuesday in the United Arab Emirates. The side of the 48-floor Abbco Tower in Sharjah, which neighbours Dubai, saw flames shoot up them. Firefighters and police surrounded the tower, as did curious onlookers. Seven people were treated for minor injuries from the fire in the tower in Sharjah's Al Nahda area and taken to hospital for treatment. Authorities offered no immediate cause for the blaze.
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| Trump says he might give federal coronavirus aid to states if they comply with his political demands Posted: 05 May 2020 01:10 PM PDT  Trump has been sharply criticized for suggesting a quid pro quo between states and the federal government during a public-health crisis.
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| Hillary Clinton to Appear at $50,000 Virtual Dinner to Raise Money for Biden PAC Posted: 05 May 2020 06:42 AM PDT  Hillary Clinton is set to host a pricey virtual fundraiser for presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden later this month, her first fundraiser appearance as an official surrogate for the Biden campaign.On May 19, the former first lady and failed 2016 Democratic nominee will hold a "virtual conversation" on the teleconferencing platform Zoom along with Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez. The event will raise money for the Biden Victory Fund, a joint committee of the DNC and the Biden campaign."Hosts" will pay $100,000 to attend the virtual event while the least expensive tickets, which have "limited availability," go for $2,800. Other tickets are available for $50,000, $41,100, $15,600, and $5,600.Clinton endorsed the former vice president last month at a virtual town hall, which addressed the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on women, after largely staying out of the political fray during the Democratic primary."I am thrilled to be part of your campaign — to not only endorse you but to help highlight a lot of the issues that are at stake in this presidential election," the former secretary of state said in her endorsement."I've been in the lobby of the Senate. I've been in the cloakroom and I've watched Joe bring people together. We have a lot of the same values in common, the same work ethic, the same belief in America, the same focus on family," she said. "We need a leader — a president — like Joe Biden.""I really appreciate your friendship. What a, just a wonderful personal endorsement," Biden responded to her endorsement during the event.In the weeks since Senator Bernie Sanders ended his presidential bid early last month, Biden has received endorsements from some of the nation's most high-profile Democrats. Former president Barack Obama endorsed his former running mate, and Sanders himself endorsed his former primary rival. Senator Elizabeth Warren, who dropped her presidential bid in March, as well as former vice president Al Gore have also endorsed Biden.The endorsements have rolled in despite increasing coverage of Tara Reade's sexual assault allegation. Reade, who served as Biden's staff assistant in 1993, claims the then-senator pinned her up against a wall in the Capitol Building and penetrated her with his fingers. A number of prominent female Democrats, including Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have emphasized Reade's right to be heard but have said they believe Biden's denials.
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| Coronavirus: Why is there a US backlash to masks? Posted: 06 May 2020 09:19 AM PDT  It's a very American phenomenon - here's what's behind the growing aversion to face coverings.
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| ‘It’s Murder’: This Shooting of an Unarmed Black Man Is Roiling Georgia Posted: 05 May 2020 02:32 PM PDT  BRUNSWICK, GA—The killing of an unarmed black man at the hands of armed white men here has sparked outrage and drawn fresh attention to the state's stand-your-ground law.Ahmaud Arbery, 25, was running down a street in the city's Satilla Shores neighborhood early in the afternoon of Feb. 23 when he caught the attention of Gregory McMichael. A former cop and investigator with the local district attorney's office, McMichael was sitting in his son Travis' front yard."Travis, the guy is running down the street, let's go," Gregory told his son, according to a police report obtained by The New York Times. The men, who are white, said they suspected Arbery, who is black, might be connected to recent thefts in their neighborhood. They grabbed weapons—a shotgun and a .357 magnum—and followed Arbery in Travis McMichael's pickup truck, which bears the Gadsden flag and its "Don't tread on me" motto. A neighbor, William Bryan, joined the McMichaels in pursuing Arbery, according to police.Soon after, the trio confronted Arbery. According to Gregory McMichael's account in the police report, Arbery turned toward Travis McMichael's truck as he stopped and exited, and struck Travis. A video that circulated widely on Tuesday—and that Arbery's aunt, Thea Brooks, said depicted her nephew—shows a black man and white man struggling both on and off-screen as shots ring out. But the video's provenance, and whether it was the same footage shot by Bryan that was cited by a local prosecutor—who initially declined to press charges in connection with the shooting—was unclear."Travis fired a shot and then a second later there was a second shot," the police report states. At least two shots struck Arbery, the Glynn County Coroner's Office told The Daily Beast last week.These States Are Reopening Amid Coronavirus PandemicArbery died in the middle of the street where he fell, and no one has been arrested or charged with a crime. But on Tuesday, District Attorney Tom Durden—the third prosecutor to tackle the killing—announced that he would present the case to a grand jury.Meanwhile, Arbery's family was moving to hold a protest in the area Tuesday evening."It's murder. It's heartbreaking to even look at. The whole city has seen it," Brooks, Arbery's aunt, told The Daily Beast of the clip circulating. "Right now we just have to stay calm because it's a graphic video, it was very painful to watch, and we know what we knew the other day: one man was murdered, and two men are out."At his son's home on Friday, Gregory McMichael told The Daily Beast he "never would have gone after someone for their color," and that the "closest version of the truth" exists in a letter effectively exonerating him and his son that was written by a prosecutor who recused himself from the case, George Barnhill. Repeated attempts to reach Gregory McMichael, Travis McMichael, and William Bryan by phone after the video surfaced on Tuesday were unsuccessful.According to the police report, Arbery fell to the ground with one of his hands landing underneath him, and Travis McMichael rolled Arbery over to see if he was holding a weapon. He wasn't. But the McMichaels would tell police that day that Arbery had recently been seen sticking "his hand down his pants," leading them to believe he might be armed, they said.Arbery was not armed. What he had done was visit the foundation of a home being built just down the street from Travis McMichael's home, a new structure whose owner, Larry English, told The Daily Beast he received a notification on his cell phone of someone on his property that day. He provided footage to The Daily Beast that Brooks, Arbery's aunt, identified as depicting her nephew.But the family contends Arbery was just looking around the area, and that he was targeted at least partly because he was black—a potent claim in a state and region that still carry the wounds of slavery, reconstruction, and segregation. With the state's coronavirus shelter-in-place order lifted in recent days by Gov. Brian Kemp, the family was hopeful protests would be well-attended, and that Arbery's story will get the attention they say it deserves. "This has the potential to become a very major stand-your-ground case," said Ronald Carlson, an author and professor at the University of Georgia School of Law who studies such cases. "I would not be surprised to see this case spark a renewed debate in the legislature about the wisdom of the stand-your-ground law."Any such debate seemed secondary to the family's anger. Speaking on their behalf, Georgia NAACP president James Woodall told The Daily Beast that "the only acceptable outcome to this situation is that the people responsible for Ahmaud's murder are charged and convicted."Southern Tourist Hotspot Terrified of Post-Lockdown ExplosionOff a busy, four-lane divided highway, the Satilla Shores neighborhood is a collection of ranch homes, bungalows, and a few McMansions lining only a handful of streets. Down one quiet lane, several homes are decorated with Trump flags, one bearing the president's smiling face with the phrase, Make liberals cry again. Arbery's family and friends say the former linebacker for Brunswick High School's football team was an avid runner and jogged in Satilla Shores, with his death sparking their "I run with Maud" campaign. (More than 49,000 people have signed a Change.org petition calling for the McMichaels to be arrested.) While Arbery didn't live in Satilla Shores, his mother lives a few miles away in a neighborhood across the highway, where some fly Confederate flags in front yards.Key to the case will be whether the McMichaels had legal authority to pursue Arbery. Georgia law is clear that citizens have the right to arrest someone if that person is observed in the act of committing a crime. But, according to their statements to police, the only thing the McMichaels saw on the day of Arbery's killing was him running down the street.Barnhill argued in his recusal letter that the McMichaels had "solid first hand probable cause" that Arbery was a burglary suspect. Barnhill did not elaborate on what that probable cause was or how he'd reached that conclusion, although two thefts had occurred in the neighborhood in the first two months of the year. One was a theft of $2,500 worth of fishing equipment from English's property, which he said he didn't report to police but confirmed to The Daily Beast. The second report was of the theft of a 9mm handgun from Travis McMichael's unlocked truck, which was first obtained by the Brunswick News. Barnhill's letter, obtained by the Times, contained Barnhill's legal argument for why the McMichaels should not be arrested or charged in Arbery's death, as well as his recusal from the case over his son's position at the nearby Brunswick District Attorney's Office. The Brunswick District Attorney, Jackie Johnson, had already recused herself because Gregory McMichael had previously been employed at that office."It appears their intent was to stop and hold this criminal suspect until law enforcement arrived. Under Georgia Law, this is perfectly legal," Barnhill wrote of the McMichaels.While Brooks, Arbery's aunt, confirmed that the person seen in the video of English's property that he provided from the day of the shooting was in fact Arbery, she couldn't say it was her nephew in other videos from English's property taken in the first two months of the year that were reviewed by The Daily Beast. In a brief interview with The Daily Beast on Friday, Gregory McMichael said that he had no direct evidence that Arbery was a thief targeting Satilla Shores, before teasing what could be a key part of a legal defense for the shooting."But he's the guy who's there without permission," on English's property, McMichael said through the closed front door of his son's home.For his part, English said he felt terrible that a man may have been killed in a possible attempt at defending his unfinished home. "I want to convey my condolences to this boy's mama. No parent should ever have to go through that," English told The Daily Beast. "I'm holding my hat in my hand asking for forgiveness."Brooks insisted her nephew was doing nothing wrong that day."He never bothers anybody. He's just a very observant person," Brooks told The Daily Beast. "That's all he was doing—looking, not stealing anything."In his letter, Barnhill said that "Arbery's mental health records and prior convictions help explain his apparent aggressive nature and his possible thought pattern to attack an armed man." Arbery was convicted of bringing a handgun to Brunswick High School in 2013, court records show. He was also convicted of stealing a television from Walmart in 2017. Neither case file, both of which were reviewed by The Daily Beast, make any reference to Arbery's mental health.Caroline Light, a senior lecturer at Harvard who wrote a book on the history of American stand-your-ground laws, said Barnhill's mention of Arbery's criminal history is a recurring theme in stand-your-ground cases and police shootings—especially when the deceased person is a black male."He's framing Arbery as a criminal threat to public safety, which furthers this idea of the good guy with a gun," Light told The Daily Beast. "There's a need to produce a legal archive to prove that he deserved to die."But Arbery's criminal history would likely have no bearing on a defense of the McMichaels' actions that day, Carlson said. He noted that the criminal records of both George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin were not allowed to be submitted at Zimmerman's notorious stand-your-ground trial in 2013.Woodall, the NAACP president, said the case was really quite simple."Ahmaud is dead and the people responsible for his murder are walking free," he told The Daily Beast.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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| Woman killed by alligator in SC was doing homeowner's nails Posted: 05 May 2020 12:01 PM PDT |
| Wendy's is reportedly out of beef at almost 20 percent of its U.S. restaurants Posted: 05 May 2020 08:37 AM PDT  Where's the beef, indeed.The financial firm Stephens on Tuesday estimated that about 18 percent of Wendy's restaurants in the United States are not selling hamburgers after running out of beef during the coronavirus crisis, CNN reports. This was based on an analysis of their online menus.Numerous meat plants have closed temporarily in recent weeks after workers contracted COVID-19, and according to The New York Times, there has been a 10 percent reduction in beef slaughter capacity. The analysis Tuesday said that Wendy's is particularly exposed to these recent production issues due to its use of fresh beef.A spokesperson for Wendy's told CNBC, "It is widely known that beef suppliers across North America are currently facing production challenges" and that "some of our menu items may be temporarily limited at some restaurants in this current environment," though the spokesperson added that "we continue to supply hamburgers to all of our restaurants, with deliveries two or three times a week, which is consistent with normal delivery schedules."According to CNBC, the shortages vary by state, but hundreds of locations in Ohio, Michigan, Tennessee, and New York are out of beef.This comes after the chair of Tyson Foods recently took out an advertisement in The New York Times arguing "the food supply chain is breaking" during the coronavirus crisis and warning that "as pork, beef, and chicken plants are being forced to close, even for short periods of time, millions of pounds of meat will disappear from the supply chain."More stories from theweek.com American individualism is a suicide pact Coronavirus vaccine expectations might be getting unrealistic Member of Trump's reopening council warns we'll 'have body bags of businesses' if they remain closed
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| 3 family members charged in killing of guard over face mask dispute Posted: 05 May 2020 03:58 AM PDT  Three members of a family have been charged in the fatal shooting of a security guard over a virus mask dispute at a Family Dollar store in Michigan.
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| Coronavirus latest news: Reopening all schools would bring 'very real risk' of a second peak, warns Dominic Raab Posted: 04 May 2020 01:17 PM PDT  Prof Neil Ferguson resigns after breaking lockdown rules to meet his married lover Lockdown dossier: What new government advisory papers reveal How Sweden suppressed infection rates without a lockdown The five charts that explain the UK's horrifying death toll NHS workers targeted by state-backed hackers Subscribe to The Telegraph, free for seven days Telegraph Coronavirus Appeal: Join us in helping those hit hardest Reopening all schools in the UK would bring a "very real risk" of a second deadly peak of coronavirus, Dominic Raab has warned. The Foreign Secretary said there would be a phased plan to bring all students back to schools, avoiding a spike in the 'R' transmission rate of the virus that could overwhelm the NHS. Speaking at the daily Downing Street briefing, Mr Raab said the Government is still consulting its scientific advisors on how to open schools again, but they are unlikely to return to full capacity immediately. "The crucial bit for us is the five tests and the risk of a second spike in relation to any new changes that we would make and that must of course included schools," he said. "At least to date the evidence has been that we wouldn't be able to open up all schools without a very real risk that the R rate - the transmission rate - would rise at such a level that we would risk a second spike." The UK now has the highest Covid-19 death toll in Europe totalling 32,375, the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows. There were 29,710 deaths involving Covid-19 in England and Wales up to April 24. In today's briefing, Mr Raab pointed to new National Cyber Security Centre guidelines for fighting cyber criminals and hostile foreign states during the crisis. Some criminals have been exploiting Covid-19 for their own "nefarious ends", he said.
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| 10 Eco-Friendly Comforters Under $300 Posted: 06 May 2020 07:22 AM PDT |
| White House discusses winding down Coronavirus Task Force Posted: 06 May 2020 06:21 AM PDT  President Trump said the task force has done "a phenomenal job," and the administration is "looking at other phases."
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| Rockets hit near Baghdad airport, launcher with timer found Posted: 06 May 2020 12:08 AM PDT  Three Katyusha rockets landed in the perimeter of Baghdad International Airport on Wednesday but caused no damage or casualties, the Iraqi military said. Security officials said it was not immediately clear whether a military base hosting U.S. troops next to the airport was the target. The United States blames a series of rocket attacks near or on bases hosting its troops this year on Iran-aligned militia groups, although those groups have not claimed them.
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| Column: The White House plays dumb on the pandemic's China connection Posted: 05 May 2020 03:00 AM PDT  Anger at Xi Jinping's government over the coronavirus crisis is warranted, but treating a nuclear and economic superpower as an existential enemy to satisfy domestic political needs isn't the smart way to go.
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| Intel from US allies suggest it is 'highly unlikely' the coronavirus came from a Chinese lab and 'highly likely' that it was 'naturally occurring' Posted: 04 May 2020 10:48 PM PDT  "It is highly likely it was naturally occurring and that the human infection was from natural human and animal interaction," an official told CNN.
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