| Senators say leaders from both parties are stopping renewal of small business relief for coronavirus Posted: 16 Apr 2020 03:45 PM PDT  The $350 billion Paycheck Protection Program to aid small businesses is reportedly already used up, and leaders of both parties blame the other for holding up additional funding
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| Trump says China lying about coronavirus numbers Posted: 15 Apr 2020 06:55 PM PDT  Chinese journalists investigating the outbreak have gone missing.
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| Rohingya crisis: UN reports surge of deadly fighting in Myanmar Posted: 17 Apr 2020 01:14 PM PDT  At least 32 civilians are said to have died in fighting between the military and ethnic militants.
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| Guatemalan suddenly deported under coronavirus 'emergency' measures readmitted to U.S. Posted: 17 Apr 2020 02:32 PM PDT  Gilmer Barrios' case suggests border agents used the new emergency powers to deport an immigrant who had an open case in U.S. courts and no deportation order.
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| Biden Stumbles Through Televised Interview on Coronavirus Response: ‘You know, There’s — During World War II, You Know, Where Roosevelt Came Up With A Thing’ Posted: 17 Apr 2020 12:28 PM PDT  Joe Biden on Friday stumbled through an interview on his proposed response to the coronavirus pandemic.Following a long and disjointed introduction, Biden appeared to suggest policy proposals similar to those Franklin D. Roosevelt employed to coordinate manufacturing for the war effort in the 1940's.> BIDEN: "Um, you know, there's a, uh, during World War II, uh, you know, where Roosevelt came up with a thing, uh, that, uh, you know, was totally different than a- than the- it's called, he called it, the, you know, the World War II, he had the war- the the War Production Board." pic.twitter.com/CwFSW2UITD> > -- Eddie Zipperer (@EddieZipperer) April 17, 2020"You know, there's a, uh — during World War II, you know, Roosevelt came up with a thing that uh, you know was totally different than a, than the, you know he called it you know the, World War II, he had the war… the war production board," Biden said.Biden has a history of public speaking gaffes, although the recent frequency of his slip-ups have allegations of cognitive decline from President Trump and his allies. The former vice president's campaign was thrown into further uncertainty with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, which has forced various states to implement mail-in voting for their primaries, and has limited campaign events to virtual platforms.During the height of the outbreak in New York, some Democrats speculated on whether Governor Andrew Cuomo might make a better presidential candidate. Cuomo's favorability ratings shot up in his home state as he dealt with the pandemic, however he has denied that he has any intention of challenging Biden.Meanwhile, Senator Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) dropped out of the race after weeks of speculation following a string of Biden primary victories and endorsed the former vice president several days later. Barack Obama has also endorsed his former running-mate.
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| Pompeo tells Russia's Lavrov any new arms control talks must include China Posted: 17 Apr 2020 09:33 AM PDT  U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told his Russian counterpart on Friday that any future arms control talks must focus on an American proposal for a new arms control accord that includes Russia and China, the State Department said. Pompeo emphasized in a telephone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that "any future arms control talks must be based on President (Donald) Trump's vision for a trilateral arms control agreement that includes both Russia and China," State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.
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| Jeff Bezos reportedly buys 4th condo in NYC for $16 million and now owns nearly $100 million in property in one building alone Posted: 17 Apr 2020 08:32 AM PDT  The latest purchase would be on top of the $80 million worth of real estate Jeff Bezos already owns in the same New York City building.
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| Trump's guidelines for reopening country show it could take a while Posted: 16 Apr 2020 05:05 PM PDT  President Trump announced new federal guidelines on Thursday for the easing of social distancing orders put in place to slow the spread of the coronavirus, leaving their implementation and timing up to state governors.
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| Fact check: Black people being targeted in Guangzhou, China, over COVID-19 fears Posted: 16 Apr 2020 07:50 AM PDT  Discrimination against blacks in the Chinese city of Guangzhou, including an incident at McDonald's, has sparked outrage.
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| American Shipments of Coronavirus Supplies Stranded in China Under Export Restrictions Posted: 16 Apr 2020 08:55 AM PDT  American companies have seen their shipments of coronavirus medical equipment, such as face masks and test kits, stranded in China after the country implemented new export restrictions this month.The shipments of personal protective equipment and other medical equipment currently remain in warehouses in China, unable to obtain the new clearances required to be shipped out of the country.About 1.4 million coronavirus test kits made by Massachusetts-based PerkinElmer are not able to leave the company's Suzhou factory under the new restrictions, according to a State Department document obtained by the Wall Street Journal.The document also noted that Minnesota-based 3M was told by a Shanghai vice mayor that Shanghai "relies on 3M's locally produced N-95 respirators for its Covid-19 prevention efforts and lacks viable alternatives." Lifting the restrictions would require permission from the upper echelons of the Chinese government, the mayor indicated, according to the State Department.General Electric was able to extract its shipment of parts needed to make ventilators after days of negotiations. Other companies, however, have not been able to do the same. Healthcare logistics company Owens & Minor, hospital operator Emory Healthcare, and biotech company Cellex have been unable to ship their medical equipment, which includes N95 face masks, isolation gowns, and coronavirus antibody tests.China's rules governing exports "disrupted established supply chains for medical products just as these products were most needed for the global response to Covid-19," one of the State Department documents said. Beijing has said the rules were meant to ensure quality control of medical products and to prevent necessary items from leaving China"Countries across the world are all hunting for medical supplies, causing a big challenge for China's efforts of quality control and regulation of export," the Chinese Embassy in Washington said.U.S. ambassador to China Terry Branstad said Wednesday that he does not believe China is intentionally blocking exports to the U.S. of medical supplies required to fight the pandemic."Yes, they want to enforce their laws and regulations," the ambassador said. "We're trying to say let's use some common sense in doing this, and if it's Food and Drug Administration approved and companies like 3M have already been shipping these things to the United States, it doesn't make sense to hold them up when we feel confident that it meets the quality requirements that we have."U.S. officials have criticized U.S. dependence on Chinese supply chains for medical products as the coronavirus outbreak has caused shortages of desperately needed medical equipment in hospitals across the country."Unfortunately, like others, we are learning in this crisis that over-dependence on other countries as a source of cheap medical products and supplies has created a strategic vulnerability to our economy," U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said early this month.
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| 11 Modernist Homes for Sale in the U.S. Posted: 17 Apr 2020 11:35 AM PDT |
| The Latest: Trump hoping to resume campaign rallies Posted: 16 Apr 2020 11:58 PM PDT  For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. —Trump hoping to resume campaign rallies without social distancing. — Study shows one in three New Yorkers with coronavirus put on ventilators.
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| Chinese and Malaysian ships in South China Sea standoff: Sources Posted: 17 Apr 2020 10:57 AM PDT  A Chinese government survey ship is tagging an exploration vessel operated by Malaysia's state oil company, Petronas, in disputed waters in the South China Sea, three regional security sources said on Friday.
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| After dozens of deportees are positive for coronavirus, U.S. deploys CDC to Guatemala to 'validate' its tests Posted: 16 Apr 2020 09:44 PM PDT  After Guatemalan officials reported more than half of deportees on two flights from the U.S. tested positive for COVID-19, the Trump administration deploys the CDC to 'review' the country's results.
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| The $350 billion paycheck-protection program for small businesses is already out of cash after just 2 weeks Posted: 16 Apr 2020 08:19 AM PDT  The $350 billion Paycheck Protection Program had faced overwhelming demand since its introduction on April 3.
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| Disgraced Trump aide Roger Stone is denied new trial as judge rejects jury bias claims Posted: 17 Apr 2020 12:27 AM PDT  Donald Trump's longtime friend and adviser Roger Stone has been denied a new trial after a failed attempt to claim jury bias during a previous trial.Amy Berman Jackson, a US District Court Judge in Washington DC, rejected Mr Stone's claim that a jury forewoman with strong opinions on the US president had been biased against him.
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| Some small businesses got $0, while lenders got billions Posted: 17 Apr 2020 02:19 PM PDT  Approximately $6 billion of the $350 billion program went to lender fees, as provided in the legislation.
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| Royal Caribbean, Celebrity halt cruises through June 11; Carnival, Princess cancel through June Posted: 16 Apr 2020 08:51 PM PDT  Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises have extended their sailing suspension through June 11 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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| China says there has never been a cover-up on coronavirus outbreak Posted: 17 Apr 2020 12:51 AM PDT  Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Friday there has never been a cover-up of the coronavirus outbreak in China and the government does not allow any cover-ups. Zhao told reporters at a daily briefing that the revision of the case toll in Wuhan, where the epidemic first emerged in late 2019, was the result of a statistical verification to ensure accuracy and that revision is a common international practice. Wuhan's health authority earlier on Thursday revised up its cumulative death toll by 50% to 3,869 to rectify what it called incorrect reporting, delays and omissions.
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| Beijing Admits to Undercounting Coronavirus Deaths, Raises Wuhan Death Toll by 50 Percent Posted: 17 Apr 2020 07:49 AM PDT  The Chinese Communist Party has revised its reported death count in Wuhan by exactly 50 percent, an attempt to improve the "credibility of the government" as residents and experts have warned the actual count is far higher that what's been previously reported.In an interview Friday with the Xinhua state news agency, officials pointed to unreported deaths at homes as the reason for the revision, to show "accountability to history, to the people and the victims," and to promote "open and transparent disclosure of information and data accuracy." Deaths rose 1,290 to 3,869 in the revised number.But Wuhan residents have warned that the death count is at least 40,000, pointing to increased demands on funeral homes and cremation numbers, which the government has censored reporting on. U.S. intelligence has also told the White House that mid-level bureaucrats in Wuhan have been lying about the number of cases, with some experts estimating that the total caseload in China could be close to three million, way above the official count of over 82,000 officially confirmed cases."The provinces report nonsense, such as Jiangsu with zero deaths in a population of 80 million," Derek Scissors of the American Enterprise Institute told National Review. "The lessons China learned are all wasted, even harmful if decision-makers elsewhere believe China is offering accurate information and represents a model."Wuhan lifted its total lockdown earlier this month, but city doctors have warned that tens of thousands of asymptomatic cases could exist, in comments that were subsequently removed from publication by the government.
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| Ilhan Omar unveils bill to cancel rent and mortgage payments amid pandemic Posted: 17 Apr 2020 09:47 AM PDT  Landlords and mortgage holders would be able to have losses covered by the federal government under the legislation * Coronavirus – live US updates * Live global updates * See all our coronavirus coverageThe Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar has unveiled a bill that would cancel rent and mortgage payments for millions of Americans struggling amid the coronavirus pandemic.Under the legislation announced on Friday, landlords and mortgage holders would be able to have losses covered by the federal government. The program would extend for a month beyond the end of the national emergency, which was declared on 13 March, and would be made retroactive to cover April payments.The proposal comes amid an unprecedented housing crisis: 31% of Americans in rental accommodation could not pay rent at the beginning of this month. Millions have lost their jobs since.Federal answers have been limited. The Cares Act stimulus package included $12bn for Department of Housing and Urban Development programs targeting homelessness and rental assistance. But those funds do little to address the needs of millions of Americans who now find themselves on the edge of acute housing insecurity.National housing groups have called for more funding for rental relief. The National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates it would cost about $76.1bn over 12 months to provide relief to the 11.5 million people who are already or soon will become severely housing cost-burdened. The group is demanding $100bn in emergency solutions grants towards short-term rental assistance.But many housing advocates are concerned that such assistance would fail to provide the long-term protection needed to prevent mass evictions. A federal eviction moratorium established through the Cares Act extends only through mid-May, prohibiting evictions within properties with federally backed mortgages.Without an enforcement mechanism, or a clear way for tenants to find out if their property is covered, evictions have continued.Omar's bill seeks to tie federal funding to clear renter protections. In order to receive funds, landlords and lenders would be required to follow a set of fair renting and lending practices for five years. These terms would prohibit rent increases, evictions without just cause, discrimination against voucher holders and more. Any owner or mortgagee who breaks the terms would be subject to a fine.Perhaps most ambitiously, the legislation seeks to establish a fund to finance the purchase of private rental properties by not-for-profits, public housing authorities, community land trusts and state and local governments.The legislation was developed with grassroots organizations including People's Action, the Center for Popular Democracy (CPD) and PolicyLink. Such groups hope to introduce the kind of solutions they wanted in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.Dianne Enriquez, CPD housing campaign coordinator, said the 2008 crisis wiped out "millions of dollars in generational wealth", particularly in black and brown communities, when people lost their homes."It created a devastation that we have not recovered from in the 12 years since," she said, adding that as a result, "we are now a majority renter nation".In New York, statewide tenant coalition Housing Justice for All is aiming to organize a million renters to withhold rent and compel the governor, Andrew Cuomo, to cancel rent and mortgage payments. Tenants are also organizing in Philadelphia and California, where thousands have pledged to withhold rent on 1 May.Omar's bill proposes "an amazing way to use the federal stimulus package to not just provide direct relief but the long-term transformation of a real-estate market that's based on speculation and private profit to a housing situation that prioritizes homes", said Cea Weaver, campaign coordinator at Housing Justice for All."It provides a pathway to a different ownership structure that doesn't rely on eviction and rent hikes to make money."
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| Climate change: US megadrought 'already under way' Posted: 17 Apr 2020 05:05 AM PDT  A drought as bad as any in recorded history may be under way in the US.
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| Venezuela slams US over 'vulgar' central bank funds seizure Posted: 17 Apr 2020 02:56 PM PDT  Venezuela on Friday hit out at the United States over the seizure of $342 million that its central bank had held in an account at Citibank. In a Twitter post, Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza blasted the "vulgar dispossession" of the money "ordered" by the US -- and pointed to "complicity" by the opposition-controlled National Assembly. The US-based assets of Venezuela's central bank are among those that have been frozen under tough sanctions put in place by the government of President Donald Trump.
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| Essential Gifts for Bakers That Go Beyond the Kitchen Posted: 17 Apr 2020 09:00 AM PDT |
| 'I had to go through it': Trump says he was a 'victim' of the COVID-19 test and referred to it as 'an operation' Posted: 16 Apr 2020 02:16 PM PDT  President Donald Trump described the test in detail, saying, "They go up your nose and hang a right at your eye."
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| U.S. intel community examining whether coronavirus emerged accidentally from a Chinese lab Posted: 16 Apr 2020 09:05 AM PDT  One expert said the theory the virus came from a Wuhan animal market has lost favor in some quarters, in part because an early patient had no market link.
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| 9 retailers selling fabric face masks that are worth buying Posted: 17 Apr 2020 01:49 PM PDT  These are the best cloth face masks from Etsy and other brands including Aplat, Avocado Mattress, Alice and Olivia, Hedley and Bennett and Plover.
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| Black Americans are dying of COVID-19 at a higher rate than anyone else. Why, and can anything be done? Posted: 16 Apr 2020 01:41 PM PDT  The story of the coronavirus in the U.S. shows discrepancies by geography, age, sex and other factors, but one stands out above all: Black Americans are infected with the virus and die from it at disproportionately higher rates than any other group in the country. But it's not enough to admit the problem. There are short-term and long-term solutions to level the field.
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| Still reeling from pig disease, China pork output drops for 6th quarter Posted: 17 Apr 2020 03:37 AM PDT  China's pork output dropped for a sixth straight quarter, as the world's top producer continued to reel from the impact of the African swine fever disease that decimated its hog herd. A sharp 29% plunge in first-quarter output underlines the extent of the impact from the disease and the huge task the sector faces in trying to rebuild after African swine fever killed millions of pigs since August 2018. It slashed China's pork output to a 16-year low of 42.6 million tonnes in 2019, while some experts estimate the sow herd shrank by at least 60% last year after the disease spread throughout the country, largely unreported.
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| Nasa to launch first manned mission from US in decade Posted: 17 Apr 2020 02:22 PM PDT  The mission will take place on 27 May using a rocket and spacecraft made by private firm SpaceX.
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| EU’s Eastern Virus Hotspot Up in Arms Over Easter Ritual Posted: 16 Apr 2020 12:07 AM PDT |
| Could Fired Navy Captain Face Charges? Military Justice Experts Weigh In Posted: 16 Apr 2020 03:34 PM PDT  Modly's suggestion that Crozier broke military law came after the former SecNav suggested the captain leaked to the media.
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| Trump didn't bail out trucking, but he did give 4 truck drivers a mysterious gold key at White House ceremony. Nobody knows why. Posted: 16 Apr 2020 01:07 PM PDT  "We have a little special award," President Donald Trump said. Unfortunately for truck drivers, it was not a bailout.
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| Saudi Arabia executes man who attacked Spanish dance troupe Posted: 16 Apr 2020 06:33 AM PDT  Emad Abdelqawi al-Mansouri stormed the stage and stabbed dancers and a security guard, a court in Riyadh found.
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| California governor says no date yet to reopen economy Posted: 17 Apr 2020 02:10 PM PDT  "We are now in a pandemic-induced recession here in the State of California," said Newsom.
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| Africa may see millions of coronavirus cases, tentative WHO forecast shows Posted: 16 Apr 2020 08:46 AM PDT  Coronavirus cases in Africa could shoot up from thousands now to 10 million within three to six months according to very provisional modelling, a regional World Health Organization (WHO) official said on Thursday. The world's poorest continent has seen more than 17,000 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 disease and about 900 deaths so far - relatively little compared to some other regions. "We are concerned that the virus continues to spread geographically, within countries," said Matshidiso Moeti, director for WHO's Africa region, which comprises 46 sub-Saharan nations and Algeria.
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| The 10 Most Challenging Puzzles To Try While You Stay Home Posted: 17 Apr 2020 11:58 AM PDT |
| Coronavirus: Lions nap on road during South African lockdown Posted: 16 Apr 2020 08:42 AM PDT  A pride of lions take advantage of traffic-free roads in Kruger National Park for an afternoon rest.
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| NKorea flouts sanctions through China shipping: UN report Posted: 17 Apr 2020 03:36 PM PDT  The annual report to the UN Security Council by sanctions experts went online and inexplicably disappeared later in the day, with the text itself noting China's reservations about the findings. Publishing photographs, shipping logs and submissions from member-states, the panel said that North Korea had violated the total UN prohibition on exporting coal as well as restrictions on imports of refined petroleum.
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| Dem. Senator Bucks Party, Calls to Pass Emergency Small Business Loan Funding ‘ASAP’ Posted: 16 Apr 2020 12:56 PM PDT  Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D., Ariz.) on Thursday called on the Senate to pass emergency funding for federal small business loans as soon as possible, bucking Democratic senators who are pushing for additional demands.The Paycheck Protection Program "is going to run out of funding soon - the Senate should approve additional funding by unanimous consent ASAP," Sinema wrote on Twitter on Thursday. "Small businesses need our help to survive during this emergency."The PPP, the emergency loan program established as part of Congress's $2.2 trillion economic relief package, depleted the last of the $349 billion in loans allocated to help small businesses weather the coronavirus pandemic. Congress is deadlocked on additional funding for the program, with Democrats demanding specific protections for minority- and women-owned businesses, as well as hospitals and local governments. Republican senators have for the last week called on their colleagues to pass a blanket $251 billion addition by unanimous consent."Exactly right!" Senator Ted Cruz (R., Texas) replied to Sinema's tweet. "Please tell Chuck Schumer to stop objecting."Majority Leader Schumer met with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin on Wednesday to iron out disagreements, however a full agreement on legislation has not yet been reached. Congress is currently on recess and is not scheduled to return until May 4, so it is unclear when a vote will take place on additional PPP funding.Senator Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) on Thursday criticized Democrats for the hold on funding."[Democrats] say they want more money for other things — I agree we need to do more for those other things," Rubio said. "But why do we have to hold the most successful part of the CARES act, that's helping millions of people, hostage?"
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| Director of Italy's top infectious-disease hospital said Fauci would be welcomed 'with open arms' if Trump fired him Posted: 15 Apr 2020 09:23 PM PDT  "There is no one else who has written the history of medicine and infectious diseases like Tony Fauci," the director told the Associated Press.
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| Mexico Central Bank Rebuffs AMLO Request for Surplus Fund Posted: 16 Apr 2020 03:17 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador met central bank Governor Alejandro Diaz de Leon to ask for an advance on the bank's exchange-rate surplus. He returned empty-handed, for now.In a statement, Banxico said that both Lopez Obrador and Diaz de Leon discussed the importance of following the existing procedure and timing regarding the surplus as laid out in the central bank's own regulations.The surplus -- which is scheduled to be paid out in April next year -- may eventually represent a windfall for Mexico's government as it tries to hold its fiscal position amid shocks from an oil slump and the coronavirus."Banxico won't know how much is left over until the end of the year," said New York-based Bank of America economist Carlos Capistran. "It seems appropriate to me that Banxico respects the timing established by the law."Lopez Obrador had said that he would ask about a possible advance payment on that funding in a morning press conference on Thursday. In a tweet after the meeting, the president said that discussions were cordial and that he had reiterated his absolute respect for the central bank's independence.(Adds Capistran quote in fourth paragraph.)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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