| Document reveals Secret Service has 11 current virus cases, as concerns about Trump’s staff grow Posted: 08 May 2020 03:14 PM PDT  This report comes as a pair of cases among White House staffers close to Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have put the West Wing's coronavirus security procedures in the spotlight.
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| Probable cause "clear" in Ahmaud Arbery case, authorities say Posted: 08 May 2020 10:46 AM PDT  "Probable cause was clear to our agents pretty quickly," the Director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said Friday.
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| Putin pays a somber tribute to WWII dead as Russian coronavirus cases skyrocket Posted: 09 May 2020 07:14 AM PDT  Cancellation of the ceremony was the second blow to Putin, who was forced to call off a referendum extending his time in power.
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| Plastic shields in place, Dutch schools to reopen amid coronavirus Posted: 08 May 2020 08:15 AM PDT  At the Springplank school in the Dutch city of Den Bosch, staff have installed plastic shields around students' desks and disinfectant gel dispensers at the doorways as part of preparations to reopen amid the country's coronavirus outbreak. New infections in the Netherlands have been declining for weeks, and the government on Wednesday announced a schedule to relax some of its lockdown measures, with elementary schools to reopen on May 11. "Our teachers are not worried," said Rascha van der Sluijs, the school's technical coordinator.
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| Don't hug Mickey Mouse: Disney's Shanghai shows visitors what to expect when park reopens Monday Posted: 08 May 2020 07:50 AM PDT  When the Chinese park reopens Monday, visitors need to temperature screening and wear masks. Touching the Disney characters will also be off-limits.
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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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| 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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| Hong Kong Lawmakers Physically Fight for Control of Chair of Key Committee Posted: 08 May 2020 03:28 AM PDT  It's the latest sign that tensions over Beijing's role in the in the former British colony are rising once again
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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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| Almost 12,000 meatpacking and food plant workers have reportedly contracted COVID-19. At least 48 have died. Posted: 08 May 2020 09:21 AM PDT  The infections and deaths are spread across roughly two farms and 189 meat and processed food factories.
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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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| Coronavirus: Chinese official admits health system weaknesses Posted: 09 May 2020 08:02 AM PDT  China says it will improve public health systems after criticism of its early response to the virus.
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| Venezuela says troops seize abandoned Colombian combat boats, weapons Posted: 09 May 2020 11:04 AM PDT |
| Trump donor and lawyer to represent Biden's accuser Posted: 08 May 2020 08:13 AM PDT  The former Senate staffer, who is accusing Joe Biden of sexually assaulting her 27 years ago, is being represented by a lawyer who is also a donor to President Trump.
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| Pence press secretary tests positive for coronavirus Posted: 08 May 2020 03:23 PM PDT  The news comes shortly after a valet who served meals to President Trump also tested positive for the virus.
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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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| 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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| 4 states that are reopening — Florida, Georgia, Texas, and Colorado — are not conducting enough coronavirus tests to safely do so, Harvard researchers say Posted: 07 May 2020 10:12 PM PDT  The US needs to ramp up testing by nearly 400% in the next week, at a bare minimum, to even think about slowly reopening.
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| Rapper Tekashi69 smashes Instagram live record with post-prison boast Posted: 08 May 2020 02:38 PM PDT  Fresh out of prison and in home confinement, rapper Tekashi69 destroyed the Instagram live viewership record, as two million users watched him sound off, diss the haters and promote a new song. It was a birthday party rant of sorts for the braggadocious star who turned 24 Friday, weeks after his early release from prison due to the rapidly spreading coronavirus. Tekashi was sentenced in December to two years in prison on racketeering, firearms and drug trafficking charges.
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| China 'shocked' by U.S. reversal on U.N. coronavirus action -diplomat Posted: 09 May 2020 02:09 PM PDT |
| Man hit by plane, killed on Austin-Bergstrom airport runway, officials say Posted: 08 May 2020 04:03 AM PDT  A person died Thursday night after being hit by a plane as it was landing at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, according to airport officials.
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| Russian volunteers search for fallen World War II soldiers Posted: 09 May 2020 12:09 AM PDT  Abayev and members of his search team rummage the steppe for remains of the Red Army soldiers who fell in the autumn of 1942 in fierce fighting with Nazi troops pushing toward the Caspian Sea south of Stalingrad. Stiff resistance by the Red Army stopped the Wehrmacht onslaught in the steppes of Kalmykia, and months later the enemy's forces were encircled in Stalingrad and surrendered, a major defeat for the Nazis that marked a turning point in World War II.
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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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| 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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| Boeing says it's about to start building the 737 Max plane again in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, even though it already has more planes than it can deliver Posted: 08 May 2020 09:44 AM PDT  Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said the company was aiming to resume production this month, despite the ongoing grounding and coronavirus pandemic.
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| Suspect in 3 Houston killings arrested, charged with murder Posted: 07 May 2020 11:19 PM PDT  Joshua Kelsey, 35, was arrested Thursday morning in connection with the three killings.
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| Troops deployed in Indian state as coronavirus cases surge Posted: 08 May 2020 07:01 AM PDT  Hundreds of paramilitary forces have been deployed in coronavirus-hotspot Gujarat state as India on Friday faced a surge in the number of deaths and infections from the outbreak. Official data show the deadly disease is taking a growing toll in the country of 1.3 billion people even as it begins to emerge from the world's largest lockdown. India had 56,000 cases including 1,886 fatalities as of Friday, official figures showed.
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| 'We’re finally ahead of the virus': Cuomo announces New York victory at curbing pandemic while still urging caution Posted: 08 May 2020 09:03 AM PDT  Governor Andrew Cuomo expressed for months how New York has consistently been behind in curbing the spread of Covid-19. In the month of March alone, infection rates skyrocketed, inundating the healthcare system with patients.But as shutdown measures remain throughout the entirety of the state, officials are finally declaring for the first time they're ahead of the spread.
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| China 'shocked' by U.S. reversal on U.N. coronavirus action: diplomat Posted: 09 May 2020 02:16 PM PDT  China and the United States both supported a draft United Nations Security Council resolution confronting the coronavirus pandemic on Thursday and it was "shocking and regretful" that Washington changed its mind on Friday, a Chinese diplomat said. A U.S. diplomat refuted the Chinese comment, saying there was no U.S. agreement on the text. For more than six weeks the 15-member council has been trying to agree on a text that ultimately aims to back a March 23 call by U.N. chief Antonio Guterres for a ceasefire in global conflicts so the world can focus on the pandemic.
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| Indianapolis police say Sean Reed was fatally shot in exchange of gunfire after officer's taser was 'ineffective' Posted: 07 May 2020 09:49 PM PDT  Indianapolis police released more information on Thursday night about an exchange of gunfire that led to the shooting death of Sean Reed.
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| Stop rescheduling your wedding for spring 2021 — the pandemic still won't be over Posted: 08 May 2020 08:19 AM PDT  Couples hoping to reschedule their weddings for spring 2021 should wait to set a new date until there's a vaccine for the coronavirus.
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| 1.4 million health-care workers lost their jobs due to the pandemic last month Posted: 08 May 2020 06:47 AM PDT  Friday's job report is difficult enough to wrap your head around, with a record 20.5 million jobs lost in April. But perhaps once of the most surprising details is that health care was one of the hardest-hit industries due to the pandemic.The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that some 1.4 million health-care jobs were eliminated in April, lead by losses of dentists, physicians, and "offices of other health care practitioners." Nearly 135,000 of the health care jobs lost in April were in hospitals, NPR reports.The health care unemployment numbers reflect an increase from March, the first full month of the pandemic in the U.S., when just 42,000 healthcare jobs were lost. Additionally, health care spending in the United States dipped 18 percent in the first three months of the year as people have avoided emergency rooms, doctor offices, and elective surgeries and procedures."I was thinking maybe I would have to worry about when I was going to get a day off," Fae-Marie Donathan, a surgical ICU nurse at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center who filed for unemployment last month, told NPR. "I was thinking totally the opposite, never ever suspecting that I would be sitting at home not getting any hours at work."Leisure and hospitality were the hardest-hit industries, with 7.7 million jobs lost in April. Retail was also hard hit, with a loss of 2.1 million jobs, and manufacturing, with 1.3 million.More stories from theweek.com The U.S. reportedly didn't take up a January offer that would have led to the production of 1.7 million masks per week 7 scathing cartoons about America's rush to reopen Outed CIA agent Valerie Plame is running for Congress, and her launch video looks like a spy movie trailer
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| Hidden Toll: Mexico Ignores Wave of Coronavirus Deaths in Capital Posted: 08 May 2020 12:26 PM PDT  MEXICO CITY -- The Mexican government is not reporting hundreds, possibly thousands, of deaths from the coronavirus in Mexico City, dismissing anxious officials who have tallied more than three times as many fatalities in the capital than the government publicly acknowledges, according to officials and confidential data reviewed by The New York Times.The tensions have come to a head in recent weeks, with Mexico City alerting the government to the deaths repeatedly, hoping it will come clean to the public about the true toll of the virus on the nation's biggest city and, by extension, the country at large.But that has not happened. Doctors in overwhelmed hospitals in Mexico City say the reality of the epidemic is being hidden from the country. In some hospitals, patients lie on the floor, splayed on mattresses. Elderly people are propped up on metal chairs because there are not enough beds, while patients are turned away to search for space in less-prepared hospitals. Many die while searching, several doctors said."It's like we doctors are living in two different worlds, " said Dr. Giovanna Avila, who works at Hospital de Especialidades Belisario Dominguez. "One is inside of the hospital with patients dying all the time. And the other is when we walk out onto the streets and see people walking around, clueless of what is going on and how bad the situation really is."Mexico City officials have tabulated more than 2,500 deaths from the virus and serious respiratory illnesses that doctors suspect are related to COVID-19, the data reviewed by The Times shows. Yet the federal government is reporting about 700 in the area, which includes Mexico City and the municipalities on its outskirts.Nationwide, the federal government has reported about 3,000 confirmed deaths from the virus, plus nearly 250 suspected of being related, in a country of more than 120 million people. But experts say Mexico has only a minimal sense of the real scale of the epidemic because it is testing so few people.Only 0.4 of every 1,000 people in Mexico are tested for the virus -- by far the lowest of the dozens of nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which average about 23 tests for every 1,000 people.The government says Mexico has been faring better than many of the world's largest countries, and on Monday its COVID-19 czar estimated that the final death toll would be around 6,000 people."We have flattened the curve," Hugo Lopez-Gatell, the health ministry official who has become the face of the country's response, said this week.But the government did not respond to questions about the deaths in Mexico City. It also denied repeated requests by The Times over the course of three weeks to identify all deaths related to respiratory illnesses since January, saying the data was incomplete.One former health secretary, Jose Narro Robles, has accused Lopez-Gatell of lying to the people of Mexico. And some state governments are beginning to draw similar conclusions: that, much like Mexico City found, the data presented by the government does not reflect reality.Official counts in many countries have understated the number of deaths during the pandemic, especially where limited testing has prevented the virus from being diagnosed, a Times review of mortality data has found. In Ecuador, six times more people have died than official figures reflect, the data show. In Italy, the overall increase in deaths in March was nearly twice official counts.In Mexico City, the doubts started a month ago, when the city's mayor, Claudia Sheinbaum, began to suspect that federal data and modeling on the epidemic were flawed, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.She had already instructed her staff to call every public hospital in the Mexico City area to ask about all confirmed and suspected COVID-19 deaths, the people said. In the last week, that effort found that the deaths were more than three times what the federal government reported.The disagreements have taken place largely behind the scenes, as Sheinbaum, who declined to comment for this article, has been loath to publicly embarrass President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, her close political ally. The city and the federal government continue to work together on a number of fronts, including getting ventilators.But the data from Mexico City calls into question the federal government's grasp of the crisis in the country.With such limited testing and doubts about the government's models, experts say federal estimates for when the nation will reach its peak, how long the epidemic will last and how bad the damage will be may not be reliable.That disconnect has left cities and states across the country scrambling to meet the demand for protective equipment and ventilators. It also underplays the severity of the epidemic for millions of Mexicans, making it hard for them to determine how bad the situation is -- and how seriously to take it."That is shocking," said Fernando Alarid-Escudero, who has a Ph.D. in health decision sciences and who developed an independent model in collaboration with scientists at Stanford University to chart the curve of the epidemic in Mexico. "If that is case, and we are not really capturing all those people who eventually die, we are not getting a sense of the picture.""We are way underestimating the magnitude of the epidemic," he added.In Tijuana, hospitals are already overwhelmed. Doctors and nurses across the country have held public protests against the lack of protective gear, and several hospitals along the border have suffered outbreaks of the virus among medical personnel. Federal officials have been scrambling to buy respirators, long after seeing the outbreaks grip China, Europe and the United States.One big reason for the competing death tolls in Mexico has to do with way the federal government is testing, vetting and reporting the data. The official results include a two-week lag, people familiar with the process say, which means timely information is not available publicly.More worrisome, they say, are the many deaths absent from the data altogether, as suggested by the figures from Mexico City, where the virus has struck hardest of all. Some people die from acute respiratory illness and are cremated without ever getting tested, officials say. Others are dying at home without being admitted to a hospital -- and are not even counted under Mexico City's statistics.Beyond that, Mexico appears to be vastly underreporting suspected deaths from coronavirus. Data published by the federal government on May 7 show only 245 suspicious deaths nationwide.The gap in information has left many Mexicans with a sense that their country has avoided the harrowing outbreaks afflicting nations like the United States, where nearly 1.2 million people have been infected and more than 70,000 people have died, according to the Centers for Disease Control.Publicly, Lopez-Gatell, the health ministry official, has become something of a celebrity, steering nightly news conferences in which he assures the public that things are moving according to plan.But there have been problems with the government's assumptions from the very beginning, according to three people familiar with its preparations. As early as February, they said, the government was using Wuhan, China -- the city where the pandemic originated -- to model the potential needs and response in Mexico.But those calculations quickly went awry, the people said, as officials realized the dynamic in China was entirely different from the one in Mexico. As the outbreak spread in Wuhan, Chinese officials locked down the city and the surrounding province, prohibiting tens of millions of people from traveling.In Mexico, by contrast, the lockdown measures have been optional, with officials simply urging people to go to hospitals or stay at home, depending on symptoms. There are no travel restrictions in or out of Mexico City.In the last month, the government has added experts to review the data and analysis, after urging from the country's foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard, and other officials. But even those newer models make assumptions that experts feel are inadequate.The main model the country is believed to now be using assumes only 5% of the infected population show symptoms, and that only 5% of those patients will go to the hospital, according to modeling documents obtained by The Times."Their model is wrong," said Laurie Ann Ximenez-Fyvie, a Harvard-trained Ph.D. at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, adding that symptomatic and severe cases could be significantly higher. "There is very good consensus on that."Several experts also questioned Mexico's assumptions of how quickly the epidemic will pass. Its model shows a sharp rise in infections, followed by a sharp decline. But in almost no other country in the world has there been a rapid decline after a peak."There is a long tail for the curve, and the number of deaths does not drop to zero anytime in the near future," said Nilanjan Chatterjee, a professor in the department of biostatistics at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. "The graph they are using is inconsistent with the shapes of the curve in other countries."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
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| Off-duty officer body slams Walmart shopper irate over face mask rule Posted: 07 May 2020 07:28 PM PDT  The officer used a "takedown measure" to gain control of the woman because of "other threat factors in the store," a police official said.
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| Despite lockdown, no letup in Chicago's murder rate Posted: 07 May 2020 10:08 PM PDT  The streets of Chicago may be largely empty as residents hunker down from coronavirus but some of the city's most deprived neighborhoods are still echoing to the sound of deadly gunfire and raucous partying. While significant falls in crime have been one of the few positive side effects of lockdowns in much of the United States and elsewhere, they have barely made a dent in the homicide rate in Chicago, a city that has long recorded the most murders in the country. Chicago police say 56 murders were committed in April despite statewide stay-at-home orders -- only a fraction lower than the 61 for the same month in 2019 -- while last weekend, the first of the new month, four people were killed and 46 others shot and wounded.
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| Democrats’ Desperation about Tara Reade Is Growing. So Is Their Hypocrisy. Posted: 08 May 2020 12:15 PM PDT  There aren't a ton of synonyms for the word "hypocrisy." I've become aware of this problem ever since I began writing about the Tara Reade–Joe Biden situation. I keep gravitating towards phrases such as "despicable hypocrisy," or "partisan hypocrisy," or "unconscionable hypocrisy," but you can only go to the well so often. Really, though, I'm not sure how else to describe the actions of someone like Senator Dianne Feinstein.You might recall that it was Feinstein, the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, who withheld Christine Blasey Ford's allegation of sexual misconduct against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh from the Senate so that it could not be properly vetted, in a last-ditch effort to sink the nomination.Feinstein knew that Ford's credibility was brittle -- the alleged victim could not tell us where or when the attack occurred, hadn't mentioned Kavanugh's name to anyone for over 30 years, and offered nothing approaching a contemporaneous witness.At first, Feinstein did not want to provide Ford's name, or a place or time of the alleged attack, or allow the accused to see any evidence against him, denying him the ability to answer the charges.Henceforth this brand of justice could be referred to as "The Joe Biden Standard," since it's exactly the kind of show trial the presumptive Democratic nominee promises college kids via Title IX rules.When finally asked about Reade yesterday, Feinstein responded: "And I don't know this person at all who has made the allegations. She came out of nowhere. Where has she been all these years? He was vice president."To put this in perspective, when Ford came forward "out of nowhere," Feinstein said: "Victims must be able to come forward only when they are ready."What's changed?During the Kavanaugh hearings Feinstein noted that "sharing an experience involving sexual assault — particularly when it involves a politically connected man with influence, authority and power — is extraordinarily difficult."Is Biden not a politically connected man with influence, authority, and power? Feinstein is now arguing the opposite: She is saying we should dismiss Reade's allegations because she failed to come forward against a powerful man earlier.But to answer Feinstein's question about what Reade has been "up to" the past 27 years: Well, she's been telling people that Biden had engaged in sexual misconduct. She relayed her story to her former neighbor, her brother, her former co-worker, and at least two other friends. It is also likely that her mother called Larry King Live asking for advice for her daughter the year of the alleged attack.Yesterday a document uncovered by local journalists in California -- somehow missed by Barack Obama's crack vetting team -- shows Reade's ex-husband bolstering her claim in 1996 divorce proceedings: "On several occasions [Reade] related a problem that she was having at work regarding sexual harassment, in U.S. Senator Joe Biden's office."The reaction to the divorce papers has been extraordinary. Biden defenders argue that because Reade alleged "sexual harassment" -- a catch-all term used in the 1990s when men were getting away with despicable behavior far more often -- it proves her story has changed. Biden, through his deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield, alleges that "more and more inconsistencies" come up every day.Even if Reade didn't tell everyone everything that allegedly happened every time she mentioned the incident, that doesn't definitively prove anything. If it did, none of us would have ever heard the name Christine Blasey Ford.Indeed, at time of Ford's evolving story, there was a slew of journalists taking deep dives into the unreliability of memory and trauma and complexities of relaying assault allegations. I assume that science hasn't changed in two years.Let's also not forget that, despite Ford's inconsistencies, Biden still argued that Kavanaugh should be presumed guilty. Why shouldn't he?It is also quite amazing to see Biden's defenders implicitly contending that Reade is only credibly claiming that she was sexually harassed for nearly 30 years, so her story must be politically motivated.Even if we concede that Reade is a wily Sanders operative or Putin stooge, what political motive could Reade possibly have had back in 1993 -- after working for Biden -- to smear the senator? What motive did she have to repeat that story to her family before Sanders was a candidate or Putin was running Russia?By the way, liberals have never argued that political motivations should be disqualifying. Ford came forward, by her own admission, because she did not believe the man who had allegedly assaulted her in high school should be given a seat on highest court in the land. Reade says she doesn't want a man who allegedly assaulted her -- when he was in his 50s -- to hold the most powerful office in the world.Feinstein, of course, isn't the only one to engage in this kind of transparent double standard. When asked about Reade, the idealist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, said, "I'm not sure. Frankly, this is a messy moment, and I think we need to acknowledge that -- that it is not clear-cut."Where was all this hand-wringing and caution over the messiness of sexual-assault claims when nearly every Democrat and all their allies in the press were spreading Julie Swetnick's alleged "gang rape" piece? Nowhere.AOC, whose position on Biden has evolved, invited Ana Maria Archila, the women who had famously cornered a weak-kneed senator Jeff Flake in an elevator and yelled at him about Kavanaugh, to the 2019 State of the Union address. Archila now says, "I feel very trapped."I bet.People point out that there are numerous sexual-misconduct allegations leveled at Donald Trump. Indeed. If they haven't yet, news outlets should scrutinize and investigate the credibility of those allegations, as they did for Biden but not for Kavanaugh. But it's important to remember that Trump accuser E. Jean Carroll was given immediate and widespread coverage on cable news, while Reade reportedly wasn't asked to tell her story by any major network -- save Fox News -- until this week.Of course, most Biden defenders are being purposely obtuse about the debate -- Mona Charen's recent column is an excellent example. The problem isn't that Biden is being treated unjustly, or that he should be treated unjustly; it's that he is being treated justly by the same people who treat others unjustly. Democrats have yet to explain why Biden is afforded every benefit of the doubt but not Kavanaugh, and not millions of college students.Public figures such as Biden have every right to demand fair hearings and due process. Voters have every right to judge the credibility of both accuser and accused. Many women are victims. Many women are victims who are powerless to prove it. And some women are frauds. You can't keep demanding that our political system adjudicate similar incidents under two completely different set of rules. It's untenable.
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| Russia buries latest priest to die from coronavirus Posted: 09 May 2020 01:06 PM PDT  Father Andrei Molchanov, the latest Russian Orthodox priest to die from the novel coronavirus, was buried on Saturday by his heartbroken daughter who said she wished the Moscow church where he served had closed earlier. Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, called in late March for believers to pray at home. "I believe above all else that we should have closed churches, along with restaurants and other places," Anastasia Molchanova, the late priest's daughter, told Reuters after his burial.
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| New York City is readying 1,200 hotel rooms with laundry service and meals as part of the city's coronavirus testing and tracing efforts Posted: 09 May 2020 03:13 PM PDT  The New York City coronavirus "test and trace corps" will begin by June. People living in cramped spaces who are COVID-exposed will be sent to hotels.
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| U.S. continues media battle with Beijing, limits Chinese journalists' visas Posted: 09 May 2020 05:08 AM PDT  The back-and-forth continues.The Department of Homeland Security said Friday the United States will shorten the visa length for Chinese journalists working for non-American news outlets to 90 days. Previously, journalists with Chinese passports were granted open-ended visas. They can apply for extensions under the new rules, but renewed visas will also last just 90 days. The new limit won't apply to reporters from Hong Kong Macau, or to mainland Chinese citizens who hold green cards.It's the latest development in a media war between Washington and Beijing that has intensified during the coronavirus pandemic. American officials said the rules were meant to counterbalance the "suppression of independent journalism" in China, whose government expelled journalists from The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The Washington Post in March. Before that, the U.S. reduced the number of Chinese citizens employed by multiple state-controlled Chinese news organizations to work in the country. The New York Times notes the move wasn't unexpected; U.S. intelligence officials have long believed some journalists at Beijing-run outlets are spies, and the Trump administration has designated some Chinese news agencies foreign government functionaries.The heightened tensions between the world's two biggest powers didn't just show up in the media world Friday. U.S. lawmakers wrote to nearly 60 countries asking them to support Taiwan's participation in the World Health Organization, a move that likely won't sit well with China. And Washington also blocked a United Nations security council resolution calling for a global ceasefire during the pandemic because it indirectly referenced the WHO, which the U.S. has blamed in conjunction with China for failing to suppress the outbreak.More stories from theweek.com The U.S. reportedly didn't take up a January offer that would have led to the production of 1.7 million masks per week 7 scathing cartoons about America's rush to reopen Outed CIA agent Valerie Plame is running for Congress, and her launch video looks like a spy movie trailer
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| ‘Selfish, tribal and divided’: Barack Obama warns of changes to American way of life in leaked audio slamming Trump administration Posted: 09 May 2020 04:22 AM PDT  Barack Obama said the "rule of law is at risk" following the justice department's decision to drop charges against former Trump advisor Mike Flynn, as he issued a stark warning about the long-term impact on the American way of life by his successor.
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| Was the coronavirus made in a Wuhan lab? Here's what the genetic evidence shows Posted: 09 May 2020 06:00 AM PDT  Despite President Trump's statements that the coronavirus was released from a laboratory in Wuhan, scientist say the evidence points to a natural origin.
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| Geraldo Rivera reacts to Michael Flynn case: Good man caught in a ‘perjury trap’ Posted: 08 May 2020 06:25 AM PDT  Fox News correspondent-at-large Geraldo Rivera reacts to President Trump calling the Michael Flynn case a 'total hoax' on 'Fox and Friends.'
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| Nurse arrested in theft of credit card from dying COVID-19 patient, police say Posted: 08 May 2020 07:28 AM PDT  Danielle Conti, a nurse at a New York City hospital, was charged and arrested Thursday in the theft of a COVID-19 patient's credit card.
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