| Trump takes cautious approach to highlighting Biden accuser Posted: 10 May 2020 09:28 PM PDT  President Donald Trump rarely holds his fire, hurling accusations true and false. Trump didn't publicly address the issue until April 30, more than a month after former Senate staffer Tara Reade alleged on a podcast that Biden sexually assaulted her in a Capitol Hill basement in 1993. Biden has vehemently denied the allegation, saying it never happened.
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| China berates New Zealand over support for Taiwan at WHO Posted: 11 May 2020 02:35 AM PDT |
| South Korea and China report new coronavirus cases after easing lockdown measures Posted: 10 May 2020 08:40 PM PDT  South Korea and China have reported fresh surges in coronavirus cases in the wake of both countries easing their lockdown measures. "The nation is at risk," Park Won-soon, the mayor of the South Korean capital, Seoul, said on Monday, warning that the next few days will be "critical" in preventing the spread of a virus from a cluster of cases linked to several of the city's nightclubs and bars. A total of 86 new infections have been reported so far in the new outbreak as officials race to track down thousands of others who may have come into contact with a 29-year-old man who visited the venues before testing positive for Covid-19. The scare will ring alarm bells for other governments eager to loosen lockdown restrictions. South Korea has won global praise for successfully controlling the virus with its efficient "test, track, treat" strategy, reducing new infections to a daily trickle of single digit figures. The sudden spike in cases has raised fears of a second coronavirus wave. The authorities have tested more than 2,450 people who went to the night spots in the Itaewon neighbourhood, but officials are still trying to track about 3,000 more with the help of phone records and credit card data.
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| Airports are being repurposed as drive-in movie theaters, morgues, and a concert hall for one during the pandemic. See 7 ways airports are adapting without fliers. Posted: 10 May 2020 05:52 AM PDT  Airport runways, terminals, and grounds around the world are now being used as makeshift morgues, drive- movie theatres,
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| Coronavirus: Mexican jailed gang leader Escamilla dies Posted: 11 May 2020 06:04 AM PDT  Mexican Moisés Escamilla was serving a sentence for crimes including the decapitation of 12 people.
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| Nearly one-third of Americans believe a coronavirus vaccine exists and is being withheld, survey finds Posted: 10 May 2020 12:58 PM PDT  The Democracy Fund + UCLA Nationscape Project found some misinformation about the coronavirus is more widespread that you might think.
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| This Home Beautifully Blends Traditional and Modern Japanese Architecture Posted: 11 May 2020 04:01 PM PDT |
| Flynn's Exoneration Was the Latest in a Life Full of Reversals Posted: 10 May 2020 09:11 AM PDT  WASHINGTON -- There have always been two sides to Michael Flynn. There was the rebellious teenager who surfed during hurricanes and spent a night in juvenile reformatory. Then there was the adult who buckled down, joined the Army and rose to become a three-star general.Flynn was a lifelong Democrat who served President Barack Obama as a top intelligence officer. He also called Obama a "liar" after being forced out of the job and reinvented himself as a Republican foreign policy adviser.Flynn criticized retired generals who used their stars "for themselves, for their businesses." He appeared to do the same thing as a consultant.But the two sides of Flynn were perhaps never so stark as in the criminal case against him that ended abruptly on Thursday to the astonishment of much of official Washington.After pleading guilty in 2017 to lying to federal investigators about his contacts with a Russian diplomat, Flynn cooperated with the special counsel, saying he was "being a good soldier" and earning prosecutors' praise. Then he recanted his confession and began what some allies saw as a reckless gamble to recast himself as an innocent victim of a justice system run amok.That gamble paid off this past week when, in an extraordinary reversal, the Justice Department abandoned his prosecution, saying he never should have been charged. Current and former federal law enforcement officials expressed disbelief and dismay, calling the move an unprecedented blow to the Justice Department's integrity and independence. Obama, in remarks to former members of his administration, said he feared that "not just institutional norms, but our basic understanding of rule of law is at risk."Flynn transformed his case into a political cause that resonated in the conservative echo chamber. Led by his lawyer, Sidney Powell, and Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif. and a close ally of the president's, Flynn's backers worked to wipe away the mistrust of some Republicans over his cooperation with law enforcement and turn him into a right-wing hero. Powell dug up documents she insisted showed that her client was as much of a victim of malfeasance by the FBI as Trump had been.Ultimately Attorney General William Barr joined the battle, granting Flynn another turnabout in a life filled with them.A maverick in the military Michael T. Flynn, 61, grew up in Middleton, Rhode Island, the sixth of nine children. His father was an Army sergeant who became a banker. His mother ran a secretarial school before earning a law degree at age 63.The family was squeezed into a three-bedroom, one-bathroom oceanfront cottage. Finances were tight."I was one of those nasty tough kids, hellbent on breaking rules for the adrenaline high and hard-wired just enough not to care about the consequences," Flynn wrote in his 2016 book, "The Field of Fight." "Some serious and unlawful activity," he wrote, led to his arrest.He nearly flunked out of his freshman year at the University of Rhode Island, earning a 1.2 grade-point average. But the ROTC awarded him a three-year scholarship, and he found his calling in the military.For much of Flynn's career, former colleagues said, his mentors and superior officers let his talents flourish and kept his disruptive tendencies in check. In his book, he described himself as a rebel at heart. "I'm a maverick, an atypical square peg in a round hole," he wrote.As a young officer in 1983, he talked his way onto the military force that invaded Grenada. There, he dove off a 40-foot cliff to rescue two soldiers foundering in waters off the coast. He was scolded for the unauthorized rescue, but also earned respect.His boldness later translated into strategies that seemed fresh and welcome when the military was mired in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. In Afghanistan, he championed new ways to fuse intelligence gathering and military operations.His partnership with Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the commander of American-led forces in Afghanistan at the time, shielded him from critics. McChrystal also acted as a brake, ensuring that Flynn's most outlandish ideas were confined to brainstorming sessions.By the time Flynn arrived at the Defense Intelligence Agency as a three-star general in 2012, cracks were beginning to show. Obama had fired McChrystal, a move that deeply distressed Flynn.He executed a reorganization of the agency that is still in effect. But his chaotic management style and increasingly hard-edged views about counterterrorism gave colleagues pause, and his superiors viewed him as insubordinate, former Pentagon officials said. His defenders said the Obama administration bristled at his tough line on Iran.His two-year term was not extended, thrusting him into the civilian world at age 55, an embittered man.Flynn had flourished with the special operation forces in Iraq where his colleagues could "tolerate, adjust, and manage what was functional and dysfunctional with Mike Flynn," said Douglas Wise, a former CIA officer who became Flynn's deputy at the Defense Intelligence Agency."In the political arena," Wise said, "he no longer had this kind of adult supervision."Pivoting to the rightAs a military man, Flynn seemed oblivious to wealth, un-self-consciously parking his 1986 Buick Park Avenue in a Pentagon parking lot dotted with Cadillacs and Lexuses.But as a civilian, he founded a consulting firm, Flynn Intel Group, that attracted high-paying clients. In a decision that appalled some friends, he agreed to give a speech in 2015 to RT, Russia's state-controlled television network, for about $45,000. He was seated at the head table next to President Vladimir Putin of Russia.The next year, he pulled in at least $1.8 million from private intelligence and security services, consulting and speeches. About $530,000 came for work to discredit an enemy of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey. Flynn did not register with the Justice Department as a foreign agent, as required under lobbying disclosure laws, until the following spring, when he was under federal scrutiny.Flynn's politics seemed to shift even more than his finances. He heavily criticized the Obama administration, especially over Iran policy.His pragmatic approach of old gave way in private conversations with reporters and students to almost hostile views to Islam. In his book, he called for the destruction of the Iranian government. Publicly, he sneered at Obama for avoiding the term "radical Islam"and implied that Obama was a secret Muslim."I'm not going to sit here and say he's Islamic," he told one of the country's largest anti-Muslim groups, ACT for America, in 2016. But, he said, the president "didn't grow up as an American kid," and held values "totally different than mine."Colin Powell, the former secretary of state, called Flynn "right-wing nutty." But his views resonated with Trump. Their initial mid-2015 meeting, scheduled for a half-hour, lasted 90 minutes and prompted Flynn to begin advising the campaign.He enthralled conservatives at the Republican National Convention in July 2016 when he led a chorus of "Lock her up!" chants against Hillary Clinton.Within weeks, Flynn became the subject of an FBI counterintelligence inquiry into the Trump campaign's links to Russia. His code name was "Razor."By January 2017, with Trump's inauguration imminent, the FBI had decided that insufficient evidence existed that Flynn conspired with the Russians, wittingly or unwittingly.But the FBI's interest was rekindled when agents learned that in late December during the presidential transition, Flynn had advised the Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, that the Kremlin refrain from reacting to the Obama administration's imposition of sanctions for Russia's election interference. Flynn also asked that Russia delay or defeat an upcoming United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Israel.Those phone calls were problematic because Flynn was attempting to intervene in foreign policy as a private citizen, a potential violation of a federal law -- albeit one rarely enforced.Flynn also told the incoming vice president, Mike Pence, that he had not discussed sanctions with Russia. Pence repeated that assertion on television, raising concerns at the Justice Department that Flynn had lied to him and that the Russians could use the truth to blackmail Flynn.At the FBI, his file had lingered in abeyance, not yet formally closed. "Our utter incompetence actually helps us," Peter Strzok, an FBI counterintelligence agent, texted a bureau lawyer. Because of a bureaucratic oversight, agents would not have to justify a reopening of the inquiry.Four days after the inauguration, the FBI sent two agents to question Flynn at the White House. Caught off-guard, Justice Department officials "hit the roof" when they found out, one said.Flynn told the agents he had not asked Russia to act in any specific way in response to the U.N. resolution or the imposition of sanctions. Those denials did not save his job: He was soon forced to resign.Even then, Trump tried to protect him from further investigation. "I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go," he told James Comey, then the FBI director whom Trump later fired.That December, Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to investigators about his conversations with the Russian official and pledged to cooperate with the inquiry by the special counsel, Robert Mueller, into Russia's 2016 election interference.Rebellion and resurrectionAbout a year later, Flynn had second thoughts. After a federal judge warned that he might not be sentenced to probation, he fired his legal team. His legal bills had amounted to nearly $3 million, forcing him to sell his Alexandria, Virginia, house and move to his Rhode Island homeIn a court filing, Flynn said he had only pleaded guilty because his lawyers advised him to. "One of the ways a person becomes a three-star general is by being a good soldier, taking orders, being part of a team and trusting people who provide information and support," he wrote.Even before she formally took over Flynn's defense last June, Powell put together a public relations and legal campaign to exonerate him, making the case on Capitol Hill and in conservative media.In appearances on Fox News, Powell linked her client's plight to other examples of what she saw as government overreach. She also stitched Flynn's story to conspiracy theories about career government officials' efforts to undermine Trump, both in court filings and conversations with journalists.Nunes, a longtime friend of Flynn and close ally of Trump, joined Powell in a full-throated defense. Together, they reoriented the view of Flynn on the right from an object of suspicion for cooperating with the special counsel into a conservative cause."Sidney Powell brilliantly shifted the narrative and shrewdly found new allies in the House Freedom Caucus and Fox News commentators," said Michael Pillsbury, an informal adviser to Trump and a scholar at the Hudson Institute.In a letter to Barr, Powell accused prosecutors and investigators of withholding documents, improperly leaking to the media and seeking to entrap her client.Her evidence included what Flynn's backers called a smoking gun: handwritten notes from Bill Priestap, then the head of FBI counterintelligence. "What is our goal?" he asked before the White House interview. "Truth/admission or to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired?"The bureau's defenders said the notes proved the FBI's impartiality, not its bias. But they provoked a fresh wave of indignation from the right.The campaign shifted Trump's thinking, as well. Initially he seemed inclined to believe that Flynn had done something wrong -- at least by lying to Pence. More recently, he has privately voiced regrets about firing him.By the time the Justice Department dropped the charges against Flynn on Thursday, Trump was calling the investigators who pursued Flynn "human scum." The next day, he praised Nunes' relentless efforts to take them on."Devin Nunes, he wouldn't stop," Trump said. "He saw it before anybody."The president has begun musing about rehiring Flynn. But some advisers to Trump said they viewed Flynn as too much of a loose cannon for the campaign trail or the White House.In the end, that side of Flynn may prevent him from finding that final bit of redemption.This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
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| Guaidó advisers quit following bungled Venezuela raid Posted: 11 May 2020 10:36 AM PDT  Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó said Monday that two U.S.-based political advisers have resigned in the fallout from a failed incursion into the Caribbean nation led by a former-Green Beret aimed at capturing President Nicolás Maduro. Guaido said he accepted the resignations of Juan José Rendon and Sergio Vergara, who had signed an agreement for a mission to arrest Maduro with U.S. military veteran Jordan Goudreau. While that deal fell apart, Goudreau has taken responsibility for going ahead with a failed attack launched May 3 on a beach outside the capital, Caracas.
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| Trump's attacks on Biden risk blowing back on him Posted: 10 May 2020 03:20 AM PDT  Analysis: The president's campaign is bashing his Democratic rival on issues where he is equally or more vulnerable, from defending China to sexual assault to nepotism to gaffes.
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| More than 90% of Tokyo hospital beds for COVID-19 patients filled: government Posted: 10 May 2020 08:59 AM PDT  More than 90 percent of hospital beds secured for COVID-19 patients in Tokyo have already been occupied, the Japanese Health Ministry said on Sunday, underscoring the pressing need to curb the further spread of the new coronavirus. The Tokyo Metropolitan government aims to boost the number of beds for COVID-19 patients to 4,000 eventually. About 5,000 people in Tokyo were confirmed to have been infected with the virus, representing nearly one-third of Japan's total infections of around 16,000, according to public broadcaster NHK.
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| Dr. Anthony Fauci says there's 'virtually no chance' that COVID-19 will be eradicated Posted: 11 May 2020 11:19 AM PDT  "With the travel, the global travel, every single day, there's no chance we're going to be virus-free," Fauci told NBC Sports' Peter King.
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| Iran accidentally fires missile at its own military ship, killing 19 Posted: 11 May 2020 03:18 AM PDT  An Iranian ship fired a missile during a training exercise which accidentally struck another vessel, killing 19 sailors, state media reported.
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| Interpol issues red notice for US diplomat's wife charged with killing Harry Dunn Posted: 11 May 2020 08:49 AM PDT  Interpol have issued a red notice for the wife of a US diplomat charged with killing Harry Dunn, as police told his parents she was "wanted internationally". British prosecutors charged Anne Sacoolas with causing death by dangerous driving after a car crash that knocked the 19-year-old off his motorbike outside a US military base in Northamptonshire last year. It is alleged the 42-year-old suspect had been driving on the wrong side of the road before the crash. Ms Sacoolas is the wife of a US intelligence official based at RAF Croughton and claimed diplomatic immunity to allow her to return to America, sparking an international row. An extradition request submitted by the Home Office was rejected by the US secretary of state Mike Pompeo in January. In a significant escalation of Britain's stance on the issue, it emerged on Monday that Interpol had issued a request to police forces worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest Ms Sacoolas if she crossed their borders. Number 10 said the refusal by the US to extradite Ms Sacoolas, who was charged in December, amounted to a "denial of justice". Red notices are issued by the international policing organisation - of which both the UK and US are members - at the request of a member country. They are distinct, however, from an international arrest warrant and Interpol cannot compel police in any country to arrest someone who is the subject of a red notice. In an email sent by Northamptonshire Police, the 19-year-old's parents were told the suspect is "wanted internationally" and "should she leave the USA the wanted circulations should be enacted". Reacting to the development, Harry Dunn's mother Charlotte Charles said: "It's been a terrible time for us. "We are utterly bereft and heartbroken and miss our Harry every minute of every single day. "This is important news that (our spokesman) has just passed on to us and we are in pieces. "I just want to urge Mrs Sacoolas to come back to the UK and do the right thing. Face justice and maybe then our two families can come together after the tragedy and build a bridge." A spokeswoman for the US state Department last reiterated its position on April 30, saying that, at the time of the accident and for the duration of her time in the UK, the driver had immunity from criminal jurisdiction. Mr Dunn's parents had separately written to Donald Trump, the US President, asking him to review the decision to block the extradition request. News of the Interpol notice came just hours after the head of the armed forces told the grieving family that he will make representations to his US colleagues about setting up a meeting after claims of "near misses" involving American military staff. General Sir Nick Carter penned a letter to Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn promising to raise the matter - saying "I am very supportive of positive engagement between you and the US base commander". His parents had issued a plea to arrange a meeting with the base following claims of "three near misses" involving their staff since the teenager's death.
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| Pandemic modelers expect loosening restrictions to lead to coronavirus case increase in coming weeks Posted: 10 May 2020 10:26 AM PDT  As some states in the U.S. begin to reopen parts of their economies, scientists are anticipating a growth in coronavirus cases in those areas over the next few weeks.The University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation Director Christopher Murray told CBS' Margaret Brennan on Sunday that his model, which the White House has favored during the pandemic, anticipates a jump in cases in states where his team noticed a large increase in mobility among the population in recent days.> NEWS: @IHME_UW's Director Christopher Murray thinks there will be a big increase in coronavirus cases over the next ten days in places like Georgia where restrictions have been loosened and residents have become more mobile. pic.twitter.com/r0H0MER1Dz> > — Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) May 10, 2020Dr. Jeffrey Shaman, a professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University who has also created a pandemic model, similarly expects loosening restrictions to lead to an increase in transmission, though he thinks the data won't really show up until later in the month.> WATCH: Dr. Jeffrey Shaman says "we are going to see a growth in cases" over the next couple of weeks due to loosening restrictions. MTP @JeffreyShaman: "Any changes we do to social distancing ... we are not going to realize until we are already in some period of growth." pic.twitter.com/6NcfTnwjYg> > — Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) May 10, 2020Shaman did include some caveats, however, noting that models aren't really making predictions themselves. Instead, they're testing out a range of outcomes. There's really no telling, he said, how exactly rolling back lockdown measures will affect people's actual behavior, so there's a chance the worst case scenario won't come to fruition.More stories from theweek.com The dark decade ahead Trump angrily shuts down questions about coronavirus testing at press conference on coronavirus testing The making of a coronavirus conspiracy theory
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| Shanghai Disneyland reopens after three-month coronavirus closure Posted: 11 May 2020 10:01 AM PDT  Shanghai Disneyland reopened on Monday following a more than three-month coronavirus shutdown as China moves nearer to normality and Walt Disney Co. seeks to plug the flow of red ink caused by the pandemic. The theme park in China's most populous city is the first of the entertainment conglomerate's six main Disney resorts around the world to reopen, but does so under the shadow of the coronavirus. Disney said there would be increased frequency of sanitisation and disinfection, and the park will limit or suspend performances that often include interaction between visitors and characters such as Mickey Mouse.
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| Surfer killed in shark attack was passionate about the sport Posted: 10 May 2020 09:22 AM PDT  A 26-year-old man killed in a shark attack off a Northern California beach was an avid surfer who customized surfboards for a living. The Santa Cruz County coroner's office identified the victim of Saturday's attack as Ben Kelly. Kelly was surfing near Manresa State Beach on the northern end of Monterey Bay Saturday afternoon when he was attacked by a shark of unknown species, California State Parks said in a statement.
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| More checks? A payroll tax cut? Trump and Congress split on next coronavirus relief plan Posted: 11 May 2020 01:37 PM PDT  Another round of relief checks? A payroll tax cut? Republicans and Democrats have pitched a number of ideas for the next coronavirus relief package.
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| Russia's Putin orders gradual easing of coronavirus lockdown despite surge in cases Posted: 11 May 2020 01:40 AM PDT  Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday announced a gradual easing of coronavirus lockdown measures despite a new surge in infections which took Russia's tally past Italy's, making it the fourth highest in the world. Putin, in a televised nationwide address, said that from Tuesday he would start lifting restrictions that had forced many people to work from home and businesses to temporarily close. The Russian leader emphasised the lifting of restrictions would be gradual and that individual regions in the world's largest country would need to tailor their approach to varying local conditions.
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| South Dakota tribes defy governor and maintain checkpoints in coronavirus fight Posted: 11 May 2020 03:36 PM PDT  "We have every legal right to do what we're doing," said Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Chairman Harold Frazier. "We're just doing preventative action."
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| New York City recorded 24,000 more deaths than normal over 2 months this spring. About 5,000 of those are still a mystery. Posted: 11 May 2020 02:05 PM PDT  Some of the unexplained deaths could still be attributed to the coronavirus, but public-health experts say we may never know for sure.
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| Pandemics have 2 endings, says historians Posted: 11 May 2020 10:29 AM PDT  When will the COVID-19 pandemic end? And how? According to historians, pandemics typically have two types of endings: the medical, which occurs when the incidence and death rates plummet, and the social, when the epidemic of fear about the disease wanes.
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| Not Feeling the iPhone? Consider One of These Android Phones Instead Posted: 11 May 2020 09:00 AM PDT |
| Violence Against Asian Americans Is on the Rise—But It’s Part of a Long History Posted: 11 May 2020 02:13 PM PDT  A new docuseries on PBS calls attention to how Asian Americans have often been violently scapegoated for larger societal issues
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| Israeli army destroys home of Palestinian bomb suspect Posted: 10 May 2020 05:39 PM PDT  Israel's army on Monday demolished the West Bank home of a Palestinian charged with involvement in a bomb attack that killed an Israeli teenager, AFP journalists said. The explosion last August 23 near a spring close to the Jewish settlement of Dolev in the West Bank killed 17-year-old Rina Shnerb and wounded her father and brother. Four men were later arrested and charged including Qassam Shibli, who Israel said had made and planted the explosive device.
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| Schumer calls on VA to explain use of unproven drug on vets Posted: 10 May 2020 06:15 AM PDT  The Senate's top Democrat on Sunday called on the Department of Veterans Affairs to explain why it allowed the use of an unproven drug on veterans for the coronavirus, saying patients may have been put at unnecessary risk. Sen. Charles Schumer of New York said the VA needs to provide Congress more information about a recent bulk order for $208,000 worth of hydroxychloroquine. President Donald Trump has heavily promoted the malaria drug, without evidence, as a treatment for COVID-19.
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| U.S. tells Iran to send plane so Washington can deport 11 Iranian nationals Posted: 11 May 2020 12:57 PM PDT |
| 'If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me': Elon Musk confirms Tesla is restarting its factory against local rules Posted: 11 May 2020 02:11 PM PDT  Last month, Elon Musk said shutdowns designed to slow the spread of the virus were "fascist" and un-American.
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| Germany sees worrying COVID figures after weeks of relaxation Posted: 11 May 2020 09:03 AM PDT  Scientists are watching closely as the "reproduction rate" of the virus behind COVID-19 has risen above a crucial threshold for 2 days in a row.
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| Fox News Hosts: Americans Need ‘Military Mindset’ to ‘Reopen Right Now’ Posted: 11 May 2020 08:59 AM PDT  A few days after Fox News host Pete Hegseth called on "healthy people" to muster up the "courage" to go get infected with coronavirus in order to achieve "herd immunity," Hegseth agreed with Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade on Monday that Americans need to take on a "military mindset" and enter public spaces.Promoting his latest military-themed special on Fox Nation, the network's online streaming service, Hegseth was asked by the Fox & Friends crew if there was a similarity between military combat and the current pandemic that has killed roughly 80,000 Americans."I was going to say, all of you guys in the special, you're used to fighting an enemy who you can see coming at you, but this is so different because it's invisible," co-host Steve Doocy noted.After Hegseth said that his "Modern Warriors" special shows the need for people to "have some courage to be out and get open and be responsible," Kilmeade explicitly asked if the American public could learn a lesson from soldiers in terms of confronting the disease as states rush to reopen businesses."About 78,000 are dead, we understand how many got the virus and will. I get it," Kilmeade stated. "But at the same time, can you get the military mindset with the masses of, take on the enemy because we have no choice—sitting on the sideline will destroy the country. How do you get the military mindset for the everyday American?"Hegseth, an informal adviser of President Donald Trump who was once under consideration to run the VA administration, responded that the "military mindset is a patriotic mindset.""It's what forged and founded this country," he continued. "It is courage. We can be responsible, we can follow guidelines—while also reopening. We have to reopen, guys, right now, even in some of the more difficult places, or the livelihoods of people is going to crush more folks, or as many—I'm not talking in a statistical sense—as the actual virus itself."Hegseth's remarks come on the heels of him calling for healthy Americans to embrace the "American spirit" and help open back up the economy by willingly going out in public and risking infection."Now that we are learning more, herd immunity is our friend," he declared last week. "Healthy people getting out there—they are going to have to have some courage!"The vast majority of the public, meanwhile, still believe it is too soon for the nation to be reopened, feeling it will result in a higher death toll. Current models now project a sharp upturn in deaths after taking into account the relaxation of social distancing guidelines and increased mobility.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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| New York state to ease virus lockdown but not Big Apple Posted: 11 May 2020 11:21 AM PDT  Some areas of New York -- the state worst affected by America's coronavirus outbreak -- will be allowed to gradually reopen later this week, but New York City will stay closed until at least June, leaders said Monday. COVID-19 has killed around 22,000 people in New York state, which has been shut down since Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered all non-essential businesses ordered closed on March 22. "We start a new chapter today," Cuomo told reporters, adding, "It's an exciting new phase, we're all anxious to get back to work."
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| China warns of countermeasures to new U.S. rule for Chinese journalists Posted: 11 May 2020 10:57 AM PDT  China warned on Monday that it will take countermeasures in response to a U.S. decision to tighten visa terms for Chinese journalists and urged the United States to immediately "correct its mistake."
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| North Korea outbreak fear as Chinese border city locked down Posted: 11 May 2020 02:02 AM PDT  China has enforced a lockdown on a city bordering North Korea, raising suspicions about a coronavirus outbreak in the isolated country. Residential compounds have been closed and transportation shut down in Shulan, a city of 700,000 in the north-eastern province of Jilin, state broadcaster China Central Television reported on Sunday. Students who already had returned to school, were sent back home again to study, and the city's threat level has been raised from medium to high risk. As of Saturday, Jilin province had reported a total of 105 locally transmitted Covid-19 cases and 19 imported ones. There were 11 new coronavirus cases in Shulan on Saturday, local health authorities said. North Korea closed its borders in January when Covid-19 first began to take hold in China, and has consistently stated that nobody inside the country has been infected.
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| Biden slams Trump for not giving Americans the 'same necessary protections he has gotten for himself' Posted: 11 May 2020 08:09 AM PDT  Former Vice President Joe Biden has penned an op-ed calling for ramped up coronavirus testing and condemning the White House as those around President Trump are tested for COVID-19 daily.In an op-ed for The Washington Post published on Monday, Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, argues Trump "isn't up to the task" of providing states with "the tools, resources and guidance they need from the federal government to reopen safely and sustainably," saying "we need widespread testing" to do so.Biden noted that that Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and White House officials are now receiving COVID-19 tests every day, writing, "They knew exactly how to make the Oval Office safe and operational, and they put in the work to do it. They just haven't put in that same work for the rest of us." He says Trump "should be working to get Americans the same necessary protections he has gotten for himself."Several people in Trump's orbit have tested positive for COVID-19, including Katie Miller, a spokesperson for Pence. After Miller tested positive, Trump claimed, "this is why the whole concept of tests aren't necessarily great. The tests are perfect, but something can happen between a test, where it's good, and then something happens."Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and member of Trump's task force, said late last month that everybody who needs a test for COVID-19 should hopefully be able to get one by the end of May or beginning of June. Trump previously asserted in early March that "anybody that wants a test can get a test" already, which Biden slams as a "a baldfaced lie when he said it, and it still isn't remotely true." Trump is set to hold a press briefing focused on coronavirus testing on Monday afternoon.More stories from theweek.com The dark decade ahead Trump angrily shuts down questions about coronavirus testing at press conference on coronavirus testing The making of a coronavirus conspiracy theory
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| Coronavirus: Wuhan in first virus cluster since end of lockdown Posted: 11 May 2020 03:29 AM PDT  As China continues easing restrictions, new virus clusters in Wuhan and elsewhere have emerged.
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| The malaria pill hydroxycholoroquine failed to help coronavirus patients in 2 big studies Posted: 11 May 2020 02:14 PM PDT  Two observational studies looking at thousands of hospitalized New Yorkers found that the drug's use wasn't associated with lower death rates.
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| French minister blames mistakes for virus outbreak on aircraft carrier Posted: 11 May 2020 08:26 AM PDT  France's armed forces minister blamed an outbreak of the coronavirus that infected more than 1,000 sailors through its Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier fleet on mistakes made during efforts to counter the disease's spread. All but one of the sailors, about two dozen of whom were hospitalised, had now fully recovered, Florence Parly told parliament's defence committee on Monday. "The investigation shows the commanders and their medical advisers overestimated the ability of the aircraft carrier and its flotilla to face the coronavirus."
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| After controversy, parole grant in officer's slaying delayed Posted: 10 May 2020 10:04 PM PDT |
| Yazidi girl returns home to Iraq after years of IS captivity Posted: 10 May 2020 01:22 PM PDT  A Yazidi girl abducted by the Islamic State group returned to Iraq Sunday to be reunited with her family after the coronavirus lockdown in Syria delayed her homecoming, a community member said. Layla Eido, 17, was among dozens of women and girls from Iraq's minority Yazidi community who were abducted by IS from their ancestral home of Sinjar in 2014. The women were enslaved, systematically raped, or married off by force to jihadists, but for Eido the nightmare came to an end when the jihadist group's so-called "caliphate" collapsed last year.
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| ‘You can’t recover from death’: Argentina’s Covid-19 response the opposite of Brazil’s Posted: 10 May 2020 02:00 AM PDT  Argentina closed swiftly, while Brazil downplayed the crisis. The difference is reflected in their pandemic figures When Alberto Fernández took office as Argentina's president in December, his inauguration was boycotted by Brazil's hard-right leader, who dismissed Fernández and his vice-president, the two-time former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, as "leftwing bandits".For Jair Bolsonaro, Argentina's new Peronist government represented a throwback to the "pink tide" of Latin American leaders which coincided with Fernández de Kirchner's time in office from 2007 to 2015. "Argentina is starting to head in the direction of Venezuela," Bolsonaro predicted.Five months on, it is Brazil that is heading in the direction of a humanitarian emergency, amid a devastating coronavirus outbreak propelled by Bolsonaro's dismissive attitude towards the pandemic.The Brazilian president has downplayed the crisis as media "hysteria" and repeatedly rejected his own government's social distancing recommendations, even as the death toll has soared.In contrast, Argentina swiftly imposed a national lockdown, and appears to have successfully flattened the curve of contagion."You can recover from a drop in the GDP," Fernández has said about his decision to implement an early lockdown. "But you can't recover from death."With only 5,611 cases and 293 deaths so far, against Brazil's nearly 136,000 cases and over 9,100 deaths, even diehard Bolsonaro supporters are now looking towards their southern neighbour with an envious eye.The mayor of the crisis-stricken Brazilian city of Manaus, Arthur Virgílio, looked on in horror as Fernández and his deputy swept into power in December. "[They represent] everything that we deplore so much in the world today," the 74-year-old rightwinger told the Guardian. Now, Virgílio is looking towards Argentina in admiration. "Results are results," the mayor said, praising Fernández for taking "the only wise choice any country can take … which is determined social isolation". Fifty days into its tight lockdown, Argentina feels confident enough to start relaxing social distancing rules. "We have slowed the duplication period of cases to 25 days," the presidential cabinet chief, Santiago Cafiero, told the Guardian. "We've managed to flatten the curve, unlike other countries that didn't lock down in time."On Friday, Fernández announced the relaxation of lockdown measures in most of Argentina except the densely populated Buenos Aires metropolitan area, where 86% of cases are concentrated.In the rest of the country, a number of industrial and commercial activities will be reopened but public transport will only be available for essential workers and firms will have to provide private transport for their own employees. "The duplication period is much faster in the city of Buenos Aires: only 18.8 days," admitted Cafiero – compared to an average of 25.1 days in the rest of the country.The rate of spread is even higher in the city's large "villas" or slums, where it is estimated more than 250,000 people live. The worst affected is Villa 31 where some 45,000 people inhabit makeshift homes with deficient water services.Cases there jumped from just a handful to 219 when the "villa" was left without water for some 10 days by a water plant failure that was only resolved in recent days. "What's happening in Villa 31 is a tragedy," said Ofelia Fernández, (no relation of the president), the city's youngest legislator at 20 years old. "When a whole family is crammed in a single room, no amount of hand-washing will slow the spread. There's no way to foresee a happy ending for Villa 31." All commercial activity, with the exception of grocery stores, pharmacies and supermarkets, has been frozen since 20 March, but the city could see a gradual relaxation of the lockdown starting Monday, when Argentina will enter a new phase. Fernández is expected to announce the resumption of activities for some industries such as motor car and clothing factories starting Monday. But bars and restaurants will remain closed, except for deliveries and takeaways, as will schools, universities and entertainment venues. The tight coordination between the central government, governors and mayors in Argentina over lockdown measures stands in sharp contrast to the battles and confrontations in Brazil where Bolsonaro sacked his health minister and clashed with regional governors.But the differences between the two country's experiences of the pandemic are not just down to the contrasting personalities of their presidents, said the Argentinian academic Andrés Malamud, a senior research fellow at the University of Lisbon.Bolsonaro split with the party that brought him to power, whereas Fernández is a product of one of Latin America's most enduring and powerful national movements."Fernández can rely on Argentina's disciplined Peronist party, which has historically been on the side of the most disenfranchised, so informal workers, who make up 49% of the workforce, trust Fernández to provide solutions. Bolsonaro instead is an independent with no party to fall back on. Argentina's governors are also dependent on the fiscal largesse of the federal government, so they fell in line quickly with the nationwide lockdown," said Malamud. Argentina still faces many challenges, chiefly economic: inflation is still around a yearly 50% and the renegotiation of the country's sizable foreign debt is a race against the clock, with the possibility of a technical default soon if a current round of negotiations are not successful. With the country's finances obviously on his mind, Fernández on Thursday tweeted a picture of himself confirming via teleconference a $1.8bn loan from the Inter-American Development Bank. For now at least, the president has said he plans to keep prioritizing saving lives over reviving the economy."I'd rather a factory was empty because its workers are in quarantine, and not because they're ill or dead," Fernández said.
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| UK Brexit negotiators to tell EU that fisheries cannot be part of free trade agreement Posted: 11 May 2020 06:34 AM PDT  British Brexit negotiators will tell the European Union that a new fisheries agreement cannot be part of a free trade deal with Brussels during divisive talks that risk derailing the delicate negotiations this week. The UK will rebuff EU demands that the fisheries agreement, which both sides pledged to do their best to seal by July, be subject to the same governance mechanism that would police and enforce commitments in the free trade agreement. The British position sets David Frost, the UK's top Brexit official, on a collision course with Michel Barnier as three days of talks over continued access to British waters for the EU fleet begin on Tuesday. British officials have submitted a legal negotiating text setting out its vision for a Norway style fishing agreement with catch limits agreed on an annual basis. Michel Barnier accused the UK of wasting time after the last round of talks ended in bad-tempered frustration. "Our position on fish is reasonable and straightforward. We want a separate fisheries framework agreement which reflects our rights under international law and which provides for access and sharing opportunities based on the scientific principle of zonal attachment, with sustainability at its core," a UK official said. The Norway-style agreement risks infuriating Mr Barnier, The EU negotiator has warned Brussels will not agree a free trade deal without a fisheries agreement. Mr Barnier is also adamant that any fishing agreement cannot be renegotiated every year and must be for the long-term. Annual negotiations on fish alone would give the UK more leverage in talks than it would have in the trade negotiations. France has called for the fisheries agreement to last for up to 25 years. The EU has demanded continued reciprocal access to UK waters under "existing conditions". UK sources close to the negotiations reject that as simply continuing the Common Fisheries Policy. The CFP is based on historic catch shares that date back to the 1970s and 1980s, which disadvantage British fishermen. More fish are now in UK waters because of climate change and zonal attachment more accurately represents that than the historic catch system. The British insistence that the legal text not be shared with EU member states has angered ambassadors, as have warnings from London that the UK could walk away from the talks in July, unless the EU caves on its demands. EU ambassadors instructed Mr Barnier to hold firm at a meeting in Brussels last week. UK officials believe that the EU is in breach of the Political Declaration, the non-binding aspirational document that sets out the terms of the negotiations, which is an accusation regularly levelled at the British by Brussels. "The Political Declaration clearly sets out that an agreement on fish should be in force by July - just over two months away," a UK spokesman said. "Yet the EU continues to push for one single overarching agreement, despite that clearly being at odds with the Political Declaration, which envisages a separate agreement on fisheries." EU sources said that the Political Declaration was clear the fisheries deal would be part of an overarching economic partnership. British negotiators are pinning their hopes on the EU's national leaders, such as Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron, to intervene in the deadlocked talks in June and break the impasse. EU diplomats warned that no such political intervention would be forthcoming. A high level meeting is planned for June by both sides where progress towards the agreement, which must be finished by the end of the year unless the transition period is extended, will be evaluated. Downing Street insists that the transition period will not be extended under any circumstances, despite the coronavirus pandemic slowing negotiations and forcing them online. Failure to reach a deal in time will mean the UK and EU trading on far less advantageous WTO terms and, according to the Withdrawal Agreement, an extension of up to two years can only be asked for until July.
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| Trump Sabotages His Own Coronavirus ‘Mission Accomplished’ Moment Posted: 11 May 2020 04:01 PM PDT  It had all the trappings of a "Mission Accomplished" moment: the banner, the presidential pomp, and a message that wasn't true. But what President Donald Trump wanted Monday to be a show of strength over his administration's coronavirus testing push, complete with a banner touting "AMERICA leads the world in testing," ended under tough questioning by reporters, causing the president to storm off abruptly. When CBS reporter Weijia Jiang asked Trump why it was a competition to the president with those around the globe as the death toll climbs and cases increase, the president used his answer to go on the attack. "Well, they're losing their lives everywhere in the world," Trump said. "And maybe that's a question you should ask China. Don't ask me, ask China that question, OK? When you ask them that question, you may get a very unusual answer." When another female reporter, CNN's Kaitlan Collins, tried to ask a question, the president got into a brief exchange before ending the event. Trump declared Monday that the United States had "prevailed" on testing, saying the nation will "transition into greatness.""We have met the moment and we have prevailed," Trump said. Just two weeks ago, in another press conference, the president said that while his administration had made significant progress in scaling testing, it still had work to do. Monday's announcement seems to indicate that the president thinks his team did all it needed to on testing in the last 14 days.On Monday night, the nation's coronavirus death toll had surpassed 80,000, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States trails countries like Denmark, Italy, and New Zealand for the total number of COVID-19 tests per 1,000 people, according to Our World in Data, as well as the daily number of tests per 1,000 people. While the U.S. is testing a great many people, according to Vox, it is also a large country, with a great many people to test.In other words, the U.S. is hardly the global testing leader Trump portrayed it to be. And the testing number touted by Trump on Monday evening is also behind schedule. In March, Vice President Mike Pence told reporters that by the middle of the month the administration would have shipped 4 million tests. He suggested that the country would, too, test that many people by the end of the month. "Before the end of this week, another 4 million tests will be distributed," he said. That never happened. When pressed by reporters at a press conference last month, Pence said the media was confused—that he meant the administration would facilitate the shipment of those tests and it was up to the states to administer them. It was yet another indication that the administration's promises on testing fell short of expectations.Testing for the virus has continued to be a sore spot for Trump during the pandemic, as the public's ability to actually get tested for the virus has proven to be difficult. For the past two months, state and local officials have pleaded with the federal government for assistance on testing, claiming they simply did not have enough tests or supplies to administer them to safely and completely reopen their economies. Trump has deflected criticism, claiming the federal government has gone above and beyond to help states get back on their feet. Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, earlier this month even called the federal government's response a "success story." But that rosy picture is a far cry from the reality on the ground in local communities, especially those in hot spot areas. In Jersey City, New Jersey, the mayor and his team fought the state and the federal government for additional testing resources before settling on the idea that they would never have enough tests no matter how much they asked for help. And in other communities officials say that they do not have the staff or supplies to administer the tests they have on hand.A Mayor Accepts a Nightmare: The COVID Tests Won't ComeThese anecdotes seem to have blowon past officials in the White House, including the president and Kushner, who have spent the majority of the last two weeks publicly praising each other. States across the country have continued to reopen, despite concerns from some local officials about the speed of restrictions being eased and testing shortage worries. Slides used by officials during the briefing touted the "historic scaling of testing," along with the administration's announcement that $11 billion was being sent to the states, via the CARES Act legislation, to be "devoted to testing capability." Trump also struggled to strike a balance at times during Monday's briefing. To one reporter's question, Trump said, "If somebody wants to be tested right now, they'll be able to be tested." Minutes later, Trump echoed again that "if people want to get tested, they get tested," before bragging about the nation's testing capacity. "If people want to get tested, they get tested," Trump said. "But for the most part, they shouldn't want to get tested. There's no reason. They feel good, they don't have sniffles, they don't have sore throats. They don't have any problem." —With additional reporting from Noah Shachtman and Sam SteinRead more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. 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| IS regional leader Sheikh Khorasani 'arrested in Afghanistan' Posted: 11 May 2020 08:12 AM PDT  Sheikh Omar Khorasani is reportedly captured with two other IS leaders in a special operation in Kabul.
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| 3 nurses who were sisters have been strangled to death in Mexico as the country's health care workers face rising abuse linked to the coronavirus Posted: 10 May 2020 06:18 AM PDT  A triple murder is the latest in a series of attacks on medical personnel in the country, who are being falsely accused of spreading the coronavirus.
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