| Trump defends 'Chinese virus' comments Posted: 18 Mar 2020 10:53 AM PDT  "It's not racist at all," the president said of his use of terms like "the Chinese virus" to refer to the coronavirus.
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| Detained US veteran released on medical furlough in Iran: Pompeo Posted: 19 Mar 2020 09:37 AM PDT  A US military veteran imprisoned in Iran was freed Thursday for medical reasons on condition that he stay in the country, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said. Michael White has been transferred for medical examinations to the Swiss embassy, which represents US interests in Tehran in the absence of diplomatic relations, Pompeo said. "The United States will continue to work for Michael's full release as well as the release of all wrongfully detained Americans in Iran," he added.
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| China says admonishing doctor and coronavirus whistleblower Li Wenliang was 'improper,' calls for punishing local officials Posted: 19 Mar 2020 10:29 AM PDT  An investigation into the death of the doctor found that local authorities mishandled the case and followed "improper" law-enforcement procedures.
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| Is spring break over? Local Florida officials close beaches after gov refuses to. Posted: 19 Mar 2020 10:24 AM PDT  At the height of the spring break rush, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday he would not order the beaches closed.
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| Senate GOP prioritizes business tax cuts in coronavirus stimulus package Posted: 19 Mar 2020 02:47 PM PDT  Senate Republicans released their "phase three" coronavirus economic stimulus package on Thursday in a follow-up to Wednesday's package.The Senate passed an initial package on Wednesday, which originated in the Democrat-led House and included paid sick leave, unemployment benefits, free COVID-19 testing, and other food and medical aid. But Thursday's proposal walks back some of those actions by putting stricter limits on who can use that paid leave. It also includes loans for small businesses of up to $10 million, a lift on excise taxes for airlines, and a variety of tax cuts and adjustments for businesses.The bill promises up to $1,200 in "recovery rebates" to individual Americans who made no more than $75,000 and $2,400 to joint filers who made no more than $150,000 as of their 2018 tax return. For every $100 a person makes over those limits, $5 will be deducted from that amount. GOP negotiators, including Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), had held firm on the $75,000 threshold as of Thursday.> GOP bill on immediate checks:> > \-- $1,200 per person ($2,400 if filing jointly) > \-- $500 per kid > \-- Begins to phase out above $75K > \-- Phases out completely above $99K > \-- Much smaller benefit, of $600, for millions w/o federal tax liability pic.twitter.com/mPggn8eepS> > — Jeffrey Stein (@JStein_WaPo) March 19, 2020Democrats will still have a chance to negotiate to modify the deal, but it'll likely have President Trump's support. By the end of Thursday, the U.S. had reported 11,200 cases of coronavirus and at least 166 deaths, ABC News reports.More stories from theweek.com Lindsey Graham is reportedly trying to talk Trump out of coronavirus relief checks for Americans 7 funny cartoons about coronavirus hoarding Trump briefing notes show he replaced 'coronavirus' with 'Chinese virus' in Sharpie
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| In Mexico, a cartel is taking over: Jalisco New Generation Posted: 17 Mar 2020 10:02 PM PDT  Mexico's fastest-rising cartel, the Jalisco New Generation gang, has a reputation for ruthlessness and violence unlike any since the fall of the old Zetas cartel. In parts of the country it is fighting medieval-style battles, complete with fortified redoubts, to expand nationwide, from the outskirts of Mexico City, into the tourist resorts around Cancun, and along the northern border. It is a promise that cartels in Mexico have long made, and always broken.
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| LGBTQ community may be 'particularly vulnerable' to coronavirus pandemic. Here's why. Posted: 18 Mar 2020 12:04 PM PDT  National health organizations are warning that some members of the LGBTQ community may be "particularly vulnerable" to the effects of the virus.
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| Spring breakers vacationing in Miami are taking the coronavirus outbreak lightly, saying they won't let it 'stop me from partying' Posted: 19 Mar 2020 02:12 PM PDT  "If I get corona, I get corona. At the end of the day, I'm not going to let it stop me from partying," one partier said in a widely viewed video.
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| Sharp increase in Moscow pneumonia cases fuels fears over coronavirus statistics Posted: 19 Mar 2020 09:18 AM PDT |
| Chicago area's top prosecutor wins the Democratic nomination Posted: 18 Mar 2020 09:06 AM PDT  Kim Foxx, the Chicago area's top prosecutor, won the Democratic nomination Tuesday against three challengers who zeroed in on her handling of the Jussie Smollett criminal case.
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| In images: effects of COVID-19 on landmarks around the world Posted: 19 Mar 2020 03:04 AM PDT |
| Trump claims he always took coronavirus seriously, but the record says otherwise Posted: 18 Mar 2020 07:01 AM PDT  The president said he "felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic," but the record shows he downplayed it for weeks.
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| California governor tells the state's National Guard to prepare as coronavirus cases in the state hit 740 Posted: 18 Mar 2020 08:10 AM PDT  The action is not a mobilization order but instead directs troops to prepare in case of activation into local communities.
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| First virus death in Sub-Saharan Africa as WHO warns 'prepare for worst' Posted: 18 Mar 2020 08:10 PM PDT  Sub-Saharan Africa has recorded its first COVID-19 death, a high-ranking politician in Burkina Faso, as the head of the World Health Organisation urged the continent to "prepare for the worst". "Africa should wake up," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference in Geneva on Wednesday, pointing out that "in other countries, we have seen how the virus actually accelerates after a certain tipping point". Africa has lagged behind the global curve for coronavirus infections and deaths, but in the past few days has seen a significant rise in cases.
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| McConnell Drops Phase-Three Coronavirus Relief Plan, Includes Cash Payments for Americans Posted: 19 Mar 2020 03:32 PM PDT  Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) and Senate Republicans released the text for their massive phase-three coronavirus relief package Thursday, outlining a trillion-dollar plan that includes direct payments of $1,200 per person and $2,400 for couples to help offset economic losses amid the growing pandemic.McConnell said the "Coronavirus Aid, Relief, & Economic Security Act" is focused on "four urgent priorities": directly assisting Americans, providing relief for small businesses, stabilizing the economy, and supporting America's healthcare professionals and patients during the outbreak."The Senate is not going anywhere until we act. Senate Republicans are here and ready to work with our Democratic colleagues and the Administration to get results as soon as possible. Let's get this done for the country," McConnell tweeted to announce the bill.> The Senate is not going anywhere until we act. Senate Republicans are here and ready to work with our Democratic colleagues and the Administration to get results as soon as possible.> > Let's get this done for the country. https://t.co/E8ZSyDrISN> > -- Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) March 19, 2020Earlier Thursday, he said in a speech on the Senate floor that "Senate Republicans want to put cash in the hands of the American people.McConnell and the White House warmed to the idea of cash payments after proposals from Senator Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) — who called for monthly payments to working families below a certain income bracket — and Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) and Mitt Romney (R., Utah), who both proposed direct cash payments of a fixed amount."Americans need cash now and the president wants to get cash now," Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, who recently has been involved heavily in negotiations on the Hill, said at a White House press conference on Tuesday."We're going to get out of this quickly," Mnuchin told FOX Business' Maria Bartiromo on Thursday. He revealed the goal was to get the money out in three weeks, with another round of checks coming in six weeks if the crisis is still ongoing.Senator Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) had been opposed to the measure, but told reporters he could support "a check as a gap-filler."The bill reveals that the size of the checks, which will be based on 2018 tax returns, gradually diminishes for those earning more than $75,000, and phase out completely for those earning over $99,000.Individuals with no federal income tax liability, would see smaller benefits of a minimum of $600 for individuals and $1,200 for married couples, which the Senate Finance Committee said "ensures relief gets to low-income seniors and disabled veterans."McConnell's plan also creates $208 billion in loans and loan guarantees to at-risk industries, including $50 billion for commercial airlines and $8 billion for air cargo carriers, as well as $150 billion for other eligible businesses.
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| For the 1st time since coronavirus outbreak began, China reports no new local infections Posted: 18 Mar 2020 08:01 PM PDT  On Thursday, China announced that there were no local COVID-19 coronavirus infections reported in the country on Wednesday, for the first time since the outbreak started late last year.There were 34 infections diagnosed, but all involved people who came to China from other countries, China's National Health Commission said. Of those infections, 21 cases were in Beijing.After originally mismanaging the outbreak — residents complained of food shortages and a lack of hospital beds and test kits — and even punishing doctors who tried to spread the word, China enforced quarantines, shut down factories, and kept people out of cities they didn't live in. There are 80,928 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in mainland China, with the death toll at 3,245.More stories from theweek.com Lindsey Graham is reportedly trying to talk Trump out of coronavirus relief checks for Americans 7 funny cartoons about coronavirus hoarding Senate GOP prioritizes business tax cuts in coronavirus stimulus package
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| A toilet paper shortage and increased cleaning might have caused a spike in raw sewage spills in California. Other regions are bracing for the same. Posted: 19 Mar 2020 01:57 PM PDT  The coronavirus pandemic has prompted some to panic buy toilet paper, leaving stores sold out. Flushing wipes and other items can cause sewage spills.
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| 2 cruise ships not allowed to disembark in Honolulu Posted: 18 Mar 2020 12:00 PM PDT  Two cruise ships won't be allowed to disembark in Honolulu after being turned away by other ports, even with no positive cases of coronavirus on either vessel, officials said Wednesday. State and cruise line officials previously said passengers would disembark at Honolulu Harbor.
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| Coronavirus: Bangladesh mass prayer event prompts alarm Posted: 19 Mar 2020 05:20 PM PDT  The religious leader who organised the event said it would offer people protection from the virus.
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| A New York neurosurgeon has coronavirus. This is what he wants people to know. Posted: 19 Mar 2020 09:34 AM PDT  Ezriel Kornel, a neurosurgeon in New York, doesn't know where he got coronavirus from, but he knows what it feels like in the early stages.
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| 'Well-connected' go first on coronavirus tests, Trump acknowledges: 'That's been the story of life' Posted: 18 Mar 2020 12:02 PM PDT  Amid a federal shortage of tests for the coronavirus, President Trump acknowledged the apparent unfairness in who had been able to receive them so far, saying, "That's been the story of life."
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| Aides to Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden are trading ideas on coronavirus responses as Sanders signals he'll drop out Posted: 19 Mar 2020 08:14 AM PDT  "They are working together to try to promote the health and safety of their teams, those who interact with the campaigns, and the American people."
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| Putin is being protected from coronavirus around the clock, says Kremlin Posted: 18 Mar 2020 05:17 AM PDT  Russian President Vladimir Putin is being protected from coronavirus around the clock, the Kremlin said on Wednesday, saying all Kremlin staff involved in his events schedule were undergoing mandatory testing for the virus. "Everything needed to protect the president from viruses and other illnesses is being done around the clock," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Peskov has previously declined to say whether Putin has been tested for coronavirus, but has said that the president's medical care is of an exceptionally high level.
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| The Inevitable Shoe Drops: DOJ Dismisses Mueller’s Charges against Russian Businesses Posted: 19 Mar 2020 03:30 AM PDT  More than an investigation, the Mueller probe was the wellspring of a political narrative. That becomes clearer as time goes by and more information ekes out . . . such as new confirmation that, months before Mueller was appointed in May 2017, it was already well understood in Justice Department circles that there was no case of criminal "collusion" between the Trump campaign and Russia.Never was that made more obvious than by the Justice Department's quiet announcement late Monday, under the five-alarm noise of the coronavirus scare, that it has dropped the special counsel's indictment of Russian companies -- an outcome I predicted here at National Review nearly two years ago.A little refresher is in order.As detailed here many times, one of the biggest problems confronting those weaving the collusion tale was the inability to prove that Russia hacked the Democratic email accounts. As Ball of Collusion outlines, that's not the only fundamental problem. There is also the fact that the Democratic emails, in which Hillary Clinton was not an active correspondent, did not actually hurt her campaign at all -- certainly not the way her own email scandal did (a scandal for which there was no way to blame Moscow). There is also the dearth of evidence that the Trump campaign was even aware of, much less complicit in, Kremlin intelligence operations. Still, very basically, it would be impossible to prove that Trump had conspired in Russia's hacking unless prosecutors could first establish that Russia had done the hacking.Let me repeat something else I said several times: This is not to say that Russia is innocent. Again, I accept the intelligence agencies' conclusion on this point (though a number of others, including some former U.S. intelligence officials, do not). But the point is that Mueller could never have proved it beyond a reasonable doubt under courtroom due-process standards. Any competent defense lawyer would have had a field day with the Obama Justice Department's failure to have the FBI take possession and conduct its own forensic examination of the servers that were hacked. And what fun defense counsel would have had with DOJ's delegation of that rudimentary investigative task to a DNC contractor with close ties to the Clinton campaign. (Yes, the forensic conclusions blaming Russia were paid for by the same folks who brought you the famously dodgy Steele dossier.)Speaking of dodgy, recall that Team Mueller and the Justice Department dodged every case that would have called for proving Russia's cyber theft. Even when they indicted WikiLeaks chief Julian Assange, the very Ground Zero of "collusion," they resisted charging him with the Russian hacking scheme. Given that prosecutors and the FBI spent years investigating the president of the United States for this crime of the century, it should seem astonishing that they passed on charging the guy they've told us is the central conspirator with this crime. But you weren't astonished if you were reading National Review . . . because you knew they were not going to charge any crime that called for proving Russia's culpability in court. Their evidence is shaky and, if there were ever an acquittal, the Trump-Russia political narrative would be kaput, while the Putin regime celebrated a huge propaganda coup.So why did Team Mueller publicly file an indictment against Russians?Because they figured it was a freebie. The prosecutors assumed that they would never have to . . . you know . . . prove the case. The Russian defendants were in Russia. There was no way Putin would ever extradite them for an American criminal trial. The prosecutors knew that. What they wrote was not meant to be a real indictment. It was meant to be a press release. It was meant to be what Team Mueller was best at: the spinning of a narrative. I explained it this way at the time:> When prosecutors are serious about nabbing law-breakers who are at large, they do not file an indictment publicly. That would just induce the offenders to flee to or remain in their safe havens. Instead, prosecutors file their indictment under seal, ask the court to issue arrest warrants, and quietly go about the business of locating and apprehending the defendants charged. In the Russia case, however, the indictment was filed publicly even though the defendants are at large. That is because the Justice Department and the special counsel know the Russians will stay safely in Russia. Mueller's allegations will never be tested in court. That makes his indictment more a political statement than a charging instrument. To the extent there are questions about whether Russia truly meddled in the election, the special counsel wants to end that discussion.It all seemed so well choreographed. The indictment was, of course, reported as gospel-truth by the anti-Trump media -- the same folks who tell you, whenever a Democrat is charged with a crime, that an indictment is merely an allegation, that nothing is proven until it's proven in court.Alas, Team Mueller made a mistake. A reckless bet, the kind made by people under the misimpression that they are playing with the house's money. To quote from my column nearly two years ago:> [Team Mueller] charged not only Russian individuals but three Russian businesses. A business doesn't have the same risks as a person. A business can't be thrown in jail. And while members of Mueller's prosecutorial stable have a history of putting real businesses out of business, a business that is run by a Putin crony and serves as a front for Kremlin operations is not too worried about that either.Since they had no concerns about being imprisoned or bankrupted by prosecution and fines, there was nothing to discourage these businesses from doing what Team Mueller blithely assumed no Russian defendant would ever do: retaining lawyers to show up in federal court, demanding the trial to which American law entitled the companies, and demanding all the discovery to which American due process guaranteed them access.It was a debacle.First, the prosecutors tried to get the case and all pretrial discovery postponed on the ground that the businesses in question, Concord Management and Concord Consulting (each controlled by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a food-supply oligarch said to be a Putin crony), had not been properly served with the indictment. This was absurd. Service of process is the way you get a business to come to court; these businesses were already in court, demanding to proceed with the prosecution that Team Mueller had chosen to start.The businesses then pressed the government to provide them with all the evidence and other discovery the law requires prosecutors to disclose. Team Mueller countered that they couldn't do that because it would harm national security. That's ridiculous. Imagine if I were prosecuting a mafia hitman and refused to make discovery, reasoning that the mafia might find out what's in my files. The judge would hold me in contempt, or dismiss the case -- or both. As a prosecutor, if you're worried that the security implications of disclosure are too great a risk, you don't charge the case. But if you file charges, there is no getting around disclosure obligations.Being forced to make disclosure did not go well for Team Mueller and his Justice Department successors. As they had to concede, there was no evidence that the Russians who carried out the troll farm scheme were directed by the Russian government. Stopping short of such an allegation, the indictment claimed the defendants were backed by Prigozhin -- which was quite the comedown from the Justice Department's drum-beating about Russia's "information warfare."Moreover, as the trial judge groused, the troll-farm indictment was "difficult to follow." Team Mueller's evidence was not even strong enough to allege that the defendants were actual Russian agents. Prosecutors thus crafted, shall we say, a creative theory: The defendants had "defrauded the United States" by failing to disclose their Russian identities and affiliations, which purportedly undermined the ability of U.S. bureaucracies to maintain a registry of foreign agents and enforce the campaign-finance laws. Except . . . it was unclear that the defendants had a legal duty to report information in the first place. How do you establish the criminality of concealment if there is no requirement to disclose?Finally, despite all the huffing and puffing about Russia's purportedly massive effort to influence the election through social-media ads, the grudgingly surrendered discovery indicated that many of the ads violated no American laws and cost pennies. Assuming for argument's sake that at least some of the candidate ads and rallies fell under Federal Election Commission reporting requirements, the defense contended that total expenditures for such activities amounted to less than $5,000.With the judge trying to push the case to trial this spring, the possibility of humiliation loomed. This past Monday, when no one was watching, the Justice Department finally -- inevitably -- pulled the plug. The cases against the companies were dropped. The sympathetic New York Times reported the prosecutors' fig leaf: The defense was "weaponizing" the case "to gain access to delicate information." It's the kind of claim the Times would ridicule were the paper not so invested in the Trump-Russia narrative. In point of fact, the defendants were demanding the legal right to discovery that Mueller's prosecutors automatically (if unwittingly) triggered when they decided to file an indictment.Not to say, "I told you so" (of course not!), this is exactly what these columns said would happen. From nearly two years ago:> The surest way to put an end to this unwelcome turn of events would be to dismiss the indictment — or at least drop the charges against the three businesses so Prigozhin and the Kremlin can't use them to force Mueller's hand [i.e., to compel discovery]. Of course, that would be very embarrassing. But as all prosecutors are taught from their first day on the job: Never indict a case unless you are prepared to try the case.There is no exception for "indictments" that are really meant to be political theater.
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| Woman who flew from U.S. to China for coronavirus test faces criminal charges Posted: 18 Mar 2020 10:49 PM PDT  A woman identified by her surname, Li, 37, is under police investigation for allegedly concealing her coronavirus symptoms when she boarded a flight from Los Angeles to Beijing. She could be imprisoned for up to 7 years.
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| India political activist arrested for selling cow urine to combat virus Posted: 18 Mar 2020 05:06 PM PDT  An activist with India's ruling party has been arrested after a volunteer fell ill from drinking cow urine at a party to combat the novel coronavirus, police said Wednesday, as interest grows in home remedies amid the pandemic. Narayan Chatterjee, a Bharatiya Janata Party activist, was arrested by West Bengal state police late Tuesday for "organising the cow urine consumption event and compelling a civic volunteer to drink cow urine", Kolkata police chief Anuj Sharma told AFP. Many in the Hindu-majority nation of 1.3 billion consider cows sacred and believe drinking cow urine is a panacea for all manner of ailments, from arthritis and asthma to cancer and diabetes.
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| Behind the urge to stockpile: First masks, then toilet paper, now cash? Posted: 19 Mar 2020 09:07 AM PDT  Experts say your savings should be in an insured, well-secured bank vault, not under a mattress.
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| The First U.S. Company Has Announced an Upcoming Home COVID-19 Test Posted: 18 Mar 2020 05:58 PM PDT  Direct-to-consumer testing company Everlywell will make its COVID-19 test available on Mar 23
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| Hannity, With a Straight Face, Claims He Has ‘Always Taken the Coronavirus Seriously’ Posted: 18 Mar 2020 07:41 PM PDT  After spending weeks downplaying and minimizing the threat of the new coronavirus that has now resulted in a worldwide pandemic, Fox News host Sean Hannity declared on Wednesday night that he has "always taken the coronavirus seriously" and never referred to it as a "hoax."Hannity, who recently changed his tune on the viral outbreak once President Donald Trump began exhibiting a sense of urgency about the crisis, complained about the amount of criticism the media has thrown at him and Fox News over their earlier COVID-19 coverage. Taking aim at his critics, the pro-Trump host insisted they were "politicizing" the pandemic with their "hysteria" and "neverending" lies about the president.After playing a montage of cable news rivals blasting Fox News and Trump, with one commentator stating that Fox has "been getting people killed for years," Hannity mockingly retorted: "We've been getting people killed for years, I had no idea I was doing that.""You know what, if it wasn't so serious, it was pretty sick and you could probably laugh at it but nothing to laugh at here," he continued. "By the way, this program has always taken the coronavirus seriously and we have never called the virus a hoax."Hannity went on to say that "we call what they're doing—trying to bludgeon the president—out," apparently addressing comments he made nine days prior on his show. While hosting Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) on March 9, who had at that time self-quarantined after coming in contact with an infected individual, Hannity groused about fears of the virus being overblown."We gotta be very real with the American people, I don't like how we're scaring people unnecessarily," he said. "And that is that unless you have an immune system that is compromised, and you are older, and you have other underlying health issues you're not going to die 99% from this virus, correct?""I mean they're scaring the living hell out of people," Hannity added. "And I see them again as like oh, okay, let's bludgeon Trump with this new hoax."Last week, amid mass cancellations and tanking stock markets but before the president shifted his tone on COVID-19, Hannity cited a far-right QAnon conspiracist to suggest that perhaps the "deep state" was using the virus to hurt the economy and push "mandated medicines." The Fox host also spent weeks comparing coronavirus to the seasonal flu. That is until top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci schooled him on the dangers of COVID-19 and said Hannity had to "make sure" his audience knew the mortality rate for coronavirus was at least 10 times greater than the flu. Kellyanne Conway Spars With Reporters Over 'Kung-Flu' Coronavirus SlurRead more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| 25 Best Cleaning Products and Supplies to Keep Your Home Clean As Can Be Posted: 19 Mar 2020 03:00 PM PDT |
| 'Tens of thousands' of National Guard troops could be used to assist with coronavirus Posted: 19 Mar 2020 11:05 AM PDT  Tens of thousands of U.S. National Guard troops could be activated to help U.S. states deal with the fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak, the head of the U.S. National Guard said on Thursday. The National Guard, part of the reserve component of the U.S. Armed Forces, has already been called up in 27 states, including New York, to assist with cleaning public spaces and to deliver food to homes. General Joseph Lengyel, chief of the National Guard Bureau, said that a total of about 2,000 troops have been activated so far and he expected that number to double by the weekend.
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| Police use DNA, genealogy to arrest suspect in 1985 slaying Posted: 19 Mar 2020 08:21 AM PDT |
| Russian opposition leader urges constitution vote boycott Posted: 19 Mar 2020 09:44 AM PDT  Top Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny on Thursday urged Russians to boycott a vote on constitutional changes backed by President Vladimir Putin, slamming plans to hold it during the pandemic. Putin, who has been in power for 20 years, has backed amendments that would allow him to get around a limit on presidential terms and potentially stay in office until 2036. The amendments will be put to a national vote on April 22, although this may be postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, authorities say.
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| US jails begin releasing prisoners to stem Covid-19 infections Posted: 19 Mar 2020 12:43 PM PDT  High profile inmates like ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen are among those who have asked for early release.
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| Coronavirus: State Department tells Americans: 'Do not travel' abroad, come home if overseas Posted: 19 Mar 2020 02:14 PM PDT  The U.S. State Department is set to issue its highest advisory for Americans traveling abroad Thursday, urging them to return home because of the coronavirus.
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| Lindsey Graham is reportedly trying to talk Trump out of coronavirus relief checks for Americans Posted: 19 Mar 2020 01:31 PM PDT  The freedom dividend's resurgence may be over before it even began.During a Senate GOP lunch on Thursday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-N.C.) told his colleagues he was trying to talk President Trump out of supporting individual coronavirus relief checks for Americans, Politico reports. White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows was also trying to get Trump on Graham's side, per Politico.Mandatory quarantines in the face of the COVID-19 outbreak have already left many Americans without jobs, at least until the businesses they work for reopen. And the economic effects of the new coronavirus' spread may leave some people more permanently unemployed. That's led to bipartisan lawmakers proposing issuing individual checks to all Americans; some proposals have limited them by income bracket, but others are universal. Even Trump has said he'd support individual payments, but Graham has publicly come out against issuing them to every American indiscriminately.Still, just after the meeting, Graham tweeted a clip of his Thursday appearance on Fox News, during which he said the phase three package would provide people "income to get through this." He'd support supplementing traditional unemployment payments by providing "75 percent of people's income up to $80,000."Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) was among the first congressmembers to propose issuing $1,000 checks to every American to support them during the COVID-19-induced economic turmoil — an idea that looked an awful lot like former 2020 candidate Andrew Yang's signature policy proposal.More stories from theweek.com 7 funny cartoons about coronavirus hoarding Senate GOP prioritizes business tax cuts in coronavirus stimulus package Trump briefing notes show he replaced 'coronavirus' with 'Chinese virus' in Sharpie
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| Some children develop severe infections from coronavirus, and the youngest ones have the highest risk, study says Posted: 18 Mar 2020 12:38 PM PDT  A peer-reviewed study on 2,000 children who had COVID-19 in China found 6% developed severe or critical infections. The risk was highest for infants.
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| Two cruise ships turned away in Honolulu despite no positive coronavirus cases onboard Posted: 19 Mar 2020 07:58 AM PDT  Two cruise ships won't be allowed to disembark in Honolulu after being turned away by other ports, even with no positive cases of coronavirus on either vessel, officials said Wednesday.
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| Greek anti-terrorism squad finds artillery, secret tunnel Posted: 19 Mar 2020 06:07 AM PDT |
| The No. 1 way to prevent coronavirus isn't wearing a face mask Posted: 18 Mar 2020 02:17 AM PDT  Coronavirus masks are expensive, they only last a few hours — and they may not even help.
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| Warrant issued for Mexico's ex-head of investigations Posted: 18 Mar 2020 03:42 PM PDT  A Mexican judge issued an arrest warrant for the former head of investigations for the Attorney General's Office for alleged violations in the investigation of the case of 43 college students who disappeared in 2014, officials said Wednesday. Tomas Zerón and five other former officials face charges including torture, forced disappearance and judicial misconduct. Three have been arrested and three, including Zerón, are still at large.
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| Italy passes China's virus deaths and braces for long lockdown Posted: 19 Mar 2020 12:27 PM PDT  Italy on Thursday overtook China's coronavirus death total and braced for an extended lockdown that could see the economy suffer its biggest shock since World War II. China has officially registered 3,245 deaths since reporting its first infections to the World Health Organization at the end of December. All of Italy's fatalities came over a chaotic four-week span that began with only a smattering of cases around Milan and eventually led to the entire nation living through its deadliest disaster in generations.
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| Florida governor refuses to shut down beaches amid spread of coronavirus Posted: 18 Mar 2020 01:42 PM PDT  Gov. Ron DeSantis said it's "not uniform throughout the state that you're seeing massive crowds at beaches," despite videos of gatherings in Tampa Bay.
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| Trump’s China Hawk Is Trying to Commandeer the Coronavirus Stimulus and Others in the White House Are Alarmed Posted: 19 Mar 2020 01:47 AM PDT  White House trade adviser Peter Navarro has seized on negotiations over how to handle the economic fallout of the coronavirus to push President Trump to use the crisis to bolster his "Buy American" agenda—starting with domestic production of key medical goods and equipment. His role, as described to The Daily Beast by several officials, has been aggressive enough to prompt serious pushback from other senior Trump officials, who are worried that Trump will be won over by the Buy American pitch, which will, in turn, have damaging consequences during the nation's worst public-health and economic crises in years. The order being pushed by Navarro, a draft of which was obtained by The Daily Beast, lays out a slew of policies that would ultimately curb the importing of foreign goods and create conditions that would allow for the increased production of American medicines, raw materials, and vaccines. The order is similar in language and tone to Trump's April 2017 executive order "Buy American Hire American."In an interagency meeting last week, representatives from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other trade officials voiced their objections to Navarro, saying the executive order could create more harm than good by restricting the flow of medicines and other supplies needed to treat coronavirus patients, according to two individuals familiar with the conversation, including one with direct knowledge. Navarro is an infamous China hawk who has long appealed to Trump's America-first instinct on trade policy. And according to two administration officials, he has been working on drafting his order with the president's explicit sign-off, having personally pitched the idea to the president in recent weeks, according to two administration officials. "The president warmly received it and told Peter to get to work on it," said one of these officials—who stressed that they were not on Navarro's side in this policy fight. "[Navarro] is not freelancing this... This is something the president [repeatedly] said he wanted done."That Navarro has found himself playing an integral role in response to a massive global pandemic illustrates the degree to which economic concerns have guided the president's response to the crisis. But there is hardly uniformity within the administration about what constitutes the right approach. Trump's Top Trade Adviser Peter Navarro Has a Side Project: Secretly Hunting for 'Anonymous'Other high-ranking Trump lieutenants, such as Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and the president's top White House economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, have also voiced internal opposition to Navarro's plan, arguing that if Trump were to do this during a pandemic and economic crisis, it could risk making problems worse, according to two sources with knowledge of the situation.Navarro's initiative has also run into expected objections from industry executives, as well as Republican veterans of past administrations. Tony Fratto, a White House and Treasury official during the George W. Bush presidency, knocked the proposed policy as "a mistake," posting to Twitter that "pandemics are global" and that "we need greater cooperation, not keeping critical supplies in walled gardens."White House spokespeople, Kudlow, and Navarro did not respond to requests for comment by press time Wednesday. The departments of State and Treasury and the FDA did not provide comment either. * * *The internal administration dissent comes at a time when Trump's coronavirus task force is struggling to handle the growing requests for medical supplies. While the federal government has begun distributions, governors across the country have said publicly they are in need of tens of thousands of additional masks, gowns, and gloves. Officials working on bolstering the supply chain tell The Daily Beast that further impeding the flow of goods by cutting down foreign supplies could make matters worse. "The crisis has revealed there are lots of vulnerabilities in, specifically, medical supply chains, and thinking through what the U.S. policy should be is a good thing," said Geoffrey Gertz, a fellow in the Global Economy and Development program at the Brookings Institution. "The question is how best to do this in a crisis. If there isn't an ability to ramp up productions of those goods, then it doesn't really work. You can't instantly flip the switch and have factories start pumping out these goods. At the moment where there is huge demand from medical goods. You want to source them from as wide a range of suppliers as you can."Navarro's executive order, titled "Combat Public Health Emergencies and Strengthen the National Defense by Ensuring Made in America Essential Medicines and Medical Countermeasures," is designed to lure companies to the U.S. and to incentivize more domestic production in the long term. One section allows for any executive agency or department to procure essential medicines and other supplies from "any sources during the COVID-19 outbreak." But in the next several lines, the order says officials have to "take all possible measures" to "maximize domestic procurement of essential medicines" over the long term. The order says it is the policy of the U.S. to "protect our citizens… against the outbreak of dangerous infectious diseases" and "restore the capabilities of our Public Health Industrial Base that are essential for the national defense and the development of production capabilities." The draft executive order goes on to lay out U.S. policy as it relates to the supply chain of medical supplies, stating that the U.S. should "ensure sufficient, stable and reliable long term demand for essential medicines and medical countermeasures through domestic procurement policies." In doing so, under the executive order, the U.S. would accelerate the regulatory approval times for medicines and increase enforcement of FDA regulations outside the U.S. to the same level that is enforced in the U.S.The heads of the departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs, and Health and Human Services would also be given 90 days to procure American-made medicines and "promote price competition by dividing production requirements among two or more domestic contractors." Sometimes when federal agencies buy foreign products, they're able to do so by obtaining waivers from the administration. But Navarro's executive order would eliminate some of those waivers."This seems like they're running ahead with policy without understanding the real source of risk," Gertz said.Navarro's attempt to bolster domestic manufacturers as a component of the medical-supply chain comes at a time when others inside the administration are still trying to get a good grasp on how the medical-supply chain is currently functioning. In particular, trade officials were alarmed by a component of the draft executive order that designates so-called APIs ["active pharmaceutical ingredients"] as "critical technology" that are "essential for the execution of the national security strategy of the United States." API is any substance or mixture of substances intended to be used in the manufacturing of a medicinal product that, "when used in the production of a drug becomes a drug product, becomes an active ingredient of the drug product," according to the executive order. In an interagency call last Friday, officials from departments including Commerce, State, FEMA, and the National Security Council talked about the impact of the coronavirus on the global supply chain.Two officials with knowledge of the call said representatives of the NSC acknowledged that they were following shortages of hand sanitizer through press reports. FEMA officials said they did not have insight into global inputs to the supply chains. Officials on the call seemed to be confused about which agency was in charge of tracking that information. Part of the disorganization in conversations about the supply chain was related to the lack of communication with the White House and the task force, those sources said.Asked for comment, a spokesperson for FEMA said that it was the Department of Health and Human Services that was responsible for "planning and assessing needs for personal protective equipment."The NSC did not respond to a request for comment.* * *Beyond being an adviser on trade policy, Navarro has fashioned himself as a staunch, pugilistic Trump loyalist in the administration, going as far as to secretly hunt for "Anonymous," The New York Times bestselling author and op-ed writer who emerged as a nameless, Trump-bashing "senior administration official."For years, he has become accustomed to being surrounded by personal and ideological enemies within the Trump administration, hanging on in part because the president has such personal affection for him. President Trump has been known to call Navarro "my Peter."But his proximity to Trump and the dogmatism of his views has also earned him his fair share of enemies. Navarro and Mnuchin have feuded in the Trump era before, including during a profanity-laced, face-to-face dispute—characterized at the time by administration officials as a "screaming match"—during a high-profile official trip to China in May 2018.Peter Navarro Snaps When CNN Anchor Asks if Trump to Blame for Stock Losses: 'Let's Not Do That'Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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