| Disillusionment grows over Trump's coronavirus briefings Posted: 09 Apr 2020 01:34 PM PDT  The Wall Street Journal becomes the latest news outlet to criticize President Trump's performances at the daily coronavirus task force briefings.
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| Animal shelters say in coronavirus lockdown people are looking for new friends Posted: 10 Apr 2020 03:03 PM PDT  Kelsey Pierce, a musician and songwriter in New York City, had always wanted to foster a dog with her roommate, Allyson Backus, but because of their busy schedules it was never a real possibility. Since all of New York is currently on a stay-at-home order because of the coronavirus pandemic, the pair were finally able to take on a furry friend.
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| China Reclassifies Dogs from Livestock to Pets in Response to Coronavirus Posted: 09 Apr 2020 02:59 PM PDT  China's agriculture ministry has reclassified dogs, which it previously deemed livestock, as pets in response to the coronavirus pandemic."As far as dogs are concerned, along with the progress of human civilization and the public concern and love for animal protection, dogs have been 'specialized' to become companion animals, and internationally are not considered to be livestock, and they will not be regulated as livestock in China," the Ministry of Agriculture said in guidelines published on Wednesday that are now open to public comment.The new coronavirus is thought to have originated in bats that then infected wild animals that were sold in the so-called wet markets of Wuhan, where the outbreak began.In February, as the virus was beginning to spread and before it reached global pandemic status the next month, China temporarily banned the farming and consumption of "terrestrial wildlife of important ecological, scientific and social value," and plans to sign the ban into permanent law later this year. But the wildlife trade is widespread in the country, and previous efforts to curtail the market have had little effect.The guidelines list 18 traditional livestock species, including cattle, pigs, poultry, and camels, as well as 13 "special" species that will also be allowed to be sold, including reindeer, alpaca, pheasants, ostriches, and foxes.Several U.S. lawmakers have criticized China's wildlife trade and called on the country to do more to prevent outbreaks like the coronavirus from occurring again in the future."While I welcomed the announcement last month that the People's Republic of China (PRC) has permanently banned the trade and consumption of non-aquatic wild animals, I share the concerns of many in the conservation community that this ban does not go far enough," said Representative Mike McCaul (R., Texas). "The policy does not ban the trade of wild animals for fur, medicine, or research, and I believe that these loopholes may be exploited to illegally sell or trade these animals."
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| U.S. spy agencies collected raw intel hinting at public health crisis in Wuhan, China, in November Posted: 09 Apr 2020 03:43 PM PDT  Current and former officials say there was no formal assessment in November but that there was raw intelligence that fueled formal assessments written in December.
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| Top oil producers except Mexico agree to output cuts: OPEC Posted: 10 Apr 2020 12:03 AM PDT  Major oil producers except Mexico agreed to cut output in May and June by 10 million barrels per day, OPEC said Friday, after marathon talks to counter a collapse in prices. The videoconference led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has been seen as the best chance of providing support to prices, which have been wallowing near two-decade lows due to the coronavirus pandemic and a price war between key players Saudi Arabia and Russia. The agreement, which also reduces production by eight million bpd from July to December, depends on Mexico's consent for it to take effect, the oil cartel said after the meeting.
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| Italy and Austria share a border, but while one nation grapples with crippling coronavirus deaths, the other is preparing to lift its lockdown Posted: 09 Apr 2020 02:34 PM PDT  Despite announcing "a step-by-step resurrection" of Austria's economy, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said, "We are not out of the woods."
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| Coronavirus Antibody Tests Expected in the U.S. in Days, Says Fauci Posted: 10 Apr 2020 05:57 AM PDT  The top U.S. infectious disease official says the tests could show whether a person was recently exposed to the coronavirus
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| DeVos reaches settlement in lawsuit over loan relief program Posted: 10 Apr 2020 01:45 PM PDT  The U.S. Education Department is promising to process student loan forgiveness claims for nearly 170,000 borrowers within 18 months as part of a proposed settlement announced Friday in a federal lawsuit. The suit alleges that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos illegally stalled a program known as borrower defense to repayment, which promises to forgive federal student loans for borrowers who are cheated by their colleges. Under the settlement, DeVos admits no wrongdoing but promises to issue decisions on all pending claims within 18 months, and to cancel debt for approved claims within 21 months.
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| Barr: 'Troubling' evidence in review of Russia involvement in 2016 election that could lead to charges Posted: 10 Apr 2020 09:45 AM PDT  AG William Barr signals possible criminal charges in Russia review; cites 'troubling' evidence and signs of possible abuse.
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| Fox’s Kilmeade: 60,000 Coronavirus Deaths Shows ‘How Good We Are Doing’ Posted: 09 Apr 2020 08:07 AM PDT  Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade called for the American economy to quickly reopen amid downward revisions of some models projecting the coronavirus death count, saying Thursday that a now-expected 60,000 victims shows just "how good we are doing."With one influential and highly respected modeler moving its projections down over the past few days, Fox News hosts have been clamoring for President Donald Trump to quickly reverse social-distancing restrictions in order to jumpstart the economy, claiming public health experts exaggerated the impact of the virus.Noting that Trump had originally expressed hope that the country could get going again at Easter, Kilmeade said that one model shows that the peak of the coronavirus infections will now come around that time. He then seemed to downplay the possibility of tens of thousands of more deaths."The fact is, when someone says 200,000 people die, oops, I mean 60,000," the Fox host declared. "And it's not going to be right away, it's going to be in August. That's how good we are doing and how off the models were.""You have to wonder, as much as social distancing is working, I wonder if the economists are going to get in that room and say we have to stand up this economy in some way before we're not going to be able to stand when this is all said and done," he continued.Co-host Steve Doocy, meanwhile, reminded his colleague that 60,000 coronavirus victims is still a "staggering number.""It's a high number," Kilmeade reacted. "But how many people are going to die as the country goes flat on its back for three months. We're not going to look like the same country. So the economists have to have a say in this."As of publication, per the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, the United States has over 430,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and nearly 15,000 have died.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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| Coronavirus: New York ramps up mass burials amid outbreak Posted: 10 Apr 2020 10:03 AM PDT  Drone footage shows coffins stacked in a pit in the city, as the state logs more cases than any country.
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| Leading Scientific Journal Nature Apologizes for ‘Associating’ Coronavirus with China Posted: 09 Apr 2020 12:05 PM PDT  The leading British scientific journal Nature apologized in an article published on Tuesday for "associating" the coronavirus with its origin place in China on the grounds that the linkage had inspired racist attacks against people with Asian heritage across the world."That we did so was an error on our part, for which we take responsibility and apologize," the journal said in an article published Tuesday.The coronavirus outbreak originated in Wuhan, China and first appeared in bats thought to have infected wild animals that were sold in the city's wet markets. Since then, it has spread to at least 177 countries and infected 1.4 million people. As of Thursday morning, at least 89,000 people had died after contracting the respiratory illness."It's clear that since the outbreak was first reported, people of Asian descent around the world have been subjected to racist attacks, with untold human costs – for example, on their health and livelihoods," the article read.Nature remarked that the World Health Organization's dubbing the new coronavirus COVID-19 was a subtle reminder to "those who had erroneously been associating the virus with Wuhan and with China in their news coverage – including Nature."The publication urged that "Coronavirus stigma must stop – now.""It would be tragic if stigma, fueled by the coronavirus, led Asia's young people to retreat from international campuses, curtailing their own education, reducing their own and others' opportunities and leaving research worse off – just when the world is relying on it to find a way out," the journal said.The Nature report also chastised "a minority of politicians," who are "sticking with the outdated script.""Continuing to associate a virus and the disease it causes with a specific place is irresponsible and needs to stop," the report said.President Trump briefly referred to the coronavirus as the "Chinese virus," defending his use of the term by saying "it comes from China," but later backed away from the phrase after reports of an uptick in violence against Asian Americans."Look, everyone knows it came out of China, but I decided we shouldn't make any more of a big deal out of it," Trump said early last month.The Communist Chinese government has denied that the virus originated in China and said that it is "strongly indignant" over the phrase, calling it "a kind of stigmatization." Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang demanded last month that the U.S. "immediately stop its unjustified accusations against China."
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| Some Veterans May Need to Take This Extra Step to Get Their Stimulus Check Posted: 10 Apr 2020 12:25 PM PDT  Make sure your economic stimulus check isn't delayed.
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| Boris Johnson walking in hospital as UK sees record death toll Posted: 10 Apr 2020 10:56 AM PDT  Prime Minister Boris Johnson was able to walk in hospital on Friday some 24 hours after leaving intensive care treatment for COVID-19, as Britain recorded nearly 1,000 daily deaths from the virus for the first time. "The Prime Minister has been able to do short walks, between periods of rest, as part of the care he is receiving to aid his recovery," a Downing Street spokesman said. Johnson left intensive care at London's St Thomas' Hospital on Thursday evening, three days after being admitted due to his then-worsening condition.
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| UN agency says 280 migrants are stranded in unsafe port in Libya, banned from disembarking Posted: 10 Apr 2020 07:25 AM PDT  The Libyan coast guard rescued 280 migrants in distress in the Mediterranean Sea on Thursday and diverted them to the shores of the North African country, only to have them banned from disembarking, the U.N. migration agency said.
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| Almost Everything on Levi’s Site is 40 Percent Off Posted: 10 Apr 2020 03:52 PM PDT |
| Experts warn that there is no proof the coronavirus will stop spreading in warmer weather Posted: 09 Apr 2020 02:57 PM PDT  A recently released report indicates that warmer weather won't have a significant impact on the coronavirus.
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| Russia launches criminal investigation after Prague removes Soviet military statue Posted: 10 Apr 2020 04:26 AM PDT  Russia said on Friday it had opened a criminal investigation after Czech authorities dismantled the statue of a Soviet military commander last week despite Moscow's protests, escalating a rancorous diplomatic row over the issue. The statue to Marshal Ivan Konev, who led Red Army forces during World War Two that drove Nazi troops from Czechoslovakia, is reviled by some in Prague as a symbol of the decades of Communist rule that followed the war. The statue to Konev, who also played a leading role in crushing the 1956 Hungarian uprising and building the Berlin Wall in 1961, was taken down on April 3 by municipal Prague authorities who said they planned to put it in a museum.
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| FBI arrests Texas man for coronavirus hoax meant to empty grocery stores Posted: 09 Apr 2020 08:38 AM PDT  A Texas man is facing federal charges for allegedly posting on Facebook that he had paid a person with coronavirus to spread the virus in San Antonio-area grocery stores in an attempt to get people to stop shopping.
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| Trump escalates battle with World Health Organization over coronavirus response Posted: 10 Apr 2020 02:38 PM PDT  Reprising the skeptical tone he has applied to the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, President Trump accused the World Health Organization of helping China to conceal the number of its citizens that have been infected by the coronavirus.
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| Coronavirus outbreak: Hundreds of infected, quarantined inmates in prisons and jails challenging officials Posted: 09 Apr 2020 07:30 PM PDT  Officials have moved past trying to limit an outbreak and are trying to manage hundreds of sick and isolated inmates, plus an exposed workforce.
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| Virus appears to strike men, overweight people harder Posted: 10 Apr 2020 06:54 AM PDT  In the emergency rooms of virus hotspots around the world, medical staff are seeing a greater number of men than women suffering severe symptoms of COVID-19, with obesity emerging as another potentially aggravating factor. What first began to appear as a pattern in China, where the virus emerged at the end of last year, has echoed through hospitals in Europe and the United States as the pandemic spreads. "More men than women have serious problems, and patients who are overweight or have previous health problems are at higher risk," said Derek Hill, Professor of Medical Imaging Science at University College London.
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| Jerry Falwell Jr. says warrants are out for 2 journalists after critical stories on coronavirus decision Posted: 08 Apr 2020 05:57 PM PDT |
| White House slams Voice of America, VOA fights back Posted: 10 Apr 2020 02:20 PM PDT  The White House on Friday launched an unusual attack on the congressionally funded Voice of America, the U.S. broadcaster that for decades has provided independent news reporting around the world. In a broadside directed against VOA's coverage of the pandemic and China on Friday, an official White House publication accused it of using taxpayer money "to speak for authoritarian regimes" because it covered the lifting of the lockdown in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the new coronavirus first emerged. VOA promptly fired back, defending its coverage.
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| Over 1 million unclaimed bodies are buried on a little-known island in New York City — a mass graveyard where some coronavirus victims will go to rest Posted: 10 Apr 2020 01:45 PM PDT  Each week, the bodies of unknown or unclaimed people are taken by ferry to New York's potter's field on Hart's Island where they are laid to rest.
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| Moscow mayor warns city of 'serious test' as coronavirus numbers climb Posted: 10 Apr 2020 12:43 AM PDT  The mayor of Moscow urged residents of the capital to brace for a "serious test" from the new coronavirus and said the city would introduce a system of permits for movement to help enforce a lockdown, as infection numbers shot up across Russia. The country reported 1,786 new cases, bringing its tally to 11,917, even as Moscow and many other regions neared the end of their second week in a state of lockdown aimed at halting the contagion.
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| China ZTE executive quits amid sex assault allegations Posted: 10 Apr 2020 08:34 AM PDT  Bao Yuming steps down from the tech giant's board after reports of a police investigation.
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| Fox News says the coronavirus death toll is inflated. Experts say the opposite. Posted: 09 Apr 2020 06:20 AM PDT  In his 2017 book "The Loudest Voice in the Room," journalist Gabriel Sherman reported that top Fox News executives meet every morning to strategize about how the network can angle its daily coverage to advance the Republican Party's political agenda.
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| Trump administration, citing coronavirus, expels 10,000 migrants in less than 3 weeks Posted: 09 Apr 2020 06:39 PM PDT  Homeland Security officials say CDC guidance on coronavirus and 'public health' outweigh U.S. laws that protect asylum seekers and migrant children.
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| Rare look at stockpile handouts shows which states got ventilators, masks amid coronavirus Posted: 10 Apr 2020 08:02 AM PDT  A federal report gives the nation its closest look yet at how the secretive Strategic National Stockpile distributed supplies amid the coronavirus.
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| US man arrested for beating up mom over toilet paper Posted: 09 Apr 2020 04:29 PM PDT  A California man was arrested this week after allegedly punching his mother -- who had apparently hidden the family's stash of toilet paper because of his excessive use of the hot commodity. Police were called to the family's home in Saugus, north of Los Angeles, at 3:00 am Monday following a dispute over the whereabouts of the hygiene product, Shirley Miller, spokeswoman for the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station, told AFP. The argument between Adrian Yan and his mother escalated and he punched her in the face, Miller said.
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| Inmates at Kansas prison take over cell block, damage property Posted: 09 Apr 2020 11:43 PM PDT  There have been COVID-19 cases involving inmates at the prison, but a cause of the disturbance at Lansing Correctional Facility was not clear.
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| A USS Theodore Roosevelt sailor with coronavirus was taken to the ICU as the number of cases on the aircraft carrier rises Posted: 09 Apr 2020 06:53 AM PDT  The sailor, who tested positive for the coronavirus almost two weeks ago, was reportedly found unresponsive in isolation.
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| German minister criticises U.S. coronavirus response as too slow: Spiegel Posted: 10 Apr 2020 04:16 AM PDT  German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has criticised the United States' handling of the coronavirus outbreak as too slow, the latest sign of tensions between the two allies as they respond to the crisis. China took "very authoritarian measures, while in the U.S., the virus was played down for a long time," Maas said in an interview with Der Spiegel magazine in a preview sent to the media on Friday. Germany was among countries that last week accused the United States of "Wild West" tactics in outbidding or blocking shipments to buyers who had already signed deals for vital medical supplies.
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| US officials: Missile defense systems now operating in Iraq Posted: 10 Apr 2020 01:29 PM PDT  New air defense systems are now protecting American and allied forces at military bases in Iraq where troops have been attacked by Iranian-backed insurgents in recent months, according to U.S. officials. Patriot missile launchers and two other short-range systems are now in place at al-Asad Air Base, where Iran carried out a massive ballistic missile attack against U.S. and coalition troops in January, and at the military base in Irbil, said officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive weapons movement. The military has been gradually moving the defensive systems into Iraq over the last few months to provide more protection for troops that have seen a series of rocket and missile attacks.
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| Barr Slams Media ‘Jihad’ Aimed at Discrediting Hydroxychloroquine Posted: 09 Apr 2020 07:39 AM PDT  Attorney General Bill Barr called the media's reaction to the use of hydroxychloroquine as a possible treatment for coronavirus "quite strange," and criticized the "jihad" aimed at discrediting the drug following President Trump's touting of it as a potential "game-changer.""The politicization of decisions like hydroxychloroquine has been amazing to me," Barr said in an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham. "Before the president said anything about it, there was fair and balanced coverage of this very promising drug, and the fact that it had such a long track record that the risks were pretty well known, and as soon as he said something positive about it, the media's been on a jihad to discredit the drug. It's been quite strange."Ingraham reportedly brought two doctors whom she regularly features on her show to a private meeting with Trump last week to talk up the efficacy of the drug.Trump tweeted on March 21 that the anti-malarial drug had "a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine," following anecdotal evidence that it had been effective in treating coronavirus patients.Following Trump's promotion of the drug, which White House coronavirus task force member Dr. Anthony Fauci has cautioned against, NBC News reported on March 23 that an Arizona man died after ingesting fish-tank cleaner that contained chloroquine phosphate on his wife's recommendation, citing Trump's praise of hydroxychloroquine. The Washington Free Beacon later revealed that the woman was a prolific donor to Democratic causes.A Tuesday New York Times story highlighting President Trump's "small personal financial interest" in a French maker of hydroxychloroquine went viral, despite the fact that the brand-label drug is not available in the U.S. Further reporting revealed that the stake was likely less than $1,000.Senator Kamala Harris (D., Calif.) on Wednesday told ABC's The View that President Trump is a "drug-pusher" for promoting hydroxychloroquine.
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| Americans are turning to boxed wine during the coronavirus pandemic, according to new data Posted: 10 Apr 2020 10:39 AM PDT  Boxed wine sales have skyrocketed, with sales from March 7 to March 14 this year 53% higher compared to sales from the same week in 2019.
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| Italy extends lockdown despite business pressure Posted: 10 Apr 2020 11:30 AM PDT  Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Friday refused to bow to business pressure and extended the Mediterranean country's economically-crippling lockdown until May 3. Conte made the announcement after Italy's official COVID-19 toll climbed by another 570 fatalities to 18,849 -- more than any other country -- but with the growth rate now just a fraction of what it was a few weeks ago. Media reports said business unions from regions responsible for 45 percent of Italy's production -- and 80 percent of its coronavirus deaths -- had written to Conte warning that companies will be unable to pay wages if the shutdown runs on.
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| US-Mexico border: Thousands of migrants expelled under coronavirus powers Posted: 10 Apr 2020 05:19 AM PDT  The Trump administration is using an emergency public health order to turn back irregular migrants.
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| Army Designs New Camera Drones to Be Fired from Grenade Launchers Posted: 10 Apr 2020 06:51 AM PDT  Army scientists have created a reconnaissance drone that soldiers will be able to fire from their 40mm grenade launchers.
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| Bill Gates thinks schools will be able to re-open by fall, but 'low-income students will be hurt the most by these school closures' Posted: 09 Apr 2020 06:11 AM PDT  Bill Gates highlighted the inequalities surfaced by online learning, and expects low attendance as students finish this school year at home.
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| California developer says virus an act of God, sues Exxon over stalled deal Posted: 08 Apr 2020 10:20 PM PDT  Pacific Collective LLC invoked force majeure in its bid to delay an Exxon property acquisition, according to a suit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court. BP this month cited force majeure for a one-year delay on a natural gas project, and three Indian refiners have cited it in rejecting crude oil imports.
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| 29 years on death row, Pakistan woman suffers mental illness Posted: 10 Apr 2020 05:35 AM PDT  Kanizan Bibi was 16 when she was charged with murdering her employer's wife and five children. The police said she was having an affair with her employer, who was also arrested and later hanged. Until his execution in 2003, Khan Mohammad swore he and Bibi had never had an affair and had not killed anyone.
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| Trump news: President says American money built China in scathing attack as he threatens WHO funding in coronavirus briefing Posted: 10 Apr 2020 10:20 AM PDT  Donald Trump continued to assure Americans living under stay-at-home orders that the US economy will soon see a "big bounce" — despite an unprecedented number of families now seeking emergency relief from food banks across the country and record unemployment claims this week.More Americans have died of coronavirus this week than in the entire Iraq War, which claimed the lives of more than 4,500 US troops between 2003 and 2011. Mr Trump, frequently describing himself as a "war-time president," now is faced with a daily death toll that has eclipsed that of both world wars.
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| IRS launches website to speed relief payments to some low-income Americans who don't file taxes Posted: 10 Apr 2020 10:55 AM PDT  Some low-income Americans who were not required to file taxes in 2018 or 2019 can work with the IRS to get their coronavirus relief payments faster.
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| Turkey's COVID-19 infection rate is the fastest rising in the world. Here's why it got so many cases so quickly. Posted: 09 Apr 2020 10:36 PM PDT  Less than a month ago, Turkey didn't have a single case. As of April 10, it had 42,282 confirmed cases with 908 deaths.
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