| Pence press secretary Katie Miller tests positive for coronavirus Posted: 08 May 2020 09:58 AM PDT  An aide to Vice President Mike Pence has tested positive for the coronavirus, senior administration officials confirmed Friday.
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| China 'shocked' by U.S. reversal on U.N. coronavirus action: diplomat Posted: 09 May 2020 02:16 PM PDT  China and the United States both supported a draft United Nations Security Council resolution confronting the coronavirus pandemic on Thursday and it was "shocking and regretful" that Washington changed its mind on Friday, a Chinese diplomat said. A U.S. diplomat refuted the Chinese comment, saying there was no U.S. agreement on the text. For more than six weeks the 15-member council has been trying to agree on a text that ultimately aims to back a March 23 call by U.N. chief Antonio Guterres for a ceasefire in global conflicts so the world can focus on the pandemic.
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| The McMichaels can't be charged with a hate crime by the state in the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery because the law doesn't exist in Georgia Posted: 08 May 2020 02:07 PM PDT  Georgia is one of four states that doesn't have a hate crime law. Arbery's killing has reignited calls for legislation.
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| Report says cellphone data suggests October shutdown at Wuhan lab, but experts are skeptical Posted: 08 May 2020 05:12 PM PDT  U.S. and U.K. intel agencies are reviewing the private report, but intel analysts examined and couldn't confirm a similar theory previously.
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| US blocks vote on UN's bid for global ceasefire over reference to WHO Posted: 08 May 2020 02:07 PM PDT  Security council had spent weeks seeking resolution but Trump administration opposed mention of organizationThe US has blocked a vote on a UN security council resolution calling for a global ceasefire during the Covid-19 pandemic, because the Trump administration objected to an indirect reference to the World Health Organization.The security council has been wrangling for more than six weeks over the resolution, which was intended to demonstrate global support for the call for a ceasefire by the UN secretary general, António Guterres. The main source for the delay was the US refusal to endorse a resolution that urged support for the WHO's operations during the coronavirus pandemic.Donald Trump has blamed the WHO for the pandemic, claiming (without any supporting evidence) that it withheld information in the early days of the outbreak.China insisted that the resolution should include mention and endorsement of the WHO.On Thursday night, French diplomats thought they had engineered a compromise in which the resolution would mention UN "specialized health agencies" (an indirect, if clear, reference to the WHO).The Russian mission signaled that it wanted a clause calling for the lifting of sanctions that affected the delivery of medical supplies, a reference to US punitive measures imposed on Iran and Venezuela. However, most security council diplomats believed Moscow would withdraw the objection or abstain in a vote rather than risk isolation as the sole veto on the ceasefire resolution.On Thursday night, it appeared that the compromise resolution had the support of the US mission, but on Friday morning, that position switched and the US "broke silence" on the resolution, raising objection to the phrase "specialist health agencies", and blocking movement towards a vote."We understood that there was an agreement on this thing but it seems that they changed their mind," a western security council diplomat said."Obviously they have changed their mind within the American system so that wording is still not good enough for them," another diplomat close to the discussions said. "It might be that they just need a bit more time to settle it amongst themselves, or it might be that someone very high up has made a decision they don't want it, and therefore it won't happen. It is unclear at this moment, which one it is."A spokesperson for the US mission at the UN suggested that if the resolution was to mention the work of the WHO, it would have to include critical language about how China and the WHO have handled the pandemic."In our view, the council should either proceed with a resolution limited to support for a ceasefire, or a broadened resolution that fully addresses the need for renewed member state commitment to transparency and accountability in the context of Covid-19. Transparency and reliable data are essential to helping the world combat this ongoing pandemic, and the next one," the spokesperson said.While the force of the resolution would be primarily symbolic, it would have been symbolism at a crucial moment. Since Guterres made his call for a global ceasefire, armed factions in more than a dozen countries had observed a temporary truce. The absence of a resolution from the world's most powerful nations, however, undermines the secretary general's clout in his efforts to maintain those fragile ceasefires.Talks will continue next week at the security council to explore whether some other way around the impasse can be found.
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| India uses drones to disinfect virus hotspot as cases surge Posted: 09 May 2020 08:19 AM PDT  Indian authorities used drones and fire engines to disinfect the pandemic-hit city of Ahmedabad on Saturday, as virus cases surged and police clashed with migrant workers protesting against a reinforced lockdown. The western city of 5.5 million people in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state has become a major concern for authorities as they battle an uptick in coronavirus deaths and cases across India.
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| Pakistan court orders auction of ex-Taliban chief's property Posted: 08 May 2020 05:48 AM PDT  A Pakistani judge ordered the auction of five properties purchased by former Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour with fake documents before he was killed in a U.S. drone strike in 2016, two investigators familiar with the case said Friday. Mansour bought the properties, estimated to be worth about $200,000, after he replaced Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar, whose death was announced in 2015.
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| Trump donor and lawyer to represent Biden's accuser Posted: 08 May 2020 08:13 AM PDT  The former Senate staffer, who is accusing Joe Biden of sexually assaulting her 27 years ago, is being represented by a lawyer who is also a donor to President Trump.
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| Trump says coronavirus will 'go away without a vaccine' Posted: 08 May 2020 12:51 PM PDT  President Trump on Friday broke with health experts, telling reporters that the coronavirus will "go away without a vaccine."
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| Plastic shields in place, Dutch schools to reopen amid coronavirus Posted: 08 May 2020 08:15 AM PDT  At the Springplank school in the Dutch city of Den Bosch, staff have installed plastic shields around students' desks and disinfectant gel dispensers at the doorways as part of preparations to reopen amid the country's coronavirus outbreak. New infections in the Netherlands have been declining for weeks, and the government on Wednesday announced a schedule to relax some of its lockdown measures, with elementary schools to reopen on May 11. "Our teachers are not worried," said Rascha van der Sluijs, the school's technical coordinator.
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| What we know about community where Ahmaud Arbery was shot: 911 caller reported 'black guy' on property Posted: 09 May 2020 04:29 AM PDT  Local officials say the community is shocked that racism could have fueled the shooting of Ahmaud Arbery.
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| Elon Musk says Tesla will 'immediately' leave California after coronavirus shutdowns forced the company to close its main car factory Posted: 09 May 2020 10:34 AM PDT  In a tweet Saturday morning, Tesla's chief executive said it would file a lawsuit against county officials over not being able to run its factory.
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| How COVID-19 Symptoms May Present in Kids Posted: 09 May 2020 01:41 PM PDT  As experts learn more about the virus, it's become clear that COVID-19 can affect people of all ages, including kids, in a variety of ways -- some deadly.
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| Coronavirus: Chinese official admits health system weaknesses Posted: 09 May 2020 08:02 AM PDT  China says it will improve public health systems after criticism of its early response to the virus.
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| Train kills 15 migrant workers walking home in India Posted: 07 May 2020 09:56 PM PDT  A train in India on Friday plowed through a group of migrant workers who fell asleep on the tracks after walking back home from a coronavirus lockdown, killing 15, the Railways Ministry said. Early this week the government started running trains to carry stranded workers to their home states.
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| Meet the Ohio health expert who has a fan club — and Republicans trying to stop her Posted: 09 May 2020 02:04 AM PDT  Some Buckeyes are not comfortable being told by a "woman in power" to quarantine, one expert said.
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| A big question for both parties: How do you stage a convention in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic? Posted: 08 May 2020 06:15 AM PDT  Figuring out how to stage the nation's largest and most important political gatherings will be tricky in the COVID-19 era. And while officials in both parties say they're still planning for in-person conventions, pulling that off will be a lot easier said than done.
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| Was the coronavirus made in a Wuhan lab? Here's what the genetic evidence shows Posted: 09 May 2020 06:00 AM PDT  Despite President Trump's statements that the coronavirus was released from a laboratory in Wuhan, scientist say the evidence points to a natural origin.
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| Almost 12,000 meatpacking and food plant workers have reportedly contracted COVID-19. At least 48 have died. Posted: 08 May 2020 09:21 AM PDT  The infections and deaths are spread across roughly two farms and 189 meat and processed food factories.
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| US accuses China, Russia of coordinating on virus conspiracies Posted: 08 May 2020 05:21 PM PDT  The United States on Friday accused China and Russia of stepping up cooperation to spread false narratives over the coronavirus pandemic, saying Beijing was increasingly adopting techniques honed by Moscow. "Even before the COVID-19 crisis we assessed a certain level of coordination between Russia and the PRC in the realm of propaganda," said Lea Gabrielle, coordinator of the State Department's Global Engagement Center, which tracks foreign propaganda. The Global Engagement Center earlier said thousands of Russian-linked social media accounts were spreading conspiracies about the pandemic, including charging that the virus first detected last year in the Chinese metropolis of Wuhan was created by the United States.
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| New Car Incentives Offered for Healthcare Workers During the Pandemic Posted: 08 May 2020 08:03 AM PDT  Automakers and dealerships across the nation are offering healthcare workers special discounts on car purchases during the coronavirus pandemic. The discount programs might take an extra $500 or ...
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| Coronavirus: WHO warns 190,000 could die in Africa in one year Posted: 08 May 2020 02:56 AM PDT  Covid-19 could linger for years and "smoulder in transmission hot spots", the WHO warns.
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| 3 nurses strangled in Mexico; border mayor gets coronavirus Posted: 08 May 2020 02:00 PM PDT  Three sisters who worked in Mexico's government hospital system were found murdered by strangling, authorities in the northern border state of Coahuila announced Friday, stirring new alarm in a country where attacks on health care workers have occurred across the nation amid the coronavirus outbreak. Two of the sisters were nurses for the Mexican Social Security Institute and the third was a hospital administrator, but there was no immediate evidence the attack was related to their work. The National Union of Social Security Employees called the killings "outrageous and incomprehensible."
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| Off-duty officer body slams Walmart shopper irate over face mask rule Posted: 07 May 2020 07:28 PM PDT  The officer used a "takedown measure" to gain control of the woman because of "other threat factors in the store," a police official said.
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| Chaffetz: I don't understand why Adam Schiff continues to have a security clearance Posted: 08 May 2020 11:43 AM PDT  Fox News contributor Jason Chaffetz and Andy McCarthy react to House Intelligence transcripts on Russia probe.
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| Trump calls Ahmaud Arbery killing 'very disturbing' but says he trusts Georgia justice Posted: 08 May 2020 10:15 AM PDT  President Trump said he had watched the video of Ahmaud Arbery being shot and found it "heartbreaking," but he has confidence in the Georgia legal system.
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| Venezuela says troops seize abandoned Colombian combat boats, weapons Posted: 09 May 2020 11:04 AM PDT |
| 4 states that are reopening — Florida, Georgia, Texas, and Colorado — are not conducting enough coronavirus tests to safely do so, Harvard researchers say Posted: 07 May 2020 10:12 PM PDT  The US needs to ramp up testing by nearly 400% in the next week, at a bare minimum, to even think about slowly reopening.
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| Ex-husband of Biden accuser Tara Reade said she told him of being sexual harassed: report Posted: 08 May 2020 05:39 AM PDT  Biden has repeatedly denied Reade's allegation.
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| Rapper Tekashi69 smashes Instagram live record with post-prison boast Posted: 08 May 2020 02:38 PM PDT  Fresh out of prison and in home confinement, rapper Tekashi69 destroyed the Instagram live viewership record, as two million users watched him sound off, diss the haters and promote a new song. It was a birthday party rant of sorts for the braggadocious star who turned 24 Friday, weeks after his early release from prison due to the rapidly spreading coronavirus. Tekashi was sentenced in December to two years in prison on racketeering, firearms and drug trafficking charges.
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| U.S. continues media battle with Beijing, limits Chinese journalists' visas Posted: 09 May 2020 05:08 AM PDT  The back-and-forth continues.The Department of Homeland Security said Friday the United States will shorten the visa length for Chinese journalists working for non-American news outlets to 90 days. Previously, journalists with Chinese passports were granted open-ended visas. They can apply for extensions under the new rules, but renewed visas will also last just 90 days. The new limit won't apply to reporters from Hong Kong Macau, or to mainland Chinese citizens who hold green cards.It's the latest development in a media war between Washington and Beijing that has intensified during the coronavirus pandemic. American officials said the rules were meant to counterbalance the "suppression of independent journalism" in China, whose government expelled journalists from The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The Washington Post in March. Before that, the U.S. reduced the number of Chinese citizens employed by multiple state-controlled Chinese news organizations to work in the country. The New York Times notes the move wasn't unexpected; U.S. intelligence officials have long believed some journalists at Beijing-run outlets are spies, and the Trump administration has designated some Chinese news agencies foreign government functionaries.The heightened tensions between the world's two biggest powers didn't just show up in the media world Friday. U.S. lawmakers wrote to nearly 60 countries asking them to support Taiwan's participation in the World Health Organization, a move that likely won't sit well with China. And Washington also blocked a United Nations security council resolution calling for a global ceasefire during the pandemic because it indirectly referenced the WHO, which the U.S. has blamed in conjunction with China for failing to suppress the outbreak.More stories from theweek.com The U.S. reportedly didn't take up a January offer that would have led to the production of 1.7 million masks per week 7 scathing cartoons about America's rush to reopen Outed CIA agent Valerie Plame is running for Congress, and her launch video looks like a spy movie trailer
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| Placer County officials tell Newsom to back off in new resolution Posted: 08 May 2020 08:37 PM PDT  As Gov. Gavin Newsom slowly takes steps toward reopening parts of the state, Placer County is going head-to-head with him. On Tuesday, the Placer County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a resolution telling Newsom to back off. Get the full story in the video above.
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| Suspect in 3 Houston killings arrested, charged with murder Posted: 07 May 2020 11:19 PM PDT  Joshua Kelsey, 35, was arrested Thursday morning in connection with the three killings.
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| Missing Idaho kids' uncle died of blood clot in Arizona Posted: 08 May 2020 03:14 PM PDT  A pulmonary blood clot killed the brother of an Idaho woman who's facing charges in the disappearance of her children — a case that attracted worldwide attention with revelations of her doomsday beliefs and connection to three mysterious deaths. Autopsy and toxicology reports were released Friday for Alex Cox, who died in Arizona in December. In July, Cox fatally shot his sister's estranged husband, Charles Vallow, in what he said was self-defense.
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| How one doctor is fighting coronavirus — and Trump Posted: 08 May 2020 03:21 PM PDT  A 37-year-old doctor and Texas native is running to replace a pro-Trump conservative in the House of Representatives. He is one of several doctors who are running for Congress and seeking to protect Obamacare.
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| Indian train kills 16 workers laid-off in coronavirus lockdown Posted: 07 May 2020 08:56 PM PDT  An Indian train killed 16 migrant workers who had fallen asleep on the track on Friday while they were heading back to their home village after losing their jobs in a coronavirus lockdown, police said. Tens of thousands of people have been walking home from India's big cities after being laid off because of the lockdown to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus since late March. The driver tried to stop the freight train when he saw the workers on the tracks near Aurangabad town in the western state of Maharashtra, the railway ministry said, adding it had ordered an inquiry.
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| US lawmakers blast five large corporations for taking $50 million meant for small businesses. Only one is returning the money. Posted: 09 May 2020 09:34 AM PDT  Collectively, the five companies singled out by a House committee took $50 million in small business loans through the Paycheck Protection Program.
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| 11 Secret Service employees infected with coronavirus, 60 in self-quarantine Posted: 09 May 2020 06:53 AM PDT  Eleven U.S. Secret Service employees have tested positive for coronavirus and 60 staffers are in self quarantine.
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| Belarus holds Victory Day parade despite coronavirus threat Posted: 09 May 2020 04:33 AM PDT  Thousands of troops paraded before crowds of spectators in Minsk Saturday to mark 75 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany as Belarus held a celebration of Victory Day despite the coronavirus pandemic. Neighbouring Russia cancelled its Victory Day parade over the pandemic and Belarus was the only ex-Soviet country with reported cases to hold the annual event. President Alexander Lukashenko, who has been dismissive of the pandemic and the "psychosis" around the virus, watched in military uniform with top brass as some 4,000 troops marched past and planes and helicopters flew overhead.
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| ‘Bridge to health’? Why some question India’s contact tracing app. Posted: 08 May 2020 07:59 AM PDT |
| Russian volunteers search for fallen World War II soldiers Posted: 09 May 2020 12:09 AM PDT  Abayev and members of his search team rummage the steppe for remains of the Red Army soldiers who fell in the autumn of 1942 in fierce fighting with Nazi troops pushing toward the Caspian Sea south of Stalingrad. Stiff resistance by the Red Army stopped the Wehrmacht onslaught in the steppes of Kalmykia, and months later the enemy's forces were encircled in Stalingrad and surrendered, a major defeat for the Nazis that marked a turning point in World War II.
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| China 'shocked' by U.S. reversal on U.N. coronavirus action -diplomat Posted: 09 May 2020 02:09 PM PDT |
| A Wisconsin chief justice faced backlash for blaming a county's coronavirus outbreak on meatpacking employees, not 'regular folks' Posted: 07 May 2020 09:35 PM PDT  Chief Justice Patience Roggensack faced backlash for her comment, with some people calling it "elitist" to separate meatpackers from "regular folks."
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