- PoliticsYahoo News
Schiff proposes postelection 9/11-style commission to study coronavirus response
Rep. Adam Schiff's proposal for a 9/11-style commission to study the nation's response to the coronavirus outbreak would give the president the power to appoint the chairman, and would not begin its work until after the 2020 election in November. Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, was the central Democratic figure in the impeachment trial of President Trump in January, serving as the prosecutor. As a result, his political profile has greatly increased but has also become much more sharply partisan.
- WorldYahoo News
As coronavirus ravages Spain, doctors get a grim order on 'futility of care' for the very old and very sick
On Thursday, a gray and gloomy day in Barcelona — normally sunny and festive this time of year — residents awoke to unsettling news. According to regional newspaper LaVanguardia and other sources, a document circulated by the health department of Catalonia — the northeast region of Spain that has Barcelona as its capital — recommends that emergency teams and health care workers stop using ventilators for patients older than 80, and further recommends that extremely ill victims of COVID-19 be allowed to die at home rather than being taken to the hospital.
- U.S.USA TODAY
Fact check: No, coronavirus did not lower the death rate in Chicago
It's a debate of particular significance to cities like Chicago, which has experienced high levels of violent crime. As of April 1, the virus has sickened over 3,000 people in Chicago and killed 39 — even as Illinois officials attempt to contain the spread through a stay-at-home order. "In Chicago, Covid-19 actually LOWERED the death rate," the post stated, over a background of laughing emojis.
- U.S.The Guardian
Revealed: food bank shortages expected to hit Washington state by mid-April
Agencies and organisations tasked with feeding children, the poor and the elderly in Washington state during the coronavirus crisis will experience shortages of food and supplies as early as mid-April, according to state government emergency planning documents obtained by the Guardian. A 27 March situation report (SitRep) document produced by the Unified Command of Washington's State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) projects that a combination of acute demand at food banks and schools, supply problems for food and cleaning supplies, plus staffing shortages, will mean government and NGOs will struggle to provide for hungry people whose incomes have disappeared as the state's economy stutters. This raises the prospect of food bank shortages in Washington but also nationwide, as food banks across the US are being increasingly utilized by unprecedented numbers of people in an economy that has been abruptly slowed to fight the spreading pandemic.
- LifestyleArchitectural Digest
27 Best Home Office Decor Ideas to Keep You in the Zone
Work from home and keep your sanity with these decor ideas that will help Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
- U.S.Associated Press
Suspect in deaths of Wisconsin doctor, husband known to them
The 18-year-old man arrested in the slayings of a University of Wisconsin physician and her husband is known to the family, police said Friday. University of Wisconsin Police Chief Kristen Roman said in a statement Friday that Khari Sanford has been booked into the Dane County Jail on two counts of party to the crime of first-degree intentional homicide. The bodies of Dr. Beth Potter, 52, and Robin Carre, 57, were found Tuesday in the university's arboretum, which is several miles from the Madison campus.
- U.S.Reuters
Airline refutes Mexican authority's account of spring break coronavirus outbreak
College students from Texas who tested positive for the novel coronavirus after spring break in Los Cabos traveled to the Mexican beach resort on Viva Aerobus, the airline said, and were there a week later than reported by the local tourist board. At least part of the Texas group stayed at the luxury Pueblo Bonito Los Cabos hotel, two people familiar with the arrangements told Reuters. So far 49 students among the group from University of Texas at Austin have tested positive for the coronavirus upon their return to the United States, according to the university.
- WorldBusiness Insider
China declared whistleblower doctor Li Wenliang a 'martyr' following a local campaign to silence him for speaking out about the coronavirus
An investigation by the Chinese Communist Party found on March 19 that the actions of law enforcement in Wuhan was "irregular" and "improper." "Martyr" is the highest honor the Communist Party of China can bestow on a citizen killed working to serve the country. The country will honor him with three minutes of silence on Saturday.
- WorldLA Times
North Korea's official coronavirus count: Zero. Why that claim is hard to believe
If the country is to be believed, North Korea is one of maybe a dozen nations not yet invaded by a deadly virus that has spread across the globe from remote islands in the South Pacific to outposts nestled high in the Pyrenees or the Greater Himalayas. China, its erstwhile backer and most important trading partner, has more than 80,000. As recently as this week, a state health official rebuffed suspicions that the country was being less than forthcoming about its coronavirus situation, telling foreign reporters in Pyongyang that not a single person had come down with COVID-19 thus far.
- HealthYahoo News
CDC gives 'voluntary' guidance on wearing coronavirus masks. Trump isn't volunteering.
I don't think that I'm going to be doing it,” he said at a White House briefing by the coronavirus task force. The new guidance came in response to accumulating evidence that people can spread the coronavirus without showing symptoms of COVID-19. Surgeon General Jerome Adams emphasized that the measure was intended to prevent possibly infected individuals from spreading the virus rather than to protect the wearer.
- WorldYahoo News
'Protective bubbles': How 2 Army generals stopped the spread of coronavirus among their soldiers
A 55-year-old infantry officer, Cloutier is formally the commander of U.S. Army Africa, but his headquarters' location in Vicenza makes him what the Defense Department calls the “senior responsible officer” for U.S. Army forces in Italy, meaning he has administrative control over all U.S. soldiers in the country, even though most of them belong to U.S. Army Europe, which is headquartered in Germany, for operational purposes. Cloutier is one of two generals that Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy and Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville have highlighted repeatedly in recent press conferences as examples of military leaders who have excelled in keeping their forces largely safe from the coronav...
- U.S.The Daily Beast
MSNBC Host Stephanie Ruhle Shuts Down Marco Rubio’s Coronavirus Spin
“Can we talk about your state of Florida?” MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle asked Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) midway through their interview Friday morning. Despite the fact that Gov. Ron DeSantis waited until this Wednesday to lockdown his state, Rubio claimed that “for all practical purposes, we were in a stay-at-home order” and that “virtually every county in the state had restrictions in place.” “Senator, come on now, stop it,” Ruhle said, interrupting him.
- PoliticsUSA TODAY
Fact check: Did the Obama administration deplete the federal stockpile of N95 masks?
The claim: The Obama administration used and did not replenish the nation's emergency stockpile of medical supplies, including N95 masks As the novel coronavirus pandemic strains health care systems, questions around the U.S. government's response have circulated in the media and online. On March 26, The Daily Wire published an article centering on the Obama administration's role in using and allegedly failing to replenish the federal stockpile of N95 masks. The Obama administration significantly depleted the federal stockpile of N95 respirator masks to deal with the H1N1 influenza outbreak in 2009 and never rebuilt the stockpile despite calls to do so,” the piece begins.
BusinessAFPPutin says Russia ready to cooperate on cutting oil production
Russia is ready to cooperate with Saudi Arabia and the United States to cut oil production, President Vladimir Putin said Friday. Putin said Russia was willing to make agreements within the framework of the OPEC+ group and that "we are ready for cooperation with the United States of America on this issue," according to a statement published by the Kremlin. Oil prices have tumbled in recent weeks in the face of a drop in demand and global economic uncertainty over the new coronavirus pandemic.
- WorldThe Guardian
Mexico murder rate reaches new high as violence rages amid Covid-19 spread
Photograph: Sergio Maldonado/Reuters Mexico s homicide rate raced to a new record in March, as violence raged even as Covid-19 spread across the country and authorities urged the population to stay home and practise social distancing. Mexico registered 2,585 homicides in March – the highest monthly figure since records began in 1997 – putting 2020 on track to break last year's record total for murders. The surge in killings comes as federal and state officials put resources into containing the Covid-19 crisis and confront the prospect of an already sluggish economy falling even further – potentially deepening the misery for the more than 40% of the population living in poverty.
- U.S.Reuters
Senators urge formal probe of Navy carrier commander's firing over coronavirus plea
A group of prominent Democratic senators formally requested on Friday that the Pentagon's independent Inspector General investigate the Navy's firing of the commander of the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, who called for stronger measures to halt a coronavirus outbreak on board. Captain Brett Crozier was relieved of his command on Thursday after his scathing letter was leaked to the media. Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland led the push and were joined by 15 other U.S. senators, including Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar and Kamala Harris.
PoliticsYahoo News VideoMedical stockpile seized from alleged hoarder to be distributed
U.S. officials have seized a stockpile of personal protective equipment from an alleged hoarder.
- WorldNBC News
'We're nesting. We prepared his room': Families adopting children from China anxiously wait
Rachel Pankratz and her husband had tickets in hand and hotels booked and were ready to travel to China on Feb. 14 to finalize their adoption of a 9-year-old girl. Working with adoption agency Chinese Children Adoption International, the Houston couple were told that as coronavirus cases increased, it was unlikely that they would be able to go. As China and other countries temporarily close their borders to international travelers to contain the coronavirus pandemic and as the State Department has issued a Global Level 4: Do Not Travel Health Advisory urging Americans to avoid all international travel, many families in the process of adopting children internationally have had their plans disrupted for an unknown period of time.
- WorldBBC
Coronavirus: New York forced to redistribute ventilators
Ventilators will be taken from certain New York hospitals and redistributed to the worst-hit parts of the state under an order to be signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo. New York saw its highest single-day increase in deaths, up by 562 to 2,935 - nearly half of all virus-related US deaths recorded yesterday. The White House may advise those in virus hotspots to wear face coverings in public to help stem the spread.
- PoliticsThe Independent
Coronavirus and Hunter Biden: Congressional investigators prepare for war over 2020 election
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage across the United States, it has, for the moment, brought the partisan investigations taking shape on Capitol Hill that could swing the balance of the 2020 election to a screeching halt. Absent a vote from his Senate Homeland Security Committee, Chairman Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, can't issue a subpoena for Hunter Biden or any of his former associates at Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings. In the House, Democratic chairmen and chairwomen can't call administration officials to testify before empty hearing rooms about the government's highly criticised response to the health crisis.
- U.S.Business Insider
The IRS will reportedly begin issuing $1,200 stimulus payments on April 9, but some Americans could wait up to 5 months to receive their check
The IRS plans to begin sending out coronavirus stimulus payments as soon as April 9, according to an internal distribution plan obtained by The Washington Post. Electronic payments could be sent out next Thursday, the internal document said, but paper checks are set to be mailed out to Americans on a weekly rotation beginning later. About 145 million Americans can expect cash meant to support those who have been affected by the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, with about 6.6 million people filing for unemployment last week alone.
- U.S.Bloomberg
NRA Sues New York State Governor Over Closure of Gun Stores
Cuomo's March 20 executive order that included firearms retailers as non-essential businesses which must close is a “pointless and arbitrary attack on the constitutional rights of New York citizens and residents,” the NRA said in a complaint filed late Thursday in Syracuse, New York. New York ordered most businesses to close to prevent the spread of the virus, but deemed grocery stores, liquor stores, pharmacies and restaurants that do take-out as essential and allowed them to remain open. New York City is the center of the outbreak in the U.S., accounting for more than 1,300 of the 5,700 deaths in the country.
WorldAFPDrive-by blessings in virus-hit Philippines
Priests delivered blessings from the back of trucks and motorised tricycles in the Philippine Sunday, adapting the deeply Catholic nation's traditions to the battle against the coronavirus pandemic. Locals lined up in front of their homes in a district of Manila, which is entering its fourth week of a lockdown that has brought the frenetic metropolis nearly to a halt. The priests made signs of the cross as they rolled past waving residents marking Palm Sunday, the start of the week that culminates with the observance of Easter.
- WorldThe Guardian
Coronavirus map of the US: latest cases state by state
The number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 continues to grow in the US. Mike Pence, the vice-president, is overseeing the US response to the coronavirus. So far, 80% of patients experience a mild form of the illness, which can include a fever and pneumonia, and many of these cases require little to no medical intervention.
- WorldReuters
Number of coronavirus intensive care patients in Italy drops for first time
Italy reported its lowest daily rise in COVID-19 deaths for nearly two weeks on Saturday and said the number of patients in intensive care had fallen for the first time. The Civil Protection department reported 681 deaths, bringing the total to 15,632 since the outbreak of the new coronavirus epidemic in northern Italy on Feb. 21. The total number of confirmed cases rose to 124,632 from 119,827 reported on Friday but for the first time, the number of patients in badly stretched intensive care units fell, with 3,994 patients being treated, down 74 from 4,068 on Friday.
