- WorldReuters
U.S. spies find coronavirus spread in China, North Korea, Russia hard to chart
As U.S. spy agencies seek to assemble a precise picture of the world's coronavirus outbreaks, they are finding serious gaps in their ability to assess the situation in China, Russia and North Korea, according to five U.S. government sources familiar with the intelligence reporting. The agencies also have limited insight into the full impact of the pandemic in Iran, although information on infections and deaths among the ruling class and public is becoming more available on official and social media, two sources said.
- BusinessAssociated Press
Booze buying surges; senators push airlines for cash refunds
The outbreak of the coronavirus has dealt a shock to the global economy with unprecedented speed. INDUSTRY: Less than a week after saying it planned to reopen five North American assembly plants, Ford has decided that those facilities will remain closed indefinitely. The announcement to reopen got a cool reception from the United Auto Workers union.
- U.S.Business Insider
28 Texas spring breakers who just returned from Cabo have tested positive for the coronavirus
Victor Ruiz Garcia/Reuters Twenty-eight Texas spring breakers who recently vacationed in Cabo have tested positive for the coronavirus, tweeted Tony Plohetski of local station KVUE-TV. They chartered a plane with 70 people to get to Cabo, he said. Spring breakers, who are Gen Z, have been called out for crowding beaches and partying on booze cruises and ignoring calls for social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic.
- U.S.INSIDER
A man hid his coronavirus symptoms to join his wife in a New York hospital maternity ward. She ended up infected also.
A man is suspected of infecting his pregnant wife with the novel coronavirus after hiding his symptoms to join her in a New York hospital maternity ward, USA Today reports. The incident prompted the hospital — Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, New York — to impose stricter screening measures on the already few visitors allowed in the maternity ward. A man hid his coronavirus symptoms from hospital staff so he could be with his pregnant wife in a New York hospital maternity ward last week, USA Today reported Tuesday.
- WorldBBC
Coronavirus: Racist 'zoombombing' at virtual synagogue
"Zoombombing" - where uninvited guests enter meetings - is on the rise as more people use the app to stay in touch during the coronavirus restrictions. Experts advised people to secure meetings against intruders. A BBC employee who attended the meeting at a synagogue in London explained what happened: "There were about 205 of us logged on - including lots of families with little kids - and suddenly the numbers went up to 243."
- SportsNBC News
One country is refusing to shut down to stop the coronavirus
While officials from Montreal to Moscow have placed populations under some form of lockdown designed to slow the spread of the coronavirus, one man continues to hold firm to the notion that the rest of the world has lost its mind: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. “It is better to die on your feet than live on your knees!” Lukashenko told a Belarusian television reporter Saturday when asked whether the coronavirus could stop him from hitting the rink for a propaganda-filled hockey game. Lukashenko, one of the longest-serving leaders in the former Soviet Union, has been in power for over 25 years.
- WorldThe Week
The coronavirus is spreading quickly through Israel's ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities
In Israel, the coronavirus is spreading in ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities up to eight times faster than anywhere else in the country. Ultra-Orthodox Jews account for 12 percent of Israel's population, but they make up 40 to 60 percent of coronavirus patients at four of the country's largest hospitals, officials told Israeli media. Health experts said the virus is moving so quickly in these communities because the ultra-Orthodox have large families, don't trust the government, and pay little to no attention to secular media.
- WorldBloomberg
G-20 Pivots as Emergency Aid Focus Turns to Developing World
Economy chiefs from the Group of 20 nations, which accounts for about 90% of global economic output, are switching focus to the need to assist developing nations trying to cope with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. At a virtual meeting on Tuesday, G-20 finance ministers and central bankers said they'd look to address debt vulnerabilities in developing nations to allow them to focus their efforts on fighting the outbreak, according to a statement. They also committed to working with other organizations to “swiftly deliver the appropriate international financial assistance” to lower-income countries.
- StyleArchitectural Digest
12 Buildings That Show the Beauty of Deconstructed Architecture
From Zaha Hadid's majestic MAXII in Italy to the stunning beauty of Frank Gehry's Vitra Design Museum, these structures elevate the environment they were built in Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
- WorldReuters
U.S. offers to lift Venezuela sanctions for power-sharing deal, shifting policy
The Trump administration on Tuesday offered to begin lifting Venezuela sanctions if the opposition and members of President Nicolas Maduro's Socialist Party form an interim government without him, marking a shift in a U.S. policy that has failed to end his grip on power. With the South American nation squeezed by low world oil prices, a spreading coronavirus pandemic and a U.S. economic pressure campaign, Washington moved to a more toned-down approach aimed at promoting fair elections as soon as this year to end the political crisis there. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo formally announced the administration's power-sharing "Democratic Transition Framework" for Venezuela, which proposes for the first time a "sequenced exit path" from tough U.S. sanctions, including on the vital oil sector, if Maduro and his allies cooperate.
- WorldAssociated Press
Saudi official urges Muslims to delay hajj plans over virus
A senior Saudi official urged more than 1 million Muslims intending to perform the hajj to delay making plans this year — comments suggesting the pilgrimage could be cancelled due to the new coronavirus pandemic. In February, the kingdom took the extraordinary decision to close off the holy cities of Mecca and Medina to foreigners over the virus, a step which wasn't taken even during the 1918 flu epidemic that killed tens of millions worldwide. Restrictions have tightened in the kingdom as it grapples with over 1,500 confirmed cases of the new virus.
WorldAFPMasquerade or needed aid? China virus help proves contentious
As European and American healthcare systems creak under the strain, China has offered millions of face masks and teams of medical experts. As well as seeking to deflect criticism over initial Chinese missteps in handling the epidemic, analysts say, the campaign is a public relations opportunity in China's great power rivalry with the West and especially the United States. COVID-19 first emerged in a wild animal market last year in the Chinese city of Wuhan, but Beijing says the situation in China is now under control with domestic cases dwindling to zero.
- U.S.The Daily Beast
‘This Is a War’: Cuomo Pleads for Help From Doctors Across U.S. as Coronavirus Death Toll Surges
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday issued a heartfelt plea to health-care workers across the United States, asking them to help the Empire State fight the worst coronavirus outbreak in the nation. As the epicenter of the deadly coronavirus outbreak in the United States, New York is fighting the pandemic in already overwhelmed hospitals that are facing a shortage of staff and supplies. To date, more than 1,218 people have died and 66,500 individuals have been infected with the virus in New York, less than a month after the first known infection in the state.
- U.S.Business Insider
Shocking video shows the bodies of NYC coronavirus victims being forklifted into a refrigerated truck used as a temporary morgue
A person in Brooklyn, New York, recorded the moment a forklift transferred the bodies of people who had died of the coronavirus into a refrigerated truck being used as a temporary morgue on Sunday. Another video, shot outside another hospital in Brooklyn, showed bodies lined up on gurneys to be put into another refrigerated truck. A shocking video shows how one hospital in Brooklyn, New York, became so inundated with coronavirus victims that it used a forklift to transfer the bodies into the back of a refrigerated truck being used as a temporary morgue.
- U.S.NBC News
Black, Asian and Hispanic House caucus chairs unite in 'no tolerance' for coronavirus racism
The leaders of the congressional black, Asian and Hispanic caucuses gathered Monday to condemn the racism that the Asian American community is confronting during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., chairwoman of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, or CAPAC, said about 100 hate incidents a day have been directed toward those in the community, according to data from three hate incident reporting sites. Chu said at least 1,000 hate incidents have been reported since the beginning of the pandemic across the online reporting forum Stop AAPI Hate, a separate site led by OCA — Asian Pacific American Advocates and a third initiative spearheaded by Asian Americans Advancing Justice.
EntertainmentAOL.comMeet Candy Sterling, a fierce drag queen at night and a corporate professional by day
This is Candy Sterling – a fierce drag queen who lights up the New York City nightlife while maintaining a professional day job. Get to know her both in and out of drag on this week's episode of Behind the Drag.
- WorldINSIDER
Coronavirus confusion in Russia after Putin announced a nationwide vacation and people took to the streets. Two days later the Kremlin had to clarify people were meant to stay at home.
Mikhail Klimentyev/TASS / Getty On March 25, President Vladimir Putin announced Russia would have a week-long paid vacation to stop the coronavirus. People thinking he meant an actual vacation took to the streets, according to The New York Times. Two days later, the Kremlin had to clarify that people were being told to stay at home, and those who could work from home should continue to do so.
- WorldThe Telegraph
India’s coronavirus emergency just beginning as lockdown threatens to turn into human tragedy
An estimated 120 million Indian labourers are in the same predicament as Mr Asif, and Mr Modi has been accused of causing a humanitarian disaster by locking down the cities and unleashing a wave of poor migrant workers. Many of those who have been forced out of work have streamed back along highways and railway lines to their home states and villages, potentially spreading the coronavirus infection into the country's hinterlands. Mr Modi's lockdown was a knee-jerk reaction without thought for the consequences to the poor, claimed Manish Tewari, an MP for the Congress party.
- U.S.Reuters
Justice Department cites more flaws in FBI handling of surveillance warrants
The FBI failed to keep all the records it needed to justify wiretaps within the United States, a Justice Department watchdog said on Tuesday in a report that raised new questions about a domestic surveillance program criticized by lawmakers in both parties and civil libertarians. The findings by Michael Horowitz, the department's inspector general, represented another setback for the FBI. Horowitz in a December report criticized the FBI for its handling of surveillance warrants in the early stages of its investigation into contacts between President Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and Russians.
- PoliticsAssociated Press
Europe's trade system with Iran finally makes first deal
European countries trying to keep Iran's nuclear deal with world powers alive said Tuesday that a system they set up to enable trade with Tehran has finally concluded its first transaction, facilitating the export of medical goods. Britain, France and Germany conceived the complex barter-type system dubbed INSTEX, which aims to protect companies doing business with Iran from American sanctions, in January 2019. The move came months after President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from the nuclear deal that Tehran struck with world powers in 2015 and reimposed sanctions.
- StyleArchitectural Digest
29 Best Closet Organization Ideas to Maximize Space and Style
How to organize your closet like a pro Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
- PoliticsThe Daily Beast
Joe Biden Is Smart to Get the Hell Out of the Way
I know this because Super Tuesday was also the last time that I was invited to appear on cable news as a political commentator (in the Trump era, turns out, I should have become an FBI agent, lawyer... or a virologist). By the time Super Tuesday II (or whatever we're calling it) came along, Biden's miraculous turnaround was already headline story number II, taking a backseat to (deservedly) breathless pandemic coverage.
- WorldBusiness Insider
Wuhan's death toll could be astronomically higher than the Chinese government has reported, some residents say
Associated Press Officials in Wuhan, China, reported that 2,535 people in the city have died from COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. But some residents contest the official death toll, citing an increase in the shipment of urns to the city's eight funeral homes. "The incinerators have been working round-the-clock," one resident told Radio Free Asia.
- WorldNBC News
Sweden's 'free will' coronavirus strategy alarms some scientists
As the temperature passed 50 degrees in Stockholm last week, people congregated in parks unable to resist socializing during the first signs of spring in the Swedish capital. The Swedish government has left it up to individuals to act responsibly and decide whether to stay home or not. Public gatherings of more than 50 people are prohibited but there are no restrictions on private meetings, meaning parties and corporate events can still go ahead.
- HealthThe Guardian
Have I already had coronavirus? How would I know and what should I do?
Covid-19 symptoms vary widely, and undertesting in many countries means that many people may have already had the coronavirus without having received a positive diagnosis. Dr William Hillmann: At this point, we don't have a test to tell that. Hillmann: Coronavirus is actually quite a significant spectrum of symptoms, from people who are entirely asymptomatic and would have no idea that they have it to people with very mild, cold-like symptoms – runny nose, congestion, sore throat – to people with more flu-like symptoms – high fevers, muscle aches, shortness of breath and cough.
