- 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.
- BusinessUSA TODAY
Fact check: Did NY pass on buying ventilators to fund tuition for undocumented immigrants?
As New York state has become a global hot spot of the coronavirus pandemic, politicians have exchanged barbs, blaming each other for the crisis while allegations spread on social media. On March 24, Facebook user Mike Proto posted to the public group “Feisty New Haveners Talk Politics” accusing New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo of declining to stock up on ventilators while supporting education for undocumented immigrants. You had a chance to stock NY hospitals with ventilators 3 years ago.
- WorldBloomberg
China Concealed Extent of Virus Outbreak, U.S. Intelligence Says
China has concealed the extent of the coronavirus outbreak in its country, under-reporting both total cases and deaths it's suffered from the disease, the U.S. intelligence community concluded in a classified report to the White House, according to three U.S. officials. The officials asked not to be identified because the report is secret, and they declined to detail its contents. But the thrust, they said, is that China's public reporting on cases and deaths is intentionally incomplete.
- 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.
- U.S.CBS News
U.S. is swiftly deporting migrant children at the border
Citing a public health order to curb the coronavirus pandemic, the Trump administration is swiftly deporting unaccompanied migrant minors apprehended near the U.S.-Mexico border, upending a long-standing practice required under a federal law designed to protect children from violence and exploitation. Despite initially maintaining that the new measures would not apply to unaccompanied minors, Customs and Border Protection on Monday said its officials could deny entry to children who cross the southern border alone under an order by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC. The agency said some minors could be excluded from the CDC directive if a border official "suspects trafficking or sees signs of illness."
- 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.
- WorldUSA TODAY Opinion
Great Recession showed countries can’t fight the coronavirus economic crisis alone
As the world economy enters an unprecedented crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and policymakers in Washington and other global capitals prepare record fiscal stimulus plans, stakeholders should heed an important lesson from the last financial downturn in 2008: Recovery is only possible through coordinated global action. A little more than 10 years ago, as the world was entering the Great Recession, stakeholders had to look far back in the rear-view mirror to the Great Depression for policy guidance. While the actions of the 1930s did offer important lessons for 2008 — most notably the need to expand the money supply — the economy of the 1930s was fundamentally different than the global economy of the early part of this century.
- BusinessPopular Mechanics
Some Nuclear Submarine Crews May Not Even Know About the Pandemic
On the flip side, a former nuclear submarine commander with the French Navy says the country's strategic nuclear submarine crews are probably unaware the pandemic is taking place. Since the viruses' detection in December 2019, the COVID-19 virus has quickly spread across the globe, with 826,222 infections recorded worldwide. It's hard to imagine a place now where the pandemic never happened, and where people are unaware it is taking place.
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.
- U.S.Associated Press
Defense lawyer in death of 7 motorcyclists: Biker at fault
One of the motorcyclists in a crash that killed him and six fellow bikers on a north woods highway was drunk and actually was the one who hit a pickup and caused the accident, the lawyer for the truck driver charged with homicide said in a document made public Tuesday. A New Hampshire State Police account of the June 21 crash in the community of Randolph “was deeply flawed," the lawyer for truck driver Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, 24, of West Springfield, Massachusetts, said in a motion filed Friday that seeks a hearing to set him free on bail. State police initially determined that the flatbed trailer he was hauling was 1 1/2 feet over the center line at the time of impact, the motion said.
- 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
- U.S.Business Insider
New York Gov. Cuomo says it's 'not likely' recreational marijuana will be legalized in New York's budget this year as the coronavirus outbreak is the focus in Albany
Crystal Cox/Business Insider New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that legalizing recreational marijuana likely won't be included in the state's budget, dealing a blow to the cannabis industry companies that have invested a significant amount of time, money, and resources preparing for the rush of the state's millions of adult consumers into the legalized market. Cuomo was asked by a reporter on Tuesday about marijuana legalization — one of the key initiatives he laid out in his budget address on January 21 — in his daily press briefing on the state's coronavirus response. "It's not likely," Cuomo said.
- 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.
- WorldThe Daily Beast
Pence Confronted by CNN for Claim That Trump Never ‘Belittled’ Coronavirus Threat
Vice President Mike Pence was left flustered Wednesday when CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer confronted him about President Donald Trump's lengthy period of downplaying the coronavirus threat, insisting the president is just an “optimistic person” and never “belittled” the crisis. Discussing the White House coronavirus task force's new dire projection that up to 240,000 Americans could die from the virus, Pence applauded efforts by various private and public entities to provide food and supplies to Americans now under stay-at-home orders. The CNN anchor went on to ask why the president hasn't issued a national stay-at-home order since the White House's models show a lower death rate based on such a lockdown.
- PoliticsNBC News
Rep. Velazquez has presumed COVID-19 infection, was near Pelosi, other lawmakers last week
Rep. Nydia Velazquez said Monday that she's been "diagnosed with presumed coronavirus infection," three days after she spoke on the House floor and stood near 80-year-old House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during the signing of the $2.2 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill. In a statement, Velazquez, D-N.Y., 67, said she first started feeling sick "in the wee hours of Sunday morning." At the advice of The Attending Physician, neither COVID 19 laboratory testing nor a doctor's office visit was recommended.
- HealthINSIDER
There are benefits to holding off on pregnancy during the coronavirus pandemic. It's still up to you, experts say.
Some couples who'd planned on trying to get pregnant this spring or summer are halting their plans due to the unknowns about how the novel coronavirus might affect them, their future children, or their birth plans. While the American Society for Reproductive Medicine has guidelines discouraging couples from beginning fertility treatments during this time, no organization has yet suggested couples should stop trying to conceive naturally. Couples should consider their own medical histories, mental health, and finances before deciding whether or not to proceed, OB-GYNs told Insider.
- 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.
- U.S.National Review
Lindsey Graham Calls on IG Horowitz to Testify in Further FISA Hearings after Scathing New Report
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) plans to call DOJ inspector general Michael Horowitz to testify before congress regarding his office's audit of the FBI's FISA application process, which was released Tuesday and revealed potentially systematic abuses of the transparency measures required of the Bureau when agents interact with the FISA court. I have just been briefed on Inspector General Horowitz's audit of FISA applications involving American citizens. This random audit shows discrepancies regarding verification of the information under the Woods Procedures,” Graham said in a press release.
- U.S.Associated Press
'I heard the roar': 6.5 earthquake hits Idaho
An earthquake struck north of Boise Tuesday evening, with people across a large area reporting shaking. The U.S. Geological Survey reports the magnitude 6.5 temblor struck just before 6 p.m. It was centered 73 miles (118 kilometers) northeast of Meridian, near the rural mountain town of Stanley. More than 2 million live in the region that could feel the Idaho quake, according to the USGS, with reports of shaking coming in from as far away as Helena, Montana, and Salt Lake City, Utah.
- BusinessBBC
Coronavirus: 'I don't want a flight voucher, where's my refund?'
Hundreds of flights have been cancelled as fleets are grounded and the process of reimbursing people is under strain. EasyJet has faced particular anger as rebooking is done online but refunds require calling customer services and getting through is almost impossible. Holly Fitton, writing on Facebook, said: "I have been told to ring you for a refund.
- WorldBusiness Insider
The US passed a grim milestone with a single-day coronavirus death toll above 500, bringing the country's overall count past 3,000
More than 3,000 people had died of the novel coronavirus in the US as of Monday night after a single-day death toll of more than 500. Previously, the highest death toll in 24 hours was 446 deaths, according to The Washington Post. The top US infectious-disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, told CNN the country could see "millions of cases" as the outbreak pans out, with 100,000 to 200,000 deaths.
- 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.
CelebrityYahoo News VideoTrump criticizes Cuomo for saying states have to bid on ventilators as if on eBay to fight coronavirus
At the coronavirus task force briefing, President Trump rebuked New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for saying states have to compete and bid against each other like they're on eBay.
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.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.
