- PoliticsThe Daily Beast
Kellyanne Conway Keeps Attacking Joe Biden for Staying Inside
While leaders across the country are urging Americans to stay in their homes to stop the spread of the coronavirus, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway is openly mocking former Vice President Joe Biden for setting that example. During a press gaggle outside the White House, Conway called it “completely unhelpful” to have the former vice president “in his bunker in Wilmington just lobbing criticisms” at the current president.
- BusinessUSA TODAY
'We are the verge of a massive collapse': Ex-Energy Secretary Perry says COVID-19 will ravage oil industry
Former Energy Secretary Rick Perry believes that the oil industry could collapse because of the dramatic decrease in demand worldwide caused by the coronavirus outbreak and a steep decline in prices. "I'm telling you, we are on the verge of a massive collapse of an industry that we worked awfully hard, over the course of the last three or four years, to build up to the number one oil and gas producing country in the world, giving Americans some affordable energy resources." Coupled with a dispute between Saudi Arabia and Russia that has resulted in an oil surplus, the price for crude as well as gasoline has plunged.
- PoliticsAssociated Press
McConnell releasing ad tied to his role in virus rescue bill
Looking to capitalize on his leadership post during the coronavirus crisis, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is launching a campaign ad in his home state that touts his role in passing the $2.2 trillion economic rescue package. The TV ad debuting across Kentucky on Wednesday boasts of the benefits going to cross-sections of Americans, and McConnell's role in orchestrating Senate passage of the sweeping aid measure. The ad ends by showing McConnell with President Donald Trump, who remains a commanding figure in Kentucky politics.
- 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
- WorldBusiness Insider
The US intelligence community has reportedly concluded that China intentionally misrepresented its coronavirus numbers
Thomas Peter/Getty The US intelligence community has determined that the Chinese government concealed the extent of its coronavirus outbreak and gave false statistics to other countries, Bloomberg News reported, citing three US officials. Officials transmitted a classified report of their findings to the White House last week. Bloomberg described its sources as saying that the report's main conclusion was that China's public reporting of coronavirus cases was "intentionally incomplete" and that its numbers were fake.
- 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.
- 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.Reuters
U.S. records 700 coronavirus deaths in a single day for first time
The U.S. government raced to build hundreds of makeshift hospitals to ease the strain on overwhelmed healthcare systems as the United States marked 700 deaths in a single day from COVID-19 for the first time on Tuesday. Nearly half those deaths were in New York state, still the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio pleaded for reinforcements from the Trump administration, saying the worst may still be weeks away. De Blasio, a Democrat, said he had asked the White House for an additional 1,000 nurses, 300 respiratory therapists and 150 doctors by April 5 but had yet to receive an answer from the Trump administration.
- BusinessPolitico
Russia sends plane with medical supplies to U.S. for coronavirus response
Russia is sending a planeload of masks and other supplies to help the United States fight the coronavirus pandemic as the number of cases threatens to top 200,000 across the country. The plane will arrive today, after President Donald Trump accepted an offer on Monday by Russian President Vladimir Putin to send personal protective equipment and other gear, a senior administration official confirmed to POLITICO. The Russian government first announced that the plane, an An-124 Ruslan cargo aircraft filled with equipment to help America battle the pandemic, was en route early today.
- WorldBloomberg
Japan Counting on Obedient Citizens to Lock Themselves Down
It's also raising questions about whether Tokyo, where cases have tripled over the past 10 days, is about to go into a European-style lockdown -- speculation the government is trying to squash. 1. Is Japan about to declare an emergency? Japan's ruling party politicians say: “No.” As of Wednesday, Japan had the fewest confirmed infections among Group of Seven leading economies at about 2,000 --compared to about 188,000 in the U.S. -- despite being one of the first countries outside of original epicenter China to get confirmed cases.
- U.S.INSIDER
'Misled by silence': A US couple quarantined in Australia say Princess Cruises and local health officials covered up coronavirus infections on board their ship
Supplied Kay and Bill Barancik embarked on what they thought would be a dream 13-day cruise aboard the Ruby Princess ship from Sydney, Australia, on March 8th. The couple, from LA, had their trip cut short after three passengers and a crew member on board got sick during the cruise. The Baranciks, along with nearly 2,700 other passengers, disembarked on March 19, unaware that the cases on board had been tested for COVID-19.
- U.S.Associated Press
US finds major cross-border tunnel used to smuggle drugs
A large haul of drugs, including opioids, methamphetamine and cocaine, being smuggled from Mexico to California was seized from a cross-border tunnel equipped with ventilation, lighting and an underground rail system, authorities said Tuesday. The tunnel connected warehouses in Tijuana and San Diego, extending about 2,000 feet (610 meters) with an average depth of 31 feet (9.5 meters) and width of 3 feet (0.9 meter), according to the San Diego Tunnel Task Force, an investigative team made up of several federal agencies. Authorities seized more than two tons of a variety of drugs, a departure from earlier discoveries that consisted largely of marijuana.
WorldYahoo News VideoIran warns U.S. over Iraq deployment amid virus
On Wednesday Iran warned the U.S. it was “warmongering during the coronavirus outbreak,” after it deployed Patriot air defense missiles to Iraq.
- 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.
WorldAFPIran warns US after Patriot deployment to Iraq
Iran warned the US Wednesday that it was leading the Middle East to disaster in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic after it deployed Patriot air defence missiles to Iraq. Washington had been in talks with Baghdad about the proposed deployment since January but it was not immediately clear whether it had secured its approval or not. Iran, which wields huge influence in its western neighbour, said that it had not.
- HealthThe Week
Coronavirus lockdowns are working, according to data from digital thermometer app
Three-quarters of Americans have been urged or ordered to stay at home, to the extent possible, to stop the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, and those measures appear to be working, The New York Times reports, citing data from internet-connected thermometer company Kinsa. The thermometers and their app upload temperature readings to a centralized database, allowing Kinsa to track fevers across the country. Kinsa's million-plus thermometers have been recording up to 162,000 readings from around the U.S. each day since the coronavirus started spreading, the Times reports.
- WorldReuters
Coronavirus stokes tensions between Erdogan and Istanbul's mayor
The coronavirus pandemic has rekindled rivalry in Turkey between President Tayyip Erdogan and Istanbul's opposition mayor, with disputes over fundraising and a potential lockdown possibly endangering a coordinated effort to combat the outbreak. The central government in Ankara has said a money-raising campaign launched by the mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, is illegal and it has threatened to prosecute those involved. Imamoglu, seen as a possible future candidate for the presidency, launched the campaign this week with the slogan "We will succeed together", seeking cash and other donations from wealthier Turks for hundreds of thousands of those in need.
- WorldThe Daily Beast
A Doctor Who Met Putin Just Tested Positive, and Russia’s COVID-19 Crackdowns Could Get Real Ugly.
MOSCOW—Amid a growing uproar in newly locked-down Russia, news broke on Tuesday that a doctor President Vladimir Putin met with just a week ago during a highly publicized visit to a coronavirus treatment facility has now tested positive for the infection himself. Widely disseminated photos of the visit showed Putin donning an orange hazmat suit, but he had also talked to Dr. Denis Protsenko extensively without protection and photographs show them together with very little "social distancing." Putin's spokesman says the Russian president is tested frequently for coronavirus infection and is just fine.
- U.S.Business Insider
The White House projects that shutting down the US to stop the coronavirus could save 2 million lives
As many as 2.2 million people in the US are predicted to die from COVID-19 if the disease is not mitigated, according to an analysis that the White House is using to guide its response, which was released Tuesday. The White House is recommending that social distancing continue until at least April 30. President Donald Trump previously said he wanted to reopen parts of the economy by Easter, but the trove of data about deaths from the coronavirus made him change course.
- WorldBBC
Coronavirus: Millions will be left in poverty, World Bank warns
The financial impact of coronavirus will stop almost 24 million people from escaping poverty in East Asia and the Pacific, according to the World Bank. The World Bank warned of “substantially higher risk” among households that depend on industries particularly vulnerable to the impact of the virus. In its baseline scenario, almost 24 million fewer people will escape poverty across the region in 2020 due to the economic impact of the pandemic.
- 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.
- 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.
- WorldBloomberg
Boris Johnson Under Pressure to Speed Up Coronavirus Testing
The U.K. government is facing renewed calls to speed up testing of patients and health care workers for the coronavirus, as the outbreak spreads. “People will rightly say, why wasn't this all in place?” Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told BBC radio on Tuesday when challenged on why the U.K. is lagging other countries on testing. “The unprecedented nature, the global nature of this, and the pressures everyone's aware of on the NHS, means to scale this up it's literally been a military-scale operation,” he said, adding that three new testing centers have just opened to boost capacity.
- 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
- PoliticsBusiness Insider
Nancy Pelosi's idea to retroactively lift the limit on state and local tax deductions would be almost useless for people who need the most help
Business Insider Tom Brenner/Reuters Pelosi is calling for another economic relief package to get more equipment for embattled healthcare workers, as well as relief for households. The House speaker said one measure under consideration is retroactively repealing the SALT cap, which puts a $10,000 limit on the amount of state and local tax deductions that households can claim each year on their tax bill. But that measure would disproportionately benefit richer households, and leave out the vast majority of middle-class ones from getting any money.
