- U.S.Yahoo News
Trump sees 'hard days' ahead in coronavirus fight, with as many as 240,000 Americans dead
Nearly a quarter million people in the United States could die as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, Trump administration officials said Tuesday. In what was presented as a best case scenario in which millions of citizens across the country adhered to intensive social distancing guidelines promoted by the Trump administration, between 100,000 and 240,000 Americans are still expected to be killed by COVID-19. “We're going to do everything we can to get [the U.S. death toll] significantly below that,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, whose forthright manner has made him a star of the coronavirus briefings.
- HealthYahoo News
First he had brain cancer. Then the coronavirus struck his city. One patient’s perilous journey.
When Ronnie Kresel went in for his most recent checkup following chemotherapy on March 21, it wasn't anything like the ones he'd had before. Upon his arrival at the Southhampton Stony Brook Hospital in Long Island, N.Y., a doctor met Kresel in a hazmat suit in a large tent outside the facility, where he was asked “a series of rapid-fire questions” and then sent to a negative-pressure room, which prevents cross-contamination, for his visit. In mid-December, Kresel, 53, was diagnosed with a glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.National Review
IG Horowitz Found ‘Apparent Errors or Inadequately Supported Facts’ in Every Single FBI FISA Application He Reviewed
The Justice Department inspector general said it does “not have confidence” in the FBI's FISA application process following an audit that found the Bureau was not sufficiently transparent with the court in 29 applications from 2014 to 2019, all of which included “apparent errors or inadequately supported facts.” Inspector General Michael Horowitz released a report in December which found that the FBI included “at least 17 significant errors or omissions in the Carter Page FISA applications and many errors in the Woods Procedures” during its Crossfire Hurricane investigation of the 2016 Trump campaign.
- 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.
- 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
- WorldThe Independent
Trump news – live: Six-week-old baby dies of coronavirus White House tries to blame slow response on CDC and China
Donald Trump has issued his starkest warning yet on the threat posed by the coronavirus outbreak to the US, telling the country it is facing “a hell of a bad two weeks” and saying observing social distancing rules is “a matter of life and death”. I want every American to be prepared for the hard days that lie ahead,” he said at his latest briefing from the White House. This is going to be one of the roughest two or three weeks we've ever had in our country...
- 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.
WorldAFPChina reports 1,300 asymptomatic virus cases after public concern
China on Wednesday said it has more than 1,300 asymptomatic coronavirus cases, the first time it has released such data following public concern over people who have tested positive but are not showing symptoms. Health officials also reported the first imported case from abroad in Wuhan -- the epicentre where the virus first emerged late last year -- heightening fears of infections being brought into China from other countries. Of 36 new cases reported Wednesday, 35 were imported from abroad.
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.
- WorldAssociated 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- U.S.The Week
Almost 30 spring breakers test positive for coronavirus following Mexico trip
Almost 30 students who recently traveled to Mexico for spring break have tested positive for COVID-19. Health officials in Austin, Texas, on Tuesday announced an investigation into a "cluster" of COVID-19 cases among a group of roughly 70 people in their 20s who traveled in a chartered plane to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico for spring break about a week-and-a-half ago amid the coronavirus crisis. "Currently, 28 young adults on this trip have tested positive for COVID-19 and dozens more are under public health investigation," the Austin Public Health Department said.
- U.S.USA TODAY
'Reckless': Louisiana pastor arrested for holding services with up to 1,000 attendees
A Louisiana pastor who repeatedly defied state orders prohibiting gatherings of more than 50 people by holding church services was charged with six misdemeanor counts of violating a state ban on non-essential gatherings. Rev. Tony Spell of the Life Tabernacle Church in the city of Central, around 15 miles northeast of Baton Rouge, has held services twice a week despite the state orders.
- U.S.CBS News
Pence says Italy is probably best comparison to U.S. now
Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday that Italy is the "most comparable area to the United States" at this point in terms of the number of coronavirus cases and deaths, a grim statement reflecting the nation's dire situation, since Italy currently leads the world in COVID-19 deaths. On Monday, the White House said Americans should be prepared for at least 100,000 deaths across the country, even with strict mitigation measures. "We think Italy may be the most comparable area to the United States, at this point, for a variety of reasons, and so we built that modeling," Pence said Tuesday on CNN, as he explained how the White House arrived at its mortality projection.
- BusinessPopular Mechanics
Woodworking Can Bring Solace in Times of Uncertainty
When things get stressful, it's worth slowing down and appreciating the simpler things. From Popular Mechanics
- 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.
- WorldReuters
China starts to report asymptomatic coronavirus cases
Chinese health authorities began on Wednesday reporting on asymptomatic cases of the coronavirus as part of an effort to allay public fears that people could be spreading the virus without knowing they are infected with it. China, where the coronavirus emerged late last year, has managed to bring its outbreak under control and is easing travel restrictions in virus hot spots. Up to now, the number of known asymptomatic cases has been classified, and it is not included in the official data, though the South China Morning Post newspaper, citing unpublished official documents, recently said it was more than 40,000.
- WorldAssociated Press
Trump: US to deploy anti-drug Navy ships near Venezuela
President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that Navy ships are being moved toward Venezuela as his administration beefs up counter-narcotics operations in the Caribbean following a U.S. drug indictment against Nicolás Maduro. “The Venezuelan people continue to suffer tremendously due to Maduro and his criminal control over the country, and drug traffickers are seizing on this lawlessness,” Defense Secretary Mark Esper said after the president's announcement. The mission involves sending additional Navy warships, surveillance aircraft and special forces teams to nearly double the U.S. counter-narcotics capacity in the Western Hemisphere, with forces operating both in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.
- U.S.Bloomberg
Silicon Valley Mom Gets Seven Months for $450,000 College Scam
A Silicon Valley mom who paid $450,000 to cheat her daughters' way into college was sentenced to seven months in prison after asking a federal judge to spare her a jail term during the pandemic. Elizabeth Henriquez fits new U.S. Justice Department guidance that nonviolent first-time offenders with health conditions should serve their time at home during the outbreak of the highly contagious coronavirus, her lawyers argued in a hearing by video conference Tuesday. They asked U.S. District Judge Nathaniel Gorton in Boston for five months' home confinement for their 57-year-old client.
- 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.
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