Big Time News Blog: 03/26/20

Thursday, March 26, 2020

Make Abortion More Available During the Pandemic — Not Less

By BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/2y77T1f

One chart shows how much cash you should expect from the coronavirus stimulus based on your salary

The stimulus bill that was passed by the Senate includes checks for most Americans. The amount is based on your tax-filing status and income.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2UImaco

Kuril Islands earthquake: 7.5 magnitude earthquake triggers tsunami warning

A 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck in the northern Pacific on Wednesday and forecasters said tsunami waves were possible for the nearest shores. A brief tsunami watch for Hawaii was cancelled. The quake struck 136 miles south-southeast of Severo on Russia's far eastern Kuril Islands, the US Geological Survey said. It was 37 miles deep. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre initially warned hazardous waves were possible in parts of the Kurils, but later said based on further analysis that waves of less than 30 centimeters above tide level were possible in the northern Pacific. It noted that the wave height and potential hazard may vary by geography and other local features. A tsunami watch issued for Hawaii was halted shortly afterwards. The Japan Meteorological Agency said the quake was a stronger 7.8 magnitude and may cause a slight change of sea levels around Japanese coasts.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2vR77VA

India's coronavirus cases tick up, immense lockdown holds

India's death toll from the coronavirus rose by six to 16 in the last 24 hours, as the government sought on Thursday to improve basic services to 1.3 billion people locked indoors to slow the spread of the disease. Streets were silent across Indian cities and towns on the second day of a three-week, 24-hour shutdown, as people heeded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call not to step out of homes except in emergencies or to buy food and other necessities. Police have strictly enforced the lockdown even though Modi said essential services would be maintained.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/3am486u

Coronavirus: Malaria drug has no impact on treating Covid-19 patients, Chinese study finds

The malaria drug hydroxychloroquine might not be effective in treating patients with Covid-19, a new study finds.The report published by the Journal of Zhejiang University in China tested if coronavirus patients who received the medication were more likely to recover than those who didn’t, and it found that was not the case.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2UB5e7S

A Louisiana pastor defied state orders and held a service for hundreds of people. He says he has no plans of stopping.

Pastor Tony Spell, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, held a service for 400 people on Tuesday. On Sunday, there were more than 1,000.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/39msPyr

Chinese State Media Falsely Claim U.S. Army Athlete Brought Coronavirus to China

Chinese state-run media are citing an American conspiracy theorist to push claims that coronavirus was brought to China by a U.S. military athlete.The Global Times claimed in an article Wednesday that the coronavirus, which was first discovered in Wuhan, was in fact manufactured in a U.S. military lab and brought to China by a cyclist who took part in the World Military Games in Wuhan in October.The CCP-run paper cites known U.S. conspiracy theorist George Webb as the source for the claim, which it admits lacks “strong evidence” but still raises questions about the U.S. athletes who traveled to Wuhan.The Global Times also quotes Li Haidong, a professor of U.S. studies at the China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing, who challenges the U.S. to release “relevant information regarding the athlete’s health status and infection records to clear public doubts and help with the scientific study on the virus' origin.”China has pushed propaganda to distance itself from blame for the spread of COVID-19, after suppressing initial reports of human-to-human transmission and silencing labs that discovered the novel virus resembled the deadly SARS virus of 2002-2003.On February 27, Zhong Nanshan, a primary pulmonologist said at a press conference, that “the coronavirus first appeared in China but may not have originated in China.”The efforts have led to scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers, who have proposed holding China accountable for the coverup.“Since day one, the Chinese Communist Party intentionally lied to the world about the origin of this pandemic. The CCP was aware of the reality of the virus as early as December but ordered laboratories to destroy samples and forced doctors to keep silent,” Senator Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) said in the release of a resolution calling for an international investigation to determine how the Chinese Communist Party directly contributed to the emerging global pandemic.Multiple mainstream outlets have been complicit in serving the interests of Chinese state media.The Global Times also used footage this week from U.S. mainstream media criticizing President Trump's use of the term "Chinese virus" to suggest any scrutiny of China's handling of the coronavirus is racist.> The US President’s rhetoric in using “Chinese virus” to describe COVID19, has sparked fierce public criticism from all walks of life in the US. pic.twitter.com/RMljngN7P3> > -- Global Times (@globaltimesnews) March 23, 2020The Daily Caller reported Wednesday that The Daily Mail, the popular British tabloid, has also been pushing Chinese propaganda by publishing dozens of coronavirus-related stories originating from People’s Daily, the communist party’s official newspaper.The Economist is running advertorials — ads designed to look like news stories — from the state-backed Beijing Review in its print issues, The Washington Free Beacon reported Thursday.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2QMU6nb

Family concludes former FBI agent Robert Levinson died in Iran

They said they didn't know how or when he died, "only that it was prior to the COVID-19 pandemic."

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/33SOHAb

Sanders, AOC Threaten Delays on $2 Trillion Economic Stimulus

Senator Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) on Wednesday both threatened a possible delay in voting on the massive $2 trillion economic-stimulus package working its way through Congress.Sanders objected to an amendment proposed on Wednesday afternoon by Senators Ben Sasse (R., Neb.), Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.), and Tim Scott (R., S.C.) that would cap unemployment benefits at a worker's previous salary level.“I cannot at the last minute allow some right-wing senators [to] try to undermine the needs of workers and think they are going to get away with that,” Sanders told the New York Times. He added that he would vote for the stimulus if the group of Republicans dropped their proposed amendment, and called the current draft of the bill “far superior” to Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell's (R., Ky.) original draft.“The reason I know I’m right is that Bernie Sanders has just threatened me,” Graham countered in an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity. “This is Bernie Sanders on steroids. . . . He could not win at the ballot box, but he’s winning in this bill.”Sasse told National Review that the Republican senators worry the text of the bill allows workers to make more money “by being unemployed than if the employer-employee relationship were maintained.”Meanwhile, Ocasio-Cortez said she may request a “recorded vote” on the stimulus in the House, which would force House members currently not in Washington, D.C., to return to vote in person. She has said she is worried the stimulus will favor large corporations at the expense of workers.“With the health risks of travel, there is no easy choice here,” Ocasio-Cortez told CNN. “But essential workers are showing up and putting their health at risk every day, and if the final text of a bill is set up to hurt them, [a recorded vote] may be something we have to do.“House speaker Nancy Pelosi favors holding a vote by unanimous consent, in which case one House member could block the bill's passage by voting against.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2QKsYoU

U.S. files drug trafficking charges against Venezuelan president

The U.S. and Maduro have long been at odds over the country's extensive corruption.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2JhVI4k

Palestinians leave jobs in Israel, citing coronavirus risk

JERICHO/RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - The Palestinian government has ordered home Palestinian laborers in Israel and in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, saying their jobs exposed them to risk of the coronavirus. The edict, announced late on Tuesday by Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, could effectively shut down Israel's construction industry, heavily reliant on Palestinian labor. Israel had made special arrangements for many of the about 100,000 Palestinians who typically cross daily from the West Bank to instead stay overnight in Israeli cities before shutting the border on Sunday to curb the spread of the virus.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/3albcjB

The coronavirus mutates more slowly than the flu — which means a vaccine will likely be effective long-term

The mutation rate of the new coronavirus suggests a one-time vaccine would be sufficient to confer long-term immunity, according to experts.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/3alq01Q

Biden Suggests Dems Push for ‘Green New Deal’ Provisions in Next Coronavirus Stimulus Bill

Former vice president Joe Biden on Wednesday suggested passing climate-change legislation as part of economic aid packages amid the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic."We're going to have an opportunity, I believe, in the next round [of economic aid] here to use…my Green Deal to be able to generate both economic growth as consistent with the kind of infusion of monies we need into the system to keep it going," Biden said in a live-streamed briefing on the coronavirus crisis.Biden then advocated for investment in infrastructure-related jobs to offset the economic impact of the pandemic."We're going to need new infrastructure going down the road here, and it's a way to generate economic growth. That's going to be, I think, the next round we have to be looking at."Biden in January released a climate-change plan based in part on the "Green New Deal" floated in 2019 by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) and Senator Ed Markey (D., Mass.).Democrats have already attempted to add environmental legislation to the massive $2 trillion economic stimulus meant to offset the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The legislation included measures requiring airlines receiving assistance to fully offset carbon emissions by 2025, as well as requiring airlines to report greenhouse gas emissions in order to display the results in a public database.On Monday, President Trump criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and congressional Democrats for the attempt to add the legislation."Nancy Pelosi came and put a lot of things in the deal that had nothing to do with workers -- that had to do with an agenda that they have been trying to get passed for 10 years," Trump said during a Fox News virtual town hall. "[The Democrats said] 'We want green energy, let’s stop drilling oil' -- they had things in there that were terrible…Windmills all over the place and all sorts of credits for windmills -- they kill the birds and ruin the real estate. A lot of problems."