Big Time News Blog: 04/07/20

Tuesday, April 7, 2020

Trump threatens to cut WHO funding, China lifts Wuhan travel ban

President Donald Trump threatened on Tuesday to cut US funding to the World Health Organization, accusing it of bias toward China, where the authorities lifted a two-and-a-half month travel ban on Wuhan, the city that spawned the global coronavirus pandemic. As the United States suffered a record total of nearly 2,000 deaths in the past 24 hours, China reported no new deaths for the first time since the outbreak began in Wuhan in late December. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson remained in stable condition in intensive care in a London hospital, meanwhile, after being admitted on Monday, 10 days after being diagnosed with the virus.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/34nY6Ae

Fox News Breaking News Alert

Fox News Breaking News Alert

PROGRAMMING ALERT: President Trump on 'Hannity,' coming up on Fox News

04/07/20 6:02 PM

Trump Attacks W.H.O. Over Criticisms of U.S. Approach to Coronavirus

By BY MICHAEL D. SHEAR from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2RmKkbD

‘Cambió muy rápido’: el petróleo enriquece a Guyana, pero intensifica las tensiones

By BY ANATOLY KURMANAEV from NYT en Español https://ift.tt/2xbpLIj

Pompeo says Afghanistan peace progress made since his March 23 Kabul visit

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday said a U.S.-led Afghanistan peacemaking drive has seen progress since he visited Kabul last month to persuade the Afghan president and his main political foe to end their leadership feud. "We've made some progress, but we see them posturing in the media, we see statements that come out," Pompeo told a State Department news conference. Pompeo paid a one-day visit to Kabul on March 23 to pressure Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and political rival Abdullah Abdullah to end a feud over a disputed September presidential election that saw them both claim victory and hold competing inaugurations.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/34o8nwi

Spain’s New Virus Infections Fall as Austria Eases Lockdown

(Bloomberg) -- Spain reported the lowest number of new coronavirus cases in more than two weeks and German infections were the fewest in six days, tentative signs that the spread of the deadly disease is slowing in Europe’s worst-hit countries.The most recent figures from Spain, Italy, Germany and France suggest containment measures that have idled millions of workers are having an effect. While most leaders pleaded for patience, Austria became the first country in Europe to ease restrictions and Denmark may follow later.After weeks of measures designed to limit contact between people, European governments are seeing growing evidence that shutting down much of the economy is containing the disease. Italy, Spain, France and the U.K. have suffered the most deaths worldwide, accounting for nearly 60% of all fatalities.New infections in Spain were 4,273, the lowest since March 22, according to Health Ministry data on Monday. The death toll in Europe’s biggest outbreak rose by 637, the lowest number of daily fatalities since March 24.German infections rose by 4,031 to surpass 100,000, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. With 140 fatalities, it was the lowest daily increase in nearly a week. The coming days will show if the trend holds. New cases and deaths in Germany have consistently dropped over weekends as regional health authorities have been slower to report figures.Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief of staff said it’s critical to reduce the number of infections before taking decisions on easing social-distancing rules. The concern is that patients require ventilation for a longer period of time than initially anticipated “because more and more older people get infected,” Helge Braun told Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung on Sunday.Reports on Covid-19 related outbreaks in nursing homes and hospitals are increasing, and the number of deaths is relatively high in some of these outbreaks, Germany’s health authority said. Europe’s largest economy continues to have the third-highest number of confirmed cases in Europe.Spain and Italy -- the epicenters of the pandemic in region -- have the highest death tolls worldwide. That means officials have to weigh any attempts to restart parts of the economy against the risk of reigniting the outbreak.In Spain, public opinion of the government’s management of the crisis has consistently deteriorated. Just 27.7% of voters approve of the efforts by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s administration, compared with 35.1% three weeks ago, according to a GAD3 poll published Monday by Spanish newspaper ABC.“It’s the lockdown measures that are helping us,” Silvio Brusaferro, head of Italy’s public health institute, said in Rome on Sunday. Rules designed to limit contact between people have led to a “significant slowdown in the spread,” he said.Italy reported 525 new deaths on Sunday, the lowest daily number in more than two weeks, and new confirmed cases also declined. France reported an additional 518 deaths, the fewest since last Tuesday.Crisis ExitIn Austria, small retailers, hardware stores and gardening shops will reopen next week after national lockdown measures succeeded in slowing the spread. The number of active coronavirus patients has declined, with recoveries outnumbering new positive tests for three consecutive days.Despite easing restrictions, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz called on Austrians to sacrifice traditional Easter holiday celebrations with friends and family this weekend and stick to social-distancing rules at least until the end of April. Should Covid-19’s spread be contained, more shops could reopen in May and schools in mid-May.“We have reacted faster and more restrictive than other countries,” Kurz said in Vienna. “We’ll also get out of the crisis faster if everybody continues to stick to the measures.”Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen may also announce initial steps toward a return to normal life as early as Monday. Still, she’s made clear that any slight uptick in the number of cases would be followed by an instant return to tight restrictions.Italy is heading into its fifth week under lockdown, and Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that he can’t say when it will be lifted.He is expected to announce revised rules and timelines by the end of next week, Il Messaggero newspaper reported. Italy’s measures have been extended through at least April 13, and Spain’s will now be in force at least until April 25.Italy’s new confirmed cases totaled 4,316 on Sunday, lower than the day before. Total infections rose to 128,948 cases, slightly fewer than Spain.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2wgo4sA

Supreme Court won't hear Catholic Church challenge to ban on religious advertising

The case would have been the latest example of religious freedom appeals to be heard by the conservative-leaning court.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/39Ot2uu

Trump just ousted the inspector general overseeing coronavirus relief spending

President Trump has removed the inspector general tasked with overseeing how the federal government's coronavirus relief package is spent.After Trump signed $2.2 trillion in federal spending, a panel of inspectors general from across Cabinet departments were tasked with ensuring it was distributed and spent as intended. The panel chose Defense Department Inspector General Glenn Fine as its chair, but Trump ousted him from the department on Monday, thus removing him from the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee.News of Fine's ouster started circulating Tuesday, and a Pentagon spokesperson confirmed he was removed both from office and the committee to Politico. Michael Bromwich, a Justice Department inspector general under former President Bill Clinton, declared it "the latest step in the president's wholesale assault on the inspector general community" in a tweet.> 2/2 Glenn Fine was selected by his peers to chair the panel of IGs responsible for overseeing all aspects pandemic response spending. His 25-years experience in the IG community and his reputation for independence and integrity clearly posed a clear and present danger.> > — Michael R. Bromwich (@mrbromwich) April 7, 2020Trump has since designated EPA Inspector General Sean O'Donnell as the Pentagon's temporary IG and head of the accountability committee, and nominated Jason Abend, a senior policy adviser at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, to fill Fine's role. The panel of inspectors general will be able to select a new chair to oversee the massive spending bill soon.More stories from theweek.com What America needs to do before lockdown can end Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey pledges $1 billion to coronavirus relief Is Trump's 'campaign of retaliation' about to get worse?

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/34h2j8K

Asia virus latest: Wuhan travel ban lifted, Japan under state of emergency

Here are the latest developments in Asia related to the coronavirus pandemic:

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

The Vatican Welcomes Back Cardinal Pell After Stunning Sex Abuse Reversal in Australia

ROME—About an hour after Cardinal George Pell was discharged from Melbourne’s Barwon Prison on Tuesday, a courier left a case of wine at the monastery where he would spend his first night as a free man. The wine was not the kind used in Catholic mass. It was the kind for toasting victories: Pells’ clerical sex abuse conviction had just been overturned by Australia’s highest court. It’s not clear who ordered the wine, but for sure not everyone is celebrating the decision. The reversal of the conviction—which had been upheld by an appellate court in Melbourne last year—has deeply divided the Catholic Church around the world. Many Vatican insiders who felt Pell was a scapegoat convicted for the sins of many others will now feel vindicated, while survivors of clerical sexual abuse feel as if they have been victimized all over again.Pope Francis earlier said he would refrain from commenting until all the Australian court processes played out. But at his televised mass Tuesday morning, he seemed to send a subtle message of support for Pell. “I want to pray today for all those who suffer unjust sentences,” Francis said. “In these days of Lent, we’ve been witnessing the persecution that Jesus underwent and how he was judged ferociously, even though he was innocent. Let us pray together today for all those persons who suffer due to an unjust sentence because of someone who had it in for them.”Convicted Cardinal Pell’s Second Secret Sex Abuse Trial Is Called OffThe Vatican issued a statement on Tuesday in Rome in which they “expressed confidence in the Australian judicial authority” and “welcome the High Court’s unanimous decision concerning Cardinal George Pell, acquitting him of the accusations of abuse of minors and overturning his sentence.” The statement goes on to say that Pell has “always maintained his innocence, and has waited for the truth to be ascertained” but that “the Holy See reaffirms its commitment to preventing and pursuing all cases of abuse against minors.”Pell, formerly the Vatican’s finance czar, had served more than a year of his six year prison sentence after he was convicted two years ago of assaulting two 13-year-old choirboys in Melbourne’s St. Patrick’s cathedral in the '90s. One of the victims testified that Pell had exposed himself and touched the boy inappropriately. The other alleged victim had taken his own life years ago, but his family spoke on his behalf, recounting the spiral of substance abuse and personal strife experienced by so many victims of clerical sex abuse. The seven-judge panel presiding over an empty courtroom, which was cleared due to the coronavirus pandemic, read its ruling on line: “The jury, acting rationally on the whole of the evidence, ought to have entertained a doubt as to the applicant’s guilt with respect to each of the offenses for which he was convicted.”The cardinal issued a statement of his own, in which he said he had suffered a “serious injustice” that the high court now “remedied.” He added that he held “no ill will to my accuser,” who had testified in his trial. “I do not want my acquittal to add to the hurt and bitterness so many feel,” he said. “There is certainly hurt and bitterness enough.”Lisa Flynn, who represents the father of Pell’s alleged victim who took his life by suicide, said her client has lost faith in Australian justice because of the ruling. “Our client is currently in shock,” Flynn said in a statement to The Daily Beast. “He is furious the man he believes is responsible for sexually abusing his son was convicted by a unanimous jury only to have that decision overturned today, allowing George Pell to walk free from jail.”Flynn added that her client is “heartbroken” for the surviving victim who came forward to testify. “Our client says he is heartbroken for the surviving victim who stuck his neck out by coming forward to tell his story but was ultimately let down by a legal process that forced him to re-live his pain and trauma for no benefit,” she said. “Our client says this man, who the jury believed, is an upstanding citizen who had nothing to gain from speaking out other than to protect other children from the pain and suffering he has to live with on a daily basis.”“This is not the message we need to be sending to vulnerable survivors of sexual abuse,” said Flynn. “It suggests that even if survivors of child sexual abuse report their abuse, convince police to lay charges, convince the prosecution to pursue those charges, convince a jury to convict the accused, convince a Court of Appeal to uphold the jury’s decision, they can still be denied justice by the country’s highest court.”Pell has expressed a desire to stay in his native Australia, but he might also be welcomed back in Rome, where he could live more anonymously inside the walls of Vatican City. He has become a divisive figure in Australia and might face a constant barrage of criticism and protest should he stay. He is also facing civil suits from the victims, which he does not have to stay in Australia to fight. Because he was never stripped of any clerical status, he will be eligible to vote in a conclave to elect the next pope should it happen before he turns 80 in 2021. Pell’s new status is devastating for victims who may now choose to stay silent. “Do not let this decision stop you from speaking your truth,” Flynn wrote in her statement. “Instead, use today’s decision to free George Pell to ignite your fire and take on your abuser.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/3e6gZfa

U.S. enters 'peak death week' for coronavirus, British PM in intensive care

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

Defense secretary reportedly told Navy chief to apologize for bashing fired captain to crew of aircraft carrier

The acting secretary did an about-face Monday night, apologizing for his remarks after saying hours earlier that he stood by "every word" he said.

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

Which countries have flattened the curve?

The U.S. has been in social-distancing mode for about three weeks — it also has the most coronavirus cases in the world.

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

Coronavirus: Japan to declare emergency as Tokyo cases soar

The measures aim to avert a major outbreak in its major cities but fall short of a lockdown.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2JKPcD7

Pompeo to Afghan leaders: Make a deal with the Taliban or risk full U.S. troop pullout

The stern message, delivered two weeks ago, underscores Trump’s concern that the absence of a unified government in Kabul threatens to unravel his tenuous Taliban peace deal.

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

U.S. Supreme Court sides with GOP on Wisconsin election, apparently rewrites state election law

Wisconsin's local elections and presidential primaries will likely proceed on Tuesday after the conservative majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down an executive order Monday from Gov. Tony Evers (D) to delay the election to June 9 due to the coronavirus outbreak. There are open questions about how many polling places will be open and how many people will be able to vote by absentee ballot. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 on Monday night that Wisconsin voters must hand-deliver their absentee ballots by Tuesday evening or have them postmarked April 7, overruling a lower court that had extended absentee voting for six days.The U.S. Supreme Court, like the state court, split along ideological lines, siding with the state and national Republican Party. In the dissent for the four liberals on the court, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg warned of "massive disenfranchisement" due to the conservative majority's "eleventh hour" intervention "to prevent voters who have timely requested absentee ballots from casting their votes." As of Monday, only 57 percent of the 1.3 million requested absentee ballots had been returned, The Associated Press reports, and "it’s unclear how many of the outstanding 539,000 ballots will be in voters' hands by Tuesday to meet the April 7 postmark deadline."The court conservatives said Ginsberg's "entirely misplaced" dissent "completely overlooks" that the court is allowing the absentee ballots to be received by April 13, so long as they are postmarked April 7. But that changes Wisconsin election law, says Matthew DeFour, state politics editor for the Wisconsin State Journal.> There is no postmark requirement in state law. The lower court judge changed the date, but did not add a postmark. The U.S. Supreme Court has just written a new election law in Wisconsin.> > — Matthew DeFour (@WSJMattD4) April 6, 2020The state Supreme Court — one of whose 5 conservative members recused himself because he's on Tuesday's ballot — said Evers lacked the authority to change the election date. Evers had called the GOP-controlled legislature into special session over the weekend to shift the date or switch to all-mail-in-ballots, like Ohio did, but the Republican leaders gaveled in and out of season without taking any action, NPR News reports. Thousands of poll workers have refused to participate in the election over COVID-19 fears; heavily Democratic Milwaukee, for example, will have just five polling sites, not its planned 180. The National Guard has been asked to help.More stories from theweek.com What America needs to do before lockdown can end Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey pledges $1 billion to coronavirus relief Is Trump's 'campaign of retaliation' about to get worse?

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/34kbYuZ

3rd Guatemalan tests positive for virus after US deportation

Guatemala said Tuesday that a third deportee has tested positive for the coronavirus after being flown home by the United States. The report came a day after authorities announced they were suspending deportation flights from the U.S. over concerns about spreading the virus. The Health Ministry said the latest positive case was a 37-year-old man who was deported March 26 from Mesa, Arizona, and had been in quarantine since his return.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2JM01VB

China's Wuhan city further eases coronavirus lockdown

The central Chinese city of Wuhan began allowing people to leave on Wednesday for the first time since it was locked down 76 days ago to contain the novel coronavirus, despite fears of a second wave of infection if such restrictions are eased too soon.

from Reuters: World News https://ift.tt/2xVx8Ug

Big Time News Blog