Big Time News Blog: 05/02/20

Saturday, May 2, 2020

As weather warms amid coronavirus outbreak, states face new challenges

Governors across the U.S. are encouraging people to continue practicing social distancing amid summer weather

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2SqF4UL

"I'm starving now": World faces unprecedented hunger crisis

There's "a real danger that more people could potentially die from the economic impact of COVID-19 than from the virus itself," says the U.N. food agency's chief.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2Wkw84D

Pence's office is selectively retaliating against reporters who disclosed its Mayo Clinic mask warning

Vice President Mike Pence wore a mask at a ventilator plant in Indiana on Thursday, two days after he was criticized for flouting the Mayo Clinic's rules by declining to wear facial covering. But for some reason, Pence's office seems to want to keep the story alive.Karen Pence assured Fox News on Thursday that her husband had not been informed of the mandatory mask policy until after the Mayo tour concluded. This contradicted a since-deleted tweet from the Mayo Clinic, and two reporters tweeted after Karen Pence's interview that the vice president's office had informed them a day earlier about the Mayo Clinic's policy.> All of us who traveled with him were notified by the office of @VP the day before the trip that wearing of masks was required by the @MayoClinic and to prepare accordingly. https://t.co/LFqh27LusD> > — Steve Herman (@W7VOA) April 30, 2020> also, everyone in the entire Mayo Clinic had a mask on, everyone, and we were all told the day before we had to wear a mask if we entered the clinic https://t.co/cNW4fJ87Q4> > — Gordon Lubold (@glubold) April 30, 2020Steve Herman, who covers the White House for VOA News, said the White House Correspondents' Association informed him Pence's office has banned him from further travel on Air Force Two, The Washington Post reports. Pence's office and VOA later said discussions are still ongoing about any possible punishment. Gordon Lubold, who works for The Wall Street Journal, has not been sanctioned by Pence's office for his tweet.The ostensible issue is Herman violating confidentiality rules. Monday's planning memo was marked "OFF THE RECORD AND FOR PLANNING PURPOSES ONLY," but that standard requirement is typically for security purposes, the Post reports, and "there's some question about how long the obligation lasts — whether it is permanent or only applies to the period before and during the trip." Herman's tweet was nearly 48 hours after the trip. Pence's office declined to comment.More stories from theweek.com The angst over Joe Biden's assault allegation has an easy resolution Mitt Romney sides with Democrats calling for $12 hourly raises for essential workers 5 scathingly funny cartoons about Mike Pence's unmasked hospital visit

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/3faWPS0

Unmasked Protesters Storm Huntington Beach After California Governor’s Closure

Give them Vitamin D or give them death.Hundreds of demonstrators swarmed Huntington Beach, south of Los Angeles, on Friday to protest California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s closure of the Golden State’s sandy shores—an anti-lockdown display organized in part by the owner of a “health and wellness center.”Reporters on the scene captured footage of banners for President Donald Trump’s campaign, “Don’t Tread on Me” flags, and homemade signs with slogans such as “Freedom is Essential.” Overhead shots showed mounted cops corralling the demonstrators onto sidewalks and out of the road. It was clear that many protesters were not wearing masks that health officials say can help curb the spread of COVID-19.One of the organizers behind Friday’s event is Vivienne Reign of an organization called “We Have Rights.” She is also owner of the East Bay Health and Wellness Center and multiple companies marketing medical devices, corporate records show. Reign, however, refused to confirm her ties to the clinic, which specializes in chiropractic treatment and “regenerative medicine.” In an interview hours before the protest began, Reign said she was not connected to Freedomworks, the right-of-center advocacy network which has backed other protests demanding shuttered states reopen, or to any groups bankrolled by libertarian billionaire Charles Koch, who has ties to Freedomworks.‘Very, Very Scary’: Officials Dumbfounded as Florida Beaches Reopen, 3 Days After Death SpikeShe claimed that We Have Rights had simply capitalized on the grassroots outrage Newsom provoked with his order, which he issued after crowds packed the coastline last weekend in defiance of the need for social distancing amid a global pandemic that has killed more than 2,000 Californians and another 60,000 Americans.“‘When that came out, people were pissed,” she said, arguing the war with COVID-19 is effectively over, even though health experts say reopening could trigger a second wave. “The curve has essentially been beaten, so we decided we’ve gotta go do something about this.”WeHaveRights.com, which calls itself without any backup “the biggest movement in California,” was first registered just two weeks ago.Reign claimed her organization, which she characterized as an umbrella group encompassing multiple pro-reopening factions in California, has a wealthy benefactor—though she would not say who. “There’s a lot of powerful people behind this, and we can get things done,” she insisted.The East Bay Health and Wellness Center attracted criticism last year for marketing unproven stem cell injections as a treatment for joint pain.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get 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/3bYrWOz

Kim Jong-un: Trump 'glad' about reappearance of North Korean leader

The reported appearance came after weeks of speculation over the North Korean leader's health.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2W1ftEt

A woman fell 115-feet to her death after posing for a cliffside photo to celebrate the end of a lockdown

Tour guide Olesya Suspitsyna, from Kazakhstan, died after slipping on grass and falling off a cliff in the Duden Park in Antalya, Turkey.

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

Coronavirus: Immigration detention centres in crisis

There are Covid-19 outbreaks in supply-strapped detention centres across the US.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2VSwYq8

Mountain gorillas in Africa on lockdown amid coronavirus

With respiratory infections being the second leading cause of death among gorillas, doctors with Democratic Republic of Congo nonprofit group, Gorilla Doctors, are on high alert.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/3b0Oxsq

Intelligence officials and disease experts are shooting down Trump's claim that the US has good reason to believe the coronavirus originated in a Wuhan lab

Intelligence officials and disease experts told The Washington Post that there's no evidence to back up Trump's theory.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/35tKYdm

McConnell Was Warned D.C. Hadn’t Hit COVID Benchmarks Prior to Reconvening Senate

At least one official with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) office was on a call last week with the Capitol’s attending physician during which that physician, Dr. Brian Monahan, said Washington, D.C. had not yet cleared coronavirus-related benchmarks needed to safely reopen. According to two sources familiar with the call, McConnell’s chief of staff, Sharon Soderstrom, stressed to individuals on the call that they should take seriously the likelihood that the Majority Leader would reconvene the Senate on May 4 even amid the pandemic. A third source who was informed of the call’s exchanges confirmed that account.Despite Monahan’s warnings, McConnell did just that, telling lawmakers this week that they would be called back next Monday.McConnell has defended his position by noting that the government is asking and demanding a host of essential workers to remain on the job during the spread of coronavirus and, therefore, that federal lawmakers should be prepared to do the same. But his decision to call back the Senate has been met with criticism by some of its own members, who say it defies basic public safety guidelines to make lawmakers (many elderly) and their staffs—not to mention the hundreds of workers needed to keep the Capitol and Senate offices running—cram into the buildings when COVID-19 cases in Washington, D.C. are just about peaking. McConnell to Move Quickly on Confirming His 38-Year-Old Protégé to the BenchThose warnings took on additional urgency this Thursday when Monahan held a separate call with top GOP officials during which he relayed that his office lacked the capacity to test all 100 senators for coronavirus and that the tests they did possess could take two or more days to process. It is unclear if the state of testing was discussed on Monahan’s call the week prior. A request for comment to his office was not returned. One source also said that Monahan made no actual recommendation as to whether the Senate should or should not reconvene as his job is not to advise on those matters but to give lawmakers “the lay of the land.” “He gave a nearly 20 minute update on the situation in D.C.,” said the source. “He did outline that they didn't expect the benchmarks to be met by May 4.” According to the source, the call featured at least one aide to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office, the Senate parliamentarian, the Architect of the Capitol, the Senate’s Sergeant at Arms, the Secretary of the Senate, top Republican and Democratic floor staff, and the Rules Committee Chair and ranking members as well as their staffs. Schumer’s office declined to comment. David Popp, a spokesman for McConnell, said, “I do not have any readouts or guidance to provide from any recent calls at the member or staff level.”Washington, D.C. authorities have extended the city’s stay-at-home order through May 15 as the coronavirus’ spread has yet to abate sufficiently to reasonably relax social distancing restrictions. On Thursday, the District had its deadliest date yet, while the greater metro region recorded 2,000 new COVID cases. Officials have warned that businesses may not be able to open for another two to three months under the current trajectory.Earlier in the week, House Democratic leadership reversed course on their own scheduled return to business on May 4, apparently based on similar warnings. After announcing on Monday that the House would reconvene on that day, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) said Tuesday they would in fact not return, citing guidance from the attending physician and backlash from rank-and-file members. As the Senate reconvenes next week, some precautions are being taken. According to Politico, staff is being encouraged to telework and Senate offices are being asked to screen staffers who have to come to the Hill. Both lawmakers and aides are also being asked to wear masks at all times.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get 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/2KPLyZg

Russia's coronavirus cases hit new high, Moscow warns of clampdown

Russia reported 9,623 new cases of coronavirus on Saturday, its highest daily rise since the start of the pandemic, bringing the total to 124,054, mostly in the capital Moscow, where the mayor threatened to cut the number of travel permits. The death toll nationwide rose to 1,222 after 57 people died in the last 24 hours, Russia's coronavirus crisis response centre said, after revising the previous day's tally. Russia has been in partial lockdown, aimed at curbing the spread of the novel coronavirus, since the end of March.

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

Venezuela prison riot death toll rises to 47

The death toll from a prison riot in western Venezuela has risen to at least 47, with 75 wounded, an opposition politician and prisoners' rights group said Saturday. "At the moment we have been able to confirm 47 dead and 75 wounded," deputy Maria Beatriz Martinez, elected from Portuguesa state where the Los Llanos prison is located, told AFP. The Venezuelan Prison Observatory (OVP) rights group also gave the same tally, calling the violence a "massacre," and both confirmed that all of the dead were detainees.

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

5.4-magnitude earthquake hits near Puerto Rico

The quake caused damage in the city of Ponce and other southern towns on Saturday morning.

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

Secret Service paid $33,000 to Trump's D.C. hotel to guard Mnuchin while he lived there

In 2017, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spent several months living in a suite at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., with the Secret Service paying more than $33,000 to rent the adjoining room in order to screen his packages and visitors, three people familiar with the matter told The Washington Post. Billing records show the Secret Service was charged $242 per night, which at the time was the maximum rate federal agencies were typically allowed to pay for a room. The room was rented for 137 nights, and the final bill, footed by taxpayers, was $33,154. Mnuchin stayed at the hotel while looking for a home to purchase in Washington. A Treasury Department spokesperson told the Post Mnuchin paid for his suite with his own money, and was able to negotiate a discounted rate.When asked by the Post if Mnuchin considered how much it would cost taxpayers to have the Secret Service rent a hotel room for an extended period of time, the spokesperson said, "The secretary was not aware of what the U.S. Secret Service paid for the adjoining room."Renting a room in order to guard a Treasury secretary is standard Secret Service practice, people familiar with the matter told the Post, but during other administrations, the president didn't own the hotel that was being paid. The Trump Organization has not revealed how much federal agencies have paid to the company since Trump's 2017 inauguration, but using public records, the Post has found more than 170 payments from the Secret Service to Trump properties, for a total of more than $620,000. Many of these payments stem from the Secret Service accompanying Trump on trips to his own hotels. Read more at The Washington Post.More stories from theweek.com The angst over Joe Biden's assault allegation has an easy resolution Mitt Romney sides with Democrats calling for $12 hourly raises for essential workers 5 scathingly funny cartoons about Mike Pence's unmasked hospital visit

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/35sTadJ

WHO Adviser Says It’s ‘Likely’ Coronavirus Leaked from Lab, Slams Trump Admin Response to Pandemic

Jamie Metzl, a member of the World Health Organization’s International Advisory Committee on Human Genome Editing, has speculated that the coronavirus originated in a lab in Wuhan, China."When they have outbreaks in China, the zoonotic jump [of the virus from animal to humans] tends to happen in the south in Guangdong or Yunnan Province, and not in Wuhan or in Hubei Province," Metzl told National Review. "They have the only level-4 virology lab in China, which happens to be in Wuhan and was studying dangerous coronaviruses."That lab is the Wuhan Institute of Virology, situated about nine miles from the seafood market where the coronavirus was initially thought to have originated.Metzl continued, "It seems kind of likely that [if] you have a Chinese lab studying a dangerous virus, and you have a very similar virus that leaps out right next to one of the labs, you could logically…put two and two together."Metzl said he has considered this theory a possibility since January, "from the very beginning when I heard this news story."The first U.S. politician to point out the proximity of the Wuhan Institute of Virology to the outbreak's epicenter was Senator Tom Cotton (R., Ark.)."China claimed—for almost two months—that coronavirus had originated in a Wuhan seafood market. That is not the case," Cotton wrote on Twitter on January 30. The senator uploaded a video in which he noted the proximity of the lab.While initially dismissed as a conspiracy theory, suspicion has grown amongst U.S. officials that circumstantial evidence points to an accidental leak. President Trump and other officials have called for investigations into a possible Chinese cover up of the outbreak's origins, and Trump has halted funding to the WHO over what he described as the organization's "gross mismanagement" of the pandemic. U.S. politicians, particularly congressional Republicans, have also accused the WHO of parroting Chinese misinformation in the early stages of the pandemic.Metzl said the WHO could have been more skeptical of the information coming from China in late December and early January, but on the whole defended the organization's handling of the pandemic, saying his colleagues are "driven by doing the right thing and following the evidence." However, Metzl slammed the Trump administration's response to the pandemic."The Trump administration’s response to the pandemic has been among the greatest leadership failures in all of American history," Metzl said. "Not only did they feel to heed the warnings, not only did they completely screw up the testing, but the president of the United States was actively spewing deadly misinformation to the American people and denying this crisis as it was playing out."China has so far refused to allow representatives from the WHO to join an investigation into the coronavirus's origins.The coronavirus has infected over 1,000,000 Americans and killed over 64,000 as of Friday. Social distancing measures and business closures implemented to mitigate the spread of coronavirus have caused widespread damage to the U.S. economy and put roughly 30 million Americans out of work.

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

Biden asks the secretary of the Senate to direct a search for an alleged sexual harassment complaint filed by a former staffer

Biden allows access to his Senate records to see if there are documents to corroborate accusor's claims after previously denying access.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/35nI8GN

What are 'Murder Hornets' and should I be worried? Asian giant hornets spotted in the US

Asian giant hornets have been known to slaughter honeybees and can be deadly to humans. Here's what you should know about the invasive species.

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

Michigan governor extends coronavirus state of emergency until May 28

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) on Thursday extended a coronavirus state of emergency declaration through May 28, saying "common sense and all of the scientific data tells us we're not out of the woods yet."The Republican-controlled state legislature did not approve her order to extend the declaration, which was set to expire on Friday. Whitmer continued the state of emergency by executive order, and GOP lawmakers are now planning on taking her to court over her exercise of state emergency powers, the Detroit Free Press reports. Whitmer said in a statement that by "refusing to extend the emergency and disaster declaration, Republican lawmakers are putting their heads in the sand and putting more lives and livelihoods at risk."There are now 41,379 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Michigan, with the death toll at 3,789. Conservative groups have complained that Whitmer's stay-at-home order is too strict, and on Thursday, dozens of demonstrators, some of them carrying rifles, entered Michigan's statehouse, calling on Whitmer to end the state of emergency. This was a "political rally," Whitmer said, and if participants become infected from COVID-19 because they didn't practicing social distancing, the stay-at-home order could last even longer.More stories from theweek.com The angst over Joe Biden's assault allegation has an easy resolution Mitt Romney sides with Democrats calling for $12 hourly raises for essential workers 5 scathingly funny cartoons about Mike Pence's unmasked hospital visit

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2VUh8LC

Big Time News Blog