Big Time News Blog: 05/07/20

Thursday, May 7, 2020

Sen. Chris Murphy calls Trump comments about Democrats "disgusting"

"The House is a bunch of Trump haters. They frankly want our situation to be unsuccessful, which means death. They want us to fail so they can win an election," Trump said Tuesday of House Democrats.

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Life of luxury: Dubai's huge service sector faces unsure future

In Dubai's ritzy Marina district, white yachts are tethered to docks, standing idle -- like many companies behind a luxury lifestyle industry battered by the coronavirus crisis. "Nearly 95 percent, if not 100 percent, of turnover has been lost," the manager of a yacht charter company told AFP. When the United Arab Emirates halted all commercial flights and enforced a strict curfew to stem the spread of the disease, fishing trips and sightseeing excursions dried up "without warning", the young Frenchman said.

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No Income. Major Medical Bills. What Life Is Like for Millions of Americans Facing Financial Ruin Because of the Pandemic

The coronavirus has exposed the fragility of America’s safety net

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Evacuation area around India LG Chem plant widened after deadly leak

Indian officials were evacuating more people on Friday from the area around a chemical plant in the south of the country that leaked toxic gas, killing at least 11 people and sickening hundreds more.

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Fox News Breaking News Alert

Fox News Breaking News Alert

Georgia father and son arrested, charged with murder of Ahmaud Arbery, Georgia Bureau of Investigation announces

05/07/20 5:25 PM

Give us first-hand information to fight virus, Taiwan asks WHO

Taiwan's health minister asked the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday to ensure the island had access to first-hand information about the coronavirus, saying that not having the full picture slows down epidemic-prevention work. Taiwan's exclusion from WHO - China, which considers the island one of its provinces, objects to Taiwan's membership - has infuriated Taipei. Speaking to foreign reporters in Taipei, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said Taiwan wanted proper access to the WHO.

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Veteran Chinese diplomat and Mao Zedong's interpreter dies

Ji Chaozhu, a veteran Chinese diplomat who provided English translation for leaders including Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping and served as an undersecretary of the United Nations, has died, the foreign ministry said. Ji also served as ambassador to Britain over the course of a lengthy career that began after he left Harvard University to return to China during the Korean War, when U.S. and Chinese troops engaged in vicious combat.

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This Mother's Day weekend could be colder than Christmas. And a bomb cyclone and thundersnow may be on tap.

Forecasters are warning of a rare spring pattern that is expected to sweep unseasonably cold weather east of the Rockies on Mother's Day weekend.

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Ahmaud Arbery killing: man called 911 to report 'black male running' prior to shooting

Recordings of 911 calls obtained by the Guardian provide details on the moments before a man was shot while jogging in GeorgiaAudio recordings of two 911 calls have shed further light on the final moments before Ahmaud Arbery was shot dead by two white men while jogging through a neighborhood just outside Brunswick, Georgia.The full recordings, obtained by the Guardian, come after new video footage showing Arbery’s killing in February was released this week, prompting widespread outrage and raising questions over why no arrests have been made. Transcripts of the 911 calls have been previously reported by local media.Arbery had gone for a jog in Satilla Shores, near the Georgia coast, on the afternoon of Sunday 23 February. The 25-year-old was known around the neighborhood, and would sometimes wave to residents as he ran. But that day, a series of events unfolded that ended in his killing at the hands of Gregory McMichael, 64, and his 34-year-old son, Travis McMichael.Lawyers for Arbery’s family have said his death was a “lynching” and requested it be investigated as a hate crime.In one call, made at 1.14pm, the dispatcher asks for the address and the reason for the call. An unidentified man’s voice can be heard responding, “Uh, I’m out here at Satilla Shores. There’s a black male running down the street,” in an apparent reference Arbery.In an earlier call at 1.08pm, a different unidentified caller reports “a guy in a house right now, a house under construction”. The dispatcher asks if the man is breaking into the property, to which the caller responds: “No, it’s all open, it’s under construction.”The caller then says, “He’s running right now, and there he goes right now,” referring to Arbery, who was taking his usual jog around the neighborhood. The dispatcher asks: “OK, what is he doing?” The caller replies: “He’s running down the street.”A few second later, the dispatcher says: “I just need to know what he was doing wrong. Was he just on the premises and not supposed to be?”The beginning of his response is garbled, but when the background noise clears, there is no clear answer to the question. The dispatcher ends the calls shortly after, and says she will send someone by to check.At 1.14 pm, the second call is answered at the call center. Following the first exchange between the caller and the dispatcher, the caller again did not respond to the dispatcher, instead yelling: “Stop. Stop that. Dammit. Stop.”A moment later he shouts “Travis!” apparently addressing Travis McMichael.The dispatcher attempts to redirect the man’s attention 27 seconds into the call, saying, “Sir, hello, sir,” but does not receive an answer. The 911 call continues to record for nearly five minutes.Authorities have not released the identities of the callers. No one has been charged in the case.Two prosecutors have recused themselves, citing professional connections to Gregory McMichael. Documents and state records show the elder McMichael is a former police detective and district attorney investigator in Glynn county.The Guardian has contacted Gregory and Travis McMichael for comment.An outside prosecutor in charge of the case said he wants a grand jury to decide whether criminal charges are warranted. But that will not happen until at least mid-June, since Georgia courts remain largely closed because of the coronavirus.According to a police report from that day, the two men grabbed their weapons, a .357 Magnum revolver and a shotgun, jumped into a truck and began following Arbery after seeing him running.Gregory McMichael told police he and his adult son thought Arbery matched the description of someone caught on a security camera committing a recent break-in in the neighborhood. Arbery was not considered a suspect in any burglary.Gregory McMichael told police Arbery violently attacked his son. The video footage filmed by an anonymous individual and released this week contradicts that claim.Georgia law says a person can kill in self-defense “only if he or she reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent death or great bodily injury … or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.” The law also says a person who provokes an attack or acts as “the aggressor” can’t claim self-defense.Arbery’s family has called for immediate arrests after the video was released this week.“I saw my son come into the world,” Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper Jones, said. “And seeing him leave the world, it’s not something that I’ll want to see ever.”The civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Arbery’s father, said the video calls into question the claims made by the McMichaels in the police report.“They are heartbroken,” Crump said of the family. Of Arbery’s father, he added: “It’s just heart-wrenching for him that he has to look at his other son and daughter and try to make sense of it. He really thinks that his son was lynched.”Crump said Arbery’s parents, who are separated, want the public to see the video, even they cannot bring themselves to watch it themselves.Lee Merritt, an attorney for Arbery’s mother, said the justice department should investigate the death as a hate crime.“The FBI has said it’s assisting,” said Department of Justice spokesman Matt Lloyd, “and as is standard protocol we look forward to working with them should information come to light of a potential federal violation.”Republican governor Brian Kemp late Tuesday threw his support behind that inquiry. He tweeted: “Georgians deserve answers. State law enforcement stands ready to ensure justice is served.”Georgia attorney general Chris Carr, also a Republican, said in a statement: “Based on the video footage and news reports that I have seen, I am deeply concerned with the events surrounding the shooting of Ahmaud Arbery. I expect justice to be carried out as swiftly as possible.”

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A mutated coronavirus strain seems responsible for most of the world's COVID-19 infections. That doesn't mean it's more dangerous than the original.

A non-peer-reviewed study has suggested the dominant strain of the coronavirus worldwide is more contagious than the original. Experts aren't so sure.

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Rockets hit near Baghdad airport, launcher with timer found

Three Katyusha rockets landed in the perimeter of Baghdad International Airport on Wednesday but caused no damage or casualties, the Iraqi military said. Security officials said it was not immediately clear whether a military base hosting U.S. troops next to the airport was the target. The United States blames a series of rocket attacks near or on bases hosting its troops this year on Iran-aligned militia groups, although those groups have not claimed them.

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New US campus sex assault plan gets pushback

US universities must allow assault victims and defendants to be cross-examined under new guidance.

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Senior scientist says administration ignored virus warnings

The Trump administration failed to prepare for the onslaught of the coronavirus, then sought a quick fix by trying to rush an unproven drug to patients, a senior government scientist alleged in a whistleblower complaint. Dr. Rick Bright, former director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, alleges he was reassigned to a lesser role because he resisted political pressure to allow widespread use of hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug pushed by President Donald Trump.

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Are travelers starting to fly again? Spirit, JetBlue say yes, with an asterisk

JetBlue and Spirit airlines says the first travelers to return as stay-at-home restrictions are eased will be those visiting family and friends again.

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Russia preparing for three-stage easing of coronavirus restrictions

Russia plans to ease its restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of the novel coronavirus in three stages, officials said on Wednesday. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the outbreak had stabilised in the past two weeks, with the growth in cases in the capital explained by increased testing. Russia's total number of coronavirus cases rose on Wednesday by more than 10,000 for the fourth consecutive day to 165,929, while the death toll climbed to 1,537.

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Outrage Mounts After Cell Phone Footage Surfaces of Ahmaud Arbery's Fatal Shooting in Georgia, But No Suspects Have Been Charged. Here's What to Know

'This is murder,' a lawyer acting for Arbery's family claims

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Wildfires spread across the Florida Panhandle

Hundreds have been evacuated as wildfires continue to rage across the Florida Panhandle, authorities said.

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Venezuela's Maduro says captured US 'mercenaries' to be tried

Venezuela will try two Americans allegedly captured during a failed bid by mercenaries to invade the country, President Nicolas Maduro said Wednesday, as the US vowed to "use every tool available" to bring them home. Venezuela announced Monday that it had arrested the two former US special forces soldiers on suspicion of trying to topple Maduro in an operation supported by the US-backed opposition. "They are convicts, confessed, caught red-handed and are being judged by the republic's attorney general, by Venezuela's civil courts, and the process will be full of guarantees and fair," said Maduro.

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Kim Jong-un: No signs of heart surgery, says South Korea

Rumours swirled about the North Korean leader's health after he was not seen in public for weeks.

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What the Disney guest experience could look like when parks reopen in the US

Capped visitor numbers, virtual queues and enhanced screening measures are among some of the changes that could be in store for guests of Disney theme parks and resorts in the age after COVID-19. The message was posted after Disney announced that its Shanghai resort will reopen on Monday, with enhanced health and safety measures. In her message, Dr. Pamela Hymel said she and her team are looking at a phased reopening of parks across the US.

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