World Wide News: اپریل 2020

جمعرات، 30 اپریل، 2020

The New York Times clarifies it didn't clear Biden of sexual assault allegation despite what campaign suggests

Talking points from former Vice President Joe Biden's campaign suggest The New York Times found that Tara Reade's sexual assault allegation against him is false, but the Times would like to clarify it did not reach this conclusion.BuzzFeed News on Tuesday reported that Biden's campaign had sent out talking points regarding Reade's allegation that Biden assaulted her in 1993 when she worked for him as an aide. The talking points assert "a thorough review by the New York Times has led to the truth: this incident did not happen."Asked about the allegation against Biden on Tuesday, former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams echoed these talking points, telling CNN, "The New York Times did a deep investigation, and they found that the accusation was not credible."But a spokesperson for the Times on Wednesday said this characterization of their reporting is not accurate."BuzzFeed reported on the existence of talking points being circulated by the Biden campaign that inaccurately suggest a New York Times investigation found that Tara Reade's allegation 'did not happen,'" the Times spokesperson said. "Our investigation made no conclusion either way."Rather, the Times said no former staff members of Biden's corroborated Reade's allegation during their reporting and that "the Times found no pattern of sexual misconduct by Mr. Biden," but it did not determine Reade's allegation didn't happen. The Times spokesperson noted Wednesday that it "spoke to a friend who said Reade told her the details of the allegation at the time" and "another friend and Reade's brother say she told them of a traumatic sexual incident involving Biden."Earlier this week, a former neighbor of Reade's told Insider she told her about the alleged assault in the 1990s. The Biden campaign has denied the allegation, but Biden hasn't commented on it personally.More stories from theweek.com Trump's 'mission accomplished' moment Gun-toting protesters' dramatic stand inside Michigan's statehouse, in 5 photos and videos The Justice Department is apparently working with conservative Christian groups to fight COVID-19 policies

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US intelligence community says it concurs with the 'wide scientific consensus' that the coronavirus was not 'man-made or genetically modified'

The announcement comes after weeks of speculation in the right-wing and far-right media that the coronavirus was created in a Wuhan lab.

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FOX NEWS: National forecast for Thursday, April 30

National forecast for Thursday, April 30

Fox News senior meteorologist Janice Dean has your FoxCast.

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Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin tells Putin he has coronavirus

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin told President Vladimir Putin on Thursday that he had been diagnosed with the new coronavirus and was temporarily stepping down to recover. Mishustin, 54, suggested that First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov serve as acting prime minister in his absence. Putin, who was listening on a televised video conference, sighed when he heard the news, wished Mishustin a speedy recovery and said he agreed with the proposed replacement.

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Obama and Holder talk race, challenges for young men of color during pandemic

“Too many of our young men have been historically left behind,” the former president said on a recent conference call hosted by My Brother's Keeper.

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One dead, five missing after Canadian helicopter goes missing during NATO exercise

Canadian prime Minister Jusin Trudeau has confirmed that one man has died and five others are missing after a Canadian military helicopter went missing during a NATO operation. Debris and the aircraft's black box have been found in the sea between Greece and Italy, a Greek military officer and public television said Thursday. Canada's armed forces said the helicopter had been involved in an accident after taking off from the Canadian frigate Fredericton on Wednesday. "Debris has been found in Italy's zone of control and intervention" in the Ionian Sea, the Greek military officer told AFP, specifying the wreckage belonged to the Canadian helicopter. Six crew were aboard the helicopter when it disappeared, the officer said on condition of anonymity. Greek public television reported that a body had been found amid the wreckage in international waters off the Greek island of Kefalonia. Greek public television ERT said Italian and NATO vessels were also taking part in the search while Turkey said one of its frigates was also involved. Canada said on Twitter that it contacted the family members of those who were on board the missing CH-148 Cyclone helicopter.

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The Next-Gen Air Force One Is Already Over Budget

The converted Boeing 747s, designed to carry the POTUS, will fly in 2024.

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California closes Orange County beaches where crowds defied coronavirus guidelines

California Governor Gavin Newsom on Thursday ordered beaches in Orange County in the southern part of the state to close, after crowds defied public health guidelines to throng the popular shoreline last weekend. The move came after Newsom complained that beachgoers could hasten the spread of the coronavirus in California, delaying the state's ability to ease public health restrictions even as millions of people in the most-populous U.S. state obey the stay-at-home rules imposed in March. Newsom's decision to close the Orange County beaches, announced at his daily coronavirus briefing, stood in contrast to media reports, including by Reuters, that the Democratic governor planned to close all parks and beaches in the state.

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Roger Stone bought more than 200 fake Facebook accounts, which he used to run ads defending Roger Stone

Stone, a longtime friend to Donald Trump, ran a sprawling network of fake Facebook accounts starting in 2016, according to newly unsealed FBI records.

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Philippines rejects China's territorial label on island

The Philippines protested on Thursday China’s designation of a disputed South China Sea reef, which it has turned into a heavily fortified island base, as a Chinese “administrative center.” The Department of Foreign Affairs issued a statement objecting to what it called China’s “illegal designation” of Fiery Cross Reef as a regional administrative center in the hotly contested Spratly archipelago. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused China last week of taking advantage of widespread distraction over the pandemic to advance its territorial claims.

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Class action suit aims to free all transgender ICE detainees

As hundreds of coronavirus cases are reported at U.S. immigration facilities, the suit calls for the release of dozens of trans migrants from what it calls ICE “death traps.”

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Everyone has to accept that Tesla is worth $150 billion precisely because Elon Musk doesn't behave like any other CEO in the business

Tesla CEO Elon Musk attacked coronavirus-pandemic shelter-in-place orders, demanding a restoration of "freedom."

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US Navy ship sails through Chinese-claimed waters in South China Sea

A US Navy guided-missile destroyer sailed through waters near the Paracel islands in the South China Sea challenging China's claim to the area, the Navy said Wednesday. The USS Barry undertook the so-called "freedom of navigation operation" on Tuesday, a week after Beijing upped its claims to the region by designating an official administrative district for the islands. "Unlawful and sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea pose an unprecedented threat to the freedom of the seas, including the freedoms of navigation and overflight and the right of innocent passage of all ships," it said.

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30 Easy Side Dishes For Lasagna

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Trump praise of 'tormented' Flynn raises pardon speculation

President Donald Trump voiced strong support Thursday for his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, raising speculation that a pardon may be coming after Flynn's lawyers disclosed internal FBI documents they claim show the FBI tried to “intentionally frame" him. “It looks to me like Michael Flynn would be exonerated based on everything I see,” Trump told reporters Thursday. Trump has long said he is considering pardoning Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States.

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Gov. Andrew Cuomo showed a mural of donated masks to New York. Then social media weighed in

New York Cov. Andrew Cuomo displayed hundreds of donated masks sent to his office from across the country. It drew mixed reviews.

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Wikipedia article of the day for May 1, 2020

The Wikipedia article of the day for May 1, 2020 is James A. Ryder.
James A. Ryder (1800–1860) was an American Catholic priest who led several Jesuit institutions. He studied at Georgetown College before entering the Society of Jesus in 1815. Ryder was then sent to Italy, where he studied and taught theology. He continued as a professor upon his return to the United States in 1829, and became the president of Georgetown on May 1, 1840. He established the university's observatory and liquidated its debt, while gaining a reputation as a talented preacher. For two years of his term, he was also the provincial superior of the Jesuits' Maryland Province. In 1845, Ryder became the second president of the College of the Holy Cross. He then returned to Georgetown as president in 1848, where he oversaw construction of a new Holy Trinity Church and accepted a group of physicians to form a School of Medicine. Ryder then assisted in founding Saint Joseph's College in Philadelphia, and became its president in 1856. From 1857 until his death, he preached and did pastoral work.

Two Arrested in Killings of Transgender Women in Puerto Rico

By BY MICHAEL LEVENSON AND SANDRA E. GARCIA from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2YnU3CH

Peter Hunt, Who Directed the Broadway Hit ‘1776,’ Dies at 81

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Scrambling the Political Divide: ‘No Normal Recession’

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In a Crisis, True Leaders Stand Out

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Democrats Assail McConnell for Bringing Senate Back Amid Pandemic

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Amazon Sells More, but Warns of Much Higher Costs Ahead

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بدھ، 29 اپریل، 2020

6 monkeys given an experimental coronavirus vaccine from Oxford did not catch COVID-19 after heavy exposure, raising hopes for a human vaccine

A team from the University of Oxford is leading the way in the search for an effective vaccine for the coronavirus. Human trials started last week.

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Federal inmate who gave birth while on ventilator dies from coronavirus

Andrea Circle Bear, who was serving a 26-month sentence for a drug charge, appeared to be the first female inmate to die of COVID-19 in federal custody.

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Biden already working with team on transition planning

Former Vice President Joe Biden is already working with a team to plan for his transition in preparation for winning the White House in November, he told donors during a virtual fundraiser Monday night. Biden said he has been meeting with former Delaware Sen. Ted Kaufman, his longtime top aide who was appointed to fill Biden’s Senate seat when he was elected vice president, to discuss his transition plans. Kaufman worked on Barack Obama's transition team in 2008, and helped author legislation formalizing the presidential transition process.

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US panel wants India on religious freedom blacklist

A US government panel on Tuesday called for India to be put on a religious freedom blacklist over a "drastic" downturn under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, triggering a sharp rebuttal from New Delhi. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom recommends but does not set policy, and there is virtually no chance the State Department will follow its lead on India, an increasingly close US ally. In an annual report, the bipartisan panel narrowly agreed that India should join the ranks of "countries of particular concern" that would be subject to sanctions if they do not improve their records.

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Mnuchin blasts Lakers for taking PPP loan, says every company receiving over $2 million will get a 'full audit'

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is a fan of the Los Angeles Lakers, but he's adamant he doesn't support the NBA's second most valuable franchise taking a $4.6 million loan as part of the federal government's Paycheck Protection Program, which is meant for small businesses.The Lakers gave the money back, which Mnuchin appreciated, but during a Tuesday appearance on CNBC, the secretary said it was "unfortunate" and "inappropriate" for large companies to take the money, especially because the fund ran out so quickly. The Lakers were not the only large business that initially received loans.> It was “outrageous” that the LA Lakers took a $4.6 million PPP loan, Treasury Sec. Mnuchin says. “I’m glad they’ve returned it.” https://t.co/snISVRyg5z pic.twitter.com/RImnCrGpXG> > — CNBC (@CNBC) April 28, 2020He said the fault lies with the recipients, not the banks who doled out the cash, but the government is going to change things going forward. "We're going to do a full audit of every loan over $2 million," Mnuchin said. "This was a program designed for small businesses. It was not a program that was designed for public companies that had liquidity." Read more at CNBC.More stories from theweek.com Scientists are perplexed by the low rate of coronavirus hospitalizations among smokers. Nicotine may hold the answer. How Tara Reade's allegations could bring down Joe Biden AMC says it will no longer show Universal Pictures films because of Trolls World Tour move

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British PM Johnson and fiancee thrilled by birth of son

Carrie Symonds, fiancee of British Prime Boris Johnson, gave birth to a healthy baby on Wednesday.

The delivery at a London hospital was slightly earlier than had been expected.

The 32-year-old had previously said her baby was due in early summer.

It was unclear if Johnson would take paternity leave - given the government is facing the worst health crisis since the 1918 influenza outbreak.

But on the streets of London the birth was welcomed as a rare piece of happy news.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) LONDON RESIDENT, JOAN WATERFIELD, SAYING:

"Congratulations to Boris and Carrie. I just heard it's a little boy and I hope everything's ok."

(SOUNDBITE) (English) LONDON RESIDENT MAX PERCY, SAYING:

"I think it's probably a tough time to be bringing a child into the world but I am really happy for him. He's got a lot on his hands at the minute."

(SOUNDBITE) (English) LONDON RESIDENT JAN HIRST, SAYING;

"I just can't imagine what it's like for him and one can only hope that he's getting a lot of support"

The new arrival tops a tumultuous month for Johnson.

He returned to work on Monday after recuperating from COVID-19, which had left him gravely ill in intensive care at the peak of the UK outbreak.

Symonds, a former PR executive, also had virus symptoms but recovered more swiftly.

A wide spectrum of politicians have sent congratulations to the couple - among them finance minister Rishi Sunak and opposition Labour party leader Keir Starmer.

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Freed from strict lockdown New Zealanders head to fast food outlets, beaches

New Zealanders queued for burgers, fries and coffee takeaway on Tuesday after they were freed from a month-long lockdown, which Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has credited with eliminating domestic transmission of the coronavirus. Around 400,000 people returned to work after Ardern shifted the country's alert level down a notch, loosening some of the tough movement restrictions that shut down businesses for weeks. "We got quarter pounders, Big Macs, drinks ... I've still got two cheeseburgers left but I can't finish them," Tai Perez, who arrived at a McDonald's outlet in Auckland at 4am, was quoted as saying by the New Zealand Herald.

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How Therapists Are Adapting EMDR Trauma Therapy During COVID-19

As mental health therapy moves online during the COVID-19 pandemic, therapists are problem-solving to bring the trauma therapy eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) online as well.

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Why Have Women’s Groups Gone Dead Silent on Biden Sex-Assault Accusation?

Women’s groups and prominent feminist figures have remained almost universally silent over a former staffer’s accusation of sexual misconduct against former Vice President Joe Biden—including those individuals and groups who came to express regret for how the Democratic Party handled similar accusations made against President Bill Clinton in the 1990s.The collective non-response from mostly Democrat-aligned groups comes as potential female running mates struggle themselves in responding to the Biden allegation, which has the potential to upend his campaign against President Donald Trump, who has been accused of sexual misconduct by dozens of women in alleged incidents spanning decades. And it echoes the division among progressives when the MeToo movement revived scrutiny of Clinton’s own alleged sexual misconduct.The Daily Beast contacted 10 top national pro-women organizations for this story, including Emily’s List, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, NARAL Pro-Choice America, and the National Organization for Women. Most organizations did not respond to a detailed request for comment about the allegation by Tara Reade, a former staff assistant in Biden’s Senate office who has accused the former vice president of forcibly penetrating her with his fingers in the early 1990s. Others replied and did not provide a statement. One prominent women’s political group cited a scheduling conflict and asked to be kept “in mind for other opportunities!” When pressed if the following day would work better, an associate said it would not, citing another scheduling conflict. The near-total lack of acknowledgement from nearly a dozen leading pro-women organizations comes as new corroboration has emerged with respect to the allegation, which the Biden campaign has categorically denied. Neither the Biden campaign nor Reade responded to requests from The Daily Beast for comment Tuesday. It also is taking place as prominent elected women in the Democratic Party rally to Biden’s side. On Tuesday, Hillary Clinton became the latest to offer her endorsement of Biden’s candidacy—a symbolic passing of the torch from one presidential candidate to another, but a moment that also served as a reminder of moments in recent party history when accusers were almost uniformly dismissed.In 2017, attorney Patricia Ireland, who served as president of the National Organization for Women for the entirety of the Clinton administration, told The Washington Post that she wished she had “done more to be supportive” of Paula Jones, the former Arkansas state employee who alleges that Bill Clinton sexually harassed her during his time as governor.“For Paula Jones, there were nice distinctions that people made: She didn’t work for him, he didn’t have the power to hire or fire her,” Ireland said at the time. “But that ignores the reality that he was a very powerful man.”During the same period, feminist icon Gloria Steinem told The Guardian that she regretted some parts of her aggressive defense of Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, including a New York Times op-ed in which she dismissed accusations of sexual misconduct against the president. “Even if the allegations are true,” Steinem wrote in the 1998 op-ed, “the president is not guilty of sexual harassment. He is accused of having made a gross, dumb and reckless pass. President Clinton took ‘no’ for an answer.”Steinem told the Guardian that “I wouldn’t write the same thing now because there’s probably more known about other women now. I’m not sure… What you write in one decade you don’t necessarily write in the next.”But neither Ireland nor Steinem responded to a request for comment about Reade’s accusations against Biden. Bill Clinton has long denied Jones’ claims, settling a lawsuit she filed in 1998 for $850,000 with no apology or admission of wrongdoing.Speaking to Fox News on Tuesday, Reade accused Hillary Clinton of “enabling a sexual predator.”“Hillary Clinton has a history of enabling powerful men to cover up their sexual predatory behaviors and their inappropriate sexual misconduct,” Reade said in response to Clinton’s endorsement. “We don’t need that for this country. We don’t need that for our new generation coming up that wants institutional rape culture to change.”Reade first accused Biden of digitally penetrating her in a podcast interview with journalist Katie Halper in March. Two other people, including Reade’s brother and a friend who has remained anonymous, told various outlets that Reade had told them about certain aspects of the alleged assault and her subsequent dismissal from Biden’s office over the years.On Monday, Business Insider quoted a former neighbor of Reade’s recounting that the ex-staffer had disclosed details of the alleged assault when she lived next door to her in the mid-1990s. “This happened, and I know it did because I remember talking about it,” Lynda LaCasse, Reade’s former neighbor, told the outlet.On April 24, Reade told The Intercept that her mother called into Larry King’s cable-news program to discuss “problems” her daughter experienced with a prominent lawmaker in 1993. In the episode, a caller from San Luis Obispo, California—where property records indicate Reade’s mother lived at the time—asked the host “what a staffer might do besides go to the press in Washington.”“My daughter has just left there after working for a prominent senator and could not get through with her problems at all,” the caller said. “The only thing she could have done was go to the press, and she chose not to do it out of respect for him.” Reade said on Twitter that it was her mother’s voice. “This is my mom. I miss her so much and her brave support of me.”Biden’s defenders have argued that Reade’s story has changed over time—she previously had said only that she felt Biden had inappropriately touched her and made her feel uncomfortable. But sexual-assault victims’ advocates have noted that its common for victims to hold back on details as they recount their traumatic experiences. Various aides to Biden have said they have no recollection of any assault incident happening. And Biden’s deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield said in a statement this month that “this absolutely did not happen,” and that “Vice President Biden has dedicated his public life to changing the culture and the laws around violence against women.” Bedingfield added: “He firmly believes that women have a right to be heard—and heard respectfully. Such claims should also be diligently reviewed by an independent press. What is clear about this claim: It is untrue.”Over the past several days, the Biden campaign has signaled that it is paying additional attention to issues that disproportionately affect women. On Monday, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), one of the contenders thought to be on Biden’s shortlist of potential running mates, was a guest on a virtual town hall with black leaders on coronavirus’ impact on women of color. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), another possible running mate and former Biden rival, was also featured in a virtual forum addressing similar women’s focused issues late last week. On Tuesday, in introducing Clinton during a virtual town hall, Biden declared she is “the woman who should be president of the United States right now.”“I want to add my voice to the many who have endorsed you,” Clinton said during the event to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on women. “This is a moment where we need a leader, a president, like Joe Biden.” Biden, she said, has been “preparing for this moment his entire life.” The former vice president reciprocated by saying it was a “wonderful personal endorsement.” On Monday, in offering her own backing, House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi called him a “partner for progress in the White House.” Four years ago, women’s groups threw their weight behind Clinton’s historic campaign as the Democratic Party’s first female nominee. But they remained largely out of the primary in 2020, when an unprecedented number of women campaigned with that similar goal in mind. Still, some groups haven’t been shy about criticizing parts of Biden’s past record relating to women.In the early stages of Biden’s campaign, Planned Parenthood Action Fund took issue with a position he previously held around support for the Hyde Amendment, a provision that sought to restrict the use of federal money for abortion. In June 2019, the group’s executive director specifically called out Biden by name, reminding him that “the Democratic Party platform is crystal-clear” around repealing Hyde. Biden later denounced his support of the amendment. Now, as Biden faces a sexual-assault allegation as the presumptive nominee, his past record and prominent female defenders are facing a new round of scrutiny. In particular, the decision to select a female running mate delighted many party activists and women’s rights advocates when Biden announced it in March, but is taking on a new form as the Reade allegation receives additional corroboration. Already, potential nominees are having to answer questions about the allegation. The Daily Beast recently contacted the most prominent figures thought to be considered as possible contenders about Reade’s claim, including Harris, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and former Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams.Among the seven Democratic women’s offices reached, only Abrams commented, telling The Daily Beast that “women have the right to be heard” and adding, in part, that “nothing in the Times review suggests anything other than what I already knew: That Joe Biden is a man of highest integrity who will make all women proud as our next president.” 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.

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Women who dare dissent targeted for abuse by Yemen's rebels

A dozen officers from the Houthi rebels who control northern Yemen snatched her from her home in the capital, Sanaa, at dawn. Women who dare dissent, or even enter the public sphere, have become targets in an escalating crackdown by the Houthis. Activists and former detainees described to The Associated Press a network of secret detention facilities where they are tortured and sometimes raped.

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India coronavirus lockdown: Stranded migrants can return home

Millions of people stranded by a lockdown to curb coronavirus can return to their home states.

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Coronavirus conspiracy theories make Fauci the villain, because someone has to be

Dr. Anthony Fauci has emerged as the latest target in the vast web of COVID-19-related conspiracy theories that have been circulating on social media.

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A look at past disappearances of NKorean leaders, officials

While Kim Jong Un's two-week absence has inspired speculation and rumors that he is gravely ill, he is not the first member of North Korean's ruling elite to disappear from public view. Before his death in 1994, there was arguably no person South Koreans hated and feared more than North Korea’s state founder Kim Il Sung.

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Stop pinning your hopes on coronavirus antibodies: 3 major issues mean they're no silver bullet

Politicians hope to use antibody tests to help reopen countries. But the tests can be inaccurate, and some patients may not develop antibodies at all.

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Coronavirus cases aboard 2nd Navy ship still rising, now 64

The number of coronavirus cases aboard the USS Kidd rose to 64 as the Navy destroyer pulled into port at San Diego on Tuesday to get medical care for the crew and to disinfect and decontaminate the ship. The Kidd is the second Navy ship to have an outbreak of the disease while at sea, the other being the USS Theodore Roosevelt, an aircraft carrier that has been docked at Guam for a month. The Roosevelt has more than 900 sailors with confirmed cases of COVID-19, but the entire crew has now been tested.

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The U.S. and Iran Are Headed for a New Proxy War in Afghanistan

KARACHI—While the United States military and the White House are girding for a confrontation with Iran on the high seas or in Iraq, Afghanistan is an even more likely battleground.U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted last week, "I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea." The tweet followed the dangerous maneuvers on April 15 by Iranian naval vessels near U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf. The leader of Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) promised a “crushing response” to any such action.The incident and the threats that followed show that even if most of the world’s attention is focused on the COVID-19 pandemic, which has had a devastating impact on both Iran and the United States, the symptoms of a war in the making grow stronger by the day.Almost forgotten by the general public is the rocket attack on Camp Taji in Iraq last month that killed two American soldiers and one British serviceman. The camp hosts anti-ISIS coalition troops and NATO personnel. On the ground, the U.S retaliatory strikes against weapons storage sites in Iraq belonging to the pro-Iranian militia Kata'ib Hezbollah kept the war-fever high.On April 1, Trump said Iran was planning to attack American troops in Iraq."Upon information and belief,” he tweeted, echoing FBI legalese, “Iran or its proxies are planning a sneak attack on U.S. troops and/or assets in Iraq. If this happens, Iran will pay a very heavy price, indeed!"But Americans are even more vulnerable in Afghanistan, and it is likely to be the favored theater for Iran’s proxy attacks on U.S. personnel for several reasons.Trump, Afghanistan, and ‘The Tweet of Damocles’One of the first is that the head of the IRGC’s Quds Force, General Ismail Qaani, has experience there dating back almost a quarter of a century. The Quds Force spearheads Iran’s operations outside its borders, most often by training and organizing militias which are used in combat, covert ops, and terrorist activities to support Iran’s regional objectives. These include the influence, subversion, intimidation, or control of potentially hostile neighbors and the expulsion of outside forces.For years, the head of the Quds Force was Gen. Qassem Soleimani, known for his high-profile activities in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon—and his cult of personality inside Iran itself. When he was blown away by an American drone while on a visit to Baghdad in early January, Trump gloated, “He should have been taken out many years ago!”Qaani was appointed immediately to succeed Soleimani, whom he had served as deputy commander since the late 1990s. But while Soleimani had focused mainly on the countries to the west of Iran, Qaani worked on those to the east, especially Afghanistan.Today, Qaani is unlikely to miss the opportunity to strike the U.S. at such a vulnerable point. The Americans are currently battling to salvage the peace deal with the Afghan Taliban that would give Trump an exit from the “endless war” there before the U.S. elections in November. But the Taliban already have warned that the peace deal announced in February is near the breaking point. Iran does not have to push too hard to shatter the agreement amid growing violence and bitter differences between the Taliban and the Afghan government. Qaani, appointed as the deputy commander of the Quds Force in 1997, worked to back the Northern Alliance in the civil war against the Taliban in the 1990s at a time when the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency was trying to work with Alliance leader Ahmad Shah Massoud as well. Al Qaeda’s murder of Massoud two days before its September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States turned all these relationships upside down. It’s not clear what role Qaani or Soleimani played at a time when Iran was cooperating with Washington to try to stabilize the Afghan situation in late 2001, but after then-President George W. Bush declared in early 2002 that Iran was part of the “Axis of Evil,” diplomatic rapprochement came to an end, and covert action, if it ever subsided, was renewed.More recently, Qaani made some trips to Afghanistan when the Liwa Fatemiyoun, sometimes known as the Fatemiyoun Brigade or Afghan Hezbollah, were at their height in 2018. Organized four years earlier, they were deployed by Iran to fight in the Syria war supporting Tehran’s ally Bashar al-Assad. Qaani visited Kabul in 2018 and held talks with Afghan government leaders President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, formerly of the Northern Alliance.Following the signing of the peace accord forged in Doha, Qatar, the U.S. has struggled to push the peace process forward. The U.S. and NATO allies agreed to withdraw all troops within 14 months in return for security assurances by the Taliban that Afghanistan would not be allowed to become a launching pad for global terrorist attacks. The U.S. has to reduce its forces in Afghanistan from about 13,000 to 8,600 within the first 135 days of the accord, but as the New York Times reported last month, that schedule has been complicated by coronavirus and quarantine concerns.On its face, the Quds Force-Taliban relationship is complicated given Iran’s previous backing for the Northern Alliance, but that was a long time ago, and ever since 9/11 Afghanistan has seen changing client and proxy relationships, some of them public, some not.“An open alliance between Iran and the Taliban would surely be viewed as a betrayal by many Afghans, even if shifting alliances is the nature of Afghanistan,” Sam Hendricks of the Lowy Institute in Sydney told The Daily Beast.“On the whole,” Hendricks said, “Iran has been remarkably restrained in its dealings in Afghanistan since 2001—and its own betrayal by the U.S. after Iranian support in defeating the Taliban and convening the Bonn process [to build a stable government], soon after which it was labeled part of the Axis of Evil.”Now, said Hendricks, Iran “seems to have an opportunity to strike the U.S. at a very vulnerable point.” Among Qaani’s tools are the thousands of fighters from the battle hardened Liwa Fatemiyoun, made up mainly of members of Afghanistan’s Shi’ite Hazara minority, in addition to any tacit or covert cooperation with the Taliban themselves.More than in Iraq, more than in the waters of the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean, Iran is positioned in its eastern neighbor to make the Americans suffer as they try to extract themselves. The only real question is whether Iran wants them out of Afghanistan sooner or later.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.

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Footage shows Chicago police shooting unarmed man twice on subway escalator

Video released by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability have shown the moment Chicago police shot an unarmed man twice at a subway station.The footage from the Chicago Transit Authority and police body-cams demonstrate in detail how the shooting of Ariel Roman took place on 28 February after he was pulled up for violating a city ordinance.

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Miss the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds flyby? Check out the footage people captured of the jets roaring over New York City to honor essential workers.

The jets flew a 35-minute path across the Northeastern states as a part of "Operation America Strong" to honor essential workers.

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Costco to require face coverings for shoppers

Starting Monday, customers will be required to wear masks covering their nose and mouth at all times while inside the store.

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'Crazy beast' lived among last of dinosaurs

The discovery that the badger-like animal lived alongside dinosaurs challenges ideas about mammals.

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Israel marks its Independence Day under coronavirus lockdown

Israelis celebrated their Independence Day at home Wednesday amid a nationwide lockdown aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. The national holiday, which honors the creation of Israel after the end of the British Mandate in 1948, is usually a festive occasion, with people heading to the beach, hosting barbecues and watching fireworks. The Israeli air force devoted its annual fly-by to health workers, with four planes crisscrossing the nation and performing aerial acrobatics over hospitals and medical centers.

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Trump Says U.S. Will Run 5 Million Daily Virus Tests 'Very Soon.' His Testing Chief Says That's Impossible

President Trump says the U.S. will be able to carry out five million coronavirus tests a day. The official overseeing testing strategy tells TIME that goal isn't feasible

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Wikipedia article of the day for April 30, 2020

The Wikipedia article of the day for April 30, 2020 is Isopogon anemonifolius.
Isopogon anemonifolius is a shrub of the family Proteaceae which is native to eastern New South Wales in Australia. It occurs naturally in woodland, open forest, and heathland on sandstone soils. Described in 1796 by Richard Salisbury, I. anemonifolius usually ranges between 1 and 1.5 metres (3 1⁄4 and 5 feet) in height, generally being smaller in exposed heathland. Its leaves are divided and narrow, though broader than those of the related Isopogon anethifolius, and have a purplish tinge during the cooler months. The yellow flowers appear during late spring or early summer and are displayed prominently. They are followed by round grey cones, which give the plant its common name drumsticks. The small hairy seeds are found in the old flower parts. A long-lived plant (up to 60 years), I. anemonifolius resprouts from its woody base after bushfire. It grows readily in the garden if located in a sunny or partly shaded spot with sandy soil and good drainage.

جمعرات، 30 اپریل، 2020

بدھ، 29 اپریل، 2020

منگل، 28 اپریل، 2020