Special News: March 2020

Tuesday 31 March 2020

Coronavirus: 3D-printer owners rally to create NHS face masks

More than 1,000 people volunteer to help make face shields for front-line workers.

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Coronavirus' 'minimum wage heroes'

Hear from the people on low wages who are taking a risk to keep the country running.

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Coronavirus: How a professional deep clean is carried out

Specialist cleaning services are being inundated with requests to disinfect buildings during the coronavirus pandemic.

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Coronavirus: Playing classical music for South Korea hospital patients

Musicians in South Korea have played a classical music concert for coronavirus patients.

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How birth is changing in the age of coronavirus

Coronavirus is throwing many birth plans up in the air and leading some health trusts to increase home births.

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Coronavirus: How it’s affecting young people’s mental health

The coronavirus crisis is having a huge impact on young people with existing mental health conditions.

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Jay Blades: From repairing lives to hosting TV hit The Repair Shop

Jay Blades, host of BBC One's surprise hit The Repair Shop, never aimed for a career on screen.

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Big splash: The world's largest designer of water parks

Geoff Chutter is the founder of Whitewater West, the world's largest water park design firm.

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How Dua Lipa and The Weeknd are bringing the 80s back… again

The 1980s are once again influencing some of the world’s biggest artists like Dua Lipa and The Weeknd.

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‘Never Thought I Would Need It’: Americans Put Pride Aside to Seek Aid

By BY CARA BUCKLEY from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2Uygm6p

Human Rights Group Says Two U.S. Strikes Killed Somali Civilians

By BY CHARLIE SAVAGE AND HELENE COOPER from NYT World https://ift.tt/3dFYDSa

Hellmut Stern, 91, Dies; Violinist Returned to Germany After Fleeing

By BY KATHARINE Q. SEELYE from NYT Arts https://ift.tt/2R0fBku

Coronavirus Spreads in Veterans’ Home, Leaving ‘Shuddering Loss for Us All’

By BY ELLEN BARRY from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3dLIbQg

New top story on Hacker News: Grupeer Suspends Payments to Investors

Grupeer Suspends Payments to Investors
12 by gdm85 | 2 comments on Hacker News.

New top story on Hacker News: Beyond Intelligent Machines: Just Do It (1993)

Beyond Intelligent Machines: Just Do It (1993)
4 by mr_golyadkin | 1 comments on Hacker News.

FOX NEWS: Stratolaunch to launch hypersonic vehicles from world's biggest airplane

Stratolaunch to launch hypersonic vehicles from world's biggest airplane

Stratolaunch has announced a new use for the world's largest airplane.

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FOX NEWS: 'Zoom-bombing': FBI warns some teleconferences, online classrooms vulnerable to hackers

'Zoom-bombing': FBI warns some teleconferences, online classrooms vulnerable to hackers

The FBI on Monday warned of a nationwide rise in so-called “Zoom-bombing,” or video hacking, as more people have turned to video-teleconferencing amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

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FOX NEWS: Facebook, Twitter delete some world leaders' posts over false information

Facebook, Twitter delete some world leaders' posts over false information

Facebook and Twitter have deleted social media posts from Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro that they deemed to be spreading misinformation regarding COVID-19.

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FOX NEWS: Trump holds call with internet and phone providers amid COVID-19 outbreak

Trump holds call with internet and phone providers amid COVID-19 outbreak

Outbreak forcing people to connect digitally; John Roberts report from the White House.

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FOX NEWS: Americans say Internet or cell phone service interruption amid coronavirus would be a problem

Americans say Internet or cell phone service interruption amid coronavirus would be a problem

As Americans turn to technology to get them through coronavirus-induced lockdowns, 93 percent say that any interruption to internet or cell phone service would be a problem in their daily life.

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FOX NEWS: Pentagon takes aim at coronavirus with 8,000 ventilators

Pentagon takes aim at coronavirus with 8,000 ventilators

The Pentagon has modified four existing contracts with defense industry partners to acquire and deliver 8,000 ventilators to various hard-hit locations around the country struggling to treat coronavirus patients.

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FOX NEWS: Coronavirus lockdown results in police stopping man from playing 'Pokémon GO'

Coronavirus lockdown results in police stopping man from playing 'Pokémon GO'

Police in the U.K. have stopped a man playing “Pokémon GO” outdoors amid the country’s coronavirus lockdown.

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Coronavirus: Stock markets suffer worst quarter since 1987

The Dow Jones and FTSE 100 have fallen more than 20% since the start of the year.

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Monday 30 March 2020

Alison Roman’s Seder Table

By BY ALISON ROMAN from NYT Food https://ift.tt/3aGXqIB

Trump’s Virus Defense Is Often an Attack, and the Target Is Often a Woman

By BY ANNIE KARNI from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3dCNjWW

Listen to the Call: Bullock and Trump Discuss Testing

By BY THE NEW YORK TIMES from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2JDppgp

Keep It Simple, Albany. This Is No Time for Budget Games.

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Congress Just Spent $2 Trillion on Coronavirus Relief. It’s Eying More.

By BY EMILY COCHRANE from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3dMluM7

FOX NEWS: NJ town suspends Airbnb and other short term rentals amid coronavirus outbreak

NJ town suspends Airbnb and other short term rentals amid coronavirus outbreak

No short-term rentals for this NJ town.

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FOX NEWS: Six Flags closing or delaying openings of amusement parks across the country due to coronavirus

Six Flags closing or delaying openings of amusement parks across the country due to coronavirus

More amusement parks across the country are falling victim to the coronavirus pandemic.

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FOX NEWS: Coronavirus and cruises: Companies extend operation suspensions during outbreak

Coronavirus and cruises: Companies extend operation suspensions during outbreak

Carnival Cruise Line, MSC Cruises, Disney Cruise Line, Cunard Line and Seabourn Cruise Line are making changes.

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FOX NEWS: Delta, JetBlue offering free flights to medical professionals for coronavirus relief efforts

Delta, JetBlue offering free flights to medical professionals for coronavirus relief efforts

The carriers are stepping up.

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FOX NEWS: Coronavirus pandemic: EasyJet grounds entire fleet during outbreak

Coronavirus pandemic: EasyJet grounds entire fleet during outbreak

The carrier's entire fleet of 344 airplanes have been grounded until further notice.

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FOX NEWS: Holland America cruise ship heading toward US waters with nearly 200 sick onboard

Holland America cruise ship heading toward US waters with nearly 200 sick onboard

Holland America said 189 guests and crew (73 and 116, respectively) were feeling ill as of Sunday night. Three days prior, the cruise line confirmed the death of four "older" guests.

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New best story on Hacker News: WireGuard 1.0 for Linux 5.6

WireGuard 1.0 for Linux 5.6
468 by zx2c4 | 156 comments on Hacker News.

New York's Cuomo pleads for doctors, nurses from other states to aid its hospitals

Speaking at a makeshift hospital in Manhattan preparing to receive its first patients on Monday, Cuomo sought to divert attention from any tension with Trump, with whom he has tussled in recent days over the distribution of ventilators in storage. "I am not engaging the president in politics," said Cuomo, who has emerged as a leading national voice on the coronavirus pandemic. New York is at the epicenter of the crisis.

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The Justice Department is reportedly investigating actions by US lawmakers who dumped stocks before the market plunged over coronavirus fears

The FBI has reportedly reached out to Republican Sen. Richard Burr as part of the investigation, which is in its early stages.

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Kremlin Fights U.S. Sanctions, Backs Maduro in Rosneft Deal

(Bloomberg) -- The Kremlin’s sudden shift of ownership of multi-billion-dollar oil projects in Venezuela shields oil giant Rosneft PJSC from further U.S. sanctions but keeps Moscow firmly behind embattled President Nicolas Maduro amid a wider stand-off with Washington.“Russia is not walking away from Maduro and will seek to thwart U.S. efforts to depose him,” said Vladimir Frolov, a former diplomat and foreign policy analyst in Moscow. “Moscow is just shielding Rosneft from sanctions which could result in a blanket embargo on all Rosneft exports.”Fears of broader sanctions have grown after the U.S. in recent months slapped restrictions on Rosneft trading companies for handling business with Venezuela. More recently, the U.S. has hinted that it might step up pressure on the Russian oil sector to reduce production. That followed Moscow’s decision early this month not to deepen output cuts agreed with OPEC led Saudi Arabia to boost output, flooding the market and pushing prices to the lowest levels in decades.The administration of President Donald Trump has already reached out to Saudi leaders to reconsider their strategy, which has battered producers in the U.S. with low prices. Trump said Monday he plans to speak by phone with Putin later in the day to talk about the oil market and may discuss sanctions and Venezuela.Read: Putin and MBS Draw Trump Into Grudge Match for Oil SupremacyRosneft late Saturday announced it’s turning over its Venezuelan projects to an unnamed state-owned company in what it called an effort to protect its shareholders’ interests.Sechin AutonomyAs part of the deal, Rosneft gets 9.6% of its own shares previously held by state holding company Rosneftegaz, bringing direct government ownership to just over 40%, according to two people familiar with the transaction. While Rosneft will remain firmly under Kremlin control, the shift in ownership could give Igor Sechin, who as chief executive and a longtime Putin ally is already one of Russia’s most influential people, even more autonomy, these people said.“Sechin gets Rosneft shares and Putin gets the chance to trade with Trump,” said Konstantin Simonov, head of the National Energy Security Fund in Moscow.Neither the company nor the government would comment on whether the deal will bring state ownership below 50%.Rosneft, which produces 40% of Russian oil and 5% of world output and has substantial exposure in the western financial system, can’t afford the risk of broad U.S. sanctions that could cripple its operations. Earlier this month, a Chinese company said it wouldn’t buy crude from Rosneft because of the risks caused by the sanctions on the trading companies.“As recently as February, the Venezuelan business was profitable, which offset the sanctions risk,” said Ivan Timofeyev, an analyst at the Kremlin-founded Russian International Affairs Council. “Now the desire to avoid sanctions coincided with the need to avoid losses” after oil prices plunged, he added.The Russian giant has already cut its exposure under multi-billion-dollar prepayment deals reached several years ago. Venezuela’s oil producer PDVSA owes Rosneft only $800 million at the end of the third quarter of 2019, according to the last available data, down from $4.6 billion at the end of 2017.Sanctions ProtectionThe latest Russian maneuver mirrored its strategy in 2018 when it used Promsvzyabank to set up a new banking vehicle to serve the defense industry after state-owned weapons producers came under U.S. sanctions, thereby shielding the country’s two largest banks, government-controlled Sberbank and VTB. Unlike those big lenders, which have significant exposure to western financial institutions and thus are at risk from sweeping U.S. sanctions, the new special entity operated largely out of Washington’s reach.While Rosneft may even push to have the recently imposed sanctions on the trading units lifted, risks remain.“Rosneft is trying to stay out of the firing-line but nothing stops the Americans from finding another pretext to sanction it,” said Fyodor Lukyanov, who heads the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, a research group in Moscow that advises the Kremlin.“Russia understands that Maduro is in an awful situation, especially with oil prices at rock bottom,” he said. “But Putin’s psychology is that you should stick with partners in difficulty.”Frolov said, “Moscow thinks that Maduro is actually winning the fight with the opposition and is likely to split it to the point where he would be able to win parliamentary elections this year.” Russia has backed Maduro even as the U.S. and its allies back opposition leader Juan Guaido.Maduro said on state TV on Saturday evening that ”President Putin sent me a message through his ambassador reaffirming their strategic and integral support to Venezuela in all areas.”(Updates with Rosneft stake shift in sixth paragraph)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.

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A coronavirus patient's phlegm or poop could still have live virus in it even after they recover and test negative, new research suggests

New research raises doubts about whether negative throat swabs are enough to say a patient is coronavirus-free. Doctors may have to sample their poop.

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Surge of virus cases in California threatens hospitals

A surge of coronavirus cases in California has arrived and will worsen, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday, while the mayor of Los Angeles warned that by early next week his city could see the kind of crush that has crippled New York.

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Prisoners riot in Iran; Netanyahu goes into self-quarantine

Prisoners in southern Iran broke cameras and caused other damage during a riot, state media reported Monday, the latest in a series of violent prison disturbances in the country, which is battling the most severe coronavirus outbreak in the Middle East. Israel meanwhile announced that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will enter self-quarantine after an aide tested positive for the virus. Speaking from confinement at home, Netanyahu called on Israelis to remain at home and avoid family gatherings during the upcoming spring holiday season.

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Trump says 'nobody' could've predicted a pandemic like coronavirus. Here are all the times he was warned about it and refused to take action.

Trump ignored multiple warnings about an impending pandemic and gutted the US agencies responsible for responding to such an outbreak.

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AI tool predicts which coronavirus patients get deadly 'wet lung'

Researchers in the US and China reported Monday they have developed an artificial intelligence tool that is able to accurately predict which newly infected patients with the novel coronavirus go on to develop severe lung disease. Once deployed, the algorithm could assist doctors in making choices about where to prioritize care in resource-stretched health care systems, said Megan Coffee, a physician and professor at New York University's Grossman School of Medicine who co-authored a paper on the finding in the journal Computers, Materials & Continua. The tool discovered several surprising indicators that were most strongly predictive of who went on to develop so-called acute respiratory disease syndrome (ARDS), a severe complication of the COVID-19 illness that fills the lungs with fluid and kills around 50 percent of coronavirus patients who get it.

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New top story on Hacker News: Philip Anderson 1923-2020

Philip Anderson 1923-2020
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New top story on Hacker News: Mars Could Have at Least Two Ancient Reservoirs of Water Deep Underground

Mars Could Have at Least Two Ancient Reservoirs of Water Deep Underground
6 by lordmax | 0 comments on Hacker News.

New top story on Hacker News: Show HN: Use-sound, a React hook for sound effects on the web

Show HN: Use-sound, a React hook for sound effects on the web
20 by joshwcomeau | 1 comments on Hacker News.

Sunday 29 March 2020

Coronavirus: The woman behind India's first testing kit

With the first made-in-India kits, the country could hugely scale up testing for the coronavirus.

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'My $60m weight-loss app cured my personal pain'

Victoria Repa has created an app to help people lose weight, an issue she struggled with growing up.

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The Best Movies and Shows on Hulu Right Now

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Inmate dies after contracting coronavirus at Louisiana federal prison

The death of Patrick Jones marks the first COVID-19 related death of an inmate in the federal prison system, a Bureau of Prisons spokesperson said.

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Coronavirus-hit ship granted permission to pass through Panama Canal

A cruise ship stuck off Panama's Pacific coast after four passengers died and more than 130 others developed influenza-like symptoms, including at least two with the coronavirus, will be allowed to proceed through the Panama Canal, the government said on Saturday. Holland America Line's 238-meter (781-foot) MS Zaandam vessel can now continue its trip to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but Panama's government underscored that no passengers or crew members would be allowed to set foot on Panamanian soil. "Panama will guarantee biosecurity measures to protect the personnel who will participate in this maneuver and thus safeguard the health of Panamanians," the government said in a statement.

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Fauci says that lifting lockdowns is 'a matter of weeks' and depends on the availability of 15-minute coronavirus testing

"If we need to push the date forward, we will push the date forward," Dr. Anthony Fauci said on CNN Sunday.

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Iran warns of lengthy 'new way of life' as virus deaths rise

President Hassan Rouhani warned Sunday that "the new way of life" in Iran was likely to be prolonged, as its declared death toll from the novel coronavirus rose to 2,640. The Islamic republic is one of the countries worst-hit by the virus, which first originated in China. Iran announced its first infection cases on February 19, but a senior health official has acknowledged that the virus was likely to have already reached Iran in January.

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Clinical trials on coronavirus drugs may take only months, researcher says

"If everything goes according to plan, I am talking months, not years," for completion of three clinical trials, a researcher said.

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Saudi intercepts missiles in attacks claimed by Yemen's Houthis

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Trump asks why reporter doesn't act 'a little more positive'

President Trump on Sunday asked why a White House reporter does not act “a little more positive” in covering the administration’s coronavirus response.

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Passengers transferred from virus-stricken cruise ship off Panama

Passengers on a virus-stricken cruise liner stranded off Central America were transferred to another ship Saturday, after the US-bound vessel was given permission to pass through the Panama Canal. The Zaandam had been stuck in the Pacific Ocean since March 14 after dozens of the 1,800 people on board reported flu-like symptoms and several South American ports refused to let it dock. The ship's Dutch owner Holland America said Friday four passengers had died and two more had tested positive for COVID-19.

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Locked up: No masks, sanitizer as virus spreads behind bars

The chow hall line at New York’s Rikers Island jail had halted. For three hours, the men stood and waited, without food, until a correctional officer quietly delivered the news: A civilian chef was among those who tested positive for the coronavirus. Health experts say prisons and jails are considered a potential epicenter for America’s coronavirus pandemic.

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Russia Claimed It Created a Coronavirus Cure, but It’s an American Malaria Drug

The headline of the Russian state media outlet RIA Novosti read, “Russia Created the Treatment for Coronavirus.” The article went on to boast about the remedy based on the drug mefloquine, an antimalarial drug created in fact at the U.S. Army’s Walter Reed Medical Center shortly after the Vietnam War and widely known as Lariam. Fiona Hill: Trump’s Coronavirus Talk Sounds a Lot Like Russia’sMefloquine was created to replace chloroquine, another anti-malarial, which was President Donald Trump’s recent drug of choice in his dubious battle against COVID-19. It is still prescribed in many countries to prevent and treat malaria, but it is known to have severe and sometimes shocking side effects. A study conducted from 2001-2003 “confirmed mefloquine's potential for causing psychological illness.”Facing a wave of ridicule in social media, Russian state media changed the headline, which now reads: “Russia Offered a Drug for Treating the Coronavirus.”It should be noted that there is no known cure or approved treatment for the coronavirus. Multiple clinical trials for potential medical treatments are still underway.The purpose of all this is less pharmacological than propagandistic. While Kremlin-controlled media outlets propagate conspiracy theories blaming the United States (and even Ukraine) for creating and spreading the coronavirus, Russia is presented as the potential savior of all of humanity. At a time when the Kremlin’s cynical effort to hide the extent of the pandemic in Russia is becoming ever more apparent, state media are criticizing American and European tactics for containing the pandemic. Virologist Mikhail Shchelkanov, head of the Laboratory of Ecology of Microorganisms, FEFU School of Biomedicine, described the Western approach as “18th-century tactics.” In contrast, he claimed that, “Russia, since the days of the Soviet Union, has had the world's best biological safety system.”After Putin’s Big Fail, Russia Braces for COVID-19 OnslaughtRussian coronavirus measures recommended by the government agency to the general public indeed seem more stringent than those offered in the United States. For example, everyday use of face masks in public is recommended for all individuals. Single-use masks are to be replaced every 2-3 hours. The risk to younger individuals is not being downplayed. To the contrary, parents are being advised to keep their children at home or in the yard of their own home. When in public, children are to be prevented from touching any surfaces or interacting with others. There is public guidance with respect to the disinfection of store-bought food and merchandise.During his state TV show, The Evening with Vladimir Soloviev, the host described Russia’s approach to the pandemic as superior to that of Europe and the United States. “They’re behaving in an uncivilized manner,” Soloviev said, “They are being amoral. Our people unite and want to help others. Americans are just buying up guns.” Speaking to RIA Novosti, Shchelkanov praised China’s response to the pandemic and condemned the United States and Western Europe for their lack of coordinated actions, predicting that coronavirus “can easily spread like fire—and is spreading to neighboring countries.” He claimed that “the Russian Federation continues to be a bulwark of European stability.”In reality, the true numbers of coronavirus infections in Russia are grossly understated due to the lack of testing and creative approach to recording the number of deaths. Some quarantined Russians report receiving negative test results, in spite of not being tested. The cause of death for coronavirus patients in Russia is being determined posthumously through an autopsy, and sometimes attributed to other causes, such as pulmonary thromboembolism—therefore being excluded from the official statistics.The aid supplied to Western countries by China and Russia has been criticized as largely defective and mainly useless. But Russian state media claim such support as the manifestation of “soft power.” Appearing on Soloviev's show, political scientist Dmitry Evstafiev noted, “Every country is using the coronavirus pandemic as cover, trying to achieve their own goals.”One of the Kremlin’s most pressing aims is the removal of U.S. and European sanctions against Russia and its informal allies: Iran, Venezuela, and North Korea. Experts on Russian state television repeatedly suggest that the Kremlin should bring up the removal of sanctions at every opportunity, especially while offering coronavirus aid to Western countries.During his state TV show, Soloviev expressed frustration that Trump “didn’t understand anything” and ignored President Vladimir Putin's proposal at the recent G-20 summit calling for the immediate removal of all sanctions.Soloviev opined that the first country that is able to create the coronavirus vaccine would acquire an instrument of enormous political pressure. Russia is actively seeking to develop such a lever of global influence, but the unproven panacea it is currently touting was made in the USA.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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Tornado rips through Arkansas city, leaving at least 6 hurt

The mayor of Jonesboro said the more people may could have been harmed by the tornado had the mall not been closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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One Battle Boris Johnson Is Clearly Winning

(Bloomberg Opinion) -- As recently as a few weeks ago, it seemed as though U.K. politics could not possibly talk about anything besides Brexit, even after the country’s formal departure from the EU. Business as usual was expected to return at some unspecified point in the future.As elsewhere, the coronavirus has turned British politics on its head. Unlike Brexit, which continues to divide opinion fairly evenly, the coronavirus crisis has prompted an outbreak of recently unfamiliar unity. Number Cruncher polling (excusive to Bloomberg) finds personal ratings for Boris Johnson -- himself now diagnosed with coronavirus -- that have not been seen for a British Prime Minister since the early days of Tony Blair’s premiership in 1997.Fully 72% of eligible voters are satisfied with Johnson’s performance as Prime Minister, with 25% dissatisfied. Ninety-one per cent of those currently supporting the Conservatives count themselves as satisfied, along with about half of Labour voters and those voting for other parties and a large majority of undecided voters. Johnson’s government gets similar approval ratings, both overall (73% to 24%) and on its handling of the Coronavirus outbreak (72% to 25%).The 1,010 interviews were conducted Tuesday through Thursday, following Johnson’s televised address on Monday, but completed before Johnson himself revealed that he had tested positive for the virus. There is some evidence in our data to suggest that these figures were higher in the immediate aftermath of the pre-recorded broadcast, which was watched by around half of the adult population.The strongest numbers of all are for the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak (77% satisfaction). Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, whose successor will be named on April 4, remains in negative territory (with 54% dissatisfied).While wartime metaphors are now commonplace, this pandemic is not, of course, a war in literal sense -- people are being killed by a disease, not each other. But it does share many of the same characteristics and a similar “rally around the flag” sense. The most obvious of these is the unity against a common enemy, with a lot of agreement across parties and across the public. There is also clear sense of “national effort,” and some extremely large government spending on its way.That’s not to say that there have been no controversies — there have been debates over strategy and the policy response — though these can easily be drowned out by the enormity of the wider situation.This is not unique to the U.K. Polling elsewhere has shown that the crisis has helped incumbents in other countries too. Emmanuel Macron in France, Italy’s Giuseppe Conte and Canada’s Justin Trudeau have also seen their ratings improve. Even in the strongly polarized U.S., Donald Trump’s approval ratings have seen gains.But what is specific to the U.K. is the perfect storm providing the tailwind to the Conservatives. The post-election bounce for Johnson and his party was still very much in evidence when the coronavirus became the dominant story, and was likely boosted by Brexit on Jan. 31st. Labour has been less visible than it might normally be, and when it is visible it’s via its unpopular leader, who remains in place more than three months after his election defeat.Coupled with the rally-round-the-flag effect, it is not hard to see why records are being broken. Of likely voters, 54% would choose Conservatives, up nine points from the December election (excluding Northern Ireland). No Conservative government has ever had such a strong poll rating, according to records compiled by author Mark Pack beginning in 1943.Labour has dropped five points to 28%, giving the Tories their biggest lead while in office since Margaret Thatcher’s peak during the Falklands war in 1982. The Liberal Democrats — who this week postponed their leadership election until 2021 — also fall five points to 7%.Of course, no U.K. election is imminent, with even the local elections scheduled for May having been postponed until next year. What’s more, being hugely popular in a war or war-like situation can still end in electoral defeat, as it did for Winston Churchill and George H.W. Bush. And that’s before we consider likely economic damage of the coronavirus, which is in the very early stages of being felt.But these numbers are significant for another reason. The immediate task for Johnson and other leaders is to convince their citizens to comply with personal restrictions that would be unthinkable in normal times. Irrespective of the wider politics, having the public united behind him can only help. For now, the U.K. feels strangely united.This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.Matt Singh runs Number Cruncher Politics, a nonpartisan polling and elections site that predicted the 2015 U.K. election polling failure.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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Why the Strategic National Stockpile isn't meant to solve a crisis like coronavirus

The country's largest repository of drugs and medical equipment is designed to be used as a stopgap — not a solution — during emergencies.

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Germany's Merkel shines in virus crisis even as power wanes

In her first address to the nation on the coronavirus pandemic, German Chancellor Angela Merkel calmly appealed to citizens' reason and discipline to slow the spread of the virus, acknowledging as a woman who grew up in communist East Germany how difficult it is to give up freedoms, yet as a trained scientist emphasizing that the facts don't lie. For her, it was a regular shopping stop, but photos snapped by someone at the grocery store were shared worldwide as a reassuring sign of calm leadership amid a global crisis. Merkel has run Germany for more than 14 years and has over a decade's experience of managing crises.

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Shop in upstate N.Y. sells doughnuts starring Dr. Fauci's face

A doughnut shop in Rochester, N.Y., is featuring the likeness of the doctor leading the country's battle with coronavirus on its treats. Donuts Delite began selling hundreds of doughnuts with Dr. Anthony Fauci's face on Monday.

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Coronavirus: Trump extends restrictions beyond Easter

The US president extends measures to 30 April, saying casualties are likely to peak in two weeks.

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Coronavirus: Six months before UK 'returns to normal' - deputy chief medical officer

The UK faces reviews of measures every three weeks for six months or more, says deputy chief medical officer.

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