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Greeted by relieved parents, pet dogs, flares and a cloud of orange smoke, a group of 25 Dutch high school students with very little sailing experience ended a trans-Atlantic voyage Sunday that was forced on them by coronavirus restrictions. The children, ages 14 to 17, watched over by 12 experienced crew members and three teachers, were on an educational cruise of the Caribbean when the pandemic forced them to radically change their plans for returning home in March. Instead of flying back from Cuba as originally planned, the crew and students stocked up on supplies and warm clothes and set sail for the northern Dutch port of Harlingen, a five-week voyage of nearly 7,000 kilometers (4,350 miles), on board the 60-meter (200-foot) top sail schooner Wylde Swan.
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Conjecture over Kim has grown since his conspicuous no-show at April 15 celebrations for the birthday of his grandfather Kim Il Sung, the North's founder -- the most important day in the country's political calendar. "Our government position is firm," said Moon's special adviser on national security Moon Chung-in, in an interview with CNN on Sunday. "Kim Jong Un is alive and well."
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The Georgia Democrat is actively seeking the No. 2 spot on the Democratic ticket.
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Mexico has almost entirely cleared out government migrant centers over the past five weeks to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, returning most of the occupants to their countries of origin, official data showed on Sunday. In a statement, the National Migration Institute (INM) said that since March 21, in order to comply with health and safety guidelines, it had been removing migrants from its 65 migrant facilities, which held 3,759 people last month. In the intervening weeks, Mexico has returned 3,653 migrants to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador by road and air, with the result that only 106 people remain in the centers, it said.
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China's ambassador in Australia has warned that demands for a probe into the spread of the coronavirus could lead to a consumer boycott of Aussie wine or trips Down Under. Australia has joined the United States in calling for a thorough investigation of how the virus transformed from a localised epidemic in central China into a pandemic that has killed more than 200,000 people, forced billions into isolation and torpedoed the global economy. In a thinly veiled threat, ambassador Cheng Jingye warned the push for an independent inquest into the origins of the outbreak was "dangerous".
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FBI-connected researchers suggested biggest threat in controlling outbreak was from ‘those who categorically reject vaccination’America’s “anti-vaxxer movement” would pose a threat to national security in the event of a “pandemic with a novel organism”, an FBI-connected non-profit research group warned last year, just months before the global coronavirus pandemic began.In a research paper put out by the little-known in-house journal of InfraGard – a national security group affiliated with the FBI – experts warned the US anti-vaccine movement would also be connected with “social media misinformation and propaganda campaigns” orchestrated by the Russian government.Since the virus hit America, anti-vaccination activists and some sympathetic legislators around the country have led or participated in protests against stay-at-home orders designed to slow the spread of the deadly virus. More than 50,000 people have died in the US.On its website, InfraGard says it is an “FBI-affiliated nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening national security” with a mission to protect “United States critical infrastructure”. It says it consists of local chapters and that “an FBI special agent from each field office is assigned to serve as a private sector coordinator”.The paper, jointly written by a security consultant and a senior doctor in New York State’s largest hospital network, warned: “The biggest threat in controlling an outbreak comes from those who categorically reject vaccination.”The paper, entitled The Anti-Vaxxers Movement and National Security, was co-written by Dr Mark Jarrett, the chief quality officer, senior vice-president and associate chief medical officer at Northwell Health; and Christine Sublett, a health industry-focused cybersecurity consultant.It lays out a pandemic scenario remarkably similar to the one now afflicting the US along with most of the world, including that “social distancing and isolation have impacts that include loss of manufactured goods, reduced food supply, and other disruptions to the supply chain”.The article then turns to the anti-vaccine movement, arguing that sufficient resistance to vaccination would hobble the chances of reaching herd immunity to a highly infectious pathogen.The paper also says that such movements have received a boost in recent years due to their “alignment with other conspiracy movements including the far right … and social media misinformation and propaganda campaigns by many foreign and domestic actors. Included among these actors is the Internet Research Agency, the Russian government–aligned organization.”Ben Harris-Roxas at the University of New South Wales, an expert on public health, endorsed the epidemiological reasoning in the paper.“Vaccine hesitancy represents a significant threat – not just for any Covid-19 vaccine that might be developed, but also to measures that might assist people and health services now, such as people getting flu vaccinations,” he said.Others expressed concerns about the implications of a paper defining a specific group as a national security threat being published under the imprimatur of the FBI.Michael German, a Brennan Center fellow and former FBI agent and whistleblower, said he was worried about the unintended consequences of defining a group as a national security threat based on their beliefs, and how that might feed into both policy and law enforcement decisions.“You can imagine some young police officer who’s trying to do a good job protecting his or her community. And all of a sudden he’s told that anti-vaxxers are Russian agents.”German added that “the lack of proper government preparation and stockpiles of medical materials to respond to a pandemic was a much more serious problem than the influence of a relatively small group of anti-vaxxers could ever be, but it is hard to argue with the need for a science-based policy approach”.InfraGard has been criticized by civil liberties groups from its origins as a security national entity and links to the FBI. An FBI spokesperson said: “InfraGard is a non-profit organization serving as a public-private partnership among US businesses, individuals, and the FBI.”The spokesperson added, “It is important to distinguish among the statements, views, and comments made by official FBI representatives and InfraGard Members”, and declined further comment.InfraGard Journal’s editor, Dr Ryan Williams, said in a telephone conversation that the journal was peer-reviewed, but received an additional layer of oversight from InfraGard’s board, which includes senior FBI officials and representatives from other partner groups.Dr Jarrett said the paper had been inspired by the experience of the measles outbreak of early 2019, and its predictions were being borne out in the current crisis.“Take the pandemic now,” he said. “If they come out with a vaccine and you have 15% of people saying, ‘I don’t want to take it, I don’t believe in it, it’s going to cause harm’, you’re never going to get up to the level of herd immunity to really shut off the process.”
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Millions of pounds of beef, pork and chicken will vanish from U.S. grocery stores as livestock and poultry processing plants have been shuttered by coronavirus outbreaks among workers, the chairman of Tyson Foods Inc said. John Tyson warned that the U.S. "food supply chain is breaking" as a growing number of plant closures have left farmers with fewer options to market and process livestock. Tyson Foods announced last week that it would shutter two pork processing plants, including its largest in the United States, and a beef facility to contain the spread of the virus.
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A hospital official said Guillermo "Memo" Garcia died after a nine-month fight.
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The two travelers said on their Instagram page that there was "just too much" food being delivered to them while on lockdown at an upscale hotel.
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COVID-19 calls for studies focused on pregnant women and infants. And ensure that every pregnant woman in the USA has insurance and access to care.
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It may seem unlikely that the White House would implement any major departmental leadership changes during a global health crisis, especially in the Department of Health and Human Services, but don't count it out just yet.Though they're indeed reluctant to complete any major shakeups during the coronavirus pandemic, White House officials are discussing a plan to replace HHS Secretary Alex Azar, Politico and The Wall Street Journal report. Criticism of Azar's role has reportedly mounted in recent weeks, especially after Director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority Rick Bright was moved to a National Institutes of Health position, a transfer which Bright described as a form of retaliation, reportedly rattling some administration officials.President Trump had reportedly expressed frustration with Azar even before the pandemic and ultimately replaced him as the coronavirus task force leader with Vice President Mike Pence. Some names that are being considered as his replacement include coronavirus coordinator Dr. Debora Birx, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma, and Deputy HHS Secretary Eric Hargan, Politico reports.Deputy Press Secretary Judd Deere said in a statement Saturday that Azar "continues to lead on a number of the president's priorities" and "any speculation about personnel is irresponsible." Read more at Politico and The Wall Street Journal.More stories from theweek.com Everybody Loves Raymond creator highlights the people who stand behind Trump, literally and awkwardly American optimism is becoming a problem Texas governor says some nonessential businesses can reopen on Friday
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The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a National Rifle Association-backed challenge to New York City restrictions on handgun owners transporting their firearms outside the home, avoiding for now the battle over the scope of the right to bear arms under the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment. There are other cases pending that could give the court's conservative majority a chance to widen gun rights including challenges to assault weapon bans in Massachusetts and Cook County, Illinois, and permit requirements to carry firearms outside the home in Massachusetts, New Jersey and Maryland. The justices in an unsigned decision threw out the New York dispute because the measure that was challenged by individual gun owners and the state's affiliate of the influential NRA was rolled back by the city last July, rendering the case moot.
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Dr. Lorna Breen was a "hero who brought the highest ideals of medicine to the challenging front lines of the emergency department," the hospital said in a statement.
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The Department of Defense released three Navy videos from 2004 and 2015 that it says contain “aerial phenomena” that remains “unidentified.”
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(Bloomberg) -- Scotland has the opportunity to reshape its economy as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, according to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, even as she reiterated her warning that Scots are likely to face an extended period of restrictions on movement and social contact.“When things come apart – when the kaleidoscope of our lives is shaken – there is an opportunity to see them put back together differently, and see a new way of doing things,” Sturgeon wrote in the Herald on Sunday newspaper. “We can start to think together, and work together, to decide the kind of Scotland we want to emerge from this crisis.”Reform of Scotland’s 170 billion-pound ($210 billion) economy could be accelerated as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, which like in the rest of the U.K., has led to tough restrictions on the movement of people and the ability of businesses to keep operating, Sturgeon wrote in the Glasgow-based newspaper. The country’s chief economist, Gary Gillespie, estimates that Scotland’s economy could shrink by 12% this year, and he has warned that not all businesses would be able to survive the lockdown.“Before this crisis, we were focused on our mission of making Scotland a greener, fairer and more prosperous country,” Sturgeon wrote. “That has not changed. But the place from where we are starting has.”Sturgeon, who leads Scotland’s pro-independence government, didn’t mention separation from the rest of the U.K. in her editorial in the Glasgow-based newspaper. There have been signs in recent weeks, however, that the Edinburgh-based government is starting to diverge from the rest of the U.K. in its handling of the crisis.The Scottish government last week published its 24-page strategy detailing how it intends to ease restrictions on people and reopen the economy. At the time, Sturgeon said Scotland would go its own way if it deems that to be appropriate. Plans could include lifting restrictions on a geographical basis or for different groups of the population, it said.The U.K. government, which has set out five tests for lifting the nationwide lockdown, hasn’t yet produced a detailed strategy because of concern doing so would encourage people to ignore the restrictions.“It is important to be clear at the outset that the current lockdown remains vital – it is only because of it, that we are now seeing some progress against the virus,” Sturgeon wrote. “These restrictions may need to continue in the current form beyond this three-week period.”More than 10,000 people have so far tested positive for Covid-19 in Scotland, with 1,230 confirmed as having died from the virus. Separate figures, which include deaths that are suspected of being related to the illness, show the number of fatalities at more than 1,600.“We still all face major challenges. Challenges in navigating the uncertainties that the virus has created, as well as rebuilding our economy and public services,” Sturgeon wrote. “But we can go further than rebuilding, and look seriously at social and economic reform.”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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The president remained behind closed doors after advisers reportedly warned him that the briefings were hurting his campaignAfter more than a month of near-daily White House coronavirus press briefings, Donald Trump stayed behind closed doors on Saturday after advisers reportedly warned the president that his appearances were hurting his campaign.Trump himself referenced his absence when he wrote on Twitter that the briefings are “not worth the time & effort”. The president wrote the tweet on Saturday evening, when he would usually be taking the podium to address journalists.> What is the purpose of having White House News Conferences when the Lamestream Media asks nothing but hostile questions, & then refuses to report the truth or facts accurately. They get record ratings, & the American people get nothing but Fake News. Not worth the time & effort!> > — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 25, 2020“What is the purpose of having White House News Conferences when the Lamestream Media asks nothing but hostile questions, & then refuses to report the truth or facts accurately,” he wrote. “They get record ratings, & the American people get nothing but Fake News. Not worth the time & effort!”In recent weeks Trump has used the briefings to dole out unproven and debunked medical advice, suggesting that things like sunlight and an anti-malaria drug are cures to Covid-19, often causing his own medical experts to try to correct the record.But on Friday Trump surprised observers by taking no questions and stalking out of the room after an unusually short briefing of just 22 minutes. Some took the move as an acknowledgement from Trump himself that he may have taken things too far when he said on Thursday that disinfectant could be used to cure Covid-19.Those comments sparked shock and ridicule – and warnings from healthcare experts – and prompted Trump to make a ham-fisted attempt at a clawback when he later said he had made the remarks sarcastically – despite video proving he had not.While the press briefings are meant to give members of the coronavirus task force an opportunity to provide updates on the state of Covid-19 in the country, the attention around the briefings has been centered on Trump’s use of the podium as his bully pulpit.The president has used the briefings as uncensored airtime, praising his administration for its response to the crisis while criticizing the media and Democrats for any negative comeback.Advisers close to the president told him to stop making appearances at the briefings unless special announcements needed to be made, according to multiple reports published Saturday morning. The advice comes as Trump trails Joe Biden in polls from swing states. Perhaps, his advisers believe, because his appearances are overkill.“I told him it’s not helping him,” one adviser told Axios. “Seniors are scared. And the spectacle of him fighting with the press isn’t what people want to see.”Trump has reportedly been hesitant to end his briefing appearances, Axios reported, because he said they bring in good television ratings.The president has also used the briefings as an opportunity to rile up his base in a way that would typically be done at his rallies. Trump has criticized Democrats and attacked Biden, referring to him as “Sleepy Joe” during briefings, veering far away from the subject of Covid-19.It is unclear whether Trump can stay away from the podium, or whether his instincts as a reality television star will kick in and the show will go on.“He’s going to want to get media attention and control his message,” Sam Nunberg, a political consultant who briefly worked on Trump’s campaign in 2016, told Politico. “He is the only one who thinks he can do his message best, and that’s just the reality. That’s how he works.”
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US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin insisted Sunday the US economy will come roaring back even amid warnings from another White House adviser of longer-term impacts of the coronavirus pandemic's unprecedented shock to the economy. Mnuchin's upbeat assessment came amid skyrocketing unemployment figures and forecasts predicting a deep contraction in economic activity this year. In an interview with "Fox News Sunday," Mnuchin defended the soaring deficit spending as key to reviving the economy, even amid rising signs of Republican pushback in Congress.
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Stuck in their Tirana flat under a coronavirus lockdown, 81-year-old Osman Hoxha and his family quietly mark the start of Ramadan, recalling the communist era when practicing religion meant risking death. Like many parts of the world, mosques in Muslim-majority Albania are eerily empty while iftar supper tables have fewer chairs than normal as families shelter at home to curb the spread of the virus. For older generations, the intimate settings inevitably stir up memories of how they were forced to furtively keep their faith alive under the long and brutal reign of the late communist dictator Enver Hoxha, who outlawed religion.
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Reckitt Benckiser, the UK-based maker of Lysol and Dettol, issued the first warning, saying: "Under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body (through injection, ingestion or any other route)." "Bleach and other disinfectants are not suitable for consumption or injection under any circumstances," it said. The comments came after Trump said at a Thursday news briefing that scientists should explore whether inserting ultraviolet light or disinfectant into the bodies of people infected with the disease caused by the novel coronavirus would help.
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Dale Zorn initially defended his actions, saying it was part of ‘our history’, but eventually apologized after widespread outrageA Republican politician in Michigan has apologized after wearing a face mask that appeared to depict the Confederate flag, an image offensive to many Americans as a symbol of racism and slavery.Michigan state Senator Dale Zorn wore the mask during a Senate vote at the state capitol in Lansing on Friday. He initially defended his actions, saying his wife had made the mask and that it depicted the flag of Tennessee or Kentucky.“I told my wife it probably will raise some eyebrows, but it was not a Confederate flag,” Zorn told Lansing TV station WLNS on Friday.He went on to add: “Even if it was a Confederate flag, you know, we should be talking about teaching our national history in schools and that’s part of our national history and it’s something we can’t just throw away because it is part of our history.”When Zorn was asked what the meaning of the Confederate flag is, he replied “the Confederacy”.> This is Dale Zorn. He is an elected member of the Michigan Senate. He wore a Confederate Flag mask on the floor of the Michigan Senate. Then he tried to tell us he didn't. > > THIS IS MICHIGAN, NOT MISSISSIPPI! > > Get that trash outta here. pic.twitter.com/uTOaBzweTO> > — Bryan Newland (@RealBNewland) April 25, 2020In fact, displaying the Confederate flag, or other symbols of the slave-owning south during the American civil war, is usually seen as racist. While some advocates claim they are celebrating southern identity and heritage, it is widely seen as a racist symbol deeply offensive to black Americans. Nor is it just flags. There is an ongoing campaign to remove Confederate war statues from public display or rename streets and buildings which commemorate Confederate generals or politicians.After sparking widespread outrage, Zorn issued an apology on Saturday.“I’m sorry for my choice of pattern on the face mask I wore yesterday on the Senate floor. I did not intend to offend anyone; however, I realize that I did, and for that I am sorry. Those who know me best know that I do not support the things this pattern represents,” he wrote on Twitter. “My actions were an error in judgment for which there are no excuses and I will learn from this episode.”A spokesperson for Michigan’s senate majority leader, Republican Mike Shirkey, said that Shirkey “would not support or encourage any senator to display an insensitive symbol on the Senate floor”.The leader of the Democrats in the Michigan senate, Jim Ananich, said: “I’m just really disappointed to see him make a choice that is deeply hurtful to so many people. When he was called out for it, he didn’t seem to even understand or acknowledge what the problem was.”Zorn was in Lansing on Friday to vote on measures that would increase oversight of Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer’s powers during the Covid-19 pandemic.Michigan is one of a number of states that have attracted protests against stay-at-home orders during the pandemic. Zorn said he supported bipartisan oversight of Whitmer’s actions.
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Yemeni separatists early Sunday declared self-rule of the country's south as a peace deal with the government crumbled, complicating a long and separate conflict with Huthi rebels who control much of the north. The Southern Transitional Council (STC) accused the government of failing to perform its duties and of "conspiring" against the southern cause, and said self-governance had begun at midnight. The government condemned the move and said the separatists -- who have long agitated for independence in the south -- would be responsible for the "catastrophic and dangerous" outcome.
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According to a report by ABC7, the USNS Comfort will be discharging its last coronavirus patient on Sunday, April 26 and returning to its homeport.
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A hospital official said Guillermo ‘Memo’ Garcia died after a nine-month fight.
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Assailants lobbed an explosive device at a bank in Lebanon Saturday, in the latest attack on financial institutions in a country facing its worst economic crisis in decades. The official National News Agency said the night-time assault targeted a branch of Fransabank in the southern port city of Sidon, damaging its glass facade. The attack came a day after Prime Minister Hassan Diab said Lebanese bank deposits had plunged $5.7 billion in the first two months of the year, despite curbs on withdrawals and a ban on transfers abroad.
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Countries have taken different routes in imposing restrictions - which ones are working against the virus?
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Despite promising indicators of new cases and deaths from the virus, Tom Inglesby said that the US is "not out of the woods by any means."
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Saudi Arabia has abolished flogging as a punishment, the state human rights commission said on Saturday hailing a "major step forward" in the reform programme launched by the king and his powerful son, days after a human rights activist died in custody. Court-ordered floggings in Saudi Arabia - sometimes extending to hundreds of lashes - have long drawn condemnation from human rights groups. But they say the headline legal reforms overseen by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman have brought no let-up in the conservative Islamic kingdom's crushing of dissent, including through the use of the death penalty. The state human rights commission said that the latest reform, which was reported by Saudi media including the pro-government Okaz newspaper, would ensure that no more convicts were sentenced to flogging. "This decision guarantees that convicts who would previously have been sentenced to the lash will from now on receive fines or prison terms instead," its chairman, Awad al-Awad, said.
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Nearly 150 cases of coronavirus infection have been confirmed among crew members of an Italian cruise ship docked in Japan after health authorities finished testing everyone on board, an official said on Saturday. The Nagasaki prefecture official said 57 more crew had tested positive, bringing the total infections on board the Costa Atlantica to 148, roughly one quarter of the vessel's 623 crew members. Authorities began testing after one crew member tested positive for the virus earlier this week.
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The governors of Colorado and New York outlined plans to ease pandemic restrictions but stressed they were moving with caution.
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In Spain, one of the hardest-hit countries in the pandemic, the coronavirus spread quickly and widely without being detected, especially among the elderly, experts told AFP. While they stressed it was too early to carry out a detailed analysis, the experts pointed to the country's sociable lifestyle and close ties between young and older family members as significant factors in the virus's spread. While Spain has the world's highest coronavirus death toll per capita after Belgium, its mortality rate -- the percentage of infected patients who die -- stands at 10.4 percent, below other hard-hit nations like Italy, France and Britain.
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