| Feds: Man charged in 2006 Iraq slayings should remain jailed Posted: 15 May 2020 05:02 PM PDT  Prosecutors say an Iraqi immigrant arrested three months ago in Arizona on charges of participating in the 2006 killings of two police officers in Iraq should remain jailed until his extradition case concludes because he is at risk of fleeing and poses a danger to the community. Prosecutors also told a judge at a hearing Friday that he should reject Ali Yousif Ahmed Al-Nouri's claim that he shouldn't be extradited because his offense in Iraq was of a political nature. Ahmed's attorney, Jami Johnson, disputed the prosecutors' arguments and questioned why it took nearly 13 years for the Iraqi criminal case to be filed and alleged that there is pervasive corruption in the Iraqi justice system.
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| Coronavirus in Nigeria: The child beggars at the heart of the outbreak Posted: 15 May 2020 04:50 PM PDT  Tens of thousands of Koranic school children were recently sent home, unwittingly helping to spread coronavirus.
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| Pandemic planning becomes political weapon as deaths mount Posted: 15 May 2020 03:59 PM PDT  For the first three years of his presidency, Donald Trump did not publicly utter the words "pandemic" or "preparedness." Obama has been a persistent foil for Trump on a number of issues, but in the case of planning for the pandemic he has devoted little attention to the 69-page "playbook" from the Obama administration about the threat of a viral outbreak that might include Ebola or an airborne respiratory illness like coronavirus.
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| Cuban doctors in Mexico may be pawns in a shady giveaway and human-rights abuse | Opinion Posted: 15 May 2020 03:02 PM PDT |
| Appeals judges seem apt to let presidential primary proceed Posted: 15 May 2020 02:02 PM PDT |
| Coronavirus spreads in Yemen with health system in shambles Posted: 15 May 2020 01:26 PM PDT  Hundreds of people in Aden, southern Yemen's main city, have died in the past week with symptoms of what appears to be the coronavirus, local health officials said in interviews with The Associated Press. The officials fear the situation is only going to get worse: Yemen has little capacity to test those suspected of having the virus and a 5-year-long civil war has left the health system in shambles. One gravedigger in Aden told AP he'd never seen such a constant flow of dead — even in a city that has seen multiple bouts of bloody street battles during the civil war.
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| Trump says US will beat out Russia and China with 'super duper missile' Posted: 15 May 2020 01:14 PM PDT  Development of missile comes as US president's rhetoric has fueled fears of a new nuclear arms raceUnveiling the flag for his new space force in the Oval Office on Friday, Donald Trump said the US was developing a "super duper missile" to outpace military rivals including Russia and China."We have no choice, we have to do it with the adversaries we have out there. We have, I call it the super duper missile and I heard the other night [it's] 17 times faster than what they have right now," the president said, sitting at the Resolute Desk."That's right," said the defense secretary, Mark Esper, standing to Trump's right."You take the fastest missile we have right now," Trump said. "You heard Russia has five times and China's working on five or six times, we have one 17 times and it's just got the go-ahead."Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, has indeed announced a hypersonic nuclear missile, meaning one that flies at five times the speed of sound (767mph) or faster.According to Bloomberg News, Putin has said his Avangard missiles can "travel at up to 20 times the speed of sound, like a 'meteorite' or a 'fireball'"."Not a single country possesses hypersonic weapons, let alone continental-range hypersonic weapons," Putin told military chiefs in December, according to Bloomberg. "They're trying to catch up with us."The US tested its own hypersonic missile last year but on Friday Trump, whose public rhetoric and withdrawal from key treaties have fuelled fears of a new nuclear arms race, seemed to allude to new technology. A report released this week detailed accelerated US spending on nuclear weapons.Trump's desire to build a new and cosmic arm of the US military has attracted widespread criticism and satire. In perhaps the most extreme example, Netflix will soon release an eponymous comedy starring Steve Carell and John Malkovich.The fallout from Friday's event in the Oval Office might have been more reminiscent of HBO's hit satire Veep.According to the Hill, reporters raised the "super duper missile" during a Pentagon press call. Despite Esper's apparent confirmation of the "super duper missile", a spokesman referred questions back to the White House.
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| Space Force unveils flag; Trump touts 'super-duper missile' Posted: 15 May 2020 01:13 PM PDT  The U.S. Space Force — the newest branch of the armed services — now has its own flag. Defense Department officials presented President Donald Trump with the Space Force flag during a short Oval Office event on Friday. The Space Force, which was officially established in December, is the first new military service since the U.S. Air Force was established in 1947.
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| From pandemic to famine: Can world meet food crisis fast enough? Posted: 15 May 2020 01:01 PM PDT |
| Sailors on sidelined carrier get virus for second time Posted: 15 May 2020 10:29 AM PDT  Five sailors on the aircraft carrier sidelined in Guam due to a COVID-19 outbreak have tested positive for the virus for the second time and have been taken off the ship, according to the Navy. The resurgence of the virus in the five sailors on the USS Theodore Roosevelt underscores the befuddling behavior of the highly contagious virus and raises questions about how troops that test positive can be reintegrated into the military, particularly on ships. The Roosevelt has been at port in Guam since late March after the outbreak of the virus was discovered.
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| UK deal on EU ties is possible, PM Johnson tells Ireland's Varadkar Posted: 15 May 2020 09:55 AM PDT |
| Liberal Democrats' general election campaign was a 'high speed car crash', internal inquiry finds Posted: 15 May 2020 09:36 AM PDT  The Liberal Democrats' revoke policy "alienated large chunks of the population" during a general election campaign that resembled a "high speed car crash", an internal inquiry has found. The party's poor performance in December 2019 saw them drop to just 11 MPs in the Commons, with leader Jo Swinson losing her own seat in East Dunbartonshire. A new report, authored by Lib Dem peer Baroness Thornhill, argues the party's anti-Brexit policy of revoking Article 50 "ignored" more than half of all voters in the UK and ran "contrary to what many knew to be a core Liberal Democrat principle of fairness". The former Watford mayor also criticised the party's insistence that Ms Swinson could become Prime Minister. Ms Swinson billed herself as a contender for the premiership during the party's election launch in November, an assertion which Baroness Thornhill said "appeared unrealistic to the wider public". The review polled 20,000 members of the party, and Baroness Thornhill said it was obvious that many Lib Dems were "gutted and angry" with the election performance. The report heavily criticised the party's internal machine, saying our "governance structures are a mess and don't do what they are supposed to". Baroness Thornhill also noted that decision making during the general election was "unclear".
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| Michigan judge hears latest clash over stay-home orders Posted: 15 May 2020 09:03 AM PDT  Republicans who control the Michigan Legislature urged a judge Friday to strike down stay-home orders and other restrictions related to the coronavirus, saying Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer trampled their authority in determining statewide emergencies. The clash in Michigan is the latest between Democratic governors who have shut down businesses and ordered people to stay home in response to COVID-19 and conservatives who believe the steps are excessive. The Wisconsin Supreme Court this week ruled against Gov. Tony Evers' administration, clearing the way for bars and restaurants to reopen.
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| Brazil's health minister resigns after one month on the job Posted: 15 May 2020 08:42 AM PDT  Brazil's health minister resigned Friday after less than a month on the job in a sign of continuing upheaval over how the nation should battle the coronavirus pandemic, quitting a day after President Jair Bolsonaro stepped up pressure on him to expand use of the antimalarial drug chloroquine in treating patients. Dr. Nelson Teich, an oncologist and health care consultant, took the job April 17 faced with the task of aligning the ministry's actions with the president's view that Brazil's economy must not be destroyed by restrictions to control spread of the virus. Teich's predecessor, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, also had rejected the use of chloroquine, which also had been touted by U.S. President Donald Trump as a treatment.
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| Lawyer: Security video in Arbery case may show water breaks Posted: 15 May 2020 08:06 AM PDT  A young black man filmed by a security camera walking through a home under construction in December and in February may have stopped at the site for a drink of water, according to an attorney for the homeowner thrust into the investigation of the fatal shooting of Ahmaud Arbery. Right before the chase, Arbery was recorded inside an open-framed home being built on the same street. Gregory McMichael, 64, and Travis McMichael, 34, have been jailed on murder charges since May 7.
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| Historically black colleges work to help students amid virus Posted: 15 May 2020 08:05 AM PDT  Then Bennett, a small historically black women's college in North Carolina, saw Johnson's potential and offered her a full scholarship. Bennett staff provided a house for Johnson and another student along with money for necessities. The school of 268 students helped Johnson, and others like her, despite its somewhat shaky financial condition and concerns that COVID-19 could make things worse.
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| Poll: US believers see message of change from God in virus Posted: 15 May 2020 08:00 AM PDT  While the virus rattles the globe, causing economic hardship for millions and killing more than 80,000 Americans, the findings of the poll by the University of Chicago Divinity School and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research indicate that people may also be searching for deeper meaning in the devastating outbreak. Fewer than 1% say they do not believe in God today but did before.
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| Coronavirus Unmasks El Salvador’s Authoritarian-in-Waiting Posted: 15 May 2020 08:00 AM PDT |
| Age and pandemic: Time lost, plans canceled, dreams deferred Posted: 15 May 2020 07:53 AM PDT  Elizabeth Hubbart was booked for a cruise that followed the path of Lewis and Clark's expedition in the Pacific Northwest. Joel Demski was set to watch and cheer his grandson graduating from the Naval Academy. James Kelly planned a trip to Scotland, to scatter his father's ashes in the Clyde River near Glasgow.
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| UK holds firm on Brexit extension Posted: 15 May 2020 07:37 AM PDT  Despite the deadlock in post-Brexit EU trade talks and the disruption of coronavirus, London still refuses to consider delaying a December deadline -- and the outbreak may even have toughened its stance. When Britain left the European Union in January, both sides agreed to a standstill transition until December 31 in which to agree a new relationship to replace five decades of close ties. Many British businesses tackling the fallout of a nationwide lockdown are now even more fearful of new trade barriers, calling on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to ask for more time.
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| Portland, Oregon, homeless tax tests voter mood in pandemic Posted: 15 May 2020 07:35 AM PDT  Voters in metropolitan Portland, Oregon, will be asked Tuesday to approve taxes on personal income and business profits that would raise $2.5 billion over a decade to fight homelessness even as the state grapples with the coronavirus and its worst recession in years. How voters in the liberal city react amid the pandemic will be instructive for other West Coast cities struggling to address burgeoning homeless populations as other sources of revenue dry up. The measure is believed to be one of the first nationwide to ask voters to open their wallets in a post-COVID-19 world.
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| German conservatives won't nominate Merkel successor before December - RND Posted: 15 May 2020 07:23 AM PDT |
| VIRUS DIARY: Navigating a flu-like illness in the corona age Posted: 15 May 2020 06:56 AM PDT  For those of us from a region where outbursts of violence are an occupational hazard, coping with coronavirus seemed simple enough: Stay at home and you'll be fine. A brief call to Israel's national coronavirus hotline made it clear I was a low-priority case. With Israel's Health Ministry under fire for delivering far less than their promised availability of tests, I was swiftly rejected.
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| Britain, EU in post-Brexit trade talks stalemate Posted: 15 May 2020 06:47 AM PDT  The EU and Britain ended their latest round of post-Brexit trade talks in a state of deadlock on Friday, with both sides urging the other to fundamentally change its strategy. EU negotiator Michel Barnier said he was "disappointed" by Britain's lack of ambition -- but also accused London of seeking the benefits of single market access without its responsibilities. In London, at the end of a week of haggling by videoconference, Barnier's UK counterpart David Frost agreed that not a lot had been achieved.
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| Once adversaries, Boston lawyers now aid COVID-19 caregivers Posted: 15 May 2020 06:10 AM PDT  During a storied legal career, Clyde Bergstresser has become one of the go-to medical malpractice lawyers in Massachusetts. Rather than make a personal donation to one of the city's many hospitals, Bergstresser blitzed the local legal community, corralling support from some of the city's most prominent attorneys in a new non-profit they are calling, "Lawyers Honoring COVID Caregivers." Although a variety of recipients could qualify for the funds, Bergstresser said the group is targeting Boston EMS, the city's ambulance service, and Boston Medical Center, a safety-net hospital that serves the city's poor.
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| Wuhan pledges to test all 11 million residents as China works to avoid second wave Posted: 15 May 2020 05:11 AM PDT  All 11 million residents of Wuhan will be tested for the coronavirus, officials in the Chinese city where the outbreak began last year said on Friday, as the country marked one month without any reported deaths from the disease. Beijing also responded to the latest volley from President Donald Trump, who said he didn't want to speak to President Xi Jinping at the moment, and added that he could cut ties with the world's second-largest economy if he wanted to. The provincial government of Hubei, where Wuhan is located, said on its website that the city "will carry out nucleic acid tests on all citizens, comprehensively screen for asymptomatic infections, to reassure the people of Wuhan and reassure the people across the country."
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| Nevada highway damaged by largest area quake in 65 years Posted: 15 May 2020 04:32 AM PDT  The cracked main highway between Las Vegas and Reno reopened Friday, 10 hours after a predawn magnitude 6.5 earthquake that a researcher called the largest to strike the remote area of western Nevada in 65 years. No injuries were reported, but officials said goods tumbled from market shelves, sidewalks heaved and storefront windows cracked shortly after 4 a.m. People from Salt Lake City to California's Central Valley tweeted that they felt shaking. Lights swayed at the governor's mansion in Carson City, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak told reporters.
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| UK tells EU on Brexit: Blink or there will be no deal Posted: 15 May 2020 04:29 AM PDT |
| 10 things you need to know today: May 15, 2020 Posted: 15 May 2020 03:59 AM PDT |
| Germany to ban subcontracting in meatpacking industry after virus outbreaks Posted: 15 May 2020 03:13 AM PDT |
| Coronavirus: Are African countries struggling to increase testing? Posted: 15 May 2020 03:07 AM PDT  As African countries ease lockdowns, is testing being scaled up?
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| Taiwan unlikely to attend upcoming World Health Assembly due to 'politics', Vice-President Chen Chien-jen says Posted: 15 May 2020 02:30 AM PDT |
| Coronavirus: Donald Trump threatens to 'cut off' China ties, doesn't want to speak to Xi Jinping Posted: 15 May 2020 02:30 AM PDT |
| Trump’s China Bark Is Worse Than His Bite Posted: 15 May 2020 02:25 AM PDT  (Bloomberg Opinion) -- Are relations between China and America headed toward an even deeper breach?After years of angry rhetoric on trade and, more recently, dubious claims that Covid-19 emerged in a Chinese laboratory, President Donald Trump is threatening to end bilateral relations altogether."We could cut off the whole relationship now," he said in an interview with Fox Business News. "If we did, what would happen? We'd save $500 billion." The risk of a military clash between the two countries is increasing even if neither side wants war, Hu Xijin, the outspoken editor-in-chief of China's Global Times tabloid, wrote on Twitter.For all the intemperate language, there's less to this latest clash than meets the eye. Trump and Beijing are both adept at filling their diplomatic language with sound and fury, signifying nothing. A look at China's other strained ties shows there's usually far more realpolitik than ego at play.Take Australia. The testy relationship with Canberra is going through another bad patch, with China threatening tariffs on barley and banning beef imports from some slaughterhouses after Australia called for an inquiry into whether its wet markets were responsible for the emergence of coronavirus.Australia exports more to China than to its next four biggest trade partners put together. From China's perspective, only the U.S., Japan and South Korea buy more mainland goods. Yet Canberra has been in the doghouse with Beijing for several years. The last meeting between their leaders was in 2016. Chinese President Xi Jinping hasn't managed to fit the country into his busy travel schedule since 2014. Recent years have been dotted with spats over foreign-influence laws, China's human rights record, its detention of Australian writer Yang Hengjun, and even a doping scandal around now-banned Olympic swimmer Sun Yang.In spite of all that, economic and social relations are as good as they've ever been. Chinese imports from Australia have never been higher than in the 12 months through December; the number of Chinese students enrolling at the country's universities was also at a record, running nearly double the level when warmer ties prevailed back in 2014.Last year's trade diplomacy stand-off centered around claims that China was using customs checks to impose a soft ban on Australian coal exports, but in the end trade volumes for that commodity rose about 21% from a year earlier in the 12 months through March.The best explanation for this is that while Beijing's leadership might try to bully smaller nations like Norway, self-preservation instincts make it entirely pragmatic in how it deals with key exports from major trading partners. That's even been the case with the likes of South Korea: Its shipments to China increased by 11% during 2017 despite bad blood engendered by a highly public dispute over a U.S.-supplied missile shield system. Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro came to office seemingly hell-bent on antagonizing Beijing at every opportunity. China's leaders have steadfastly refused to take offense, and have even worked hard to woo a nation they see as a rich source of iron ore, soybeans and meat.The U.S. seems to behave in a similar manner, in spite of all the heated words from the Oval Office. Three years into a simmering trade war, direct investment in China by U.S. businesses in 2019 was running at the $14 billion a year level it's followed in almost every year since 2005, according to Rhodium Group, a research consultancy. While flows in the opposite direction plummeted, that was as much to do with a general reversal in China's attitude to outbound investment and tougher regulatory scrutiny in Washington, as with a decision to punish the U.S. for its trade stances.The slow deterioration of the U.S.-China relationship is still worrying, especially as the confrontational tone has spread to both parties in Washington and almost every echelon of the Chinese leadership. Countries that start to see themselves as rivals can end up behaving that way. Unless efforts are made to restore comity, the vicious spiral of mistrust can be impossible to escape.Still, whenever leaders bicker it's worth remembering that the real ties between nations are among people and businesses, rather than diplomats and presidents. At that level, the relationship still remains hearteningly warm.This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.David Fickling is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering commodities, as well as industrial and consumer companies. He has been a reporter for Bloomberg News, Dow Jones, the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times and the Guardian.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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| Jordan warns Israel of 'massive conflict' over annexation Posted: 15 May 2020 01:41 AM PDT  Jordan's king warned Israel of a "massive conflict" if it proceeds with plans to annex large parts of the occupied West Bank, as European Union foreign ministers agreed on Friday to step up diplomatic efforts to try to head off such a move. Israel has vowed to annex Jewish settlements and the Jordan Valley, which could spell the end of the long-stalled peace process by making it virtually impossible to establish a viable Palestinian state. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has moved a step closer by reaching an agreement to form a government after more than a year of political deadlock.
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| Asia virus latest: Trump issues China threat; first case in Rohingya camps Posted: 15 May 2020 01:29 AM PDT  A Rohingya man has become the first person to test positive for COVID-19 in the vast refugee camps in Bangladesh that are home to almost one million people, officials said. US President Donald Trump further hardened his rhetoric towards China, saying he no longer wishes to speak with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and warning he might cut ties over the rival superpower's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
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| World looks on in horror as Trump flails over pandemic despite claims US leads way Posted: 15 May 2020 01:00 AM PDT  The president's outlandish behavior as Americans suffer has inspired horror and confusion while alienating allies * Coronavirus – live US updates * Live global updatesThe Trump administration has repeatedly claimed that the US is "leading the world" with its response to the pandemic, but it does not seem to be going in any direction the world wants to follow.Across Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America, views of the US handling of the coronavirus crisis are uniformly negative and range from horror through derision to sympathy. Donald Trump's musings from the White House briefing room, particularly his thoughts on injecting disinfectant, have drawn the attention of the planet."Over more than two centuries, the United States has stirred a very wide range of feelings in the rest of the world: love and hatred, fear and hope, envy and contempt, awe and anger," the columnist Fintan O'Toole wrote in the Irish Times. "But there is one emotion that has never been directed towards the US until now: pity."The US has emerged as a global hotspot for the pandemic, a giant petri dish for the Sars-CoV-2 virus. As the death toll rises, Trump's claims to global leadership have became more far-fetched. He told Republicans last week that he had had a round of phone calls with Angela Merkel, Shinzo Abe and other unnamed world leaders and insisted "so many of them, almost all of them, I would say all of them" believe the US is leading the way.None of the leaders he mentioned has said anything to suggest that was true. At each milestone of the crisis, European leaders have been taken aback by Trump's lack of consultation with them – when he suspended travel to the US from Europe on 12 March without warning Brussels, for example. A week later, politicians in Berlin accused Trump of an "unfriendly act" for offering "large sums of money" to get a German company developing a vaccine to move its research wing to the US.The president's abrupt decision to cut funding to the World Health Organization last month also came as a shock. The EU's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, a former Spanish foreign minister, wrote on Twitter: "There is no reason justifying this move at a moment when their efforts are needed more than ever to help contain & mitigate the coronavirus pandemic."A poll in France last week found Merkel to be far and away the most trusted world leader. Just 2% had confidence Trump was leading the world in the right direction. Only Boris Johnson and Xi Jinping inspired less faith.A survey this week by the British Foreign Policy Group found 28% of Britons trusted the US to act responsibly on the world stage, a drop of 13 percentage points since January, with the biggest drop in confidence coming among Conservative voters.Dacian Cioloș, a former prime minister of Romania who now leads the Renew Europe group in the European parliament, captured a general European view this week as the latest statistics on deaths in the US were reported."Post-truth communication techniques used by rightwing populism movements simply do not work to beat Covid-19," he told the Guardian. "And we see that populism cost lives."Around the globe, the "America first" response pursued by the Trump administration has alienated close allies. In Canada, it was the White House order in April to halt shipments of critical N95 protective masks to Canadian hospitals that was the breaking point.The Ontario premier, Doug Ford, who had previously spoken out in support of Trump on several occasions, said the decision was like letting a family member "starve" during a crisis."When the cards are down, you see who your friends are," said Ford. "And I think it's been very clear over the last couple of days who our friends are."In countries known for chronic problems of governance, there has been a sense of wonder that the US appears to have joined their ranks.Esmir Milavić, an editor at Bosnia's N1 TV channel, told viewers this week: "The White House is in utter dysfunction and doesn't speak with one voice."Milavić said: "The vice-president is wearing a mask, while the president doesn't; some staffers wear them, some don't. Everybody acts as they please. As time passes, White House begins to look more and more like the Balkans."After Trump's disinfectant comments, Beppe Severgnini, a columnist for Italy's Corriere della Sera, said in a TV interview: "Trying to get into Donald Trump's head is more difficult than finding a vaccine for coronavirus. First he decided on a lockdown and then he encouraged protests against the lockdown that he promoted. It's like a Mel Brooks film."In several countries, the local health authorities have felt obliged to put out statements to counter "health advice" coming from the White House, concerning the ingestion of disinfectant and taking hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug found to be ineffective against Covid-19 and potentially lethal.The Nigerian government put out a warning that there is no "hard evidence that chloroquine is effective in prevention or management of coronavirus infection" after three people were hospitalised from overdosing on the drug in Lagos. It was not enough to prevent a fivefold increase in the price of the drug, which is also used to treat lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.Trump's decision not to take part in a global effort to find a vaccine, and his abrupt severance of financial support to the WHO at the height of the pandemic, added outrage and prompted complaints that the US was surrendering its role of global leadership."If there is any world leader who can be accused of handling the current crisis badly, it is Donald Trump, whose initial disdain for Covid-19 may have cost thousands of Americans their lives," an editorial in the conservative Estado de São Paulo newspaper said last month.The newspaper said Trump had only decided to take Covid seriously after finding himself "cornered by the facts" – and expressed shock at his decision to halt WHO funding."Even by the standards of his behaviour, the level of impudence is astonishing for the holder of an office that, until just a few years ago, was a considered reference in leadership for the democratic world," it said.Nowhere in the world is the US response to the pandemic more routinely castigated than in China. It is hardly surprising. Trump has consistently pointed to Chinese culpability in failing to contain the outbreak in its early stages, and the pandemic has become the central battleground for global leadership between the established superpower and the emerging challenger.There is a palpable sense of relief among Chinese state commentators that the US president's antics have diverted some of the anger that would otherwise have been aimed at Beijing."Only by making Americans hate China can they make sure that the public might overlook the fact that Trump's team is stained with the blood of Americans," said an English-language Global Times editorial late last month.Its editor, Hu Xijin, tweeted: "US system used to be appealing to many Chinese people. But through the pandemic, Chinese saw US government's incompetence in outbreak control, disregard for life and its overt lies. Washington's political halo has little left."China's failure to cooperate fully with the WHO and its heavy-handed diplomacy has won Beijing few friends, despite its dispatch of medical assistance around the world. But the German news weekly Der Spiegel argued that Trump had single-handedly managed to spare Beijing the worst of the global consequences for its failings."For a while, it looked like the outbreak of the coronavirus would throw China back by light years," the magazine argued in an editorial. "But now it is US president Donald Trump who has to spend day after day in a stuffy White House press room explaining to the world why his country can't get a grip on the pandemic."
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| Trump on China: ‘We could cut off the whole relationship’ Posted: 15 May 2020 12:42 AM PDT  Donald Trump said he not spoken to Chinese premier Xi Jinping during the coronavirus crisis – and that the US could "cut off" its relationship with China altogether."I have a very good relationship," he said, "but I just – right now I don't want to speak to him. I don't want to speak to him."
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| Trevor Noah Calls Out Sean Hannity Over ‘Barack Hussein Obama’ Dog-Whistle Racism Posted: 14 May 2020 11:27 PM PDT  On Thursday night, The Daily Show's Trevor Noah addressed "a brand new conspiracy that Trump and Fox News are calling: Obamagate." (It's not new but more on that later.)Cue Trump sycophant and Fox News host Sean Hannity, who called it "the biggest abuse of power/corruption scandal in American history," adding, 'What did Barack Hussein Obama know, and when did he know it?" "Oh snap! Barack Hussein Obama!" exclaimed Noah. "That's how you know you're in trouble, when Fox is calling you by your full government name. 'Barack Hussein Jihad Nairobi Kenya Obama, get your butt down here right now!'" "Now, as you can tell, Fox News hasn't been this excited since the last time Colin Kaepernick bent down to tie his shoes," Noah continued. "They're claiming that, when Obama was president, he illegally used the power of the Justice Department to spy on his political enemy, Donald Trump. And if you're thinking, wait, didn't we already do this, like, a year ago and they called it Spygate? Well, yeah, we did." Yes, according to the conspiracy theorists over at Fox News and Trumpworld, Obama abused his power by ordering the surveillance of Michael Flynn, a man who has twice pleaded guilty to lying to the authorities about his contacts with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, who wrote pro-Erdogan propaganda columns in the U.S. while accepting money from the Turkish government, who was a registered foreign agent, and served as the special (paid) guest of Vladimir Putin at a 2015 gala dinner hosted by RT, the Russian government's pet TV station.Trevor Noah Defends Jared Kushner Over Sensational Media Headlines: 'Let's Not Gin Up Controversy'John Oliver Unloads on Bill Barr Over Michael Flynn Reversal: 'A Dangerous Precedent'Attorney General William Barr dropped charges against Flynn last week, alleging—in a seemingly partisan move, and with scant evidence—that the FBI shouldn't have been looking into Flynn in the first place, even though Flynn was engaged in shady conversations with Kislyak concerning the retaliatory measures the Obama administration took against Russia for their interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election (Trump's DOJ has refused to make even redacted transcripts of the Flynn-Kislyak phone conversations, which do exist, public), and subsequently confessed to lying to Vice President Mike Pence and the FBI about the nature of the calls. A 2019 Justice Department Inspector General report found no evidence of any foul play on the part of the Obama administration with respect to the Trump-Russia investigation, but of course, that hasn't stopped Trump from repeating a conspiracy theory he first began tweeting about in May of 2018 after seeing it floated on his favorite show, Fox & Friends. Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet 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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| Outside US, top scientists steer debate away from politics Posted: 14 May 2020 11:22 PM PDT  President Donald Trump is never far from a public spat with his government's top expert on the pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the most recent flare-up occurring this week over the pace of reopening schools. Among U.S. allies, however, many leaders are happy to step away from the spotlight to leverage experts' ability to counter misleading information and appeal across political boundaries to gain public compliance for health restrictions. "The particular features of a pandemic give new dimensions to questions of trust," said Terry Flew, a professor of communication at Queensland University of Technology.
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| Iraqi doctor's fight with virus lays bare a battered system Posted: 14 May 2020 10:57 PM PDT  Dr. Marwa al-Khafaji's homecoming after 20 days in a hospital isolation ward was met by spite. The young physician was catapulted into the front lines of Iraq's battle with the virus in early March. The Associated Press followed her tale from inside a squalid quarantine room to her return to the streets of her childhood, where she found piercing glares had displaced greetings.
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| 1st COVID-19 case detected in Rohingya camps in Bangladesh Posted: 14 May 2020 10:32 PM PDT  The first coronavirus case has been confirmed in the crowded camps for Rohingya refugees in southern Bangladesh, where more than 1 million are taking shelter. The infected Rohingya and a local Bangladeshi who lives in the Cox's Bazar district who also tested positive have been isolated, Mahbub Alam Talukder, the country's refugee commissioner, said Thursday. Teams have been activated to treat the patients as well as trace people they may have encountered, Louise Donovan, a spokeswoman for the U.N. refugee agency, told The Associated Press.
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| Lives Lost: Holocaust survivor reclaimed Nazi-looted artwork Posted: 14 May 2020 10:03 PM PDT  With the Nazis murdering Jews and ransacking their property outside on the infamous nights of Kristallnacht in 1938, 13-year-old David Toren sat in the sunroom of his wealthy great-uncle in Germany admiring a favorite painting depicting two men on horseback on a beach. Within a year, Toren would be smuggled out in one of the final Kindertransports, a series of rescues for Jewish children organized by several European countries. Left behind, his family would perish in the death camps and their vast art collection would be seized by Nazis and later traded by unscrupulous dealers.
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| Typhoon leaves 1 dead, extensive damage in Philippine towns Posted: 14 May 2020 09:26 PM PDT  Strong winds and rain from Typhoon Vongfong left at least one person dead and damaged hundreds of homes and coronavirus isolation facilities along with rice and corn fields in five hard-hit eastern towns, a governor said Friday. Gov. Ben Evardone of Eastern Samar province, where the typhoon slammed ashore, said distraught residents wept after their houses were destroyed or blown away in the towns he inspected.
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| UK urges Myanmar military to extend cease-fire, citing virus Posted: 14 May 2020 08:58 PM PDT |
| Hong Kong shop offers 'tear gas' flavor ice cream Posted: 14 May 2020 08:16 PM PDT  Tear gas is among the new flavors at a Hong Kong ice cream shop. The main ingredient is black peppercorns, a reminder of the pungent, peppery rounds fired by police on the streets of the semi-autonomous Chinese city during months of demonstrations last year.
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| Coronavirus Is Bringing Out the Worst in Malaysians Posted: 14 May 2020 06:00 PM PDT  (Bloomberg Opinion) -- The sequence of events is familiar. As the coronavirus spreads across an economy, livelihoods are lost and futures are imperiled. Looking for someone to blame, populists and opportunistic politicians turn to migrants and refugees. Soon, the local social media fills with xenophobia and hate, along with demands that the foreigners "go back to where they came from."For weeks, this pattern has played out with particular vehemence in Malaysia. The targeted foreigners are the Rohingya, a largely Muslim ethnic group that has faced decades of persecution in nearby Myanmar. In recent days, the situation has become so extreme that 83 human-rights groups demanded that Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin intercede. He should pay attention: Calming these tensions will ultimately protect the public health and livelihoods of all Malaysians — and quite possibly provide an example for other countries grappling with the same poisonous problem.Southeast Asia's economic development has long coincided with vast inequalities. As fast-growing Malaysia developed, low-income rural workers from neighboring countries flocked to work at palm-oil plantations, factories and the homes of the rich. Today, Malaysia has as many as 5.5 million migrant workers, the majority of whom are illegal and undocumented, out of a total population of 32.7 million. Although they're critical to the economy, these migrants are denied basic public benefits and prohibited from formal employment. One result is that shadow-economy employers often take advantage of them.For the Rohingya, the situation is especially bleak. They make up about 56% of the 179,000 people in the country who are recognized as refugees and asylum seekers by the United Nations. Because Malaysia isn't a party to international refugee agreements, however, they have no official recognition locally and little help from the government. Allegations that Rohingya are a drain on public resources have nevertheless persisted for years, and have only worsened amid the country's worst economic crisis in decades.The xenophobia started boiling over in mid-March, after a Facebook post claimed that activists were demanding citizenship for Malaysia's Rohingya. Within days, racist and threatening comments were spreading across social media. At least five petitions demanding the deportation of the Rohingya were posted to Change.org, where they garnered hundreds of thousands of signatures (they've since been removed). The government only made matters worse by rounding up undocumented migrants for fear that they'd spread coronavirus, and placing them into camps (where coronavirus will spread). Fears of violence are now pervasive, but the government appears to have little interest in tamping down the hostility.It's hard to think of a more shortsighted response. Whether the populists like it or not, Malaysia's millions of undocumented migrants aren't going anywhere amid a health crisis that has shut borders worldwide. And the government's efforts to control the virus internally will by necessity require testing and treating the populations it has long refused to recognize. So long as refugees are demonized, they'll be discouraged from seeking out help or agreeing to critical measures like contact tracing.Meanwhile, Malaysia's reeling economy can ill afford to simply jettison so much of its essential workforce. Last year, the country's rubber-glove industry — the world's largest — had to cut output after the government cracked down on undocumented labor, leaving a shortage of 25,000 workers. Once the pandemic took hold, and recruiting foreigners became untenable, locals turned out to be less than enthusiastic about working with hot rubber all day. At Top Glove Corp., the world's largest maker of medical gloves, the lead time required to fill an order has climbed from 30 days to as long as 150.In the short-term, Muhyiddin should call off raids and other actions against the undocumented, while calling for a cessation of the heated rhetoric on social media. Over the long term, Malaysia should finally sign onto international agreements that protect such migrants, including the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, while finally cracking down on widespread discrimination. Doing so would not only help the economy and public health, but bolster a fragile multi-racial democracy that can't afford additional division. Malaysia might even show the world how to rise above the hatred.This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Adam Minter is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He is the author of "Junkyard Planet: Travels in the Billion-Dollar Trash Trade" and "Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale."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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| Iran reports 2,102 new virus cases, highest in over month Posted: 14 May 2020 05:01 PM PDT  Iran on Friday reported its highest number of new coronavirus infections in more than a month as it warned of clusters hitting new regions. Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said 2,102 new cases were confirmed across the country in the past 24 hours, bringing the overall total to 116,635. The southwestern province of Khuzestan remained "red" -- the top level of Iran's colour-coded risk scale.
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