| Joe Biden makes virtual campaign trail debut after several days of public absence Posted: 23 Mar 2020 10:16 AM PDT  Former Vice President and Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden made his first video address after four days of cable news silence to address the coronavirus pandemic from his family home in Wilmington, Del.
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| I am a doctor, a public health expert and a mother. This is what people ask me, and what I tell them. Posted: 22 Mar 2020 07:58 AM PDT  What does an expert in infectious disease get asked about coronavirus, and what does she answer?
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| A 39-year-old otherwise healthy New Orleans woman who showed signs of the novel coronavirus died alone in her kitchen awaiting test results Posted: 23 Mar 2020 03:20 PM PDT  "I don't want to be sick anymore," Natasha Ott, a 39-year-old social worker, texted days before her death. Her COVID-19 results are still unknown.
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| 3 workers at facilities housing migrant kids in U.S. custody test positive for coronavirus Posted: 23 Mar 2020 03:54 AM PDT  A dozen migrant children in U.S. custody have been tested for the virus. Five results came back negative and the rest are pending.
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| Man sentenced to 25 years for trying to bomb Oklahoma bank Posted: 23 Mar 2020 11:43 AM PDT  An Oklahoma man was sentenced Monday to 25 years in prison after being convicted of trying to blow up an Oklahoma City bank with a massive vehicle bomb, according to federal prosecutors. Jerry Drake Varnell, 26, of Sayre, was sentenced in federal court in Oklahoma City. Varnell was arrested in August 2017 after he tried to detonate what authorities said he believed was a half-ton (450-kilogram) bomb outside BancFirst in downtown Oklahoma City.
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| Italy sees second successive drop in virus deaths Posted: 23 Mar 2020 12:06 PM PDT  Italy on Monday reported a second successive drop in daily deaths and infections from a coronavirus that has nevertheless claimed more than 6,000 lives in a month. Italy's National Health Institute (ISS) chief Silvio Brusaferro was more guarded. Saturday's record toll was followed by a late-night address to the nation in which Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced the additional closure of "non-essential" factories.
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| Pence says U.S. coronavirus guidance to be re-evaluated after 15-day period ends Posted: 23 Mar 2020 01:00 PM PDT  U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, who is leading a U.S. task force to address the coronavirus outbreak, said on Monday the Trump administration would re-evaluate its guidance after the current 15-day guidance period ends. "At the end of this 15 days, we're going to get with our health experts, we're going to evaluate ways in which we might be able to adjust that guidance for the American people," he told reporters when asked whether the guidance could be eased to help protect the economy. "But those measures right now were all in the belief that we could ... impact the trajectory of the curve of the coronavirus in America, in a way that would that would spare many Americans from being exposed or contracting the disease and, of course, save lives," he added.
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| White House press corps confirms 'suspected case' of coronavirus in the briefing room Posted: 23 Mar 2020 02:10 PM PDT  A member of the White House press corps who has been in the briefing room several times with President Trump has come down with a suspected case of coronavirus.
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| 'Absolutely irresponsible': Rand Paul's colleagues are calling him out after he reportedly went to the gym after testing for coronavirus Posted: 23 Mar 2020 07:59 AM PDT  Two of Paul's colleagues in the Senate criticized him after he reportedly refused to isolate himself after testing for the coronavirus.
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| Midwives Slam NYC Hospital for Forcing Women to Give Birth Alone Posted: 23 Mar 2020 02:15 PM PDT  A group of New York City midwives slammed a Manhattan hospital's new policy prohibiting partners in delivery rooms this week, warning that the restrictions to combat COVID-19 could lead to more expectant mothers giving birth at home "whether or not that is the best medical decision for them.""NYC Midwives calls on the State of New York and all New York hospitals to follow WHO guidelines and affirm their commitment to allowing one essential support person to accompany all laboring people," the group said in a statement.As previously reported by The Daily Beast, a growing number of women have already been considering birthing outside the hospital for fear of contamination, hospital overcrowding, and supply shortages as the novel coronavirus pandemic continues to spread nationwide.Pregnant Women Turn to Home Births to Escape VirusThe New York-Presbyterian Hospital system on Sunday solidified many mothers' fears—issuing a new policy that prohibits any support people, including husbands, wives, and family members, from accompanying women during labor or in the delivery room. New York State has also advised hospitals to suspend all visitation "except when medically necessary" as numbers of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus continue to surge. "For the time being, we really do need to exclude all visitors, including partners, for women admitted in labor," Dr. Dena Goffman, chief of obstetrics at Columbia University Medical Center, said in a Sunday press conference. But NYC Midwives, which supports both midwives and the practice of midwifery in New York City, urged the State of New York and all New York hospitals to adhere to guidelines enacted by the World Health Organization which state that "all women have the right to a safe and positive childbirth experience" despite a possible COVID-19 diagnosis.That right also includes giving birth with a "companion of choice," the group said, adding that they believe "a continuous labor support person is essential to the care of the birthing person." NYC Women Are Getting Pervy Doctors' Names Deleted From Birth CertificatesThe organization also argued Monday that several negative consequences may arise if people "are not guaranteed continuous support from a person of their choosing in labor." That includes more home births without proper care, increased birth complications, unnecessary C-sections, an increase in postpartum depression, and an increase in the rate of maternal morbidity for women of color."People will labor at home alone without care from a provider longer than is safe, rather than leave their loved one to come to the hospital," the statement also warned.Goffman stressed on Sunday that the hospital is aware of the hardships that come with giving birth alone, and her team is looking into ways to allow families to participate virtually—possibly through tablets."We recognize that we will need to provide additional support for moms, as well as mom and baby pairs, as they're in the hospital through the duration of their stay," Goffman said. Eugenia Montesinos, who has been a certified hospital midwife for two decades, told The Daily Beast on Monday the organization is pushing the city to look for solutions that allow expectant mothers the right to have a baby with support without increasing the risk for the coronavirus. "As a hospital midwife, I want to protect myself so I can keep working but also I don't want these women to suffer. That's inhumane," Montesinos said. "We have very limited supplies, and that's another big problem for us—there is no good solution here but all I know is that I don't want anybody to suffer."Male Birth Control: Will These Guys Make it a Reality?Montesinos said that while hospitals have not yet seen an increase in mothers in labor coming to the hospital for help—she said it's only a matter of time before natural birth midwives are too overwhelmed to handle their workload and will force women to seek medical health elsewhere. "We have a good number of midwives that deliver at home but they are overwhelmed. They are running out of protective gear and supplies and hours in the day to effectively take care of their mothers," Montesinos said. "People forget, it's two lives at stake."While the midwife admits there is no "easy solution" to this crisis, Montesinos said she hopes city officials consider creating a birthing center separate from hospitals to allow women, midwives, and nurses the space and resources to allow the birthing process to happen in a humane and healthy way. Women's Groups Dropped The Ball on Female Candidates—Now They're Taking The HeatA Change.org petition that garnered more than 1115,000 signatures by Monday afternoon urged New York-Presbyterian to change its policy—arguing that most hospitals combating the coronavirus do not have enough nurses to spend time with "people in labor to ensure their and their baby's health and safety."The petition was organized by Jessica Pournaras, a Brooklyn-based federally registered doula, or non-medical birthing assistant."No one should give birth alone," the petition states. "The long term effects of these rules will long outlast the effects of the virus, itself."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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| Senate Democrats block Republicans' coronavirus stimulus bill 2nd time around Posted: 23 Mar 2020 11:33 AM PDT  Senate Democrats have yet again blocked Republicans' "phase three" coronavirus economic stimulus bill.In a 49-46 vote on Monday, Democrats voted almost unanimously against pushing Republicans' $1.8 billion package to a floor vote, putting it far short of the 60 votes it needed to proceed. They said they're still negotiating with the Trump administration over the bill, though Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said earlier Monday he was "hopeful" they'd "reach a deal today."The Monday vote came after lengthy debate on the floor of the Senate, during which Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), one of the most conservative Democrats in the body, slammed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for being "worried more about the economy than we are the health care and the wellbeing of the people of America." Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.), who's up for a tough re-election race this fall, meanwhile switched his vote to side with Republicans, saying he was "embarrassed" by the political gaming over the bill.Senate Democrats similarly blocked the bill in a 47-47 procedural vote on Sunday. It would provide $1,200 checks to individual Americans and more to families, but also contains industry bailouts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) characterized as a "slush fund" for corporations.More stories from theweek.com Trump suggests he might soon prioritize the economy over public health U.K. imposes strict coronavirus lockdown measures for next 3 weeks The worst possible president for this crisis
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| COVID-19 damages retirement plans Posted: 23 Mar 2020 03:54 AM PDT  Everyday investors could have lost 30% or more during the coronavirus crash depending on how they've invested. It's hard to look at the numbers.
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| North Carolina wins court piracy case over Blackbeard's ship Posted: 23 Mar 2020 08:11 AM PDT  The Supreme Court sided unanimously Monday with North Carolina in a copyright fight with a company that has documented the salvage of the pirate Blackbeard's ship off the state's coast. Justice Elena Kagan wrote for the court that the company's copyright infringement lawsuit, which she called "a modern form of piracy," could not go forward because the Constitution generally protects states from lawsuits in federal courts. The 21st century dispute arose over the Queen Anne's Revenge, which ran aground more than 300 years ago.
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| South Africa: 'Our children are dying, but President Ramaphosa doesn't care' Posted: 22 Mar 2020 05:08 PM PDT  South Africa's leader Cyril Ramaphosa is accused of inaction over a spate of child murders.
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| Mainland China's new coronavirus infections up by two-fold to 78 cases Posted: 23 Mar 2020 05:30 PM PDT  Mainland China saw a doubling in new coronavirus cases, driven by a jump in infected travelers arriving from abroad, while more locally transmitted cases crept into its daily tally, including one in the central city of Wuhan. China had 78 new cases on Monday, the National Health Commission said, a two-fold increase from a day earlier. Of the new cases, 74 were imported infections, up from 39 a day earlier.
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| 'He just needs more of everything': Biden campaign faces retool after primary surge Posted: 22 Mar 2020 04:00 AM PDT  Newly filed campaign finance reports show how Biden's campaign lagged behind rivals until he caught fire after the South Carolina primary.
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| A full coronavirus lockdown now looks 'inevitable' for the UK as the public continues to flock to public spaces despite a surge in COVID-19 deaths Posted: 23 Mar 2020 01:04 AM PDT  The UK seems headed for a full coronavirus lockdown as the British public continues to ignore social-distancing rules.
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| Rand Paul Becomes the First Senator to Test Positive for the Coronavirus Posted: 22 Mar 2020 11:33 AM PDT  Paul was the only senator to vote agains a bipartisan $8.3 billion bill intended to help fight the outbreak
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| Iran leader refuses U.S. help, citing coronavirus conspiracy theory Posted: 22 Mar 2020 07:25 AM PDT  Iran's supreme leader refused U.S. assistance on Sunday to fight the new coronavirus, citing an unfounded conspiracy theory that the virus could be produced by America.
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| 'Unconscionable': Latino, black student numbers at NYC elite public high schools stay low Posted: 23 Mar 2020 12:20 PM PDT  "It's not clear to me that those tests necessarily test ability as much as they test parents' income or sociological location," one education expert noted.
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| China’s Mask Mercantilism Posted: 23 Mar 2020 02:01 PM PDT  As the novel coronavirus continues its deadly march from Wuhan across the globe, Chinese Communists are attempting to turn the pandemic, which was largely caused by their own complacency and incompetence, into a propaganda victory by highlighting stories of China delivering supplies and expertise to the countries it infected. The American chatterati is starting to worry about China seizing global leadership, but it should calm down. The United States and its democratic allies are still providing for other countries in a way that China will not.China has learned a great deal in the past few years. After Typhoon Haiyan devastated the Philippines in 2013, countries around the world sprang into action, sending food, money, and supplies to help. China joined in, initially offering . . . $200,000, a little more than half the $350,000 donation from the rock band Journey. After facing torrents of richly deserved scorn for its stinginess, the second-largest economy in world upped its ante to about $2 million, nearly matching the $2.7 million donation from geopolitical powerhouse Ikea.The main lesson the Chinese Communists seem to have drawn from the debacle is that the appearance of doing good is more important than actually doing it, and so far, media reactions are proving them right. In the past few weeks, the Chinese propaganda machine has gone into overdrive, praising China for buying time for the world to respond to the pandemic and for leading the global response to the coronavirus. Both claims are false, despite being widely bandied about in the media.China did not delay the disease's spread, New York Times op-eds to the contrary. Wuhan's officials destroyed evidence and harassed medical professionals who warned about the new virus. After president Xi Jinping took charge of China's response, he lied to World Health Organization officials and waited until after infected people reached Thailand, South Korea, and the United States before initiating lockdowns. For months, China obstructed not the disease, but rather the people trying to stop it.Chinese propagandists also claim that China is leading the way in responding to the crisis internationally, which is patently false. China's much-publicized gift of 1 million masks to Japan is a grand and magnificent gesture, albeit only one-third as grand as prior Japanese donations of nearly 3 million masks to China.The most remarkable case, however, is in Italy, where China's ostentatious delivery of supplies and doctors has caused much consternation among Americans who worry that the United States is losing its global leadership role. Media accounts often omitted that the supplies were bought and paid for by the Italians, when the most newsworthy element to the story is that China actually kept its commitment to deliver what it sold.Overall, China has returned to Europe about as much medical equipment as it received, taking credit for in effect receiving supplies from northern and central Europe and delivering them later to southern Europe -- but unlike the European donors, the Chinese aren't doing it for free. Chinese Communists are boasting about their magnanimity and are letting Germany and the European Union take the blame for shortages across Europe that are largely due to Chinese hoarding. This is not philanthropy; this is mercantilism.Despite headlines to the contrary, the United States is helping other countries even as it battles the infection at home. The administration's response may have been clumsy at times, but the U.S. is doing a lot of good: Congress has already passed, and President Trump has already signed, $1.3 billion in foreign aid to help other countries fight COVID-19, and the Asian Development Bank, whose biggest stakeholder is the United States, is helping developing countries with another $6.5 billion. This is but a part of the over $90 billion that the United States has spent on global health since 2009.Americans already lead the world in responding to global health crises because of some of their most foundational beliefs. Nearly 200 years ago, Alexis de Tocqueville marveled at how universally Americans believed in the "principle of interest rightly understood," explaining how "an enlightened regard for themselves constantly prompts them to assist each other." This principle makes Americans the most generous people in the world, giving $428 billion to charity in 2018, and it shapes how the American government responds to heath crises around the world, from the AIDS and Ebola epidemics to COVID-19 today.And they are not alone. Most of their democratic allies favor humanitarian aid over defense spending -- often to a fault -- but this preference makes them uniquely able and willing to help other countries respond to pandemics.The Chinese Communists will win some headlines during this crisis, but ultimately they will not overcome their power-hungry, mercantilist nature and advance their claim to global leadership. Americans give because of who they are, while Chinese Communists give to take more back later. The world will see -- and remember.
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| These national and state parks are closed amid coronavirus outbreak Posted: 23 Mar 2020 01:37 PM PDT  Rocky Mountain National Park and Ellis Island are among major parks that are closed to slow the spread of coronavirus.
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| UK begins trial of HIV medicine, steroid as possible COVID-19 treatments Posted: 23 Mar 2020 08:02 AM PDT |
| Trump says coronavirus not Asian Americans' fault Posted: 23 Mar 2020 05:11 PM PDT  After criticism for using the term "Chinese virus", the president praises Asian Americans as "amazing".
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| Yemen Huthis uphold death sentence for Baha'i, community says Posted: 23 Mar 2020 09:02 AM PDT  A court run by Yemen's Huthi rebels has upheld the death sentence of a Baha'i over his religion in defiance of international appeals, the community said Monday. Hamed bin Haydara, who has been detained since 2013, was not allowed into Sunday's hearing in the capital Sanaa that rejected his appeal against the sentence imposed more than a year ago, the community said. The Baha'i International Community in a statement said it was "utterly dismayed at this outrageous verdict" and urged the court to overturn it.
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| Sen. Kyrsten Sinema calls Rand Paul's behavior prior to receiving coronavirus results 'irresponsible' Posted: 22 Mar 2020 07:57 PM PDT  Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) on Sunday tweeted that she has "never commented about a fellow senator's choices/actions," but Sen. Rand Paul's (R-Ky.) recent behavior has forced her to speak out.On Sunday, Paul's office announced that he tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Not long after, CNN's Seung Min Kim reported that two people briefed on the matter told her that during the Senate Republican lunch on Sunday, Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) shared with colleagues "that Rand was at the gym this morning ... and that he was swimming in the pool."Paul's office tweeted in response that "Paul left the Senate IMMEDIATELY upon learning of his diagnosis. He had zero contact with anyone and went into quarantine." His office did not address Paul visiting the Senate gym and pool before receiving the results of his test, which is what outraged Sinema. "This, America, is absolutely irresponsible," she said. "You cannot be near other people while waiting for coronavirus test results. It endangers others and likely increases the spread of the virus."More stories from theweek.com Trump suggests he might soon prioritize the economy over public health U.K. imposes strict coronavirus lockdown measures for next 3 weeks The worst possible president for this crisis
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| Carnival's CEO says the coronavirus can be contained on cruises because 'the ship is so large' amid criticism of the company's slow reaction to the pandemic Posted: 23 Mar 2020 09:35 AM PDT  Carnival CEO Arnold Donald said that cruise ships are a less-risky environment for coronavirus infection because of "natural social distancing."
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| Texas orders hospitals to cancel elective surgeries, deploys Guard Posted: 22 Mar 2020 03:36 PM PDT  Gov. Greg Abbott has grown increasingly aggressive in responding to the pandemic.
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| EU Governments Reach Breakthrough Over Balkans Expansion Plan Posted: 23 Mar 2020 03:59 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- European Union governments revived the membership hopes of North Macedonia and Albania by overcoming a French roadblock after months of deliberations, according to an EU official.Envoys of the 27-nation EU recommended that the European Commission, the bloc's executive arm, take the necessary step to trigger accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania, the official said on the condition of anonymity.Clinched through several days of intensive behind-the-scenes exchanges while EU leaders grappled with the coronavirus pandemic, the diplomatic breakthrough on Monday in Brussels now goes to national governments for formal approval. Ministers are due to scrutinize the deal during a video conference on Tuesday.The EU wants to keep alive the prospect of North Macedonia and Albania joining to avoid political instability in a region still scarred by the wars in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. The bloc also wants to prevent a political vacuum that could play into the hands of Russia and China.Three other countries in the region have begun EU entry talks: Serbia in 2014, Montenegro in 2012 and Turkey in 2005.Last October, France blocked the EU's goal of starting membership negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania during the first half of 2020, insisting on tougher scrutiny to ensure their respect for the rule of law.To address the French concerns, the Brussels-based commission in February proposed changes to the way the EU vets aspiring members by giving more weight to "fundamentals," including the functioning of the judicial system and democratic institutions.The deal on Monday in the Belgian capital gives the commission the go-ahead to draw up a "negotiating framework" for North Macedonia and for Albania.The breakthrough came after the member-country diplomats scrapped the idea of fixing a June deadline for the commission to produce these documents, deciding instead on no specific timetable. The envoys also beefed up conditions for Albania before it can actually begin the entry talks.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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| Pregnant patients at New York-Presbyterian hospitals will reportedly give birth alone amid coronavirus concerns Posted: 22 Mar 2020 02:28 PM PDT  Hospitals have zeroed in on partners and visitors of moms-to-be as potential factors in spreading the contagious virus.
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| Malaria drugs' promise for coronavirus spurs hope, shortages Posted: 23 Mar 2020 01:38 PM PDT  Excitement about treating the new coronavirus with malaria drugs is raising hopes, including with President Donald Trump. Chloroquine and a similar drug, hydroxychloroquine, showed encouraging signs in small, early tests against the coronavirus. Some French doctors and politicians also are pushing to expand hydroxychloroquine's use.
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| Dumped amid coronavirus, former Bloomberg campaign aides sue for pay and benefits Posted: 23 Mar 2020 01:14 PM PDT  Employees resigned from good jobs to take positions with Bloomberg's campaign, and they now face unemployment and the loss of their health insurance in the midst of the spreading virus, field organizers Alexis Sklair, Sterling Rettke and Nathaniel Brown said in their complaint, one of two proposed class action lawsuits potentially representing thousands of workers. "And they pledged to keep this promise regardless of whether Bloomberg won the Democratic nomination." Donna Wood, an organizer in Miami, said in a separate complaint that she was laid off last week despite promises of continued employment.
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| Pompeo says Iran supreme leader 'lies' over virus Posted: 23 Mar 2020 07:02 AM PDT  US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday accused Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of lying about the coronavirus pandemic as the Supreme Leader rejected US assistance for his hard-hit country. In a televised address Sunday, Khamenei described the United States as "charlatans" and charged that Washington could bring in a drug to keep the virus alive. Pompeo in a statement also used loaded language, accusing "Iran's chief terror airline" Mahan Air of bringing in what he called the "Wuhan virus" through its continued flights to China.
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| Rise in 'forced disappearance' preys on Brazil's young men of colour Posted: 22 Mar 2020 02:00 AM PDT  Carlos Eduardo Nascimento is the latest apparent victim of a trend aided by police impunity and Bolsonaro's rhetoric, activists sayCarlos Eduardo Nascimento was at a bar with friends in the city of Jundiaí, 50km from São Paulo, when the police arrived.The only black man in the group, Nascimento, 20, was handcuffed, bundled into a squad car and driven away.Nearly three months later, he hasn't been seen since.Desperate family members say they have been stonewalled by the authorities and – as coronavirus panic sweeps the country – his father Eduardo Nascimento, says he has given up hope of seeing his son alive again."We don't know where else to turn. If my son was from a rich family, he surely would have been found by now," said Nascimento, a security guard.Police investigators suspect a "forced disappearance". Three military police officers who were in the patrol that searched the group have been suspended from duty.Cases of poor young black men who are stopped by police and then show up dead or disappear completely are common in Brazil – and they are on the increase, according to human rights advocates."In almost all cases where the victim was last seen talking to police they are never seen alive again," said Ivanise Esperidião, founder of Mums of Sé, an organization working with disappeared people.São Paulo's public security secretariat has said "all the circumstances related to the case are being investigated".Nascimento's father alleges that the four other young men who were with Carlos Eduardo when he was taken away are scared to speak out for fear of violent police reprisals.Police impunity in the killings of poor, black or mixed-race victims is a notoriously longstanding problem in Brazil, the last country to abolish slavery."They disappear victims to make investigations even more difficult and to ensure impunity," said Ariel de Castro Alves, a member of São Paulo's human rights council.In a rare case in which police have been investigated over such incidents, 10 Rio de Janeiro police officers were charged with torture and murder in 2013, over the disappearance of bricklayer Amarildo de Souza who vanished after being stopped by police.But the case of Carlos Eduardo adds to growing fears about increasing police violence and abuse in Brazil under the far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro.State governors control security forces in Brazil, but experts express fear that officers, have felt emboldened by the president's rhetorical support for police violence.Last year, Rio de Janeiro state – governed by former Bolsonaro ally turned political rival Wilson Witzel – registered its highest number of police killings on record. Most of the victims were black or mixed race.São Paulo's rightwing governor, João Doria, won a narrow victory in 2018, promising tougher measures against crime. The following year, police in the city killed 716 people, up from 642 in 2018 according to data from the police ombudsman.
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| Airbnb hosts are furious that the company is sticking them with the cost of letting guests cancel due to the coronavirus crisis Posted: 23 Mar 2020 05:04 PM PDT  Airbnb overrode hosts' cancellation policies in response to the coronavirus. But hosts are having to pay the cost of refunds.
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| Michigan, West Virginia, Indiana and Oregon issue stay-at-home orders Posted: 23 Mar 2020 01:35 PM PDT  "If we all come together, get serious, and do our part by staying home, we can stay safe and save lives," Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said.
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| The Russians Are Coming Again, and They’re Winning Posted: 23 Mar 2020 01:31 AM PDT  On a warm fall evening in late 2018, I received a message on Twitter from a group of self-described "anonymous hackers" who claimed they'd swiped Special Counsel Robert Mueller's database."We are like hundreds of others, but we are the one and only who got the Special Counsel Mueller database," the message read, busted English and all. They claimed they'd tapped into a local Russian server, accessing all and sundry from what Mueller and his team had already compiled. The hackers passed along a series of files, a supposed good-faith offer of their findings, so that I could amplify Mueller's findings, Mueller's work, Mueller's accusations far and wide."You might wonder why we want to share all this information with you," the message giddily closed. "So, you're just one of the few who can handle it in the right way. You are the one who can tell people the truth!"Russian Trolls Release Fake Dirt on Robert MuellerAnd much of what they sent was "the truth," just not the whole truth or nothing but the truth. Much of the material in the files had come directly from Mueller's investigation into Russia's social-media interference efforts. There were the memes and photos, images of Hillary Clinton as Satan and Barack Obama as a Nazi-in-Chief, the garbled texts and histrionics all aimed at tearing Americans apart. As someone who'd spent far too many hours knee-deep in material published by Russia's Internet Research Agency trolls, all of the posts fit the mold we'd come to expect.Buried in the files, though, were other sites and other posts that no one—none of the researchers or journalists, none of the experts or policy analysts—had ever linked to Russian efforts. Popular Facebook pages like Occupy Democrats, popular Instagram accounts like Baller Alert, feeds with millions of followers were supposedly, per this database, fingered by the Mueller investigation as part of the Russian schemes.After bouncing the database off a number of other experts, it quickly became clear that these accounts were plants: honeypots, so to speak, designed to lure us into believing that Mueller had claimed these immensely popular feeds were also, at their core, Russian. It was, as one of the other researchers who received the files later said, "some galaxy brain stuff they wanted us to believe."It didn't take long to learn what the trolls' ultimate aim was. A few months later, Mueller's office filed court documents revealing that the self-described "hackers" had specifically attempted "to discredit the investigation" by trying to "make it appear as though the irrelevant files… were the sum total evidence" Mueller and his team had already uncovered. That is, these "hackers" had somehow gotten hold of Mueller's actual database, and then injected a slew of clearly non-Russian pages and accounts in the hopes of painting Mueller's investigation as a bumbling, McCarthyite operation, accusing any and all of being secret Russian accounts.And without saying as much, there was a clear implication in the prosecution's filings: that the Russian defendants in Mueller's case had funneled Mueller's database to the self-proclaimed hackers. And they'd hoped to use me, and the handful of others these "hackers" contacted directly, to disseminate that material far and wide.Thankfully, none of us bit, and Mueller's prosecution against Russia's troll-farm operators proceeded apace. While Mueller's other prosecutions faltered under pressure from the White House, the prosecution of the trolls who stoked Texas secessionists and racial fissures pushed on.Or it did, until last Monday, when the Justice Department dropped charges against a pair of the shell companies involved in Russia's social-media interference operations. The reason? Prosecutors were no longer confident that sensitive information shared with the defendants—information about sources, about investigative methods, about findings as a whole—would remain confidential, or for defendants' eyes only. And this was thanks in large part to questions about the relationship between the shell companies and the "hackers" who slipped their messages to me in late 2018.According to prosecutors, these companies—connected directly to sanctioned Russian figure Yevgeny Prigozhin, known colloquially as "Putin's chef"—"refused" to "comply with its obligations as a party to this litigation." The companies had "been eager and aggressive in using the judicial system to gather information about how the United States detects and prevents foreign election interference."The decision was, to say the least, a blow to Mueller's prosecutorial legacy, and to the broader efforts at holding Russian entities responsible for their election meddling in 2016. But it also pointed to another strain of Russian interference efforts that's gotten less acclaim, and less attention, than others over the past few years, centering on upending American judicial proceedings.These efforts are understandably less splashy than secretly organizing, say, armed white supremacists on the streets of downtown Houston, or whipping up support for neo-Confederates online. But they've nonetheless chipped away that much further at potential ramifications for those responsible for Russian interference efforts more broadly—and exposed holes in the American judicial system, calling into further question whether any costs will actually be incurred for those in Moscow and St. Petersburg.In 2018, for instance, the Atlantic Council's Anders Aslund detailed a raft of Russian efforts aimed at deflating or upending American judicial proceedings against Kremlin proxies and those in Moscow's good graces. Much of this has centered—like the Mueller proceedings—on obtaining information about the American prosecutions' methods, and even, in some cases, tracking down plaintiffs themselves.One 2017 case saw a U.S. federal subpoena issued against a former shareholder of a private Russian bank who'd fled to the U.S. after backing Russia's flagging opposition. When the defendant (accurately) detailed how sanctioned Russian figures had helped orchestrate the subpoena—which would have transmitted sensitive data back to pro-Kremlin forces—the American court nonetheless allowed it to proceed, no matter what sensitive information may come out. Another recent case saw a subsidiary of Russia's state-owned, and notoriously corrupt, Rosneft energy behemoth convince a U.S. court to permit discovery against an associate of a Russian national who'd fallen out of the Kremlin's favor. (The American court, Aslund wrote, "was not swayed by the evidence of rampant corruption by the Russian Federation and [the subsidiary's] affiliates.") And then, of course, there's the Kremlin's rampant abuse of Interpol's Red Notice system to try to convince American authorities to haul in dissidents and political opponents alike.The examples run on and on. Some have tossed cold water on the notion that this presents "interference," insofar as all of these moves remain technically legal. But the intent remains the same: capsizing judicial proceedings against Kremlin proxies and their supporters.It's unclear what the next steps for the prosecution may be, or what Mueller's ultimate legacy will be. But one thing appears certain: Russia's victory last week in our courts is only going to further embolden the trolls as we go through the 2020 election. Self-described "hackers" are going to accelerate their efforts to try to con support from those of us who can "tell people the truth!"—and who will continue to be the target of hacking, trolling, and interference operations that are pushing on and amping up, with little reason to stop now. 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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| Malaysia Growth Seen as Low as 2% on ‘Triple Whammy’ of Woes Posted: 22 Mar 2020 07:39 PM PDT |
| Coronavirus: South Korea reports lowest number of new cases in four weeks Posted: 23 Mar 2020 03:47 AM PDT  The news fuels hope that Asia's worst coronavirus outbreak outside China may be abating.
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| Bought enough toilet paper? Check this online calculator Posted: 23 Mar 2020 05:33 AM PDT  Worried about whether you have enough toilet paper for the coronavirus lockdown? A German website can tell you how long your supply will last. Toilet paper has become one of the commodities shoppers across the world have hoarded as the coronavirus crisis forces people to stay indoors.
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| Virus adds to constant fear of life as undocumented immigrant Posted: 22 Mar 2020 07:08 PM PDT  James can't afford to quarantine: he lost his job as a waiter in a Los Angeles restaurant and is two weeks away from running out of money for rent and food. It is the name on his fake social security card that, like many in his precarious position, he uses to get low-paying, hourly jobs. Life as an undocumented immigrant is always anxiety-inducing, especially since Donald Trump became president having campaigned on a promise to crack down on illegal immigration.
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| Biden consults Obama on running mate as vetting process begins Posted: 23 Mar 2020 04:44 AM PDT  On Sunday Joe Biden said he's been discussing possible running mates with former President Barack Obama.
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