| Trump's candidate loses in Wisconsin, despite help from courts Posted: 14 Apr 2020 12:18 PM PDT  The president floated conspiracies of voter fraud after a progressive challenger knocked off a conservative incumbent in the race for a state Supreme Court seat.
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| Intelligence officials weigh possibility coronavirus escaped from a Chinese lab Posted: 14 Apr 2020 12:49 PM PDT  Though the the U.S. intelligence community has long since dismissed the notion that the coronavirus is a synthesized bioweapon, it is still weighing the possibility that the pandemic might have been touched off by an accident at a research facility rather than an infection from a live-animal market.
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| Photos show nearly a dozen Iranian attack boats harassing US Navy and Coast Guard ships in 'dangerous' exchange Posted: 15 Apr 2020 02:30 PM PDT  The US Navy said 11 Iranian boats "conducted dangerous and harassing approaches," crossing the bows and sterns of the US ships repeatedly.
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| Democratic bills call for racial breakdown of COVID-19 cases Posted: 14 Apr 2020 12:39 PM PDT  Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday introduced legislation to compel federal health officials to post data daily that breaks down COVID-19 cases and deaths by race and ethnicity. The lawmakers say the demographic data is needed to address any disparities in the national response to the coronavirus outbreak, which is taking a disproportionate toll on African Americans and other nonwhite populations. "Because of government-sponsored discrimination and systemic racism, communities of color are on the frontlines of this pandemic," Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, one of several sponsors of the legislation in the Senate, said in a statement.
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| New York City hospitals cancel temporary workers as coronavirus cases stabilize Posted: 14 Apr 2020 05:25 PM PDT  The trend, coupled with a flattening in the number of New Yorkers hospitalized with coronavirus infection, reinforces the sense that New York may have reached the peak of the health crisis. "We have had to reassign some of our travelers who were going to New York," San Diego-based staffing firm Aya Healthcare said in an emailed statement. Demand for "travel nurses" jumped during March and early April in cities like New Orleans, and especially New York, which saw the nation's largest spike in cases of COVID-19, the deadly respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
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| Newsom offers time line for lifting of stay-at-home orders in Calif. Posted: 14 Apr 2020 02:09 PM PDT  Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday provided a potential time line for when stay-at-home orders would be lifted in the state.
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| Florida inmate freed over COVID-19 fears killed man the next day, police say Posted: 14 Apr 2020 09:57 PM PDT  Edward Williams, 26, was released based on concerns over coronavirus but was eligible to be freed on bond.
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| Lagos unrest: The mystery of Nigeria's fake gangster attacks Posted: 15 Apr 2020 05:50 AM PDT  Residents of two Nigerian states, where there is a lockdown, panicked after fake reports of mass attacks.
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| North Korea fires barrage of missiles from ground and air, South Korea military says Posted: 14 Apr 2020 08:23 AM PDT  North Korean missiles fired from the ground and fighter jets splashed down on the waters off the country's east coast, South Korea's military said.
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| Pelosi: Trump coronavirus missteps 'caused unnecessary death and economic disaster' Posted: 14 Apr 2020 04:56 PM PDT  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi released a letter in which she charged President Trump with missteps in handling the coronavirus pandemic that "caused unnecessary death and economic disaster" in the U.S.
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| Figures show hundreds of COVID-19 deaths in UK care homes Posted: 14 Apr 2020 03:00 AM PDT  Leading British charities said the new coronavirus is causing "devastation" in the country's nursing homes, as official statistics showed Tuesday that hundreds more people with COVID-19 have died than were recorded in the U.K. government's daily tally. The Office for National Statistics said 5,979 deaths that occurred in England up to April 3 involved COVID-19, 15% more than the 5,186 deaths announced by the National Health Service for the same period. As of Tuesday, the government reported a total of 12,107 virus-related deaths across the U.K.
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| Trump administration aims to buy milk, meat to help farmers hit by coronavirus: Perdue Posted: 15 Apr 2020 09:19 AM PDT  The decision comes amid rising pressure from the U.S. farm lobby for government purchases as growers and ranchers struggle to get their goods to market because of disruptions caused by the pandemic, forcing some of them to throw out their supplies. "We want to purchase as much of this milk, or other protein products, hams and pork products, and move them into where they can be utilized in our food banks, or possibly even into international humanitarian aid," Perdue said in an interview on Fox News. Reuters reported on Monday that Department of Agriculture will spend up to $15.5 billion in the initial phase of its plan to bolster the nation's food supply chain against the impacts of the outbreak, the first big push to ensure the pandemic doesn't trigger consumer food shortages.
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| ‘I Would Be An Excellent Running Mate’: Stacey Abrams Offers Her Services to Biden Posted: 15 Apr 2020 08:06 AM PDT  Stacey Abrams, the former Democratic gubernatorial candidate for Georgia who made headlines for calling out alleged voter suppression during her election, is offering to run alongside Joe Biden on the Democratic presidential ticket this year."Yes. I would be honored," Abrams told Elle when asked whether she would accept an offer from the former vice president to serve as his running mate. "I would be an excellent running mate.""I have the capacity to attract voters by motivating typically ignored communities. I have a strong history of executive and management experience in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. I've spent 25 years in independent study of foreign policy. I am ready to help advance an agenda of restoring America's place in the world. If I am selected, I am prepared and excited to serve," she continued.Abrams shot to notoriety in 2018 when she ran in Georgia to become the country's first black female governor. She lost the election by 1.4 percentage points to her Republican opponent, Georgia's secretary of state at the time, Brian Kemp, who enforced one of the strictest voter ID laws in the country while he was running against Abrams. Abrams has refused to concede the election ever since, alleging that Kemp engaged in voter suppression.She originally signaled her willingness to run alongside Biden in February, saying she would be doing a "disservice to every woman of color, every woman of ambition, every child who wants to think beyond their known space" if she refused such an offer.Rumors swirled earlier this year that Abrams is one of the top contenders to be tapped as Biden's running mate. Biden is now the presumptive Democratic nominee to take on President Trump in November after Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders dropped out of the race last week.Weeks earlier, Abrams said she intends to be elected president someday, saying "that's my plan," and that she believes the country will elect her to the top executive office over the next two decades.Her openness to joining the Democratic ticket as vice presidential nominee comes after she signaled last year she would only run as a presidential candidate."You don't run for second place," she remarked during an appearance on ABC's The View in March of 2019."The VP's job is to be chief lieutenant and partner by taking on the roles and responsibilities assigned to you by the president," Abrams said in her interview with Elle. "I am very self-aware, and I know that my résumé … is usually reduced to 'She didn't become the governor of Georgia.' But it is important to understand all the things I did to prepare for that contest. … I am able to stand effectively as a partner, to execute a vision, and to serve the vision of the president."
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| More than 150 people partied at an illegal San Francisco nightclub during the shelter-in-place order, and police just shut it down Posted: 14 Apr 2020 10:25 AM PDT  Video footage shows people coming and going in early April during the shelter-in-place order that directs nightclubs to close and people to stay home.
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| Climate change: Blue skies pushed Greenland 'into the red' Posted: 15 Apr 2020 06:30 AM PDT  Cloud-free skies played a key role in one of the worst years for Greenland's ice sheet.
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| Trump chides Cuomo for seeking 'independence' in coronavirus response Posted: 14 Apr 2020 08:52 AM PDT  The president continued to assert his absolute in authority in reopening the country following the shutdown to slow the spread of coronavirus.
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| Germany Mulls Easing Curbs as Europe’s Virus Struggle Progresses Posted: 15 Apr 2020 12:15 AM PDT |
| Missteps mar Puerto Rico's response to the coronavirus Posted: 15 Apr 2020 09:13 AM PDT  Puerto Rico officials say data that show COVID-19 cases on the island are much lower than in some U.S. states constitute proof they are containing the new coronavirus, but a series of missteps is raising concerns it could be more widespread than believed. Local officials, meanwhile, have favored televised discussions over press conferences in a situation that has angered many and drawn comparisons to Hurricane Maria. "We're basically operating blindly," said Mónica Feliú-Mójer, spokeswoman for CienciaPR, a nonprofit group of Puerto Rican scientists who are demanding widespread testing.
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| Bolsonaro expected to fire defiant Brazilian health minister Posted: 15 Apr 2020 05:30 AM PDT  Brazilian health officials braced on Wednesday for President Jair Bolsonaro to fire his health minister over disagreements on how to handle the coronavirus outbreak, with at least one secretary offering his resignation in protest. In a defiant news conference, Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta acknowledged his differences with Bolsonaro and said he had discussed a search for his replacement with the presidential chief of staff. "The president has made clear that he would like a different position from the Health Ministry," Mandetta said in televised remarks.
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| Stimulus Checks Are Being Sent to Millions of Americans This Week. Here's How to Get Yours Faster Posted: 15 Apr 2020 02:42 PM PDT  The IRS is sending stimulus checks to millions of Americans starting this week. Here's how to get your stimulus check faster.
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| Carnival's CEO said the company has enough money to make it through the rest of 2020 without bringing in any revenue Posted: 14 Apr 2020 03:16 PM PDT  Carnival has raised over $6 billion in debt and equity this year after drawing $3 billion from its credit lines.
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| Guatemala health chief says at least half of deportees from U.S. have coronavirus Posted: 14 Apr 2020 08:50 PM PDT  Guatemalan health minister says at least 50% of deportees
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| Hungry S.Africans clash with police over food aid in Cape Town Posted: 14 Apr 2020 05:18 PM PDT  South African police on Tuesday fired rubber bullets and teargas in clashes with Cape Town township residents protesting over access to food aid during a coronavirus lockdown. Hundreds of angry people fought running battles with the police, hurling rocks and setting up barricades on the streets with burning tyres in Mitchells Plain over undelivered food parcels.
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| China secretly prepared for a pandemic as tens of thousands of people dined together in Wuhan, AP reports Posted: 15 Apr 2020 03:51 AM PDT  There was compelling evidence by late December that the new coronavirus in Wuhan, China, was spreading from person to person, but Chinese officials didn't take the threat of a significant outbreak seriously until the coronavirus was detected in Thailand on Jan. 13, The Associated Press reports, citing internal documents and interviews with Chinese officials. Top officials in Beijing started preparing for a pandemic on Jan. 14, but secretly, keeping the public in the dark as the virus spread for six days. President Xi Jinping issued a televised warning on Jan. 20, at which point more than 3,000 people had been infected.Chinese officials spent the six days distributing test kits to trace the virus nationwide, ordering wider screening of patients, preparing hospitals for an infectious virus, and easing the stringent rules for confirming coronavirus infections, AP reports. During that week, Wuhan "hosted a mass banquet for tens of thousands of people" and "millions began traveling through for Lunar New Year celebrations.""If they took action six days earlier, there would have been much fewer patients and medical facilities would have been sufficient," Zuo-Feng Zhang, an epidemiologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, told AP. "We might have avoided the collapse of Wuhan's medical system," and lives would have been saved. Researchers later estimated that if the public had been warned a week earlier and told to wear masks, forego travel, and social-distance, cases could have been cut by up to two-thirds.China denies that it hid the outbreak early on, and some outside experts argue that Beijing's actions were defensible given its private actions and the risk of provoking unnecessary hysteria. "But the early story of the pandemic in China shows missed opportunities at every step," AP reports. "Under Xi, China's most authoritarian leader in decades, increasing political repression has made officials more hesitant to report cases without a clear green light from the top." Read more at The Associated Press.More stories from theweek.com Why can't you go fishing during the pandemic? The new mysteries of coronavirus Trump's performance against Biden reportedly improves after voters watch 90 seconds of a coronavirus briefing
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| Iran parliament: Virus deaths nearly double reported figures Posted: 15 Apr 2020 06:09 AM PDT  The death toll in Iran from the coronavirus pandemic is likely nearly double the officially reported figures, due to undercounting and because not everyone with breathing problems has been tested for the virus, a parliament report said. Iranian health officials offered no comment on the report, which represents the highest-level charge yet from within the Islamic Republic's government of its figures being questionable, something long suspected by international experts. Iran on Wednesday put the death toll at 4,777, out of 76,389 confirmed cases of the virus — still making it the Mideast's worst outbreak by far.
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| Former aide accuses Biden of sexual assault, campaign denies it Posted: 14 Apr 2020 01:40 PM PDT  Tara Reade, who worked briefly as a staff assistant in Biden's Senate office from December 1992 to August 1993, told the New York Times, the Washington Post and other news outlets that Biden pinned her against a wall in 1993 and reached under her shirt and her skirt. A campaign spokeswoman for Biden, the former vice president, said in a statement on Tuesday that the accusation was false. Reuters was unable to reach Reade or a representative for comment on Tuesday or to identify a lawyer representing her.
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| Why it's suddenly more difficult to get a mortgage Posted: 14 Apr 2020 05:47 AM PDT  Some banks are now requiring a credit score of at least 700 and a 20 percent down payment.
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| Sen. Graham defends Trump's early action to combat COVID-19 against media attacks Posted: 14 Apr 2020 05:53 AM PDT  Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham joins 'Fox & Friends' after a contentious press conference between the president and the media on the White House response.
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| Court Rules Against Epstein Victims on Controversial Plea Deal Posted: 14 Apr 2020 11:27 AM PDT  A federal appeals court has denied relief to victims of Jeffrey Epstein under the Crime Victims' Rights Act, refusing their requests for remedies such as the release of FBI documents and a public hearing on Epstein's criminal case in Florida.The opinion comes as part of a 12-year legal battle between Courtney Wild, who was underage when Epstein sexually abused her, and the federal government. After Epstein secured a controversial plea deal in 2008, Wild was one of two "Jane Does" to sue the feds, alleging the U.S. Attorney's Office in Miami violated the Crime Victims' Rights Act (CVRA) by keeping more than 30 victims in the dark about Epstein's non-prosecution agreement.In May of 2007, Epstein was facing a 53-page indictment for trafficking underage girls and could have spent life behind bars, if charged and convicted. But Epstein's lawyers secretly negotiated with federal prosecutors to scrap the drafted indictment, and the perverted financier pleaded guilty to lesser state charges instead. (Epstein served 13 months in a private wing of the Palm Beach County jail. The money-manager was permitted to spend 12 hours a day, six days a week, on "work release," and during that time, he continued to abuse young women.)On Tuesday, the appeals court ruled the CVRA does not apply to Wild's case because "the government never filed charges or otherwise commenced criminal proceedings against Epstein" and thus "the CVRA was never triggered."Jeffrey Epstein's Hollywood Pipeline Ran Straight to Harvey Weinstein"Despite our sympathy for Ms. Wild and others like her, who suffered unspeakable horror at Epstein's hands, only to be left in the dark—and, so it seems, affirmatively misled—by government lawyers, we find ourselves constrained to deny her petition," wrote the panel, which included judges Kevin C. Newsom, Gerald Bard Tjoflat and Frank M. Hull. (The decision was written by Newsom, with Tjoflat concurring. Judge Hull dissented.)"We hold that at least as matters currently stand—which is to say at least as the CVRA is currently written—rights under the Act do not attach until criminal proceedings have been initiated against a defendant, either by complaint, information, or indictment," the judges' decision continued."Because the government never filed charges or otherwise commenced criminal proceedings against Epstein, the CVRA was never triggered. It's not a result we like, but it's the result we think the law requires."Brad Edwards, a lawyer for the victims, told The Daily Beast he would request a hearing before the full Eleventh Circuit court to reconsider the panel's decision. "It is clear that even the majority detested the government's treatment of the victims but apparently felt there was a loophole in the CVRA that the prosecutors and Epstein successfully exploited," Edwards said in an email. "For all the reasons given in the 60-page dissenting opinion, we strongly disagree with today's ruling—which leaves victims like Ms. Wild without any remedy, even for victims like her who have been 'affirmatively misled' by federal prosecutors."In February of 2019, U.S. District Judge Kenneth A. Marra ruled federal prosecutors in Miami violated the CVRA by secretly negotiating with Epstein's lawyers to downgrade his charges to state court. "Petitioners and the other victims should have been notified of the Government's intention to take that course of action before it bound itself under" a plea agreement, Marra wrote in his decision.But in September, Marra rejected victims' requests for remedies, which included voiding the plea deal's immunity provisions that protected Epstein and his alleged accomplices. The alleged co-conspirators, according to the agreement, include "Sarah Kellen, Adriana Ross, Lesley Groff, or Nadia Marcinkova." Wild petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit to reverse Marra's decision and order the district court to grant victims "all appropriate remedies," including rolling back "the NPA's immunity provisions, holding a public hearing on the case, release of documents, and an award of attorneys' fees."The appeals court's decision suggests the CVRA doesn't apply to Epstein's victims at all.According to the federal law, crime victims have rights—which include the right to timely notice of any public court proceeding involving the crime; the right to be heard at any public proceeding in the district court involving pleas or sentencing; and the right to confer with the attorney for the government in the case."The interpretation of the CVRA that petitioner advances, and that the district court adopted, is not implausible; the CVRA could be read to apply pre-charge," the panel stated. "We conclude, though—reluctantly, especially given the mistreatment that petitioner seems to have suffered at the hands of federal prosecutors—that the Act is neither best nor most naturally read that way.""On balance, we conclude that the Act's terms—including the provisions on which petitioner relies—demonstrate that its protections apply only after the commencement of criminal proceedings."The panel majority adds, "Again, must prosecutors consult with victims before law-enforcement officers conduct a raid, seek a warrant, or conduct an interrogation? That seems exceedingly unlikely."In a dissenting opinion, Judge Hull said the panel majority "patently errs in holding, as a matter of law, that the crime victims of Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirators had no statutory rights whatsoever under the CVRA.""Instead, our Court should enforce the plain and unambiguous text of the CVRA and hold that the victims had two CVRA rights—the right to confer with the government's attorney and the right to be treated fairly—that were repeatedly violated by the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of Florida," Hull wrote.The dissenting judge warned that the majority's "pre-charge rule will deny victims' CVRA rights to confer and fairness in cases involving white-collar and other wealthy defendants who commonly engage in pre-charge plea negotiations.""Jeffrey Epstein's case illustrates my point," Hull added. Hull pushed back on the majority's claim that pre-charge CVRA rights would result in prosecutors having to consult with victims before authorities "conduct a raid, seek a warrant, or conduct an interrogation.""The Majority is more afraid of a future 'crime victim' potentially asking a 'readily identifiable' government 'attorney' to confer 'reasonably' with her pre-charge, than it is of secret pre-charge plea deals for wealthy defendants, even though it's now common practice for them to seek the best plea deal in advance of indictment," Hull continued. "The Majority's new blanket restriction eviscerates crime victims' CVRA rights and makes the Epstein case a poster-child for an entirely different justice system for crime victims of wealthy defendants."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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| Emergency room doctor, near death with coronavirus, saved after experimental treatment Posted: 13 Apr 2020 10:48 PM PDT  A Seattle emergency-room doctor contracted COVID-19 while treating patients infected by coronavirus. He owes his life to physicians who used an experimental treatment.
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| Millions of disabled and elderly Americans on Supplemental Security Income will get $1,200 stimulus checks without needing to file a tax return, Treasury says Posted: 15 Apr 2020 12:17 PM PDT  Many people on Supplemental Security Income were at risk of missing out on the $1,200 stimulus checks because they don't usually file tax returns.
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| Coronavirus: Is President Trump right to criticise the WHO? Posted: 15 Apr 2020 11:06 AM PDT  The World Health Organization "failed in its basic duty" over coronavirus, Donald Trump claims.
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| North Korea Fires Missile Barrage Ahead of South Korea Election Posted: 14 Apr 2020 01:34 AM PDT |
| Taiwan virus aid sparks calls to rename China Airlines Posted: 15 Apr 2020 02:58 AM PDT  Taiwan's aid shipments to countries battling the coronavirus have sparked a fierce debate on the island about whether it should rebrand its national carrier China Airlines. The self-ruled island has been held up as a model for tackling the virus with fewer than 400 confirmed cases despite its proximity to China. Much of that aid has been ferried on China Airlines jets, sparking some confusion on arrival -- and online -- over whether the largesse has come from Taiwan or China.
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| Vietnam to extend coronavirus lockdown in 12 provinces for seven days Posted: 15 Apr 2020 05:00 AM PDT  Vietnam will extend its coronavirus lockdown in 12 provinces, including Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, for seven days, although restrictions will be lifted in some areas outside of the Southeast Asian country's main cities, the government said on Wednesday. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc made the decision to extend the lockdown until April 22 at a meeting on Wednesday, the government said, adding that those 12 provinces were highly prone to the new coronavirus, which has infected 267 people in the country, but no deaths. "This is a difficult decision as there are opinions to support the extension of the social distancing measures, but there are also opinions calling for the lifting of the measures to revive economic activities," Phuc said in the statement.
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| NY Times Editor Says Biden Sexual-Assault Article Was Edited after His Campaign Complained Posted: 14 Apr 2020 06:04 AM PDT  New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet said on Monday that the paper made a controversial change to its report on the sexual-assault allegation against presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden after his campaign complained about the wording.In an interview with Times media columnist Ben Smith, Baquet said the Biden campaign took issue with some of the phrasing in the paper's report on former Senate staffer Tara Reade's allegation that Biden sexually assaulted her in 1993."No other allegation about sexual assault surfaced in the course of reporting, nor did any former Biden staff members corroborate any details of Ms. Reade's allegation," the report read. "The Times found no pattern of sexual misconduct by Mr. Biden, beyond the hugs, kisses and touching that women previously said made them uncomfortable."The Times subsequently deleted the second half of that sentence, eliminating the description of Biden's conduct to which women have previously objected."I want to ask about some edits that were made after publication, the deletion of the second half of the sentence," Smith asked Baquet. "Why did you do that?""Even though a lot of us, including me, had looked at it before the story went into the paper, I think that the campaign thought that the phrasing was awkward and made it look like there were other instances in which he had been accused of sexual misconduct, and that's not what the sentence was intended to say," Baquet answered."Why not explain that?" Smith pressed."We didn't think it was a factual mistake," Baquet said. "I thought it was an awkward phrasing issue that could be read different ways and that it wasn't something factual we were correcting. So, I didn't think that was necessary."The Times did not add a correction or an editor's note to the report after it was changed. The paper also deleted a tweet relating to the report and explained, "We've deleted a tweet in this thread that had some imprecise language that has been changed in the story."Reade went public with graphic details about her claim on March 25, and the Times report was published over two weeks later on Easter Sunday."I thought that what The New York Times could offer and should try to offer was the reporting to help people understand what to make of a fairly serious allegation against a guy who had been a vice president of the United States and was knocking on the door of being his party's nominee," Baquet said, explaining why the Times waited to report on the accusation. "Look, I get the argument. Just do a short, straightforward news story. But, I'm not sure that doing this sort of straightforward news story would have helped the reader understand. Have all the information he or she needs to think about what to make of this thing."The executive editor also defended the paper's more proactive approach to reporting on the sexual-assault allegations against then–Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, saying the standard for such reporting is "very subjective.""It was a live, ongoing story that had become the biggest political story in the country. It was just a different news judgment moment," Baquet said of the news cycle during Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings.The Biden campaign has denied Reade's allegation.
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| Coronavirus relief checks won’t have to be repaid, feds say Posted: 14 Apr 2020 02:59 PM PDT  The checks will be directly deposited into bank accounts or mailed to households, depending on how you've filed your tax returns in the past. In recent days, social media posts have falsely claimed there's one catch to this money -- that you'll eventually have to pay it back. The video has also been shared widely on social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok.
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| Drew Barrymore says she's cried 'every day, all day long' since having to homeschool her kids Posted: 15 Apr 2020 04:30 AM PDT  Barrymore, whose children are seven and five years old, said: "I didn't think I needed to respect and appreciate teachers any more than I did."
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| IMF says 'Great Lockdown' global recession will be worst economic meltdown since Great Depression Posted: 14 Apr 2020 09:55 AM PDT  "No country is safe from the pandemic" until a vaccine is approved, the IMF said, making global cooperation necessary to avoid an even worse collapse.
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| Ocasio-Cortez Welcomes Business Opposition to Her Re-Election Posted: 15 Apr 2020 10:39 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Progressive Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Wednesday that business support for her New York Democratic primary challenger is a sign she has made the right enemies in Washington.The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is backing former CNBC anchor Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, who is challenging Ocasio-Cortez for her Queens-based seat. The primary election is scheduled for June 23."There is a lot of Wall Street interest in unseating a member that holds Wall Street accountable," Ocasio-Cortez said in an online interview with Politico. "Sometimes you are defined by your friends and sometimes you are defined by the people who come after you."Ocasio-Cortez has raised $2.7 million for her re-election in the last quarter, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Caruso-Cabrera's campaign told the New York Post she has raised $1 million during the same period.Ocasio-Cortez came to Congress after defeating longtime incumbent Joe Crowley, a member of House Democratic leadership, in a 2018 primary. She quickly established herself as a critic of the banking industry from her perch on the House Financial Services Committee and became a prominent force pushing for a Green New Deal and Medicare for all.Her initial clashes with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders over major legislation led some moderate House Democrats to distance themselves from Ocasio-Cortez last year.She told Politico that she is focused on her re-election and isn't thinking now about the possibility of running for the Senate against Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York when he is up for re-election in 2022. She didn't rule it out when given the chance to, however.The congresswoman said there should be no financial limits to the money Congress should spend to recover from the coronavirus crisis, including on expanding Medicare. The crisis underscores the need for a higher federal minimum wage, she said."I don't think there is a figure out there that is too much," she said. "I think we are going to have to make the New Deal look normal or even small."Ocasio-Cortez said her staff is in talks with former Vice President Joe Biden's team about endorsing his presidential bid, and that she is seeking commitments from him on climate change, immigration, health care and support for Puerto Rico.(Updates with stimulus quotes in ninth paragraph; an earlier version corrected spelling of Ocasio-Cortez's name in headline)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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| Africa may reverse coronavirus economic damage in 2021 Posted: 15 Apr 2020 07:59 AM PDT 
Africa is expected to reverse an economic contraction in 2021, the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday. But it warned that the impact of the global crisis is likely to linger for years to come. Sub-Saharan Africa's GDP is on track to shrink this year by 1.6% - the lowest level on record - because of the combined effects of the lockdown and plummeting oil and commodities prices. Growth of around 4% should follow next year, according to the IMF's regional economic outlook for Africa. But the IMF said that firm forecasts are currently hard to make and in the event of deeper global recession, it envisions Africa's economy shrinking an additional 2.5% this year. Economies dependent on oil and tourism are expected to be particularly hard hit. Oil exporters could see contraction of 2.8%, the IMF report said, while travel destinations like Gambia and Seychelles - amid closed borders and canceled flights - are projected to suffer a 5.1% contraction.
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| China may have conducted low-level nuclear test blasts, U.S. says Posted: 15 Apr 2020 01:49 PM PDT |
