The stakes of Trump's tax return case couldn't be higher

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/11/opinions/trump-tax-returns-supreme-court-stakes-honig/index.html

 After years of political wrangling and multi-front litigation, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Tuesday on the battle over President Donald Trump's tax returns. The stakes are enormous. The court will decide by the end of its current term not only whether Trump's tax returns ever see light of day, but also whether the President stands so far above the law that he cannot meaningfully be held accountable to other branches of government and the American public.

 

The dispute over Trump's tax returns has been politically heated but, legally, this should be an easy call for the court. Trump has fought to the bitter end, though ultimately the law should give him no refuge: the tax returns must go to Congress, and even as a sitting president, he cannot be immune from investigation by prosecutors.

Trump Concerned About Re-Election Chances: Report | Morning Joe | MSNBC

What’s a Pulse Oximeter, and Do I Really Need One at Home?

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/24/well/live/coronavirus-pulse-oximeter-oxygen.html

A tiny fingertip device can give you valuable information about your health during a bout of Covid-19 or any respiratory illness.

 

Health officials are divided on whether home monitoring with a pulse oximeter should be recommended on a widespread basis during Covid-19. Studies of reliability show mixed results, and there’s little guidance on how to choose one. But many doctors are advising patients to get one, making it the go-to gadget of the pandemic. We’ve answered common questions about the device, how it works and what to do with the information it gives you.

Senate panel backs assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 election

https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/senate-panel-backs-assessment-that-russia-interfered-in-the-2016-election

 A bipartisan Senate report released Tuesday affirms the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusions that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election in a far-ranging influence campaign approved by Russian President Vladimir Putin and aimed at helping Donald Trump win the White House.

The report rejects Trump's claims that the intelligence community was biased against him when it concluded that Russia had interfered on his behalf in the election. It says instead that intelligence officials had specific information that Russia preferred Trump in the election, that it sought to denigrate Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton and that Putin had “approved and directed aspects" of the Kremlin's influence campaign.

The Senate just proved Donald Trump wrong -- again -- on Russian interference in 2016

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/22/politics/senate-intelligence-committee-donald-trump-russia/index.html

The Senate Intelligence Committee, which is chaired by Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, released its long-awaited 156-page report detailing its investigation into allegations that Russia sought to interfere in the 2016 election.

Opinion: Was Michael Flynn cleared ‘in the interests of justice’ — or to please Trump?

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-05-07/opinion-was-flynn-cleared-in-the-interests-of-justice-or-to-please-trump

 The criminal case against Michael Flynn, President Trump’s disastrous first national security advisor, took the latest of many twists Thursday when the Justice Department moved to drop the prosecution against him. Never mind that Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his conversations with the Russian ambassador between the 2016 election and Trump’s inauguration. (He later tried to withdraw the plea and have the charge dismissed.)

 

Senate report details foreign meddling in 2016 election, urges Trump to take preventative measures for 2020

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/bipartisan-senate-report-foreign-meddling-2016-trump-2020-election

The Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday issued a report urging President Trump to warn the public about efforts by foreign governments to interfere in U.S. elections and take steps to prevent hostile nations from using social media to meddle in the 2020 vote.

 

Gregg Jarrett: Evidence of Russian interference in 2020 election 'completely overstated'

https://www.foxnews.com/media/gregg-jarrett-evidence-russian-interference-2020-overstated

Discussing the claim that Russia is making a specific "play" to boost President Trump's reelection bid on "The Story" Monday, Jarrett said he spoke privately with a "key official" involved with the matter who called the media narrative "completely overstated."

 WOW!!!!!

FBI Didn’t Clear Michael Flynn

https://www.factcheck.org/2018/11/fbi-didnt-clear-michael-flynn/

 Q: Was former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn recently cleared by the FBI in the Russia probe?  

A: No. A website makes that claim based on an outdated news story that was published prior to Flynn pleading guilty to making false statements to FBI agents about his conversations with a top Russian official.

His head wasn't in the world of reality': how the plot to invade Venezuela fell apart

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/08/his-head-wasnt-in-the-world-of-reality-how-the-plot-to-invade-venezuela-fell-apart

The plan to overthrow Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, and bundle him off to Florida to face drug trafficking charges seemed foolproof to a former US army staff sergeant, Jordan Goudreau, as he mapped it out in a luxury Miami apartment in late 2019. The 43-year-old Canadian-American was certain his years as a green beret in Iraq and Afghanistan had prepared him for the task.

 

Bipartisan Senate Report Backs Assessment That Russia Interfered in the 2016 Presidential Election

https://time.com/5825061/senate-report-russia-interference/

1. A bipartisan Senate report released Tuesday confirms the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusions that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election to sow chaos. Senators warned that it could happen again this presidential election year.
2. The heavily redacted report from the Senate Intelligence Committee is part of the panel’s more than three-year investigation into the Russian interference. The intelligence agencies concluded in January 2017 that Russians had engaged in cyber-espionage and distributed messages through Russian-controlled propaganda outlets to undermine public faith in the democratic process, hurt Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and help Donald Trump.
3. 
   
4. President Trump has repeatedly questioned the assessment, which was also confirmed by former special counsel Robert Mueller in his report last year. Mueller concluded that Russian interference was “sweeping and systematic,” but he did not find a criminal conspiracy between Russia and the Trump campaign.

Read the declassified report on Russian interference in the U.S. election

https://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/documents/national/read-the-declassified-report-on-russian-interference-in-the-us-election/2433/

The declassified 14-page report, which was released in January, concluded Russian President Vladi­mir Putin ordered the effort to undermine faith in the U.S. presidential election and helped Trump win the White House.

 

‘God is telling us something’: Deri says 70% of Israel’s virus cases are Haredim

https://www.timesofisrael.com/deri-calls-for-ultra-orthodox-soul-searching-amid-high-virus-infection-rate/

Interior minister and Shas party chief urges ‘soul-searching’ in ultra-Orthodox community, cites high virus infection rate in its major cities and smaller neighborhoods

Why Michael Flynn Is Walking Free

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/05/michael-flynn-learned-to-play-by-trumps-rules/611332/

Flynn was fired from the White House in February 2017, just days into his tenure as national security adviser. Before Trump’s inauguration, Flynn discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia with the Russian foreign minister. But Flynn lied about those conversations to FBI agents. He also lied about them to Vice President Mike Pence, which was the reason given for his dismissal. (Flynn was not forced out when the president learned of the deception, but only when it was reported in The Washington Post.)

Flynn had a host of other problems too. He had lied repeatedly about taking money from the Turkish government for lobbying, failing to file required documents. He appeared to have lied about who paid for a 2015 trip to Russia, where he sat with Vladimir Putin. He was also involved in an arcane for-profit nuclear-reactor scheme in the Middle East. (One clear takeaway of the investigation is that, potential criminal acts aside, Flynn had no business getting anywhere near the sensitive job of national security adviser.)

The whole process is stunning: Flynn was accused of committing several crimes, admitted to one to try to get himself off easy, agreed to cooperate, reneged on the deal, and is now free, having escaped punishment for both the crime to which he confessed and those on which he avoided prosecution.

Yet Flynn’s escape is not merely an isolated outrage. It is also a test case for loyalty to Trump. Since Flynn flipped on Trump, and then flopped back, his fate offers a lesson for others who might find themselves in a bind and tempted to turn on Trump, who continues to engage in the sort of behavior that got him impeached.

Cooperation deals are supposed to show criminals that returning to the fold and honoring rule of law has its benefits. But the Flynn case shows that those benefits pale in comparison to honoring loyalty to Trump.

The Secrets Flynn Was Desperate to Conceal

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/05/secrets-flynn-lied-conceal/611377/

The former national security adviser’s lies protected himself. But they also protected Trump.

Russian intelligence services intervened in the 2016 U.S. election to help elect Donald Trump. They intervened in ways that were illegal, and they intervened in ways that were clandestine. In the context of an election decided by 80,000 votes in three states, they intervened in ways that probably were decisive. Altogether, the Russian action to elect Donald Trump in 2016 ranks among the most successful intelligence operations in world history.

President Trump and his supporters dismiss these facts as “the Russia hoax,” but facts they are—facts beyond rational doubt.

Yet despite three years of investigation, much of the Trump-Russia story remains mysterious. We don’t know why the Russians intervened so aggressively, and we don’t fully know how.

Judge Jeanine: The left's attempted coup d'état exposed

Brian Stelter: This is one of the most heinous things I've ever seen on television

Fact-checking five of Trump's false claims this week

post-modernism - it is true because it feels right

https://www.britannica.com/topic/postmodernism-philosophy

 Postmodernism, also spelled post-modernism, in Western philosophy, a late 20th-century movement characterized by broad skepticism, subjectivism, or relativism; a general suspicion of reason; and an acute sensitivity to the role of ideology in asserting and maintaining political and economic power.

Why aren't editorial boards screaming: Trump has to go?

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/10/opinions/why-dont-editorial-boards-call-for-trump-to-resign-lockhart/index.html

 By the height of the Watergate scandal in 1974, virtually every major newspaper in America had called for President Richard Nixon's resignation. During the investigation and impeachment of Bill Clinton in 1998, more than 100 newspapers called for him to resign.

 But President Donald J. Trump? He could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody... and not a single major daily newspaper would call for his resignation. I admit that -- just like the original Trump quote it references -- that Fifth Avenue statement is a bit hyperbolic, but think about it:

 After three years of political and actual carnage under Trump, including Robert Mueller's description of acts that amounted to, he told Congress, obstruction of justice; Trump's "fine people on both sides" reaction to a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville where a counter-protester was killed; his rampant conflicts of interest and credible accusations of his violations of the emoluments clause of the Constitution; his close to 17,000 false statements; a travel ban that primarily targets mostly Muslim-majority countries; impeachment for alleged extortion of a foreign government (he was acquitted in the Republican Senate), and the gross mishandling of a deadly pandemic, you'd think somebody on an editorial board might say it's time for the President to leave.

Did coronavirus accidentally escape from a Wuhan lab? It’s doubtful. | The Fact Checker

'Guilty': Trump DOJ Trying To Reverse Key Mueller Conviction | The Beat With Ari Melber | MSNBC

Pompeo Backtracks About Wuhan Lab: The Latest In The Controversial Coronavirus Origin Theory

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackbrewster/2020/05/06/pompeo-backtracks-about-wuhan-lab-the-latest-in-the-controversial-coronavirus-origin-theory/#4d26a2ad2f72

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo seemed to walk back an explosive allegation Wednesday, that “enormous evidence” linked the coronavirus outbreak to a laboratory in Wuhan, China, now saying “we don’t have certainty”—the latest turn of a controversial theory that started at the very beginning of COVID-19 outbreak:

Report says cellphone data suggests October shutdown at Wuhan lab, but experts are skeptical

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/report-says-cellphone-data-suggests-october-shutdown-wuhan-lab-experts-n1202716

 A private analysis of cellphone location data purports to show that a high-security Wuhan laboratory studying coronaviruses shut down in October, three sources briefed on the matter told NBC News. U.S. spy agencies are reviewing the document, but intelligence analysts examined and couldn't confirm a similar theory previously, two senior officials say.

The report — obtained by the London-based NBC News Verification Unit — says there was no cellphone activity in a high-security portion of the Wuhan Institute of Virology from Oct. 7 through Oct. 24, 2019, and that there may have been a "hazardous event" sometime between Oct. 6 and Oct. 11.

It offers no direct evidence of a shutdown, or any proof for the theory that the virus emerged accidentally from the lab.

How deadly pathogens have escaped the lab — over and over again

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/3/20/18260669/deadly-pathogens-escape-lab-smallpox-bird-flu

Research into dangerous viruses and bacteria is important, but for the deadliest pathogens, it’s not clear the benefits are worth the risks.

 

Virus Researchers Cast Doubt On Theory Of Coronavirus Lab Accident

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/04/23/841729646/virus-researchers-cast-doubt-on-theory-of-coronavirus-lab-accident

Virus researchers say there is virtually no chance that the new coronavirus was released as result of a laboratory accident in China or anywhere else.

The assessment, made by more than half-a-dozen scientists familiar with lab accidents and how research on coronaviruses is conducted, casts doubt on recent claims that a mistake may have unleashed the coronavirus on the world.

The Coronavirus Conspiracy Theory Doesn't Add Up. It's Also a Self-Defeating Diversion.

https://thewire.in/world/the-coronavirus-conspiracy-theory-doesnt-add-up-its-also-a-self-defeating-diversion

The standard narrative has  been that the virus originated in an animal and seafood market some 30 kms away from the  Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) where the Wuhan National Biosafety Laboratory is housed. Speaking to Fox News on April 15, Pompeo remarked that the wet market and the WIV were a “handful of miles away,” and that the US was “working diligently to figure it out.”

Subsequently, right-wing American publications and some tabloids began to run stories claiming that the outbreak originated in the lab. More extreme ones like the Washington Times even claimed in late January that the coronavirus may have originated in a lab linked to China’a biowarfare programme.

 

A detailed  analysis in NPR has suggested that “there is virtually no chance that the new coronavirus was released as a result of a laboratory accident.” After consulting 10 leading scientists who do the work of collecting samples of viruses from animals and understand how lab accidents happen, the NPR concluded that “an accidental release would have required a remarkable series of coincidences and deviations from well established experimental protocols.”

“The Discussion Is Basically Over”: Why Scientists Believe the Wuhan-Lab Coronavirus Origin Theory Is Highly Unlikely

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/05/why-scientists-believe-the-wuhan-lab-coronavirus-origin-theory-is-highly-unlikely

Over the past couple of weeks, the theory that SARS-CoV-2 might have accidentally leaked from a lab inside the Wuhan Institute of Virology has become a heavily touted casus belli in President Trump’s new cold war with China, as administration officials build their case to blame the whole catastrophe on Xi Jinping’s Communist Party. The lab theory was pushed hard by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, even as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff declared that in all likelihood, the virus did not originate in a lab. American allies, meanwhile, appear to be freaked out by the rumor-mongering. “We can’t repeat the mistakes of the past. The WMDs fiasco was not that long ago,” a former senior Australian security official told the Sydney Morning Herald.

 

The lab-accident scenario seems the stuff of Hollywood thrillers—and perfect as propaganda, which operates on principles similar to those of thrillers—but there are a few facts that give it a surface plausibility. The Wuhan lab happens to conduct bat-coronavirus research, and it also happens to be located not that far from the seafood market where an early cluster of cases first emerged in late 2019. But, appealing and useful as it is in certain kinds of narratives, the lab theory leaves many virology and epidemiology types highly skeptical. To get a sense of scientists’ reservations, I spoke with Kristian Andersen, a professor in the Department of Immunology and Microbiology at Scripps Research. He was the lead author on a March 17 paper, published in the journal Nature Medicine, that is seen as the definitive research supporting a natural virus origin. “We do not believe that any type of laboratory-based scenario is plausible,” Andersen’s team, which compared the available genome sequence data for known coronavirus strains, concluded.

Pork Chops vs. People: Battling Coronavirus in an Iowa Meat Plant

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/10/business/economy/coronavirus-tyson-plant-iowa.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

After President Trump’s executive order, meat plants are reopening. Can they do so without endangering their low-wage workers and their communities?

 

Rambam and accepting everything is really good

פירוש המשנה לרמב"ם מסכת ברכות פרק ט משנה ג

[ג] אמרו על הרעה מעין על הטובה ועל הטובה מעין על הרעה, ר"ל שאם באה עליו צרה אף על פי שתכליתה טוב מברך דיין האמת, וזהו מעין על הרעה. וכן אם באה עליו טובה אף על פי שתכליתה רע מברך הטוב והמטיב, וזהו מעין על הטובה. ודוגמת הבבא הראשונה, כגון שעבר שטפון על שדהו הרי זו רעה, אף על פי שתכליתה טובה שתרוה אדמתו, ואולי אף יביא אותו השטפון לאדמתו תועליות. ודוגמת הבבא השניה, כגון שמצא ממון וראהו אחר כשלקחו, הרי זו טובה. אף על פי שתכליתה רעה שאותו אדם שראהו ילשין עליו אצל המלך, ויענהו המלך וידרוש ממנו יותר ממה שמצא. וטעם דין זה שדברים המצוים הן שאין במציאותן ספק, ולכן מברך על מה שהוא עכשיו ולא יביט לסוף לפי שאותו הסוף אפשרי, ודיו לאפשרי היותו אפשרי. ופירוש לשעבר, החולף. לפי שאין מתפללים לה' על מה שכבר נעשה, אלא מתפללים לה' ומבקשים ממנו דברים האפשריים להבא. 

 פירוש המשנה לרמב"ם מסכת ברכות פרק ט משנה ה
[ה] אמרו כשם שהוא מברך על הטובה, ר"ל שיקבלם בשמחה ויכבוש רגשותיו ויישב דעתו כשמברך ברוך דיין האמת, עד שייראה כמו בזמן שהוא מברך הטוב והמטיב, וכמו שאומרים חכמים ברוב עניניהם כל מה דעביד משמיא לטב, וזה דבר מושכל אצל הנבונים אף על פי שלא הזהירה עליו תורה, לפי שהרבה דברים נחשבין לרע בתחלתם וסופם מביאים טובה גדולה, והרבה דברים נחשבים בראשיתם טוב ויהיה בסופם רע מאד ולכן אין ראוי לנבון להצטער בבוא צרה גדולה וגזירה הרת סכנה, לפי שאינו יודע התכלית. וגם אל יתפתה וישמח שמחה רבה כשתגיעהו טובה לפי מחשבתו, לפי שאינו יודע התכלית, וכן אסרו עליהם השלום להרבות בשמחה ושחוק זולתי אם היתה אותה השמחה בדבר נעלה כלומר עשיית הטוב ודרישתו. אבל האזהרה מהדאבון והצער הרי הוא מפורסם מאד בספרי הנביאים עד שאין צורך לדבר עליו. וכל זה אם לא היה אותו אדם שרוי בטוב מראשיתו ועד אחריתו ויחשוב החושב שהוא מאושר מאד, ואותו האושר המדומה יהיה הסבה למנוע ממנו האושר האמתי ויהיה הוא הסבה לטרדו מחיי העולם הבא, ועל כגון זה אמר יש דרך ישר לפני איש ואחריתה דרכי מות. ולכן יכון האדם מחשבתו ויבקש מהאל שיהיה כל מה שיקרהו בעולם הזה מטובותיו ורעותיו סבה להשגת האושר האמתי. ואמרו ביצר טוב וביצר רע, ר"ל שישים בלבו אהבת האל והאמונה בו אפילו בעת המרי והכעס והרוגז, שכל זה הוא יצר רע, כאמרם בכל דרכיך דעהו אפילו בדבר עבירה. ופירוש מדה, דרך, כלומר באיזה מצב שתהיה שבחהו והודהו.

Gainesville has become hot spot for coronavirus cases in Georgia, a state just starting to reopen

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/06/health/us-coronavirus-wednesday/index.html

 Although the new coronavirus has been spreading through the United States for months, and there are cities seeing a flattening of the curve, some areas of the country have recently begun to find an uptick of cases.

Some of these hot spots are in states that have just begun allowing businesses to reopen.

In Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp said the state will open a temporary medical pod in cities such as Gainesville, about an hour northeast of Atlanta.

Gainesville is "being stressed pretty hard ... at the moment," Kemp said Tuesday. The governor mentioned last week that while some areas of the state have seen reduced cases, Gainesville has an increase and area hospitals have had more hospitalizations.

The high number of daily hospitalizations for Covid-19 has continued this week

Overcrowding at Israel's bus stations amid limited seating virus rule

https://www.ynetnews.com/article/r1wjKfrc8

Health orders that demand for busses to carry half the passengers they normally accommodate, resulted in major overcrowding at bus stations as people rushed to get to work after more restrictions had been lifted

 

WHO denies report that China asked org to cover-up coronavirus severity

https://www.jpost.com/international/who-denies-report-that-china-asked-org-to-cover-up-coronavirus-severity-627504

The WHO noted that China confirmed human-to-human transmision on Janurary 20, a day before the purported conversation between Jingping and Ghebreyesus

 

As virus draws closer to him, Trump turns to 2020 and stokes fears about voter fraud

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/10/politics/coronavirus-white-house-trump-2020-voter-fraud/index.html

Throughout the afternoon on Saturday, in an effort to raise concerns among his supporters, he tweeted baseless suspicions about potential voter fraud in both mail-in ballots and in-person voting in a California special congressional election on Tuesday. His focus on vote-counting came two days after he met with political advisers to refine their strategy for mounting aggressive legal challenges to Democratic efforts to shift to vote-by-mail ballots this fall.

 

Health Ministry deputy chief: Second coronavirus wave in summer expected

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/health-ministry-deputy-prepare-for-second-coronavirus-wave-in-summer-627511

Deputy Director-General of the Health Ministry Itamar Grotto insisted that despite improvements in coronavirus conditions around the country, we must be prepared for a second wave in summer.

 

Reopenings spark new virus flareups as global infection total passes 4 million

https://www.timesofisrael.com/reopenings-spark-new-virus-flareups-as-global-infection-total-passes-4-million/

South Korea, Germany, Italy fret about fresh outbreaks after easing lockdowns; worldwide death toll hits 279,000; New York reports possible virus-linked fatal complications in kids

 

Virus Conspiracists Elevate a New Champion

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/09/technology/plandemic-judy-mikovitz-coronavirus-disinformation.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

A video showcasing baseless arguments by Dr. Judy Mikovits, including attacks on Dr. Anthony Fauci, has been viewed more than eight million times in the past week.

 

Seen 'Plandemic'? We Take A Close Look At The Viral Conspiracy Video's Claims

https://www.npr.org/2020/05/08/852451652/seen-plandemic-we-take-a-close-look-at-the-viral-conspiracy-video-s-claims

 

A slickly produced 26-minute video called Plandemic has exploded on social media in recent days, claiming to present a view of COVID-19 that differs from the "official" narrative.

The video has been viewed millions of times on YouTube via links that are replaced as quickly as the video-sharing service can remove them for violating its policy against "COVID-19 misinformation."

In it, filmmaker Mikki Willis conducts an uncritical interview with Judy Mikovits, who he says has been called "one of the most accomplished scientists of her generation."

Never heard of her? You're not alone.

Two prominent scientists with backgrounds in AIDS research and infectious diseases, who asked not to be identified over concerns of facing a backlash on social media, told NPR that they did not know who she was.

If you were aware of Mikovits before this week, it is probably for two books she published with co-author Kent Heckenlively, one in 2017 and another last month. Heckenlively has also written a book himself espousing the discredited link between autism and the vaccines. You might also know Mikovits for her central role in a pair of scientific controversies. One involves a paper she co-authored in 2009 that was published in the journal Science, and the other concerns allegations that she stole notebooks and a laptop from a laboratory.

Trump and some top aides question accuracy of virus death toll

https://www.axios.com/trump-coronavirus-death-toll-d8ba60a4-316b-4d1e-8595-74970c15fb34.html

President Trump has complained to advisers about the way coronavirus deaths are being calculated, suggesting the real numbers are actually lower — and a number of his senior aides share this view, according to sources with direct knowledge.

Rachel Maddow Highlights: May 7 |

Watch The Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell Highlights: May 7 | MSNBC

Neal Katyal: Dropping Charges Is 'Outrageous And Indefensible' | Morning Joe | MSNBC

What did China do about early outbreak?

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-52573137

T he US and other countries have raised questions about whether China was fully transparent when the virus first emerged there.

So what do we know about what happened in China, and what did it say and do about the outbreak?

Here's our timeline:

Republicans threaten to sanction Jordan for not extraditing terrorist

https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/republicans-threaten-to-sanction-jordan-for-not-extraditing-terrorist-627444

This signals an increase in pressure on Jordan to extradite Ahlam Al-Tamimi, who facilitated the bombing of a Jerusalem Sbarro restaurant that killed 15 people, including two Americans, in 2001.

Storm builds around Barr over dropping of Flynn case

https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/496895-storm-builds-around-barr-over-dropping-of-flynn-case

Democrats and other critics are seizing on the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) decision to drop the case against former national security adviser Michael Flynn, arguing it shows how heavily politicized it has become under Attorney General William Barr.

Anger over the extraordinary move by Justice to drop charges even after it secured a guilty plea has created a new political storm around Barr, who had previously angered Democrats for his handling of former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation

Sweden's death rate from COVID-19 surpasses USA

https://www.9news.com.au/world/coronavirus-sweden-death-toll-covid19-rate-greater-than-usa/2ff8dd35-ecdc-42b8-bc89-5da7736f52cd

 

The Scandinavian nation controversially rejected the stricter lockdown approach of other countries in their strategy to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic, keeping most schools open, as well as stores and restaurants.

According to data from John Hopkins University, now Sweden has a death rate of 297.16 for every 1 million citizens, after 3,040 died from coronavirus. There have been 24,623 confirmed COVID-19 cases and so far 4,074 have recovered.

Comparatively the death rate in the US is 226.33 per 1 million citizens, after 74,239 have passed away from the virus.

In Sweden the lockdown-free approach has seen their death toll far exceed that of their Scandinavian neighbours like Denmark (514), Norway (217) and Finland (255) who have imposed strict measures to try and contain the spread of COVID-19.

‘Playing Russian Roulette’: Nursing Homes Told to Take the Infected

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/24/us/nursing-homes-coronavirus.html

California, New Jersey and New York have made nursing homes accept Covid-19 patients from hospitals. Residents and workers fear the policy is risking lives.

Criticized on Virus, Trump Goes to His Playbook: Deflect, Reject and Minimize

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/07/us/politics/trump-coronavirus-fact-check.html

The president has served up a series of false and misleading statements as he seeks to counter uncomfortable facts about the spread of Covid-19 and questions about his push to reopen the economy.

 

High Court upholds near one million shekel fine for failure to divorce

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/high-court-upholds-near-one-million-shekel-fine-for-failure-to-divorce-627117

 The High Court of Justice has upheld a fine of NIS 5,000 a day issued by the Tel Aviv Rabbinical Court against the father of a recalcitrant husband who has refused to give his wife a divorce for over seven years.

The father has been found by the rabbinical court to be the direct cause behind the son’s refusal to grant his wife a divorce leading to the unprecedented fine against someone who is not a litigant in the divorce suit by the court.

Two men involved in fatal shooting of Ahmaud Arbery face murder charges, GBI says

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/07/us/ahmaud-arbery-arrests-mcmichaels/index.html

Gregory McMichael told Glynn County police that Arbery was suspected in "several break-ins," but no such string of crimes was reported in the weeks before the shooting. Police have yet to clarify whether Arbery is accused of any crime at a home that was being built.

In the more than seven weeks preceding the shooting, there was only one burglary report in the neighborhood, said Glynn County police Lt. Cheri Bashlor. A 9 mm pistol was stolen January 1 from an unlocked truck outside the McMichaels' home, she said.