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U.S. considers punishing China in effort to cover up Trump’s pandemic failure as China sends essential supplies

U.S. considers punishing China in effort to cover up Trump’s pandemic failure as China sends essential supplies

The Washington Post reports: Senior U.S. officials are beginning to explore proposals for punishing or demanding financial compensation from China for its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, according to four senior administration officials with knowledge of internal planning. The move could splinter already strained relations between the two superpowers at a perilous moment for the global economy. Senior officials across multiple government agencies are expected to meet Thursday to begin mapping out a strategy for seeking retaliatory measures against China,…

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Trump officials pressure intelligence agencies to dig for evidence linking Wuhan research labs with pandemic

Trump officials pressure intelligence agencies to dig for evidence linking Wuhan research labs with pandemic

The New York Times reports: Senior Trump administration officials have pushed American spy agencies to hunt for evidence to support an unsubstantiated theory that a government laboratory in Wuhan, China, was the origin of the coronavirus outbreak, according to current and former American officials. The effort comes as President Trump escalates a public campaign to blame China for the pandemic. Some intelligence analysts are concerned that the pressure from administration officials will distort assessments about the virus and that they…

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How long will a coronavirus vaccine really take?

How long will a coronavirus vaccine really take?

The New York Times: A vaccine would be the ultimate weapon against the coronavirus and the best route back to normal life. Officials like Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the top infectious disease expert on the Trump administration’s coronavirus task force, estimate a vaccine could arrive in at least 12 to 18 months. The grim truth behind this rosy forecast is that a vaccine probably won’t arrive any time soon. Clinical trials almost never succeed. We’ve never released a coronavirus vaccine…

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All 50 state governors perform better than Trump in response to Covid-19 crisis, poll indicates

All 50 state governors perform better than Trump in response to Covid-19 crisis, poll indicates

The Hill reports: A sweeping survey of more than 22,000 voters in all 50 states found that most say their governor is doing a better job than President Trump in handling the coronavirus outbreak. The poll, conducted by researchers at Harvard, Northeastern University and Rutgers, found voters are more likely to have high levels of trust in their state and local governments than in the White House or Congress. Overall, 44 percent approve of Trump’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak,…

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Tara Reade allegations rattle Joe Biden’s VP search

Tara Reade allegations rattle Joe Biden’s VP search

Politico reports: The job description for Joe Biden’s running mate has suddenly become more complicated: The Democratic vice presidential nominee must now defend him against sexual assault accusations without looking hypocritical. It’s a particularly vexing problem for Biden’s potential picks, many of whom played lead roles in opposing the Senate Supreme Court confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh in 2018. Democrats vigorously applied a “believe all women” standard as they rallied to support his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, leaving a trail of…

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Stories of civilization collapse make for good television but bad archaeology

Stories of civilization collapse make for good television but bad archaeology

Guy D Middleton writes: There’s a common story of how the Maya civilisation was wiped out: they fell foul of unstoppable climate change. Several periods of extreme drought withered their crops and killed off thousands in their overpopulated cities. ‘There was nothing they could do or could have done. In the end, the food and water ran out – and they died,’ wrote Richardson Gill in 2007. The jungle reclaimed the cities with their palaces and pyramids until they were…

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U.S. Covid-19 death toll is far higher than reported, CDC data suggests

U.S. Covid-19 death toll is far higher than reported, CDC data suggests

The New York Times reports: Total deaths in seven states that have been hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic are nearly 50 percent higher than normal for the five weeks from March 8 through April 11, according to new death statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That is 9,000 more deaths than were reported as of April 11 in official counts of deaths from the coronavirus. The new data is partial and most likely undercounts the recent…

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Why Covid-19 patients should be going to hospitals sooner

Why Covid-19 patients should be going to hospitals sooner

  Dr. Richard Levitan, an airway specialist who has practiced emergency medicine for over 30 years, is well aware of the urgency of their work. When the virus began to overwhelm New York City at the end of March, he rushed from his home in New Hampshire to volunteer at Bellevue Hospital, where he trained. Dr. Levitan recently wrote an op-ed in the New York Times detailing what he’s learned from treating COVID-19 patients at Bellevue. He also has co-founded…

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Why the coronavirus is so confusing

Why the coronavirus is so confusing

Ed Yong writes: On March 27, as the U.S. topped 100,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, Donald Trump stood at the lectern of the White House press-briefing room and was asked what he’d say about the pandemic to a child. Amid a meandering answer, Trump remarked, “You can call it a germ, you can call it a flu, you can call it a virus. You know, you can call it many different names. I’m not sure anybody even knows what it…

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More than 80 percent of hospitalized covid-19 patients in Georgia were African American, study finds

More than 80 percent of hospitalized covid-19 patients in Georgia were African American, study finds

The Washington Post reports: As Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) moves to reopen more businesses, a new study underscores the disproportionate toll the virus has taken on the state’s African American population. Surveying eight Georgia hospitals, researchers found that in a sample of 305 covid-19 patients, 247 were black — more than 80 percent and more than they expected. “It is important to continue ongoing efforts to understand the reasons for these racial disparities, including the role of socioeconomic and…

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Justice Department backs conservative groups pushing to open economy during the pandemic

Justice Department backs conservative groups pushing to open economy during the pandemic

The New York Times reports: A network of conservative leaders, donors and organizations has launched a legal onslaught against state and local restrictions intended to slow the spread of the coronavirus, pushing to allow churches to hold services, businesses to reopen and people to be able to visit with family and friends. They have been emboldened in recent days by increasing signs of support from a powerful ally: The Justice Department. Justice Department officials have spoken on conference calls with…

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Economists agree that no quick rebound from recession is likely

Economists agree that no quick rebound from recession is likely

The Associated Press reports: Devastated by the coronavirus, the U.S. economy is sinking. And the plunge is accelerating. Now, as some businesses in a few states start to trickle back to work, hopes are beginning to arise that the economy, damaged as it is, might be poised to rebound by the second half of the year. If more employees and consumers were to gradually return to working and spending, the idea goes, the economy might be able to mount a…

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Energy: A silver lining in the pandemic

Energy: A silver lining in the pandemic

Michael T. Klare writes: Energy analysts have long assumed that, given time, growing international concern over climate change would result in a vast restructuring of the global energy enterprise. The result: a greener, less climate-degrading system. In this future, fossil fuels would be overtaken by renewables, while oil, gas, and coal would be relegated to an increasingly marginal role in the global energy equation. In its World Energy Outlook 2019, for example, the International Energy Agency (IEA) predicted that, by…

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How Trump and his team tried to cover up the coronavirus threat

How Trump and his team tried to cover up the coronavirus threat

Ryan Goodman and Danielle Schulkin write: The strongest critics of the Trump administration’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic point to its flat-footedness and the consequences of time lost. But the full account looks worse. Over the last five days of February, President Trump and senior officials did something more sinister: They engaged in a cover-up. A look at this window of time gives insight into how several members of the president’s team were willing to manipulate Americans even when so…

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