EveryMintNews: April 2020

Thursday, 30 April 2020

Peter Hunt, Who Directed the Broadway Hit ‘1776,’ Dies at 81

By BY NEIL GENZLINGER from NYT Theater https://ift.tt/2VR35Xb

Scrambling the Political Divide: ‘No Normal Recession’

By BY LISA LERER from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2VQ3U2w

In a Crisis, True Leaders Stand Out

By BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/2Wc5wTr

Amazon Sells More, but Warns of Much Higher Costs Ahead

By BY KAREN WEISE from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/2xrY3Hw

Listen: You Are Worthy of Sleep

On the latest episode of the Social Distance podcast, Tricia Hersey of the Nap Ministry joins James Hamblin and Katherine Wells to explain the importance of rest and how to get enough of it.

Listen to their conversation here:

Subscribe to Social Distance on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or another podcast platform to receive new episodes as soon as they’re published.

What follows is an edited and condensed transcript of their conversation.

Katherine Wells: Tricia, will you introduce yourself?

Tricia Hersey: My name is Tricia Hersey, and I'm the founder of the Nap Ministry, which is an organization that examines the liberating power of rest. We name sleep deprivation as a racial and social-justice issue. This project came out of my own experiences with exhaustion.

Wells: You have an undergraduate degree in public health, and you went to graduate school for divinity, so you're interested in both the science and spiritual aspects of rest, is that right?

Hersey: Absolutely. My undergraduate degree was in community health, and I was really interested in looking at the body in a holistic way.

Wells: Jim hasn't been sleeping for three months. He has been sleeping maybe five hours on average each night, but sometimes less. And he told me that he feels like every moment that he rests, he's not doing something that he should be doing.

James Hamblin: I am also just consumed by lots of worry for the world generally and for specific people in it. Normally I can put that aside and go to sleep. But these are extenuating circumstances.

Wells: Jim knows the science. He knows that he's putting his health at risk by not getting enough rest. But I can't get him to take it seriously. He just doesn't seem to care. I was hoping that you could help.

Hersey: It sounds like he is taking it seriously, and this is, like he said, an extenuating circumstance. I want to first uplift that I don't think there's any particular right or wrong way to deal with anything that's going on right now. I always say, Take it easy on yourself. This is a slow deprogramming. It's really about uplifting what is happening, removing those veils, and really sitting in the midst of right now. I think a lot of people are having issues with sleep right now. I'm not sleeping as well as I used to either, because I'm really worried as well about my family.

Hamblin: I don't feel constantly exhausted in the way that I would with real insomnia. I just hit these walls where I become so exhausted that I can barely function, and then I know I can sleep. But otherwise, if I have capacity in me, I am up.

Hersey: You said something important when you said that you feel like you could be doing something. You feel like, While I'm up and while I'm alive, every moment of the day needs to be filled with me doing something to help with what's happening. That may be a response to you being a doctor. People who go into this field have some sense of wanting to heal and help.

Hamblin: Yes, that is exactly it. This feels like a moment that I don't want to squander, because I studied public health and went to medical school and have a lot of knowledge about this, and there's a real problem with lack of information and lack of knowledge and lack of context here for a lot of people.

Hersey: I totally understand. A lot of my work is with people who are community organizers and movement leaders. They are on the front lines. They're working 80 hours a week. They are planning direct action. They really feel, How can I be resting right now when the people who are causing all of this oppression in our world are not resting? That's a true and real thing that we need to uplift before we can get to the point of giving someone a rest schedule and forcing them to follow it.

Wells: I was hoping I could just berate him into a nap. But your approach seems much wiser. What do you tell people who feel the way he does?

Hersey: I led a training with human rights activists all over the country, and I told them that they really had to understand rest as a spiritual practice. Rest is productive. When you are resting, you are being productive. I'm trying to reframe rest and deprogram people around the concept that if you aren't "doing something" in the classic sense, then you're not worthy.

I want to uplift that when you're sleeping, you are actually doing something. You're honoring your body. You are giving your brain a moment to download new information. You're disrupting toxic systems by reclaiming rest.

Hamblin: I'm curious about your own experience with being driven to exhaustion.

Hersey: When I first started thinking about this, I had started seminary. I was in divinity school. I had an 8:00 class. I'd be there by 6:00 in the morning, and then I wouldn't come home until after midnight sometimes. And after that, I would be up until 3:00 in the morning studying. That was hard. And I had a six-year-old son at the time. I was robbed while I was walking home from school with my son one day. Two of my family members died suddenly. And then right at that moment, Black Lives Matter was really heating up. And I was a community organizer and justice leader. I was dealing with being pulled to the front lines with that while I was still in school. And I was traumatized, in a way, by constantly seeing all of the murders that were happening, because everything was on video online. It was a lot of strife. And I was at a predominately white institution where there weren't that many people who looked like me there.

The stress of all of that, combined with trying to go through a really intense, high-level graduate writing program, I just couldn't take it. I felt like, I'm either going to just quit and just go lay on a couch, or I'm going to just go to school and try to get the attendance credit. I started sleeping all over campus. I was everywhere.

Hamblin: There should be more public spaces for people to take naps.

Hersey: That's why I started to think about collective napping and public napping. A lot of my work as an artist is public installation: All over the country we curate spaces for the community to rest in a safe place.

Wells: Is part of that about normalizing napping? Because napping is kind of embarrassing.

Hersey: There's a stigma around caring for yourself. Unless it's attached to capitalism, then it's okay. You can pay $200 for a facial, and then you're taking care of yourself. But if you're caring for yourself with something as deep as sleep, which is one of our most ancient and primal needs, if you're doing that in public, caring for your body, that's shameful. I tie that back to capitalism and to white supremacy and these notions around not seeing humans as divine and not seeing our bodies as belonging to us. When you start to deprogram around all the systems that have us at this point of sleep deprivation, where we don't think we are worthy of sleep.

Hamblin: That phrase you used, “worthy of sleep,” jumps out at me. I can see there's an issue there of someone in my position not deeming themselves worthy of that time, because something we've talked about a lot on this show is there are a lot of people who are suffering so much more than we are. But we need to take our own needs into consideration, deem those concerns worthy, and address them.

Wells: Tricia, once you talk to people and convince them of the idea that rest is something that is okay to care about and to prioritize, what do you say? I'm interested in your idea that we can change how we think about rest or what rest looks like. That it doesn't necessarily have to be eight hours of sleep a night. What do you suggest for different ways of thinking about resting?

Hersey: I lead this back to intuition and listening to the body. I want to reimagine rest to be a slowing down, a mindfulness, a paying attention. I believe taking moments of silence is a form of rest. Taking long baths. A longer shower. Prayer, meditation, daydreaming. Doing a sun salutation in the morning. Sitting on your couch for a few minutes before you rush out to do 300 more things, giving yourself ten minutes of intentional time listening to your body. And the time to rest is now, because it's not a privilege; it is our right. It's a human right.

Wells: I've been thinking a lot about essential workers, and I imagine a lot of people feel like rest is not even an option.

Hersey: That's the number-one thing I've heard. People say, Oh, you do the Nap Ministry? That sounds cute and nice, but who has time to rest? I could never do that. It sounds nice, but no.

This is what I always tell them: That is a part of the brainwashing of living under toxic systems. White supremacy and capitalism have stolen not only our rest, but also our intuition. To think that in this day and age, there's no time for you to at least take 10 minutes to reclaim rest and daydream and shut your eyes or debrief for a little bit longer before you go to shower, that is not true. That's all false and has been told to us by systems that don't see us as divine. Part of this rest resistance is also reclaiming your imagination and reclaiming hope, reclaiming your intuition of knowing what's right and knowing there's always time for you to reclaim your body as yours. Even those essential workers have ten minutes before they take a shower in the morning and go out, or while they're in the car, before they step into a hospital. There are moments when you can integrate rest throughout your day.

Hamblin: I worry right now that, especially as jobs are so few, a lot of people are feeling even more like they have to just keep grinding. It's going to be a dark period. I hope we emerge better for it. But this is a marathon; it's going to go on for a year or two. And this has helped me to realize that it doesn't help if I burn out in the first two months of it.

from The Atlantic https://ift.tt/3d27agZ

Tiny airports rake in big cash after botched stimulus formula - POLITICO

Tiny airports rake in big cash after botched stimulus formula POLITICOView Full Coverage on Google News

from Top stories - Google News https://ift.tt/35r0wyn

COVID-19: More than one million infected in US - Al Jazeera English

COVID-19: More than one million infected in US Al Jazeera EnglishView Full Coverage on Google News

from Top stories - Google News https://ift.tt/2ShTJBO

Macy's will start reopening stores on Monday - CNN

from Top stories - Google News https://ift.tt/3bO544e

Fortnite World Cup 2020 has been canceled - The Verge

Fortnite World Cup 2020 has been canceled The Verge
Epic cancels plans for a Fortnite World Cup in 2020 PC Gamer
‘Fortnite’ v12.50 Patch Notes: Nerfs, Leaks, Season 3 Teasers And Much More Forbes
Fortnite’s new experimental mode is about partying, not fighting The Verge
How to complete Fortnite's new secret quest for an easy 15,000XP Dexerto
View Full Coverage on Google News

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NFL Draft 2020: Did Giants find a gem in ‘Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on a football field'? - NJ.com

NFL Draft 2020: Did Giants find a gem in ‘Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on a football field'? NJ.com
2021 NFL draft QB class - Early look, eight names to know and potential landing spots ESPN
The ACC's Best Late-Round Picks Of The Last 10 Years ACC Digital Network
Community 2020 Rookie Rankings | fantasy football rookie rankings Dynasty League Football
Picking NFL draft steals: 10 underrated players who could turn into gems ESPN
View Full Coverage on Google News

from Top stories - Google News https://ift.tt/2WiMuKY

Blog: WHO crisis raises questions on multilateralism

from The Times of India https://ift.tt/3f9Yp6r

‘After 1.5 months, we can say we are safe in UP’

from The Times of India https://ift.tt/2yYfYG2

Coronavirus: Armed protesters enter Michigan statehouse

Several senators reportedly wore bulletproof vests as armed demonstrators looked on from the gallery.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/2y4mOtH

Nigerian drummer Tony Allen dies aged 79

Nigerian drummer Tony Allen, who created Afrobeat with Fela Kuti, dies in Paris aged 79, his manager says

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/2KKI22i

As Michael Flynn seeks to withdraw guilty plea, unsealed documents could help attack FBI's case

The documents could provide lawyers for Trump's former national security adviser with new ammunition against the law enforcement agency.

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Senate Democrat says Republican leader's plan to resume work puts lives in danger

A U.S. Senate Democrat on Wednesday accused Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of endangering the lives of Senate staff if he brings them back to work next week without effective safeguards against coronavirus infection in place. Senator Chris Van Hollen, whose state of Maryland contains several suburbs of Washington where federal workers live, said he had written to McConnell to demand details of how staff will be protected when the Senate returns to session on Monday. "I am ready to see senators resume work in the Capitol, but without effective safeguards in place, Mitch McConnell is endangering the lives of the staff who work there – including many of my constituents – and undermining regional efforts to prevent the spread of the coronavirus," Van Hollen said in a statement.

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One dead, five missing after Canadian helicopter goes missing during NATO exercise

Canadian prime Minister Jusin Trudeau has confirmed that one man has died and five others are missing after a Canadian military helicopter went missing during a NATO operation. Debris and the aircraft's black box have been found in the sea between Greece and Italy, a Greek military officer and public television said Thursday. Canada's armed forces said the helicopter had been involved in an accident after taking off from the Canadian frigate Fredericton on Wednesday. "Debris has been found in Italy's zone of control and intervention" in the Ionian Sea, the Greek military officer told AFP, specifying the wreckage belonged to the Canadian helicopter. Six crew were aboard the helicopter when it disappeared, the officer said on condition of anonymity. Greek public television reported that a body had been found amid the wreckage in international waters off the Greek island of Kefalonia. Greek public television ERT said Italian and NATO vessels were also taking part in the search while Turkey said one of its frigates was also involved. Canada said on Twitter that it contacted the family members of those who were on board the missing CH-148 Cyclone helicopter.

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Cuban embassy in Washington struck by gunfire, suspect arrested

A man armed with a high-powered assault rifle fired multiple rounds at the Cuban embassy in Washington early Thursday, authorities said, damaging the building but without causing any injuries. Police arrested the suspect, identified as 42-year-old Alexander Alazo of Aubrey, Texas. "This morning at approximately 2:15 am, US Secret Service officers responded to the Embassy of Cuba following reports of shots fired," the Secret Service said in a statement.

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Satellite images of luxury boats further suggest North Korea's Kim at favoured villa: experts

Satellite imagery showing recent movements of luxury boats often used by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his entourage near Wonsan provide further indications he has been at the coastal resort, according to experts who monitor the reclusive regime. Speculation about Kim's health and location erupted after his unprecedented absence from April 15 celebrations to mark the birthday of his late grandfather and North Korea's founder, Kim Il Sung. On Tuesday, North Korea-monitoring website NK PRO reported commercial satellite imagery showed boats often used by Kim had made movements in patterns that suggested he or his entourage may be in the Wonsan area.

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Inmates at Parchman's Unit 29 describe life inside notorious cellblock

Four inmates at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman spoke to CBS News in recent days, expressing frustration as they wait to be relocated from the state's oldest prison.

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A NYC coronavirus patient died after inexperienced medical residents set her ventilator too high and it stopped her heart

The incident happened at Montefiore hospital in the Bronx in March, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

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Jordan ends historic arrangement with Israel as West Bank annexation tensions rise

Jordan's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Ambassador Dhaifallah Al-Fayez, said the additional harvesting period "will end this evening."

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Donald Trump accuses China of doing 'anything they can' to prevent his re-election

Donald Trump believes China's handling of the coronavirus pandemic is proof that Beijing "will do anything they can" to make him lose his re-election bid in November. In an interview with Reuters in the Oval Office, the US President talked tough on China and said he was looking at different options in terms of consequences for Beijing over the virus. "I can do a lot," he said. Mr Trump has been heaping blame on China for a global pandemic that has killed more than 60,000 people in the United States and thrown the country's economy into a deep recession, putting in jeopardy his hopes for another four-year term. The Republican president, often accused of not acting early enough to prepare the United States for the spread of the virus, said he believed China should have been more active in letting the world know about coronavirus much sooner. Asked whether he was considering the use of tariffs or even debt write-offs for China, Mr Trump would not offer specifics. "There are many things I can do," he said. "We're looking for what happened." "China will do anything they can to have me lose this race," he said. He believes Beijing wants his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, to win the race to ease the pressure Mr Trump has placed on China over trade and other issues. "They're constantly using public relations to try to make it like they're innocent parties," he said of Chinese officials.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/3bTqkFY

Wednesday, 29 April 2020

New NCAA Football Game Unlikely As NCAA Working Group Deems Group Licenses “Unworkable in College Athletics� - Eleven Warriors

New NCAA Football Game Unlikely As NCAA Working Group Deems Group Licenses “Unworkable in College Athletics� Eleven Warriors
NCAA group supports player endorsement plan ESPN
NCAA takes biggest step yet toward allowing college athletes to be compensated for name, image and likeness Yahoo Sports
Does NCAA decision about athlete earnings mean a 'new era' for college sports? PBS NewsHour
Wednesday afternoon Cardinal news and notes Card Chronicle
View Full Coverage on Google News

from Top stories - Google News https://ift.tt/3bPvbIa

Sources: No Minor League Baseball in 2020; MLB Expanding Rosters Instead - Lookout Landing

from Top stories - Google News https://ift.tt/2KMhUnG

Coronavirus: States start plasma therapy trials

from The Times of India https://ift.tt/2SAN2er

Number of non-Covid deaths in India has dropped

from The Times of India https://ift.tt/3cX22uL

Coronavirus kills 70 veterans at Massachusetts care home

Officials are investigating if residents received proper medical care at the Massachusetts home.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/2ybbegh

Irrfan Khan: The Bollywood star loved by Hollywood

Irrfan Khan's biographer, Aseem Chhabra, writes about the life of one of Bollywood's biggest stars.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/3eWGqQS

Coronavirus: Searching for truth behind Spain's care home tragedy

Families want to know why so many of their elderly relatives have died.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/2yZZBZt

Pochettino ready to manage again but yearns for Tottenham return

‘Deep inside I want to go back because the fans are so special’
Newcastle’s prospective new owners linked with Pochettino

The former Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino is “motivated for his next project” – but wants to return to the club one day to finish the job he started.

Pochettino left Spurs in November, six months after leading the club to the Champions League final, and has been linked with Newcastle in recent days. Reports claim the Argentinian is the main target of the Magpies’ prospective new owners should they complete a takeover but Pochettino could not disguise his desire to return to north London at some stage in his career.

Continue reading...

from Football | The Guardian https://ift.tt/3eZKkIO

Coronavirus: Japan's low testing rate raises questions

Japan's relatively low rate of virus testing raises questions about how it has tackled the pandemic.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/2KKoxXB

Training AI 'to translate mum's phone messages'

How African researchers are using the continent's languages to help spur innovation in Artificial Intelligence.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/2xkftpr

Staging a 'socially distanced' boxing match

Inside the Nicaraguan boxing event that caught the world's attention during the pandemic.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/3d3ojqW

Coronavirus: Why the fashion industry faces an 'existential crisis'

"No-one wants to buy clothes to sit at home in," as Next's chief executive Simon Wolfson puts it.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/2Wc9YBC

Coronavirus: Why so many US nurses are out of work

At a time when many healthcare workers are risking their lives, some face pay cuts and job loss.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/2VMxYMs

How will airlines get flying again?

When passenger planes start flying again, the world of air travel will be very different.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/3cXyT2s

Sen. Gillibrand, Who Suggested FBI Probe of Kavanaugh, Says She ‘Stands By’ Biden Following Sexual Assault Allegations

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D., N.Y.) on Tuesday said she supported Joe Biden following former Biden staffer Tara Reade's allegations that the presidential candidate sexually assaulted her."I stand by [former] vice president Biden," Gillibrand said in response to a question from JustTheNews during a conference call with reporters. "He's devoted his life to supporting women and he has vehemently denied this allegation."Gillibrand in 2018 was one of the most vocal defenders of Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault during Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings. The New York senator argued that Ford should not be compelled to testify at the hearings without the benefit of witnesses and an investigation."Without the benefit of an FBI investigation … and without the benefit of corroborating witnesses being able to testify, it’s a sham [confirmation] hearing," Gillibrand said at the time.Reade in March accused Biden of sexually assaulting her in the spring of 1993, when she worked in his former Senate office. On Monday, a former neighbor of Reade's told Business Insider that she described the assault in 1995. Reade has also said that her mother had made an anonymous call to CNN's Larry King during an episode of Larry King Live to discuss the matter. A transcript of the call was obtained by The Intercept.Biden's presidential campaign has vehemently denied Reade's allegations. Biden has yet to personally respond to the allegations, and did not address the issue directly during a virtual town hall on women's issues on Tuesday with failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

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US 'hasn't seen' North Korean leader Kim Jong-un recently, Mike Pompeo

The US secretary of state's comments come after speculation the North Korean leader might be ill.

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The U.S. and Iran Are Headed for a New Proxy War in Afghanistan

KARACHI—While the United States military and the White House are girding for a confrontation with Iran on the high seas or in Iraq, Afghanistan is an even more likely battleground.U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted last week, "I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea." The tweet followed the dangerous maneuvers on April 15 by Iranian naval vessels near U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf. The leader of Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) promised a “crushing response” to any such action.The incident and the threats that followed show that even if most of the world’s attention is focused on the COVID-19 pandemic, which has had a devastating impact on both Iran and the United States, the symptoms of a war in the making grow stronger by the day.Almost forgotten by the general public is the rocket attack on Camp Taji in Iraq last month that killed two American soldiers and one British serviceman. The camp hosts anti-ISIS coalition troops and NATO personnel. On the ground, the U.S retaliatory strikes against weapons storage sites in Iraq belonging to the pro-Iranian militia Kata'ib Hezbollah kept the war-fever high.On April 1, Trump said Iran was planning to attack American troops in Iraq."Upon information and belief,” he tweeted, echoing FBI legalese, “Iran or its proxies are planning a sneak attack on U.S. troops and/or assets in Iraq. If this happens, Iran will pay a very heavy price, indeed!"But Americans are even more vulnerable in Afghanistan, and it is likely to be the favored theater for Iran’s proxy attacks on U.S. personnel for several reasons.Trump, Afghanistan, and ‘The Tweet of Damocles’One of the first is that the head of the IRGC’s Quds Force, General Ismail Qaani, has experience there dating back almost a quarter of a century. The Quds Force spearheads Iran’s operations outside its borders, most often by training and organizing militias which are used in combat, covert ops, and terrorist activities to support Iran’s regional objectives. These include the influence, subversion, intimidation, or control of potentially hostile neighbors and the expulsion of outside forces.For years, the head of the Quds Force was Gen. Qassem Soleimani, known for his high-profile activities in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon—and his cult of personality inside Iran itself. When he was blown away by an American drone while on a visit to Baghdad in early January, Trump gloated, “He should have been taken out many years ago!”Qaani was appointed immediately to succeed Soleimani, whom he had served as deputy commander since the late 1990s. But while Soleimani had focused mainly on the countries to the west of Iran, Qaani worked on those to the east, especially Afghanistan.Today, Qaani is unlikely to miss the opportunity to strike the U.S. at such a vulnerable point. The Americans are currently battling to salvage the peace deal with the Afghan Taliban that would give Trump an exit from the “endless war” there before the U.S. elections in November. But the Taliban already have warned that the peace deal announced in February is near the breaking point. Iran does not have to push too hard to shatter the agreement amid growing violence and bitter differences between the Taliban and the Afghan government. Qaani, appointed as the deputy commander of the Quds Force in 1997, worked to back the Northern Alliance in the civil war against the Taliban in the 1990s at a time when the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency was trying to work with Alliance leader Ahmad Shah Massoud as well. Al Qaeda’s murder of Massoud two days before its September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States turned all these relationships upside down. It’s not clear what role Qaani or Soleimani played at a time when Iran was cooperating with Washington to try to stabilize the Afghan situation in late 2001, but after then-President George W. Bush declared in early 2002 that Iran was part of the “Axis of Evil,” diplomatic rapprochement came to an end, and covert action, if it ever subsided, was renewed.More recently, Qaani made some trips to Afghanistan when the Liwa Fatemiyoun, sometimes known as the Fatemiyoun Brigade or Afghan Hezbollah, were at their height in 2018. Organized four years earlier, they were deployed by Iran to fight in the Syria war supporting Tehran’s ally Bashar al-Assad. Qaani visited Kabul in 2018 and held talks with Afghan government leaders President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, formerly of the Northern Alliance.Following the signing of the peace accord forged in Doha, Qatar, the U.S. has struggled to push the peace process forward. The U.S. and NATO allies agreed to withdraw all troops within 14 months in return for security assurances by the Taliban that Afghanistan would not be allowed to become a launching pad for global terrorist attacks. The U.S. has to reduce its forces in Afghanistan from about 13,000 to 8,600 within the first 135 days of the accord, but as the New York Times reported last month, that schedule has been complicated by coronavirus and quarantine concerns.On its face, the Quds Force-Taliban relationship is complicated given Iran’s previous backing for the Northern Alliance, but that was a long time ago, and ever since 9/11 Afghanistan has seen changing client and proxy relationships, some of them public, some not.“An open alliance between Iran and the Taliban would surely be viewed as a betrayal by many Afghans, even if shifting alliances is the nature of Afghanistan,” Sam Hendricks of the Lowy Institute in Sydney told The Daily Beast.“On the whole,” Hendricks said, “Iran has been remarkably restrained in its dealings in Afghanistan since 2001—and its own betrayal by the U.S. after Iranian support in defeating the Taliban and convening the Bonn process [to build a stable government], soon after which it was labeled part of the Axis of Evil.”Now, said Hendricks, Iran “seems to have an opportunity to strike the U.S. at a very vulnerable point.” Among Qaani’s tools are the thousands of fighters from the battle hardened Liwa Fatemiyoun, made up mainly of members of Afghanistan’s Shi’ite Hazara minority, in addition to any tacit or covert cooperation with the Taliban themselves.More than in Iraq, more than in the waters of the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean, Iran is positioned in its eastern neighbor to make the Americans suffer as they try to extract themselves. The only real question is whether Iran wants them out of Afghanistan sooner or later.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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China to convene Congress, showing confidence in virus fight

China, taking a step toward a return to business as normal, announced Wednesday that its previously postponed national legislature session will be held in late May. The National People's Congress, delayed from early March because of the coronavirus outbreak, will start on May 22, the official Xinhua News Agency said. It wasn't immediately clear whether the 3,000 or so delegates would come to Beijing for what is the biggest political meeting of the year, or if it would be held virtually through videoconference.

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The US is 'slightly' past its first peak, but expert says the pandemic is far from over

Dr. Tom Inglesby said some states are experiencing a decline in cases, while half of the country is still seeing a rise in daily numbers.

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FDA reportedly plans to authorize emergency use of largely untested drug to treat coronavirus

The Food and Drug Administration will authorize the emergency use of the antiviral remdesivir on COVID-19 patients as soon as Wednesday, a senior administration official told The New York Times. Pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences revealed promising study results involving remdesivir on Wednesday, but the FDA's reported move would still sidestep the usual testing required to authorize a drug's usage.Gilead said Wednesday that its own trial, as well one overseen by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, met its goals. Of the study's 397 severe COVID-19 patients, at least 50 percent of patients treated with a 5-day dosage of remdesivir improved and more than half were discharged from the hospital within two weeks. The overall mortality rate of the study was 7 percent, and relatively few patients developed bad side effects. But the study wasn't evaluated against a control group, and it's unclear if those recoveries were natural or if remdesivir actually had something to do with them. Hard data from the study also hasn't been released yet.Anecdotal reports, including two published in The New England Journal of Medicine, provided more credibility for remdesivir in the coronavirus fight. But they also didn't compared the drug against a placebo. A study published in The Lancet concluded remdesivir was "safe and adequately tolerated" but "did not provide significant benefits over placebo."More stories from theweek.com How Tara Reade's allegations could bring down Joe Biden The perils of Hooverism Florida's health department reportedly told medical examiners to remove causes of death from mortality data

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El Salvador leader fights crime and virus, amid criticism

The most popular leader in Latin America is a slender, casually dressed millennial with an easy manner on Twitter and a harsh approach that critics call increasingly frightening. As his first year in power comes to a close, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele is fighting both the coronavirus and the country’s powerful street gangs with tactics that some say are putting the young democracy at risk. The government reported 65 homicides in March, an average of 2.1 a day in a country that once saw more than 20 daily slayings.

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Teachers union: 'Scream bloody murder' if schools reopen against medical advice

Schools in most states have been ordered to stay closed the rest of the year or strongly urged to do so.

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Coronavirus: Mike Pence flouts rule on masks at hospital

In a deleted tweet, the Mayo Clinic said the US vice-president had been told of their mask rules.

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Tuesday, 28 April 2020

How to Defend a Dissertation Virtually

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Cooperstown: Wait Till Next Year?

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China Mounts Aggressive Defense to Calls for Coronavirus Compensation

By BY DAMIEN CAVE AND AMY QIN from NYT World https://ift.tt/3aKNe0H

Tucker Carlson Beats Sean Hannity as Trump Briefings Give Fox News a Boost

By BY MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM from NYT Business https://ift.tt/2KNH6dn

It’s Not Enough to ‘Get Back to Normal’

By BY SUSAN E. RICE from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/2VMHYFJ

Watch Live: Hillary Clinton Endorses Joe Biden for President - The New York Times

Watch Live: Hillary Clinton Endorses Joe Biden for President The New York Times
Joe Biden prepares to announce running mate l ABC News ABC News
Tara Reade blasts Hillary Clinton after Biden endorsement: She's 'enabling a sexual predator' Fox News
Oppo dumps and behind-the-scenes lobbying: Biden’s VP search heats up POLITICO
Coronavirus: US reaches one million confirmed cases – live updates The Guardian
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Trump Plans to Sign Executive Order to Prevent Meat Shortage - The New York Times

Trump Plans to Sign Executive Order to Prevent Meat Shortage The New York Times
Trump urges states to 'seriously consider' opening public schools before the summer Daily Mail
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Coronavirus death toll 54% higher in England and Wales than daily stats showed - CNN

Coronavirus death toll 54% higher in England and Wales than daily stats showed CNN
Coronavirus: Care home deaths up as hospital cases fall BBC News
UK care homes death toll rises sharply amid warning 'peak not reached' Channel 4 News
UK on track for one of Europe's worst virus death tolls Reuters
Coronavirus: a third of deaths taking place in care homes - BBC News BBC News
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Apple Maps now shows COVID-19 testing sites across the US - Engadget

Apple Maps now shows COVID-19 testing sites across the US Engadget
Apple adds COVID-19 testing sites to Maps across the US, and shares more mobility data TechCrunch
Apple Maps now displays COVID-19 testing sites in your area AppleInsider
Apple Maps: How to find COVID-19 testing locations on iPhone, iPad, and Mac 9to5Mac
New mobile COVD-19 testing unit will head to Buffalo's East and West sidesIIII WKBW TV | Buffalo, NY
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Tom Brady did not violate NFL rules by visiting Bucs offensive coordinator: report - Fox News

Tom Brady did not violate NFL rules by visiting Bucs offensive coordinator: report Fox News
NFL says Tom Brady's house call to Bucs offensive coordinator didn't violate league rules ESPN
Will NFL's explanation that Tom Brady, Bucs didn't break league rules satisfy opposing teams? Yahoo Sports
Tampa Mayor Jane Castor reached out to Tom Brady with a pun-heavy welcome letter Creative Loafing Tampa
Colin Cowherd Selects His Biggest Winners and Losers of 2020 NFL Offseason Fox Sports Radio
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'Monsoon to be normal, June may see less rains'

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FM rebuts Rahul claim, says no loan waived off

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Australia asks China to explain 'economic coercion' threat in coronavirus row

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Erdogan defends Turkey religious chief's anti-gay sermon

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday defended a top religious official who claimed homosexuality caused diseases, corrupted people and was condemned in Islamic teaching. Ali Erbas, head of a state-funded agency called the Diyanet, which runs mosques and appoints imams, also claimed during his weekly sermon that homosexuality caused HIV. The Ankara bar association of lawyers accused him of inciting hatred against gay people while ignoring child abuse and misogyny.

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Supreme Court Dismisses NYC Gun Rights Case; Conservative Justices Dissent

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a case brought by three New York City handgun owners challenging a city regulation that prohibited gun owners from transporting their firearms outside the city.The court agreed to hear the case in December, but the city then amended the regulation to allow gun owners to bring firearms to other locations. The Supreme Court ruled 5-3 in an unsigned opinion that the case was moot because the city had amended its original regulation.Conservative justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, and Neil Gorsuch wrote in their dissent that the case should not have been dismissed."By incorrectly dismissing this case as moot, the Court permits our docket to be manipulated in a way that should not be countenanced," the justices wrote. Lawyers for the plaintiffs had argued that the case should not be dismissed because the city changed its regulation due to fears that the Supreme Court would use the case to restrict broader gun control measures.Gun rights advocates had initially hoped the court's conservative majority would tip the case in their favor."I believe it will change the way the Second Amendment is applied to everyone who owns a gun in the country," Romolo Colantone, a resident of Staten Island and one of the plaintiffs in the case, said in December 2019.

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‘I can’t imagine why’: Trump says he takes no responsibility for people ingesting disinfectant despite suggesting it as treatment

Donald Trump said on Monday he will take no responsibility if Americans inject or otherwise consume disinfectant to kill Covid-19, even though he suggested it during a Thursday evening press conference.“No, I don’t,” the president said Monday evening when asked about Maryland’s governor saying his government got calls from people asking if they should.

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El Salvador gangs: 'No ray of sunlight for inmates'

El Salvador, already criticised by rights groups, cracks down further on imprisoned gang members.

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Catholic Church angry after Italian government refuses to lift ban on religious services

The Catholic Church in Italy is angry over the government’s refusal to allow the faithful to attend religious services, as the country edges towards a cautious relaxation of coronavirus lockdown rules. Under a new decree announced on Sunday night by the prime minister, businesses, factories and building sites will be allowed to restart on May 4 and people will be allowed out of their homes to exercise. Public parks will be reopened and children will be allowed out for fresh air and exercise, Giuseppe Conte said. But the government said churches and cathedrals would remain closed to congregations because there remained a high risk of the virus being spread. Elderly people are particularly vulnerable to Covid-19 and make up a high proportion of Italy’s dwindling churchgoers. "I understand that freedom of worship is a fundamental people's right," the prime minister said. "I understand your suffering. But we must continue discussing this further with the scientific committee." The Italian Bishops’ Conference accused the government of “arbitrarily” compromising religious freedom. The decree also exposed divisions within the government, with some ministers calling for congregations to be allowed to return to churches. "So, we can safely visit a museum but we can't celebrate a religious service? This decision is incomprehensible. It must be changed," tweeted Elena Bonetti, the equal opportunities minister. Catholic leaders said the Church was working hard to alleviate the suffering of the poor and the marginalised during the coronavirus emergency. “It should be clear to all that the commitment to serving the poor, [which is] so significant in this emergency, stems from a faith that must be nourished at its source, especially the sacramental life”, the bishops’ conference said.

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Coronavirus: What African countries are doing to help people to eat amid the lockdowns

What African countries are doing to help people to eat amid the lockdowns.

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6 monkeys given an experimental coronavirus vaccine from Oxford did not catch COVID-19 after heavy exposure, raising hopes for a human vaccine

A team from the University of Oxford is leading the way in the search for an effective vaccine for the coronavirus. Human trials started last week.

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The US is 'slightly' past its first peak, but expert says the pandemic is far from over

Dr. Tom Inglesby said some states are experiencing a decline in cases, while half of the country is still seeing a rise in daily numbers.

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Trump pushes advisers to get U.S. troops out of Afghanistan, citing coronavirus

Trump complains almost daily that U.S. troops are still in Afghanistan and are now vulnerable to the pandemic, officials said.

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Monday, 27 April 2020

El Salvador prisons: President authorises use of lethal force - Al Jazeera English

El Salvador prisons: President authorises use of lethal force Al Jazeera English
El Salvador's President Takes On The Country's Gangs Amid Coronavirus Pandemic NPR
Photos show El Salvador’s crackdown on imprisoned gang members The Washington Post
El Salvador authorizes use of "lethal force" against gang members CBS News
El Salvador prisoners crammed together in 24-hour jail lockdown after 22 murders in one day The Sun
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'We are not out of the woods': Bond King Jeff Gundlach reopens his bets against the stock market as the c.. - Business Insider

'We are not out of the woods': Bond King Jeff Gundlach reopens his bets against the stock market as the c.. Business Insider
‘Bond King’ warns the stock market could hit new lows amid ‘social unease’ MarketWatch
Jeffrey Gundlach is shorting the market, says a retest of the low 'very plausible' msnNOW
Retest of market low is 'very plausible': Jeffrey Gundlach CNBC Television
Here's Where Gundlach Has A Short Position In The S&P 500 Benzinga
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UK National Health Service releasing coronavirus contact tracing app … without using Apple API - 9to5Mac

UK National Health Service releasing coronavirus contact tracing app … without using Apple API 9to5MacView Full Coverage on Google News

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Duck Dynasty star Sadie Robertson calls drive-by shooting 'scary' - Daily Mail

Duck Dynasty star Sadie Robertson calls drive-by shooting 'scary' Daily Mail
Man arrested in drive-by shooting at 'Duck Dynasty' star's home as family says they are 'pretty shook up' Fox News
Man charged in drive-by shooting at 'Duck Dynasty' estate Yahoo Entertainment
'Duck Dynasty' star drive-by shooting results in man's arrest CNN
'Duck Dynasty' star Willie Robertson's estate targeted with gunfire, family says Fox News
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Eagles GM explains drafting Jalen Hurts, points to expanded NFL season as part of thought process - CBS Sports

Eagles GM explains drafting Jalen Hurts, points to expanded NFL season as part of thought process CBS Sports
Carson Wentz should demand a trade! - Max Kellerman on the Eagles drafting Jalen Hurts | First Take ESPN
The Five Most Revealing Strategies of the 2020 NFL Draft The Ringer
Plenty of mixed opinions in roundup of Eagles draft grades NBC Sports Philadelphia
Eagles reportedly planning to implement “Taysom Hill [package] on steroids” with Jalen Hurts Bleeding Green Nation
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The Atlantic Daily: The Trump Show

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.

Let’s begin by recapping a fraught five days in Washington:

On Thursday, the president’s daily press briefing took a dangerous turn when Trump wondered aloud if bleach injections might be used to treat COVID-19. (Doctors quickly issued warnings.)
On Friday, he dismissed the comments as sarcasm.
By Saturday, he threatened to cancel these briefings altogether.
Yesterday, Trump “fired off” what my colleague David Frum called “a sequence of crazy-even-for-him tweets and retweets,” including a deepfake video featuring a likeness of Joe Biden. He also called for journalists to be stripped of their “Noble” prizes, both misspelling the award and, apparently, conflating it with the Pulitzers.
And today, the White House made good on Saturday’s threat, but only for a blip, canceling, then uncanceling, the afternoon press briefing.

The reversal doesn’t come as a total shock. Instead, it underscores the briefing’s relative importance in the Trump political playbook. Or, as my colleague Peter Nicholas put it: “It’s a fair bet that the free airtime and chance to push out campaign talking points are, for Trump, an irresistible draw.”

Here’s how to think about these daily dispatches from the White House:

They aren’t press conferences so much as “reality shows with no winners.” Trump is using them to build a dystopia in real time, Megan Garber argued last week.

Trump clearly loves the format. “In fact, it’s one of the few presidential duties he actually seems to enjoy,” our politics staff writer David A. Graham points out.

These briefings, by design, keep attention on the president. And with the 2020 contest looming, “incentives to further politicize the stage will only grow,” Peter predicted back in early April.

Trump’s foes watch the spectacle from afar, shot glasses nearby. “I start off with a beer and, depending on the magnitude of crazy, I could be on tequila before too long,” Michael Steele, a former Republican National Committee chairman and an MSNBC commentator, told Peter.

BSIP / UNIVERSAL IMAGES / GETTY / PAUL SPELLA / THE ATLANTIC

One question, answered: What would a coronavirus drug have to do in order to actually help a patient?

The challenge of fighting viruses is that they don’t have very many weak spots for a treatment to exploit. In order to succeed, a treatment would have to block the virus’s proteins from “hijacking, suppressing, and evading humans’ cellular machinery,” our reporter Sarah Zhang explains.

Researchers are exploring ways to defeat the virus at different stages—from stopping it at the earliest point, before it can even enter a cell, to treating a patient’s immune response once the virus has already taken hold. Sarah breaks down a few different steps in the disease cycle that could prove lasting targets for a treatment.

What to read if … you just want practical advice:

View all of our stories related to the coronavirus outbreak here. Let us know if you have specific questions about the virus—or if you have a personal experience you’d like to share with us.

We’re looking to talk with individuals who are applying for unemployment insurance due to the pandemic. To share your experience, please write to us with your name, location, and relevant job details.

Today’s Movie-Club Pick

Tonight’s film: Speed (1994)

All week, we’re exploring the multi-decade career of Keanu Reeves, by revisiting five essential films. The second pick in our series is the ’90s classic Speed. Our critic David Sims explains:

Reeves had made only one other action movie before Speed—1991’s Point Break, the Kathryn Bigelow classic that helped define him as more than a striking teen star. But in Point Break, he was playing a cheerful former football player with a puppy-dog smile, whereas Speed felt a little more geared toward Reeves’s grown-up persona. As the hero cop Jack Traven, he’s icy and calm, even when thrust into the truly ludicrous scenario of trying to save the passengers of a bus that will explode if it slows down. Reeves’s strange serenity is what distinguishes him in so many of the action hits that followed—the Matrix films, Constantine, John Wick. But in Speed, that quality is particularly elemental, an alpha heroism with none of the usual macho bravado.

Participate in the discussion using the Twitter hashtag #AtlanticMovieClub or by replying to this email with your thoughts. Be sure to check back tomorrow for the next pick.

Dear Therapist

Every Monday, Lori Gottlieb answers questions from readers about their problems, big and small. This week she advises a reader whose husband thinks social-distancing measures are too extreme:

He’s being way too lax about things, and whenever we try to talk about it, we have a fight.

Read the rest, and Lori’s response. Write to her anytime at dear.therapist@theatlantic.com.

This email was written by Caroline Mimbs Nyce, with help from Isabel Fattal, and edited by Michael Owen.

Sign yourself up for The Daily here

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