Coronavirus: Trump hurls insults as 21 cases confirmed on cruise ship

  • President attacks CNN and Democrats at CDC event
  • Universities cancel classes in Washington state

Donald Trump used a freewheeling press conference on Friday, intended to provide updates on the coronavirus, as an opportunity to attack Democrats, praise his own intelligence, lash out at CNN and spread false and misleading information about the status of the outbreak, as a slew of new cases were confirmed aboard a cruise ship off the California coast.

Speaking at the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) main campus in Atlanta, Georgia, while wearing his red “Keep America Great” re-election campaign hat, the president went on a rant criticizing Washington state’s governor, Jay Inslee, as a “snake” and saying he disagreed with his vice-president’s complimentary remarks toward the Democrat. Inslee, who ran for president last year, is overseeing the response to the most serious outbreak in the US.

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Eco-friendly ending: Washington state is first to allow human composting

Legislation would let facilities offer ‘natural organic reduction’ which turns a body into about two wheelbarrows’ worth of soil

Ashes to ashes, guts to dirt.

Governor Jay Inslee signed legislation Tuesday making Washington the first state to approve composting as an alternative to burying or cremating human remains.

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Republican lawmaker and ally tell rally to arm themselves for civil war – audio

Recordings obtained by the Guardian show Republican state representative Matt Shea and several associates telling an audience to arm themselves for a looming civil war. The audio was taken in a remote north-eastern religious compound in Washington state last year. In the recordings they can be heard saying 'How many of you have pulled the trigger on your AR-15 in the fight we are in yet?' and 'The war is here – the bad guy is here'

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Republican discussed violent attacks and surveillance with rightwingers

Washington state representative Matt Shea exchanged messages with far-right figures, chat records obtained by the Guardian reveal

A Washington state Republican politician took part in private discussions with rightwing figures about carrying out surveillance, “psyops” and even violent attacks on perceived political enemies, according to chat records obtained by the Guardian.

State representative Matt Shea, who represents Spokane Valley in the Washington state house, participated in the chats with three other men. All of the men used screen aliases – Shea’s was “Verum Bellator”, Latin for true warrior. The Guardian confirmed the identity of those in the chat by cross-checking phone numbers attached to the Signal accounts.

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‘Church’ to offer ‘miracle cure’ despite FDA warnings against drinking bleach

Group to hold ‘effective alternative healing’ event in Washington state in which they peddle a ‘sacrament’ known to be industrial cleaner

A group calling itself Genesis II Church of Health and Healing plans to convene at a hotel resort in Washington state on Saturday to promote a “miracle cure” that claims to cure 95% of all diseases in the world by making adults and children, including infants, drink industrial bleach.

The group is inviting members of the public through Facebook to attend what they call their “effective alternative healing” at the Icicle Village Resort in Leavenworth on Saturday morning. The organizer of the event, Tom Merry, has publicized the event on his personal Facebook page by telling people that learning how to consume the bleach “could save your life, or the life of a loved one sent home to die”.

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Four-year-old shoots mother in face after finding gun under mattress

  • Pregnant woman, 27, has ‘life-threatening’ injuries
  • New Washington state law governs unsafe gun storage

Authorities said a pregnant Washington state woman was shot in the face on Saturday by her four-year-old son, after the boy found a loaded and unsecured gun under a mattress.

The King county sheriff’s office said the 27-year-old woman, who is eight months pregnant, was taken to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.

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