Adam Schiff calls Trump ‘vindictive president’ after president fired the inspector general of the US intelligence community
Donald Trump is “decapitating the leadership of the intelligence community in the middle of a national crisis”, senior Democrat Adam Schiff has charged, after the president fired the inspector general of the US intelligence community late on Friday night.
Related: Donald Trump fires intelligence watchdog who sparked impeachment process
Continue reading...The New York governor said the Chinese government would facilitate a donation of 1,000 ventilators to arrive into JFK airport on Saturday. Cuomo said: ‘This is a big deal and it’s going to make a significant difference for us. We’re not at the apex so we’re still in the stage where we have the luxury – if you will – of gathering as much as we can.’
Duke of York will not appear in upcoming Lifetime film on Jeffrey Epstein, the financier and sex offender
Prince Andrew will reportedly not agree to be interviewed for a forthcoming documentary about the financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The Duke of York has been repeatedly criticized for associating with Epstein, who died in custody in New York following his July 2019 arrest on sex trafficking charges.
Continue reading...Hannity responds to open letter signed by 74 journalism professors and leading journalists claiming Fox News spread false statements
Fox News host Sean Hannity has hit back against intense criticism of the conservative network’s coronavirus coverage, even claiming in a new interview he was ahead of most media in taking Covid-19 seriously.
Related: How science finally caught up with Trump's playbook – with millions of lives at stake
Continue reading...The royal couple are tipped to be the toast of the celebrity circuit but they will have to work hard to maintain their A-list status
Touching down to a city in lockdown cannot have been what the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had in mind when they had imagined starting a new life in Los Angeles. With a stay-at-home order in place, all activities usually associated with the city – premieres, parties, events and schmoozing – were on hold when they reportedly arrived last month, and studios had stopped production.
Following months of drama swirling around Harry and Meghan’s decision to step down as working royals, which officially came into force on Wednesday, in the face of a deadly global pandemic they have finally taken a backseat in the public consciousness.
Continue reading...Josep Borrell backs UN call for global ceasefire to allow the world to focus on pandemic
Sanctions should not stop the delivery of medical equipment and supplies to countries trying to contain outbreaks of coronavirus, the EU’s top diplomat has said.
Josep Borrell, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, made his comments in a declaration on Friday in which he backed the UN’s call for an immediate global ceasefire to allow the world to focus on the pandemic.
Continue reading...Donald Trump has said he will probably not wear a protective face mask despite his administration encouraging people in the US to do so in public to prevent spreading the coronavirus.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidance for people to wear bandanas, T-shirts and other cloth-based coverings in crowded areas, particularly in hotspots.
Michael Atkinson, inspector general for the intelligence community, alerted Congress to whistleblower complaint
Donald Trump has fired the inspector general for the intelligence community who handled the whistleblower complaint that led to his impeachment, prompting fierce criticism from Democrats.
The US president chose a Friday night, with America consumed by the coronavirus pandemic, to tell the House of Representatives and Senate intelligence committees of his decision to dismiss Michael Atkinson.
Continue reading...German politician adds to chorus of complaints about American tactics to source protective gear
The US has been accused of “modern piracy” after reportedly diverting a shipment of masks intended for the German police, and outbidding other countries in the increasingly fraught global market for coronavirus protective equipment.
About 200,000 N95 masks were diverted to the US as they were being transferred between planes in Thailand, according to the Berlin authorities who said they had ordered the masks for the police force.
Continue reading...Andrew Cuomo has said he will sign an executive order to take ventilators and personal protection equipment from facilities in New York state that have them and do not need them to deal with the virus. He said the equipment would be returned or reimbursed, but the move is likely to spark outcry from hospitals in upstate New York, which has seen fewer coronavirus cases.
Continue reading...Provincial government issues order despite court’s ruling to overturn the four’s convictions
Pakistani authorities have ordered four men including a Briton convicted of the 2002 murder of the US journalist Daniel Pearl to be detained for three months despite a lower court’s ruling to overturn their convictions.
The high court in the province of Sindh on Thursday acquitted the four, including Briton Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, who was sentenced to death in 2002 for masterminding Pearl’s murder. The other three were sentenced to life.
Continue reading...Lean on Me and Lovely Day singer dies of heart complications, according to a family statement
Bill Withers, the influential US soul singer who wrote Lean on Me, Ain’t No Sunshine and Lovely Day has died aged 81 of heart complications, according to a statement from his family.
Withers wrote and recorded several other major hits including Use Me and Just the Two of Us, before retiring in the mid-1980s and staying out of the public eye.
Continue reading...Nurses and doctors at Montefiore medical center in the Bronx protested over the lack of personal protective equipment on Thursday. 'Every day when I go to work, I feel like a sheep going to slaughter,' said Dr Laura Ucik, a third-year resident at the centre
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The president was tested this morning, according to the White House physician.
True paper statement from the White House, passed out to reporters in the briefing room just now. pic.twitter.com/K0SVhLAk1X
LIVE: Press Briefing with Coronavirus Task Force https://t.co/L80j4W1c8O
Continue reading...US president accuses Tehran or its proxies of planning ‘sneak’ assault on US bases
Iran’s military and diplomatic leadership has hit back at Donald Trump’s claims that its proxies were planning a sneak attack on US bases in Iraq, claiming Tehran only ever acts in self-defence and has no proxies in Iraq, only allies.
The US and Iran are already at loggerheads over the impact of US sanctions on Tehran’s ability to fight the coronavirus pandemic, and the threat of a military attack on the US is likely to widen the dispute. The Iranian army chief of staff, Mohammad Bagheri, said the recent spate of attacks on US bases in Iraq were nothing to do with Iran, but were “a natural response by the Iraqi people”. He said US forces were being closely monitored minute by minute and any US attack would produce the most severe response.
Continue reading...British-born Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh set to be released in coming days
A Pakistani court has commuted the death sentence of a British-born man convicted of the 2002 kidnapping and murder of the Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, and acquitted three co-accused.
At least four people were convicted in connection with Pearl’s murder, including Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh who was sentenced to death in 2002 for masterminding the killing. He has been in jail for 18 years awaiting the outcome of an appeal.
Continue reading...Report warns of White House and states competing for supplies as president focuses on counter-narcotics operations at briefing
Donald Trump has admitted the US government’s emergency stockpile of protective equipment is nearly exhausted because of the extraordinary demands of the coronavirus pandemic.
The shortage was first reported by the Washington Post, which said the supply of respirator masks, gloves and other medical supplies was running low.
Continue reading...New York governor Andrew Cuomo said he thought Americans would be living with the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic for a long time. ‘I don’t think we get back to normal,’ Cuomo said. ‘I think we get to a new normal.’ The governor also emphasised that states need to be better prepared for such crises because ‘something like this will happen again’
Continue reading...US has one 1 in 5 cases globally; global cases pass 860,000; record daily fatalities in UK, France, Spain and Russia
The European Commission has proposed a short-time work scheme to avoid mass lay-offs across the bloc during the coronavirus pandemic.
The scheme, which is modelled on Germany’s Kurzabeit programme, was announced by Commission head Ursula von der Leyen in a video message.
Companies are paying salaries to their employees, even if, right now, they are not making money. Europe is now coming to their support, with a new initiative.
“It is intended to help Italy, Spain and all other countries that have been hard hit. And it will do so thanks to the solidarity of other member states,” she said.
Italy has extended lockdown restrictions until 13 April as signs emerge indicating the coronavirus contagion might be reaching a “plateau”.
“Italians have shown great maturity,” Roberto Speranza, the health minister, told parliament on Wednesday. “Experts say we are on the right track, and that the drastic measures taken are starting to give results.”
However, Speranza warned “we must not drop our guard” as the recovery will be “prudent and gradual”.
“It would be unforgiveable to mistake this first result for a
definitive defeat of Covid, it’s a long battle.”
The number of new confirmed infections rose by 2,107 on Tuesday, taking the total number of current cases to 77,635, according to figures from Italy’s civil protection authority.
The rise in infections was higher than the daily increase registered on Monday (1,648), but lower than Sunday’s increase of 3,815.
On Tuesday, there was a 2.8% increase in new (i.e current) infections, compared with an average daily rise of 15% during one of the most critical weeks.
The death toll rose by 837 on Tuesday to 12,428, higher than the 812 deaths registered on Monday. The number of people who have recovered from the virus rose by 1,109 to 15,729 on Tuesday, following a record leap of 1,590 on Monday.
The daily death toll and infection rate have also started to slow in Lombardy, the region worst-affected by the virus.
“The curve tells us that we’re at a plateau,” said Silvio Brusaferro, the president of the Higher Health Institute (ISS).
Woman was left infertile after NHS trust failed to detect signs of cervical cancer
A woman who wants to have surrogate children through commercial agreements in California has won her claim that the NHS should pay for the treatment.
The woman, identified only as XX, cannot bear her own children following earlier medical mistreatment.
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