Coronavirus

  • Alarming: Some small businesses received just $1 in Covid-19 relief loans as Kushner family, Wall Street investors raked in millions

    Alarming: Some small businesses received just $1 in Covid-19 relief loans as Kushner family, Wall Street investors raked in millions

    Jul 10, 2020 07:08

    The Kushner family, large chains backed by private equity, Wall Street investors, Kanye West, members of Congress, and the law firm that represented US President Donald Trump during the Mueller probe were among the thousands of beneficiaries of a Covid-19 relief program aimed at rescuing struggling small businesses and keeping workers employed, according to new federal data released on Monday July 6th.

  • A shameful moment: Trump announces formal withdrawal from WHO as Covid-19 cases climb

    A shameful moment: Trump announces formal withdrawal from WHO as Covid-19 cases climb

    Jul 10, 2020 06:55

    The White House formally informed the United Nations and Congress on Tuesday July 7th that the United States intends to withdraw from the World Health Organization, the public health arm of the U.N. The announcement came as the U.S. grapples with a spike in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations in a number of states and as the country closes in on surpassing 3 million positive cases.

  • Some trees may social distance to avoid disease

    Some trees may social distance to avoid disease

    Jul 10, 2020 04:27

    It seems wind plays a crucial role in helping many trees maintain their distance. The boundaries carved by bouts between branches may improve the plants’ access to resources, such as light. Gaps in the treetops might even curb the spread of leaf-munching insects, parasitic vines, or infectious disease.

  • ‘It's a tsunami’: COVID-19 plunges Latin America back into poverty, violence

    ‘It's a tsunami’: COVID-19 plunges Latin America back into poverty, violence

    Jul 10, 2020 04:13

    As Latin America grapples with a tragedy that has yet to fully play out, there are also growing fears about the coronavirus pandemic’s longer term impact on a region the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects to shrink 9.4 percent this year. Tens of millions are expected to be plunged into poverty and decades of social progress erased.

  • Coronavirus is creating a crisis of energy insecurity in the US

    Coronavirus is creating a crisis of energy insecurity in the US

    Jul 09, 2020 14:11

    As the US remains in the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic, a more insidious crisis is taking root as households are unable to pay their energy bills, risking serious health consequences and increasing debt, while federal and state governments fail to adequately protect vulnerable families.

  • Fire-engulfed California short on firefighters as prison “slaves” under COVID-19 lockdown

    Fire-engulfed California short on firefighters as prison “slaves” under COVID-19 lockdown

    Jul 09, 2020 14:09

    Instead of wholesale changes in energy production or consumption, or a great increase in professional firefighters, the US state of California has opted to use extremely cheap prison labor to tackle the inevitable blazes. The measure allows for the government to continue cutting public service budgets, while also acting as a check on wage and working condition demands from public unions, as the threat of being replaced by someone who is effectively a slave, increases.

  • 'Completely out of control': China says 'US epidemic' threat to rest of the world

    'Completely out of control': China says 'US epidemic' threat to rest of the world

    Jul 09, 2020 14:06

    “In the coming fall and winter, the US epidemic will likely run rampant, and more countries and regions will be forced to suffer because of the US”, the Global Times wrote. "Lies are dominating US society's recognition of the epidemic," the paper added.

  • Agonizing lag in coronavirus research puts pregnant women and babies at risk in the US

    Agonizing lag in coronavirus research puts pregnant women and babies at risk in the US

    Jul 09, 2020 13:57

    In its first examination of U.S. data on COVID-19 in pregnancy, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that expectant mothers with the coronavirus had a 50% higher chance of being admitted to intensive care and a 70% higher chance of being intubated than non- pregnant women in their childbearing years.

  • As COVID ravages the US, Trump’s campaign insists it’s “totally harmless”

    As COVID ravages the US, Trump’s campaign insists it’s “totally harmless”

    Jul 09, 2020 13:54

    While US president, Donald Trump has maintained in the past that easing social distancing rules and ending stay-at-home orders were necessary for growing the economy, 63 percent of American voters actually prefer prioritizing efforts to quell the spread of COVID-19 over those economic concerns, according to a Politico/Morning Consult poll released earlier this month.

  • Drug couriers disguised as key workers during COVID-19 lockdown in UK

    Drug couriers disguised as key workers during COVID-19 lockdown in UK

    Jul 08, 2020 05:46

    According to a senior officer in charge of tackling county lines dealing at one of the UK’s biggest police forces, young drug mules disguised as nurses and Deliveroo workers were utilized by criminal gangs to deliver cocaine, heroin and illegally acquired prescription drugs during coronavirus lockdown.