News of the World

[kyonides]

Your unfriendly and slightly metalhead shark here!

WHO: Alarming Number of Health Workers at Risk of COVID-19
https://www.voanews.com/science-health/c...k-covid-19
Well, they're not just at risk but they do contract the virus in pretty much every country.

Britain's Johnson Makes 'Good Progress' in Virus Recovery
https://www.voanews.com/europe/britains-...s-recovery
They he's able to take short walks and rest so it seems he can overcome it in a few days or weeks.

One Dead, Hundreds Injured in Russian Prison Riot, Fire
https://www.voanews.com/europe/one-dead-...-riot-fire

One inmate has been found dead after a riot and a blaze swept through a Russian prison under a coronavirus lockdown in eastern Siberia, authorities said on April 11.
Independent news outlets reported that about 300 inmates were injured in the incident at Prison No. 15 in Angarsk, Irkutsk region.

This isn't really news, right guys? We already knew Russian prisons were quite bad anyway.

Thai Provinces Ban Alcohol Sales Ahead of New Year to Curb Coronavirus Spread
https://www.voanews.com/science-health/c...-year-curb
Err, what if people relied on booze, wine or other beverages to deal with the quarantine!? This could get out of their hands...

Doctor Gambles on Clot-busting Drug to Save Virus Patients
https://www.voanews.com/science-health/c...s-patients
Dr. Poor didn't see any change in a woman's condition so he thought it was time to use a blood thinner but hey? A blood clot buster could be helpful, too. He started using tPA...

Iraq's PM-designate Scrambles to Assemble Cabinet
https://www.voanews.com/middle-east/iraq...le-cabinet

Amid reports the U.S. is deploying missile batteries to protect several key military bases against threats from Iran and its proxy militias, Kadhimi also appears to enjoy the support of Tehran and its local allies.
Khattar Abou Diab, who teaches political science at the University of Paris, told VOA that Kadhimi  was a "personal friend" of Iran's national security adviser, Admiral Ali Shamkhani, one of Tehran's two point men on Iraq since Major General Qassem Soleimani was killed by a U.S. drone strike in early January.

Now we know the truth about why he never pretended to let US troops lead the international coalition...

Coronavirus in Costa Rica

577 confirmed, 3 deaths, 49 recovered, ~6,000 discarded

What worries me a bit is that there 20 people infected with in my canton...
And I gotta admit as well that I live in the province with the most cases!

Coronavirus in Canada

23,318 confirmed, 653 deaths, 6,428 recovered

[DerVVulfman]

Not saying he's CURED but....
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-peopl...SKCN21S00A
Seriously? Harvey Weinstein? Couldn't someone more worthy be feeling better?

[kyonides]

 What if it's all about making him suffer instead of just killing him on the spot?
Just saying!

Fears of ‘Wild West’ as COVID-19 blood tests hit the market
https://apnews.com/6f918ac77eefa34beaa381003a7663f9
It seems tests might not be as accurate as people expected.

Signs missed and steps slowed in Trump’s pandemic response
https://apnews.com/6a8f85aad99607f313cca6ab1398e04d
Associated Press attacks Trump once again? by calling him slowpoke or the like.

Easter storms sweep South, killing at least 6 in Mississippi
https://apnews.com/a28739f5645179c716748cda5871b521
While we already knew loves to be in the spotlight, Mississippi has gone through difficult times because of a storm.

Coronavirus in Costa Rica
595 confirmed, 3 deaths, 56 recovered, ~6,100 discarded

[DerVVulfman]

Technically, I have to laugh at this. After all, where did the base information originated? China.

Signs missed and steps slowed in Trump’s pandemic response
https://apnews.com/6a8f85aad99607f313cca6ab1398e04d
Associated Press attacks Trump once again? by calling him slowpoke or the like.

"Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, was alerted to the virus around the same time"
Correct me if I'm wrong... oh, wait I'm not. Dr. Fauci was also incorrect about the dangers of the Covid virus, as he said it was NOT a big deal. I mean, there's video proof.
https://nj1015.com/is-dr-fauci-right-abo...9-opinion/

But slow to response?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7S_8WQklcg
Having entered the U.S. in April, it took 6 months for H1N1 to be declared a national emergency in 2009.

And where's the United Nations? They've gone missing.
https://www.politico.eu/article/the-unit...s-missing/

It took more than three months, a death toll above 87,000 and cases in more than 180 countries, repeated pleas from smaller nations, and a growing sense of shame among senior diplomats — but the United Nations Security Council is finally going to meet to discuss the coronavirus.

That is, in a private session unlikely to yield any serious action.

[kyonides]

Hank Steinbrenner, Yankees co-owner, dies at 63
https://apnews.com/38cd153b2a5b7f66af3a642a7f5f236d
They say he had long standing issues that he could not overcome.

Pro wrestling ‘essential’ under Florida governor’s order
https://apnews.com/43708c73899f2558e0f02df943fc0468
Besides fans like Lani I'd never expect anybody else call wrestling essential ever...

UN chief: world faces misinformation epidemic about virus
https://apnews.com/7682565123bc9092ec51e9ee957d0f62
Well, if you ask Wulfo, he'd say they started it all via WHO thanks to Dr. Tedros...

Guterres urged social media organizations to do more to counter the misinformation and to “root out hate and harmful assertions about COVID-19.”

Err, that depends on what they call misinformation. Trump once said hydroxicloroquine could help attack and Facebook or Twitter just deleted his post or tweet...

Liberty University sued for not refunding student fees
https://apnews.com/95ffa2c0704773816ecafc3cdae4641e
They claim the university should refund student fees but they're providing online classes so what's the problem there?
Are those filing the sue part of Sanders's team of organized protestors?

States confront practical dilemmas on reopening economies
https://apnews.com/d64e660f74d3162b88b298b56d797dd9
If they're just following Italy and Spain by slowing returning to normal conditions, why is it such a huge problem? I know it feels like crap to go work under pressure but everybody needs money to buy food, pay the rent or the mortgage...  

Curiously they briefly mentioned how the super doomsday scenarios they were predicting aren't as catastrophic as they could have been. I know places like New York are a whole different story, still, there are no reports of hundred thousands or millions of deceases there as they originally claimed.

They need to test people via antibody tests? Good, go buy them and keep testing people!

Editorial!?

Death is terrible most of the time. Even so the economy will recover and it should do it. This isn't a matter of how many people get exposed to the virus, it's about all of those that no longer earn a single penny or the few bucks they now get on the streets don't let you take care of anything some cheap food. We're not talking about a few hundred people, they're a few millions in the US and many more in Latin America. There's gotta be a way to get to work and earn money to buy food, pay the rent, the services, the car, the mortgage, etc.

Do you think I'm overreacting? My own family is one of the coronavirus victims even if there are no relatives infected! Our neighbors are in the same situation, a few of them are unemployed right now.

It might sound harsh to admit this, but right now flattening the curve looks more like a killer myth to us than a benefit in the long run. It seems journalists all over the world suddenly forget about us during this crisis. They keep telling us to stay at home. Easy to say, hard to accomplish when stuff gets ugly.

Guess what? I need to got out tomorrow because I can't complete a form if I don't get a new ID that they made who knows when. So far I tried avoiding all long trips but I can't delay this errand for more than a couple of days. Even so the Costa Rican government cultivated a terror to that makes people avoid public transportation. Buses are pretty much empty, if they ever show up. Yeah, there are taxis, but others like Uber are forbidden for they lack any papers allowing them to serve as public transportation means. Taxi drivers have been denounced for demanding overpayments, others just refuse to take you to certain places. Uber couldn't help us because they are afraid of letting passengers take a seat in the back of the car, they'd get fined in no time. I don't think they'd love the idea of paying a US$7,000 fine nowadays.

Sadly, due to lack of hundred thousands tests for Covid-19, the Costa Rican Health Ministry does NOT wanna push health workers to test everybody, not even if they live in communities or cantons with over 20 confirmed cases like I do... Even the capital city and its surroundings report 77 cases so far... Yeah, I need to travel to San José tomorrow morning...

[DerVVulfman]

Well, if you ask Wulfo, he'd say they started it all via WHO thanks to Dr. Tedros...

Disinformation goes all the way around. Only one week after Trump issues the travel ban to china, the NY Times protested.
Who Says It's Not Safe to Travel to China? - The NY Times!
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/05/opini...virus.html

But now, China is going censorship crazy!
China censoring research on coronavirus origins
https://www.jpost.com/international/chin...ort-624485

[kyonides]

Trump directs halt to payments to WHO during coronavirus pandemic

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/04/14/n...ing-china/
Yeap, you read it! Trump no longer allows the US government to finance WHO. Honestly, that might affect countries that partake in PAHO (OPS in Spanish), but I can't say Dr. Tedros has been neutral as he is supposed to be for not spreading information on coronavirus as fast as he should have and by overprotecting and praising China above all other countries, plus he dared to accuse Taiwan of threatening his own life. Yeah, it's absurd for they've been insisting on joining WHO one way or the other, relying on legal methods and members' support, but he didn't take his words back so far.

[DerVVulfman]

Yeah, well things have gotten from bad to worse for the World Health Organization:

Coronavirus Missteps: 'China-Centric' WHO Faces Scrutiny, Taiwan Shows Up Tedros
https://www.ibtimes.com/coronavirus-miss...os-2958134
"The first of two political issues were the WHO cooperating with China to exclude Taiwan from direct access to the organization, especially when the pandemic was first spreading outside of the former's borders.

The second issue was the WHO director Tedros being an “outspoken advocate” for the Chinese government’s COVID-19 response when there was plenty of evidence that the ruling Communist party covered up some disturbing information about the outbreak. Had the information been known at the time, many lives may have been saved "

Because of the Covid debacle, Taiwan wants Tedros to go buh-bye.
Civic groups call for Taiwan’s participation in the WHO
https://en.rti.org.tw/news/view/id/2003075
"On Tuesday, civic groups called on the World Health Organization (WHO) to put politics aside and let Taiwan join the global health body. They also called for WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to step down."

[kyonides]

Trump considering second round of direct payments to Americans
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/202...ments-ame/

Justice Department intervenes in Mississippi church's lawsuit for breaking up 'drive-in' service
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/202...-churchs-/
Well, it seems local police abused of their power by not letting believers attend the church while staying inside their own cars. If they had been in a public space like the road, I'd surely agree they blocked traffic, but they were in their own parking lot!

Joint Chiefs chairman: U.S. intel investigating whether coronavirus leaked from Wuhan lab
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/202...-whether-/

We already know how China will hide as much information on coronavirus as possible. It sounds like USA will have to find out what actually happened there.

[kyonides]

White House Targeting 9 States to Start Reopening US Economy
https://www.voanews.com/covid-19-pandemi...us-economy
Curiously Voice of America ignores which states or cities will be reopening...

Coronavirus on Costa Rica
642 confirmed, 4 deaths, 74 recovered, ~6,700 discarded, < 10,000 tests processed

1,760 cases of dengue: Health Ministry asks people to erradicate mosquito breeding places - Official Source
Original Title: 1760 casos de dengue: Salud solicita a población eliminar criaderos de mosquitos
https://www.ministeriodesalud.go.cr/inde...-mosquitos
Even if Covid-19 hasn't been as terrible as predicted by several people, some of them experts on statistics or epidemics, dengue cases have been on the rise since last January...

Trump Threatens to Force Congress to Adjourn Over Stalled Nominees
https://www.voanews.com/usa/us-politics/...d-nominees
So Democrats have become lazy after taking a Covid-19 break!?

lawmakers have not approved his candidates for senior posts in his administration, including his nominee to run the independent agency overseeing the Voice of America.

So does VOA dislike the idea!?

Japan, Britain Extend COVID-19 Restrictions as other Countries Plan to Relax Them
https://www.voanews.com/covid-19-pandemi...relax-them
As a summary I gotta tell Metal "stay at home!"

New Wildfires in Area Around Ukraine's Chernobyl Plant
https://www.voanews.com/europe/new-wildf...obyl-plant
Some people are afraid of the wildfires for they might (not) spread radiactive material.