News of the World

[DerVVulfman]

Liquor stores struggle with quarantine-fueled demand for booze
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/202...tine-fuel/

Except for one brand of Beer I can imagine....

[kyonides]

Coronavirus and ibuprofen: Separating fact from fiction
https://www.bbc.com/news/51929628

The NHS website previously recommended both paracetamol and ibuprofen, but has since changed its advice to say that while "there is currently no strong evidence that ibuprofen can make coronavirus (Covid-19) worse... until we have more information, take paracetamol to treat the symptoms of coronavirus, unless your doctor has told you paracetamol is not suitable for you."
...
There has been no research into ibuprofen and the new coronavirus (Covid-19).
But there has been some for other respiratory infections, suggesting ibuprofen is linked to more complications and more severe illness - although we don't know that the ibuprofen itself is causing this, according to Paul Little, a professor of primary care research at University of Southampton.
Some experts believe that ibuprofen's anti-inflammatory properties may affect the body's immune response.
Prof Parastou Donyai at the University of Reading says: "There are many studies that suggest ibuprofen use during a respiratory infection can result in worsening of the disease or other complications."

As a summary, it's more or less a conspiracy theory. Nonetheless, don't take ibuprofen unless your doctor tells you so.

[kyonides]

Saddening Corona-News!

Costa Rica records its first decease caused by the Covid-19

An 87 year old male has passed away at the San Rafael Hospital in Alajuela.

He was one of the patients in ICU.

Covid-19 Cases in Costa Rica

69 confirmed, 1 decease, 0 recoveries!?

Perhaps 2 or 3 recoveries, including 2 Americans, but I can't confirm it...

Tourist attempts to leave Costa Rica after being tested for Covid-19
https://www.crhoy.com/nacionales/turista...-covid-19/
Tests were negative for other respiratory viruses and they were waiting for the confirmation of Covid-19. They wanted to notify him of the recent events but they couldn't find him there, he had escaped from his lodge to take a plane out of the country. Health authorities and police officers stopped him at the airport and are now in need of testing more people thanks to that irresponsible visitor.

109 cases confirmed in Panama, 63 are isolated in the Hospital of Sona
https://www.prensa.com/sociedad/casos-de...l-de-sona/
Crap! Our neighbors took less days than us to surpass the 100 milestone. They implemented a curfew already!

1st Case of Covid-19 in Nicaragua
https://www.crhoy.com/mundo/nicaragua-co...-covid-19/
Oh but Ortega said they would welcome tourists visiting them during the Easter season...  

1st Case of Coronavirus in El Salvador

https://www.crhoy.com/mundo/confirman-pr...-salvador/
Well, not even the exaggerated measures Bukele took while they had no case to report were good enough after all...
Somebody entered El Salvador illegally carrying the virus...  

Representative Mario Diaz-Balart is virulent!

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/202...ronavirus/

Representative Ben McAdams is coronavirulent as well!

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/poli...871740001/

Trump to invoke Defense Production Act to ramp up supplies
Says he's on a war-time footing but will win, resuscitate the economy
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/202...-supplies/

President Trump signs coronavirus relief legislation into law
https://fox59.com/news/senate-approves-h...y-workers/

President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed into law a coronavirus relief package that includes provisions for free testing for COVID-19 and paid emergency leave.
The Senate had earlier Wednesday approved the House-passed bill. The move allowed the upper chamber to devote its full attention to passing the next relief package in response to the coronavirus crisis.

US Military Deploys Hospital Ships for Coronavirus Response
https://www.voanews.com/science-health/c...s-response

---

Coronavirus Putting US Cyber Vulnerabilities in the Crosshairs

https://www.voanews.com/science-health/c...crosshairs

The result, some officials warn, is an opening for anyone who would like to strike a virtual blow. 
“We’re mindful that our adversaries often see opportunity in situations like these,” a U.S. official told VOA on the condition of anonymity, given the sensitive nature of the subject. 
Both the FBI and private cybersecurity firms warn the assault is already well underway. 
“We're seeing a significant amount of threat in email, leveraging social engineering at scale to do a variety of attacks,” said Sherrod DeGrippo, senior director of threat research and detection at Proofpoint.
...
Those fears were front and center Monday when officials confirmed there had been a “cyber incident” involving networks belonging to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which has been playing a key role in the government’s coronavirus response.
HHS officials say despite the attack, none of their systems have been penetrated and that no information was compromised.

It looks like hygiene now does include the cyberspace as well.

---

Other News

China knew about infectious bats and still allowed markets to sell them till Covid-19 showed up
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/202...left-wild/
Should humanity pay the price for China's misbehavior!?
This is the second time we face a menace that was allegedly caused by some bat, the first case was during the SARS outbreak about 17 years ago.

China threatens electronic strikes on Navy
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/202...s-on-navy/
Great... They cause a tremendous calamity and now want to defy other world powers...

Volunteers produce 3D-printed valves for life-saving coronavirus treatments
https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/17/21184...treatments
When thousands or millions of lives are at stake everything might seem to be a valid option to ensure people will get treatment, don't you think?

Coronavirus Fears Aside, Putin Pushes to Expand Power
https://www.voanews.com/europe/coronavir...pand-power
You don't care about democracy? You couldn't care any less about looking for a different candidate for presidency? Then Putin is your best shot!

[kyonides]

Non Virulent Edition

Netflix now doesn't want you to watch too many movies!
Keep reading to learn why it's changed its mind
https://www.linuxexperten.com/news/netfl...ndwidth-25

Former Uber self-driving head Levandowski agrees to plea deal over Google secrets
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-uber-...SKBN21646I
Wow... Now you can't just fire a guy or let him go because he could just end up selling your business secrets to their former employer's rival. And Uber didn't care about the origin of such data...
How exactly did he expect to pay the $179 million fine?


What Is Behind Turkey's Proposal for Syria's Oil?
https://www.voanews.com/extremism-watch/...syrias-oil
Do you wanna know how it's like to live in a perpetual mess? Look no further! Turkish, Kurds and, of course, Russians will teach you how to turn a relatively peaceful country with oil reserves into a gigantic mess of colossal proportions just for the sake of black gold... and politics obviously!

Rocket attack in northwest Syria kills 2 Turkish soldiers
https://apnews.com/72089312118b4ab110e43985f49aa30d
Err, I told you it was a disaster.

Do you even care about flowers? Then read all about how to take care of your own yellow bells!

An eco-friendly, medicinal garden secret: Yellow Bells
https://ticotimes.net/2015/11/21/an-eco-...llow-bells

Olympic flame lands in Japan as doubts grow over Tokyo Games
https://apnews.com/aab702fecd00c0706c6b895cccff9209
From Greece to Japan, the flame has traveled a long way to the next seat of the Olympic Games as if no virus were threatening the world at all. Business as usual!

Trump administration replaces counterterrorism chief
https://apnews.com/9ed84ae8482988fcf23c67154a9bff2d
Yeah, well, Trump made us grow used to his pretty much constant staff changes in his administration.

Tired of ‘Into the Wild’ rescues, locals want bus removed
https://apnews.com/6278f0e16224f078280ba4540731fcaf
Really, who's the idiot that has done nothing to get rid of that demonic bus once for all!? I wanna kick that guy hard!

[kyonides]

Cases in Costa Rica

113 confimed, 2 deceases, 2 recoveries

Both deceases are 2 Costa Ricans, age 87 both, that had been placed in ICU cubicles.

The recoveries include an American couple that were diagnosed on March 6th. There are other 7 infected foreigners in my country. One of them is an American, a 74 year old female that resides in Costa Rica.

A few stupid guys have attempted to flee away, either to visit local attractions, beaches and the like or to take a plane back to their homeland. =_= Lately people seem to think that infecting other people doesn't even matter...

A Costa Rican criticized the government for not implementing security measures at the airport in Spanish only
https://www.crhoy.com/nacionales/mujer-q...n-llamado/
A woman traveled abroad in the midst of the coronavirus crisis "only to come back home and call out to the authorities". She claims she couldn't make the airline cancel the tickets so she just traveled to Europe and bought another ticket to return to Costa Rica. =_=¡ What a moron! By the way, that doesn't explain what she had done in Europe for about 4 days before she took the flight back home...

North Korea Launches More Ballistic Missiles, Even During Pandemic
https://www.voanews.com/east-asia-pacifi...g-pandemic
Yeah, who cares about people starving? Especially when you can launch missiles whenever you want!

[kyonides]

Confirmed Cases in Costa Rica

+4 C, 0 D, +1 R

A Costa Rican woman has recovered from Covid-19!

Blow To Bitcoin As Russia Moves To Effectively Ban Crypto
https://www.forbes.com/sites/billybambro...an-crypto/
In few words Putin hates you Bitcoin and Libra!

McConnell says Senate close to deal on coronavirus stimulus bill
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/202...rus-stimu/
They say the bill would help the economy stay stable enough during this crisis. At the end it might depend on who gets the money.

Pence isn't virulent
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/202...egative-c/
Sorry, Democrats, you're out of luck.

Trump: Companies have 'stepped up' to fill supply needs for coronavirus response
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/202...needs-cor/
Usually if you read BBC (English or Spanish version) articles, Trump is the worst tyrant ruling a democratic nation. He sucks at dealing with the fearful virus. Period.
Now Trump himself shows up and announces that the private sector is willing to provide whatever US needs to fight the coronavirus.
It seems like someone is lying or exaggerating here.


Elon Musk says his companies will make ventilators as coronavirus causes shortage
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is eager to take the Tesla boss up on his offer.

https://www.cnet.com/news/elon-musk-says...-shortage/
So there are companies planning to help boost US stores and hospital stocks in times of need.
Would they produce large amounts of them as to export some to, dunno, Costa Rica!?

[DerVVulfman]

Usually if you read BBC (English or Spanish version) articles, Trump is the worst tyrant ruling a democratic nation. He sucks at dealing with the fearful virus. Period.
Now Trump himself shows up and announces that the private sector is willing to provide whatever US needs to fight the coronavirus.
It seems like someone is lying or exaggerating here.

Yeah, he was working on getting much of the companies to become involved, granted the issue of Business Insider stating Trump Asks Walmart, Google, CVS and Walgreens to help from last week is actually old news. I saw the announcement in a press conference the week before.

And Elon isn't the only one making ventillators...
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/volkswage...27508.html
Volkswagon and other Automotive plants are working on them.

[kyonides]

Get Your Results in... 45 Minutes!?

https://www.voanews.com/science-health/c...aths-mount

The company plans to begin selling the tests at the end of March.

I wonder if that Californian company can make it.
 

Solidarity a la WHO or a la Chinese!?
https://www.voanews.com/science-health/c...g-covid-19
Chinese response teams in Serbia...

Health officials said infections were accelerating at a faster pace than ever.  They noted it took three months for the world to reach the first 100,000 cases of the deadly disease, but only 12 days to reach the next 100,000.

Somebody please tell them that they shouldn't stay behind actual numbers.

And younglings, keep in mind you're not immune according to Dr. Tedros!

What do Californians and Jordans have in common?

Well, they both need to stay home!

Californians Ordered to Stay Home to Curb Coronavirus Spread
https://www.voanews.com/science-health/c...rus-spread

Jordan Goes on Coronavirus Lockdown as Iran's Death Toll Mounts
https://www.voanews.com/science-health/c...oll-mounts

US and China: Who should we blame for the viral game of politics?
https://www.voanews.com/episode/us-china...me-4231016
Trump is convinced it's the Chinese virus or the Wuhan virus for sure.

A Costa Rican congressman replies to Chinese ambassador "Costa Rican democracy does allow him to speak" - in Spanish only
https://www.crhoy.com/nacionales/dragos-...te-hablar/
On last Friday, a Costa Rican congressman that belongs to one of the opposition stated that after the Wuhan virus and the disaster it has caused worldwide, Costa Rica should take another direction and start considering dealing with Taiwan, as we did before 2007, instead of China.

The Chinese ambassador reacted furiously according to his diplomatic letter sent to the Costa Rican chancellor's office. It requested that such office should tell the congressman to stop addressing such matters that crossed a red line by questioning China's handling of the Taiwan issue. Obviously, foreign affairs policy is the sole competence of Presidency.

The congressman later told the ambassador that in Costa Rica a congressman is free to talk about any important matters, including foreign policy. He also asserted China "had crossed the red line in diplomatic relationships" by asking the government to silence him. Seriously, China think that countries like Costa Rica only offers a single party, a Communist-like party... OK, it's true that PAC isn't anything but a left wing party but they seem to forget that our constitution grants us freedom of speech... even if Chinese ignore what that even means by default.


NY State to Begin Testing Malaria Drug in COVID-19 Battle
https://www.voanews.com/science-health/c...-19-battle
Cuomo gotta be desperate as to ask Trump for help and rush to test the malaria drug on New Yorkers. Isn't there any other alternative? Would their combined efforts stop the virus from spreading?

Pakistani Doctor in US Charged With Trying to Aid IS
https://www.voanews.com/extremism-watch/...trying-aid

A Pakistani doctor employed as a research coordinator at a medical clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, was arrested by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force and charged with attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State group.

If you can't trust them, why do you hire them in the first place!?

[DerVVulfman]

US and China: Who should we blame for the viral game of politics?
https://www.voanews.com/episode/us-china...me-4231016
Trump is convinced it's the Chinese virus or the Wuhan virus for sure.

Well, first case was November and kept hush-hush...
https://www.livescience.com/first-case-c...found.html
And what about Dr. Li Wenliang, who the Chinese Police threatened when he discovered the virus? What of China's destroying the records? Yeah, who do we blame? Rather easy given who threatened their own people and the world.

[kyonides]

Kentucky Senator tested positive for Covid-19
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congres...s-n1166111
What's the lesson here? Vote against a coronavirus relief package and contract the disease!?

Melana, TsunamiJurai, forget about hanging around with friends
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-51999080
Right, Merkel now needs to stay home for she doesn't know if she has contracted the virus.