The effort to loosen Texas’ absentee voting restrictions during the pandemic suffered a blow Wednesday. A ruling by the Texas Supreme Court formally reversed orders by lower courts declaring coronavirus a valid excuse to vote absentee.
Continue reading “Texas Supreme Court: COVID-19 Can’t Be Used As An Excuse To Vote Absentee”
NEW DELHI (AP) — As if the coronavirus wasn’t enough, India grappled with scorching temperatures and the worst locust invasion in decades as authorities prepared for the end of a monthslong lockdown despite recording thousands of new infections every day.
This triple disaster drew biblical comparisons and forced officials to try to balance the competing demands of simultaneous public health crises: protection from eviscerating heat but also social distancing in newly reopened parks and markets.
Continue reading “A Triple Disaster Rocks India: Coronavirus, Scorching Heat And Locusts”
LONDON — British police say Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s adviser Dominic Cummings likely violated rules by traveling from home during lockdown, but the force has “no intention” to pursue the matter.
Cummings has acknowledged driving 250 miles (400 km) to his parents’ house in Durham, northeast England, during the lockdown, and later taking another drive to a scenic town 30 miles (50 kms) away.
Continue reading “Boris Johnson Aide May Have Broken Lockdown Rules But Police Won’t Pursue Case”
MILAN — The governor of the Lombardy region, the epicenter of Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, has been placed under police protection after receiving threats related to the health emergency.
Gov. Attilio Fontana confirmed in a Facebook post that authorities assigned him the protection, and not at his request. Officials cited a “climate” around the governor that has become “incandescent,’’ including graffiti labeling him a killer and internet threats regarding the region’s handling of the epidemic.
Continue reading “Governor Of Hard-Hit Region In Italy Receives Police Protection Amid Threats”
Wisconsin’s bipartisan elections commission unanimously approved a proposal that would ease the process of voting by mail rather than having to vote in person amid the COVID-19 outbreak on Wednesday night.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Fires burned and looters struck Thursday after violent protests over the death of a black man in police custody rocked a Minneapolis neighborhood for a second straight night, with damage stretching for miles across the city and Mayor Jacob Frey appealing to the governor to activate the National Guard.
Amid the violence, a man was found fatally shot Wednesday night near a pawn shop. Asked to confirm reports that he had been shot by a store owner, police spokesman John Elder said that was “one of the theories.”
Continue reading “1 Man Dead Amid Protests And Looting In Minneapolis Over George Floyd Death”
2,123,000 unemployment claims were filed in the week ending on May 23, the Labor Department reported on Thursday morning.
President Donald Trump claims wearing masks is about being “politically correct” during the COVID-19 pandemic, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) doesn’t seem to agree.
Continue reading “McConnell Breaks With Trump On Masks, Says There’s ‘No Stigma’ To Wearing Them”
Take a moment to read this article in Science magazine about COVID19, aerosol transmission and masks. It’s not a study. It’s published as a “perspective”, more a review of the current science and an argument about the implications of the data. The upshot is a strong argument for universal mask wearing as long as COVID19 remain prevalent in the population and we have no vaccines or effective treatments. The more specific assertions are these.
President Trump is set to sign an executive order on social media following his threat to shut down platforms after Twitter used a new fact-checking label to correct his false vote by mail claims. Continue reading “Trump Will Sign Executive Order On Social Media After Lashing Out At Twitter”
