ABC News Reporter’s Question About Biden’s Coronavirus Mask Does Not Go Well

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ABC News Reporter’s Question About Biden’s Coronavirus Mask Does Not Go Well

ABC News senior national correspondent Terry Moran faced fierce blowback on Twitter late Monday for asking this question about former Vice President Joe Biden:

Biden, the presumptive Democratic 2020 nominee, wore a face mask while laying a wreath at Delaware Memorial Bridge Veterans Memorial Park on Memorial Day.

Critics turned the tables on Moran, suggesting it was a bad look for him to be posing such a question. Many people noted how Biden was adhering to Delaware’s state rules of wearing a mask in public — unlike President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly refused to wear a mask.

One Twitter user, author Don Winslow, described Moran’s question as “staggeringly stupid.”

“It’s not a fashion accessory. It literally saves lives,” Winslow tweeted.

Many others argued the same:

A HuffPost Guide To Coronavirus



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British public wants Dominic Cummings to resign, poll says

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British public wants Dominic Cummings to resign, poll says

Dominic Cummings arrives at his home in London after giving a press conference | Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty Images

71 percent of Brits think Boris Johnson’s top aide broke lockdown rules.

LONDON — A majority of the British public still believes Boris Johnson’s top aide should resign, despite his explanation of alleged breaches of the U.K.’s coronavirus lockdown, new polling shows.

According to YouGov, which conducted its survey after Dominic Cummings gave a press conference in Downing Street on Monday, 71 percent of Brits think the adviser broke lockdown rules and 59 percent think he should resign. Both figures have increased slightly since the same questions were asked on Saturday.

Even Conservative voters are split, with 46 percent saying he should resign and the same proportion taking the opposite view. Among those who voted for Brexit in the 2016 referendum (in which Cummings masterminded Vote Leave’s campaign), 52 percent think Cummings should now resign.

Cummings has said he acted legally and reasonably and does not regret his decision to drive his family more than 400 kilometers from London to Durham despite suspecting that they may have been exposed to the coronavirus. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has backed his adviser, despite calls from opposition parties and at least 20 Conservative MPs for his resignation.

The data is likely to be closely studied by Johnson’s team, who have polled every aspect of public opinion during the pandemic, with aides receiving near-daily updates on the public mood. While Cummings insisted Monday he had not considered resigning, that could change if polling continues to suggest the story is impacting the public’s view of the government more broadly.

The poll of 1,160 adults was conducted over the course of Monday and Tuesday, with all data gathered after the press conference was held.



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Leifer fit for extradition trial over rape and child sex charges: Israeli court

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Leifer fit for extradition trial over rape and child sex charges: Israeli court

An Israeli court has ruled that former Melbourne school principal Malka Leifer is mentally fit to face trial for extradition back to Australia to face 74 charges of rape and child sexual assault.

Malka Leifer had claimed mental illness in fighting her return to Australia, and the case has dragged on in Israel since 2014.

The ruling in the Jerusalem district court capped a years-long legal battle fought since 2011 by sisters Dassi Erlich, Nicole Meyer and Elly Sapperin the case of Leifer, a former educator who is accused of sexually abusing former students.

An Israeli court has ruled former Melbourne school principal Malka Leifer is fit to stand trial for extradition over historic rape and child sex abuse charges. (Supplied)

“Celebration,” said Manny Waks, an advocate for the victims, wrote on Facebook in a liveblog from the courtroom. “Goosebumps throughout my body.”

“OMG!!!” wrote Dassi Ehrlich, one of Malka’s alleged victims.

The Federal Government has welcomed the ruling, with Attorney-General Christian Porter describing the move as “positive”.

“The allegations against Ms Leifer are very serious and the Australian Government remains strongly committed to ensuring that justice is served in this case,” Mr Porter said in a statement.

“To achieve that, it is appropriate and remains the Government’s strong view that Ms Leifer is ultimately extradited to stand trial in Australia on the 74 counts of child sexual abuse against her.

“”At this time, the thoughts of the Australian Government are very much with alleged victims and hopefully this positive development will give them some confidence that proceedings in Israel are moving towards their aim of seeing proceedings commence in Australia within the Australian justice system.”

Leifer has been fighting extradition from Israel for six years, and the legal wrangle to bring her before an Australian court has caused a diplomatic strain between the allies.

Leifer’s lawyers had challenged the finding by a psychiatric panel that she was fit to stand trial.

Her accusers expect Tuesday’s decision to clear the way for a quick extradition to Australia.

The ruling caps off a years-long battle that could see Leifer return to Australia to face 74 charges in a Victorian court. (AP/AAP)

Long time victim supporter, Manny Waks, was present in the courtroom even with coronavirus prevailing in Israel. His face mask bore the tag #bringleiferback.

Talking at a press conference following the lightning-speed hearing, Waks expressed how delighted he was but he demanded the judicial process now move forward quickly.

“We expect the extradition hearing itself happens as soon as possible, no more negligence, whether it’s by the courts or politicians,” Waks said.

He further added that the sisters and he wished to follow up on the actions made by the Adass Israel School.

Nicole Meyer and Dassi Erlich have been fighting the legal battle for Leifer’s extradition back to Australia since 2011. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen (Sydney Morning Herald)

“Malka Leifer is here [in Israel] why? Because the Addas school sent her on a plane to Israel, they need to be held to account.”

After allegations of sexual abuse arose in 2008 against Leifer, the school where she worked bought her tickets and flew her to Israel where she has remained ever since.

Leifer’s defence is expected to appeal the court’s decision, meaning the case would then move to the Jerusalem High Court.

If the High Court accepts the District Court’s ruling that Leifer is fit to face trial the extradition hearing will finally take place.

With AAP and The Associated Press.

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End border ‘one-upmanship’: Tas premier

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End border ‘one-upmanship’: Tas premier

Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein has called for his counterparts to end their one-upmanship around the issue of state border closures.

Mr Gutwein on Tuesday indicated some of the island’s coronavirus restrictions could be eased ahead of schedule before the June long weekend.

He revealed he had spoken to some state and territory leaders about borders but reiterated he would wait until at least July before making any decision on when and if Tasmania would reopen.

“We’ll be guided by public health. I would just encourage all of the premiers around the country to stop what appears to be this game of one-upmanship,” he said.

“I won’t comment on the way the Queensland premier deals with her borders nor how the NSW premier deals with hers.

“It’s quite obvious the federal government has a view but my job is protect the best interests of Tasmanians.”

Tasmania is due to progress to stage two of eased restrictions on June 15, having opened cafes and restaurants for up to 10 people last week as part of stage one.

Mr Gutwein said there could be some earlier easing before the June 8 Queen’s birthday long weekend.

He reiterated any decision would be based on health advice and high levels of testing.

About 300-400 people are being tested each day but the state’s public health service wants the figure to be closer to 700.

Tasmania has gone 11 days without recording a new coronavirus case after none emerged on Tuesday. Just seven cases have been confirmed this month.

The state’s number of active cases has dropped to eight while 205 people from a total 226 confirmed cases have now recovered.

“If this was a football match, we’re now in the last quarter. The wind is at our back, but it ain’t over ’til it’s over,” Mr Gutwein said.

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‘I Cannot Breathe’: Man Dies After Encounter With Minneapolis Police

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‘I Cannot Breathe’: Man Dies After Encounter With Minneapolis Police

A man in Minneapolis died on Monday night after an encounter with police. Video circulating on social media purportedly shows the man being pinned face-down on the street by an officer who appears to be pressing his knee into the man’s neck.

Police have not confirmed the video’s authenticity, but Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said he believes what he saw in the clip. He called the officer’s actions “wrong at every level” during a news briefing Tuesday.

In the clip, the man, who is Black, is heard pleading with officers.

“Please man, I can’t breathe,” he says.

The man repeats the phrase again and again: “I cannot breathe. I cannot breathe.”

Within minutes, the man closes his eyes and stops speaking. The officer, who appears to be white, appears to keep his knee on the man’s neck, even as onlookers begin shouting for police to attend to him.

“Get off of him!” one woman is heard shouting.

“Bro, he’s not fucking moving!” another bystander shouts. “Get off of his neck!”

The Minneapolis Police Department said in a press release that officers arrived at the scene in response to a reported “forgery in progress.” The suspect, police said, was in a car and appeared to be under the influence. He “physically resisted” officers, police said.

“Officers were able to get the suspect into handcuffs and noted he appeared to be suffering medical distress,” the statement said, adding the officers called for an ambulance but the man died shortly after arriving at a hospital. Police did not release the man’s identity, but said they believed he was in his 40s.

The press release stated that no weapons were used during the encounter. It did not mention that an officer had pinned the man to the street and had put his knee on the man’s neck prior to his death. 

The police department said an investigation was underway. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and FBI would be included, police noted without elaboration. Neither agency immediately responded to HuffPost’s requests for comment.

Video recorded by officers’ body cameras, which were turned on during the encounter, is being reviewed as part of the investigation, police said.

The officers involved have been placed on paid administrative leave, police said. Their names haven’t been publicly released.

“He should not have died,” Mayor Frey said during the news briefing Tuesday. “What we saw was horrible, completely and utterly messed up. … Whatever the investigation reveals, it does not change the simple truth that he should be with us this morning.”

“Being Black in America should not be a death sentence,” Frey continued. “When you hear someone calling for help, you are supposed to help. This officer failed in the most basic human sense.”

A protest against police violence has been planned for Tuesday night at the intersection where the incident occurred. Frey said he supported the right of community members to express their anger, but encouraged protesters to social distance and wear masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Social media users noted similarities in the man’s death and that of Eric Garner, an unarmed Black man who died in 2014 after being placed in a chokehold by a New York City police officer.

“I can’t breathe,” Garner said repeatedly before he died.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.



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France clamps down on hydroxychloroquine use for COVID-19

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France clamps down on hydroxychloroquine use for COVID-19

Olivier Véran, France’s health minister | Christophe Archambault/AFP via Getty Images

Move follows publication of a study casting doubt on the drug’s benefit for COVID-19 patients.

By

Updated

France’s flirtation with hydroxychloroquine as a coronavirus fix is coming to an end.

The country’s public health agency advised Tuesday against using hydroxychloroquine outside of clinical trials. Shortly after that, the national medicines regulator suspended its use in clinical trials.

The moves follow the Lancet’s publication on Friday of a large observational study casting doubt on the benefit of hydroxychloroquine and another malaria drug, chloroquine, for COVID-19 patients. It also found an increased risk of heart problems and death.

Health Minister Olivier Véran had asked the National Council for Public Health (HCSP) over the weekend to consider whether he should revise France’s emergency use authorization to prescribe hydroxychloroquine to hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

Furthermore, the drugs regulator ANSM announced Tuesday that new patients should not be enrolled in the 16 clinical trials of hydroxychloroquine currently underway in France.

That echoes the World Health Organization’s announcement Monday that it would temporarily suspend the hydroxychloroquine part of its global Solidarity trial amid a safety review.

Europe’s hype around hydroxychloroquine originated in France, where a small, non-randomized trial in the Marseille clinic of doctor Didier Raoult claimed to have promising results. The U.S. also granted emergency authorization for COVID-19 in March, and U.S. Donald Trump said last week that he’s taking it to prevent the disease.

In a video posted Monday, Raoult stood by his findings.

“How can one messy study done with ‘big data’ change what we see?” he said.



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Younger and poorer: The people locked out of JobKeeper

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Younger and poorer: The people locked out of JobKeeper

Up to half a million short-term casual workers in industries worst-hit by the pandemic could access JobKeeper if the federal government expanded the scheme to include workers employed at their workplace for fewer than 12 months.

As the government faces calls to widen its wage subsidy program, new research claims the young and poor – “those least able to cope” – will experience the most pronounced financial hit due to the pandemic.

The analysis from Melbourne University’s Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey suggests 28 per cent of the nation’s workforce, or about 3.5 million workers, worked in industries where businesses were forced to close, like hospitality, aviation and the arts, or those that experienced steep declines in turnover, including the real estate, apparel and automotive sectors.

Of these workers, about 500,000 are casuals who have not worked for the same business for more than 12 months, meaning they are ineligible for the $1500 fortnightly payment.

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Police find children feared taken from Queensland park safe and well

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Police find children feared taken from Queensland park safe and well

Queensland police have located two young children safe and well hours after an urgent Amber Alert was issued to find them while feared taken from a suburb south-west of Brisbane who may be at significant risk.

The seven-year-old boy and six-year-old girl were last seen at the Redbank Plains Recreational Reserve on Moreton Avenue in Redbank Plans being taken by a woman and man known to them between 4.30pm and 4.45pm today.

Queensland Police then confirmed around 8.15pm the two children had been found.

The group left the scene in a grey 2007 BMW 335i with the Queensland vehicle registration 713-XVE and driven by the man on Collingwood Drive towards the Ipswich Motorway, police said earlier.

A 26-year-old woman and 38-year-old man believed known to the children were last seen leaving the Redbank Plains Recreational Reserve with the children. (Supplied)

Both children were described as African with proportionate builds, black hair and black eyes.

The 26-year-old woman with the children was also described as African, around 170cm tall with a slim build, black hair and eyes, while the 38-year-old man was described as of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Island appearance, around 180cm tall with a proportionate build, short brown hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information about this incident should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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‘If We Get It, We Get It’: Beachgoers Belittle Coronavirus On Memorial Day Weekend

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‘If We Get It, We Get It’: Beachgoers Belittle Coronavirus On Memorial Day Weekend

A recent uptick of coronavirus cases in Alabama didn’t deter people from descending on the state’s beaches over Memorial Day weekend, according to local media reports.

Footage that CNN aired on Monday’s broadcast of “Anderson Cooper 360” showed Gulf Shores Beach busy with people. None wore masks, per CNN national correspondent Gary Tuchman, and those interviewed were defiant in the face of the virus that’s killed more than 550 people in the state, where lockdown restrictions were eased on Friday. 

Almost 100,000 people have now died from the virus nationwide.

Restaurants, bars and stores in the city were also busy with, the report noting, many visitors failing to observe social distancing measures. Some restaurant staff did also not wear masks, said Tuchman.

“My family has the same mindset as me,” one man on the beach told Tuchman. “We kind of just agreed that if we get it, we get it, we’re going to handle it as a family and just get over it because that’s what family does.”

One woman said “everybody has got to go somehow,” adding: “I don’t want to die but, I mean, if that’s what God has in store for my life, then that’s OK.”

Others falsely likened COVID-19, the potentially deadly disease caused by the virus, to seasonal influenza and suggested “there’s enough wind and air that’s going to clear it out of the way” on the beach, claims that Tuchman debunked.

Another man cited President Donald Trump’s refusal to wear a mask, which commentators have noted has become a right-wing talking point in recent weeks, as his reason for doing the same. “If he’s not wearing a mask, I’m not going to wear a mask,” said the man. “If he’s not worried, I’m not worried.” 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends “wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain.”

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and member of the White House’s coronavirus, last week encouraged people to get outside over Memorial Day weekend, while adhering to social distancing measures.

“Go out, wear a mask, stay 6 feet away from anyone so you have the physical distancing, and go out,” he told CNN’s town hall on the pandemic. “Go for a run. Go for a walk. Go fishing. As long as you’re not in a crowd and you’re not in a situation where you can physically transmit the virus, and that’s what a mask is for, and that’s with the physical distance.”

Check out the video here:

Earlier in the weekend, beachgoer Steve Ricks told NBC 15 News that the majority of the thousands of visitors to Gulf Shores had been following social distancing rules.

“It was absolutely fabulous. It looks like America’s opening up,” he said. “There are literally thousands of people out here on the beach, and what I’m really pleased to see is that many of these folks, almost all of them, are doing a great job with social distancing.”

Check out the interview here:

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Airline resumes flights to Italy (but turns around when airport’s shut)

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Airline resumes flights to Italy (but turns around when airport’s shut)

(CNN) — We’re all pretty excited about being able to travel again — but German airline Eurowings might be more eager than most.

The low-cost carrier resumed services from Düsseldorf to Sardinia, Italy, on Saturday — but was forced to turn around at its destination because Olbia Airport is still closed.

Flight EW9844 set off on the 730-mile (1,170km) flight to Sardinia’s Olbia Airport on the morning of May 23, but was in Sardinian airspace before being informed by air traffic control that it wasn’t open to commercial traffic.

The Airbus A320 hung around in a holding pattern hoping for permission to land, but no dice.

A diversion was proposed to Cagliari, some 120 miles away, reports Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera, but the flight crew opted to cut its losses and head back to Düsseldorf.

This little sightseeing tour of western Europe, for the benefit of the A320’s load of two Sardinian passengers, took a total of four hours and ten minutes.

So how did this misunderstanding happen? A Eurowings spokesperson told CNN Travel that “Against the background of the corona crisis, the situation at numerous airports in Europe is very dynamic.

“The large amount of information provided on operating hours or airport closures are often changed at short notice,” added the spokesperson, and there are “daily changes in entry regulations in the various countries.”

The confusion appears to center on Italy’s Ministry of Infrastructure and Transportation reopening the airport on Sunday, May 17, but that decision was overruled the same day at a regional level, reports the One Mile at a Time aviation blog.

Olbia Costa Smeralda Airport is currently closed until at least June 2.

Eurowings’ spokesperson lays the blame on “a misunderstanding in the consolidation of the relevant flight information.”

The passengers — both of them — were rebooked and, it’s safe to say, were at least able to social distance appropriately on their A320 jaunt last Saturday morning.

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