General news

• China Reclassifies Dogs from Livestock to Pets in Response to Coronavirus

  09-04-2020 23:59 via news.yahoo.com
  
  China's agriculture ministry has reclassified dogs, which it previously deemed livestock, as pets in response to the coronavirus pandemic.“As far as dogs are concerned, along with the progress of human civilization and the public concern and love for animal protection, dogs have been ‘specialized’ to become companion animals, and internationally are not considered to be livestock, and they will not be regulated as livestock in China,” the Ministry of Agriculture said in g
  
  Read more

• Experts warn that there is no proof the coronavirus will stop spreading in warmer weather

  09-04-2020 23:57 via news.yahoo.com
  
  A recently released report indicates that warmer weather won't have a significant impact on the coronavirus.
  
  Read more

• Weeks-long delay in US testing was likely avoidable

  09-04-2020 23:51 via cnn.com
  
  A weeks-long testing delay that effectively blinded public health officials to the spread of the coronavirus in the US might have been avoided had federal agencies fully enacted their own plan to ramp up testing during a national health crisis.
  
  Read more

• Some US labs quickly developed tests. Then the government got in the way

  09-04-2020 23:51 via cnn.com
  
  A weeks-long testing delay that effectively blinded public health officials to the spread of the coronavirus in the US might have been avoided had federal agencies fully enacted their own plan to ramp up testing during a national health crisis.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Hong Kong court strikes down blanket ban on coronavirus masks

  09-04-2020 23:50 via feeds.foxnews.com
  
  A blanket ban on face masks in Hong Kong was ruled unconstitutional by a top appeals court Thursday, months after anti-government protests and at a time when much of the world is using them to combat the coronavirus. 
  
  Read more

• Coronavirus: Worst economic crisis since 1930s depression, IMF says

  09-04-2020 23:45 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Global economic growth will turn "sharply negative" this year due to the pandemic, the IMF warns.
  
  Read more

• The weeks-long testing delay in the US was likely avoidable

  09-04-2020 23:35 via cnn.com
  
  A weeks-long testing delay that effectively blinded public health officials to the spread of the coronavirus in the US might have been avoided had federal agencies fully enacted their own plan to ramp up testing during a national health crisis.
  
  Read more

• Italy and Austria share a border, but while one nation grapples with crippling coronavirus deaths, the other is preparing to lift its lockdown

  09-04-2020 23:34 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Despite announcing "a step-by-step resurrection" of Austria's economy, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said, "We are not out of the woods."
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Biden courts Sanders voters with student loan, healthcare policies

  09-04-2020 23:34 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Biden, who became Democrats' presumptive nominee when Sanders ended his campaign on Wednesday, is working to close ranks as his party prepares a campaign to unseat Republican President Donald Trump in the Nov. 3 election.Biden's new proposals include expanding Medicare, government insurance for Americans over 65, to those 60 and older.
  
  Read more

• President says 'we are praying for' Boris Johnson as coronavirus cases in New York overtake any other country

  09-04-2020 23:27 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The number of coronavirus cases in New York state has now passed 151,600, meaning it has more confirmed infections than any country barring the US itself, as the number of Americans claiming unemployment benefits surges to almost 17m.Despite those grim figures, Donald Trump’s mind appeared to be on other matters, including blasting the Wall Street Journal for not praising him on his ratings during Monday night's White House press briefing. The president tweeted out against the newspaper an
  
  Read more

• 25 awesome images of the pink supermoon to take your mind off the pandemic

  09-04-2020 23:21 via news.yahoo.com
  
  At a time when millions have been infected and billions are confined to their homes, a full moon can remind us that we are all under the same sky.
  
  Read more

• Woman gives birth standing with trousers on while detained at US-Mexico border

  09-04-2020 23:20 via news.yahoo.com
  
  A woman suffering flu-like symptoms gave birth standing and fully clothed while detained near the Mexican-US border, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.The Guatemalan woman, 27, was being processed at the Chula Vista Border Patrol Station near San Diego when her complaints of pain and pleas for help were allegedly ignored by agents, according to a complaint filed on Wednesday by the ACLU and Jewish Family Service of San Diego with the US Department of Homeland Security's Office of t
  
  Read more

• Fauci lowers U.S. coronavirus death forecast to 60,000, says social distancing is working

  09-04-2020 23:20 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Anthony Fauci said Thursday the death toll from the coronavirus could be closer to 60,000 Americans, smaller than previous projections.
  
  Read more

• Crew member of cruise ship with virus cases dies in Florida

  09-04-2020 23:19 via news.yahoo.com
  
  A crew member who was hospitalized for days after two ill-fated cruise ships with coronavirus patients were finally allowed to dock in Florida has died, officials said.Broward County Medical Examiner Craig Mallak on Thursday confirmed the death of Wiwit Widarto, 50, of Indonesia.The man died Wednesday, six days after the Zaandam and a sister ship docked in the Fort Lauderdale port after spending two weeks at sea rejected by South American ports, said Holland America Line spokesman Erik Elvejord.
  
  Read more

• Germany's had more than 113,000 coronavirus cases, but fewer than 3,000 deaths. Scientists are hoping to unlock why.

  09-04-2020 23:18 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Heinsberg has been called "Germany's Wuhan" because of its high number of coronavirus cases.
  
  Read more

• Biden pledges to lower Medicare age and reduce some student debt in olive branch to Sanders supporters

  09-04-2020 23:16 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Former Vice President Joe Biden is reaching out to Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) supporters, just a little bit.Sanders suspended his 2020 run on Wednesday, though he pledged to keep collecting delegates and fighting for his progressive platform. So in an effort to win over Sanders' backers, Biden adopted a lighter version of some of Sanders' policies Thursday, pledging to lower the age of Medicare eligibility and forgive some student debt.In a Thursday blog post, Biden first promised he'd let Ame
  
  Read more

• EU Finance Chiefs Agree on $590 Billion Virus Rescue Package

  09-04-2020 23:14 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Bloomberg) -- European Union finance ministers agreed on a 540 billion-euro ($590 billion) package of measures to combat the economic fallout of the global pandemic.In an emergency teleconference on Thursday, they approved a plan to stave off what’s expected to be a recession of unprecedented size, drawing a round of applause from the participating officials.It includes a joint employment insurance fund worth 100 billion euros, a European Investment Bank instrument intended to supply 200
  
  Read more

• How you can still celebrate Easter this week

  09-04-2020 23:10 via cnn.com
  
  From virtual choirs to online Easter egg hunts, worshipers are getting creative this holiday weekend.
  
  Read more

• Bill would remove U.S. troops from Saudi Arabia in 30 days

  09-04-2020 23:08 via news.yahoo.com
  
  A Republican U.S. senator introduced legislation on Thursday to remove American troops from Saudi Arabia, adding pressure on the kingdom to tighten its oil taps to reverse the crude price drop that has hurt domestic energy companies.The legislation from Senator Bill Cassidy, of oil-producing Louisiana, would remove U.S. troops 30 days after enactment, a full month faster than similar legislation introduced by two other Republican senators in March.Cassidy introduced the bill as OPEC+, a producti
  
  Read more

• UN agency says 280 migrants stranded in unsafe port in Libya

  09-04-2020 22:59 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The Libyan coast guard rescued 280 migrants in distress in the Mediterranean Sea on Thursday and diverted them to the shores of the North African country, only to have them banned from disembarking, the U.N. migration agency said.The migrants, hungry and exhausted after 72 hours at sea, remained stuck on a crowded coast guard ship overnight after being denied entry to the capital, Tripoli.Fighting has engulfed Tripoli in recent months as eastern-based forces under the command of Khalifa Hifter h
  
  Read more

• Joe Biden rolls out Medicare and college debt plans after Bernie Sanders suspends campaign

  09-04-2020 22:57 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Joe Biden has unveiled two proposals in what he calls a step towards easing the "economic burden on working people" in the wake of Bernie Sanders' exit from the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, but the moves are far more conservative than the ones at the centre of his progressive rival's campaign and crucial to his supporters.The former vice president has proposed lowering the age eligibility for Medicare from 65 to 60 and eliminating student debt for some lower-income families,
  
  Read more

• Biden aims to connect with voters one Zoom call at a time

  09-04-2020 22:57 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Joe Biden is America's newest podcast host, recently interviewing Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Obama administration's point person during the Ebola outbreak.“We are trying to leave no channel unturned when it comes to where we put the VP and how we get the VP to engage with people,” said Rob Flaherty, the Biden campaign’s digital director.The pandemic has effectively frozen traditional campaigning, preventing Biden and President Donald Trump from the type of massive r
  
  Read more

• Feds Warn Alex Jones to Stop Hawking Coronavirus Scams

  09-04-2020 22:55 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The Food and Drug Administration is demanding that conspiracy theorist Alex Jones stop advertising dubious dietary supplements as coronavirus treatments and threatening legal action if he doesn’t comply.The FDA sent a letter to Jones and his website InfoWars on Thursday demanding that he stop telling the viewers of his popular internet broadcasts that they can ward off the virus with colloidal silver products sold on his website. Those videos, the FDA wrote, “misleadingly represent t
  
  Read more

• White House reverses position after blocking health officials from appearing on CNN

  09-04-2020 22:49 via cnn.com
  
  Vice President Mike Pence's office has declined to allow the nation's top health officials to appear on CNN in recent days and discuss the coronavirus pandemic killing thousands of Americans, in an attempt to pressure the network into carrying the White House's lengthy daily briefings in full.
  
  Read more

• Ugandan president records home workout encouraging citizens to exercise indoors – video

  09-04-2020 22:48 via theguardian.com
  
  Uganda's president, Yoweri Museveni, has released a video of his home workout routine in a bid to encourage Ugandans to stay indoors during the country's coronavirus lockdown. The 75-year-old is shown jogging barefoot around his office before completing 30 press-ups. Museveni banned public exercise on Wednesday to limit the spread of the virusUK coronavirus: latest updatesHow did coronavirus start and where did it come from?  Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• N.Y. Reports Deadliest Day; Hospitalizations Plunge

  09-04-2020 22:44 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Bloomberg) -- New York City reported a record 824 deaths from the coronavirus in 24 hours, a grim reminder that despite flattening infection curves and lower hospital admissions, the health crisis in the largest U.S. city is far from over.Statewide, the fatality rate has worsened by the day. New York reported 799 new deaths on Thursday, on top of about 1,500 in the prior two days. Total coronavirus deaths in the state now exceed 7,000.The city and state take snapshots of the virus’s effec
  
  Read more

• Biden joins growing call for release of racial data on virus

  09-04-2020 22:41 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden is joining a growing call for the release of comprehensive racial data on the coronavirus pandemic, which he says has put a spotlight on inequity and the impact of “structural racism," according to a not-yet-published Medium post obtained Thursday by The Associated Press.Biden's post said he is joining Democratic congressional members Ayanna Pressley, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren and others who have also called for the Centers for Di
  
  Read more

• Disillusionment grows over Trump's coronavirus briefings

  09-04-2020 22:34 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The Wall Street Journal becomes the latest news outlet to criticize President Trump's performances at the daily coronavirus task force briefings.
  
  Read more

• Dr. Gupta: Here's why US has so many coronavirus deaths

  09-04-2020 22:31 via cnn.com
  
  CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains why the US has so many coronavirus deaths when compared with the rest of the world.
  
  Read more

• Joe Biden called for letting more people get Medicare right after Bernie Sanders dropped out of the Democratic primary

  09-04-2020 22:29 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Joe Biden has focused his campaign on expanding Obamacare and adding a public option. His latest idea would let people get Medicare at 60.
  
  Read more

• Brazil’s Worst-Hit State Turns to Big Data as Quarantine Wavers

  09-04-2020 22:27 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Bloomberg) -- Sao Paulo, the state at the epicenter of Brazil’s coronavirus cases, is using geo-referenced data provided by the nation’s main telecom firms to monitor the adherence to quarantine measures.The government is now able to monitor areas where there’s greater movement and concentration of people so it can step in and reinforce the need for social distancing, state secretary for economic development Patricia Ellen said in a press conference Thursday. Firms providing d
  
  Read more

• N.J. Sees Peak in Three Days; Johnson Out of ICU: Virus Update

  09-04-2020 22:26 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Bloomberg) -- New York state reported the fewest hospitalizations since the outbreak began even as it recorded the most deaths in a 24-hour period. The top U.S. infectious-disease expert said the final death toll may be lower than earlier estimated.Spain is poised to extend a nationwide lockdown, a step also being considered by Italy. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson was taken out of intensive care and moved back to the main hospital ward.Stocks rallied after the Federal Reserve acted to provi
  
  Read more

• Europe Is Looking at Several More Weeks of Virus Lockdowns

  09-04-2020 22:26 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Bloomberg) -- Italy and Spain are preparing for several more weeks under lockdown as volatile coronavirus infection rates prevent Europe’s governments from easing curbs on public life.Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, whose country has reported the most virus-linked deaths worldwide, is leaning toward an extension to early May, with few concessions to business demands to allow more companies to operate normally. Spain prolonged a state of emergency until April 25 and the U.K. also is
  
  Read more

• Pop star: You should be upset I got a virus test and you didn't

  09-04-2020 22:25 via cnn.com
  
  Pop star Pink said she and her 3-year-old son are recovering from the coronavirus. The singer told Ellen DeGeneres it was "the scariest thing I've ever, ever been through in my life."
  
  Read more

• Pop star chokes up talking about 3-year-old son's infection

  09-04-2020 22:25 via cnn.com
  
  Pop star Pink said she and her 3-year-old son are recovering from the coronavirus. The singer told Ellen DeGeneres it was "the scariest thing I've ever, ever been through in my life."
  
  Read more

• Pink chokes up talking about 3-year-old son's coronavirus

  09-04-2020 22:25 via cnn.com
  
  Pop star Pink said she and her 3-year-old son are recovering from the coronavirus. The singer told Ellen DeGeneres it was "the scariest thing I've ever, ever been through in my life."
  
  Read more

• What Went Wrong in the Wisconsin Election, and What We Can Learn From It Before November

  09-04-2020 22:18 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Watching the Wisconsin election unfold, it was impossible not to wonder: Is this what we’re all in for in November?
  
  Read more

• New single-day record for NY virus deaths but hospitalizations fall

  09-04-2020 22:16 via news.yahoo.com
  
  America's coronavirus epicenter of New York recorded a new single-day high of 799 COVID-19 deaths Thursday but Governor Andrew Cuomo said the rate of hospitalizations continued to fall.Cuomo said 799 people died in the last 24 hours, outdoing the previous high of 779 announced on Wednesday, but added that the curve was flattening because of social confinement measures."We had a 200-net increase in hospitalizations, which you can see is the lowest number we've had since this nightmare started," C
  
  Read more

• Michigan governor extends state shutdown through April

  09-04-2020 22:14 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer on Thursday extended through April 30 the stay-at-home order she has in place in the state to slow the spread of the coronavirus.Automobile dealers also will now be allowed to open for remote sales, though showrooms must remain closed.
  
  Read more

• Biden adopts parts of Sanders' policies on health care and student debt

  09-04-2020 22:13 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Biden said he now favors dropping the Medicare eligibility age by five years.
  
  Read more

• As virus kills, NYC shortens deadline for claiming dead

  09-04-2020 22:11 via news.yahoo.com
  
  As New York City deals with a mounting coronavirus death toll and dwindling morgue space, the city has shortened the amount of time it will hold unclaimed remains before they are buried in the city's public cemetery.Under the new policy, the medical examiner’s office will keep bodies in storage for just 14 days before they’re buried in the city’s potter’s field on Hart Island.In recent days, though, burial operations have increased from one day a week to five days a week,
  
  Read more

• Head of Global Strike Command Wants to Make Air Force Bombers Even More Lethal

  09-04-2020 22:07 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The Air Force plans to have 165 to 175 bombers in its inventory once the B-21 Long Range Strike Bomber comes online.
  
  Read more

• Japan to Pay Companies to Move Production Out of China

  09-04-2020 22:06 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Japan will devote more than $2.2 billion of its coronavirus economic stimulus package to incentivize its manufacturers to move their production out of China as relations fray between the neighboring countries in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.The record stimulus plan provides $2 billion for manufacturers to transfer production to Japan and over $216 million to help companies move production to other countries. Imports from China, Japan's biggest trading partner, were down by nearly 50 perc
  
  Read more

• Top House Republican says it's 'disgusting' Democrats want mail-in voting funding in the next coronavirus bill

  09-04-2020 21:49 via news.yahoo.com
  
  House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) isn't too worried about democracy right now.As Congress discusses further relief bills amid the COVID-19 pandemic, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has insisted they include funding for mail-in ballots through the primaries and November election. But McCarthy slammed that demand as "disgusting" on Thursday, even after Wisconsin's pandemic primary proved problematic just days earlier."You want to hold up the bill because you want to change elec
  
  Read more

• Endangered clouded leopard kittens born at US zoo

  09-04-2020 21:49 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Zookeepers are taking special measures to protect endangered clouded leopard cubs from Covid-19.
  
  Read more

• Las Vegas casino workers abandoned in 'ghost town'

  09-04-2020 21:45 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Casino workers in Las Vegas voiced anger Thursday at being abandoned by their billionaire employers as the gambling mecca becomes a "ghost town" due to coronavirus."This is not going to sustain us -- we need to feed our families, we need to put food on the table, we have bills mounting up," said Debra Jeffries, a cocktail waitress for four decades at a major Strip casino."Hearing how our community has crumbled as Vegas turned into a ghost town was devastating," she added.
  
  Read more

• IMF head sees worst economic downturn since Great Depression

  09-04-2020 21:44 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The coronavirus pandemic will push the global economy into the deepest recession since the Great Depression, with the world's poorest countries suffering the most, the head of the International Monetary Fund said Thursday.“We anticipate the worst economic fallout since the Great Depression,” IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said Thursday in remarks previewing next week’s virtual meetings of the 189-nation IMF and its sister lending organization, the World Bank.Just th
  
  Read more

• 'People Are Very Scared.' Why Small Businesses Hit By Coronavirus Are Struggling to Get Emergency Loans

  09-04-2020 21:41 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Of the more than 30 million small businesses in the country, less than 1 percent have accessed the emergency loan program
  
  Read more

• China finally changes status of dogs from 'livestock' to 'pets'

  09-04-2020 21:33 via feeds.foxnews.com
  
  In light of the coronavirus pandemic, China has drawn up new guidelines to reclassify dogs as pets rather than livestock.
  
  Read more

• New York City hires laborers to bury dead in Hart Island potter's field amid coronavirus surge

  09-04-2020 21:31 via news.yahoo.com
  
  New York City officials have hired contract laborers to bury the dead in its potter's field on Hart Island as the city's daily death rate from the coronavirus epidemic has reached grim new records in each of the last three days.The city has used Hart Island to bury New Yorkers with no known next of kin or whose family are unable to arrange a funeral since the 19th century.There are about two dozen bodies a day, five days a week buried on the island, said Jason Kersten, a spokesman for the Depart
  
  Read more

Follow @newslock_news on Twitter!