Alexandria

One of Trump's favorite pollsters shows his approval plummeting

President Trump’s approval rating has plummeted since late February, according to the Rasmussen daily tracking poll, which the president frequently cited during his first three years in office.

‘A murderer lives here': Grafitti scrawled outside home of white police officer who knelt on neck of George Floyd

Angry Minneapolis residents protesting the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis Police Officer scrawled the phrase "A murderer lives here" on the road outside the officer's house Wednesday night.Mr Floyd was killed when Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for eight minutes, despite Mr Floyd crying out that he couldn't breathe. Eventually Mr Floyd lost consciousness and died.

Iran Guards warn US after receiving new combat vessels

Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Thursday warned the United States against its naval presence in the Gulf as they received 110 new combat vessels. "We announce today that wherever the Americans are, we are right next to them, and they will feel our presence even more in the near future," the Guards' navy chief Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri said during a ceremony in southern Iran. Iran and the United States have appeared to be on the brink of an all-out confrontation twice in the past year.

The Chinese CDC now says the coronavirus didn't jump to people at the Wuhan wet market — instead, it was the site of a super-spreader event

The origin of the new coronavirus still isn't known. But according to the Chinese CDC, it isn't the wet market in Wuhan.

Huawei CFO Meng loses key court fight against extradition to United States

Huawei Technologies Co's Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou was dealt a setback by a Canadian court on Wednesday as she tries to avoid extradition to the United States to face bank fraud charges, dashing hopes for an end to her 18-month house arrest in Vancouver. The ruling, which could further deteriorate relations between Ottawa and Beijing, elicited immediate strong reaction from China's embassy in Canada, which said Canada is "accomplice to United States efforts to bring down Huawei and Chinese high-tech companies."

Cockpit voice recorder of crashed Pakistani plane recovered

The cockpit voice recorder of the Pakistani airliner that crashed last week was found on Thursday, six days after the passenger plane went down in a crowded neighborhood near the airport in the city of Karachi, killing 97 people on board. The other part of the black box, a flight data recorder, was recovered within hours of the crash. There were only two survivors of the Airbus A320 crash, which was carrying 91 passengers and eight crew members.

British mercenaries 'involved in botched operation' backing rebel leader in Libya, according to secret UN report

Six British citizens including two former Royal Marine commandos have been accused of taking part in a botched mercenary mission to Libya to fight on behalf of renegade general Khalifa Haftar. The five men and one woman are named in a confidential report by the United Nations panel of experts on Libya into a botched mission that ended with the mercenaries making a remarkable sea-borne escape after falling out with their hosts. The men, including former Royal Marines Sean Callaghan Louw and Andrew Scott Ritchie, were among around 20 mercenaries who travelled to Benghazi in eastern Libya in June 2019 in a contract organised by a UAE based company called Opus, according to the report seen by the Daily Telegraph. Amanda Perry, a United Arab Emirate based businesswoman, is identified and is alleged to have been a "facilitator" of the project. She is the managing director of Opus Capital Asset FZE, the company that hired two boats used by the group. She is also company secretary of Lancaster 6, a business owned by Christiaan Durrant, a former Australian fighter pilot and Malta resident who is also named - and accused of being a facilitator in the report.

More than a third of Americans are showing clinical signs of anxiety or depression amid the coronavirus pandemic, Census Bureau finds

Anxiety and depression rates were highest among young adults, women, and poor people, the US Census Bureau found.

UConn student wanted in connection to 2 deaths is captured

"Peter Manfredonia has been found & is in custody" after a nearly weeklong manhunt, officials said Wednesday.

Coronavirus infections are rising as states reopen, potentially signaling a second wave

Twenty states reported an increase in new infections during the week ending May 24, up from 13 states the week before.

Hong Kong: US and allies defend 'bastion of freedom'

The joint statement comes as the UK says it could extend visa rights to overseas passport holders.

ICC allows former I.Coast president Gbagbo to leave Belgium

The International Criminal Court on Thursday said former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo can leave Belgium under certain conditions following his acquittal last year over post-electoral violence that killed 3,000 people. Gbagbo and his deputy Charles Ble Goude were both cleared of crimes against humanity a year ago, eight years after the former West African strongman's arrest and transfer to the Hague-based court. Belgium agreed to host Gbagbo, 73, after he was released in February last year under strict conditions including that he would return to court for a prosecution appeal against his acquittal.

The UK now has the highest coronavirus death rate in the world

The UK has recorded the highest coronavirus death rate in the world, according to new analysis.

So-called honor killing of teen girl sparks outcry in Iran

The so-called honor killing of a 14-year-old Iranian girl by her dad, who reportedly beheaded her as she slept, has sparked a nationwide outcry.

Mexican drug lord pleads poverty in bid to escape arrest

Drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, a notorious underworld figure who is on the FBI’s most wanted list for the murder of a federal agent over three decades ago, said in a legal appeal that he has no money, is too old to work and has no pension. The odd plea was filed Tuesday by Caro Quintero's lawyer seeking an injunction against his arrest or extradition to the United States for the kidnapping and murder of DEA Special Agent Enrique Camarena in Mexico in 1985. The U.S. government says Caro Quintero and his family remain in the drug trade.

Iran outraged by 'honour killing' of 14-year-old girl Romina Ashrafi

The killing of an Iranian teen by her father after she eloped with an older man sparked outrage on Wednesday, with local media denouncing "institutionalised violence" in "patriarchal" Iran. Iranian media covered the apparent "honour" crime extensively, with Ebtekar newspaper leading its front page with the headline "Unsafe father's house". According to local media, Romina Ashrafi was killed in her sleep on May 21 by her father, who decapitated her in the family home in Talesh in northern Gilan province. The reports said her father had refused her permission to marry a man fifteen years her senior, spurring her to run away, but she was returned home after her father reported her. The legal marriage age in Iran is 13 for women. Iranian media reported that after authorities detained the teenager, she told a judge she feared for her life if she was returned to home. But what most outraged public opinion was the lenient punishment the father is likely to face, Ebtekar wrote. The newspaper notes that Iran's normal "eye for an eye" retributive justice does not apply to fathers who kill their children. Accordingly, he is likely to face three to 10 years in prison, a sentence that could be reduced further, the newspaper wrote, denouncing the "institutionalised violence" of Iran's "patriarchal culture". With the farsi hashtag Romina_Ashrafi focusing outrage on Twitter, President Hassan Rouhani "expressed his regrets" in a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, pleading for the speedy passing of several anti-violence bills, his office said. On Twitter, Vice President for Women and Family Affairs, Masoumeh Ebtekar, said a bill on the protection of young people was in the "final phase" of validation by Iran's Guardian Council. The council, which vets legislation to ensure compliance with Iran's constitution and Islamic sharia law, has thrice previously called for changes to the law after it was passed by lawmakers, Ebtekar newspaper wrote. The publication fears that if the council sends back the bill, it will be buried by Iran's new parliament, which held its first session Wednesday and is dominated by conservatives and hardliners opposed to Rouhani.

Putin says worst-case coronavirus scenario in Moscow averted as lockdown unwinds

President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Moscow, the epicentre of Russia's coronavirus outbreak, had succeeded in preventing what he called worst-case scenarios as the city announced it would ease tough lockdown measures within days. Speaking to Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, an ally, by video conference, Putin said it was obvious the situation in the city of 12.7 million people had stabilised thanks to steps taken by the authorities. It was now time for Moscow to provide medical help to regions where the coronavirus remained rampant, said Putin, something Sobyanin said would be organised immediately.

White House press secretary voted by mail 12 times in 12 years

McEnany and President Trump have claimed vote-by-mail leads to voter fraud, though there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud.

Senate Democrats take on GOP court-packing in blistering new report

The senators pointed to conservative activist Leonard Leo as the driving force behind the many of the president's appointments.

Philippines eases capital's strict virus lockdown

The Philippines will lift key coronavirus lockdown measures in the nation's capital, President Rodrigo Duterte said Thursday, aiming to resuscitate a faltering economy after nearly three months of strict home quarantine. Manila has endured one of the world's longest lockdowns, which has hit the livelihoods of millions of workers but not halted a steady stream of new infections. "Remember that the entire nation is under quarantine," Duterte said in a late-night speech.

As politicians in DC condemn China for crackdowns on Hong Kong protests, US police use tear gas on demonstrators in Minneapolis

Tear gas — also known as CS gas — is considered a chemical weapon and is banned in warfare by most countries, including the US.

Pakistani villager urges India to return 'spy' pigeon

The owner of a pigeon "arrested" by India for spying says his bird was freed for Eid and is innocent.

UConn student Peter Manfredonia, wanted for 2 killings, caught in Maryland after six-day manhunt

Peter Manfredonia, a fugitive college student wanted for two murders in Connecticut, was caught in Maryland on Wednesday night.

Five UK mercenaries offered $150,000 each to fly helicopters for Gen Haftar in Libya, say UN

Five British mercenaries involved in an operation to fly assault helicopters for Libya’s renegade General Khalifa Haftar were offered bounties of up to $150,000 each for their role in the daring plot which went awry. The men, comprised of former Royal Marines and RAF personnel, were among 20 foreign mercenaries who traveled to Libya last June in an operation to pilot assault helicopters and speed boats to intercept Turkish ships ferrying weapons to Haftar’s opponents – the UN-backed government in Tripoli. A source with knowledge of the secret UN report which revealed the plot told The Daily Telegraph that the men involved were believed on sums of “$30,000 to $50,000 a month, or $20,000 to $40,000 per month depending on whether you were pilot or aircrewman”. “It was a three-month contract”. The Telegraph can reveal that the UN investigation concluded that the operation was led by Steven Lodge, a former South African Air Force officer who also served in the British military. Mr. Lodge, who now resides in Scotland, is a director of Umbra Aviation, a South-Africa based company that has recently supplied helicopters to the Government of Mozambique, where the country is battling a jihadist insurgency in its restive north. Speaking to The Telegraph over the phone, Mr. Lodge flatly denied the chronicle of events detailed in the UN report. “All the info is incorrect - the whole facts behind the whole thing,” he said.

Venezuela's Maduro vows to raise gasoline price as Iranian tanker nears

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Wednesday pledged to begin charging citizens for gasoline, as the fourth cargo of a five-tanker flotilla bringing fuel from Iran approached the South American nation's exclusive economic zone. Iran is providing the country with up to 1.53 million barrels of gasoline and components to help it ease an acute scarcity that has forced Venezuelans to wait in hours-long lines at service stations or pay steep prices on the black market. With the arrival of the gasoline, Maduro said he would end the policy of providing fuel effectively for free after more than two decades of frozen pump prices.

Study: Death Rates for Drivers Vary by Car Size

When it comes to vehicle crashes, size and weight matter a great deal. That’s the conclusion of a comprehensive, three-year study into how drivers fared in their vehicles over time by the Insuran...

Mail-in voting could turn Election Day into Election Week

A shift to mail voting is increasing the chances that Americans will not know the winner of November’s presidential race on election night, a scenario that is fueling worries about whether President Donald Trump will use the delay to sow doubts about the results. State election officials in some key battleground states have recently warned that it may take days to count what they expect will be a surge of ballots sent by mail out of concern for safety amid the pandemic. In an election as close as 2016's, a delayed tally in key states could keep news organizations from calling a winner.

New tropical hotspot may emerge in Atlantic amid busy start to hurricane season

Two tropical storms have already formed prior to the official start of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, which begins on June 1- and AccuWeather meteorologists say there are two factors behind the unusual occurrence. These weather factors could soon cause more storms to brew, but this time, forecasters are watching a new tropical hotspot of the basin.Tropical Storm Arthur, the first storm of the season, was named by the National Hurricane Center (NHC) on May 16, the earliest-named tropical system to form in the Atlantic since Tropical Storm Arlene in April 2017. The system first developed into a tropical depression about 125 miles off Melbourne, Florida. As the disturbance gained strength and moved northward over warm waters in the western Atlantic, Arthur avoided landfall in North Carolina. But, the system still unleashed wind gusts of up to 49 mph in the state. Fortunately, no major impacts were reported, and Arthur went out to sea before it could directly strike land.Less than two weeks later, Tropical Storm Bertha became the second-named storm of the season on May 27 in a similar area to where Arthur had developed. Bertha will also go down as the first-named storm to make landfall in the U.S. this year. Bertha struck about 20 miles south of Charleston, South Carolina, on Wednesday, and unleashed flooding rainfall across the Carolinas and portions of the mid-Atlantic. Before officially being named the system drenched South Florida with flooding rainfall, which pushed monthly rain totals to more than two times the normal amount for May in places like Miami.The last time two named storms preceded the official start of hurricane season in the Atlantic was in 2016, when Hurricane Alex and Tropical Storm Bonnie both formed before June 1. This GOES-16 satellite image taken Wednesday, May 27, 2020, at 11:40 UTC and provided by THE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), shows Tropical Storm Bertha approaching the South Carolina coast. (NOAA via AP) "You get early season development when you get an interaction between the jet stream and the tropics," AccuWeather Chief Broadcast Meteorologist Bernie Rayno said. "It's still early enough in the year that, at times, the jet stream can take pronounced dips into the south."A southward plunge in the jet stream causes weather systems to interact with the warm water of the Atlantic, explained Rayno."The jet stream brings down frontal boundaries that stall, frontal boundaries are locations where showers and thunderstorms could form, and in time, if you can get that area to sit, you start to get lower pressure to form, and in time this could turn into a tropical system," said Rayno.Arthur and Bertha both formed from a similar set of weather factors, and a third-named tropical storm could form as early as next week, fueled by another big dive of the jet stream."On Monday, this dip in the jet stream [is] gonna push a frontal boundary into the northwest Caribbean. That frontal boundary will stall as we get into Monday. [On] Tuesday, showers and thunderstorms start to form and by mid- to- late-next week, I think we are going to get an area of low pressure to form," said Rayno. The Miami skyline is shrouded in clouds as a cyclist rides along Biscayne Bay at Matheson Hammock Park, Friday, May 15, 2020, in Miami. A trough of low pressure moved through the Florida Straits and organized over the northwest Bahamas to become Tropical Storm Arthur. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) Rayno said that he believes there is a 50/50 chance that the third named storm, which would be called Cristobal, could be the result of this setup.AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist David Samuhel said tropical trouble could first brew in the East Pacific before emerging into the Atlantic. Forecasters have been monitoring an area of disturbed weather in the East Pacific this week that could soon churn out a tropical entity, which could take an unusual track into Central America."We are watching an area south of Mexico and Central America. It is expected to become a tropical depression or even a named storm as it approaches the coast of El Salvador, Guatemala and southern Mexico," Samuhel said.Even though the storm that is being monitored will likely dissipate over land, Samuhel said that, "There will be abundant moisture associated with the system and when that moisture moves northward into the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, it could reform into a new tropical system."The last three tropical cyclones to make landfall in the U.S. during the month of June were all Gulf of Mexico storms, similar to the hotspot currently being monitored. The most recent Gulf of Mexico storm to result in a June landfall was Tropical Storm Cindy, which came ashore in western Louisiana in 2017.Samuhel advised that while the reformation of the storm would not happen until several days into June, the conditions could be favorable for development as water temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico are above normal and upper-level conditions in the atmosphere could remain favorable.It has been a few years since the third-named storm of the season formed as early in the season as June and made landfall in the U.S., with the last occurrence being Tropical Storm Cindy in 2017 and then again in 2016 when Tropical Storm Colin developed and slammed into the Gulf Coast of Florida, north of Tampa.Before that, it had been several decades since this happened with the last time prior to 2016 being back in 1968, when Tropical Storm Candy formed in late June.Having three named storms this early in the season is a rare occurrence, and only twice in the last decade has a fourth-named storm formed in June with Tropical Storm Danielle in 2017 and Tropical Storm Debby in 2012. Tommy and Dorothy McIntosh walk away from their daughters flooded home in Live Oak Fla., Wednesday, June 27, 2012. Dozens of homes and businesses were flooded by torrential rains from Tropical Storm Debby. (AP Photo/Dave Martin) Landfalling hurricanes are even more rare during the month of June. Hurricane Bonnie in 1986 was the last hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. during the month. The Category 1 storm generated peak winds of 85 mph before rolling into High Island, Texas. Bonnie claimed five lives in the U.S. and it triggered more than a foot of rainfall in parts of Texas, including 13 inches in Ace, Texas."Only one major hurricane has made landfall in June anywhere in the U.S.," Samuhel said, adding that Hurricane Audrey dealt a devastating blow to southwestern Louisiana when it crashed onshore as a Category 3 storm, packing 125-mph winds, in 1957, and killed more than 400 in the U.S. According to the National Weather Service (NWS), Bonnie ranks as the seventh deadliest storm to make landfall in the U.S. and the third deadliest in Louisiana history.Dan Kottlowski, AccuWeather's top hurricane expert, and his team of long-range meteorologists, have been hard at work analyzing weather patterns for the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season since late in winter. Kottlowski warned about early season risks in the Gulf of Mexico in his initial forecast for the season, which was released on March 25.Kottlowski upped the numbers projected for the 2020 season in an early May forecast update. He expressed "growing concern" for an active season due to a La Niña pattern that is expected to develop during the season. La Niña is the cool phase and counterpoint to El Niño -- and it is characterized by three consecutive months of below-normal temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific, near the equator. The team is now predicting 14 to 20 tropical storms and seven to 11 hurricanes, since La Niña patterns can limit episodes of high winds that can disrupt tropical development in the Atlantic.Four to six of the storms could strengthen into major hurricanes - Category 3 or higher. And Kottlowski warned that four to six named tropical systems could make direct impacts on the U.S mainland, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.The AccuWeather TV Network on Thursday night will host its first-ever hurricane town hall. The exclusive one-hour event will be moderated by AccuWeather Broadcast Meteorologist Brittany Boyer who will lead a roundtable discussion with several of the top minds in hurricane forecasting and weather preparedness.Among those joining the discussion will be National Hurricane Center Director Ken Graham, AccuWeather's own hurricane expert Dan Kottlowksi and Trevor Riggen of the American Red Cross, along with several others. Chief among the topics being discussed will be the impact the coronavirus pandemic will have on preparing for hurricanes this season, which AccuWeather forecasters believe will be very active. Tune in to the AccuWeather TV Network at 9 p.m. EDT Thursday evening and check AccuWeather.com for highlights and a recap.Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios

Russia slams 'dangerous' US foreign policy moves

Russia said on Thursday the United States was acting in a dngerous and unpredictable way, after Washington withdrew from a key military treaty and moved to ramp up pressure on Iran. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova made the comments after Washington announced it would end sanctions waivers for nations that remain in a nuclear accord signed with Iran.

Tesla slashes prices to boost demand

Tesla Inc. has cut prices of its electric vehicles by as much as 6% in North America following a decline in auto demand in the region during weeks of lockdown that have now started to ease.

Amy Cooper: Woman sacked after calling police on black man

The woman, identified as Amy Cooper, called police saying an African-American man was threatening her life.

Outrage in Iran over gruesome 'honour killing' of teenage girl

Iran’s president has called for so-called honour killings to be outlawed following the gruesome murder of a teenage girl, allegedly by her father, for running away from home with an older man. Romina Ashrafi, 14, was allegedly beheaded by her father as punishment for fleeing her home in Talesh, near Tehran, with a 29-year-old man. The couple were detained and Romina was handed back to her family as her father appeared to have forgiven her, according to the state news agency IRNA. But on May 21, the girl’s father attacked her while she was sleeping and cut off her head with a sickle, according to a local news website called Gilkhabar. The father has since been arrested, as well as the man Romina eloped with according to local media reports. Under Iranian law, young girls can marry from 13 although most women get married in their early 20s according to the Associated Press. If convicted, the girl’s father would face a prison sentence of ten years. Iran’s penal code currently reduces the penalties for fathers, or other family members, who carry out honour killings on their relatives. Romina’s death has shocked Iran and prompted Hassan Rouhani, the president, to order his Cabinet to speed up legislation against so-called honour killings.

'100,000 people died, Joe, and all you did was try to help your friend the president': CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin unloaded on fellow anchor Joe Kernen over the severity of coronavirus

The exchange between the CNBC hosts lasted around a minute as they lobbed accusations at each other.

Prices may be rising for world's cheapest gas in Venezuela

President Nicolás Maduro said Wednesday he's appointed a team of specialists to consider whether the price of the world's cheapest gasoline in Venezuela should rise for drivers in the crisis-stricken nation. Venezuela boasts the world's largest underground oil reserves, but it has been forced to buy fuel from Iran to bridge deep shortages, unable to pump crude from the ground and turn it into gasoline. Fuel shortages have plagued the socialist nation for years, which costs less than a penny a gallon, but scarcity recently has even hit the capital of Caracas, sparking mile-long lines at filling stations that last for days.

Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley: Trump has failed to justify ouster of watchdogs, fueling political speculation

The unusual rebuke from Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley comes amid scrutiny of Trump's decision to fire the State Department's inspector general.

A new 'parking lot Karen' is going viral on TikTok for physically blocking someone's car from an open parking spot

A TikTok shows a "Karen" blocking TikTok user @savsoares and her friend from parking by leaning on their car as she directed another car to park.

Rep. Jim Jordan on 2.1M filing for unemployment benefits in a week

Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, Republican member of the House Judiciary Committee, joins ‘The Daily Briefing.’

Cheered by Private Schools, DeVos Demands Public Education Shares Pandemic Aid

WASHINGTON -- Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, defiant amid criticism that she is using the coronavirus pandemic to pursue a long-sought agenda, said she will force public school districts to share a large portion of federal rescue funding with private school students, regardless of income.DeVos announced the measure in a letter to the Council of Chief State School Officers, which represents state education chiefs, defending her position on how education funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, should be spent."The CARES Act is a special, pandemic-related appropriation to benefit all American students, teachers and families," DeVos wrote in the letter Friday. "There is nothing in the act suggesting Congress intended to discriminate between children based on public or nonpublic school attendance, as you seem to do. The virus affects everyone."A range of education officials say DeVos' guidance would divert millions of dollars away from disadvantaged students and force districts starved of tax revenues during an economic crisis to support even the wealthiest private schools. The association representing the nation's schools superintendents told districts to ignore the guidance, and at least two states -- Indiana and Maine -- said they would.DeVos accused the state education chiefs of having a "reflex to share as little as possible with students and teachers outside of their control" and said she would draft a rule codifying her position to "resolve any issues in plenty of time for the next school year." The proposed rule would need to go through a public comment process before it could take effect.Private school leaders​​​, who serve about 5.7 million of the nation's children, say they too are in crisis. Enrollment and tuition revenues are plunging along with philanthropic donations and church collections that help some religious schools operate. Many of those schools serve low-income students whose parents have fled failing public schools. Private school groups say 30% of ​the​ families​ they serve have​ annual incomes below $75,000, and those families are most at risk without federal aid. ​"I don't understand why we have to pick winners and losers when everything we're asking for is targeted at helping children and families," said Jennifer Daniels, associate director for public policy for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.Under federal education law, school districts are required to use funding intended for their poorest students to provide "equitable services," such as tutoring and transportation, for low-income students attending private schools in their districts. But DeVos maintains the coronavirus rescue law does not limit funding to just poor students, and her guidance would award private schools more services than the law would normally require.Last week, leaders from education committees in the House and Senate, including Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said DeVos' interpretation was flawed.Democratic leaders called on DeVos to revise her guidance, which they said would "repurpose hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars intended for public school students to provide services for private school students, in contravention of both the plain reading of the statute and the intent of Congress."Carissa Moffat Miller, executive director of the Council of Chief State School Officers, said the organization believed the secretary's guidance "could significantly harm the vulnerable students who were intended to benefit the most from the critical federal COVID-19 education relief funds Congress has provided."DeVos has been unabashed in her use of coronavirus funding to further her decadeslong effort to divert public dollars to private and parochial schools. In a radio interview last week, first reported by Chalkbeat, the Roman Catholic archbishop of New York, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, asked DeVos if she was "utilizing this particular crisis to ensure that justice is finally done to our kids and the parents who choose to send them to faith-based schools." She responded, "Absolutely."In her letter, DeVos said "a growing list of nonpublic schools have announced they will not be able to reopen, and these school closures are concentrated in low-income and middle-class communities."At least 26 schools, the vast majority of them Catholic, have announced closures caused by or attributed to the pandemic, according to the Cato Institute, a libertarian research organization that is tracking such announcements. The National Catholic Educational Association said that at least 100 of its member schools are at risk of not reopening. More than 40 groups that support private schools wrote to House and Senate leaders this month asking for tuition aid, tax credits for families and other measures to prevent "massive nonpublic school closures."Leaders in some religious communities say they cannot fall back on public education."It is unthinkable for us not to give our children a Jewish education, in the same way it is unthinkable for us not to keep the Sabbath or the kosher dietary laws -- it is fundamental to Jewish life," said Rabbi Abba Cohen, vice president for federal affairs at Agudath Israel of America, one of the groups that signed the letter.Earlier this month, the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey, announced it would close 10 schools. ​While the organization said a plan to consolidate had already been underway, Cardinal Joseph Tobin, archbishop of Newark, ​wrote in a letter to the community that​ "this historical moment presents crucial challenges to the sustainability and ongoing success of our schools."Among the closed schools was Cristo Rey Newark High School, part of a network of 37 Catholic college-preparatory schools across the country that exclusively serves low-income students."My concern is that people are painting this with a very large brush stroke that's based on an assumption that Catholic and private means fancy and expensive, and that is not the case," said Elizabeth Goettl, president of the Cristo Rey Network.Ninety-eight percent of the network's 12,000 students are students of color, and all of them are from financially disadvantaged families, Goettl said. Only 10% of the schools' operational revenue comes from tuition, and every family pays what they can on a sliding scale, on average about $900 a year, though some pay as little as $20 a month.Fifty percent of the school's operational revenue comes from a corporate work-study program that could be affected by the economic fallout from the pandemic. Companies employ students in entry-level jobs, and students assign their wages to their tuition."They're literally earning their education at age 14, which is remarkable in itself," she said. "For the federal government to say we're not going to help your kids sanitize, or do whatever COVID-related things that need to be done, seems reprehensible."A recently passed House bill would limit private schools from accessing any new emergency relief funding, including equitable services. But private school leaders have launched an aggressive campaign to lobby Congress and the White House."When all is said and done, people are going to try to do the right thing and not try to pick which students we're not going to keep safe," said Michael Schuttloffel, executive director of the Council for American Private Education.Private school groups lobbying Congress say that mass closures would also hurt public schools. If 20% of private school students have to be absorbed into the public school system, it would cost the public system roughly $15 billion, according to estimates from those groups.Public school groups said that the argument proves their point."I think it's more proof that we need to be focused on public education, because if public education is not fully funded, there is no fallback," said Maggie Garrett, co-chairwoman of the National Coalition for Public Education, which represents more than 50 national organizations that oppose private school vouchers.Ruth Arias, an Amazon warehouse worker and single mother of five in New York City, said moving her children back to their neighborhood school would mean taking them "out of a place where they feel their best and putting them into a school system where they fall apart."With the help of an organization called the Children's Scholarship Fund, Arias said she enrolled her children in a private Christian school to "believe in something better."Arias was battling the coronavirus last month when she saw that the city's Department of Education would help students get iPads for remote learning.Having only one computer and a cellphone for her children to share, she was relieved -- until she was told her children's private schooling made them ineligible."I honestly had one thought," she said, "which I had a lot when I was dealing with the public school system: Are you kidding me?"This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company

Officials call for police probe of white woman's 911 call on black man in Central Park

"Efforts to intimidate Black people by threatening to call law enforcement draw on a long, violent and painful history, and they are unacceptable," the city's Commission on Human Rights said.

Britain shuts embassy in North Korea after extreme lockdown

Britain has closed its embassy in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang and ordered its staff to leave the country. The surprise closure is linked to coronavirus-related restrictions in place since earlier this year, which the Foreign Office said had left it unable to "rotate our staff and sustain the operation of the Embassy". It follows a similar evacuation of a number of other diplomats and foreign residents from the North Korean capital in March. A number of sources told the US news website NK News on Wednesday that the British diplomats left North Korea by land, crossing the DPRK’s border with China earlier on Wednesday. Flights out of the country remain grounded. Hundreds of foreign residents remain in Pyongyang, including diplomats from the Swedish and Russian embassies and a small number of aid workers, though absent representatives from Germany, Switzerland, France, and Italy. There are currently no British residents in the country. Resident diplomats had previously raised their concerns about the severity of the DPRK authorities’ coronavirus-prevention rules, which saw the country close its borders and place them under effective house arrest for over a month earlier in the year.

UK's Johnson tries to stop health experts from commenting on aide Cummings

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tried to stop his top medical and scientific advisors from answering reporters' questions about the behaviour of chief political advisor Dominic Cummings, saying they should not be involved in politics. Chris Whitty, England's chief medical officer, and Patrick Vallance, the government's chief scientific advisor, were repeatedly asked during a government news conference if a trip by Cummings from London to northern England set a bad example to the general public.

Elon Musk said he spent 3 to 4 years working on SpaceX's new spacesuits and hopes the design gets kids 'fired up' about astronauts

Musk said it was important that the NASA crew members wear spacesuits that "both look good and work well."

Coronavirus deaths in US top 100,000

The US has seen more deaths (currently 100,047) and infections (1.69 million) than any other country.

20 Republican lawmakers file lawsuit against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over new proxy voting system

A group of Republican lawmakers filed a lawsuit against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over the chamber's new proxy voting system, which allows lawmakers to designate another member to vote on their behalf during the coronavirus.

A pharmacist known as 'the Mask Man' has been charged with hoarding $200,000 worth of N95 masks and price-gouging customers

The DOJ said the pharmacist, 66-year-old Richard Schirripa, sold $2,690 of masks to an undercover officer and said he felt "like a drug dealer."

Bill Clinton again denies visiting Jeffrey Epstein’s island as Netflix documentary reveals new claims

A second person has claimed Bill Clinton visited the late Jeffrey Epstein’s island in a new Netflix documentary, but the former president again denied these allegations.Netflix’s Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich, a four-part docuseries released on Wednesday, includes an interview from a longtime tech worker on the Caribbean island who claimed he once saw Clinton at Epstein’s villa home.