Virus prompts drastic measures as death tolls set records
HOUSTON (AP) — The coronavirus kept surging in hot spots around the U.S. on Thursday, with one city in South Carolina urging people to pray it into submission, a hospital in Texas bringing in military medical personnel and morgues running out of space in Phoenix.
Record numbers of confirmed infections and deaths emerged again in states in the South and West, with hospitals stretched to the brink and fears worldwide that the pandemic’s resurgence is only getting started.
Texas reported 10,000 new cases for the third straight day and 129 additional deaths. The state has seen a third of its more than 3,400 total COVID-19 fatalities in the first two weeks of July alone.
Florida reached another ominous record, with 156 virus deaths, and health officials reported a staggering 13,965 new cases.
South Carolina confirmed 69 deaths, more than double any other day. In Louisiana, where officials thought they had contained the virus earlier this year only to become a hot spot again, it’s averaged more than 2,000 new confirmed infections a day over the past week.
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Russia is hacking virus vaccine trials, US, UK, Canada say
WASHINGTON (AP) — Western governments on Thursday accused hackers believed to be part of Russian intelligence of trying to steal valuable private information about a coronavirus vaccine, calling out the Kremlin in an unusually detailed public warning to scientists and medical companies.
The alleged culprit is a familiar foe. Intelligence agencies in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada say the hacking group APT29, also known as Cozy Bear, is attacking academic and pharmaceutical research institutions involved in COVID-19 vaccine development. The same group was implicated in the hacking of Democratic email accounts during the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
It was unclear whether any useful information was stolen. But British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said, “It is completely unacceptable that the Russian Intelligence Services are targeting those working to combat the coronavirus pandemic.”
He accused Moscow of pursuing “selfish interests with reckless behaviour.”
Sticking to more general language, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said, “We worked very closely with our allies to ensure that we would take measures to keep that information safe and we continue do so so.”
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Struggling India crosses 1 million coronavirus cases
NEW DELHI (AP) — India has crossed 1 million coronavirus cases, third only to the United States and Brazil, prompting concerns about its readiness to confront an inevitable surge that could overwhelm hospitals and test the country’s feeble health care system.
A surge of 34.956 new cases in the past 24 hours took the national total to 1,003,832.
The Health Ministry on Friday also reported a record number of 687 deaths for a total of 25,602. The ministry said the recovery rate was continuing to improve at 63%.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follow below.
India inched closer to 1 million coronavirus cases on Friday, third only to the United States and Brazil, prompting concerns about its readiness to confront an inevitable surge that could overwhelm hospitals and test the country’s feeble health care system.
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Analysis: Trump wants a 2016 repeat in a very different year
WASHINGTON (AP) — In the summer of 2016, Donald Trump was trailing in the polls. With time running out, he changed up his campaign leadership team, though not his own mercurial behaviour.
Four years later, and in the midst of another summer slump, Trump is hoping a similar campaign shakeup will help put him on the path to another come-from-behind victory in November, this time against Democrat Joe Biden.
But there are multiple reasons why 2020 is a very different campaign year for Trump.
Chief among them is Trump’s own positioning. Trump ran in 2016 as an outsider, someone who could shake up Washington and bring a businessman’s acumen to the federal government. Now, he’s the chief executive in Washington at a time of extraordinary national crises and facing overwhelmingly negative reviews from Americans for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and for his response to a national reckoning over race.
The issue that needs to be addressed, according to some Republicans, isn’t how Trump’s campaign is run. It’s Trump himself.
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Asylum rules test Trump’s legal skills to make new policy
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Critics of the Trump administration’s most sweeping set of rules to restrict asylum in the United States sent in a deluge of comments opposing the effort, hoping an old law that serves as a check on presidential power will weaken or even doom it.
Opponents submitted nearly 80,000 public comments before Wednesday’s deadline, with about 20,000 in the final hours. The Trump administration must address each concern in the final rules, setting itself up for legal challenges if it rushes or is careless.
“This is kind of standard administrative law trench warfare,” said Jonathan Adler, a professor at Case Western University School of Law. “It has been the case for some time that opponents of an agency action initially seek to flood the zone with comments and procedural objections as a way of slowing things down and cause a mistake, try to cause an unforced error.”
The proposal directs immigration judges to be more selective about granting asylum claims and allows them to deny some without a court hearing. Its dense language describes rules President Donald Trump’s administration has already tried and others that are new.
Trump has already remade much of the system for seeking humanitarian protection in the U.S., claiming it’s rife with abuse and overwhelmed with undeserving claims. But courts recently knocked down some of his efforts on procedural grounds, including his bid to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals that shields about 700,000 young people from deportation.
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Georgia gov sues to end cities’ defiance on mask rules
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is suing Atlanta’s mayor and city council to block the city from enforcing its mandate to wear a mask in public and other rules related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kemp and Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, in a suit filed in state court late Thursday in Atlanta, argue that Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has overstepped her authority and must obey Kemp’s executive orders under state law.
“Governor Kemp must be allowed, as the chief executive of this state, to manage the public health emergency without Mayor Bottoms issuing void and unenforceable orders which only serve to confuse the public,” the lawsuit states.
Kemp on Wednesday clarified his executive orders to expressly block Atlanta and at least 14 other local governments across the state from requiring people to wear face coverings.
Kemp’s order was met with defiance Thursday by Bottoms and some other mayors, who said they would continue enforcing the order. The lawsuit forces that showdown, resolving an ambiguous situation with Kemp denying local governments could order masks, but local governments arguing it was within their power.
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Strong quake strikes in remote part of Papua New Guinea
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A strong earthquake Friday shook inland Papua New Guinea.
The nation’s disaster management centre said the epicenter was inland near Kokoda and very deep. Shaking was felt in the capital Port Moresby but not strongly.
The centre was checking for more information from people in the remote area struck by the quake.
No tsunami warning was issued, and the U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the threat had passed.
The U.S. Geological Survey says the 7.0 magnitude quake was 80 kilometres (53 miles) deep.
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Post reports misconduct allegations against DC NFL team
The Washington Post reported Thursday that 15 female former employees of the city’s NFL franchise said they were sexually harassed during their time with the team.
In a statement, the team said it takes issues of employee conduct seriously and added, “While we do not speak to specific employee situations publicly, when new allegations of conduct are brought forward that are contrary to these policies, we address them promptly.”
Meanwhile, three members of the front office are no longer with the organization, and owner Dan Snyder hired a District of Columbia law firm to review the club’s culture, policies and allegations of workplace misconduct. Beth Wilkinson of Wilkinson Walsh LLP confirmed to The Associated Press that the firm had been retained to conduct an independent review.
Director of player personnel Alex Santos, assistant Richard Mann II and longtime broadcaster and senior vice-president Larry Michael are no longer with the team. Michael announced Wednesday he was retiring after 16 years.
Santos, Mann, Michael and former business executives Dennis Greene and Mitch Gershman were mentioned in the Post story.
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Baseless Wayfair child-trafficking theory spreads online
CHICAGO (AP) — The baseless conspiracy theory took off after an anonymous user posed a bizarre question in an internet chatroom: What if retail giant Wayfair is using pricey storage cabinets to traffic children?
Self-proclaimed internet sleuths quickly responded by matching up the names of Wayfair products to those of missing children, producing social media posts that have since overrun Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
The result: A national human trafficking hotline suddenly began taking a number of calls about the imagined Wayfair scheme, stretching its resources. A woman said she posted a video of herself on Facebook to counter false claims that she was missing. One mother’s pleas to Facebook and YouTube to remove a video of her young daughter that was being used to suggest she was a Wayfair victim went unanswered for days.
Wayfair was forced to respond to the accusations in a recent statement: “There is, of course, no truth to these claims.”
Yet internet users continue to weave a complex web around Wayfair’s furniture and decor, spun from falsehoods and conjecture. Social media influencers, fringe online communities and even political candidates have also now seized on the conspiracy theory as evidence of an even grander one, known as QAnon, that centres on the baseless belief that President Donald Trump is waging a secret campaign against enemies in the “deep state” and a child sex trafficking ring.
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Animal print, beads or plain black, masks become about style
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — They can be colorful or come in basic black, make a political statement or just a funny one.
Masks made of cotton and other washable materials have become big sellers, and an emerging fashion item, as face coverings have been increasingly mandated around the world to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.
Sales are expected to get another boost after Britain and France announced this week that they will require masks in public indoor spaces. That could help France’s textile and luxury goods companies unload a surplus of masks that numbered 20 million in June.
In addition, at least 25 U.S. states are requiring masks in many indoor situations. Oregon on Wednesday even began requiring masks outdoors if people can’t stay 6 feet (2 metres) apart.
In a sign that masks are becoming a fashion trend, Vogue magazine recently listed 100 “esthetically pleasing” selections. The fashion magazine’s recommendations include a mask with beaded accents from Susan Alexandra. The cost: $70. Masks made from vintage quilt tops, by Farewell Frances, go for $25.
The Associated Press
