G-20 Pivots as Emergency Aid Focus Turns to Developing World

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No scandal here: Mexico president defends meeting mother of drug lord 'El Chapo'

MEXICO CITY/BADIRAGUATO, Mexico (Reuters) - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Monday defended his weekend handshake with the mother of drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, calling her a "respectable old lady" and seeking to cast his critics as the principal menace to the country. In a 30-second video posted on Twitter on Sunday, Lopez Obrador could be seen approaching Maria Consuelo Loera's car, parked on a dirt road on the outskirts of Badiraguato, a mountainous municipality in the northwestern state of Sinaloa. Surrounded by onlookers, Lopez Obrador told Loera she need not get out of the car, they shook hands and after a brief exchange he told her he had "received her letter."

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Women who left N.Y. for China amid U.S. coronavirus outbreak document their journey

“Because we're kind of in between these two cultures, we also understand both. So it feels like our experience could speak to both of the audiences.”

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Coronavirus live updates: More American deaths than on 9/11; US projections of 240,000; Dow's worst 1st quarter ever

The coronavirus death toll surged past 3,100 on Tuesday, eclipsing the total from the 9/11 terror attacks. Here are the latest updates on the crisis.

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J&J just sped up the timeline for its coronavirus vaccine, and said it could be ready for emergency use early next year

The drugmaker said human testing will start no later than September on the potential coronavirus shot.

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President Trump Insists New York Will Be ‘Fine,’ Won’t Need Extra Ventilators

Just hours after it was confirmed that New York’s coronavirus death toll has shot up to over 1,000 people, President Donald Trump has predicted that the state will be “fine” because he’s heard “stories” that it has more than enough ventilators to go around.The president appeared on Fox & Friends on Monday, a day after he officially abandoned his hope of reopening the U.S. economy by Easter after his aides successfully persuaded him to keep federal guidelines on social distancing in place through the end of April. In a 54-minute phone call broadcast on air, the president dismissed concerns that New York could be overwhelmed, and took credit for the rising popularity of its governor, Andrew Cuomo.“I think New York should be fine based on the numbers that we see. They should have more than enough [ventilators],” Trump told the Fox News morning hosts. “I’m hearing stories that they’re not used or not used them right. We find anywhere from 2 to 4,000 that have been sent and aren’t used. We’ve done a job. Now, we’re still getting more ventilators... after this is over they’ll be selling ventilators for a dollar a piece, we’ll have a lot of them.”Cuomo and Trump have repeatedly clashed over ventilators, with Cuomo telling CNN last Friday that Trump’s assessment of New York’s situation was “incorrect and grossly uninformed.” Cuomo has called for 30,000 ventilators, explaining that state hospitals had only 4,000 in the system at the beginning of the outbreak. Trump has previously said that he didn’t believe the state would need anywhere near that number, and clearly hasn’t yet been persuaded otherwise.Asked specifically about Cuomo, whose popularity has shot up during the outbreak, Trump told Fox & Friends that it was down to him. “One of the reasons his numbers are high on handling it is because of the federal government,” Trump said. “We give him ships, we give him ventilators, we give him all the things that we’re giving him... One of the reasons he’s been successful is because we’ve helped make him successful.”Trump was also asked about the nationwide pandemic situation, and why he has suddenly decided to step back from his plan to loosen social-distancing guidelines and reopen the economy. In a chilling answer, the president said it only dawned on him Sunday how many people might die if lockdown measures were lifted, even though that has been known for weeks.“If we didn’t shut it down... I used to say, a lot of people said, could you just have kept it going? Like the flu, a bad case of the flu, a really bad case,” Trump said. “And the answer came in yesterday through Dr. Fauci and Deborah Birx... If we did that, if we just kept business as usual and didn’t do anything to stop or impede it, 2.2 million people could have died.”Trump went on to say: “The federal government has done far more than if anybody else was president. If Sleepy Joe was president, he wouldn’t even know what’s going on. You know that. I mean everybody knows that.”At the end of the interview, before Trump headed off for a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the hosts begged permission to ask one last question. “How can we pray for you?” Ainsley Earhardt asked. “The Bible is clear, we need to pray for our leaders and we are praying for you. Many in this country are clinging to God right now.”Trump said receiving Earhardt’s prayers was a “great honor.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

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Australia’s Banking Chiefs Warn of Extreme Economic Pain Ahead

(Bloomberg) -- Australia’s banking chiefs are braced for a nightmare scenario of a 10% economic contraction, “shockingly high” unemployment and spiraling loan losses as shockwaves from the coronavirus ripple through the economy.As Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s administration follows other countries in shutting down large segments of the economy to try to stem the virus’s spread, signs of individual and business tolls are starting to multiply.Tens of thousands of workers have already been sent home as retailers and airlines all-but close and queues outside job centers lengthen. Australia’s lenders are watching this play out in real time, with hardship telephone numbers ringing off the hook as consumers and businesses try to access relief packages.Banks are the “ICU unit of the economy,” Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Shayne Elliott said Monday at an Australian Financial Review event -- conducted online due to the pandemic. “Corporates and households will come into care and we will have this unfortunate role at some point of having to decide who comes out at the end.”A week ago, Commonwealth Bank of Australia Chief Executive Officer Matt Comyn said he would have estimated the economy would shrink by about 5% in the first quarter. Now, a 10% contraction is a “reasonable assumption,” Comyn said at the same event. “No question there are going to be higher loan losses.”The nation’s banks have special dispensation from the competition authority to co-operate throughout the crisis and have banded together to launch a range of hardship measures, including allowing consumers to suspend mortgage payments for up-to six months.National Australia Bank Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Ross McEwan echoed his counterparts on the dire outlook for the economy.“I think you will see very, very large GDP drops,” he told the the same forum. “Unemployment will also go shockingly high for a period of time.”NAB’s economics research team said Friday the jobless rate could soar to 12% and hold there for the remainder of the year.Right now, the three CEOs emphasized that the focus is on getting through the crisis and being prepared to help the economy reboot on the other side. In the medium term, that’s likely to mean tough choices about who gets help.“There is no playbook for this,” McEwan said. “We’ve not seen this sort of health and financial crisis at the same time.”For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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Open coffins are left on roads to remind people to stay inside while soldiers shoot disinfectant from water cannons. Here's what lockdown for 57 million people in the Philippines looks like.

Despite the lockdown, on Sunday the Philippines reported a daily increase of 343 new coronavirus cases — its highest one day increase yet.

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'I don't know what he's trying to say': Cuomo on Trump's accusation that medical PPE is being stolen by health workers

At a coronavirus press briefing, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he didn’t know what President Trump was talking about with regard to his accusation that medical personnel were stealing personal protective equipment.

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Justice Department audit finds widespread flaws in FBI surveillance applications

The finding by Inspector General Michael Horowitz came after an earlier inquiry found numerous errors in court submissions seeking surveillance of a former Trump campaign adviser.

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Venezuela rejects a U.S. offer to ease sanctions in exchange for transitional government

A former senior U.S. government official says it's the "best" deal they can get, while an analyst said this is more about "politics than policy."

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10 cruise ships that are still at sea as the coronavirus shuts down the cruise industry

Ships from cruise lines like Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, and Cunard Line are still at sea.

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Huawei warns China will strike back against new U.S. restrictions

Huawei warned on Tuesday that 2020 would be its most difficult year yet due to American trade restrictions which dealt a blow to its overseas sales in 2019, and predicted the Chinese government would retaliate against the United States. It said Beijing could hit back against U.S. measures to restrict chip sales to Huawei, by restricting sales of American products in China and by shifting to alternative suppliers in China and South Korea. "The Chinese government will not just stand by and watch Huawei be slaughtered on the chopping board," Chairman Eric Xu told reporters at the launch of Huawei's annual report.

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What does furlough mean? Can I leave my home under shelter-in-place? Coronavirus terms, explained

What does it mean when you hear New York is the coronavirus "epicenter" in the United States? Do doctors say they need ventilators or respirator?

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Coronavirus lockdowns are working, according to data from digital thermometer app

Three-quarters of Americans have been urged or ordered to stay at home, to the extent possible, to stop the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, and those measures appear to be working, The New York Times reports, citing data from internet-connected thermometer company Kinsa. The thermometers and their app upload temperature readings to a centralized database, allowing Kinsa to track fevers across the country. It started mapping fevers to catch flu outbreaks in 2018, and it modified its software to look for "atypical" COVID-19 fevers earlier in March.Kinsa's million-plus thermometers have been recording up to 162,000 readings from around the U.S. each day since the coronavirus started spreading, the Times reports. Only strict social-distancing measures — closing bars and restaurants, asking people to shelter in place — led to a significant drop in fever readings, while declaring a state of emergency or limiting the size of public gatherings had little effect. Data from New York and Washington State's health departments have buttressed Kinsa's findings, showing drops in hospitalizations a few days after Kinsa spotted the falloff in fevers.The Kinsa readings certainly look "like a way to prove that social distancing works," Dr. William Schaffner at Vanderbilt University tells the Times. "But it does shows that it takes the most restrictive measures to make a real difference." Kinsa data appears to show that social distancing is also reducing transmission of the seasonal flu."People need to know their sacrifices are helping," Kinsa founder Inder Singh tells the Times. "I've had friends text or call and say: 'Inder, this seems overblown. I'm sitting at home by myself, I don't know anyone who's sick, why am I doing this?'" Read more about the fever mapping at The New York Times.More stories from theweek.com Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is what real coronavirus leadership looks like The case for cautious optimism about the pandemic Chris Meloni's Elliot Stabler reportedly getting Law & Order: SVU spinoff show on NBC

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Russia's top coronavirus doctor who met Putin tests positive

The head of Moscow's main coronavirus hospital who met with President Vladimir Putin a week ago has tested positive, he said Tuesday, as the Kremlin announced the Russian leader's health was fine. Last Tuesday Denis Protsenko met with the Russian leader who inspected the Kommunarka hospital while wearing a bright yellow hazmat suit. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov swiftly told Russian news agencies that Putin took regular tests and there was no reason to worry about his health.

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Liberty University students choose sides after fallout from coronavirus reporting

The New York Times reported this week that almost a dozen Liberty University students have come down with COVID-19 symptoms since the school reopened last week. But Liberty University officials have since pushed back on these claims, calling the Times story “fake news”. Now, students are choosing sides in who they believe is telling the truth.

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U.S. records 700 coronavirus deaths in a single day for first time

The U.S. government raced to build hundreds of makeshift hospitals to ease the strain on overwhelmed healthcare systems as the United States marked 700 deaths in a single day from COVID-19 for the first time on Tuesday. Nearly half those deaths were in New York state, still the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio pleaded for reinforcements from the Trump administration, saying the worst may still be weeks away. De Blasio, a Democrat, said he had asked the White House for an additional 1,000 nurses, 300 respiratory therapists and 150 doctors by April 5 but had yet to receive an answer from the Trump administration.

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Do I Have to Pay My Rent or Mortgage During the Pandemic?

As March winds down, at least 250 million Americans have been told to stay home or “shelter in place” to help stop the spread of COVID-19. Problem is, many can’t help wondering if they can still afford a place to shelter in—if they ever could.Long before the coronavirus pandemic, generous swaths of the United States faced an affordable housing crisis. With millions of Americans losing their jobs and millions more facing unemployment in the near future thanks to a concerted economic shutdown geared at reining in the disease, talk of rent strikes and freezes are in the air.The Trump administration recently nodded to the problem by ordering a foreclosure moratorium on single-family home mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Administration or obtained through government-owned lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Fannie and Freddie have also offered forbearance for borrowers experiencing hardship. And the finance giants have dangled payment relief to indebted apartment building owners who grant respite to renters, a move the Federal Housing Finance Agency estimates could affect 43 percent of the market in multifamily leases. Then there’s the $2 trillion stimulus bill that passed last week, which contains language forbidding evictions and late charges on any property receiving virtually any federal aid. It also permits those owing money to Fannie or Freddie to request up to six months of forbearance, though it leaves the onus on borrowers to do so.If your home doesn’t fall under one of these categories or programs, and you’re wondering if you owe money to your landlord or lender, the answer is probably yes—at least for now. Still, some state and local governments have moved to stem evictions and foreclosures for everyone, and a few are even freezing rent and mortgage payments entirely. Here’s a breakdown of COVID-19 rules on housing across every state and many large metropolitan areas. This story will be updated as events warrant.Will the U.S. Run Out of Groceries Under Lockdown?Alabama: No specific government measures to prevent evictions or foreclosures, but local Regions Bank is offering a mortgage payment reprieve and the state Supreme Court has cancelled in-person proceedings until April 16, which may stem new removal proceedings. Individual judges may conduct business via phone or video, however.Alaska: Gov. Mike Dunleavy has forestalled evictions and foreclosures of any tenant or homeowner covered by the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, while the state Supreme Court has halted eviction hearings until May 1 and barred enforcement of outstanding ejectment orders against quarantined people.Arizona: Gov. Doug Ducey has ordered a 120-day stay on eviction orders against anybody quarantined or experiencing hardship because of COVID-19, starting March 24, and has launched a $5 million rental assistance fund. The state’s “Save Our Home AZ Program” is offering principal reduction assistance, monthly mortgage subsidy assistance, and second lien elimination assistance.Arkansas: No special COVID-19 programs in place as of this writing.California: Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered a statewide ban on evictions through the end of May, so long as tenants provide notice in writing within one week of their rent coming due that they cannot pay due to the disease. He has also cut a deal with Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, U.S. Bank, Wells Fargo, and 200 smaller lending institutions to defer mortgage payments for up to 90 days from borrowers who can show they've lost income during the crisis. Bank of America has assented to a 30-day grace period for mortgage payments. The City of Glendale has banned rent increases through at least April 30 (though not rent payments). Philanthropists in San Diego have established a COVID-19 Community Response Fund to provide rent, mortgage, and utility assistance to struggling locals. Colorado: Gov. Jared Polis has issued non-binding guidance to state-chartered banks discouraging foreclosures, and Denver has reassigned deputies away from eviction enforcement.Connecticut: James W. Abrams, Chief Judge for Civil Matters, has issued a stay of all evictions and ejectments through May 1, and postponed all foreclosure sales until June 6.Delaware: The Justice of the Peace Court has postponed all eviction proceedings until after May 1, while Gov. John Carney has put off all residential mortgage foreclosures until 31 days after he lifts his order of emergency. Late fees or excess interest are forbidden.Florida: No state programs in place as of this writing, but the Orange County Sheriff's Office has put off eviction enforcement "until further notice," as have police in Miami-Dade. The latter county has also called off evictions in its public housing.Georgia: No state programs in place as of this writing. But on March 17, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms issued an executive order imposing an eviction moratorium on the Atlanta Housing Authority, Atlanta Beltline Inc., the Fulton County/City of Atlanta Land Bank Authority, Invest Atlanta, Partners for Home, and the city Department of Grants and Community Development.Hawaii: The Hawaii Department of Public Safety Sheriff Division has indefinitely suspended evictions.Idaho: No state programs in place as of this writing, but Boise public housing has waived rent and ended removals, and a judge has called off eviction hearings in Blaine County.Illinois: Gov. J.B. Pritzker has barred evictions through April 7 by executive order. Courts have ordered longer cessations of evictions, including in Cook County (April 15) and in Peoria, Tazewell, Marshall, Putnam, and Stark Counties (April 17). A court covering Kendall and DeKalb Counties has barred new eviction and foreclosure proceedings for 30 days beginning March 18. Chicago is providing 2,000 residents with $1,000 grants to help cover rent and mortgage payments.Indiana: Gov. Eric Holcomb has decreed an end to evictions or foreclosures until the end of his declared state of emergency.Iowa: Gov. Kim Reynolds has halted foreclosures and evictions for the duration of a declared state of emergency, except in cases involving squatters.Kansas: Gov. Laura Kelly has stayed evictions and foreclosures until May 1.Kentucky: Gov. Andy Beshear signed an executive order March 25 suspending all evictions for the term of a declared emergency, while the Kentucky Supreme Court suspended all evictions until April 10.Louisiana: Gov. John Bel Edwards has halted evictions and foreclosures.Maine: Maine courts are closed for eviction proceedings through May 1.Maryland: Gov. Larry Hogan has forbidden the eviction of any tenant who can demonstrate loss of income related to the crisis.Massachusetts: Trial courts are closed through April 21 under order of the State Supreme Judicial Court, preventing evictions from advancing. Gov. Charlie Baker has announced $5 million in rental assistance, while the mayor of Boston has called off evictions by the city housing authority.Michigan: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has banned evictions until April 17, and the state Department of Health and Human Services is offering up to $2,000 in emergency assistance to prevent foreclosures.Minnesota: Gov. Tim Walz has suspended evictions and foreclosures during a declared state of emergency.Mississippi: No programs in place as of this writing.Missouri: No state programs in place as of this writing, but evictions are suspended in Jackson County until at least April 18, in Boone and Callaway Counties until April 17, and indefinitely in St. Louis County.Montana: No programs in place as of this writing.Nebraska: Gov. Ed Ricketts’ executive order has postponed all eviction proceedings for anybody impacted by the virus until May 31. The Omaha Housing Authority has called off evictions, while the Metro Omaha Property Owners Association—a landlord group—has requested its members reduce rents by 10 percent in the month of April.Nevada: Gov. Steve Sisolak has blocked all eviction notices, executions, and tenant lockouts via emergency order for the entire length of the pandemic. State Treasurer Zach Conine has announced that lenders have agreed to a 90-day grace period for borrowers, although each mortgagee must reach an individual payment arrangement with their bank.New Hampshire: Gov. Chris Sununu has barred evictions and foreclosures via executive order during the emergency.New Jersey: Gov. Phil Murphy signed an executive order March 19 placing a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures for at least 60 days. On March 28, he instated a 90-day grace period for late mortgage payments, forbidding banks from charging hard-up borrowers late fees or making negative reports on them to credit agencies.New Mexico: The State Supreme Court has indefinitely suspended evictions of tenants who can furnish evidence the crisis has left them unable to pay rent. Albuquerque has suspended evictions for public housing tenants, while Santa Fe has halted removal of those who can prove hardship.New York: Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence K. Marks has suspended all evictions until further notice, while Gov. Andrew Cuomo has ordered banks to waive mortgage payments in hardship cases for 90 days. There is no state policy in place on rent payments, despite the governor’s claim that he “took care” of the issue.North Carolina: State Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley on March 13 ordered courts to postpone eviction and foreclosure cases for at least 30 days.North Dakota: The State Supreme Court has placed a hold on all eviction proceedings "until further order.”Ohio: Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor has requested, but not obligated, that lower courts stay eviction and foreclosure proceedings. Huntington, PNC, Fifth Third, Citizens, Third Federal, Chase, and Key Banks are all offering mortgage assistance to struggling borrowers.Oklahoma: No state policy in place as of this writing, but Tulsa County has halted evictions and foreclosures until April 15, while the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office has suspended enforcement of housing ejectments until “appropriate.”Oregon: Gov. Kate Brown has suspended eviction for nonpayment of rent for 90 days beginning March 22.This Is What a Coronavirus Lockdown Means in Each StatePennsylvania: The state Supreme Court decreed March 18 that neither evictions nor foreclosures could go forward for at least two weeks.Puerto Rico: U.S. District Judge Gustavo A. Gelpí has suspended all eviction orders and foreclosure proceedings until May 30. The island's Public Housing Administration announced it will not collect rent from tenants until the expiration of Gov. Wanda Vasquez's order of social isolation—an order she recently extended to April 12. Residents of the government-owned developments will be liable for the payments after the governor's decree lifts, although they may apply for reductions based on loss of income.Rhode Island: Gov. Gina Raimondo ordered courts not to process evictions for 30 days starting March 19.South Carolina: Chief Justice Don Beatty has ordered a halt to all evictions until May 1.South Dakota: No state policies in place as of this writing, but Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken has established a fund to provide financial assistance to those facing eviction.Tennessee: The Tennessee Supreme Court has ordered judges not to proceed with eviction cases until April 30, unless "exceptional circumstances" prevail.Texas: The Texas Supreme Court halted all evictions until April 19, subject to an extension by the chief justice. A Dallas County judge has put a stop to new removal cases and landlord recoveries until May 17. The city of Austin passed an ordinance March 26 granting renters a 60-day grace period and preventing landlords from initiating evictions. Nonetheless, renters who can pay rent are encouraged to do so.Utah: No state policies in place as of this writing, but the Utah Apartment Association—a trade group— has generated a proposed “rent deferral agreement”  for impacted tenants.Vermont: The Vermont Supreme Court has suspended non-emergency hearings such as evictions until April 15, but individual courts may hold such proceedings remotely. Burlington-based affordable housing operators Champlain Housing Trust, Burlington Housing Authority, and Cathedral Square have all committed to suspending evictions.Virginia: The Virginia Supreme Court has suspended non-essential, non-emergency proceedings such as evictions and foreclosures until April 6.Washington State: Gov. Jay Inslee inked a 30-day eviction moratorium on March 18. Seattle has imposed a 60-day moratorium on evictions beginning March 3, with no late fees, and the King County Sheriff has suspended evictions "until further notice.”Washington, D.C.: The D.C. Superior Court has suspended evictions and foreclosures.West Virginia: The State Supreme Court has suspended all non-emergency proceedings, including housing-related matters, until April 10, and left open the possibility of extension.Wisconsin: Gov. Tony Evers ordered the suspension of evictions and foreclosures until May 26. Judges in Dane and Milwaukee counties have forbidden sheriffs from executing outstanding eviction orders, and the Milwaukee Housing Authority has said it will not evict anybody during the crisis.Wyoming: State Supreme Court Justice Michael K. Davis has ordered all in-person proceedings suspended, and recommended civil trials be rescheduled, which could serve to delay evictions or foreclosures. But local judges have some discretion on whether to conduct trials via video or teleconference.Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

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Israel's ultra-Orthodox Jews in fight over virus rules

Israeli police with face masks and batons and backed by surveillance helicopters have stepped up patrols of ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighbourhoods that have become coronavirus hotspots. This week has seen tense altercations, and some rabbis have admitted that their communities, where prayer and scripture study are traditionally communal, are not observing new social distancing regulations. A few days ago in Bnei Brak, a city near Tel Aviv with a largely ultra-Orthodox population, hundreds of faithful crowded together to attend the funeral of prominent rabbi Tzi Shenkar.

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IG Horowitz Found ‘Apparent Errors or Inadequately Supported Facts’ in Every Single FBI FISA Application He Reviewed

The Justice Department inspector general said it does “not have confidence” in the FBI’s FISA application process following an audit that found the Bureau was not sufficiently transparent with the court in 29 applications from 2014 to 2019, all of which included “apparent errors or inadequately supported facts.”Inspector General Michael Horowitz released a report in December which found that the FBI included “at least 17 significant errors or omissions in the Carter Page FISA applications and many errors in the Woods Procedures” during its Crossfire Hurricane investigation of the 2016 Trump campaign. After releasing the report, Horowitz said that he would conduct a further investigation to see if the errors identified in the Page application were widespread.“The concern is that this is such a high-profile, important case. If it happened here, is this indicative of a wider problem — and we will only know that when we complete our audit — or is it isolated to this event?” Horowitz told lawmakers during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing. “Obviously, we need to do the work to understand that.”Horowitz’s office said in a report released Tuesday that of the 29 applications — all of which involved U.S. citizens – that were pulled from “8 FBI field offices of varying sizes,” the FBI could not find Woods Files for four of the applications, while the other 25 all had “apparent errors or inadequately supported facts.”"While our review of these issues and follow-up with case agents is still ongoing—and we have not made materiality judgments for these or other errors or concerns we identified—at this time we have identified an average of about 20 issues per application reviewed, with a high of approximately 65 issues in one application and less than 5 issues in another application," the report reveals.The Woods Procedure dictates that the Justice Department verify the accuracy and provide evidentiary support for all facts stated in its FISA application. The FBI is required to share with the FISA Court all relevant information compiled in the Woods File when applying for a surveillance warrant.“FBI and NSD officials we interviewed indicated to us that there were no efforts by the FBI to use existing FBI and NSD oversight mechanisms to perform comprehensive, strategic assessments of the efficacy of the Woods Procedures or FISA accuracy, to include identifying the need for enhancements to training and improvements in the process, or increased accountability measures,” the report states.The OIG concludes by recommending that the FBI "systematically and regularly examine the results of past and future accuracy reviews to identify patterns or trends in identified errors" relating to the Woods Procedure, as well as double-checking "that Woods Files exist for every FISA application submitted to the FISC in all pending investigations."In a letter acknowledging the audit, FBI Associate Deputy Director Paul Abbate said that the issues "will be addressed" by the Bureau's already-issued correctives after the Carter Page review, and added that "the FBI fully accepts the two recommendations."President Trump has relentlessly attacked the FBI's FISA process and the abuses it allowed during the surveilling of his 2016 campaign. He has argued that the FISA abuses invalidate the entire investigation, which he has referred to as an “illegal attempted coup,” and slammed the officials involved, including former FBI director James Comey and former acting FBI director Andy McCabe.McCabe admitted in January that the FBI has an “inherent weakness in the process” of obtaining FISA warrants.

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Fact check: Did NY pass on buying ventilators to fund tuition for undocumented immigrants?

We rate as false a Facebook user's claim about New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, ventilator stockpiling and tuition for undocumented immigrants.

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Trump news – live: President now admits coronavirus deaths won’t slow until June as hospital ship arrives in New York harbour

Donald Trump has branded House speaker Nancy Pelosi “a sick puppy” during an interview with Fox and Friends after extending the timeline for the US to remain in lockdown over the coronavirus pandemic until at least 30 April, abandoning his “aspiration” to have the country back in business by Easter.The White House’s top infectious disease expert, Dr Anthony Fauci, has meanwhile warned that his projection of a potential 100,000 to 200,000 American deaths is “entirely conceivable” if not enough is done to mitigate the crisis, with the president commenting that containing the disaster to that level would represent “a very good job”.

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Philippines grounds company's aircraft after deadly fire

Philippine aviation officials on Monday grounded all aircraft belonging to a company that owns a plane that caught fire while taking off from Manila's airport, killing all eight people on board. All of Lionair Inc.’s aircraft will remain grounded during the investigation of the burning of its Westwind 24 plane late Sunday, they said. The plane had been used earlier to transport medical supplies for the coronavirus outbreak.

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Photos show crowds of New Yorkers breaking social distancing rules and gawking at the USNS Comfort docked in Manhattan

The New York City Mayor's office eventually asked police to disperse the crowd that was not following social distancing guidelines.

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Indian police fire tear gas at jobless workers defying coronavirus lockdown

NEW DELHI/AHMEDABAD, India (Reuters) - Police in India fired tear gas to disperse a stone-pelting crowd of migrant workers defying a three-week lockdown against the coronavirus that has left hundreds of thousands of poor without jobs and hungry, authorities said on Monday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered the country's 1.3 billion people to remain indoors until April 15, declaring such self-isolation was the only hope to stop the viral pandemic. On Sunday, about 500 workers clashed with police in the western city of Surat demanding they be allowed to go home to other parts of India because they had no jobs left.

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Venezuelan ex-general surrenders to US on drug trafficking charges

A retired Venezuelan general who was charged by the United States with "narco-terrorism" along with President Nicolas Maduro and other officials has surrendered in Colombia to US authorities, prosecutors said Saturday. "The national Attorney General learned that Mr Cliver Alcala surrendered to US authorities," the Colombian prosecutor said in a statement, adding there was no arrest warrant when he gave himself up. Alcala turned himself in on Friday to the Colombians, who in turn handed him over to US authorities, the El Tiempo de Bogota newspaper said.

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Biden says Trump's rising approval ratings are 'a typical American response' to crisis

Former Vice President Joe Biden isn't surprised by President Trump's rising approval ratings, even as many argue his administration is floundering in their efforts to respond to the novel coronavirus crisis.Biden said the American public typically rallies around the president during times of crisis, going all the back to former President Jimmy Carter's uptick during the Iran hostage crisis in 1979. Former President George W. Bush is another example — he famously peaked at around 90 percent approval in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, a number which he never came close to again. > WATCH: Former VP @JoeBiden calls the uptick in Trump’s job approval rating “a typical American response.” MTP IfItsSunday> > Biden: “In every single crisis we have had … president’s ratings have always gone up.” pic.twitter.com/WzB4qXjaDY> > — Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) March 29, 2020Biden, who is Trump's most likely challenger in the 2020 general election in November, said he hopes the coronavirus outbreak is under control by then and that the U.S. has "done all the right things," including Trump refraining from attacking people who disagree with him. But he told NBC's Chuck Todd during Sunday's edition of Meet the Press that the "proof is gonna be in the pudding."More stories from theweek.com Trump's message to blue states battling coronavirus: Drop dead Fox News reportedly fears its early downplaying of COVID-19 leaves it open to lawsuits Nobody knows when Congress will go back to D.C.

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Incredible satellite photos show parked planes sitting on runways at airports in the US and Europe, as COVID-19 puts a near stop to global air travel

As the coronavirus causes airlines to cancel flights and ground planes, they've piled up on runways and taxiways as airlines look for parking spots.

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Iran extends prison furloughs as coronavirus death toll rises

Iran's coronavirus death toll has risen to 2,640, a health ministry official said on Sunday, as the Middle East's worst-hit country grapples with the fast-spreading outbreak. "In the past 24 hours we had 123 deaths and 2,901 people have been infected, bringing the total number of infected people to 38,309," Alireza Vahabzadeh, an adviser to the health minister, said in a tweet. Health ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur told state TV that 3,467 of those infected were in "critical condition".

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Leaked memo from Delta reveals plans to cut worker hours and pay, despite protections in the coronavirus stimulus package. United and other airlines are doing the same.

Airline workers at Delta, American, United, and Southwest face hours cuts and less take-home pay as the crisis drags on, even before job losses.

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Some ultra-Orthodox Israelis chafe at coronavirus restrictions

Israeli police have used a drone, helicopter and stun grenades in recent days to prevent people gathering in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Jerusalem in defiance of Health Ministry measures aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus. "Nazis!" shouted a group of boys, as police pulled men off the narrow streets of Mea Shearim. Many ultra-Orthodox reject the authority of the Israeli state, whose Jewish majority is mostly secular.

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Mexico's president shifts tone on coronavirus, urges people to stay home, warns of dire consequences

Critics said Mexico's president was downplaying the coronavirus threat. But he has now shifted his tone.

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Top U.K. Aide Cummings Self-Isolates With Coronavirus Symptoms

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Governor: dozens at Tennessee nursing home have virus

An outbreak of the new coronavirus at a Tennessee nursing home has forced the facility to be temporarily closed for cleaning with dozens of residents and staff members sent into quarantine, Gov. Bill Lee's office and a hospital said Sunday night. Tests results released Sunday show 59 additional residents of the Gallatin Center for Rehabilitation and Healing tested positive for the virus, while 33 members of the nursing home's staff with confirmed cases are now isolated at their homes, the governor's office said in a news release. Sumner Regional Medical Center said Sunday on Facebook that 42 patients from the nursing home have been admitted and are in isolation after some tested positive for the virus.

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Pelosi: Trump's downplaying of coronavirus has cost American lives

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sharpened her criticism of President Trump’s early dismissal of the coronavirus, saying the delay cost American lives. She criticized the president's initial response to the virus during a Sunday morning interview on CNN.

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Dr. Birx predicts up to 200,000 coronavirus deaths 'if we do things almost perfectly'

"I think in some of the metro areas we were late in getting people to follow the 15-day guidelines," the White House coronavirus response coordinator said on "TODAY."

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'I don't know how you look at those numbers and conclude anything less than thousands of people will pass away': Cuomo discusses state fatality projections

Gov. Andrew Cuomo spoke about New York state’s fatality projections during a press conference on Sunday.

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The Justice Department is reportedly investigating actions by US lawmakers who dumped stocks before the market plunged over coronavirus fears

The FBI has reportedly reached out to Republican Sen. Richard Burr as part of the investigation, which is in its early stages.

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29 Best Closet Organization Ideas to Maximize Space and Style

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U.S. expected to renew sanctions waivers allowing Iran nonproliferation work: sources

The United States is expected to allow Russian, Chinese and European companies to continue their work at Iranian nuclear sites to make it harder for Tehran to develop nuclear weapons, four sources familiar with the matter said on Monday. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity and included one U.S. official, said a U.S. decision could come as early as Monday to renew waivers to sanctions that bar non-U.S. firms from dealing with Iran's Atomic Energy Organization. Jewish News Syndicate, a news outlet predominantly focused on Israel and the Jewish world, first reported the United States was expected to renew the waivers, citing two sources familiar with the decision.

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A coronavirus patient's phlegm or poop could still have live virus in it even after they recover and test negative, new research suggests

New research raises doubts about whether negative throat swabs are enough to say a patient is coronavirus-free. Doctors may have to sample their poop.

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New York's Cuomo pleads for doctors, nurses from other states to aid its hospitals

Speaking at a makeshift hospital in Manhattan preparing to receive its first patients on Monday, Cuomo sought to divert attention from any tension with Trump, with whom he has tussled in recent days over the distribution of ventilators in storage. "I am not engaging the president in politics," said Cuomo, who has emerged as a leading national voice on the coronavirus pandemic. New York is at the epicenter of the crisis.

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U.S. set to lose title as top oil producer as demand plunges and gas drops below $1 per gallon

Gas has dipped below $1 a gallon in Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Wisconsin — but most people are not driving.

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FBI report describes China’s ‘biosecurity risk’

In late November 2018, just over a year before the first coronavirus case was identified in Wuhan, China, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents at Detroit Metro Airport stopped a Chinese biologist with three vials labeled “Antibodies” in his luggage.

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After more than 10,000 coronavirus deaths — the worst in the world — Italy is showing signs that its 3-week lockdown is working

Italy's counts of new coronavirus deaths and infections are starting to fall, though the country is likely still in for an extended lockdown.

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Trump says Harry and Meghan must pay for security

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex reportedly moved from Canada to the US amid the virus outbreak.

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Tapper Brutally Grills NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio for Delayed Coronavirus Response

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio was left flailing on Sunday morning when CNN anchor Jake Tapper repeatedly pressed him on his delayed response to the coronavirus pandemic and whether the mayor’s assurances to New Yorkers that their lives would go on normally led to a more rapid spread of the virus.Appearing on CNN’s State of the Union, de Blasio was first asked about his calls to the Trump administration to provide more ventilators and other life-saving medical supplies to his city, which has become the epicenter of the pandemic. After the mayor sounded the alarm on the “sharp escalation” of cases the city may see in the days ahead, Tapper brought up de Blasio’s previous downplaying of the pandemic.Playing a series of video clips of the Democratic mayor telling city residents to “go about your lives” over the past couple of months, Tapper noted that de Blasio delivered that message to the city as recent as March 13. “In retrospect, is that message, at least in part, to blame for how rapidly the virus has spread across the city?” Tapper wondered aloud.“Jake, we should not be focusing, in my view, on anything looking back on any level of government right now,” de Blasio deflected. “This is just about how we save lives going forward.”The mayor went on to say that it was a “very different world just a short time ago” and that “none of us have time to look backwards,” prompting Tapper to remind de Blasio that he has been critical of others over their lack of preparedness.“Mr. Mayor, you say you don’t think you should look backwards, but you’ve criticized President Trump for ‘actions that are far, far behind the curve,’” the State of the Union host pressed. “I mean, Mr. Mayor, weren’t your actions in this outbreak also far, far behind the curve?”De Blasio, however, was still unwilling to take any personal responsibility for his own actions, saying that he had criticized the lack of COVID-19 testing early on and that it could be a “very different reality” if the country had more robust testing from the beginning. “But there’s no time to go back over that,” he added. “There’s only time to focus on getting through the next week and the week after that.”At the same time, de Blasio acknowledged that Tapper’s questions were “fair” but told the CNN anchor that those questions were best left for “after this war is over” because New York City is currently in a “wartime environment.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

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Australia government says growth rate of coronavirus infection slows

Australia's health minister said on Sunday there were "early, positive signs" of a slowdown in the growth rate in new coronavirus infections in the country, with the growth rate approximately halving over the past week. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the slower growth in new inflections showed social distancing measures were working. "This time last week the rate of increase on cases was up around 25% to 30% a day," Morrison told a press conference.

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Europe, US virus tolls surge as Trump reverses on New York lockdown

The coronavirus death toll shot past 20,000 in Europe on Saturday, with Italy and Spain each reporting more than 800 dead in one day, as US President Donald Trump pulled back on putting the hard-hit New York region under quarantine. Up to one-third of the world's population is under lockdown as the virus leaves its devastating imprint on nearly every aspect of society: wiping out millions of jobs, straining health care services and weighing heavily on national treasuries for years to come. Globally, the death toll has surged past 30,000 and officials in some countries say the worst still lies ahead.

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Off to the cafe: Sweden is outlier in virus restrictions

People still sit at outdoor cafes in the center of Sweden's capital. Swedish authorities have advised the public to practice social distancing and to work from home, if possible, and urged those over age 70 to self-isolate as a precaution. Standing at bars has been banned in Sweden, but restaurant customers can still be served at tables instead of having to take food to go.

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About 700 New Jersey Police Officers Tested Positive for Coronavirus, State Police Head Says

New Jersey has reported the second highest number of cases in the U.S., trailing only New York

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Brazil’s Bolsonaro makes life-or-death coronavirus gamble

Even as coronavirus cases mount in Latin America’s largest nation, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has staked out the most deliberately dismissive position of any major world leader, calling the pandemic a momentary, minor problem and saying strong measures to contain it are unnecessary. Bolsonaro says his response to the disease matches that of President Donald Trump in the U.S., but the Brazilian leader has gone further, labeling the virus as “a little flu” and saying state governors’ aggressive measures to halt the disease were crimes. On Thursday, Bolsonaro told reporters in the capital, Brasilia, that he feels Brazilians’ natural immunity will protect the nation.

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