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Nearly 200 people in Italy have died in 24 hours as cases of coronavirus in the country continue to rise. There have been 827 deaths in Italy and the number of cases increased by more than 2,000, from 10,149 to 12,462, official figures showed. In the worst-hit area, the northern region of Lombardy, there have been 617 fatalities, an increase of 149 in the last 24 hours. The number of cases in the region - which includes Italy's financial capital Milan and has seen the majority of cases of the virus - has also risen by 1,489 in the last...

"Sen. Chris Murphy has requested an investigation into whether federal agencies are showing political bias by cooperating with Republican requests related to Hunter Biden. The Connecticut Democrat.."

So I'm hearing from various news sources, President Trump would like a Tax Holiday for payroll taxes, but RATs likely won't go along. Now it's being suggested he delay collecting taxes (due April 15) and delay it til later in the year; AND not charge a penalty if you don't pay all your 2019 taxes by April 15th either. Kinda puts a twist on choosing what laws to enforce !!! PS - All this is to help stimulate the economy

A new coronavirus bill drafted by House Democrats will include a reform expanding liability protection for companies that sell masks after Democratic leaders dropped their opposition to that provision, The Post has learned. House Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), who was perceived as the top opponent of the reform, confirmed to The Post that Democrats finally came around to agree to add liability protection. “The House will address N95 mask liability this week,” Pallone said, confirming a deal was reached. “Manufacturers initially requested an indefinite, blanket liability for themselves be attached to last week’s supplemental.” Pallone added: “Since...

Before he was handed 23 years in prison, Harvey Weinstein begged for a light sentence on Wednesday, telling the court he was going through “hell on earth” and was “really trying to be a better person.” SNIP Admitting he was the spark for the whole #MeToo movement, Weinstein said he was just one of many men “totally confused” by the complaints against them — saying he even wanted to open a specialist clinic for men who had been accused. “I really feel remorse for this situation. I feel it deeply in my heart,” he said in Manhattan Supreme Court. “I’m...

The govt said all existing visas, except diplomatic, official, UN/international organizations, employment, project visas, have been suspended till 15 April The govt also said all incoming travelers, including Indians, arriving from or having visited China, Italy, Iran, South Korea, France, Spain and Germany, will be quarantined for minimum 14 days

Celebrity physician Dr. Drew Pinsky said the “media should be ashamed of themselves” for creating “panic” around the coronavirus outbreak. Pinsky said journalists created “a panic that is far worse than the viral outbreak” during his interview on the Washington Examiner’s podcast Examining Politics, which was hosted by Larry O’Connor. “I don’t claim to know what’s motivating the media, but my God, their reporting is absolutely reprehensible,” Pinsky said. The celebrity doctor urged people to listen and heed Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, on ways to prevent the spread of the virus....

The Supreme Court issued an Order this morning, at the URL above, staying enforcement of a trial court order that had barred the Trump Administration from enforcing its policy requiring those applying for asylum having come from Mexico to remain in Mexico until the application is ruled on. The policy is being challenged in court,and the Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to review the trial court order barring enforcement. The Supreme Court says today that Trump can continue to enforce the policy while the legal challenge continues. One is tempted to read the tea leaves and see this...

On a typical Friday, some 200 people show up for services at Temple De Hirsch Sinai, a Reform congregation in Seattle. But last week, there was no one in the pews as Rabbi Daniel Weiner welcomed Shabbat in the synagogue’s smaller sanctuary. Instead, some 1,500 people watched Weiner lead the prayers on their computers. The synagogue hasn’t been holding any services for 10 days due to the coronavirus outbreak, which has claimed 21 lives in Washington state and thousands around the world. Though there wasn’t a physical minyan, the quorum of 10 people required to say certain prayers, Weiner realized...

A group of black pastors has started a petition to urge Congress to censure Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., over his remarks about two Supreme Court justices last week. Schumer has been under fire from Republicans and some Democrats for comments aimed at conservative Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh during a pro-choice rally that many perceived to be threats. "Those remarks, made during a rally at the Supreme Court on a pending case, were clearly intended to influence the decision on that case," a petition from the Coalition of African American Pastors addressed to Senate Majority Leader Mitch...

This letter has been reposted with the permission of Rabbi Reuven Fink.As so many of us are now contemplating going into a Shabbos of seclusion, I want to share a few thoughts with you. We all woke up Tuesday morning prepared for our usual schedules of work or school or whatever we usually do. By late afternoon we learned that the state and the county health departments ordered a voluntary quarantine of those who were in a number of venues where the Coronavirus might have been. I said to myself, “but at all of those places we were performing mitzvot....

It’s starting to look like a classic standoff between Capitol Hill and the White House: Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Democrats insist that a Coronavirus stimulus bill primarily address paid sick leave while President Donald Trump and some Republicans hold strong for a payroll tax cut. On Tuesday, Trump came to the Capitol to sell Senate Republicans on his plan to temporarily suspend or reduce the payroll tax ― a 12.4% levy evenly split between employees and employers. Some Republicans have floated the idea of eliminating the payroll tax for 90 days to help the economy deal with the fallout...

Shi’ite Iraqi Islamic scholar Hadi Al-Modarresi thought that the Wuhan Virus was divine and a tool by which God was smiting his enemies. He thought he would sit back as all of his beliefs were proven right as the virus swept across the lands of heathens. He thought he’d go untouched. He thought wrong. According to Memri.org, Modarressi went on a rant on television calling the virus God’s punishment, specifically against China, for the government abusing Muslims:

“The war has literally exploded and battles are uninterrupted day and night. But now that need for beds has arrived in all its drama. One after the other the departments that had been emptied fill up at an impressive pace. “The boards with the names of the patients, of different colors depending on the operating unit, are now all red and instead of surgery you see the diagnosis, which is always the damned same: bilateral interstitial pneumonia.” The doctor urged people not to describe Covid-19 as a bad case of the flu. “Now, explain to me which flu virus causes...

Following another round of devastating primary losses on Tuesday, Bernie Sanders delivered a statement to the media from Burlington, Vermont. The one-time frontrunner was facing calls to drop out, with some are already declaring the race over. But Sanders made it clear that he's not going anywhere, saying he looks forward to debating Joe Biden on Sunday, and telling the former vice president directly that he has questions he expects him to answer during that debate. Sanders began his speech with an anti-Trump tirade. “Tragically, we have a president today who is a pathological liar, and who is running a...

ROME — Expressing alarm both about mounting infections and slow government responses, the World Health Organization declared Wednesday that the global coronavirus crisis is now a pandemic but also said it's not too late for countries to act. By reversing course and using the charged word “pandemic” that it had previously shied away from, the U.N. health agency appeared to want to shock lethargic countries into pulling out all the stops. “We have called every day for countries to take urgent and aggressive action. We have rung the alarm bell loud and clear,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO chief....

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told lawmakers during a House Oversight Committee hearing Wednesday that COVID-19 — the disease caused by the novel coronavirus — is probably about 10 times more lethal than the seasonal flu. President Trump has often compared COVID-19 to the flu, which affects tens of thousands of Americans each year, in an effort to calm people down, but Fauci clearly wasn't trying to downplay the seriousness of the virus' spread. Fauci is a member of the White House's coronavirus task force. At the same time, he did clarify...

Public officials banned large gatherings in San Francisco and the Seattle area to try to contain the rapidly spreading coronavirus outbreak that’s infected more than 121,000 people across the world since December. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is banning large gatherings in several counties across the state to try to contain the COVID-19 outbreak that that has killed at least 23 residents, he announced Wednesday. Moments after Inslee announced the order, San Francisco health officials announced that they are also banning gatherings of 1,000 or more to slow the spread of the new coronavirus. “I am ordering ... that certain events...

Ontario health officials are investigating how a man who attended a major conference in Toronto contracted COVID-19, fearing the case marks the start of local transmission of the virus in the province. Public Health Sudbury and Districts, which posted details of the case online Tuesday evening, said a man in his 50s tested positive for COVID-19 after attending the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada conference on March 2 and 3. According to organizers, the annual event attracts 25,000 attendees from more than 130 countries.

A man and woman were arrested Tuesday and charged with trespassing at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, the Palm Beach Police Department said. The two individuals were reportedly taken into custody by Palm Beach Police after parking their pickup truck on the property and refusing to leave after being told to do so by authorities. The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office bomb squad inspected the vehicle to ensure it wasn't carrying an explosive device. Trump was not at the resort Tuesday. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro met with Trump there over the weekend. Palm Beach police did not release the...