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The Treasury Department has requested that the largest U.S. airlines pay back 30% of the payroll grants, people familiar with the matter told CNBC. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s decision to essentially convert some of the grants to loans comes as he wants to make clear that he is not offering ailing industries a bailout as they struggle with the coronavirus pandemic. It comes amid the backdrop of the presidential election and memories of bank bailouts during the financial crisis. The Treasury Department is sending a message to large companies weighing government aid to weather the coronavirus pandemic: No free...

Fauci said during the daily White House coronavirus task force briefing that his comments Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” were incomplete and that the president was not to blame for the havoc COVID-19 has wreaked on the country. Fauci on Sunday said: “I mean, obviously, you could the White House logically say that if you had a process that was ongoing and you started mitigation earlier, you could have saved lives. Obviously, no one is going to deny that. But, what goes into those kinds of decisions is complicated." Summoned to the podium by Trump, Fauci tried to...

BEIJING — Chinese officials have begun inspecting every shipment of N95 respirators, ventilators and other medical supplies for quality issues before export, a policy likely to delay the arrival of critical gear at hospitals around the world that are struggling to cope with the coronavirus pandemic. The policy, announced by the General Administration of Customs on Friday, produced immediate delays on Saturday as manufacturers, freight agents and traders tried to understand how to comply. Depending on the city, they said, the delays could range from a few hours to a few days or longer as government officials rush to comply....

MANILA, Philippines -- The Philippines on Wednesday expressed solidarity with Vietnam after Hanoi protested what it said was the ramming and sinking of a Vietnamese fishing boat by a Chinese coast guard ship in the disputed South China Sea. The Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila expressed deep concern over the reported April 3 sinking of the boat carrying eight fishermen off the Paracel Islands. The incident happened at a time when a common approach was crucial in confronting the coronavirus pandemic, it said. “COVID-19 is a very real threat that demands unity and mutual trust,” the department said. “In...

Kentucky Christians who attended drive-in services on Easter — despite warnings from the governor to stay home over the coronavirus pandemic — were met by police presence and nails dumped in the road, the pastor of a Kentucky church said. Democratic Kentucky Andy Beshear had announced that the state would enforce a stay-at-home measure by recording the license plates of any person attending Easter services. Americans in other states, such as in Nevada, Colorado, California, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania, similarly gathered to observe the Christian holiday through drive-in church services. “This is a time and weekend, a whole week for multiple...

As thousands of restaurants across the country close down over the coronavirus pandemic and stop discarding their leftovers outside, rats are becoming so starving that they are resorting to all out battles and even cannibalism to survive, according to a rodentologist.

[Catholic Caucus] Police Comes - Bishop Whines Several Easter masses around the globe were raided by police under the pretext of the coronavirus.Gloria.tv has learned from priests that police also gathered in front of churches to keep the faithful from entering.The gravest incident happened in Granada Cathedral, Spain, when Archbishop Javier Martínez celebrated Good Friday Liturgy with about twenty faithful attending. The church holds about 900 people.Police raided the church during the homily, interrupting the liturgy and escorting the faithful out.Martínez reacted cowardly like a bishop and apologised, “I am sorry. We have done this with the best intention.”He thought...

I see a red door and I want it painted black No colors anymore, I want them to turn black I see the girls walk by, dressed in their summer clothes I have to turn my head until my darkness goes I see a line of cars and they're all painted black With flowers and my love both never to come back I see people turn their heads and quickly look away Like a newborn baby, it just happens everyday I look inside myself and see my heart is black I see my red door and must have it painted...

A large number of export-oriented Chinese factories were shuttered recently after they didn’t have enough orders to fill. Some home appliance manufacturers also announced that they laid off employees because of a lack of export and domestic demand due to the pandemic. As the outbreak of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus, became severe in January, much of China was placed under lockdown and factories halted production for more than a month. In February, Beijing encouraged companies to resume operations as it grew concerned about an economic slowdown. But Chinese companies were worried that the...

A Chinese rocket carrying a new communications satellite for Indonesia has failed to reach orbit in a launch gone awry, the second failure for China's space agency in less than a month, state media reported today (April 9). The Long March 3B rocket lifted off today at 7:46 a.m. EDT from China's Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwestern province of Sichuan, where the local time was 7:46 p.m. on Thursday night, according to the Xinhua News Agency. The rocket was carrying the Palapa-N1, also known as the Nusantara Dua, a next-generation satellite for broadband and broadcast communications built for...

Video of link. My notes follow: Number review: World closing on 2 million cases Belgium high day of deaths. Russia screaming onto the stage. Huge line of ambulances. Long waits. Turkey cases exploding. Some cases are starting to flatten out due to the social distancing. Seeing people "get it" in western Mass. IRS sent first electronic payments. Cares act is too little too late. UK video clip. Police burst into man's house. Break his door. 4 officers worried that he has an unauthorized social gathering. No officers were wearing a mask or gloves. Could have been spreading disease all over...

"“It won’t be where you’re doing large public gatherings or even filling up a restaurant,” says Gates." "Will people want to go and travel?" Gates questioned. "Will they want to go to restaurants? Will they even think, you know, buying a new home is an appropriate thing? So, even once the government is saying these activities are OK, we can't expect the demand side to re-emerge overnight."

The Thin Façade of Authority As we continue to debate about numerators and denominators in determining the real impact of this virus, one common denominator remains certain about the elites advising, crafting, and developing our response: they aren’t touched by the impact of their decisions. The virus will teach us many things, but one lesson has already been relearned by the American people: there are two, quite different, types of wisdom. One, and the most renowned, is a specialization in education that results in titled degrees and presumed authority. That ensuing prestige, in turn, dictates the decisions of most politicians,...

A surprise company outing to an air base caused a 64-year-old French man so much stress that he flung himself from a fighter jet in midair, grabbing the ejector button in a panic and tumbling through the skies above France before landing in a field. The man had been surprised by employees at his firm, who had organized a joyride in a Dassault Rafale B jet for him as a treat. But they apparently didn’t know their colleague as well as they thought. Once the man arrived at the Saint-Dizier air base in northeastern France and realized what his co-workers...

MANY, La. – There’s some good news ahead for the owners of rental facilities in Sabine Parish. Sabine Parish Police Jury President Mike McCormick has said he intends to end the ban on short-term rentals on April 30, District Attorney Don Burkett announced Monday on Facebook. “I concur with this decision,” Burkett said. That means those business owners can begin taking reservations for the month of May and beyond. McCormick issued a parishwide order on March 30 ending all vacation rentals and telling those who were staying in the parish temporarily to leave by April 2. The order does not...

An Easter tornado wreaks havoc across parts of Alabama, but there’s one thing it didn’t touch -- a wooden cross.

Wisconsin is releasing results from its presidential primary and state Supreme Court election after the deadline to send in absentee ballots passes at 4 p.m. Central Time and 5 p.m. Eastern Time on April 13. What's at stake? Bernie Sanders officially dropped out of the presidential primary on April 8, making former VP Joe Biden the presumptive Democratic nominee. While Sanders will continue to stay on the ballot in upcoming primaries and earn delegates from those contests, he formally endorsed Biden on April 13. In the Democratic presidential primary, Wisconsin allocates 84 pledged delegates to the Democracy convention, with 55...

Apple and Google are planning on installing new technology to alert users when they have come in contact with someone who has COVID-19, according to WIVB. The technology is known as "contract-tracing" and would be installed into the iOS and Android operating systems by mid-May. It would send anonymous data to public health authorities, however, users must opt-in to the program. Basically, if a user tests positive for coronavirus, it will add the data to the public health app and alert other users when they come in close proximity of that person. If you're concerned about privacy, Apple and Google...

Pope Promotes Guaranteed Income Scheme a failure in Finland VATICAN CITY (ChurchMilitant.com) - The Latin America-based group, World Meeting of Popular Movements [El Encuentro Mundial de Movimientos Populares (EMMP)], released a letter from Pope Francis to its member organizations in which he says circumstances created by the global pandemic "may be the time to consider a universal basic wage." Pope Francis shared that thought with an organization he initiated and whose purpose is to create opportunities for Church leadership and grassroots, social justice organizations to strategize about structural changes that promote social, economic and racial justice. The Pope's Audience Released on Easter Sunday, the letter...

Video of Trump Speaking at link Not going to fire Fauci. Likes Fauci. Has been on same page with Fauci since the beginning. Defends forecasts. Talks about millions would have died if they had done nothing and let it spread. Defends not shutting down the economy sooner. Promises list of activities done in February in response to press claiming the time was wasted.