Pro-democracy activists gather in Hong Kong; Court rules TN must allow abortions; Saudi Arabia ends death penalty for minors; Navy admiral recommends reinstating Crozier; NZ claims virus eliminated
NewsHero - April 27, 2020 - Issue 85
Welcome to today’s edition of NewsHero for April 27, 2020.
**Now through June 1, 2020, new annual subscriptions to NewsHero will each be contributing 25% to the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund**
At NewsHero we put the heroes in the headlines and give them the attention that they deserve. Our coverage puts the focus on those who are helping, over those causing harm. Here you’ll find the same top-priority issues, but you won’t find clickbait, and what you read won’t be driven by ad sales.
Our heroes are identified as follows:
🦸♀️🦸♀️🦸♀️ - the hero, hands down. - Meaning that it wasn’t even a close call.
🦸♀️🦸♀️ - the hero, but… - Meaning that in this situation the call needed to be looked at in a little more detail. For example, in this case, they did the right thing but there have been some questionable calls in the past.
🦸♀️ - the hero, but only here, and it was a close call. - Meaning that in this instance they did the right thing but it was either out of character or a maddeningly close call.
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Source: International Energy Agency. Image: Beautiful News.
NewsHero Notes
Clean energy leaders - 🦸♀️🦸♀️🦸♀️
The world is investing heavily in clean energy. Some countries now produce their entire electricity output from renewable sources. Massive hydro schemes in Paraguay and Iceland, geothermal plants in Iceland and New Zealand, and wind farms in Uruguay and Costa Rica are all helping to wean us off fossil fuels, writes Beautiful News.
Gun control advocates - 🦸♀️🦸♀️🦸♀️
Following up on our Friday afternoon coverage, a federal appeals court ruled late in the day that California could continue to require background checks for purchasing ammunition, as a challenge to the rule travels through the justice system, reports NBC News.
Riot police wearing face masks to avoid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) argue with anti-government protesters as they stage a rally at a shopping mall, in Hong Kong, China April 26, 2020. (REUTERS/Tyrone Siu)
Afternoon Brief
Pro-democracy activists - 🦸♀️🦸♀️🦸♀️
A crowd of 300 pro-democracy activists holding a singing protest in a Hong Kong shopping mall on Sunday—despite a ban on public gatherings of more than four people—was dispersed by riot police armed with shields.
Chanting popular protest slogans, mostly young activists clad in black swarmed the Cityplaza mall shouting “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times!” while others called for the release of pro-democracy activists.
The protest was the first sizable gathering since the government imposed the ban on public meetings at the end of March to curb a spike in coronavirus infections.
“People were just singing, it’s very peaceful ... we didn’t do anything illegally. Democracy and freedom is more important,” said a high school student surnamed Or who came to participate ahead of his university entrance exam on Monday.
Women’s rights advocates - 🦸♀️🦸♀️🦸♀️
A federal appeals court has ruled that Tennessee must continue allowing abortions amid a temporary ban on non-essential medical procedures during the COVID-19 outbreak.
The ruling follows a U.S. District judge’s order last week that abortions could proceed during the pandemic.
The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, based in Cincinnati, issued its opinion Friday. The justices wrote that courts must give governments flexibility to respond to a crisis.
“Affording flexibility, however, is not the same as abdicating responsibility, especially when well-established constitutional rights are at stake, as the right to an abortion most assuredly is,” the court wrote in the 33-page opinion.
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman - 🦸♀️
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman has ordered an end to the death penalty for crimes committed by minors, according to a statement Sunday by a top official.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have long called on the kingdom to abolish the use of the death penalty, particularly for crimes committed by minors.
The decision comes on the heels of another ordering judges to end the practice of flogging, replacing it with jail time, fines or community service and bringing one of the kingdom’s most controversial forms of public punishment to a close.
The president of the Saudi government’s Human Rights Commission, Awwad Alawwad, confirmed the latest decision in a statement Sunday, saying it helps the kingdom establish “a more modern penal code and demonstrates the kingdom’s commitment to following through on key reforms.”
King Salman’s son and heir, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is seen as the force behind the kingdom’s loosening of restrictions and its pivot away from ultraconservative interpretations of Islamic law known as Wahhabism, which many in the country still closely adhere to.
Top Navy Officer Recommends Reinstatement Of Capt. Crozier
New Zealand PM claims coronavirus ‘currently’ eliminated
U.S. Navy, Capt. Brett Crozier, then-commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), addresses the crew on Jan. 17, 2020, in San Diego, Calif. The Navy’s top admiral will soon decide the fate of the ship captain who was fired after pleading for his superiors to move faster to safeguard his coronavirus-infected crew on the USS Theodore Roosevelt. (Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Alexander Williams/U.S. Navy via AP)
NewsHero is continuing to offer a compilation of stories and resources that best represent the current state of the coronavirus pandemic, centered on those individuals, institutions, and organizations stepping up to end this crisis as quickly and effectively as possible. The public, too, has a duty. This includes staying responsibly informed and taking the situation seriously, while remaining as cool-headed and as isolated as possible. These are strange and difficult times, but we will endure.
Top Navy officer Adm. Mike Gilday has recommended the reinstatement of Navy Capt. Brett Crozier, the aircraft carrier captain fired for sending a fraught email to commanders pleading for faster action to protect his crew from a coronavirus outbreak.
As the country eases restrictions with new cases in single figures, New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the coronavirus was “currently” eliminated but that the country needed to remain alert and could still expect to continue to see new cases. reports CNN.
More than two million Australians have downloaded CovidSafe—an app to trace contacts of COVID-19 patients—hours after its release, the government said on Monday, as states set out plans to expand testing for the infection.
Dr. Anthony Fauci said that COVID-19 testing needs to be at least doubled before the U.S. eases restrictions to reopen the economy, reports Business Insider.
“A group of volunteers in China who worked to prevent digital records of the coronavirus outbreak from being scrubbed by censors are now targets of a crackdown,” writes Quartz.
The Hill lays out five points of contention as lawmakers clash over a potential fifth coronavirus relief bill.
“Maatje Benassi, a U.S. Army reservist and mother of two, has become the target of conspiracy theorists who falsely place her at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, saying she brought the disease to China,” CNN writes in an exclusive.
The nursing home industry is urging states to provide immunity from lawsuits to the owners and employees of the 15,600 nursing homes in the U.S., reports NBC News.
Hospitals, research laboratories, health care providers and pharmaceutical companies, officials say, have all been hit in a wave of cyberattacks on U.S. government agencies and medical institutions leading the pandemic response, reports CNN.
Police in the United Arab Emirates are deploying smart helmets that can scan the temperatures of hundreds of people every minute in their effort to combat the new coronavirus.
New York’s coronavirus deaths dropped Sunday to the lowest in almost a month, as Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a plan to re-open the state in phases, possibly starting as soon as May 15, reports Bloomberg News.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday announced “Restaurants Deliver: Home Meals for Seniors,” a new program using local eateries to prepare and deliver free food for older adults in need, reports CNBC.
We leave you with a longer one to ponder—here’s something we caught via Azeem Azhar’s Exponential View: “‘The provision of misinformation in the early stages of a pandemic can have important consequences for how a disease ultimately affects the population,’ suggest researchers from the Becker Friedman Institute in a non-peer reviewed working paper. The research looked at the effects of news coverage by the Sean Hannity Show and Tucker Carlson Tonight, two of the most widely-viewed cable news shows in the U.S., on viewers’ behaviour and health outcomes. One early finding, points out Zeynep Tufekci, is ‘one standard deviation more viewership of Sean Hannity (denied seriousness of COVID) versus Tucker Carlson (took the pandemic seriously) is associated with 20% more deaths at the county-level.’”
Extra! Extra!
Remember when we mentioned the two dudes busted with drugs—found in a bag that said “Bag Full of Drugs” on it?
Well, someone yet again has made it easy for law enforcement officials. The Associated Press ran this story today:
“A welcome mat at the front door of a Florida home read ‘come back with a warrant’—and that’s just what deputies did before finding drugs and drug paraphernalia inside.”
D’oh!
“The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports the home in Palm Coast was part of an investigation into illegal drugs. After seeing the doormat, authorities say the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office got the warrant. Deputies found fentanyl and drug paraphernalia inside during a search late last week.”
I suppose we owe those house-dwelling dealers a “thank you” for the front-door invite, helping get more of this stuff out of the wrong hands, potentially saving lives.
“‘Our detectives did a great job in following up on tips received on this residence. We still have some follow-up work to do, but for now the deadly drugs and syringes seized are off the streets,’ Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said.”
And to the police, a definite “thank you.”
Sources:
Renewable energy superstars - Beautiful News
California can check backgrounds of ammunition buyers for now, court says - NBC News
Hong Kong police break up pro-democracy singing protest at mall. - Reuters
Hong Kong Police Disperse Protesters Gathered at City Mall - Bloomberg News
Hong Kong holds first major protest in over a month - Axios
Appeals court: Tennessee must continue allowing abortions - AP News
Federal court allows abortion services to continue in Tennessee during pandemic - News Channel 5 Nashville
ACLU of Tennessee - Twitter
Saudi Arabia abolishes the death penalty for crimes committed by minors - France 24
Saudi Arabia ends executions for crimes committed by minors, says commission - BBC News
Saudi Arabia ends death penalty for minors and floggings - AP News
Navy recommends reinstatement of fired carrier captain - AP News
New Zealand claims 'elimination' of coronavirus with new cases in single digits - CNN
More than two million Australians download COVID-19 app, testing expands - Reuters
Dr. Fauci says testing needs to be doubled before the US reopens - Business Insider
China arrests users behind GitHub coronavirus memories page - Quartz
Five fights for Congress's fifth coronavirus bill - The Hill
Exclusive: She's been falsely accused of starting the coronavirus. Her life has been turned upside down - CNN
Misinformation During a Pandemic - via Exponential View
Nursing home industry pushes for immunity from lawsuits during coronavirus emergency - NBC News
Hackers hit US coronavirus response: 'They are trying to steal everything' - CNNPolitics
Emirati police deploy smart tech in coronavirus fight - Reuters
New York Coronavirus Outbreak: 367 New Deaths, Reopening Plan - Bloomberg News
California launches meal delivery program for seniors amid coronavirus - CNBC
Welcome mat at Florida home seeks warrant and deputies did - AP News