Supreme Court issues 3 major opinions; Court says Trump violates 1st Amendment; Environmental activists appalled by EPA; Health workers in Afghanistan persevere; Nigeria warns against COVID-19 'cure'
NewsHero - March 24, 2020 - Issue 61
Welcome to today’s edition of NewsHero for March 24, 2020.
For the foreseeable future, our newsletter will be made fully accessible to all readers. We hope you’ll take advantage of the resources provided here as we all do our best to absorb the continually developing information on the coronavirus crisis. Also, we hope you enjoy our usual take on happenings from around the globe, and consider joining up with us in the near future.
At NewsHero we put the heroes in the headlines and give them the attention in our coverage that they deserve. Here you’ll find the same high priority news, but you’ll get it without clickbait and it won’t be driven by ad sales. You’ll also get it with the focus on those who are helping, not causing harm.
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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Wishing you health and safety!
NewsHero Notes
Today is World Tuberculosis (TB) Day, and Doctors Without Borders is launching a global action campaign by calling on Johnson & Johnson to lower the price of bedaquiline to $1 per day. Bedaquiline is a groundbreaking drug that offers potential cures for drug-resistant patients.
A report from BBC News considers we may one day be eating “fish” grown from cells in a factory as overfishing continues to deplete wild fish numbers and fish farms see increased demand.
Afternoon Brief
U.S. Supreme Court - 🦸♀️🦸♀️
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday issued three major opinions, ruling that states may virtually eliminate the insanity defense, that a media company suing Comcast for race discrimination must meet a strict standard, and that states are protected from claims of copyright infringement, reports The New York Times.
Knight First Amendment Institute + U.S. Court of Appeals - 🦸♀️🦸♀️🦸♀️
The U.S. Court of Appeals upheld a decision that Donald Trump's habit of blocking critics on Twitter is a violation of the First Amendment. The Trump administration's request for a rehearing was denied on Monday.
After seven people were blocked on Twitter by Trump for criticizing him, The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University filed a suit in 2017.
“We're pleased that the full appeals court will leave the panel's original ruling in place,” Jameel Jaffer, the Knight Institute's Executive Director said in a release Monday. “The ruling is an important affirmation of core First Amendment principles as applied to new communications technology.”
Health officials and environmental activists - 🦸♀️🦸♀️🦸♀️
Public health officials and environmental activists are angry that federal agencies are moving forward on rollbacks that include a widely opposed deregulatory action by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The EPA has dismissed demands from 14 attorneys general, the National Governors Association, the National League of Cities and dozens of other government, public health and environmental groups and officials that it at least tap the brakes on that proposed rule while officials confront “the national emergency that arises from the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“During this unprecedented public health emergency, we should be focusing our resources on protecting the health and well being of our residents not on fighting against the Trump Administration’s reckless environmental proposals and actions,” said Attorney General Maura Healey of Massachusetts.
Healthcare Workers Fight Coronavirus In Afghanistan Despite Tense Relationship With Taliban
Health workers in Nigeria warn of risks from drug praised by Trump
An Afghan health worker in Kabul measures the temperature of passengers in an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. (Associated Press)
Healthcare workers rushing to fight off the coronavirus in Afghanistan are said to be getting some cooperation from the Taliban. The World Health Organization held back from naming the Taliban in a December report, counting losses from targeted attacks on healthcare during 2019. At least 51 healthcare workers, patients and supportive staff were killed and 142 others wounded.
Health officials are warning Nigerians against self-medicating after the Nigeria reported two cases of chloroquine poisoning. Donald Trump had previously praised the anti-malaria drug as a coronavirus treatment.
A story from Wired takes a look at the unique challenges parents face in these times—particularly if you’re a parent infected with the coronavirus.
Documenting the pandemic, photojournalists are on the front lines often sharing images of solitude and separation, Wired examines.
Marcello Natali, an Italian doctor who had to treat patients with no gloves, died last week from the coronavirus.
ProMED, a low-tech site run by health experts that collects reports of new diseases in real time, “crowdsourced” the arrival of COVID-19, says Wired in a story posted Monday.
Asian Americans have been the target of racist attacks, as Donald Trump has defended his use of “Chinese Virus” and “China Virus” to refer to the novel coronavirus. Trump took to Twitter on Monday to say that the spreading of COVID-19 “is NOT their fault in any way, shape, or form.”
Instacart Founder and CEO Apoorva Mehta announced: “Given the continued customer demand we expect over the coming months, we’ll be bringing on an additional 300,000 full-service shoppers to support cities nationwide.”
Blue Sky Rescue is China’s largest humanitarian organization, with 30,000 members who perform search-and-rescue, medical care, and in the case of Covid-19, sanitation. Here, a volunteer wearing a protective suit and carrying fumigation equipment disinfects a residential compound in Beijing. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)
Migrants are hunger striking for soap. “In audio obtained by ProPublica, an ICE detainee described harrowing conditions as fears over coronavirus spread. The ICE detention center in New Jersey gives detainees one bar of soap per week. If they want more, they have to buy it.”
Council Speaker Corey Johnson has proposed a $12 billion relief plan to help New York City businesses and workers impacted by the pandemic. The proposal includes a temporary universal basic income for all New Yorkers, temporarily deferring fees and refunding business taxes, and up to $250,000 to cover fixed costs for impacted businesses. It also includes unemployment protections for those who have had their hours cut, gig economy and freelance workers, according to the City Council’s official site.
With conditions improving in China, it has announced it will lift the lockdown on Wuhan on April 8, marking a significant milestone in its battle against the coronavirus outbreak, CNN reports.
Walmart has announced it will offer designated shopping hours for customers over 60.
Dusty Richardson, a neurosurgeon at the Billings Clinic in Montana, told CNN that he and many healthcare workers are using 3D printers to make reusable plastic face masks after many facilities are experiencing shortages.
Using the name Boober Eats, a strip club in Portland, Ore. that was forced to close has kept its staff on payroll by offering food delivered by exotic dancers.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Monday that the state would begin experimenting with two new medical interventions, one involving blood plasma transfusions collected from COVID-19 patients and another involving antibody testing, to send survivors back to work, as the state’s number of cases surged past 20,000, reports Forbes.
Volunteers from the public are answering pleas from hospitals, doctors and nurses desperate for personal protective equipment by sewing homemade face masks.
Extra! Extra!
You just can’t slow some people down. We read about a man in France who, despite isolation at home during the coronavirus outbreak, managed to find a way to still run a marathon. On his balcony.
Elisha Nochomovitz ran back and forth for 26.2 miles straight, never leaving his 23-foot-long balcony. Talk about a one-track mind!
He saw it as a physical and mental challenge, but he also shared the images online as a way “to extend my support to the entire medical personnel who are doing an exceptional job,” he told The Associated Press from his apartment in Balma, a suburb of the southern French city of Toulouse.
“It was about launching a bit of a crazy challenge and bringing a bit of humor, to de-dramatize the confinement situation,” he said.
Hey, we love the spirit and think we can use more of that attitude around the world in this scary time. Now if you’ll excuse us, the popcorn is ready and we have many Netflix episodes of “Who Killed Malcolm X?” to catch up on.
Sources:
Today is World Tuberculosis (TB) Day - MSF
Could synthetic fish be a better catch of the day? - BBC News
Back at Work but Not on the Bench, Supreme Court Issues 3 Major Opinions - New York Times
Supreme Court Allows States To Virtually Eliminate The Insanity Defense - NPR
Supreme Court raises bar for racial discrimination claims in contracts - The Hill
Appeals court won't review Trump Twitter case - Politico
Appeals court upholds ruling that Trump can't block critics on Twitter - CNET
Trump cannot block critics on Twitter, federal court affirms - Washington Post
Trump agencies steadily push rollbacks as pandemic rages - AP News
Trump’s EPA Fast-Tracks a Controversial Rule That Would Restrict the Use of Health Science - Inside Climate
Trump Administration Is Still Rolling Back Environmental Protections as Nation Wrestles With Coronavirus - Time
Nigeria Has Chloroquine Poisonings After Trump Praised Drug - Bloomberg News
Taliban pledges not to kill healthcare workers as fear of a coronavirus epidemic spreads in Afghanistan - Daily Mail
How to Care for Kids if You're Sick With Covid-19 - Wired
How Photojournalists Are Documenting the Coronavirus Crisis - Wired
An Italian doctor has died from coronavirus after having to treat patients without gloves - Washington Post
How ProMED Crowdsourced the Arrival of Covid-19 and SARS - Wired
Trump says spread of coronavirus not the fault of the Asian American community - CNN
Expanding Our Community of Household Heroes: A Thank You from Apoorva Mehta, Instacart Founder & CEO - Instacart
ICE Detainee Says Migrants Are Going on a Hunger Strike for Soap - ProPublica
New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson Proposes $12 Billion Relief Plan to Help Workers and Businesses Impacted by COVID-19 - council.nyc.gov
China to lift lockdown on Wuhan, ground zero of coronavirus pandemic - CNN
Walmart starts dedicated hours for 60+ shoppers - Walmart A doctor is 3D printing face masks to help meet the desperate need for protective gear - CNN
Portland strip club forced to close, so dancers now do delivery - Oregon Live
New York To Begin Trials With Plasma For Seriously Ill And Antibody Test To Send Survivors Back To Work - Forbes
New York will be first state to test treatment of coronavirus with blood from recovered patients - NBC News
Volunteers sew masks for health workers facing shortages - AP News
Confined by virus, Frenchman runs marathon on his balcony - AP News