WHAT'S BREWING
PENCE ON FLYNN: 'I'D BE HAPPY' TO SEE HIM AGAIN Vice President Mike Pence said he would be “happy to see Michael Flynn again” when asked during an interview Friday if he would be fine with the lying retired general returning to work in the government. To the shock of legal experts, the Justice Department on Thursday dropped charges against Flynn, a former White House national security adviser who previously pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russia. Flynn also lied to Pence about his Russia communications. [HuffPost]
DEMOCRATS SET FOR BIG BLOW IN CALIFORNIA National Democrats are now prepared to lose in a special election to replace California Rep. Katie Hill in Congress, a stinging defeat in a district Democrats flipped less than two years ago and where the party’s candidate has relentlessly hammered Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. Mike Garcia, a GOP former fighter pilot and defense industry executive running with Trump’s endorsement, now appears to be a clear favorite over Assemblywoman Christy Smith. [HuffPost]
COVID-19 IS FAST BECOMING A WOMEN'S ECONOMIC CRISIS On Friday, the U.S. government reported the jobless rate hitting 14.7% in April, a level not seen since the Great Depression. Women make up 49% of the U.S. workforce, but held 55% of the jobs lost in April. The unemployment rate for women stands at an unprecedented rate — 15.5% — the first time ever that U.S. women have faced a double-digit unemployment rate. For Black and Hispanic women, it’s worse: 16.4% and 20.2%, respectively. The unemployment rate for men is 13%; for white men, it is 12.4%. [HuffPost]
WHY THE COVID-19 DEATH TOLL IS LIKELY UNDERREPORTED Trump thinks the coronavirus death toll figures are being inflated to make him look bad. But the crisis is devastatingly real. And far from being exaggerated, experts believe the true number of people who have died from COVID-19 is actually higher than what’s been reported ― nearly 80,000 in the U.S. so far. Here are some reasons why the coronavirus death toll is most likely an undercount — not an overcount. [HuffPost]
BORIS JOHNSON ANNOUNCES MODEST EASING OF UK LOCKDOWN U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a modest easing of the country’s coronavirus lockdown and outlined his government’s road map for further lifting restrictions in the coming months. In a televised address to the nation, Johnson said people in Britain who can’t work from home, such as those in construction or manufacturing jobs, “should be actively encouraged to go to work” this week. However, he said they should not travel by public transport and should abide with social distancing guidelines when at work. [AP]
GERMANY BANS 'GAY CONVERSION THERAPY' FOR MINORS Germany has banned so-called gay conversion therapy for minors as a growing number of countries review legislation regarding the controversial practice designed to change a person’s sexual orientation to heterosexual. German lawmakers voted Thursday to prohibit so-called “conversion therapies” for anyone aged under 18, but stopped short of an outright ban, with advertising or offering treatment carrying fines of 30,000 Euros ($32,500) or up to a year jail. The United States, Canada, Chile, and Mexico are among countries seeking to outlaw the treatment. [Reuters] | 
0 comments:
Post a Comment