Poll: Most voters say Trump and Pence should wear masks in public

CC™ News - By Maureen Groppe

Most Americans say President Donald Trump should wear a mask in public, a protective measure he has yet to take since the coronavirus pandemic erupted. 

About seven in 10 registered voters – including 58% of Republicans – surveyed in a Morning Consult/Politico poll this month said Trump and Vice President Mike Pence should cover their faces in public places when they travel.

"In the case of me, I’m not close to anybody," TrumpTrump plans to visit a medical supply business in Pennsylvania on Thursday, a week after being criticized for not covering his face during his tour of a mask-making facility in Phoenix.

Pence has acknowledged that he should have worn a face mask when he visited the Mayo Clinic earlier this month.

In recent days, reporters have spotted Pence wearing a mask as he arrives at the White House.

Doug Mills

✔@dougmillsnyt

Vice President Mike Pence is seen in the back of his SUV wearing a protective mask as he arrives at the White House. @VP

1,529

9:46 AM - May 13, 2020

Twitter Ads info and privacy

740 people are talking about this

CDC guidelines call for face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain.

 said Monday when he appeared mask-less at a Rose Garden news conference the day West Wing aides were told they must wear a mask when they enter the complex. The new rule, which doesn't apply to Trump, came after two aides tested positive for COVID-19.

Administration officials, including Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and HHS testing czar Brett Giroir, wore masks at the news conference, removing them only to speak. Reporters, seated in socially distanced folding chairs, kept their masks on to ask questions.

Source: USA Today

Prelude to a Pardon: Disgraced former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort leaves prison for home amid COVID-19

CC™ Breaking News - By Karen Freifeld and Sarah N. Lynch

President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was released from a federal prison in Pennsylvania on Wednesday to finish his sentence at home due to the coronavirus pandemic, his lawyer said, drawing fresh Democratic criticism over Justice Department actions that have benefited Trump associates.

Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen, imprisoned in a separate case, also is expected to be released based on the threat of the coronavirus, a U.S. official familiar with the decision-making regarding inmates said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Todd Blanche, a lawyer for the Manafort, said the 71-year-old veteran Republican political operative was released from the Federal Correctional Institution, Loretto in Cambria County, Pennsylvania and would serve the remainder of his 7-1/2 year sentence in home confinement in Virginia.

Manafort's legal team last month asked the U.S. Bureau of Prisons for home confinement rather than continued imprisonment, saying his pre-existing health conditions such as high blood pressure, liver disease and respiratory ailments increased his risks should he become infected with the coronavirus.

The pathogen has led to a number of deaths amid the close quarters of federal prisons.

Manafort's sentence stemmed from two criminal cases arising from former U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation that documented Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election to boost Trump's candidacy. Manafort's sentence is due to run until November 2024. 

The U.S. official did not provide information on when Cohen is expected to be let out of Federal Correctional Institution in Otisville, New York. Cohen was imprisoned for arranging hush payments to two women who said they had sexual encounters with Trump, financial crimes and lying to Congress. Trump has called Cohen a "rat." Cohen has called Trump a "racist," a "con man" and "a cheat."

Source: Reuters

Former U.S. President George W. Bush calls for unity and Trump promptly rebuffs his call

CC™ News - By David Jackson

Former President George W. Bush released a video this weekend encouraging Americans to stand up to the coronavirus pandemic, and did not mention current President Donald Trump. 

It doesn't sound like that sat too well with Trump.

"He was nowhere to be found in speaking up against the greatest Hoax in American history!" Trump said during a series of Sunday tweets in which he otherwise echoed praise of his performance on the virus and other issues. 

Trump's criticism of Bush dealt with the latter's silence during the impeachment investigation and trial. But he quoted a Fox News commentator who was talking about the coronavirus video that Bush made.

Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump

.@PeteHegseth “Oh bye the way, I appreciate the message from former President Bush, but where was he during Impeachment calling for putting partisanship aside.” @foxandfriends He was nowhere to be found in speaking up against the greatest Hoax in American history!

101K

4:42 AM - May 3, 2020

Twitter Ads info and privacy

49.7K people are talking about this

Pete Hegseth of Fox said he appreciated Bush's video, but wondered why the former president didn't urge people to put partisanship aside during the impeachment drama. 

In his video, Bush praised health care workers and other Americans who are meeting a historic "shared threat." 

"In the final analysis, we are not partisan combatants," Bush said. "We are human beings, equally vulnerable and equally wonderful in the sight of God. We rise or fall together, and we are determined to rise." 

Bush's message of unity won widespread praise and drew comparisons to Trump. 

"In the face of a crisis that requires leadership, empathy, and trust in science, Trump has come up short," tweeted former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti. "Bush’s video should remind Republicans that they can do better." 

Other critics noted that Trump wrote "bye the way," when he meant to say "by the way."

Trump and Bush have made no secret of their disdain for each other. 

Bush said he did not appreciate Trump's attacks on him, his brother, and his father during the 2016 Republican primaries, as the New York businessman defeated a field of opponents that included former Florida Gov. Jeb. Bush. 

After Trump was sworn in as president, the Bush team let it be known that he found the new president's inaugural address – including a reference to an "American carnage" – to be "some weird s---." 

Trump, meanwhile, claims his predecessors, plural, left him messes that created problems. 

Asked recently if he planned to speak with living presidents about how to deal with the pandemic, Trump said no. 

"So I don't want to disturb them, bother them," Trump said. "I don't think I'm going to learn much. I guess you could say that there's probably a natural inclination not to call." 

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Donald Trump attacks George W. Bush after a coronavirus video.

Dead men working: Nigeria's President Buhari appoints a dead man to head government agency

CC™ Nigeriaworld

......making it the sixth time he has done that since he assumed office in 2015.

President Buhari - who is nicknamed "Baba Go Slow" - appointed Tobias Chukwuemeka Okwuru to Nigerian agency the Federal Character Commission.

He appointed the man despite his funeral taking place in February.

Applications for the job were reopened when journalists pointed out the error, with Mr Okwuru dying aged 59.

The president's aides have hit back and claimed the embarrassing mistake was actually down to the long screening process for the role.

It comes after he had previously handed out at least five top jobs to the dead back in 2017.

Among those promoted was Francis Okpozo, who had been dead for almost a year when he was named chairman of the board of the Nigerian Press Council.

President Buhari earned his nickname due to that fact he took six months to name his first cabinet in 2015.

And back in 2018 he was forced to deny rumours of his own death and that he had been replaced with a body double named Jubril.

He was previously Nigeria's military ruler for two years between 1983 an 1985 after leading a coup, and has blamed democracy for slowing him down.

Previously, the president said: "It’s not Baba that is slow but it is the system, so I am going by this system and I hope we will make it."

The late Mr Okwuru's name was part of a list of 37 new appointees which was read aloud to the senate.

President Buhari also denied his own death in December, 2018, amid claims he had been replaced by a Sudanese man named Jubril.

Addressing the nation he said "it is the real me I assure you" and assured he was not a "clone" after he came back from a number of health problems.

Source: The Sun

China sued for $200 billion by Nigerian law firm as compensation for Coronavirus pandemic

CC™ Breaking News

group of Nigerian lawyers is suing China for the adverse effects of the coronavirus outbreak on the country and its citizens. 

Recent reports said that the lawyers demand $200 billion in damages for the “loss of lives, economic strangulation, trauma, hardship, social disorientation, mental torture and disruption of the normal, daily existence of people in Nigeria,” according to a statement by the lead counsel, Professor Epiphany Azinge (SAN), whose firm, Azinge and Azinge, is championing the action.

The lawyers established a two-phase action plan, as they will first go to the federal high court of Nigeria and, second, to persuade the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to institute a state action against the People's Republic of China at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at the Hague.

“The legal experts will be claiming damages to the tune of $200 billion and the Chinese government will be served through its Embassy in Nigeria,” Azinge said.

Previously, an Egyptian lawyer has pressed charges against Chinese President Xi Jinping, calling on his country to pay $10 trillion in damages caused by the novel coronavirus in Egypt.

Also, last week, the U.S. state of Missouri filed a lawsuit against the Chinese government over the coronavirus, alleging that the nation's officials are to blame for the global pandemic.

Barack Obama lambastes Trump administration's lack of direction regarding COVID-19

CC™ Breaking News

Barack Obama bashed Donald Trump’s response to the coronavirus crisis this week, claiming there is still no ‘coherent national plan’ to address the outbreak.

‘While we continue to wait for a coherent national plan to navigate this pandemic, states like Massachusetts are beginning to adopt their own public health plans to combat this virus--before it’s too late,’ the former president tweeted Wednesday afternoon.

Obama used the tweet to issue an attack on the president, but also praised Massachusetts for its response to the pandemic with a New Yorker article titled: It’s Not Too Late to Go on Offense Against the Coronavirus. As several states continue to lament that they do not have the supplies to administer enough testing, some have taken matters into their own hands.

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker launched a plan for full-scale, statewide testing, which will be used to implement effective quarantine and treatment systems. The state was able to increase the number of tests administered from just 41 on March 9 to more than eight thousand by April 17.

While the bill does include $25 billion for coronavirus testing, Democrats wanted there to also be a measure to send more federal money to state and local governments to help with mitigation on a more small-scale level.

Obama also attacked his successor at the end of March as Trump signed the CARES Act to provide $2.2 trillion in economic stimulus and relief for Americans and small businesses.

‘We’ve seen all too terribly the consequences of those who denied warnings of a pandemic,’ the two-term Democrat tweeted last month....

‘We can’t afford any more consequences of climate denial. All of us, especially young people, have to demand better of our government at every level and vote this fall,’ he continued at the time.

Obama’s tweet last month also included a link to a news story, but this one was about the Trump administration’s new rules that rolled back Obama-era vehicle fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions standards that were aimed at slowing global warming.

That tweet came as the Trump administration faced growing criticism for failing to heed early global alarms about the virus outbreak - even as death tolls began to spike in places like China and Italy.

Trump has often praised his administration and task force’s response to the crisis, pointing to the fact that he shut down travel from China early on in the pandemic.

Obama many times remains silent on most issues involving his successor in the Oval Office and has stuck with his practice of not naming the president, especially while issuing veiled attacks on Trump.

Source: Daily Mail

Hundreds of Tyson chicken workers test positive for COVID-19 virus

CC™ Breaking News

There is a major issue arising out of the Tyson Fresh Meats Plant located in Waterloo, Iowa. About 12 elected officials in Iowa have asked the food industry giant to shut down its meat processing plant operations there, because of the number of workers coming down with the Coronavirus disease.

As of last count, over 100 employees at the plant have been diagnosed with the COVID-19 virus. 

Tyson is the largest employer in Waterloo and shutting down would mean a loss of 3000 plus jobs.

In Goodlettsville, Tennessee, hundreds of employees at a Tyson chicken plant there have also tested positive for COVID-19.

Furthermore, the Tyson Foods facility in Columbus Junction, Iowa, where at least 148 employees were infected and two died, has been closed since April 6.

Tyson Foods Senior Vice-President told CNN “We’re extremely grateful for the work our team members are doing and for the role they play in the critical supply chain that extends from farm to fork. Tyson has expanded workspaces and is sanitizing and deep-cleaning plant production areas, as well as employee locker and break rooms.”

Tyson Foods is a major player in the food industry and any hick-up in its operations will cause a major ripple effect in an economy that is already trending towards a recession, with arecord unemployment rate, that has never been seen before in the history of the United States.

Germany send Coronavirus bill to China as pressure mounts on the communist enclave

CC™ Global News

GERMANY has called out Beijing’s responsibility for the global Coronavirus pandemic and even issued a £130bn invoice.

On Saturday, U.S. President, Donald Trump also warned that China would face consequences if it was “knowingly responsible” for unleashing the coronavirus pandemic. 

President Trump told reporters: “It could have been stopped in China before it started and it wasn’t, and the whole world is suffering because of it.

This week the city of Wuhan, where the outbreak started, revised its number of fatalities by with a sudden 50% jump in the figure.

The UK has joined US intelligence officials in investigating claims that the virus originated in a Wuhan virus lab and not a wet market.

A bombshell op-ed this week in Germany’s largest tabloid newspaper, Bild, joined this outrage by drawing up an itemised invoice for €149bn (£130b).

The list includes a €27 billion charge for lost tourism revenue, up to €7.2 billion for the German film industry, a million euros an hour for German airline Lufthansa and €50 billion for German small businesses.

Bild calculated that this amounts to €1,784 (£1,550) per person if Germany’s GDP falls by 4.2 percent, under the title “What China owes us.”

China responded by claiming the invoice “stirs up xenophobia and nationalism."

Police arrest Funke Olakunrin’s (nee Fasoranti) killers, 4 other suspects still on the run

Funke Olakunrin (below) and her killers (above)

CC™ Breaking News

The Inspector General of the Nigeria Police Force, Mohammed Adamu has announced the arrests of the four suspects on Thursday. But he said four other suspects, including the ringleader named Tambaya are on the run. Adamu has declared Tambaya a wanted man. Those arrested are: Lawal Mazaje,40, from Felele, Kogi and Adamu adamu, 50, from Jada in Adamawa. The other two are Mohammed Shehu Usman, 26, from Illela Sokoto and Auwal Abubakar, 25, from Shinkafi, Zamfara state. 

Funke Olakunrin was killed at Kajola on Ondo-Ore Road on 12 July 2019. The murder, suspected to be by Fulani marauders triggered national uproar. The police in a statement explained how the suspects were nabbed by a police crack team led by CP Fimihan Adeoye. “After months of relentless efforts to apprehend the killers, the Police Team, on 4th March, 2020 during a follow-up action on a case of a high-profile armed robbery and kidnap for ransom that occurred in Ogun State, arrested one Auwal Abubakar ‘m’ 25yrs, an accessory after the fact of the crime, along Sagamu-Ore expressway in Ondo State.

“The arrest of Auwal Abubakar led to the arrest of two other members of the gang, Mohammed Shehu Usman and Lawal Mazaje in Benin, Edo State from whom cache of ammunition was recovered and one other Adamu Adamu in Akure, Ondo State. Having established sufficient physical and forensic evidence linking the suspects to the killing of Mrs Funke Olakunrin, the investigators, determined to clear all doubts relating to their findings.

On 8th April, 2020, they conducted an Identification Parade at the Federal SARS Headquarters, Lagos which led to the positive and physical identification of three (3) suspects, Adamu Adamu, Lawal Mazaje and Mohammed Shehu Usman by a survivor of the earlier crime."

“The survivor gave a clear description of the roles each of the identified suspects played in the killing. “At this point, the suspects capitulated and voluntarily offered a no-holds-barred confession on how Mrs Funke Olakunrin was killed. “Investigations so far reveal that the operation that led to the killing was carried out by eight fully armed kidnap/robbery suspects led by one Tambaya (other name unknown) who is currently at large. While four of the suspects are in custody, effort is being intensified to arrest the four others still on the run. The 8-man gang has its operational base and membership spread in the south-western part of the country and Edo State."

“Investigations have also revealed that they are responsible for series of high-profile armed robbery and kidnap operations in the region. They also attack, vandalize and steal components of critical national infrastructures such as electrical and telecommunications installations. Consequently, the Inspector General of Police hereby declares the principal suspect, Tambaya (other names unknown) wanted for his involvement in the death of Mrs Funke Olakunrin."

“Tambaya, a Nigerian, speaks Hausa, Fulfulde and Pidgin English. He is fair in complexion and in his late 20s – between the age of 27 and 30. His last known address is Isanlu, Kogi State. He has visible scar from stitches on his forehead down to his nose and mouth."

Source: PM NEWS

Popular Nigerian musician Douglas Jack Agu aka Runtown, gets US stimulus payment, despite 2-year entry ban

CC™ News - By Taiwo Okanlawon 

Popular Nigerian music artiste, Douglas Jack Agu aka Runtown has disclosed that he received COVID-19 stimulus payment from the United States.

He made the announcement on Thursday morning on his social media, although he did not disclose how much the payment was.

Runtown, however, disclosed that the stimulus payment came in spite of him being banned from entering the US in the last two years.

The Mad Over You crooner further said he would be donating the package to his followers on Twitter.

Runtown

✔@iRuntown

Got Stimulus Payment from the US lol ,will share to my friends here

18.6K

12:20 AM - Apr 16, 2020

Twitter Ads info and privacy

7,471 people are talking about this

In a series of tweets, he said, “Got Stimulus Payment from the US lol, will share to my friends here.

“Plot Twist: Been banned from the US for 2 years now.”

Runtown attended St. Augustine’s seminary Ezzamgbo for a short while before proceeding to New York City, United States to study Fashion Management at a fashion school.

The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) said on Twitter that it had weekend begun the disbursement of the “Economic Impact Payments” approved by Congress to help Americans cope with the impact of COVID-19.

Reports say the stimulus payments could be as much as $1,200 for an individual and $2,400 for a couple.

This newspaper could not immediately confirm if Runtown holds American citizenship or permanent residency to have qualified for the US Government stimulus payment.

Source: PM NEWS