Saturday, May 16th, 2020

New coronavirus vaccine official is ‘confident’ vaccine possible within 2020 President Trump on Friday appointed pharmaceutical conglomerate GlaxoSmithKline’s former chair Moncef Slaoui and Army Gen. Gustave Perna to lead the administration’s development of a coronavirus vaccine. The officials, who will lead the effort called Operation Warp Speed, will seek to develop a vaccine within 12 to 18 months, which some officials say is an overly optimistic timeline, though others say it could be possible if efforts go smoothly. Slaoui said he’s “confident that we will be able to deliver a few hundred million doses of vaccine by the end of 2020.” Trump said the federal government will provide additional funding to help “accelerate” the development and manufacturing of a vaccine. The White House also added five new members to its coronavirus task force. Source: ABC News

 

Michigan passes 50,000 cases of COVID-19. As of this date, this state has 50,079 reported cases, causing 4,825 deaths. The city of Detroit, which has 10,230 reported positive tests, accounts for more than 20% of the state’s cases, and 1,240 deaths, 25% of the state’s total. (MLive.com)

United States President Donald Trump announces the officials for Operation Warp Speed in an effort to develop a vaccine by the end of 2020. (Politico)

American retail chain J. C. Penney files for chapter 11 bankruptcy.(USA Today)

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo extends the stay-at-home order for New York until June 13. (Business Insider)

The Dubai Road Transport Authority announces that the elevators on the Dubai Metro will be restricted to two people at a time. (Gulf News)

The death toll from COVID-19 exceeds 300,000 worldwide. (TimesnowNews)

Nelson Teich resigns as Brazil’s Minister of Health less than a month into office amid disagreements with President Jair Bolsonaro over the federal government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. (BBC)

DOJ, state AGs reportedly planning to target Google in major antitrust cases The Justice Department and the attorneys general of several states are expected to bring antitrust suits against Google focusing intensely on the company’s ad business, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday. The DOJ case could reportedly be brought as soon as this summer, while the state attorneys general are expected to file a case closer to the fall. It’s unclear whether states will file separate complaints or join the federal case. Google’s ad business has long been a source of criticism. CNBC noted in late 2019 that the tech giant was on track to surpass 20 percent of U.S. ad spending both online and offline by the end of the year. The Journal says the potential lawsuits could “rank among the most significant antitrust cases in U.S. history.” Source: The Wall Street Journal

Biden lays out path to ‘318 electoral votes’ Former Vice President Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign laid out what it sees as a “clear” path to winning 318 electoral votes in this year’s presidential election in a Friday call with reporters. Biden’s camp is convinced it can win back states that went for former President Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 but flipped to Trump in 2016, including Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. In addition, it’s considering the red states Arizona, Georgia, and Texas as flippable, with Biden campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon saying she’s “bullish about Arizona” in particular. Biden’s strategy for winning those states relies on young, black, and Latino voters; suburban, college-educated voters; and disaffected Trump voters; though his campaign has struggled to bring in Latino voters so far. Source: The Daily Beast

 

Friday, May 15th, 2020

Gunmen opened fire against two social workers delivering aid for people amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Van Province, Turkey, killing them at the scene. (Xinhua)

Save the Children reports a surge in deaths of people with coronavirus-like symptoms in Aden, with at least 380 in the last week. Officially, Yemen has only reported 13 COVID-19 deaths. (BBC)

The U.S. Senate unanimously passes a bill placing visa and property sanctions on Chinese officials involved in the persecution of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. (Al Jazeera)

Burundi expels the country’s top World Health Organization representative and three other experts coordinating the COVID-19 response. The government says they are persona non grata and must leave Burundi. They accused them of “interfering with the government response to the pandemic”. (Al Jazeera)

The United States Navy’s Naval Safety Center discloses “hazard reports” of Navy pilot encounters with unidentified aerial phenomena, including an incident in March 2014, in which a fighter jet pilot encountered an “unknown aircraft”, which was “approximately the size of a suitcase, and silver in colour.” (Sky News)

 

The End