Judges: Trump order to exclude people violates the law
NEW YORK — A panel of three federal judges said Thursday that President Trump’s order to exclude people in the country illegally when redrawing congressional districts violates the law.
The federal judges in New York granted an injunction stopping the order, saying the harm caused by it would last for a decade. The judges prohibited Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, whose agency oversees the Census Bureau, from excluding people in the country illegally when turning over figures used to calculate how many congressional seats each state gets.
Trump heads to big rally amid virus, Woodward book fallout
WASHINGTON — Amid a political crisis of his own making, President Donald Trump headed for the support of a rally in battleground Michigan on Thursday, trying to move past revelations that he had been determined to play down the danger of the coronavirus last winter despite describing it in private as “deadly stuff.”
But the virus controversy followed him. Trump faced renewed pushback from officials worried that his rallies are growing in size and flouting public health guidelines intended to halt the COVID-19 spread. This week, the state of Nevada became the first to scuttle his plans for rallies initially set for Las Vegas and Reno. Michigan’s Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has also raised alarms about Thursday’s event.
Before departing the White House Trump denied he had lied to the nation and highlighted a surge in virus cases in Europe to contend that the United States is faring well. “I really do believe we’re rounding the corner,” he asserted.
Trump is grappling with fallout from a new book by Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward. In a series of interviews with Woodward, the president spoke frankly about the dangers posed by the virus — even as he downplayed them publicly — and admitted he had tried to mislead the public. The book, based on recorded phone interviews, has refocused attention on Trump’s handling of the virus, a subject he has tried to shift away from less than two months before Election Day.
“Donald Trump knew all along just how deadly this virus is,” Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said in a virtual fundraiser. “He knew and purposefully played it down because all he was concerned about was his reelection, didn’t want to affect economic growth.”
Scarcity of key material squeezes medical mask manufacturing
FRESNO, Calif. — Rachel Spray is still grieving the loss of her fellow nurse who died after being exposed to the novel coronavirus at Kaiser Permanente Fresno Medical Center in California. Now, as she stands in front of the gleaming glass and concrete hospital, she says she “dreads going in there” and fears she’ll be next.
That’s because like those in many U.S. hospitals, management is rationing supplies, she says, keeping medical-grade masks under lock and key.
White House officials say U.S. hospitals have all the medical supplies needed to battle the deadly virus, but front-line health care workers, hospital officials and even the Food and Drug Administration say shortages persist. Critical shortfalls of medical N95 respirators, commonly referred to as N95 masks, and other protective gear started in March, when the pandemic hit New York. Pressure on the medical supply chain continues today, and in “many ways things have only gotten worse,” the American Medical Association’s president, Dr. Susan Bailey, said in a recent statement.
“N95s are still in a shortage,” said Mike Schiller, the American Hospital Association’s senior director for supply chains. “It’s certainly not anywhere near pre-COVID levels.”
Early in the pandemic the White House failed to heed stark warnings, specifically about N95s, from high-level administration officials. The Associated Press has found the administration took months to sign contracts with companies that make the crucial component inside these masks: meltblown textile. Meltblowing is the manufacturing process that turns plastic into the dense mesh that makes N95 masks effective at blocking vanishingly small particles, including viruses.
Huge fire at Beirut port sows panic after last month’s blast
BEIRUT — A huge fire broke out at Beirut’s port Thursday, raising new panic among residents still struggling with the traumatic effects of the catastrophic explosion at the same site last month.
Some sought safety in closed bathrooms or threw open their windows to guard against shattering glass in case of another blast; others piled into cars to flee the capital. No injuries were reported.
Dark smoke and the smell of toxic fumes enveloped Beirut in the evening as army helicopters circled and sprayed water over the orange flames, helping firefighters on the ground.
It was unclear what caused the blaze at the port, which was decimated by the Aug. 4 explosion when nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate blew up, sending out a shock wave that killed nearly 200 people and caused widespread damage.
The Lebanese army said the fire started in the port’s duty free zone amid containers of tires, oil and other flammable materials.
‘Avengers’ and ‘Game of Thrones’ star Diana Rigg dies at 82
LONDON — Diana Rigg, a commanding British actress whose career stretched from iconic 1960s spy series “The Avengers” to fantasy juggernaut “Game of Thrones,” has died. She was 82.
Rigg’s agent, Simon Beresford, said she died Thursday morning at home with her family. Daughter Rachael Stirling said she died of cancer that was diagnosed in March.
Rigg “spent her last months joyfully reflecting on her extraordinary life, full of love, laughter and a deep pride in her profession. I will miss her beyond words,” Stirling said.
Rigg starred in “The Avengers” as secret agent Emma Peel alongside Patrick Macnee’s bowler-hatted John Steed. The pair were an impeccably dressed duo who fought villains and traded quips in a show whose mix of adventure and humor was enduringly influential.
Rigg also starred in 1969 James Bond thriller “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” as Tracy di Vicenzo, the only woman ever to marry, albeit briefly, Agent 007. Bond producers Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli said Rigg was “much beloved by Bond fans for her memorable performance.”
