One virus; 18 ways of seeing the world. Covid Latam is a collective project documenting the coronavirus pandemic as it unfolds across Latin America. Photographers – 9 men and 9 women – are working in 13 countries: Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Venezuela, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Cuba and Mexico to document the unfolding story of the pandemic through the Covid Latam instagram account

Unemployment rate rose to 14.7% from just 4.4% in March as the coronavirus pandemic shuttered the global economy

• Coronavirus – live US updates
• Live global updates

More than 20 million people in the US lost their jobs in April and the unemployment rate more than trebled as the coronavirus pandemic shuttered the world’s largest economy, triggering a financial crisis unseen since the Great Depression.

The Department of Labor announced Friday that the US unemployment rate rose to 14.7% from just 4.4% in March and a near 50-year low of 3.5% in February before the US was hit by the virus.

• GoFundMe page for Navajo and Hopi aid lists many Irish names
• Choctaw Nation sent donation in 1847 for potato famine victims

The list of recent donors reads like an Irish phone book. Aisling Ní Chuimín, Shane Ó Leary, Sean Gibbons, Kevin Boyle, Kevin Keane, Clare Quinn, Eamonn McDonald, on and on down a GoFundMe page that by Friday had raised $3.15m of a $5m goal.

The individual amounts are not remarkable – $10, $20, $30, some exceeding $100 – but the story behind the donations stretches back two centuries and encompasses a singular act of generosity that forged a bond between Native Americans and Ireland, a bond now renewed in the coronavirus era.

With the coronavirus lockdown forcing people to stay at home, they are turning to the internet to keep their spirits up such a turbulent time. The social media is flooded with hilarious memes, videos and other posts that not only kept the netizens entertained but also spread awareness about the importance of maintaining  social distance.

Not just new content, even old content is making rounds of social media which is being seen in pretext of the lockdown. Union Minister Smriti Irani has shared a video to explain the importance of staying at home during the lockdown.

The video originally posted by popular Youtuber Ashish Chanchlani  in his page, Ashish Chanchlani Vines shows what would happen if American films were made in India. Portraying as a thriller, the video shows a man being chased by a masked man dressing like a ghost. As the man reaches at the doorstep of his house, he stops to remove his shoes and socks before stepping in, which customary in Indian households. After being prompted by the man, the killer removes his shoes too.

The union minister for Women and Child Development and Textiles posted the video on Instagram and captioned it as, "Lockdown Humour. Stay Home, Stay Safe!

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Smriti Irani (@smritiiraniofficial) onApr 12, 2020 at 9:54pm PDT

The post garnered 193,272 views and 23,209 likes on the photo-sharing app where many of her followers thanked her sharing the video along with posting hilarious reactions. One user said, "Culture with ever care vision (sic)." Another user said, "Kahani ghar ghar ki." A user said, "Nowadays, after entering the house both of them should wash their hands thoroughly too before continuing their run, otherwise donon ko corona mar degi!"

What do you think about this video?

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

Kal Penn who played Irrfan’s son in The Namesake can’t get over the loss. “Irrfan was such an incredible artist. What a loss. It was magical. He was so gracious and giving as an artist and a person.”

Not many know about Irrfan’s wicked sense of humour. Says Kal, “He could be so funny! He had a wonderful sense of humor and I remember his approach to the craft being particularly warm.”

Kal recalls Irrfan as an actor sheared of vanity. “He was friendly. Friendly and down to earth. There was never any attitude with Irrfan, he was so comfortable in his own skin and so fully and truly embodied his character when the cameras were rolling.”

But what according to Kal really made Irrfan special was the way he embraced silences. “I've never worked with an artist who communicates so beautifully without needing to speak. When we would shoot scenes for The Namesake, so often, Irrfan would play beat after story beat with intimacy and in silence that made me immediately at ease and in the moment.”

Kal Penn learnt a lot from watching Irrfan not only while they worked together but also when they didn’t work together. “I learned a lot from working with Irrfan but also from watching him work across different mediums, different languages, and different continents. I will always admire his work more broadly, and to have had that kind of range is so remarkable.”

Kal will remember Irran as an actor who at once no one and everyone. “He was such a commensurate artist whose performances are simultaneously intimate and reflect the humanity in each of us.”

Also Read: 5 Years Of Piku: Deepika Padukone bids farewell to Irrfan Khan with an unseen picture

The Treasury Department has ordered President Donald Trump's name to be printed on all stimulus checks being sent to millions of Americans struggling financially because of coronavirus. The unprecedented decision announced by the Treasury Department on late Monday, states that when recipients open the USD 1,200 paper checks, which the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is scheduled to begin sending to 70 million Americans in coming days, "President Donald J. Trump" will appear on the left side of the payment, The Washington Post reported.

It will be the first time when a president's name appears on an IRS disbursement, whether a routine refund or one of the handful of checks the government has issued to taxpayers in recent decades either to stimulate a down economy or share the dividends of a strong one. The checks are the centerpiece of the US government's USD 2 trillion stimulus economic relief package to stave of the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The package was passed by a bipartisan vote in Congress and signed by the President.

The Post reported that the decision is another sign of the president's effort to cast his response to the pandemic in political terms. Three administration officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told the newspaper that Trump had privately suggested to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who oversees the IRS, to formally sign the checks. However, the president is not an authorised signer for legal disbursements by the US Treasury. It is standard practice for a civil servant to sign checks issued by the Treasury Department to ensure that government payments are nonpartisan, the media reported.

Computer code must be changed to include the president's name and the system must be tested, these officials said. "Any last-minute request like this will create a downstream snarl that will result in a delay," said Chad Hooper, a quality-control manager who serves as national president of the IRS's Professional Managers Association. A Treasury Department spokeswoman, meanwhile, denied any delay and said the plan all along was to issue the checks next week.

Since the beginning, Trump has repeatedly called the legislation "a Trump administration initiative" and placed himself singularly at the center of what the government is doing to help Americans during the coronavirus response. About 150 million Americans and others are expected to receive the one-time payment. The first wave of recipients includes mainly people who filed a 2018 or 2019 tax return and gave the IRS their direct-deposit information.

Under the stimulus plan, single filers earning up to USD 75,000 a year will receive a payment of USD 1,200. Married couples earning up to USD 150,000 a year will receive a payment of USD 2,400. Parents will receive an additional USD 500 for each child under 17, the media reported.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever

Indian-American Seema Nanda has announced that she was stepping down as the CEO of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), it was reported. The Boston College Law School and Brown University grad, who took over as the DNC CEO in June 2018, succeeding Mary Beth Cahill, announced the move via Twitter on Friday, the American Bazaar reported.

"After two years, I will be stepping down as CEO of the DNC. I couldn't be prouder of the infrastructure we have built, the primary process we have run, and the team we have built. "I look forward to continuing the fight for our democracy and to elect Democrats everywhere," she added.

Nanda however, did not reveal the reason behind her decision nor did she announce her next move. During her tenure, Nanda worked closely with DNC Chair Tom Perez, managing the group's day-to-day operations.

The two had worked together at the Department of Labor during the former administration of President Barack Obama. Perez's term as DNC chair will end after the November presidential election. While accepting the position in 2018, Nanda described the job as "the opportunity of a lifetime".

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever

Many Americans in India who had signed up for airlifts back to the US are now deciding to stay back and "ride it out" during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the State Department's top consular official. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Ian Brownlee said on Tuesday that many who had enlisted for repatriation from India were not responding to offers of seats on the planes arranged by the department to take them home.

The number of recorded COVID-19 cases in the US reached 1 million on Tuesday, with 58,348 deaths, while India had only 31,368 officially recorded cases with 1,008 fatalities, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker. Brownlee said: "Two weeks ago, we had a list of folks and we were pretty sure if we called (the) folks they'd show up at the airport and say, 'Yes, please.' We're now getting to the point on that list, we're having to make multiple calls for individual seats because people are deciding 'No,' they'd just as soon ride it out where they are."

Last week he said that 4,000 Americans had been brought back to the US and 6,000 were waiting for airlifts. India has cancelled passenger flights and rail transportation during the strict lockdown imposed on March 25.

Brownlee had spoken earlier of the massive logistics effort required to bring Americans from around the vast country to Mumbai and New Delhi, the departure points for the chartered flights.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever

The US became the first country in the world to have more than one million cases of the novel Coronavirus. It accounts for nearly one-third of the 3.1 million cases globally on Tuesday, while the fatalities spiked to over 58,300, exceeding the number of American soldiers who lost their lives in the two-decade-long Vietnam War.

'We're coming back strong'
According to the US National Archives, 58,220 American soldiers died in the Vietnam conflict, which began in 1955 and ended in 1975. With 58,355 deaths so far, the US also accounts for one-fourth of the over 2,13,000 global fatalities.

"We continue to pray for the victims as well as for those Americans who are grieving their lost ones and their loved ones. There's never been anything like this. We suffer with one heart but we will prevail. We are coming back, and we're coming back strong," US President Donald Trump said at the White House during his remarks on the Paycheck Protection Programme.

"Now that our experts believe the worst days of the pandemic are behind us, Americans are looking forward to the safe and rapid reopening of our country," he said. "Throughout this ordeal, millions of hard-working Americans have been asked to really make tremendous, tremendous sacrifices. It is sacrifices like nobody thought would even be possible; nobody thought we would ever be talking about something like this," Trump said. Meanwhile, several states have initiated the process to reopen their economies.

Some states reopen
In California, Governor Gavin Newsom outlined the phased reopening of his state.
"We are not going back to the way things were until we get to immunity or a vaccine. We will base reopening plans on facts and data, not on ideology. Not what we want. Not what we hope," he told reporters. More than 1,800 people have died due to the coronavirus in California so far. Schools and colleges, he said, could start in July-August.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has also announced first phase reopening of the state. Tennessee on Monday allowed reopening of restaurants and later this week retail outlets could resume their businesses. Pennsylvania has announced three-phase reopening of the state beginning May 3. The US, Trump said, is opening up again.

58,355
No. of deaths due to COVID-19 in America

58,220
No. of US soldiers killed in two-decade-long war

People visit Yellow Crane Tower after it reopened to the public in China's Wuhan, the epicentre of the COVID-19 outbreak, on Wednesday. Pic/AFP

China's parliament to meet on May 22

China on Wednesday said it will hold from May 22 its annual parliament session, signalling that the pandemic that paralysed the country for over three months is finally under control. The third session of the 13th National People's Congress, which was to be held from March 5, was postponed for the first time ever due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

After rolling out exit plan, Spain sees spike

With 325 new deaths, Spain on Wednesday witnessed a slight rebound in fatalities, a day after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced his plan to ease the COVID-19 lockdown. Individual exercise, haircuts and other personalised services with an appointment will be allowed from Saturday. COVID-19 has killed 24,275 Spaniards and infected over 2,12,000.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever

Mexico has completed its domestic ratification procedures in respect of the new US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which will replace the North American Free Trade Agreement, with the US and Canada.

Representatives from US trade and industry associations have voiced concern about a digital services tax proposal floated during the recent Canadian election which they argue will "impose discriminatory requirements on the digital economy."

On January 16, 2020, the US Senate voted to approve the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which will replace the existing North American Free Trade Agreement.

In a letter to United States Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, the European Council has expressed concern at the lack of action by the US Government to alleviate the compliance burdens of EU nationals and financial institutions with regards to the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act.

A culturally tailored multilevel strategy designed by scientists significantly increased human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine uptake among low-income, mostly

More information on climate-friendly plant-based diets is needed among American consumers, revealed results from a national survey released today by the

Since the implementation of the 2013 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Guideline on the Treatment of Blood Cholesterol, cholesterol levels in American adults are declining.

A strong majority of Americans agree that organ and tissue donation for research contributes to health and medical breakthroughs and acknowledge significant shortfalls for donation.

Brain abnormalities have been identified in American diplomats who have worked in Cuba. The diplomats are speculated to be victims of mysterious, invisible attacks in Cuba.

Chronic stress increases the risk of developing high blood pressure (hypertension) in African-Americans, reports a new study. The findings of the study

looking for single god fearing female of virtue no kids no drugs or drinking

educated in good health and shape financially stable with heart will and desire to achieve long term relationship possible matrimony seriuos...

When it comes to well-being, American users of the OECD Better Life Index (BLI) want to be happy, Canadians care most about health, while Latin Americans strive for better education. That’s according to user feedback as the Index marks its third birthday.

This OECD report was developed in collaboration with the United States, Mexico and Canada, for consideration by the three Leaders in the context of the 2016 North American Leaders Summit.

When it comes to well-being, American users of the OECD Better Life Index (BLI) want to be happy, Canadians care most about health, while Latin Americans strive for better education. That’s according to user feedback as the Index marks its third birthday.

This OECD report was developed in collaboration with the United States, Mexico and Canada, for consideration by the three Leaders in the context of the 2016 North American Leaders Summit.