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Into the Woods: Spine-Tingling Secrets About the Friday the 13th Franchise

Kids, if you've ever wondered why it's a bad idea to have sex at your picturesque lakeside summer camp, look no further. While it didn't invent the idea of punishing teenagers...




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Scott Disick Worried About His Kids Following Kim & Kourtney Kardashian's Physical Altercation

Would Kourtney Kardashian have apologized to Kim Kardashian if they didn't have their Armenia trip planned? That very question was addressed in this bonus clip from season 18 of...




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'We are very afraid': stranded cruise ship's crew in limbo amid pandemic

Tensions aboard the Greg Mortimer have reached breaking point over allegations ship’s operators and captain pressured doctor to downplay outbreak

After an ill-fated Antarctic expedition in which 60% of passengers and crew contracted coronavirus and spent a month stranded off the coast of South America, the successful repatriation of 132 tourists from a Australian cruise ship seemed like a rare happy ending.

But what should have been a peaceful epilogue in which the crew of the Greg Mortimer sailed safely home has become a gruesome sequel of sickness and panic – with the added possibility of a legal battle in Miami courts.

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Carnival to resume cruises in August despite infections and deaths on ships

Eight cruise ships to resume operations from 1 August, sailing from Texas and Florida

Carnival Cruise Line has announced plans to resume operations at the beginning of August despite dozens of deaths on cruise ships during the Covid-19 pandemic and investigations into the industry’s possible role in spreading the disease around the planet.

In a statement on Monday, the operator said eight cruise ships would resume operations from 1 August, sailing from Galveston, Texas, and Miami and Port Canaveral in Florida, once a no-sail order from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had expired.

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Cruise companies accused of refusing to let stranded crew disembark due to cost

Death toll of crew stranded by coronavirus continues to rise as industry blames ‘impractical’ safety requirements for blocking disembarkation

Some cruise companies have refused to agree to rules that would allow tens of thousands of stranded crew back to land, citing concerns about cost and potential legal consequences, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The largest trade association for the cruise industry has called the CDC’s requirements for disembarkation “impractical”.

The standoff comes amid a deteriorating situation on many ships around the world and a rising death toll of crew members.

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The urban wild: animals take to the streets amid lockdown – in pictures

Animals have started taking advantage of cities as they enter lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic. From New Delhi, India to Buenos Aires, Argentina, groups of animals including deer and lemurs have started to come out to explore – in search of food or just to play

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Bondi beach and Bronte welcome back swimmers as coronavirus lockdown relaxed – in pictures

Waverley council in Sydney’s eastern suburbs has reopened Bondi, Bronte and Tamarama beaches to swimmers and surfers between 7am and 5pm on weekdays. The beaches were closed as Australia’s coronavirus restrictions came into force. They are to remain closed on weekends, and only the water is ‘open’, with sunbathing, walking and jogging on the beach not allowed

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'Unicorn of the sea': rare sighting of ornate eagle ray off Great Barrier Reef – video

Australian researcher and reef guide Jacinta Shackleton is now one of the few people to have ever seen the rare and endangered ornate eagle ray. Shackleton was conducting research near Lady Elliot Island on the Great Barrier Reef when she saw the ray, something she said was an 'unforgettable and emotional experience'. With little more than 50 sightings recorded worldwide, divers have dubbed the ray ’the unicorn of the sea’

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'No way food safety not compromised': US regulation rollbacks during Covid-19 criticised

Major pork plant closed after hundreds of workers contract coronavirus, while speeding up of poultry production lines raises concerns over standards

The US government is accelerating controversial regulatory rollbacks to speed up production at meat plants, as companies express growing alarm at the impact of Covid-19 on their operations.

Last week Smithfield shut down one of the largest pork plants in the country after hundreds of employees contracted the coronavirus. The plant in South Dakota – whose output represents 4–5% of US pork production – is reported to be the largest single-source coronavirus hotspot in the US, with more than 600 cases. In response, the company said it was “critical” for the meat industry to “continue to operate unabated”.

Now it has emerged that as a wave of plants announce closures, US meat plants are being granted permission to increase the speed of their production lines. This comes despite warnings that the waivers for higher speeds on slaughter and processing lines will compromise food safety.

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Millions of farm animals culled as US food supply chain chokes up

US government vets said to be ready to assist with culls, or ‘depopulation’ of pigs, chickens and cattle because of coronavirus meat plant closures

Covid-related slaughterhouse shutdowns in the US are leading to fears of meat shortages and price rises, while farmers are being forced to consider “depopulating” their animals.

More than 20 slaughterhouses have been forced to close, although some have subsequently reopened. On Tuesday President Trump issued an executive order to keep slaughterhouses open which would, he said, help solve liability problems for meat companies.

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Don't get in a flap: test your knowledge of urban birds – quiz

Cities are home to a huge array of birdlife, but do you know your curlew from your godwit?

Which bird – the fastest living creature in the whole world – has found a home in city centres across Britain, Europe and North America?

Hobby

Peregrine

Swift

Which tropical-looking bird, weighing just 4.5g is now overwintering in Vancouver, Canada, where winter temperatures can fall well below zero?

Anna's hummingbird

Tropical kingbird

Worm-eating warbler

Which exotic pink waterbird gathers in large flocks in the lagoon in the centre of Montpellier on the French Riviera?

Roseate spoonbill

Scarlet ibis

Greater flamingo

Which bird of prey is a common sight as it gathers in huge flocks over cities such as New Delhi, India?

Himalayan vulture

Black kite

Indian spotted eagle

Which globally endangered species of wading bird, of which there are fewer than 500 left alive, stops off in Hong Kong each spring and autumn on its migratory journeys?

Long-billed curlew

Bar-tailed godwit

Spoon-billed sandpiper

Which black-and-white waterbird – known as the "bin chicken", "dump chook" and "refuse raptor" – regularly raids rubbish bins in Melbourne, Australia?

Australian white pelican

Australian white ibis

Black-necked stork

America’s national bird, which species of raptor regularly nests in Denver city centre?

American kestrel

Bald eagle

Golden eagle

Which epic global traveller flies all the way from the Antarctic Ocean, to breed in the centre of Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik?

Bar-headed goose

Arctic tern

Wilson's storm-petrel

Which graceful creature, Europe’s largest wildfowl, is also Denmark’s national bird, thanks to a story from Hans Christian Andersen?

Mute swan

Whooper swan

Bewick's swan

Which pinkish-brown garden bird is known as the "television dove" in Germany, because of its habit of perching on rooftop aerials?

Turtle dove

Laughing dove

Collared dove

4 and above.

Pretty good: your bird knowledge is clearly a feather in your cap

7 and above.

Great bird knowledge: you're in the top flight!

0 and above.

Oh dear: bird-wise you're getting by on a wing and a prayer ...

Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield on Twitter for all the latest news and features

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Conservation in crisis: ecotourism collapse threatens communities and wildlife

From Kenya to the Seychelles, coronavirus has dealt a devastating blow to efforts to protect endangered wildlife

From the vast plains of the Masai Mara in Kenya to the delicate corals of the Aldabra atoll in the Seychelles, conservation work to protect some of the world’s most important ecosystems is facing crisis following a collapse in ecotourism during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Organisations that depend on visitors to fund projects for critically endangered species and rare habitats could be forced to close, according to wildlife NGOs, after border closures and worldwide travel restrictions abruptly halted millions of pounds of income from tourism.

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Conservation in crisis: why Covid-19 could push mountain gorillas back to the brink

Once a step away from extinction, their survival was a rare success story. But groundbreaking gorilla conservation is now in peril

As he clambers down the forested ravine, soil slipping beneath his boots, Dr Fred Nizeyimana knows they are close. “I can smell them,” he says, just before the mountain gorillas come into view high in the canopy, plucking leaves and chomping on the vegetation. An adult female slides down a tree, a flash of black fur and elongated limb. More follow, with infants and juveniles in tow. A grunting silverback descends to join its family, the branches buckling beneath approximately 180kg (400lb) of iconic primate.

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Britain has faced its toughest test for decades, but we will build a better tomorrow'

Vital lessons about our mutual dependence will help us emerge stronger from the pandemic

If ever a crisis proved that our fates are bound together, it has been the last six weeks. The state has asked many businesses to stand idle to save lives, firms have turned to the state as their guarantor of survival and workers have risked their lives for us all. When we have faced our toughest test for decades as a nation, it has been essential to pull together.

Yet we are only at the beginning of the need to recognise the mutual dependence between public and private sectors and our collective solidarity.

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The coronavirus has exposed the imbalances in modern Britain

What’s needed after Covid-19 is a bigger, smarter state, with more devolved decisions, a greener economy and a stronger safety net

The words are straining to come out. Boris Johnson hero worships Winston Churchill so it is obvious how the prime minister will pitch this week’s announcement of the plan to get Britain out of lockdown.

In late 1942, victory in the north African desert had suggested that the tide of the war might have turned but Churchill was cautious. “Now this is not the end,” he said in a speech at London’s Mansion House. “It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

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We created the Anthropocene, and the Anthropocene is biting back | Alastair Gee, Dani Anguiano

It’s clear from a recent litany of disasters – from the coronavirus pandemic to America’s deadliest wildfire in a century – there are forces that cannot be domesticated

About 12,000 years ago, human domestication of the natural world began in earnest with the intentional cultivation of wild plants and animals. Fast forward to today and our dominion over the planet appears complete, as 7.8 billion of us multiply across its surface and our reach extends from the deep-sea beds, which are being mined, to the heavens, where we are, according to Donald Trump, dispatching a space force.

Yet as has been made clear by a recent litany of disasters – from the coronavirus pandemic to America’s deadliest wildfire in a century – there are forces that cannot be domesticated. Indeed, our interference with the natural world is making them more liable to flare up into tragedy. We created the Anthropocene, and the Anthropocene is biting back.

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The world stopped another Chernobyl by working together. Coronavirus demands the same | Serhii Plokhy

The pandemic reminds me of a different invisible enemy. Once again, coordinated action is the only effective response

Deja vu. In recent days I’ve had that sense more than once. Every time I come home, remove my mask and wash my hands, I start thinking whether it is safe to keep on wearing the clothes that I had on outside. What if they are contaminated by the virus? Well, I can change clothes, but what if the particles have already jumped somewhere else, and are now in my home? Some would call it paranoia. I call it deja vu. I recognise those thoughts and remember the feelings.

That is because I first experienced them more than 30 years ago, in May 1986, on a trip to Kyiv, then the capital of Soviet Ukraine. It was a few weeks after the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, and I was in the city – about 100km from the disaster area – on a business trip. We already knew that there was radiation in the air. Water trucks were spraying the streets, foreign students were leaving the city, and overseas broadcasters like the BBC were telling us to stay inside. But our own government was sending confusing and distressing messages: there is absolutely no danger, but make sure you keep children inside, and pregnant women too. Oh, and close your windows when you are at home.

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Australia has found common ground to respond to Covid-19. We can do the same for climate change | Cassandra Goldie, Innes Willox, Emma Herd

After all we have already endured in 2020 we should know that stopping an emergency is far better than responding to one

In just a few short months, many more people in Australia have faced greater adversity in 2020 than in the decade since we emerged from the global financial crisis.

The bushfires that affected the health of millions, claimed lives and livelihoods, blighted our landscape and destroyed communities were unprecedented in size and intensity. Now the acute shock of the Covid-19 pandemic has also taken lives and left many more living in fear, while throwing hundreds of thousands out of paid work, shattering businesses and leaving us facing an unstable new world.

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'There are no excuses left': why climate science deniers are running out of rope

Guardian environment correspondent Fiona Harvey recalls being heckled at the House of Commons and explains how attitudes to climate have shifted in 10 years

The shouted words rang out across the packed parliamentary corridor: “Fiona Harvey is the worst journalist there is. She’s the worst journalist of them all, because she should know better.”

They were the words of Lord Lawson, former UK chancellor of the exchequer, turned climate denier and now Brexiter, addressing a crowd of more than 100 people trying to cram into a House of Commons hearing on climate change. As listeners craned their necks to hear better, whispering and nudging, he elaborated at length on my insistence on reporting the work of the 97% of the world’s climate scientists whose work shows human responsibility for global heating, and failure to give equal weight to the tiny number of dissenters.

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Why we're rethinking the images we use for our climate journalism

Guardian picture editor Fiona Shields explains why we are going to be using fewer polar bears and more people to illustrate our coverage of the climate emergency

At the Guardian we want to ensure that the images we publish accurately and appropriately convey the climate crisis that we face. Following discussions among editors about how we could change the language we use in our coverage of environmental issues, our attention then turned to images. We have been working across the organisation to better understand how we aim to visually communicate the impact the climate emergency is having across the world.

Related: The Guardian's climate pledge 2019

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Today we pledge to give the climate crisis the attention it demands | Katharine Viner

The Guardian’s editor-in-chief explains why support from our readers is crucial in enabling us to produce fearless, independent reporting that addresses the climate emergency

At the Guardian we believe the climate crisis is the most urgent issue of our times. And we know that Guardian readers are equally passionate about the need for governments, businesses and individuals to take immediate action to avoid a catastrophe for humanity and for the natural world.

Today the Guardian is making a pledge to our readers that we will play our part, both in our journalism and in our own organisation, to address the climate emergency. We hope this underlines to you the Guardian’s deep commitment to quality environmental journalism, rooted in scientific fact.

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Can't hurry love: slow worms embrace marathon sessions of lockdown loving

If you’re gardening more than usual, try not to disturb the legless lizard, which can mate for up to 10 hours at a time in May

Under a small, sun-baked mat, a curled metallic-gold slow worm lies basking in the heat, the dark stripe running down its body revealing its youth. Sensing attention, it begins to wriggle away, revealing a companion, which speeds rapidly into the grasses in the opposite direction.

After a winter of social distancing, slow worms – a type of legless lizard that grows up to half a metre long and is often mistaken for a snake – have been venturing out of hibernation to enjoy warming their cold-blooded bodies in the spring sun.

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'Not just weeds': how rebel botanists are using graffiti to name forgotten flora

Pavement chalking to draw attention to wild flowers and plants in urban areas has gone viral across Europe – but UK chalkers could face legal action

A rising international force of rebel botanists armed with chalk has taken up street graffiti to highlight the names and importance of the diverse but downtrodden flora growing in the cracks of paths and walls in towns and cities across Europe.

The idea of naming wild plants wherever they go – which began in France – has gone viral, with people chalking and sharing their images on social media. More than 127,000 people have liked a photo of chalked-up tree names in a London suburb, while a video of botanist Boris Presseq of Toulouse Museum of Natural History chalking up names to highlight street flowers in the French city has had 7m views.

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Forest fire season is coming. How can we stop the Amazon burning?

The Guardian investigates fire in the state of Pará - to reveal the loopholes that allow deforestation to be legitimised

We found the first fire without looking, crackling and roaring on farmland beside the busy Amazon highway, the flames consuming a road sign with its name – BR-163 – lying in the grass. Trucks thundered past, ferrying soya and corn from the agricultural heartlands of Brazil’s central-west to the ports of Santarém and Miritituba. Nobody was around.

Every year fires roar across the Amazon, and in just a few months they will be here again. But last August the number of blazes reached a nine-year high, and sparked an international crisis for Brazil’s far-right president Jair Bolsonaro. Months later, their traces hung over the forests in the Amazon state of Pará, leaving blackened logs and charred tree stumps where there was once rainforest.

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One billion people will live in insufferable heat within 50 years – study

Human cost of climate crisis will hit harder and sooner than previously believed, research reveals

The human cost of the climate crisis will hit harder, wider and sooner than previously believed, according to a study that shows a billion people will either be displaced or forced to endure insufferable heat for every additional 1C rise in the global temperature.

In a worst-case scenario of accelerating emissions, areas currently home to a third of the world’s population will be as hot as the hottest parts of the Sahara within 50 years, the paper warns. Even in the most optimistic outlook, 1.2 billion people will fall outside the comfortable “climate niche” in which humans have thrived for at least 6,000 years.

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Zero-waste warriors: meet the people whose household rubbish fits in a jam jar

From making their own toothpaste to foraging locally for edible plants, more and more people are learning to cut the amount of rubbish they throw out. Here’s how they do it

Through my work, I have seen the huge amount of waste and recycling that we produce. Watching an incinerator for half an hour shocked me and made me want to take action. I was standing on a balcony wearing a full body suit and goggles watching gigantic grabbers emptying waste from trucks. The scale is so shocking and you realise how tiny we are compared to the amount of waste we create. I don’t want to contribute to that wastefulness and it has made me want to take action.

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Winners of the 2020 Whitley wildlife conservation awards - in pictures

Tapirs in South America, hirolas in Somalia, hornbills in Indonesia, chimps in Nigeria, tamarins in Brazil and frogs in South Africa ... the ‘green Oscars’ recognise and celebrate the achievements of the animals’ grassroots protectors

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Pollutionwatch: breathtaking views will vanish unless we build back better

Only government action will preserve the clearer, bluer skies gifted to us by the coronavirus lockdown

Many of us will have noticed differences in traffic noise and air pollution during the lockdown. Startling images have come from India where, for the first time in a generation, the Himalayas have been visible more than a hundred miles away. Something similar happened in the UK in 1921 when coal shortages during a miner’s strike led to newspaper reports of distant landmarks being visible as never before. In the UK we too have been able to look up at clearer blue skies, less impeded by air pollution and not crisscrossed by aircraft contrails. This helped Germany to break a solar power record.

In Beijing, air pollution controls for the 2014 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting also brought a return to blue skies. The term “APEC blue” emerged in Chinese social media and was nominated as Beijing’s top environmental phrase for the year. Later it took on a tinge of sadness, to mean something wonderful, but brief. One woman posted about love on social media, “He’s not that into you – it’s just an APEC blue!”

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World cannot return to 'business as usual' after Covid-19, say mayors

City leaders publish ‘statement of principles’ putting climate action at centre of recovery plans

Mayors from many of the world’s leading cities have warned there can be no return to “business as usual” in the aftermath of the coronavirus crisis if humanity is to escape catastrophic climate breakdown.

City leaders representing more than 750 million people have published a “statement of principles”, which commits them to putting greater equality and climate resilience at the heart of their recovery plans.

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Selma Blair reveals she cried with relief at MS diagnosis after being 'not taken seriously' by doctors

The 46-year-old actress is now revealing the agony she went through before receiving a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) last August."Ever since my son was born, I was in an MS flare-up and didn't know, and I was giving it everything to seem normal," Blair told Robin Roberts in an interview that aired Tuesday on "Good Morning America." "And I was self-medicating when he wasn't with me. Blair recalled that she would get so fatigued prior to her diagnosis that she would need to pull over to take a nap after dropping her son, now 7, off at his school one mile away from their home. During her interview with "GMA" at her Los Angeles home, Blair was in an "exacerbation" of MS, or an attack that causes new symptoms or the worsening of existing symptoms.





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Mike 'The Situation' Sorrentino Is 'Having the Time of His Life' in Prison, Snooki Says

Mike 'The Situation' Sorrentino Is 'Having the Time of His Life' in Prison





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Swizz Beatz, Alicia Keys’s husband, says hip-hop industry lacks compassion

Iconic hip-hop producer and Alicia Keys’s husband, Swizz Beatz, isn’t afraid to tell his guy friends he loves them.





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PhoneQuake — Best Cell Phone Plans For College Students - Being...

Best Cell Phone Plans For College Students - Being a student means making budget your middle name. What better place to start than with your cell phone plan? You want enough minutes, lots of texting, and a data plan that won’t quit. College is an ex…




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One Dead and 5 Missing After Canadian Military Helicopter Crashes off Greece

The Cyclone helicopter was participating in a NATO training exercise. A Nova Scotia native died, and two others from the province were missing.




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Canada Bans Assault Weapons in Wake of Deadly Mass Shooting

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the government had been in the process of introducing the ban when its agenda was overturned by the pandemic.




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‘Murder Hornets’ in the U.S.: The Rush to Stop the Asian Giant Hornet

Sightings of the Asian giant hornet have prompted fears that the vicious insect could establish itself in the United States and devastate bee populations.




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El ‘avispón asesino’, una plaga mortal que llegó a Norteamérica

Los avistamientos del avispón asiático gigante han provocado temores de que el insecto se establezca en Estados Unidos y extermine a las poblaciones de abejas.




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Waterfront Seclusion on Prince Edward Island

This six-bedroom house on the coast of Prince Edward Island sits on an isolated nine-acre lot. It is on the market for $1.67 million.




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House Hunting on Prince Edward Island: Nine Acres for $1.7 Million

Canada’s smallest province remains one of its most affordable, despite a shortage of inventory exacerbated by the pandemic.




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Summer Is Coming, but the Virus Won’t Be Going

Whatever effect warm weather has on the coronavirus, it won’t be enough to safely drop social restrictions.




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For Canada, Finding a Vaccine Will Only Be Part of the Equation

While researchers across Canada are among the scientists working on coronavirus vaccines, the country doesn’t have the means to quickly produce any successful result.




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Trump Posts Doctored Video Of A Fake Biden Massaging Real Biden During Apology

President Donald Trump gleefully tweeted “WELCOME BACK JOE!” alongside a doctored video of a fake Joe Biden grabbing the shoulders...




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Nielsen: ‘I Just Want To Thank The President, Again’

Nielsen: "I just want to thank the President, again." pic.twitter.com/5m8WSU9Xej — TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) April 8, 2019




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GOP Homeland Security Chair ‘Concerned’ With ‘Growing Leadership Void’ At DHS

Following the ousters of the Homeland Security secretary and Secret Service director, and the withdrawal of the would-be ICE director’s...




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Planned Parenthood Exits Federal Family Planning Program Over Abortion Gag Rule

Planned Parenthood is leaving the federal government’s Title X program, which funds family planning services for low-income people, due to...




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Top GOP lawmaker disclosed holdings in Chinese company he criticized

Rep. Mike McCaul was tapped on to head a GOP House panel scrutinizing China. Disclosures show his family holds stock in a Chinese internet company.




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'We're going to fill it': Republicans ready for any Supreme Court vacancy

GOP senators denied Obama a seat on the high court. They'll deliver for Trump.