Crazy World

While many Americans are filled with fear, Melissa Ackison says the coronavirus pandemic has filled her with anger. The stay-at-home orders are government overreach, the conservative Ohio state Senate candidate says, and the labeling of some workers as “essential” arbitrary. “It enrages something inside of you,” said Ackison, who was among those who protested Republican…

Some of the most heated negotiations between Democrats and Republicans over last month’s $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief package were over who should watch how that money gets spent. It is the largest emergency relief fund the U.S. government has ever approved, and concerns over fraud and abuse were rife. In particular, Democrats were outraged that…

Casey and Adam Donner each own a small business in Lincoln, Neb. She is a make-up artist, helping brides get camera-ready on their big day. Her husband employs 30 people at his construction firm. Both businesses were churning along when the novel coronavirus crashed on U.S. soil, bringing much of the economy to a standstill…

(Bloomberg) — On Monday, Danes will be able to get a professional hair cut for the first time in over a month, after lawmakers agreed to free hairdressers from the country’s lockdown. The news triggered a frenzy of activity as thousands tried to get an appointment. It was too much for one of the country’s…

With New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announcing an extension of the state’s shelter-in-place order through mid-May, New York City remains an epicenter of the novel coronavirus now spreading across the U.S. The city’s jail population continues to be a particularly vulnerable group, due to factors including inmates’ cramped living conditions and a lack of access…

In the often tedious world of international diplomacy, Sergio Vieira de Mello was about as close as you could get to a celebrity—though others have used more exact terms. A dazzled journalist once described Vieira de Mello, the Brazilian-born United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, as a “cross between James Bond and Bobby Kennedy.”…

On normal mornings, Maria, an undocumented worker at an orchard in Washington state, gets up at 5:00 a.m. The 37-year-old immigrant from Mexico puts her hair up in a bun, wraps it with a handkerchief to keep it out of the way, and packs a snack for her morning break and a small meal for…

(Bloomberg) — Melanie Hayes and tens of millions of other Americans are asking the same question as stimulus checks begin to arrive: How do I prioritize spending a one-time relief payment that won’t be enough? Hayes and her family will receive $3,400 — $1,200 apiece for herself and husband, Matt, and $500 for each of…

(NEW YORK) — Television’s “Dr. Oz” says he misspoke during a Fox News Channel appearance this week where he said reopening schools was a “very appetizing opportunity” despite the coronavirus epidemic. In a Twitter post late Thursday, the heart surgeon and television talk show host said he recognized his comments had confused and upset people,…

Researchers at University of Chicago reported promising results from a small study of remdesivir in treating people with COVID-19. The findings were not published in a peer-reviewed journal, but revealed in an internal video discussion of the drug trial among University of Chicago faculty that was obtained by STAT. The study included 125 people with…