Crazy World

(ARDEN HILLS, Minn.) — The Native American woman who has graced the packaging of Land O’Lakes butter, cheese and other products since the late 1920s has quietly disappeared. Known as Mia, the woman was shown sitting in a serene landscape of lakes and woods. That landscape remains on the Minnesota cooperative’s packaging, but Mia is…

(Bloomberg) — Elon Musk’s SpaceX will fly American astronauts to the International Space Station on May 27, according to National Aeronautics and Space Administration Administrator Jim Bridenstine, setting an official launch date for the mission. The launch, which Bridenstine announced in a tweet on Friday, will mark the first for NASA astronauts from American soil…

On April 14, the first batch of World Health Organization medical supplies arrived in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa. From there, around one million masks, goggles, gloves and gowns for healthcare workers and ventilators for patients will be dispatched to key locations across the continent. They are badly needed as countries across Africa brace for surges…

Every Thursday evening for the past month, the streets of the U.K. have erupted with noise as people stand on doorsteps or balconies, clapping or banging pots and pans, in a weekly sign of appreciation for healthcare workers. But many doctors, nurses and carers say they don’t want applause—they want better testing and equipment. The…

(Bloomberg) — The skies are eerily empty these days, presenting a new challenge for the world’s embattled airlines as they work to safeguard thousands of grounded planes parked wingtip to wingtip on runways and in storage facilities. More than 16,000 passenger jets are grounded worldwide, according to industry researcher Cirium, as the coronavirus obliterates travel…

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump’s former lawyer and longtime fixer Michael Cohen will be released from federal prison to serve the remainder of his sentence in home confinement because of the coronavirus pandemic. Cohen is currently locked up at FCI Otisville in New York after pleading guilty to numerous charges, including campaign finance fraud and…

(KENSINGTON, Maryland) — A two-decade-long dry spell that has parched much of the western United States is turning into one of the deepest megadroughts in the region in more than 1,200 years, a new study found. And about half of this historic drought can be blamed on man-made global warming, according to a study in…

As coronavirus crisscrossed the globe in March, The Economist ran an editorial acknowledging the urgent need for a “big government” response but insisting that government must shrink back as soon as the crisis has passed. Their argument reflected the traditional conservative commitment to limited government. Conservatives going back to the 18th century have viewed government…

Enrico Clini has been running hospitals for almost 20 years. As the head of the pulmonary department in the Policlinico hospital in the Italian city of Modena, thinking ahead is what he does best. But as Italy and other European countries take the first cautious steps out of lockdown, Clini and other Italian doctors are…

(JOHANNESBURG) — Africa could see 300,000 deaths from the coronavirus this year even under the best-case scenario, according to a new report released Friday that cites modeling from Imperial College London. Under the worst-case scenario with no interventions against the virus, Africa could see 3.3 million deaths and 1.2 billion infections, the report by the…