More deaths, no benefit from malaria drug in VA virus study  —  A malaria drug widely touted by President Donald Trump for treating the new coronavirus showed no benefit in a large analysis of its use in U.S. veterans hospitals.  There were more deaths among those given hydroxychloroquine versus standard care, researchers reported.

Trump (the Company) Asks Trump (the Administration) for Rent Relief  —  The president's family business pays at least $3 million a year to the federal government for the lease on its D.C. hotel, which is all but empty because of the virus.  The next monthly payment is coming due.

Barr Threatens Legal Action Against Governors Over Lockdowns  — Businesses need ‘more freedom,’ the attorney general says  — Trump has undercut his guidance on how states should reopen  —  The Justice Department will consider taking legal action against governors who continue …

Senate Intel report confirms Russia aimed to help Trump in 2016  —  The Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday reaffirmed its support for the U.S. intelligence community's conclusion that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election with the goal of putting Donald Trump in the Oval Office.

Director of U.S. agency key to vaccine development leaves role suddenly amid coronavirus pandemic  —  WASHINGTON — Rick Bright, one of the nation's leading vaccine development experts and the director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, is no longer leading the organization, officials told STAT.

At least 7 new coronavirus cases appear to be related to Wisconsin's election, Milwaukee health commissioner says … (Photo: MIKE DE SISTI / MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL)  —  Officials have identified seven people who appear to have contracted COVID-19 through activities related to the April 7 election …

CDC director warns second wave of coronavirus this winter will likely be worse  —  Even as states move ahead with plans to reopen their economies, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Tuesday that a second wave of the novel coronavirus will be far more deadly …

28,000 Missing Deaths: Tracking the True Toll of the Coronavirus Crisis  —  At least 28,000 more people have died during the coronavirus pandemic over the last month than the official Covid-19 death counts report, a review of mortality data in 11 countries shows — providing a clearer …

Trump's Coronavirus Task Force Increasingly Ignores Trump  —  The president encouraged protests against his own administration's public health policies.  And his team greeted it with a collective shoulder shrug.  —  As the country enters its second month of a social lockdown and shuttered economy …

Trump's crisis mismanagement alienating seniors  —  Older voters have been a pivotal part of the president's base.  But they're beginning to turn on him over the coronavirus.  —  A fundamental rule of politics is the party that's divided is the one that's losing.

South Korea downplays concerns over Kim Jong Un's health  —  SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean officials reported no unusual activity in North Korea on Tuesday following unconfirmed media reports that leader Kim Jong Un was in fragile health after surgery.

‘Another nail in an almost closed coffin’: Trump faces his next coronavirus test  —  President Donald Trump's political fate now hinges on a simple premise: Everybody who needs a coronavirus test must be able to get a test.  —  More than five weeks into a devastating shutdown of the U.S. economy …

Bipartisan deal reached on small business coronavirus relief  —  Congress and the Trump administration have reached a deal on a new round of coronavirus aid that could be approved by the Senate on Tuesday afternoon if all 100 senators agree.  —  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) …

Bitter Taste For Coffee Shop Owner, As New $600 Jobless Benefit Closed Her Business  —  Audio will be available later today.  —  $600 per week.  —  That's what the federal government is now offering to people who've lost their jobs because of the coronavirus.

House Republicans declare war on recess  —  PANDEMIC PROTEST — Republicans have been calling to reopen the economy — and now, they're demanding to reopen Congress.  A group of House Republicans traveled back to D.C. early and are planning to seek recognition on the floor during today's pro forma session.

GOP Texas Lieutenant Governor Says We Need to Take Risk to Get Back to Work: ‘There Are More Important Things Than Living’  —  The lieutenant governor of Texas, who was criticized last month for saying it was worth risking lives to return to work if that meant saving the economy, has doubled down on his comments.

De Blasio's social distancing tip line flooded with penis photos, Hitler memes  —  Mayor Bill de Blasio's critics let him know how they really felt about his ordering New Yorkers to snitch on each other for violating social-distancing rules — by flooding his new tip line with crank complaints including …

Some Democrats are bothered nominee is an older white man - and they solidly back Biden in November  —  Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has the backing of the overwhelming majority of Democrats and Democratic-leaning registered voters …

The coming GOP plot to sabotage a Biden presidency  —  We are in the midst of the most significant national crisis most of us will ever see.  By the time it's over, Americans' feelings about government will be transformed, as they come to understand that the question isn't whether government should be …

Trump's surprise immigration ban expected to include major exemption  —  President Donald Trump's announcement that he would soon suspend immigration into the U.S. surprised his own officials and likely overstated the extent of the still-developing executive order.

Coogan's Is Closing.  This Is the New York That We're Losing.  —  It was an Irish pub in Upper Manhattan that pulsed with the heartbeat of the world.  It shut its doors because of the virus lockdown, and now they won't reopen.  —  One month ago, to meet the last payroll before the pandemic shut …

These U.S. citizens won't get coronavirus stimulus checks — because their spouses are immigrants  —  She works as a film producer and her small business has ground to a halt, forcing her and her husband to eat red beans and rice most nights, scramble to find small business loans and apply for medical assistance for their two children.

Michigan Governor Whitmer Awards Coronavirus Contract to Dem Consulting Firm  —  Michigan Democratic governor Gretchen Whitmer has handed over control of the state's new contact-tracing operation to one of her own campaign vendors and one of the left's biggest technology firms.

Federal documents: more than 300,000 likely to die if restrictions are lifted  —  Federal health officials estimated in early April that more than 300,000 Americans could die from COVID-19 if all social distancing measures are abandoned, and later estimates pushed the possible death toll even higher …

Hospital analysis: Nearly half of COVID-19 patients are obese  —  Americans' addiction to greasy junk food and heaping meal portions, disparities in access to healthy food and sitting for hours on end have made us especially vulnerable to COVID-19.  —  The United States has more obese people …

The deep-seated fear driving Trump's invented and exaggerated popularity rankings  —  It's just so obvious.  —  In a pair of tweets Tuesday morning, offered alongside complaints about a TV show being mean to him and the “fake news” more generally, President Trump tried to assure the world …

Volunteers in Coronavirus Response Ruffle Some at FEMA  —  Some private-sector employees helped source supplies, but communications prompted concerns  —  WASHINGTON—White House senior adviser Jared Kushner in March launched an effort under the government's emergency powers …

‘Plague on a Biblical Scale’: Hasidic Families Hit Hard by Virus  —  In the New York area, the epidemic has killed influential religious leaders and torn through large, tight-knit families.  —  One of the first people Shulim Leifer knew who died of the coronavirus was his great-uncle.

GOP lawmakers ask Supreme Court to block Tony Evers' order to stay home  —  MADISON - Republican leaders of the state Legislature took Democratic Gov. Tony Evers to court Tuesday to stop his administration from keeping businesses and schools closed through May in an effort to slow the spread of a deadly virus.

Trump administration reverses prisoner coronavirus release policy, advocates say  —  A coronavirus-related policy shift that could have cleared the way for thousands of federal prisoners to be sent home early was abruptly reversed this week, according to friends and family members of inmates.

Coronavirus very likely of animal origin, no sign of lab manipulation: WHO  —  GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday that all available evidence suggests the novel coronavirus originated in animals in China late last year and was not manipulated or produced in a laboratory.