US monitoring intelligence that North Korean leader is in grave danger after surgery  —  (CNN)The US is monitoring intelligence that North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, is in grave danger after a surgery, according to a US official with direct knowledge.  —  Kim recently missed the celebration …

Democrats dream of Biden's perfect running mate: An Obama  —  With the Democratic primary settled, the Rev. Al Sharpton says he now includes a political consideration in his daily prayers: God, please let Michelle Obama be Joe Biden's running mate.  —  Sharpton's decision to implore …

Smithfield Foods Is Blaming “Living Circumstances In Certain Cultures” For One Of America's Largest COVID-19 Clusters  —  The journalists at BuzzFeed News are proud to bring you trustworthy and relevant reporting about the coronavirus.  To help keep this news free, become a member and sign up for our newsletter, Outbreak Today.

Kentucky sees highest spike in coronavirus cases after lockdown protests  —  Kentucky experienced its highest single-day spike in coronavirus cases after protests broke out in the state to lift lockdowns, according to reports.  —  Gov. Andy Beshear announced there were 273 new cases Sunday …

U.S. Oil Costs Less Than Zero After a Sharp Monday Selloff  —  Many traders are betting that the coronavirus pandemic will run its course and demand for oil will jump later this year  —  U.S. oil futures plunged below zero for the first time Monday, a chaotic demonstration of the dwindling capacity …

Trump says he'll ‘suspend immigration’ into the U.S.  —  President Donald Trump on Monday night said that he was suspending immigration into the U.S. because of the coronavirus pandemic.  —  “In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs …

Anger mounts after corporations tap small-business relief funds  —  Congress is under increasing pressure to ensure an extension of the popular Payment Protection Program (PPP) gets desperately needed funds to the small businesses it's intended to help, not to big corporations.

Yahoo News/YouGov coronavirus poll: Most Americans reject anti-lockdown protests  —  An overwhelming majority of Americans, Republicans included, are rejecting right-wing protests — encouraged by President Trump — to immediately “reopen” the country in the midst of the world's largest and deadliest

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan credits his wife, Yumi, with helping secure coronavirus tests from South Korea  —  Maryland owes a debt of gratitude to the people of South Korea, Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said Monday after securing 500,000 coronavirus tests from the country over the weekend.

Conservative activist family behind ‘grassroots’ anti-quarantine Facebook events  —  A family-run network of pro-gun groups is behind five of the largest Facebook groups dedicated to protesting shelter-in-place restrictions.  —  Protests against state stay-at-home orders have attracted …

Matt Drudge draws Trump's ire, setting off a potentially substantial split between the conservative media power player and the president  —  President Trump's on-again, off-again relationship with one of the most powerful figures in conservative media appears to be off again.

Man Who Called Ohio's Lockdown Order ‘Bullshit’ Has Succumbed To COVID-19  —  John McDaniel railed against Ohio's Gov. Mike DeWine's lockdown order on social media.  Weeks later he contracted the virus.  A few days ago he died.  —  In March, John McDaniel called Ohio's shutdown order of non-essential businesses “madness.”

Facebook Fails the Coronavirus Test  —  Instead of stifling protests against lockdowns, Facebook should treat political content dispassionately and allow users to curate their own experiences.  —  A scattering of protests aimed at state lockdowns erupted across the country last week …

Alex Rodriguez, Jennifer Lopez Retain JPMorgan to Raise Money for Mets Bid (EXCLUSIVE)  —  Retired baseball star Alex Rodriguez and his fiancé, recording artist and actor Jennifer Lopez, have retained JPMorgan Chase to raise capital for a possible bid on the New York Mets, people familiar with the matter said.

Powerless to help, Donald Trump worries about incompetent pandemic leadership  —  Why was nobody doing anything?  That was the question President Trump kept asking himself, over and over, as he gazed at the United States' response to the covid-19 pandemic.  —  “The states have to step up their TESTING!” he tweeted.

USC-LA County Study: Early Results of Antibody Testing Suggest Number of COVID-19 Infections Far Exceeds Number of Confirmed Cases in Los Angeles County  —  USC and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) today released preliminary results from a collaborative scientific study …

Iowa Sends National Guard Troops to Defend Meat Plants From Virus  —  (Bloomberg) — Hundreds of National Guard personnel are being activated in Iowa as coronavirus sweeps through meat-processing plants in a state that accounts for about a third of U.S. pork supply.

Surgeon general gets pushed to sidelines, sparking questions  —  The Trump administration took Surgeon General Jerome Adams off television last week after his controversial remarks on Covid-19's threat to minorities, silencing the White House's loudest voice on racial disparities …

Officials knew coronavirus could spread at the Houston Rodeo and proceeded with the event anyway  —  The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is the city's largest annual event, attracting 2.5 million people and generating nearly $400 million.  But officials pushed forward with this year's 20 …

It's 5 o'clock.  Do you know where your president is?  —  It happens around happy hour, or what used to be happy hour, before the country shut down.  And like any happy hour, it starts late, runs long, and you end up stuck with some guy who loves to hear himself talk.  —  “Always health.

New York Won't Return to Normal Anytime Soon  —  New York City Council member Mark D. Levine wants to prepare the public for a new normal … can say with the certainty of hindsight that, yes, we should have shut New York City down quicker.  I think all of us were slow in reacting to this threat in one way or another.

Don't Get Fooled by Fake Photos of Coronavirus Lockdown Protests  —  COVID-19 lockdown protests are spreading and so is misinformation about them.  As a series of demonstrations against COVID-19 lockdown orders sweep the U.S., protesters have shown wildly varying degrees of responsibility and realism.

Singapore Seemed to Have Coronavirus Under Control, Until Cases Doubled  —  The spread suggests that it is unrealistic for the United States, Europe and the rest of the world to return to the way they were anytime soon, even if viral curves appear to flatten.  —  Singapore did almost everything right.

The culture of corona  —  On smoke, mirrors & glimpses of truth.  —  Every thing was believed to be poisoned . . . the waters of the wells, the standing corn in the fields, and the fruit upon the trees.  It was believed that all objects of touch were poisoned; the walls of the houses …

China: U.S. a ‘Primitive Society,’ ‘American Democracy Is Dying’  —  China's state-run Global Times propaganda newspaper began the week on Monday with columns proclaiming the end of American democracy and declaring that Washington was “no match for China” in fighting diseases.

Idaho state lawmaker faces criticism after comparing stay-at-home order to Nazi Germany  —  A Republican state representative from Idaho is facing criticism after she blasted Gov. Brad Little's (R) stay-at-home order in a recent interview and compared the mandates categorizing certain workers as nonessential to those of Nazi Germany.

Newsom's secretive $1-billion mask deal with Chinese automaker sparks bipartisan concerns  —  to spend almost $1 billion in taxpayer funds to buy protective masks drew national attention as an aggressive move by California to solve one of the most nagging problems of the coronavirus crisis.