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Japan’s coronavirus numbers have been ticking up, sparking alarm that it could be the next major country to see an explosive jump in infections. It’s also raising questions about whether Tokyo, where cases have tripled over the past 10 days, is about to go into a European-style lockdown — speculation the government is trying to squash. Even if Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declares an emergency, due to civil liberties enshrined in Japan’s postwar constitution the government cannot send police to clear people off the streets, as has happened in places including France, Italy and the U.K. The country’s strongest enforcement measure could be public obedience — and that may be enough. 1. Is Japan about to declare an emergency? Japan’s ruling party politicians say: “No.” As of Wednesday, Japan had the fewest confirmed infections among Group of Seven leading economies at about 2,000 –compared to about 188,000 in the U.S. — despite being one of the first countries outside of origin...

(SAO PAULO) — Major social media companies are taking aim at Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s dismissal of social distancing, joining others in the country who have lined up against his controversial stance regarding the new coronavirus. Facebook and Instagram removed posts by the far-right leader Monday night that showed Bolsonaro walking around outside capital Brasilia on Sunday and mingling with groups. It was yet another affront to World Health Organization recommendations to self-isolate as a means to contain the pandemic. The companies’ move came one day after Twitter also removed some Bolsonaro posts. Facebook, which owns Instagram, said in a statement that it removes content “that violates our community standards, which do not allow disinformation that might cause real damage to people.” Twitter justified its decision by saying in a statement that its rules prohibit content that runs “against public health information given by official sources and can put peo...

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(MIAMI) — Passengers from an ill-fated South American cruise are eager to disembark once they reach Florida, but Gov. Ron DeSantis said the state’s health care resources are already stretched too thin to take on the ships’ coronavirus caseload. The U.S. Coast Guard said Tuesday that the decision would be punted to Washington if authorities can’t agree. With the Zaandam and Rotterdam ships set to arrive later this week and at least two people on board needing emergency attention, a “unified command” of state, local and federal officials will be asked to approve a detailed docking plan requiring the cruise line, Holland America, to handle all medical issues without impacting South Florida’s already-stressed hospitals. “There are no great choices left. These are all tough outcomes,” Coast Guard Captain Jo-Ann Burdian told Broward County commissioners at an emergency meeting Tuesday. Two of the four deaths on board the Zaandam have been blamed on COVID-19 and nine people ha...

(WASHINGTON) — The captain of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier facing a growing outbreak of the coronavirus is asking for permission to isolate the bulk of his roughly 5,000 crew members on shore, which would take the warship out of duty in an effort to save lives. In a memo to Navy leaders, the captain of the USS Theodore Roosevelt said that the spread of the disease is ongoing and accelerating and that removing all but 10% of the crew is a “necessary risk” in order to stop the spread of the virus. The ship is docked in Guam. Navy leaders on Tuesday were scrambling to determine how to best respond to the extraordinary request as dozens of crew members tested positive. “We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die. If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset our sailors,” said Navy Capt. Brett Crozier in a memo obtained by The Associated Press. A Navy official said Crozier alerted commanders on Sunday evening of the continuing chal...

(BOISE, Idaho) — A large earthquake struck north of Boise, Idaho, Tuesday evening, with people across a large area reporting shaking. The U.S. Geological Survey reports the magnitude 6.5 temblor struck just before 5 p.m. It was centered 73 miles (118 kilometers) northeast of Meridian, Idaho, near the rural mountain town of Stanley. Marcus Smith, an emergency room health unit coordinator at St. Luke’s Wood River Medical Center, said the hospital, about 65 miles (104 kilometers) south of the epicenter, shook but the quake didn’t interfere with the treatment of any patients. The hospital in Blaine County is on the front line of Idaho’s coronavirus outbreak, in a region with the highest per-capita rates of known COVID-19 cases in the nation outside of New York City and surrounding counties. “It felt like a wave going through the ground, so I knew right away what it was. It just felt like waves going through the ground,” he said. The earthquake is added stress during an already...

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On Friday, Mar. 27, President Donald Trump took what appeared to be bold, decisive action in the fight against the new coronavirus. Reaching for wartime powers under the Defense Production Act, Trump ordered the federal government to “use any and all authority” to force auto giant General Motors to produce ventilators, the life-saving medical devices desperately needed by patients and hospitals struggling to survive the fast-spreading COVID-19 respiratory illness. For good measure, Trump tweeted, “General Motors MUST immediately open their stupidly abandoned Lordstown plant in Ohio, or some other plant, and START MAKING VENTILATORS, NOW!!!!!!” But if Trump’s Friday performance conveyed urgency and action, four days later, neither is anywhere in evidence. Despite the tough talk and the invocation of presidential powers, Trump and his team by midday on Tuesday had yet to formally file a single order for a GM-made ventilator. While negotiations were ongoing, they had set no mand...

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Jaya Kumari worked as a cook and cleaner for a couple in an affluent New Delhi neighborhood until two weeks ago. She lost her job when the family she worked for decided to leave the crowded capital and move to their hometown 200 miles away as the coronavirus began to spread in the city. Then, on March 25, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now Kumari and her husband, a taxi driver, are stuck indoors in New Delhi with no income and no way to earn money. “We will use up the little we have saved to get through this,” she says. “What happens after that, I leave it to God.” Modi’s hasty announcement of the unprecedented lockdown gave hundreds of millions of Indians less than four hours to prepare. In an address to the nation, he said “Forget about leaving home for the next 21 days. If you cross the threshold of your house, you will invite the virus home.” It has thrown much of the country into chaos. Mod...

Ford teaming with GE to build 50,000 ventilators by July 4, working on 'Trump time' Ramping up fast. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/3axdJHw

Moon-Walk bounce-house inventor's massive secret car collection up for auction Appeared out of thin air. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/2Jp76eB

2021 Genesis G80 sedan debuts online as coronavirus shuts car shows The parade continues. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/3bDrZyN

Motorcycle champ Toni Bou stunts around his house during coronavirus quarantine Now this is how you work from home. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/2vY14OT

Red Bull Formula One team advisor suggested holding coronavirus camp for drivers to prepare for season A top Red Bull Formula One team advisor said that he has suggested holding a camp for his team's drivers during the suspended season where they could become infected with the coronavirus and get it out of their system before the suspended season restarts. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/3dDtoXS

How General Motors is ramping up Ventec ventilator production Hundreds working on the project. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/2yhzrRH

Timmy Hill wins virtual Texas NASCAR race The stars came out in Texas. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/3bvJwss

2020 Detroit Auto Show canceled due to coronavirus crisis Location will be sued as a temporary hospital. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/2UpeXPF

Fox News Breaking News Alert Coronavirus deaths in US hit 3,000 03/30/20 8:05 PM

(DES MOINES, Iowa) — Federal judges on Monday temporarily blocked efforts in Texas and Alabama to ban abortions during the coronavirus pandemic, handing Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers a victory as clinics across the U.S. filed lawsuits to stop states from trying to shutter them during the outbreak. A new Ohio order is also unconstitutional if it prevents abortions from being carried out, a separate judge ruled Monday. The ruling instructed clinics to determine on a case-by-case basis if an abortion can be delayed to maximize resources — such as preserving personal protective equipment — needed to fight the coronavirus. If the abortion is deemed necessary and can’t be delayed, it’s declared legally essential. The rulings indicated judges were pushing back on Republican-controlled states including abortion in sweeping orders as the outbreak grows in the U.S. In Texas, the ruling came down after state Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, said abortion ...

(BOISE, Idaho) — Idaho Gov. Brad Little on Monday signed into law two anti-transgender bills, making Idaho the first among states that introduced some 40 such bills this year to enact them. The Republican governor approved legislation that prohibits transgender people from changing the sex listed on their birth certificates, and another that bans transgender girls and women from competing in women’s sports. The birth certificate measure ignores a 2018 federal court ruling that a past law barring transgender people from making the birth certificate changes violated the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The judge scrapped the ban and warned against new rules. The Idaho attorney general’s office, which didn’t appeal the ruling, said it could cost $1 million if the state had to defend the ban again and lost. “There’s an injunction that already absolutely forbids this policy, and the government can’t enforce this law without violating a court order,” said Pete...

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(TROY, Mo.) — An eastern Missouri sheriff’s department has reached a $2 million settlement with a man who spent more than three years in prison for his wife’s killing before the conviction was overturned, his lawyers said Monday. An insurance company has agreed pay the money to Russell Faria, of Lincoln County, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. “He’s thrilled,” said one of Faria’s attorneys, Joel Schwartz. Lawyers for the three current and former Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department officers named in the suit did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Elizabeth “Betsy” Faria was killed in 2011. Russell Faria was convicted and sentenced to life in prison, though he insisted that the crime was committed by his wife’s friend, Pamela Hupp, who has never been charged in Betsy Faria’s killing and has denied that she did it. Faria’s conviction was overturned in 2013 and he was found not guilty at a retrial. Meanwhile, Hupp was convicted of killing a mentally dis...

The site of the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York is going to be used for 350 temporary hospital beds and to prepare food packages during the coronavirus pandemic. U.S. Tennis Association spokesman Chris Widmaier says an area that houses indoor courts at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows will begin to be converted into a medical facility starting Tuesday. New York state and city officials are trying to increase hospital capacity by up to 87,000 beds to handle the outbreak. Widmaier adds that kitchens at Louis Armstrong Stadium — the second-largest arena used for the Grand Slam tournament scheduled to begin in late August — will be used for putting together 25,000 meal packages per day for patients, workers, volunteers and schoolchildren in the city. The USTA originally had said it was going to keep the facility open for people to take lessons, practice or play tennis. But then the group changed course and said it was shutting the site to ...

(WASHINGTON) — The FBI has reached out to Sen. Richard Burr about his sale of stocks before the coronavirus caused markets to plummet, a person familiar with the matter said Monday. The outreach suggests federal law enforcement officials may be looking to determine whether the North Carolina Republican exploited advance information when he dumped as much as $1.7 million in stocks in the days before the coronavirus wreaked havoc on the economy. Burr has denied wrongdoing but has also requested an ethics review of the stock sales. The Justice Department’s action, first reported by CNN, was confirmed by a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss it and spoke on condition of anonymity. The Justice Department declined to comment. In a statement, Alice Fisher, an attorney for Burr, said, “The law is clear that any American -– including a Senator -– may participate in the stock market based on public information, as Senator Burr did. “When this issue ...

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(PHOENIX) — A Phoenix police commander was killed and two other officers were wounded Sunday night as they responded to calls about a dispute between roomates. Cmdr. Greg Carnicle, a veteran officer and father of four, was killed. The other officers, both women, were hospitalized, the department said. Sgt. Mercedes Fortune said at a news conference that the suspect refused to cooperate and shot the officers after they were called to the scene shortly after 7 p.m. Sunday. The suspect was still inside and the situation was active as of 10 p.m., Fortune told the Arizona Republic . “Tonight we lost a true hero. Greg Carnicle was a 31-year veteran of our department,” Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams said. The other two officers who were shot are in stable condition, she said. One woman is out of surgery, and another is recovering from her wounds, Williams told the Republic. The department tweeted that Carnicle “held positions throughout the department including the specia...