MICHIGAN — Tensions are high as United Auto Workers have now surpassed 36 hours on the picket line, striking against General Motors. Patch has laid out the five questions and answers you need to know about a pivotal moment for the company and tens of thousands of workers:

How many workers are on strike exactly?

Nearly 50,000. Some 46,000-49,000 trade-union workers decided to strike after failing to reach an agreement between the United Auto Workers and General Motors, reports say. The breaking point came in September as the two groups failed to hammer out an agreement for their next four-year contract.

What’s been GM’s response so far?

A move experts called “gas on the fire,” according to a new report by the Detroit Free Press. They reported that within three days the automaker announced a decision to shift worker health care payments to the union immediately — “a strategy that risks dragging out the strike, labor negotiators say,” according to the Free Press.

“This induces the workers to get more angry. GM thinks this will scare them or get them to rethink the cost of their benefits. I think it’s going to backfire. It’s quick, rash and insensitive,” said one expert. Read the full report here.

What does this mean for workers?

Workers like Brad Heitz say it’s personal.

“If it weren’t for the UAW, I don’t think I would be alive right now,” Heitz, who works at the GM plant producing Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon pickups, and Chevy Express and GMC Savana vans in Wentzville, Missouri, told USA Today.

He credits the health insurance plans the United Auto Workers won from the automaker with saving his life — and worries those kinds of benefits could start disappearing if the strike isn’t successful,USA Today reported. Read their full coverage here.

What’s the cost to workers for striking?

Striking workers earn only $250 per week, and they don’t get paid until the 15th day of the strike.

When was the last strike and why is it important again?

The last GM strike took place in 2007 — a year before the federal government bailed out the auto industry and before the global financial crisis, the Washington Post reported. Over that decade, GM has increased its profits, making $35 billion in the past three years, the New York Times reported.

Many plants are still scheduled to close, and little of that money has made it into workers’ paychecks. Striking workers want to end pay and benefit divisions between temporary and permanent employees, and increase job security, the Free Press reported.

JAMESWAY, WI — He’s a would-be shoplifter who will surely be the butt of many jokes. Especially given how quickly the store was able to crack the case.

Voigt Music Center in Jamesway says that last month one of their employees saw a man walk in, wander around, and then place one of their flutes down his pants. He put it behind him, not in front.

The employee approached him.

He told her that he always keeps his flutes in his pants. She removed the flute and noticed the store’s price tag still on the flute.

The man fled and the flute was safe.

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The store posted video of the man walking around the store with the flute clearly visible sticking up from his pants.

“We find it asinine that someone would try to steal a flute from us so blatantly,” the store wrote on Facebook.

“Butt we have to ask the question, ‘what do we do with this tainted flute?'”

They turned it into a lamp that’s now displayed in their front window.

“Eat your heart out Old Man Parker,” they wrote in reference to a character from “A Christmas Story.”

“This beats your leg lamp any day!”

Voigt Music writes that the man, who drove away with a woman in a “late model brown Blazer-like truck,” is still at large.

They do, however, have a message for him:

“Yu aren’t welcome back, ever.”

Cette feme tient une affiche de l’album Of The Wall, sorti en 1979. Michael Jackson à ses débuts en solo.

… mais cette étoile est celle d’un autre Michael Jackson. Pas grave, les fans cherchent par tous les moyens à se rapprocher de leur idole.

Une fan vêtue du costume emblématique de Michael Jackson assiste à une veillée en hommage au King of The Pop à Mexico.

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Une femme fond en larmes en se saisissant d’un vieux vinyl de Jackson dans une boutique de disques de Salt Lake City (Utah) aux Etats-Unis.

Un sosie de Michael Jackson se produit dans les rues de West Hollywood (L.A) après l’annonce de la mort de son idole qu’il imite depuis près de 30 ans.

Effervescence et émotion devant l’hôpital où Michael Jackson est décédé jeudi.

Des fans brandissent leur main revêtue d’un gant blanc, l’un des objets fétiches de Michael Jackso, devant l’hôpital de UCLA.

Bougies, autels improvisés: les fans partagent leur chagrin dans une rue de la capitale californienne.

RIP Bad (Rest in Peace) – Repose en paix Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson meurt avec tous les honneurs, ceux de la grande icône qu’il a été, allégée du poids des scandales et des procès.

Devant l’hôpital californien où Michael Jackson est mort jeudi.

L’illustre salle de spectacle Apollo à Harlem (New York) rend hommage à Michael Jackson et les fans de la Grosse Pomme affluent en nombre jeudi. La nuit est déjà tombée, on prie, on danse, bouleversé par la mort de celui qui révolutionna le statut de la musique noire américaine.

Une fan pleure sur l’épaule de la statut de cire de Jackson, à l’antenne du célèbre musée de Mrs Tussaud situé à Las Vegas.

Recueillement devant la maison de la famille Jackson à Encino, Los Angeles.

Le roi de la pop est mort, vive le roi! A l’annonce du décès inattendu de Michael Jackson, le temps s’est comme arrêté aux Etats-Unis et en particulier à Los Angeles, où il résidait de nouveau depuis peu et où il s’est éteint jeudi, à l’hôpital Ronald-Reagan de UCLA, un établissement ultra-moderne inauguré il y a moins d’un an. Tandis que les stars rendaient leurs premiers hommages au chanteur, les fans manifestaient leur émotion dans de multiples lieux symboliques de la vie de ‘Jacko’. L’album-photo des premiers témoignages et rassemblements spontanés. A croire que la « Jacksonmania » des années 80 ne s’est jamais éteinte.

J.S

Vendredi 26 juin 2009

Depuis une heure, c’est la règle sur les Champs-Élysées, une fouille systématique de chaque spectateur par des agents en orange. Et manifestement, la plupart sont rassurés.“Ça limite les risques, ça fait plaisir de voir qu’on peut venir en toute sécurité”, confie un spectateur. Entre risque terroriste, manifestations de “gilets jaunes” et possible présence de casseurs, les policiers ne veulent prendre aucun risque.148 000 membres des forces de l’ordre sur toute la France“Ne peuvent pas rentrer ce soir sur les Champs-Élysées tout ce qui est pyrotechnie, tout ce qui peut représenter un danger. C’est la même logique que sur une fan zone, dans un stade. Ce sont les mêmes mesures de précaution qui sont prises”, indique Marc Cherrey, commissaire divisionnaire. Dans la capitale, 12 000 forces de sécurité sont mobilisées pour la soirée. Depuis 16 heures, impossible de circuler sur les Champs-Élysées mais aussi de se garer jusqu’au Trocadéro et la tour Eiffel. Sur toute la France, 148 000 membres des forces de l’ordre sont déployés lundi 31 décembre pour sécuriser la nuit du réveillon.Le JT

• JT de 20h du lundi 31 décembre 2018 L’intégrale

Les autres sujets du JT

• 1
  

  Macron : ses vœux vont-ils convaincre ?

• 2
  

  Vœux d’Emmanuel Macron : la réaction des “gilets jaunes”

• 3
  

  Champs-Élysées : 300 000 personnes sont attendues pour célébrer le réveillon

• 4
  

  Retraites : les cotisations vont augmenter

• 5
  

  Pouvoir d’achat : la bonne surprise de 2019

• 6
  

  Bas-Rhin : dans les coulisses d’une institution alsacienne

• 7
  

  Réveillon : un repas sans cuisiner

• 8
  

  Tarn : un réveillon féerique au festival des lanternes

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C’est la troisième femme à y entrer. Une Sri-Lankaise a pénétré jeudi soir dans le grand temple hindou d’Ayyappa à Sabarimala, dans l’Etat du Kerala, en Inde. “Elle est entrée dans le temple hier soir. Elle a 47 ans et est venue pour prier. Nous étions au courant et avons surveillé la situation”, a déclaré, vendredi 4 janvier, un responsable de la police. Il a ajouté que la situation au temple était “pour le moment normale”. Mais l’entrée de cette femme risque d’attiser les tensions après deux jours de manifestations des traditionalistes hindous.Ce sanctuaire, l’un des plus sacrés de l’hindouisme, a fait l’objet pendant vingt ans d’une bataille judiciaire autour de son interdiction à toutes les femmes en âge d’avoir leurs règles, soit entre 10 et 50 ans. La bataille a pris fin le 28 septembre 2018 avec une décision de la Cour suprême jugeant cette restriction discriminatoire. Mais le temple a refusé de se conformer à la décision de la justice et les tentatives de visite par des femmes ont été bloquées par des milliers de fidèles.Une chaîne humaine pour défendre le droit d’entréeMardi, des dizaines de milliers de femmes ont formé une chaîne humaine pour soutenir la décision de la Cour suprême. Cette manifestation, appelée “Mur des femmes”, était soutenue par le gouvernement communiste de l’Etat du Kerala. Mercredi, deux femmes d’une quarantaine d’années sont parvenues à pénétrer avant l’aube dans le temple, avec une escorte de police en civil et par une porte latérale, à l’insu des fidèles traditionalistes.Le lendemain, l’Etat du Kerala a été paralysé par des groupes hindous conservateurs qui ont organisé une grève en signe de protestation. La police a eu recours au gaz lacrymogène et aux canons à eau. Un homme a été tué et 15 personnes blessées, dont quatre sympathisants du Bharatiya Janata Party, le parti nationaliste hindou du Premier ministre indien, Narendra Modi. Plus de 1 350 personnes ont été arrêtées en marge de ces manifestations.Click Here: cheap all stars rugby jersey

Premier League clubs have agreed to talk to their players regarding a wage cut and the Hammers director feels it is a necessity

West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady says many Premier League clubs face ruin due to the coronavirus and vows to take the same pay cut that players are being urged to accept.

Like almost every other industry, football has been ground to a halt because of the Covid-19 pandemic, with almost all leagues suspended until further notice.

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The Premier League announced this week that there had been discussions over asking players to take a 30 per cent pay cut to ease the burden on clubs as they look to compensate for the lack of revenue.

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And Brady insists that deferring players’ wages is a necessity, otherwise clubs will go out of business.

“There is no matchday revenue, no sale of season tickets for next season, no retail outlets open and online retail businesses have closed as it is not essential work,” Brady wrote in her column in The Sun.

“With no date for restarting the league, this is having severe financial implications.

“Bearing in mind the majority of the broadcast revenue goes to pay the players’ wages it is unthinkable that the PFA don’t seem to understand this.

“They seem to suggest that the players taking a pay cut means the money somehow goes into the owners pockets which is totally ridiculous.

“I applaud Andros Townsend’s tirade against people who make players out as ‘villains’ just as I dislike the PFA claim that a pay cut settlement will ‘only serve the shareholders’ interests’.

“The PFA may believe its responsibilities end with the players but they really don’t, they owe a great deal to the structure of professional football as well.

“No one wants to be having pay cut discussions with anyone because no one wants to be in this position.

“It is a global pandemic and extremely serious. And without any revenue — and no games being played — how on earth do we ensure the ongoing business survives?

“And, take it from me, unless a pay cut is put in place a number of clubs will be ruined.”

She added: “This is not an easy time for anyone and we are not immune to the fact this will affect each of them differently.

“I wish there was another way but, without income and matches, there really isn’t. I for one will take the same cut as they will, after all we are all in this together.”

The U.S. needs to significantly increase its testing capability for the coronavirus in order to safely start reopening the country, experts say.

If the current approach of telling everyone to stay home is to be lifted, widespread and faster testing will be needed to identify infected people for isolation. Easing stay-at-home orders in the absence of sufficient testing would risk reigniting the outbreak.

Leading estimates have called for between 750,000 and 1 million tests per week. On the surface, the U.S. is getting closer to hitting those numbers, after an extremely slow rollout of tests in the initial weeks of the outbreak.

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The country is now conducting more than 100,000 tests a day, according to The COVID Tracking Project.

But with a large backlog of cases, many of those samples are awaiting analysis, with an average of four to five days for several testing methods in use. Getting same-day results is crucial for any effective testing system to help reopen the country, according to experts.

They say blunt social distancing measures need to remain in place until the worst has passed and the number of new cases is declining. At that point, having a system of testing and tracing ready to go will be key.

“We better be careful about declaring victory just because you’ve turned the corner on a curve,” Anthony FauciAnthony FauciSocial distancing works, but resistance prompts worries of growing crisis 13 things to know for today about coronavirus Pandemic shows need for universal health care, says Social Security advocate MORE, the government’s top infectious disease expert, said Thursday on CNN.  “When we turn the corner and it goes down, we have to have in place the ability to do the kind of containment that’s pristine, namely you test like crazy, you identify people, you isolate them and you do contact tracing.”

Michael Mina, a professor at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said improvements in testing would help ease social-distancing measures.

“We’re obviously seeing right now that there are other ways to control a virus without testing, but it’s highly detrimental to the economy and to our lifestyles, and pulls at the social fabric of society frankly. So we obviously can’t just keep social distancing,” he said.

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But governors across the country are reporting that their states are struggling with testing.

As of Wednesday, the California Department of Public Health said 59,500 test results were pending, compared with results for just 32,944 tests. Gov. Gavin NewsomGavin Christopher NewsomSocial distancing works, but resistance prompts worries of growing crisis Newsom announces partnership with FEMA to find shelter for most vulnerable homeless populations California governor responds to Nunes on canceling school: ‘We’ll continue to listen to the experts’ MORE (D) said it’s an issue affecting other states as well.

“This is a national problem,” Newsom told reporters Thursday. “Just one lab in the United States has over 100-plus thousand backlogged tests. Those large commercial labs are overwhelmed by the demand.”

President TrumpDonald John TrumpTrump fires intelligence community inspector general who flagged Ukraine whistleblower complaint Trump organization has laid off over 1000 employees due to pandemic: report Trump invokes Defense Production Act to prevent export of surgical masks, gloves MORE, on a call with governors Monday, said he did not think testing was a problem anymore. “I haven’t heard about testing in weeks,” Trump said, according to audio obtained by The New York Times.

Governors pushed back on his remarks.

“Yeah, that’s just not true,” Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) told NPR on Tuesday. “I mean, I know that they’ve taken some steps to create new tests, but they’re not actually produced and distributed out to the states.”

“No state has enough testing,” he added.

Some hard-hit areas have limited testing to people who are hospitalized and frontline health workers. There are also persistent problems with shortages of supplies needed to conduct tests, including reagents, a chemical used to process the tests.

“There are widespread shortages of specimen collection materials, personal protective equipment, test kits and reagents,” said a spokesperson for the American Clinical Laboratory Association. “All of these factors impact the ability of laboratories to push through testing backlogs and steadily increase capacity.”

There are some signs the situation is improving.

Abbott Laboratories announced it had been approved at the end of March for a point-of-care test that can deliver results in as little as five minutes, a development touted by Trump.

Darcy Ross, an Abbott spokeswoman, told The Hill that by the end of Friday, the company will have shipped more than 191,000 of the rapid tests to 21 states.

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Experts also point to the importance of a different kind of test, called a serology test, that looks for antibodies in the blood. The analysis can determine if someone has had the virus before, not just whether they have it while being tested. That means the serology test can help identify people who have had the virus but are now immune, and who can more fully reenter society.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the first coronavirus serology test on Thursday, from a company called Cellex.

In addition to testing capacity, states will also need enough public health workers to be able to carry out the tracing of infected people and their close contacts.

“We need an army of contact tracers in every community of the U.S.,” Tom Frieden, former head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said on a call with reporters Wednesday.

Staffing, therefore, could be a problem.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) is launching one of the country’s most aggressive contact tracing efforts by enlisting more than 1,200 public health college students to help, according to The Boston Globe.

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Sen. Chris MurphyChristopher (Chris) Scott MurphyDemocratic senators call on domestic airlines to issue cash refunds for travelers Maxine Waters unleashes over Trump COVID-19 response: ‘Stop congratulating yourself! You’re a failure’ Coronavirus pushes GOP’s Biden-Burisma probe to back burner MORE (D-Conn.) said Wednesday that he thinks the Trump administration needs to do more to ramp up testing and staffing for contact tracing.

“Other countries taught us we cannot turn the corner on coronavirus [without] a comprehensive system of TESTING, TRACING, and QUARANTINE,” he tweeted. “The Trump Administration has zero plan to stand up that system nationally. That’s frightening and it must change.”

Experts said preparedness needs to be ramped up quickly.

“Once the rate of infections has been slowed by social (really physical) distancing, only a testing scheme far beyond our current capabilities can prevent another surge in infections,” Dr. Aaron Carroll, a professor at Indiana University School of Medicine, wrote in The Atlantic on Tuesday. “If we are going to get out of lockdown, we need to radically improve our testing protocols and infrastructure. And we need to do it fast.”

Welcome to Hillicon Valley, The Hill’s newsletter detailing all you need to know about the tech and cyber news from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley. If you don’t already, be sure to sign up for our newsletter with this LINK.

Welcome! Follow our cyber reporter, Maggie Miller (@magmill95), and tech reporter, Chris Mills Rodrigo (@chrisismills), for more coverage.

 

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MORE TROUBLE FOR ZOOM: Thousands of recordings of private meetings and calls held over video conferencing service Zoom have been exposed online, The Washington Post reported Friday.

The meetings were recorded through Zoom’s software and saved to different applications without passwords, enabling anyone to download and watch them.

The Washington Post found videos of therapy sessions, elementary school classes, small business meetings and recordings involving nudity.

Zoom told the newspaper that it “provides a safe and secure way for hosts to store recordings” and provides guides for how users can enhance their call security.

“Should hosts later choose to upload their meeting recordings anywhere else, we urge them to use extreme caution and be transparent with meeting participants, giving careful consideration to whether the meeting contains sensitive information and to participants’ reasonable expectations,” Zoom told the Post.

People and businesses worldwide have flocked to Zoom during the coronavirus pandemic to hold events ranging from university classes to happy hours. CEO Eric Yuan announced Thursday that the company had 200 million daily users in March, up from a maximum of 10 million daily users in December.

The company’s stock price has already increased. But Zoom has faced a wave of security and privacy concerns as vulnerabilities were spotlighted by the spike in users.

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Read more here.

 

GPS DATA: Google on Friday announced that it has started releasing global location data in an effort to help public health officials track how people are moving during lockdowns and orders to stay at home around the world.  

The tech giant confirmed that it is publishing anonymized data for 131 countries and regions around the world to show how people have moved during the course of the pandemic that has now infected over 1 million people.

“These Community Mobility Reports aim to provide insights into what has changed in response to policies aimed at combating COVID-19. The reports chart movement trends over time by geography, across different categories of places such as retail and recreation, groceries and pharmacies, parks, transit stations, workplaces, and residential,” Google said on their site launched to share the reports.

Google’s report on the U.S. shows a 47 percent decline in the number of tracked residents going to retail and recreation spots, like restaurants, cafes, shopping centers and more, between Feb. 16 and March 29. It also shows a 22 percent decrease in people going to pharmacies and grocery stores, as well as a 19 percent decrease in those traveling to parks, beaches, marinas and other outdoor spots.

The information is gathered using user data from Google Maps and other Google services. However, no personal data for individuals, such as a person’s location, contacts or movement, is listed in the new data.

Users can also turn off their location history “at any time from their Google account,” and they can also delete their personal data.

Read more here.

 

Google’s move is part of a bigger debate…

BIG BROTHER?: The U.S. and Europe are moving toward unprecedented cellphone surveillance strategies to track residents infected with the coronavirus as a way to slow the spread of the disease, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

The practice, which has been put in use in China, Singapore, Israel and South Korea, has faced a tougher audience in European countries and the U.S. because of privacy concerns.

Still, more governments are looking into data surveillance as a way to keep coronavirus cases in check, as U.S. cases topped 257,000 on Friday, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

“I think that everything is gravitating towards proximity tracking,” said Chris Boos, a member of Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing, a project that is working on developing a shared system that can receive uploads from phone apps in different countries. “If somebody gets sick, we know who could be infected, and instead of quarantining millions, we’re quarantining 10.”

The federal government is working to create a portal combining phone geolocation data to aid authorities in finding and predicting where future outbreaks of the virus will occur and what resources would be needed.

The anonymous data from the mobile-advertising industry would show officials at places like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention which locations, like retail stores or parks, people are still gathering at during the pandemic. Google said on Thursday it would share portions of its data with the federal government for that purpose.

Read more here.

 

GIG WORKER PROTECTIONS: Sen. Mark WarnerMark Robert WarnerTrump fires intelligence community inspector general who flagged Ukraine whistleblower complaint Hillicon Valley: Thousands of Zoom recordings exposed online | Google shares location data to counter virus | Dem senator pushes jobless benefits for gig workers | Twitter takes down 20,000 fake accounts Democrat presses Trump administration on jobless benefits for gig workers MORE (D-Va.) is urging the Department of Labor to issue guidance for states scrambling to give gig workers and people who are self-employed access to unemployment benefits.

“The CARES Act directs states to stand up a new program, the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) Program, to disburse benefits to workers who would normally not be eligible for unemployment assistance, such as gig workers or freelancers,” Warner wrote to Labor Secretary Eugene ScaliaEugene ScaliaHillicon Valley: Thousands of Zoom recordings exposed online | Google shares location data to counter virus | Dem senator pushes jobless benefits for gig workers | Twitter takes down 20,000 fake accounts Democrat presses Trump administration on jobless benefits for gig workers Trump administration issues guidance scaling back paid leave requirement for small business employees MORE in a letter Friday.

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“Unfortunately, we are already hearing reports from unemployment officials from around the country that it will likely take weeks to stand up a new program and disburse benefits to these newly eligible workers. In the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, with unemployment claims overwhelming state systems, there is no time to waste.”

The $2 trillion coronavirus relief package, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act signed by President TrumpDonald John TrumpTrump fires intelligence community inspector general who flagged Ukraine whistleblower complaint Trump organization has laid off over 1000 employees due to pandemic: report Trump invokes Defense Production Act to prevent export of surgical masks, gloves MORE last week, gives those workers access to unemployment benefits. But states have struggled to make those benefits available quickly, given a historic surge in workers seeking unemployment benefits as the coronavirus pandemic batters the economy.

Read more here.

 

TWITTER TAKEDOWN: Twitter removed 20,000 fake accounts tied to the governments of several countries, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Serbia, for violating company policy.

Government-linked accounts of Honduras and Indonesia were also removed after Twitter determined the posts from all five governments were an “attempt to undermine the public conversation,” according to The Guardian.

Yoel Roth, head of Twitter’s site integrity, told The Guardian the removed accounts were demonstrative of the company’s efforts to “work to detect and investigate state-backed information operations.”

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The removals included 8,558 accounts linked to the Serbian Progressive party of the country’s president, Aleksandar Vučić. The accounts were found to be spreading positive news of Vučić’s government and attacking his political opponents.

The company also deleted 5,350 accounts linking back to the Saudi monarchy that were operating in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, according to The Guardian.

These accounts were found to be spreading messages praising Saudi leadership and seeking to diminish the reputation of Qatar and Turkish presences in Yemen.

Read more here. 

 

MASKS OFF THE MARKET: Amazon has stopped the sale of N95 masks to the public, deciding to only sell the essential personal protective equipment (PPE) to hospitals and government agencies amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Earlier in the week, the company rolled out a new section of its website dedicated to the sale of PPE such as surgical masks, facial shields, surgical gowns, surgical gloves and large-volume sanitizers, Vox first reported. In order to buy the supplies, hospitals and agencies are prompted to fill out a form, which reads: “We are not accepting requests from individuals or non-qualified organizations at this time.”

An Amazon spokesperson also told CNBC that the website was also restricting the purchase of coronavirus diagnostic kits to ensure that hospitals and agencies are able to obtain them.

The spokesman said that a number of other products, such as lower-volume hand sanitizers and hand wipes remain available to the general public. 

Amazon is purchasing the PPE through third-party sellers and encourages these parties to do so on the new section of their website.

To further push this, the company waived its referral fee that third-party sellers usually have to pay through June 30, according to the network. Normally, sellers must pay a referral fee on each item sold, with the fee amount changing based on the type of product.

Read more here.

 

IRS WARNS OF SCAMS: The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on Thursday warned Americans that scammers and hackers were likely to take advantage of the coronavirus crisis to target financial information.

The agency urged taxpayers to be on the lookout for malicious calls, texts, emails and social media posts that requested financial or other personal information, warning that these scams could lead to identity theft or tax fraud.

IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig emphasized that taxpayers should “take extra care” with their financial information as the coronavirus crisis continues. 

“The IRS isn’t going to call you asking to verify or provide your financial information so you can get an economic impact payment or your refund faster,” Rettig said in a statement. “That also applies to surprise emails that appear to be coming from the IRS. Remember, don’t open them or click on attachments or links. Go to IRS.gov for the most up-to-date information.” 

In particular, the IRS highlighted a new “wave” of dangerous phishing emails around the coronavirus stimulus checks that the agency is preparing to either directly deposit in bank accounts or mail out over the next several weeks. 

Read more here.

 

A LIGHTER CLICK: The Lonely Supper

 

AN OP-ED TO CHEW ON: It is time to secure our elections

 

NOTABLE LINKS FROM AROUND THE WEB:

Zoom Bombings Started Off as Pranks. Now Someone Could End Up Dead (Gizmodo / Shoshana Wodinsky)

Coronavirus Is a Labor Crisis, and a General Strike Might Be Next (Motherboard / Aaron Gordon, Lauren Kaori Gurley, Edward Ongweso Jr, and Jordan Pearson)

Senators want to know all about Apple’s COVID-19 app, too (Protocol, Emily Birnbaum) 

How a 79-year-old scientist became a beloved meme (Verge / Makena Kelly)

President TrumpDonald John TrumpTrump fires intelligence community inspector general who flagged Ukraine whistleblower complaint Trump organization has laid off over 1000 employees due to pandemic: report Trump invokes Defense Production Act to prevent export of surgical masks, gloves MORE has fired the inspector general for the intelligence community, saying he “no longer” has confidence in the key government watchdog. 

Michael Atkinson, who had served as the intelligence community inspector general since May 2018, was the first to alert Congress last year of an “urgent” whistleblower complaint he obtained from an intelligence official regarding Trump’s dealings with Ukraine. His firing will take effect 30 days from Friday, the day Trump sent a notice informing Congress of Atkinson’s dismissal. 

“This is to advise that I am exercising my power as President to remove from office the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community, effective 30 days from today,” Trump wrote to the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Intelligence committees in a letter obtained by The Hill.

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“As is the case with regard to other positions where I, as president, have the power of appointment, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, it is vital that I have the fullest confidence in the appointees serving as Inspectors General,” he added. “That is no longer the case with regard to this Inspector General.” 

Trump said he will submit to the Senate his nominee to replace Atkinson “at a later date.”

Democrats were swift in their condemnation of the firing, saying Trump was retaliating against Atkinson for raising the whistleblower complaint that ultimately led to scrutiny over the president’s dealings with Ukraine, the focal point of the House’s impeachment investigation. 

“President Trump’s decision to fire Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson is yet another blatant attempt by the President to gut the independence of the Intelligence Community and retaliate against those who dare to expose presidential wrongdoing,” said Rep. Adam SchiffAdam Bennett SchiffTrump fires intelligence community inspector general who flagged Ukraine whistleblower complaint Hannity blasts criticism of Fox News: ‘I have taken this seriously’ Pelosi forms House committee to oversee coronavirus response MORE (D-Calif.), the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and a vocal Trump detractor.

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“In the midst of a national emergency, it is unconscionable that the President is once again attempting to undermine the integrity of the intelligence community by firing yet another an intelligence official simply for doing his job,” added Sen. Mark WarnerMark Robert WarnerTrump fires intelligence community inspector general who flagged Ukraine whistleblower complaint Hillicon Valley: Thousands of Zoom recordings exposed online | Google shares location data to counter virus | Dem senator pushes jobless benefits for gig workers | Twitter takes down 20,000 fake accounts Democrat presses Trump administration on jobless benefits for gig workers MORE (D-Va.), the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. “The work of the intelligence community has never been about loyalty to a single individual; it’s about keeping us all safe from those who wish to do our country harm.”

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Trump railed against Congress’s impeachment proceedings for months, claiming he was the victim of a “witch hunt” and denying claims that he pressured Ukraine to investigate his political rivals.

Atkinson came out against then-acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph MaguireJoseph MaguireTrump fires intelligence community inspector general who flagged Ukraine whistleblower complaint Former intelligence chiefs slam Trump for removing officials Acting director of National Counterterrorism Center fired: report MORE’s decision to withhold the whistleblower complaint from Congress, pitting him against the White House’s desire to keep the complaint out of the hands of congressional investigators. 

Trump nominated Atkinson for his role in 2017 after he had served 16 years at the Justice Department. One of the focuses of his job was to probe activities falling under the purview of the Director of National Intelligence and reviewing whistleblower complaints from within the intelligence community.

Olivia Beavers contributed to this report

An American woman trying to repatriate Americans stranded abroad during the coronavirus pandemic says the U.S. Embassy in India slandered her name on social media by calling her efforts a scam.

South Carolina resident Brittany Garvin-Albury, who has won public praise from former President Obama for hurricane relief efforts, said she is trying to help stranded Americans return to the U.S. She recently set up a website to gather information for travelers in Australia, India, Peru and Spain.

Garvin-Albury is part of a diverse group that has sprung up in the absence of consistent messages from the State Department to Americans stuck in foreign countries that have closed their borders.

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But the U.S. Embassy in India flagged her efforts as a scam, taking issue with her website’s address, and sent out alerts on Facebook, Twitter and social media accounts linked to U.S. consulates for Mumbai, Hyderabad and Kolkata.

All of the posts have been taken down, many within eight hours, but they drew a strong response from individuals who support Garvin-Albury’s work. And it was elevated to the attention of at least one state legislator who spoke out on her behalf.

“It has come to my attention that the United States Embassy in India has placed a fraud alert on South Carolina Citizen and Charlestonian Brittney Garvin (Albury),” state Sen. Sandy Senn wrote in a letter to the U.S. Embassy on Thursday.

“I was shocked to see such an alert,” Senn wrote. “Brittney worked tirelessly by my side after Hurricane Dorian hit Abaco, Bahamas. She has always been honest in my dealings with her and she has always come through with whatever she promises.”

The State Department is in the midst of an unprecedented effort to repatriate thousands of U.S. citizens in dozens of countries around the world that have shut their borders on short notice over the rapid spread of the coronavirus.

It has brought more than 35,000 Americans home from 72 countries since the end of January.

But the agency came under harsh criticism early on for being too slow and uncommunicative.

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Stranded Americans have since mobilized online and on social media to source options and share information to return home in the absence of information from the U.S. government.

Garvin-Albury stepped in during the first days of confusion, helping efforts to organize travelers and float options for private charter flights in Peru before the State Department took over.

A nurse from Charleston, S.C., Garvin-Albury first gained prominence as an effective mobilizer through her efforts helping Bahamanians in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian in September.

She received an endorsement on Twitter from Obama in September and was featured in local news stories.

On Wednesday, she announced on social media a website to organize information from travelers in Australia, India, Peru and Spain, asking them to submit identifying information and include a PDF copy of their passport.

The next day, the U.S. Embassy in India flagged her efforts as a scam.

“An individual using the name Brittany Garvin-Albury on Facebook is soliciting passport information and money from U.S. citizens using a FAKE website (ending with .net rather than .gov) promising repatriation on a private charter flight. This is a SCAM,” read the post on the U.S. Embassy India Facebook page.

It was public for at least eight hours before being taken down, according to screenshots reviewed by The Hill. The post had at least 58 shares and almost 200 likes, while the embassy page has more than 2 million followers.

Similar mentions of Garvin-Albury were included in email alerts sent to Americans enrolled in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program by the U.S. Consulate in Hyderabad. Mentions of her as a scammer were public on a COVID-19 health alert posted to the website for the U.S. Consulate General Chennai, which no longer mentions her by name.

“We have become aware of scammers claiming to be offering repatriation flights and directing them to make online payments or transfers. One example is an individual using the name Brittany Garvin-Albury on Facebook soliciting passport information and money from US citizens using an imposter website,” the embassy post read. “Be wary of scams. We will not ask for your financial information.”

Garvin-Albury told The Hill that money for the charter flights was to be handled much like the ones in Peru, with payments collected once the plane was already en route. She said that a corporate PayPal account was set up to provide fraud protection.

But the tweets by the U.S. Embassy nonetheless have hurt her credibility, Garvin-Albury said, causing her to scale back her efforts to help Americans.

“I think I’ll lay low for a while. I’m heart broken,” she wrote in a Facebook message to The Hill.

The U.S. Embassy in India did not respond to a request for comment.

A State Department spokesperson told The Hill saying that it is closely monitoring the conditions in India and around the world.

“At our Embassies and Consulates overseas, our consular teams are working around the clock to identify transportation options for U.S. citizens seeking to return to the United States. For the most up-to-date and authoritative information about repatriation flights, we strongly encourage all U.S. citizens abroad to register through the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (at STEP.State.gov) and to monitor the relevant embassy’s website under ‘Alerts and Messages for U.S. Citizens,'” the spokesperson said.

India is likely to pose one of the biggest logistical challenges for the State Department to evacuate Americans. The entire country has come under a strict lockdown, with a curfew during daytime hours, no public or hired transportation and domestic flights expected to be suspended until April 15.

Ian Brownlee, principal deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of Consular Affairs on COVID-19, told reporters on Wednesday that they had heard from “multiple thousands” of Americans needing help to return to the U.S., but that the numbers change quickly.

The State Department has so far organized at least one charter flight that brought back 201 citizens from India and is working to help Americans throughout the country travel to Delhi and Mumbai for flights back to the U.S.

Senn has demanded the embassy issue an apology or provide evidence for calling Garvin-Albury’s efforts a scam.

“The alert I saw from the American Embassy in India indicated that Brittney was a fraud and collecting passport information and money. If this is true, please share your facts with me because I believe otherwise, and have referred Ms. Garvin-Albury to an attorney with FTCA experience in Federal Court,” Senn wrote.

The FTCA is the Federal Tort Claims Act and provides that someone can file a claim against the government for damages over injury to a person or property because of the wrongful or negligent actions of a federal employee acting in their official duties.

“I would like to see this alert corrected and an apology issued to avoid further escalation of damage to Brittney Garvin Albury’s reputation,” Senn added.

—Updated at 5:13 p.m.