Critically Ill COVID-19 Patients Make Quick Recovery With New Treatment; Trump Cuts off COVID Question by CNN’s Jim Acosta: ‘Fake News CNN, Hold It’ (VIDEO)

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By New York Post. Critically ill COVID-19 patients recovered rapidly from respiratory failure after three days of treatment with RLF-100, a therapy granted fast-track designation in the United States, two drug companies said Sunday.

Geneva-based Relief Therapeutics Holdings AG RFLB.S has a patent for RLF-100, or aviptadil, a synthetic form of a natural peptide that protects the lung. US-Israeli NeuroRx Inc. partnered with Relief to develop the drug in the United States.

In June the US Food and Drug Administration granted fast-track designation to RLF-100 for treatment of respiratory distress in COVID-19.

While a Phase 2/3 clinical trial with 70 patients is ongoing, RLF-100 is being administered on an emergency basis to some patients who are too ill to be admitted to the trial. (Read more from “Critically Ill COVID-19 Patients Make Quick Recovery With New Treatment” HERE)

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Trump Cuts off Question by CNN’s Jim Acosta About U.S. Coronavirus Death Rate: ‘Fake News CNN, Hold It’

By Fox News. President Trump told CNN reporter Jim Acosta to “hold it” on Monday when the latter asked him about the coronavirus death rate in the U.S. as it compared to other nations.

“The U.S. has so many deaths compared to so many countries around the world,” Acosta said. Trump, in a reprise of his long-running criticism of the network, responded: “Fake News CNN, hold it.”

(Read more from “Trump Cuts off Question by CNN’s Jim Acosta About U.S. Coronavirus Death Rate: ‘Fake News CNN, Hold It'” HERE)

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Barack Obama’s Half-Brother Rips ‘Cold and Ruthless’ Ex-President

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A “cold and ruthless” President Obama abandoned his Kenyan family in their greatest hours of need, according to a new tell-all by estranged half brother Malik Obama.

“He got rich and became a snob,” Malik, 62, told The Post via Skype from his home in the Kenyan village of Nyang’oma Kogelo. “What I saw was he was the kind of person that wants people to worship him. He needs to be worshiped and I don’t do that. I am his older brother so I don’t do that.”

The book, “Big Bad Brother From Kenya,” a self-published memoir which Malik Obama spent 22 years writing, hit Amazon with little fanfare on July 11. In its 435 pages, Malik covers the long and gradual falling out between him and the former President, which culminated in Malik publicly endorsing Donald Trump for president in 2016. . .

“We had a big fight on the phone because he was not in support and insisted I shut down the website and not continue with the foundation. He had his reasons but I was not having any of it,” Malik writes, describing a stormy call shortly before the 2009 inauguration. “We talked late into the night that night. He threatened to ‘cut me off’ if I continued with the idea.” . . .

In the same call, President Obama also informed his brother that his aunt, Hawa Auma Hussein, the only surviving full-sibling of their father, wouldn’t be making the guest list for the inauguration. While Obama was in the White House, Aunt Hawa lived in near-poverty working as a charcoal seller, in a collapsing house, according to local Kenyan media. (Read more from “Barack Obama’s Half-Brother Rips ‘Cold and Ruthless’ Ex-President” HERE)

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Iran Cover-Up of COVID-19 Deaths Revealed by Data Leak

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The number of deaths from coronavirus in Iran is nearly triple what Iran’s government claims, a BBC Persian service investigation has found.

The government’s own records appear to show almost 42,000 people died with COVID-19 symptoms up to 20 July, versus 14,405 reported by its health ministry.

The number of people known to be infected is also almost double official figures: 451,024 as opposed to 278,827. . .

There have been irregularities in data between national and regional levels, which some local authorities have spoken out about, and statisticians have tried to give alternative estimates.

A level of undercounting, largely due to testing capacity, is seen across the world, but the information leaked to the BBC reveals Iranian authorities have reported significantly lower daily numbers despite having a record of all deaths – suggesting they were deliberately suppressed. (Read more from “Iran Cover-Up of COVID-19 Deaths Revealed by Data Leak” HERE)

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Sweden’s No-Lockdown COVID Numbers Are Even Better Than They Look

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In case you hadn’t heard, Sweden is one of the very few western nations that didn’t respond to COVID-19 by imposing any lockdowns.

Given the obvious hardship, misery, and death lockdowns bring, Sweden’s leaders decided it made more sense to just isolate the sick and elderly. They let the infection burn through the strong and healthy members of their population at its normal rate instead of trying to slow it down and thereby delaying herd immunity. . .

It turns out their COVID numbers are incredibly good even independently of the fact that they seem to be avoiding the recent spike in cases that lockdown nations are experiencing. . .

To start by considering Sweden’s numbers in isolation, their COVID fatalities were almost entirely restricted to the elderly. 88% were over 70 and 75% were in nursing homes or elder care. Only 4.5% of fatalities were under 60.

Sweden had less than 500 reported COVID fatalities under 70, just 12% of the total.

(Read more from “Sweden’s No-Lockdown COVID Numbers Are Even Better Than They Look” HERE)

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USDA Identifies Seeds Mysteriously Mailed From China

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Officials at the Department of Agriculture identified several of the seeds that were mailed to citizens from China.

An analysis of the seeds revealed that some Amazon shoppers were sent a “mix of ornamental, fruit and vegetable, herb and weed species” in packages they did not purchase. Officials maintained that people should not plant any mysterious seeds they are sent and should continue reporting them to law enforcement. . .

Amazon customers throughout the country reported that they had received mysterious packages of seeds in the mail that they had not ordered. The seeds were shipped from China and were sometimes mislabeled as earrings, beads, or other products. Officials believe it may be part of an Amazon “brushing” scam whereby sellers obtain the addresses of customers and send them an unrequested product in the hopes that the customer will use the product and leave a positive review.

Bernd Blossey, a professor in the department of natural resources at Cornell University, told the New York Times that the seeds identified would not hurt the general environment but that other packages that have yet to be identified could contain invasive species that could harm the U.S. food supply if they are planted. He suggested burning the seeds rather than tossing them in the trash because they could sprout in a landfill. (Read more from “USDA Identifies Seeds Mysteriously Mailed From China” HERE)

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FBI Officials Allegedly Hid Copies of ‘Key’ Documents After Trump Fired Comey

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FBI officials took pains to hide three copies of “key” documents in the days after President Trump fired Director James Comey, according to a forthcoming book.

CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin wrote about how Andrew McCabe, who had suddenly been thrust into the acting director role in May 2017, went about opening a criminal case into Trump for potential obstruction of justice.

“Given the wild pace of events, McCabe couldn’t be sure how long he’d last as director, so he wanted to lock down as much evidence as possible,” Toobin wrote in an excerpt of True Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Investigation of Donald Trump that was published by CNN on Thursday.

“Most important, he told the investigating agents to place Comey’s memos in SENTINEL, the FBI’s case management software,” Toobin wrote. “McCabe knew that once documents were inside the system, they were virtually impossible to remove. With Comey’s memos in the system, the investigators were certain to have access to them ⁠— even if McCabe himself would eventually be gone.” . . .

“Once McCabe became director, Bureau employees grew so concerned that Trump would try to shut down the investigation that they secreted at least three copies of key documents, including Comey’s memos, in remote locations around the Bureau. This was to make sure that in the event Trump directed an end to these inquiries, the documents could always be preserved, located, and shared,” Toobin wrote. (Read more from “FBI Officials Allegedly Hid Copies of ‘Key’ Documents After Trump Fired Comey” HERE)

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Clinton Aide to Biden: ‘Whatever You Do, Don’t Debate Trump’; Biden Campaign Claim He’s Agreed to Debates, Trump Hasn’t

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By News Thud. . .[Joe Lockhart] published an op-ed last week at CNN.com warning Biden that he should not debate Trump because the latter is prone to statement that fail the fact-checking test (original emphasis):

Whatever you do, don’t debate Trump. Trump has now made more than 20,000 misleading or false statements according to the Washington Post. It’s a fool’s errand to enter the ring with someone who can’t follow the rules or the truth. Biden will undoubtedly take heat from Republicans and the media for skipping the debates. But it’s worth the risk as trying to debate someone incapable of telling the truth is an impossible contest to win.

However, Biden has been criticized in past debate performances for his misstatements and outright fabrications. In a debate with Alaska Governor Sarah Palin in 2008, Biden made several false claims, including the odd claim that the United States and France had “kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon.” (Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed terrorist group with an associated political wing, is still very much there, and is a major part of Lebanon’s government.)

(Read more from “Clinton Aide to Biden: ‘Whatever You Do, Don’t Debate Trump'” HERE)

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Biden Campaign Says It Has Agreed to Debates Already, but Trump Camp Has Not

By Fox News. Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden is “very much looking forward to debating Donald Trump,” the former vice president’s campaign deputy manager and communications director Kate Bedingfield told “America’s Newsroom” on Monday.

She added that the Biden campaign has already agreed to the upcoming three presidential debates, while the Trump campaign has not. . .

Trump supporters have poked fun at the former vice president for conducting many of his interviews from home. Trump’s defenders have also speculated about Biden’s overall health and Biden’s refusal to debate could provide more cannon fodder.

When host Sandra Smith asked Bedingfield on Monday if it’s a consideration for Biden to skip the debates all together, she said, “We are very much looking forward to debating Donald Trump” and putting the candidates’ “contrasts on display.”

“I would say there is one candidate in this race who has agreed to three debates and that’s Joe Biden. The Trump campaign has actually not agreed yet to participate in the debates set by the presidential debate commission,” Bedingfield continued. (Read more from “Biden Campaign Says It Has Agreed to Debates Already, but Trump Camp Has Not” HERE)

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D.A. Is Investigating Trump Over Fraud Claims From Mainstream Media Reports

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The Manhattan district attorney’s office suggested on Monday that it had been investigating President Trump and his company for possible bank and insurance fraud, a significantly broader inquiry than the prosecutors have acknowledged in the past. . .

In the new filing, the prosecutors did not explicitly identify the matters under scrutiny in the grand jury inquiry, which by law is conducted in secret. But they said that “undisputed” assertions in earlier court papers and several news reports about Mr. Trump’s business practices showed that the office had a wide legal basis for the subpoena. . .

The prosecutors cited newspaper reports, including one that concluded the president may have illegally inflated his net worth and the value of his properties to lenders and insurers. They also included an article on the congressional testimony of his former lawyer and fixer, Michael D. Cohen, who told lawmakers last year that the president had committed insurance fraud. Lawyers for the president have denied wrongdoing. (Read more from “D.A. Is Investigating Trump Over Fraud Claims From Mainstream Media Reports” HERE)

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U.S. Court Bans Legal Term ‘Grandfathering’ Over Ties to Racism

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The Massachusetts Appeals Court banned the legal term “grandfathering” on Monday due to its origins in the racist history of the South, where “grandfather clauses” were used to deny black people the right to vote in the post-Civil War era.

In common parlance, to be “grandfathered” means being able to exercise a right or power that was granted by government in a previous era, before some new restriction was enacted. For example, many older skyscrapers in New York City today are able to evade new building codes because they are “grandfathered” out of having to obey many of the newer rules. In Massachusetts, 18-year-olds were recently “grandfathered” out of restrictions banning cigarette and vape sales to those under 21 if they had already turned 18 — the previous minimum age — by the date of the new regulation’s enactment.

However, the term has a specific origin in the post-Civil War South, where several states wrote “grandfather clauses” that restricted the right to vote after the adoption of the Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which banned racial discrimination in voting rights. The states required black voters to pass certain tests to determine their eligibility to vote, but exempted those who had held the right to vote before the Civil War, and their descendants. These “grandfather clauses” allowed white Southerners to vote but limited the voting rights of black Southerners until the civil rights era. (Read more from “U.S. Court Bans Legal Term ‘Grandfathering’ Over Ties to Racism” HERE)

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Microsoft Offers to Buy TikTok

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President Trump gave his verbal approval to a potential deal between TikTok and an American company like Microsoft on Monday, but said TikTok had until Sept. 15 to close such a deal or face a U.S. ban.

“Here’s the deal. I don’t mind if — whether it’s Microsoft or somebody else — a big company, a secure company, a very American company buys it,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “It’s probably easier to buy the whole thing than to buy 30 percent of it. … Who’s going to get the name, the name is hot?”

The Trump administration has been weighing TikTok’s fate since last year, launching an investigation into the short video company amid fears that its Bejing-based parent ByteDance shares customer information with the Communist Chinese government. . .

As first reported by FOX Business, ByteDance entered into talks about a month ago with Microsoft to buy TikTok’s U.S. operations as a way to save the business from a decision by the administration that would prevent the popular app from being used by U.S. consumers. . .

“Microsoft fully appreciates the importance of addressing the President’s concerns,” the company said in a statement. “It is committed to acquiring TikTok subject to a complete security review and providing proper economic benefits to the United States, including the United States Treasury.” (Read more from “Microsoft Offers to Buy TikTok” HERE)

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