Donald Trump sparks fears of mass exodus from New York City as he says he is considering a quarantine on travel to prevent the spread of coronavirus

(Source dailymail.co.uk)

There are fears that a mass exodus of New Yorkers could occur within the coming days after President Trump said he was considering a quarantine of the city, which would last at least 14 days. 

On Saturday, the president said that a quarantine would be ‘enforceable’ and ‘restrict travel’ from parts of the tri-state area, including New York, Connecticut and New Jersey. ‘We’re thinking about certain things. Some people would like to see New York quarantined because it’s a hotspot. … We might not have to do it, but there’s a possibility that sometime today we’ll do a quarantine, short-term, two weeks on New York. Probably New Jersey, certain parts of Connecticut,’ he told reporters as he left the White House. On Twitter, the reaction was mixed. ‘The idiot has just started a mass exodus out of New York with this moronic statement,’ wrote Ken Gaskin online. ‘Setting aside whether this is a good or bad idea, it’s two weeks too late to be effective. I’m tweeting from a half-empty apartment building in Manhattan because many of the residents with summer homes left NYC weeks ago,’ added Brian Stelter a correspondent for CNN. ‘I don’t agree with a quarantine of developing ‘hot spots’ like New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, or any other areas in the United States. First of all, what does quarantine even mean for Trump? Is that where everyone can’t even leave their homes without government permission?’ asked Dr Eugene Gu. Locals in the Hamptons, which is usually a summer hotspot for New Yorkers getting out of the city, have reported larger than normal crowds at beaches and busier beachside parking lots. Some have claimed no one – whether at the beach or in the towns – is adhering to the social distancing that health officials have been pushing for. Locals who already live in the Hamptons want to ban coronavirus refugees coming from the Big Apple and force those that are there to quarantine inside for 14 days. In other states, Rhode Island is sending out the National Guard to hunt down escaping New Yorkers who have fled to its towns, after wealthy residents appeared to take over the areas as they escape the virus epicenter. Florida, Texas, South Carolina and Maryland also require a mandatory 14-day quarantine for new arrivals from New York. 

China Conducts Illegal Nuclear Weapons Tests

(source thetrumpet.com)

China appears to be setting off “zero yield” nuclear tests despite its claims of adhering to an international agreement forbidding such explosions, United States officials wrote in a State Department report published April 15. Zero yield nuclear tests do not ignite an explosive chain reaction of the kind caused by detonating most nuclear warheads. This indicates that the weapons being tested are either tactical nuclear weapons or triggers for larger bombs. In either case, such explosions are easier for a nation to conceal from monitoring agencies, particularly when conducted deep underground. The Chinese tests are believed to have occurred at underground locations at its Lop Nur nuclear test site throughout last year. The State Department’s report states: “China’s possible preparation to operate its Lop Nur test site year-round, its use of explosive containment chambers, extensive excavation activities at Lop Nur, and a lack of transparency on its nuclear testing activities raise concerns regarding its adherence to the zero yield standard.” The lack of transparency includes China’s obstruction of data transfers from sensors on Chinese territory that are intended to alert monitoring groups of radioactive releases and seismic activity. A senior U.S. official said these illegal Chinese activities, in the context of Beijing’s broader focus on modernizing its nuclear arsenals, intensifies the need to bring Beijing into a new nuclear agreement. “The pace and manner by which the Chinese government is modernizing its stockpile is worrying, destabilizing, and illustrates why China should be brought into the global arms control framework,” the official told Reuters on the condition of anonymity. But China, with its arsenal of an estimated 290 nuclear weapons, has repeatedly rejected proposals to join such an agreement, insisting that its arms are strictly for defensive purposes and pose no threat to global peace.

‘The Food Supply Chain Is Breaking.’ Tyson Foods Warns of Meat Shortage as Plants Close Due to COVID-19 (Source Time)

Tyson Foods, one of the U.S.’s biggest meat processors, warned, “the food supply chain is breaking.” “As pork, beef and chicken plants are being forced to close, even for short periods of time, millions of pounds of meat will disappear from the supply chain,” John Tyson, Chairman of the Board of Tyson Foods, wrote in a letter published as an advertisement. “As a result, there will be limited supply of our products available in grocery stores until we are able to reopen our facilities that are currently closed.” The Arkansas-based company says food waste is also a threat, as “farmers across the nation simply will not have anywhere to sell their livestock to be processed, when they could have fed the nation.” “Millions of animals —chickens, pigs and cattle— will be depopulated because of the closure of our processing facilities,” Tyson writes. “The food supply chain is breaking.” A spokesperson with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said in a statement emailed to TIME that the USDA, together with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will work to “ensure the food supply chain remains safe and secure.” “The food supply chain is a critical industry in the United States and Secretary Perdue fully recognizes the need to keep workers and inspectors safe during the COVID-19 national emergency,” the spokesperson said. “USDA recognizes and supports the efforts of private industry and companies to maintain operational status of their facilities while also maintaining the safety and health of their work force.”

Russia slams US arguments for low-yield nukes

(Source Associated Press)

The Russian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday rejected U.S. arguments for fielding low-yield nuclear warheads, warning that an attempt to use such weapons against Russia would trigger an all-out nuclear retaliation. The U.S. State Department argued in a paper released last week that fitting the low-yield nuclear warheads to submarine-launched ballistic missiles would help counter potential new threats from Russia and China. It charged that Moscow in particular was pondering the use of non-strategic nuclear weapons as a way of force in a limited conflict — an assertion that Russia has repeatedly denied. The State Department noted that the new supplemental warhead “reduces the risk of nuclear war by reinforcing extended deterrence and assurance.” The Russian Foreign Ministry sees it otherwise. The ministry’s spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, commented on the State Department’s paper at a briefing on Wednesday, emphasizing that the U.S. shouldn’t view its new low-yield warheads as a flexible tool that could help avert an all-out nuclear conflict with Russia. “Any attack involving a U.S. submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), regardless of its weapon specifications, would be perceived as a nuclear aggression,” Zakharova said. “Those who like to theorize about the flexibility of American nuclear potential must understand that in line with the Russian military doctrine such actions are seen as warranting retaliatory use of nuclear weapons by Russia.” Zakharova cast the U.S. deployment of low-yield warheads as a destabilizing move that would result in “lowering the nuclear threshold.”