TWITTER, FB, YOUTUBE YANK TRUMP’S POSTS ON CORONAVIRUS
WASHINGTON: Facebook on Wednesday took down a post by US President Donald Trump, which the company said violated its rules against sharing misinformation about the coronavirus.
The post contained a video clip, from an interview with Fox & Friends earlier in the day, in which Trump claimed that children are “almost immune” to Covid-19. A tweet containing the video that was posted by the Trump campaign’s @Teamtrump account and shared by the president was also later hidden by Twitter for breaking its Covid-19 misinformation rules.
Youtube, through a spokesman, said it had pulled down the video for violating its Covid-19 misinformation policies. However, the original interview remains available on the Fox News page on the platform.
FORMER U.S. FIRST LADY TALKS OF DEPRESSION
Former first lady Michelle Obama said she is suffering from “low-grade depression” due to Covid-19 quarantine, racial strife and the Trump administration.
“I’m waking up in the middle of the night because I’m worrying about something,” she said on The Michelle Obama Podcast released on Spotify. “Not just because of the quarantine, but because of the racial strife, and just seeing this administration, watching the hypocrisy of it.”
BEIRUT: As Lebanese rescuers counted the dead and combed rubble for signs of life a day after a massive explosion shattered swaths of Beirut, nations near and far have assured that the country, trapped in a deep economic crisis and political turmoil, is not alone.
Losses from the blast are estimated to be between $10bn to $15bn, Beirut governor Marwan Abboud said, adding that nearly 300,000 people are homeless.
Public anger is on the boil over the blast caused by a massive pile of abandoned ammonium nitrate that had been stored for years in a ramshackle port warehouse.
Residents of Beirut vented their fury at Lebanon’s leaders on Thursday during a visit to the site of the blast by French President Emmanuel Macron, blaming them for the tragedy. They shouted “Revolution!” and crowded around Macron. “Lebanon is not alone,” Macron tweeted on arrival before pledging Paris would coordinate international relief efforts.
For many Lebanese, Tuesday’s giant blast was the last straw after years of corruption by the political elite.
The explosion at the capital’s port that killed at least 137 and injured thousands, stunned the world. From Australia to Indonesia to Europe and the US, countries pledged to send in aid.
US secretary of state Mike Pompeo reaffirmed “our steadfast commitment to assist the Lebanese people” in a phone call with PM Hassan Diab. Australian PM Scott Morrison pledged $1.4 million to the relief effort.
The EU activated its civil protection system and the WHO is sending in medical supplies to cover up to 1,000 trauma interventions.