The coronavirus death toll in the United States surpassed 90,000 on Monday as the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases exceeded 1.5 million across the country, according to the Johns Hopkins University tally. The grim milestones came as President Donald Trump tweeted to “REOPEN OUR COUNTRY!” and the White House attempted to shift blame, including onto its own scientists, for the high number of deaths. On Sunday, members of Trump administration disagreed on whether the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) let the country down with testing efforts. “Early on in this crisis, the CDC, which really had the most trusted brand around the world in this space, really let the country down with the testing,” Peter Navarro, Trump’s trade adviser, told NBC’s Meet the Press programme....
Dave Greenfield, the longtime keyboardist and vocalist for UK punk rock / new wave band The Stranglers has passed away at the age of 71. The veteran musician had been hospitalized for heart problems, but then contracted COVID-19 last week and succumbed to the virus on Monday, May 3rd. Greenfield joined The Stranglers in 1975, a year after the band’s formation. He remained in the group up until his death, playing keyboards and providing backing and occasional lead vocals. He appeared on all 17 of seminal punk band’s albums, and wrote the music for one of their best known hits, “Golden Brown”. That tune won the prestigious Ivor Novello Award for songwriting. The news of Greenfield’s passing was announced on the band’s official website: “We are deeply and profoundly saddened to announce the u...