(Bloomberg) -- South Korea is the first major country to hold a general election in the throes of a coronavirus crisis. That may turn out to be a boost for its president, Moon Jae-in.The election for all 300 National Assembly seats comes as Moon basks in the glow of global praise for South Korea’s approach to getting one of the world’s worst outbreaks under control without resorting to the most punitive measures. When early voting got underway Friday, the country reported 27 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, the fewest in about seven weeks.The easing Covid-19 tally has helped Moon’s Democratic Party of Korea rebuild support battered by an economic slowdown, corruption scandals involving presidential aides and resurgent tensions with North Korea. The turnaround is all the more remarkable because Moon had faced criticism for a lax approach after the epidemic began in neighboring China, having predicted that the virus would be terminated “before long” -- only to see cases spike days later.“It looked like Moon’s party was headed for a complete defeat in the election amid a fragile economic recovery,” said Kim Man-heum, head of the Korea Academy of Politics and Leadership and the author of several books on Korean politics. “Then came the coronavirus outbreak, which swallowed up all other controversies like a black hole, leaving only the government’s out-performance in the worldwide Covid-19 war visible.”The vote comes about halfway through Moon’s single, five-year term, a point when an electoral defeat made his predecessor, former President Park Geun-hye, a lame duck and ultimately paved the way for her impeachment and removal. While a win by the conservative United Future Party could open Moon to similar peril, victory by the Democratic Party would free his hand to set up a successor.If Moon can win the election without contributing to a subsequent spike in infections, he may also provide a road map for other leaders seeking to navigate a period of unprecedented economic and social upheaval. Places from U.S. states to Singapore have been currently re-evaluating their political calendars and election practices as surging coronavirus outbreaks consume the public debate and make the democratic exercises of campaigning and voting dangerous.How Kim Jong Un Keeps Advancing His Nuclear Program: QuickTakeIn South Korea, candidates have campaigned in masks and relied more heavily on video messages to reach voters. People who visit the polls will be asked to stand at least one meter (3 feet) apart, cover their faces, wear disposable gloves and be ready to submit to temperature checks. Voting booths will be subject to frequent disinfection.The decision to go ahead with voting contrasts with U.S. states that have delayed presidential primaries and France, which suspended some local elections after cases began to multiply. Singapore has held off on calling an expected vote as it orders people to stay in their homes to avoid spreading the disease. Poland plans to conduct its May 10 presidential election by mail-in ballot.The timing of South Korea’s vote appears to be working in Moon’s favor. His focus on mass testing and isolation of the sick to corral coronavirus clusters has been credited with a sharp slowdown in infection increases. While South Korea once had the second-largest case tally outside China, it was the 17th globally as of Friday, with just over 10,000 cases, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg News.Moon was among the first people to cast ballots when two days of early voting started Friday. As of 10 a.m., 2.5% of the registered voters had gone to the polls, compared with 1.2% as of the same time on the first day in the previous general election four years ago, according to the national election committee. The turnout was the lowest in Daegu, South Korea’s epicenter for the virus spread.A Gallup Korea poll released last week, before restrictions on publishing poll results took effect Thursday, showed that the Democratic Party was leading the opposition 41% to 23%. Still, the complexity of South Korea’s vote and a history of surprises like Park’s shock defeat in 2016 make predictions difficult.More than 1,100 candidates from 21 political parties have signed up for 253 constituencies with direct elections. Another 300 candidates are fighting for 47 seats decided by support for the parties.“The results are often a surprise because opinion polls fail to capture each candidate’s competitiveness,” said Kim, of the Korea Academy of Politics and Leadership.Heavy HittersThe coronavirus crisis has loomed large in a closely watched race in central Seoul, a political proving ground that has produced three future presidents and is sometimes called South Korea’s “No. 1 district.” The contest features two former prime ministers -- Lee Nak-yon, of the Democratic Party, and opposition leader Hwang Kyo-ahn -- in what could be a preview of the 2022 presidential election.“Grabbing a victory here is like winning nationwide support,” said Hwang in a written reply to questions. “Only a landslide win would empower us to stop the ruling power’s policies.”Hwang’s party is pushing to take a tough line with North Korea, scrap Moon’s decision to raise the minimum wage and cut back on regulations on business.Lee declined to be interviewed. Beside pushing through a dramatic wage increase, Moon has tightened rules on urban redevelopment to rein in a property bubble and sought to wean the economy away from nuclear energy in favor of hydrogen and solar power.The Democratic Party is predicting that it will win at least 130 seats, while the United Future Party forecasts that it will take between 110 and 130 seats, according to Yonhap.However, surveys have shown about one out of five voters are undecided or unwilling to say whom they support. The threat of infection at polling station only adds to the uncertainty.“It’s highly likely to be an extremely polarized election,” said Park Won-ho, who teaches voting behavior at Seoul National University. “Only those willing to pay for the cost of a possible infection will come to the polls, which will result in over-sampling” of voters on the extreme right and left, Park said.(Updates with details on early voting)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

Now that Bernie Sanders has dropped out of the 2020 presidential race, the heat is on Joe Biden to select his running mate soon, so that he can generate some much needed media attention and fundraising in the middle of this global pandemic. In my opinion, as a black woman, Biden’s choice, without question, should be a black woman. Here is why: When Barack Obama secured the nomination for president of the United States of America in 2008, he chose the older, wiser, gray-haired, white male senior senator from Delaware, Joe Biden. Although Biden was not the exciting choice, he was the right choice for the young, black nominee. Obama was going to be the nation’s first black executive. He needed to reassure those nervous about history’s choice, that he would have someone “safe” and known to the public by his side.  Now, Biden needs to send the opposite signal: that it is time for America to trust a woman who represents the backbone of the Democratic Party with the vice presidency, one who is ready on day one, if need be, to serve as president.What Obama Saw in BidenThe entire history of America starts with white men of power owning everything, including slaves, running the government, owning the wealth, and calling all the shots.Then once that power was finally shared in the late 1860s after slavery, it was shared first with black men. Followed by white women, then finally, black women and women of color. It started with the 15th Amendment, approved by Congress on Feb. 26, 1869, and ratified Feb. 3, 1870, granting black men the right to vote. Not black women. And not white women.  The first blacks elected to Congress, during Reconstruction, were all men, of course. It was not until 1920 that white women got the right to vote, with the first white woman elected to the House of Representatives in 1916 and to the U.S. Senate in 1922. It was not until Shirley Chisholm’s election to the House in 1968 that a black woman served in Congress.Chisholm’s historic win came one year after the first non-white Supreme Court justice, Thurgood Marshall, joined the highest court in 1967. It wasn't until Sandra Day O’Connor reached the Supreme Court in 1981 that a woman served on the world’s most elite bench. Sonia Sotomayor became the first Latina justice in 2009. It is 2020 and no black woman has been nominated to the high court. It was Bill Clinton who appointed the first women to serve as secretary of state and attorney general. It took George W. Bush, a Republican, to appoint the first black secretary of state, Colin Powell, followed by Condoleezza Rice, a black woman. Biden Commits to Selecting Female VPJoe Biden now has a chance to buck history’s tide. Two white women have been nominated for vice president, Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 and Sarah Palin in 2008. If I were advising Biden strictly along electoral guidelines, I would tell him the governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer, or Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin would make great choices. They both would likely bring key electoral states that Trump carried in 2016 into his column on Election Day.But Sen. Kamala Harris, who wouldn’t get him anything electorally, would deliver something Biden must have in 2020: the intense and energized black vote that eluded Hillary Clinton in 2016. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. (which is also my sorority and we have a powerful army of more than 300,000 members worldwide to help her raise money and be foot soldiers on the ground). Another strong choice electorally and along color lines is Florida Rep. Val Demings, who served as a House impeachment manager during the Trump impeachment. She too could produce that excitement, and help Biden compete for Florida, a state that Trump can’t afford to lose. Some may ask why I don’t include Stacey Abrams here. One big reason: She has not been vetted nationally by a nosy, aggressive and often rough national press corps. Harris, Demings, and other possible candidates mentioned are federal office holders. They have been vetted. Biden has made clear he wants no hiccups or surprises. And a 43-year-old woman of color, who currently holds no public office and lost her only statewide race, would be a big leap for the country to accept as someone ready for the presidency on day one. In 2016, Hillary Clinton was ahead in the national polls, and yet she did not turn out the Obama coalition in sufficient numbers in part because black turnout in key states like Michigan and Pennsylvania wasn’t strong enough. Biden, who has pledged to nominate a woman as his running mate and a black woman as a justice, knows there is no path to the White House for a Democrat without strong black turnout. He needs a black woman as his running mate. Why? Because black women are the core of the Democratic base, the party’s most loyal voters. And as Harris made clear in her final debate performance this year, the Democratic Party must stop taking black women voters for granted. Whether it’s Harris or Demings, Biden needs a smart, strong, loyal, and tough sister by his side. It is the Obama 2008 ticket in reverse. Only this time Biden will be at the top, and he has a chance to change history’s trajectory by putting a tested and trusted black woman in his No. 2 slot—thus setting her up for the best shot a woman has ever had of becoming president in either 2024 if Biden does not run again or in 2028 after two terms.  Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

Linda Tripp, whose secretly recorded conversations with Monica Lewinsky led to the 1998 impeachment of President Bill Clinton, died at age 70.

Linda Tripp, the Pentagon publicist whose secret recordings of Monica Lewinsky talking about sex with president Bill Clinton led to the his impeachment, died Wednesday at 70. Tripp was a public affairs official of the US Department of Defense when her co-worker Lewinsky, who had served as a White House intern in the mid-1990s, told her she had secretly had sexual encounters with Clinton in the Oval Office.

In home isolation just months after his release from jail, Brazil’s former leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said Wednesday that President Jair Bolsonaro needs to change his dismissive approach to the new coronavirus or risk being forced from office before the end of his term in December 2022. The former president known as Lula said in an interview with The Associated Press that Bolsonaro’s defiance of calls for social distancing hamper the efforts of governors and mayors to contain the virus. Da Silva, who governed between 2003 and 2010 at time when Brazil's economy was strong, acknowledged that Bolsonaro is unlikely to heed growing opposition calls to step down and that there are not enough votes in congress for impeachment.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) is preparing a bipartisan letter to send to President Trump over the Friday-night firing of Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson.Grassley, a Trump ally who has an ongoing probe into the Department of Defense’s role in supporting Stefan Halper, who spied on the 2016 Trump campaign, has released several statements in the wake of Atkinson’s firing that have suggested he is unsatisfied with the administration’s logic behind the move.“Congress has been crystal clear that written reasons must be given when IGs are removed for a lack of confidence. More details are needed from the administration,” he said in a statement released Saturday, before releasing another Tuesday which said that “the White House should empower inspectors general so they’re able to do their job.”Trump, who also fired DoD watchdog Glenn Fine on Monday, said on Saturday that he fired Atkinson because “I thought he did a terrible job.” But reports have circulated for several months that Trump has wanted to fire Atkinson since he filed the whistleblower complaint that dealt with Trump's conduct on a call with the Ukrainian president and touched off the president’s impeachment.“He took this terrible, inaccurate whistleblower report and he brought it to Congress . . . they give this whistleblower a status that he doesn’t deserve. He’s a fake whistleblower” Trump added Saturday.Grassley was instrumental in crafting the nation’s whistleblower protection statutes, and defended the whistleblower’s right to “confidentiality” in October after Trump called repeatedly for the whistleblower’s identity to be revealed.The letter is backed by Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine, according to Politico.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) sent a letter Tuesday to acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell demanding he explain President Trump's recent dismissals of Michael Atkinson and Glenn Fine, the inspectors general of the intelligence community and the Pentagon, respectively. The Washington Post's Greg Sargent says how Grenell responds could be "incredibly telling" about the Trump administration's future plans.In the letter, Schiff asks Grenell to confirm whether he exercised his "authority" to prohibit Atkinson from doing his job, aside from the fact that he was the official who brought the infamous whistleblower complaint about Trump's Ukraine conduct to Congress, eventually leading to the president's impeachment. Schiff also called on Grenell to commit to stopping any form of retaliation against anyone who makes "protected disclosures of misconduct."Sargent spoke with Ned Price, a former senior National Security Council official, who said if Grenell doesn't respond to those challenges, it will signal a willingness to allow Trump to proceed with a "campaign of retaliation," which Sargent argues is already underway.Price added that if things continue down the current path, there could be an effort to expose the whistleblower or an effort against career analysts who concluded Russia interfered in the 2016 election on behalf of Trump. From Price's point of view, this would mean Trump "feels no limits whatsoever." Read more at The Washington Post.More stories from theweek.com Dr. Anthony Fauci cautiously predicts kids will return to school next fall, 'but it's going to be different' Sanders' exit could bring Obama into the 2020 fold The coming backlash against the public health experts

President Donald Trump is moving aggressively to challenge the authority and independence of agency watchdogs overseeing his administration, including removing the inspector general tasked with overseeing the $2.2 trillion coronavirus rescue package that passed Congress with bipartisan support. In four days, Trump has fired one inspector general tied to his impeachment, castigated another he felt was overly critical of the coronavirus response and sidelined a third meant to safeguard against wasteful spending of the coronavirus funds. The most recent act threatens to upend scrutiny of the $2.2 trillion coronavirus rescue effort now underway, setting the stage for a major clash between Trump, government watchdogs and Democrats who are demanding oversight of the vast funds being pumped into the American economy.

President Donald Trump has removed the inspector general tapped to chair a special oversight board for the $2.2 trillion economic relief package on the coronavirus, the latest in a series of steps Trump has taken to confront government watchdogs tasked with oversight of the executive branch. In the past four days, Trump has fired one inspector general tied to his impeachment, castigated another he felt was overly critical of the coronavirus response and sidelined a third meant to safeguard against wasteful spending of funds for businesses in economic distress. On Friday, Trump fired Michael Atkinson, the inspector general of the intelligence community, and on Monday assailed a health and human services official who criticized the administration's response to the coronavirus crisis.

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump made a rare appearance in the Situation Room on Sunday as his pandemic task force was meeting, determined to talk about the anti-malaria medicine that he has aggressively promoted lately as a treatment for the coronavirus.Once again, according to a person briefed on the session, the experts warned against overselling a drug yet to be proved a safe remedy, particularly for heart patients. "Yes, the heart stuff," Trump acknowledged. Then he headed out to the cameras to promote it anyway. "So what do I know?" he conceded to reporters at his daily briefing. "I'm not a doctor. But I have common sense."Day after day, the salesman turned president has encouraged coronavirus patients to try hydroxychloroquine with all of the enthusiasm of a real estate developer. The passing reference he makes to the possible dangers is usually overwhelmed by the full-throated endorsement. "What do you have to lose?" he asked five times Sunday.Bolstered by his trade adviser, a television doctor, Larry Ellison of Oracle and Rudy Giuliani, a former New York mayor, Trump has seized on the drug as a miracle cure for the virus that has killed thousands and paralyzed American life. Along the way, he has prompted an international debate about a drug that many doctors in New York and elsewhere have been trying in desperation even without conclusive scientific studies.Trump may ultimately be right, and physicians report anecdotal evidence that has provided hope. But it remains far from certain, and the president's assertiveness in pressing the case over the advice of advisers like Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the government's top infectious disease specialist, has driven a wedge inside his coronavirus task force and has raised questions about his motives.If hydroxychloroquine becomes an accepted treatment, several pharmaceutical companies stand to profit, including shareholders and senior executives with connections to the president. Trump himself has a small personal financial interest in Sanofi, the French drugmaker that makes Plaquenil, the brand-name version of hydroxychloroquine."I certainly understand why the president is pushing it," said Dr. Joshua Rosenberg, the medical director at Brooklyn Hospital Center. "He's the president of the United States. He has to project hope. And when you are in a situation without hope, things go very badly. So I'm not faulting him for pushing it even if there isn't a lot of science behind it, because it is, at this point, the best, most available option for use."A senior physician at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, where doctors are not providing the drug, however, said the current demand was worrisome for patients on it chronically for rheumatic diseases. At St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx, another doctor said his staff was giving it to coronavirus patients but criticized the president and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo for "cheerleading" the drug without proof. "False hope can be bad, too," he said.The professional organization that published a positive French study cited by Trump's allies changed its mind in recent days. The International Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy said, "The article does not meet the society's expected standard." Some hospitals in Sweden stopped providing hydroxychloroquine to treat the coronavirus after reports of adverse side effects, according to Swedish news media.But Cuomo told reporters Monday that he would ask Trump to increase the federal supply of hydroxychloroquine to New York pharmacies, allowing the state to lift a limit on purchases. "There has been anecdotal evidence that it is promising," Cuomo said, while noting the lack of a formal study.Trump first expressed interest in hydroxychloroquine a few weeks ago, telling associates that Ellison, a billionaire and a founder of Oracle, had discussed it with him. At the time, Dr. Mehmet Oz, the host of television's "The Doctor Oz Show," was in touch with Trump's advisers about expediting approval to use the drug for the coronavirus.Giuliani has urged Trump to embrace the drug, based in part on the advice of Dr. Vladimir Zelenko, a self-described simple country doctor who has become a hit on conservative media after administering a cocktail of hydroxychloroquine, the antibiotic azithromycin and zinc sulfate.In an interview Monday, Giuliani denied any financial stake and said he spoke with Trump only after the president had already promoted the drug publicly. Giuliani said he turned to the issue after researching former Vice President Joe Biden in Ukraine, a project that led to the president's impeachment."When I finished Biden, I immediately switched to coronavirus and I have been doing an enormous amount of research on it," he said. As it happened, Zelenko was born in Ukraine, and when they first spoke, Giuliani accidentally called him "Dr. Zelenskiy," mixing up his name with Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.Giuliani said he brought a prosecutor's experience to his research. "One of the things that a good litigator becomes, is you kind of become an instant expert on stuff, and then you forget about it," he said. "I don't claim to be a doctor. I just repeat what they said."The Food and Drug Administration, which has approved hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for malaria and lupus, issued an emergency order late last month allowing doctors to administer it to coronavirus patients if they saw fit. Trump said the federal government would distribute 29 million doses and that he had called Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India requesting more.Fauci made his concern clear last week. "I think we've got to be careful that we don't make that majestic leap to assume that this is a knockout drug," he said Friday on Fox News. "We still need to do the kinds of studies that definitively prove whether any intervention, not just this one, any intervention is truly safe and effective."The same day, Laura Ingraham, a Fox host, visited Trump at the White House with two doctors who had been on her program promoting hydroxychloroquine, one of whom made a presentation on its virtues, according to an official, confirming a Washington Post report.The next day, Peter Navarro, the president's trade adviser, who has been assigned to expedite production of medical equipment and become an advocate of the drug, upbraided Fauci at a White House task force meeting, according to people informed about the discussion.Navarro arrived at the meeting armed with a thick sheaf of papers recounting research. When the issue was raised, according to a person informed about the meeting, confirming a report by Axios, Navarro picked it up off a chair, dropped it on the table and started handing out copies.Navarro, who earned a doctorate in economics from Harvard, defended his position Monday despite his lack of medical credentials. "Doctors disagree about things all the time. My qualifications in terms of looking at the science is that I'm a social scientist," he said on CNN. "I have a Ph.D. And I understand how to read statistical studies, whether it's in medicine, the law, economics or whatever."Trump made clear Sunday whose side he took in Navarro's confrontation with Fauci. At his briefing after the meeting, he said it was wrong to wait for the kind of study Fauci wanted. "We don't have time," the president said. "We don't have two hours because there are people dying right now."Some associates of Trump's have financial interests in the issue. Sanofi's largest shareholders include Fisher Asset Management, the investment company run by Ken Fisher, a major donor to Republicans, including Trump. A spokesman for Fisher declined to comment.Another investor in both Sanofi and Mylan, another pharmaceutical firm, is Invesco, the fund previously run by Wilbur Ross, the commerce secretary. Ross said in a statement Monday that he "was not aware that Invesco has any investments in companies producing" the drug, "nor do I have any involvement in the decision to explore this as a treatment."As of last year, Trump reported that his three family trusts each had investments in a Dodge & Cox mutual fund, whose largest holding was in Sanofi.Ashleigh Koss, a Sanofi spokeswoman, said the company no longer sells or distributes Plaquenil in the United States, although it does sell it internationally.Several generic drugmakers are gearing up to produce hydroxychloroquine pills, including Amneal Pharmaceuticals, whose co-founder Chirag Patel, is a member of Trump National Golf Course Bedminster in New Jersey and has golfed with Trump at least twice since he became president, according to a person who saw them.Patel, whose company is based in Bridgewater, New Jersey, did not respond to a request for comment. Amneal announced last month that it would increase production of the drug and donate millions of pills to New York and other states. Other generic drugmakers are ramping up production, including Mylan and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries.Roberto Mignone, a Teva board member, reached out to the team of Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and senior adviser, through Nitin Saigal, who used to work for Mignone and is a friend of Kushner's, according to people informed about the discussions.Kushner's team referred him to the White House task force and Mignone asked for help getting India to ease export restrictions, which have since been relaxed, allowing Teva to bring more pills into the United States. Mignone, who is also a vice chairman of NYU Langone Health, which is running a clinical study of hydroxychloroquine, confirmed Monday that he has spoken with the administration about getting more medicine into the country.Dr. Daniel H. Sterman, the critical care director at NYU Langone Health, said doctors there are using hydroxychloroquine, but data about its effectiveness remained "weak and unsubstantiated" pending the study. "We do not know whether our patients are benefiting from hydroxychloroquine treatment at the present time," he said.New York City's Health and Hospitals Corp., which runs its public hospitals, is advising but not requiring doctors to use hydroxychloroquine based on a trial showing a decreased cough and fever with mild side effects in two patients, Dr. Mitchell Katz, who oversees the hospital system, said by email Monday.Dr. Roy M. Gulick, the chief of infectious diseases at Weill Cornell Medicine, said hydroxychloroquine was given on a case-by-case basis. "We explain the pros and cons and explain that we don't know if it works or not," he said.Doctors at Northwell Health and Mount Sinai Health System, are using it as well. At the Mount Sinai South Nassau County branch on Long Island, doctors have employed a regimen of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin "pretty much since day one" with mixed results, said Dr. Adhi Sharma, its chief medical officer."We've been throwing the kitchen sink at these patients," he said. "I can't tell whether someone got better on their own or because of the medication."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company