Coronavirus: Russian media hint at US conspiracy

Channel One

The coronavirus outbreak in China has provided fertile ground for conspiracy theories and misinformation on the web everywhere, but in Russia they are being spread on primetime news programmes.

Russian TV is also unique in having a consistent overall thrust: that shadowy Western elites and especially the US are somehow ultimately to blame.

One of main national TV networks, Channel One, has even launched a regular slot devoted to coronavirus conspiracy theories on its main evening news programme, Vremya ("Time").

The style of the reporting is ambiguous, appearing to debunk the theories while leaving viewers with the impression that they contain a kernel of truth.

One of the wilder ideas aired by Vremya recently is that the presence of the word "corona", which means crown in both Latin and Russian, in the word coronavirus hints that Donald Trump is somehow involved.

Channel One

Apparently, this is because he used to preside over beauty pageants, handing the winners their crowns.

In fact, scientists named the virus because of of its crown-like shape, but Vremya's presenter warns against rejecting the idea all too soon.

"Utter nonsense, you'll say, and I'd agree with you, if it were not for what's in our correspondent's report," he says.

'Ethnic bioweapon'

The subsequent video does admit the crown theory is a "strange construct", but uncritically presents an expert who says that the Chinese coronavirus strain has been artificially created, and that US intelligence agencies or American pharmaceutical companies are behind it.

The report also rehashes old, false claims by Kremlin media and officials that the US ran a laboratory in Georgia where it tested a biological weapon on humans.

The Channel One correspondent then quotes online conspiracy theories that the novel coronavirus strain affects only Asians and could be some kind of "ethnic bioweapon".

Channel One

He concedes that there is clear evidence refuting this, but adds suggestively: "Even experts who are cautious in their assessments say that nothing can be ruled out."

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Coronavirus conspiracy theories have also featured heavily on Channel One's main political talk show, Vremya Pokazhet (Time Will Tell), only more openly than on news programmes.

The gist is to suggest that various Western actors - pharmaceutical companies, the US or its agencies - are somehow involved in helping to create or spread the virus, or at least in spreading panic about it.

The aim is variously said to be - in the case of "Big Pharma" - to profit from creating a vaccine against the coronavirus or, in the case of the US, to hit the Chinese economy in order to weaken a geopolitical competitor.

Blood checks for officials

Away from the TV screens, the coronavirus outbreak appears to be causing serious concern among Russian officials.

Rail and air traffic to China have been curtailed, and Russians evacuated from China have been quarantined for two weeks in a Siberian sanatorium.

A church in Moscow has even held a service to pray for salvation from the coronavirus.

Fear or the virus appears to reach all the way to the top.

Russian daily Vedomosti reports that Kremlin has introduced temperature checks for those attending events with President Vladimir Putin, in what spokesman Dmitry Peskov has called a "precautionary measure".

В Туркмении мужчинам старше 40 запретили красить волосы в черный цвет

В государственных учреждениях и предприятиях одного из районов Туркмении мужчинам старше сорока запретили красить волосы в черный цвет. Об этом сообщает «Радио Азатлык» (туркменская служба «Радио Свобода»).

По словам корреспондента, беседовавшего с несколькими работниками бюджетных организаций, данный запрет имеет устный характер.

Он добавил, что руководители госорганизаций объясняют это «поседевшими волосами» президента Гурбангулы Бердымухамедова. Он собирается посетить этот регион, и на встречу с ним будут допущены лишь седовласые люди. Бюджетники выражают недовольство тем, что когда Бердымухамедов сам красил волосы в черный цвет, от них тоже требовали скрывать седину, а теперь требуют обратного.

Ранее президент Гурбангулы Бердымухамедов регулярно красил волосы. Глава Туркмении закрашивал седину в течение десяти лет, однако в середине лета 2018 начал появляться на публике с проблесками седины. После этого туркменские власти уже вводили неофициальный запрет на подкрашивание волос для мужчин. Школы, больницы и другие госучреждения Туркмении обязали закупить новые портреты Бердымухамедова, на которых он изображен с сединой.

New homes in D-FW and U.S. are shrinking as builders try to contain costs

North Texas new houses still are bigger than the national average.

LAS VEGAS — Builders are putting the squeeze on new homes to lower costs.

The average new home size across the country is declining in response to higher house price tags and more buyers wanting to downsize.

But the typical new home still has plenty of room at about 2,500 square feet last year.

“It peaked at 2,689 square feet in the 2016,” said Rose Quint, a top researcher for the National Association of Home Builders. “In the last four years, we have seen the average size of new homes decline every year.

“It’s the smallest house size we have put in the ground since the year 2011 in this country,” Quint said at the building industry’s annual show last week in Las Vegas.

Homes being built in the U.S. are about the same size as what builders were providing before the Great Recession. But the price tags are much higher.

In 2005, the median price of new houses in Dallas-Fort Worth was about $176,000. Now a midpriced single-family home in the area costs around $350,000.

With similar price increases in most states, builders are worried that they are pricing buyers out of many markets. So builders are trimming sizes and reducing frills to rein in costs.

Dallas-Fort Worth new home sizes are still ahead of the national average.

In 2019, the average new home sold in North Texas was 2,774 square feet, according to housing analyst Metrostudy Inc.

D-FW home sizes have fallen from the record 2,910 square feet average set in 2015.

One way for builders hold down costs is to downsize the number of bedrooms. Less than 45% of homes built nationally in 2019 had four or more bedrooms, according to the National Association of Home Builders’ latest studies.

“It’s been edging down in the years" since the recession, Quint said. “It’s the smallest share since the year 2012.”

Big garages are also starting to shrink in number of stalls and overall size.

“Builders are shifting more and more toward the entry-level homes in what they produce,” Quint said. “They are trying to respond to the affordability crisis we have had in the country in the last few years.”

Consumers are also doing their part, turning their noses up at over-the-top home features.

You’ll find fewer of those grand two-story entries and family rooms in new houses.

“A lot of consumers consider those high spaces difficult to heat and cool, so builders are shying away from them,” Quint said.

About 12% of first-time buyers say they want no parking at all.

“What does that tell us — they have no cars,” Quint said.

Buyers still have their lists of must-haves in a new house. Some of their make-or-break home features include laundry rooms, hardwood floors, energy-saving windows and ceiling fans.

Topping the features that turn them off are elevators, wine cellars, pet washing stations and rooftop plantings.

“People are not going to be willing to pay for these things for the most part,” Quint said. “Nobody wants a roof covered by plants.”

More than 60% of buyers say they want to purchase in the suburbs.

Less that 20% — despite what you hear — say they want to live in the center city.

“Fifty-nine percent of first-timers want to buy that home in the suburbs,” Quint said. “Only 15% want the central city.”

More than three-fourths of buyers say they want a traditional single-family home, not a townhouse or condo.

Almost 80% of potential buyers polled said they are looking for open-concept kitchen and living areas, instead of the compartmentalized floor plans many of them grew up with.