| Trump complains his impeachment defense has a lousy time slot Posted: 24 Jan 2020 10:27 AM PST  Since being elected president, Donald Trump has tweeted about "ratings" exactly 100 times, according to the Trump Twitter Archive.
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| Damaged By Drone Strike: Suleimani's Sainthood Is Now Being Questioned Posted: 24 Jan 2020 07:52 AM PST  Iran's brand is thinning among the Shi'a and Suleimani's departure creates breathing room for the Shi'a in the region.
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| Xi says China faces 'grave situation' as virus death toll hits 41 Posted: 24 Jan 2020 04:07 PM PST  President Xi Jinping said China was facing a "grave situation" as the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak jumped to 41, overshadowing celebrations of the Lunar New Year that began on Saturday. China also announced further transport restrictions. With more than 1,400 people infected worldwide, most of them in China, Hong Kong declared a virus emergency, scrapped celebrations and restricted links to mainland China.
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| Mexico sees rise in gangs, vigilantes recruiting children Posted: 23 Jan 2020 07:49 PM PST  One day after a vigilante group revealed that it was using children as young as 8 as "recruits" for armed defense patrols, Mexico's president said Thursday that drug cartels too are recruiting ever-younger kids. The whole issue has sparked a debate in Mexico over the use of children in armed confrontations, with rights groups saying the practice threatens not only kids' safety, but their mental health. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said that because social programs are giving more youths opportunities to study or work, drug cartels are having trouble finding gunmen, leading them to recruit children.
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| US military investigating after finding Pornhub video of Navy service members shot through peephole Posted: 24 Jan 2020 01:34 PM PST  The Navy is reportedly investigating videos found on the website Pornhub that they believe show unsuspecting service members through a peephole in a bathroom.The videos were discovered earlier this month by an agent from the Naval Criminal Investigative Series, according to a report by NBC News.
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| Canada ‘Will Not Stop’ Until It Has Answers on Iran Crash Posted: 24 Jan 2020 07:34 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said her government will be relentless in seeking answers from Iran on the jet crash that killed 57 Canadians this month near Tehran.Justin Trudeau's second in command, speaking in an interview with Bloomberg TV in Davos, Switzerland, said Canada wants a "real, independent" analysis of the airplane's black box, along with transparency on what exactly happened. She also said Canada is receiving support from allies in pressing on the issue, particularly from the Netherlands and Ukraine."I am confident we will get those answers because Canada is relentlessly focused on getting them and we will not stop until we get them," Freeland said.Iran is under intense international pressure to provide full accountability over the circumstances that caused the crash of the Ukrainian International Airlines plane on Jan. 8. The three-year-old Boeing Co. 737-800 was shot down about two minutes after takeoff from Tehran. While nearly half the victims were Iranians, the crash was also one of the worst air tragedies ever involving Canadians. Many of the victims were doctors, engineers and Ph.D. students who represented a microcosm of the northern nation's immigration policies.Nafta RatificationSeparately in the interview, Freeland also commented on plans to get the new North American free trade agreement ratified in Canada's parliament, calling it the top priority for the government.The deal, a result of a year of rough negotiations with Donald Trump's administration, has been passed in the U.S. Senate and is awaiting the president's signature. It has also been approved in Mexico.Ratification won't be a straightforward process in Canada, however. Trudeau's team will need to get the support of at least one opposition party to pass legislation, and expedite debate, after losing its parliamentary majority in October's divisive election.With all of Canada's provincial premiers calling for a speedy ratification, Freeland said she's confident the governing Liberals will be able to win support for the deal.To contact the reporter on this story: Theophilos Argitis in Ottawa at targitis@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Theophilos Argitis at targitis@bloomberg.net, Stephen WicaryFor 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.
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| Philippine President Duterte threatens to end military deal with U.S. Posted: 24 Jan 2020 08:51 AM PST  Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte warned the United States on Thursday he would repeal an agreement on deployment of troops and equipment for exercises if Washington did not reinstate the visa of a political ally.
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| AOC and Michael Moore urge Iowa voters not to 'play it safe' as they stand in for Sanders Posted: 25 Jan 2020 07:22 AM PST  Two of Bernie Sanders's highest-profile allies, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and liberal documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, filled in for him on the campaign trail Friday night, speaking to a rally here at the University of Iowa, as the Vermont senator participated in the impeachment trial in Washington, D.C.
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| China is Expanding into the Indian Ocean—Here Are Five Things the Indian Navy Can Do About It Posted: 25 Jan 2020 12:00 AM PST  Two emerging superpowers square off. Who wins?
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| China’s Coronavirus Keeps Spreading but the WHO Still Won’t Declare a Global Emergency Posted: 24 Jan 2020 02:26 AM PST  HONG KONG—The Chinese government has imposed transit bans on at least eight cities to limit the spread of the contagious coronavirus that has killed at least 26 people as of Friday afternoon and surfaced as far away as the United States, where one case is confirmed and two are under observation. Yet the World Health Organization still has not declared a global health emergency.New Suspected Coronavirus Cases Pop Up in Two StatesIn China, the youngest fatality is 36 years old, and patients are dying outside of the province where the virus first appeared. Enormous metropolitan centers like Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou are on alert to try to limit the spread of the illness, but Chinese authorities so far have not been able to wall in the contagion that has erupted during the massive holiday travel season ahead of the Lunar New Year on Saturday.Wuhan, where a now-shuttered meat and poultry market saw the origin of the outbreak, was the first city to undergo mass quarantine on Thursday; anyone who attempts to leave the city without permission from the government can face up to seven years in jail. Public transportation services were also halted in nearby Huanggang, Ezhou, Xiantao, Zhijian, Chibi, Jingmen, and Qianjiang. In all, more than 26 million people are in the quarantine zone.People who managed to leave Wuhan before the lockdown told The Daily Beast that the lack of reliable information from state-run news sources compounded the chaos that was felt in the city this week. "Healthy adults seem to recover just fine," one man said. "But we didn't know about the scale [of infection] or what to be cautious about."After the Wuhan mayor came under fire for mismanaging matters during the outbreak's onset, city-level officials in other parts of the country aren't taking any chances. In Guangzhou, a major city in southern China, officials are actively locating travelers who entered the city after leaving Wuhan, even requiring those who display no symptoms to undergo self-quarantine for two weeks—the maximum incubation period for other deadly coronaviruses, known as SARS and MERS, that together infected many thousands and killed more than a thousand during epidemics in previous years.Coronavirus Patient Had Close Contact With 16 in Washington StateThe World Health Organization has been monitoring the spread of the virus. But after two days of deliberation, the WHO said it is not time to declare an international health emergency, even though outside of China there are confirmed infections in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, and Singapore, as well as in the United States.Elsewhere, suspected infections have appeared in the Philippines, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Australia, and Italy. Officials in the Philippines are in the process of repatriating 135 Chinese nationals who flew into the country from Wuhan earlier in the week. At a press conference held in Geneva on Thursday, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom said, "Make no mistake. This is an emergency in China, but it has not yet become a global health emergency. It may yet become one. … It is likely that we will see more cases in other parts of China and other countries."Declaring a global health emergency would be a blow to the international legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party, whose officials in Wuhan initially downplayed the severity of the contagion's spread only for higher authorities to later institute a quarantine that is impacting tens of millions of people. A WHO declaration would demand a "coordinated international response" to combat the spread of a disease that threatens the well-being of large populations. It also means there are "implications for public health beyond the affected state's national border," and countries around the world have an obligation to respond as quickly as possible.We now know that the coronavirus can be transmitted from human hosts to other humans and that infection can lead to complications that result in death. We also know that about one-quarter of the people who have been infected develop severe symptoms. But scientists are still trying to identify the virus' other key characteristics. For now, it is unclear just how infectious the virus is, or, critically, at what stage of infection a person begins to spread it to new potential hosts. Airports around the world are screening arriving passengers by checking their body temperatures, but that measure may not be an effective way of isolating potential coronavirus carriers if they are not exhibiting symptoms.China's National Health Commission released some details about the first 17 people who died after falling sick, and some of them did not run fevers. The virus' incubation period—possibly between one and two weeks—also means it can lie dormant in human bodies as they travel across borders or continents.Hospitals in some parts of China—particularly in Hubei, the province where cities are under mass quarantine—are slammed with people seeking medical tests or assistance. These facilities are short-staffed, and supplies are far from enough to handle the volume.The fear is that cramped hospitals, like those in Wuhan and surrounding areas where hundreds pack into a waiting room for hours on end to seek tests or medical assistance, can lead to a spike in infections, possibly even cultivating a "super-spreader"—an individual who is extremely contagious and infects a disproportionate number of people, particularly in densely populated areas.In the United States, officials have identified suspected infections in California and Texas on top of the country's first confirmed case in Washington state. The traveler who arrived at Los Angeles International Airport departed Mexico City on an American Airlines flight and was taken to a local hospital while experiencing flu-like symptoms. In Brazos County, Texas, a student of Texas A&M University has been isolated for precautionary testing.The Chinese central government said it will build a new hospital in six days specifically to treat coronavirus patients. It will be modeled after a facility constructed in Beijing in 2003 to handle the SARS epidemic. For now, hospitals in Wuhan are asking for donations of medical supplies—surgical masks, protective goggles, and more. Doctors and nurses are stretched thin, and they're waiting for any assistance that can be had.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.
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| Social worker charged with coercing client into prostitution Posted: 24 Jan 2020 09:20 AM PST ![Social worker charged with coercing client into prostitution]( "Social worker charged with coercing client into prostitution") A former child services caseworker has been charged with human trafficking, accused of recruiting a mother who was her client into prostitution in exchange for a favorable custody recommendation, authorities said. Candace Talley, 27, of Winslow, New Jersey, was working for the Division of Children and Youth Services in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, when she coerced the mother, whose children were in foster care and whose case Talley was managing, into working as a prostitute, the Delaware County District Attorney's office announced Thursday. Talley drove the woman to and from jobs and took more than 25% of the money that was made, authorities said.
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| Ghislaine Maxwell: Hackers 'breached' computer belonging to Jeffrey Epstein associate, attorney says Posted: 23 Jan 2020 11:07 AM PST  Lawyers for the woman accused of procuring underage girls to have sex with Jeffrey Epstein told a judge that hackers "breached" her computer after a court failed to redact her email address in filings it released last year.Ghislaine Maxwell's lawyer Ty Gee said in a December letter to Judge Loretta A Preska that, "despite the Second Circuit's best efforts, it made serious mistakes" when redacting thousands of pages of records associated with a defamation lawsuit filed by one of Epstein's accusers, Virginia Giuffre.
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| Two pedestrians killed by snowplow in Kansas Posted: 24 Jan 2020 03:39 PM PST  The two victims were struck by a snowplow north of the Kansas State University campus in Manhattan, authorities said.
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| Health experts issued an ominous warning about a coronavirus pandemic 3 months ago. Their simulation showed it could kill 65 million people. Posted: 24 Jan 2020 02:34 PM PST  The virus in the simulation was a fictional one called CAPS, but it bears some similarities to the Wuhan coronavirus.
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| Donald Trump is suddenly scared of Mike Bloomberg — as he should be Posted: 23 Jan 2020 02:30 PM PST  Mike Bloomberg probably isn't going to win the Democratic nomination for president. But he might beat Donald Trump anyway. The reason? Well, there are a couple billion of them — namely, the $2 billion Bloomberg plans to spend on Democrats' behalf.
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| Iran Cannot Defeat American Stealth Planes, but They Could Cause Real Damage Posted: 24 Jan 2020 05:00 PM PST  Not so lopsided?
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| Photos from the Lunar New Year show how coronavirus turned China's biggest party into a washout Posted: 24 Jan 2020 09:55 PM PST  Here are photos comparing last year's celebration — complete with Chinese lions, historical dances, and family time — to this year.
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| Pope backs Iraqi call for its sovereignty to be respected Posted: 25 Jan 2020 04:53 AM PST  Pope Francis met Iraq's president on Saturday and the two agreed that the country's sovereignty must be respected, following attacks on Iraqi territory this month by the United States and Iran. President Barham Salih held private talks for about 30 minutes with the pope and then met the Vatican's two top diplomats, Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Archbishop Paul Gallagher, its foreign minister. The talks "focused on the challenges the country currently faces and on the importance of promoting stability and the reconstruction process, encouraging the path of dialogue and the search for suitable solutions in favor of citizens and with respect for national sovereignty," a Vatican statement said.
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| Are you in danger of catching the coronavirus? 5 questions answered Posted: 24 Jan 2020 05:37 AM PST  Editor's note: The Chinese government has quarantined Wuhan, a port city of 11 million people, and it has restricted travel to and from several other cities, including Beijing, to contain the coronavirus that has sickened more than 800 people and killed at least 25 as of Jan. 23, 2020. A case has been reported in Seattle, and officials are monitoring a patient with a possible case in College Station, Texas. This raises the question: Will this spread – to me? Am I at risk?Not now, because currently every case of the novel coronavirus is linked to Wuhan. There are lots of different coronaviruses that group into three types. The common cold can be caused by both alpha and betacoronaviruses.Coronavirus was never really taken that seriously until 2003, when a coronavirus jumped species – likely from bats to humans via civets – and led to SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome. This species-jumping ability of coronaviruses is being observed again, now in Wuhan at the seafood market. This coronavirus is in the betacoronavirus group. China has now put travel restrictions in place to limit spread from Wuhan. What's the big concern with this virus?For the novel coronavirus from Wuhan, there is no vaccine, and we're lacking a specific therapy. So it is key to limit spread through quarantine of infected individuals and by tracing of contacts. What is so unusual about this coronavirus?This is a coronavirus that has never been seen in humans before. It likely came from bats, and it's much more serious than the common cold coronavirus. This is only the third time that we've seen a coronavirus jump species from animals to humans. The concern is that this coronavirus is going to behave like SARS and MERS, or Middle East respiratory syndrome in 2012, both of which were serious. Do the deaths appear to be among people of a certain age?Many were in older men with pre-existing conditions. How can I stay safe?First of all, you need not be concerned about catching this right now. Practice the same precautions that you would to prevent catching a cold. Viruses that cause the common cold are on surfaces of handrails and doorknobs, so wash your hands, use sanitizers and stay home when you are sick.[ Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend. Sign up for our weekly newsletter. ]This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.Read more: * Why washing your hands well is so important to protect your family from the flu * How vaccination is helping to prevent another flu pandemicWilliam Petri does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
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| Female prisoner dies after guards ‘did not stop her being beaten with soap bars’ Posted: 25 Jan 2020 07:47 AM PST  A female prisoner died after guards did not intervene while she was being beaten with a sock filled with bars of soap, it is claimed in a lawsuit set to be heard in the US.Nicole Rathmann was attacked by another inmate as she lay on her bunk at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility.
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| Belarus' leader blasts Russia for pushing merger of 2 states Posted: 24 Jan 2020 05:44 AM PST  The president of Belarus on Friday accused Moscow of pressuring his country to merge with Russia and vowed not to let it happen. The statement comes amid stalled talks on further strengthening economic ties between two countries, seen in Belarus as Moscow's plot to swallow its post-Soviet neighbor.
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| We can now hear the voice of a mummy 3,000 years after the Egyptian priest last spoke Posted: 24 Jan 2020 09:20 AM PST  Using 3D printing and medical scanners, scientists have recreated the voice of an ancient 3,000-year-old Egyptian mummy
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| Face masks aren't a very effective way to prevent the spread of coronavirus, experts say, despite spiking sales Posted: 24 Jan 2020 04:01 PM PST  Wearing a face mask won't protect you from the Wuhan coronavirus as much as washing your hands and avoiding contact with anyone who may be infected.
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| 2 lawyers on Trump defense team shared Epstein as a client Posted: 24 Jan 2020 11:09 AM PST  Two of the lawyers on President Donald Trump's impeachment defense team have shared another client: Alan Dershowitz and Ken Starr both helped the late hedge fund manager and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein win a lenient sentence for abusing underaged girls. Dershowitz and Starr, both prominent lawyers, are expected to play key roles when Trump's legal team begins presenting its defense on Saturday. Dershowitz, a Harvard law professor emeritus, helped O.J. Simpson win acquittal on murder charges, labeled a woman who was raped by boxer Mike Tyson as "hardly the naive virgin she pretended to be," and famously defended "Queen of Mean" hotelier Leona Helmsley on tax evasion charges.
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| This Is What Skiing in Africa Looks Like Posted: 24 Jan 2020 06:38 AM PST |
| Will China Invade Taiwan Before the Communist Party Approaches its 100th Anniversary? Posted: 25 Jan 2020 12:30 AM PST  Could it happen?
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| U.S. Extends Clampdown on Iran With Sanctions on Energy Firms Posted: 23 Jan 2020 08:06 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. sanctioned four companies that it says have traded hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Iranian petroleum and petrochemicals in its latest effort to clamp down on the Islamic Republic's revenue sources.The Treasury Department penalized Triliance Petrochemical Co. Ltd., Sage Energy HK Limited, Peakview Industry Co. Limited, and Beneathco DMCC for dealings with the state-owned National Iranian Oil Co., it said in a Jan. 23 statement. The transactions helped finance Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force and its terrorist proxies, the department said.The move is a continuation of the White House's aggressive strategy to penalize firms dealing with Iran, a country it nearly went to war with earlier this month. Last July, It sanctioned Zhuhai Zhenrong Co., a secretive company with links to the Chinese military and a history of taking Iranian crude and fuel. A couple of months after that it threw global shipping markets into disarray after it penalized a unit of COSCO Shipping Corp."Iran's petrochemical and petroleum sectors are a primary source of funding for the regime's global terrorist activities and enable its persistent use of violence against its own people," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in the statement.In 2019, Triliance Petrochemical ordered the transfer of the equivalent of millions of dollars to NIOC as payment for Iranian petrochemicals, crude oil, and petroleum products shipped to the U.A.E. and China after the expiration of any applicable exceptions, the Treasury Department said. In facilitating these shipments, Triliance worked to conceal the origin of these products, it added.Triliance and Sage are based in Hong Kong, while Peakview is headquartered in Shanghai and Beneathco in Dubai. Calls to Triliance's head office went unanswered, while a person at Beneathco declined to immediately respond to questions. Contact information for Sage and Peakview wasn't immediately available.All property and interests in the property of the designated companies are blocked and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them, while foreign financial institutions that knowingly deal with them may be penalized, the department said.\--With assistance from Saket Sundria.To contact the reporters on this story: Serene Cheong in Singapore at scheong20@bloomberg.net;Elizabeth Low in Singapore at elow39@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Serene Cheong at scheong20@bloomberg.net, Andrew Janes, Dan MurtaughFor 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.
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| Why are California's mayors lining up to endorse Mike Bloomberg? Posted: 24 Jan 2020 10:21 AM PST  London Breed, San Francisco's first black female mayor, joins campaign following support from Stockton and San Jose mayorsThere's nothing surprising about a billionaire winning the support of the mayor of San Francisco, a city flush with tech wealth and new money.But when the billionaire is Mike Bloomberg – and the endorsement is the latest from a string of California mayors he mentored and supported – the vow of support raises some eyebrows.Bloomberg announced on Thursday that London Breed, San Francisco's first black female mayor, would serve as his campaign's chair of African Americans."Voters re-elected London Breed by a wide margin because she is taking on the biggest and toughest issues – and she puts progress over politics," the former New York mayor said in a statement. "I'm honored to have her support and look forward to working with her not only to win this election, but to help make San Francisco and all of California stronger, fairer, and greener – with more affordable housing, more good jobs, and healthcare for all."Breed, who previously supported the California Senator Kamala Harris in the Democratic race for the presidential nomination, said on Facebook that she is backing Bloomberg because he "is the only candidate for president with a real plan for African Americans", touting his Greenwood Initiative to increase black home ownership and the number of black-owned businesses.She acknowledged his harmful legacy of stop-and-frisk, the policing strategy that led to widescale racial profiling in New York City when Bloomberg was mayor, saying Bloomberg "owned up" to his "mistake" when he apologized for the 12 years he allowed the policy to flourish."Of course I was a bit surprised to see the mayor endorsed Bloomberg," said Lateefah Simon, president of the Bay Area Rapid Transit board and longtime friend of Breed. "But herein lies the power of the individual. It's not San Francisco endorsing Mayor Bloomberg. It's Mayor Breed."For some in San Francisco, that's the problem. "I haven't met many Bloomberg supporters in San Francisco," local lawmaker Matt Haney told the Guardian. "In fact, I don't think I've met any. It doesn't seem reflective of where the residents of San Francisco are. I don't think her endorsement is reflective of how residents feel."A recent UC Berkeley poll found that 85% of Californians have either a negative opinion of Bloomberg or no opinion at all. Yet since entering the race late in November, Bloomberg has secured the endorsements of the mayors of three major cities in the state – San Francisco, Stockton and San Jose. "I haven't met any Bloomberg supporters who were not elected officials, period," Haney said.Bloomberg, one of the richest people in the United States, has for years invested in developing political and support network for local leaders, providing them access to both money and expertise. All three California mayors who recently announced endorsements went through Bloomberg's Harvard City Leadership Initiative, a training program for city mayors – Stockton mayor Michael Tubbs and San Jose mayor Sam Liccardo in 2018, and Breed in 2019. Tubbs attended the CityLab Summit in Paris in 2017, another Bloomberg-sponsored conference.In San Francisco, Bloomberg's support included a $275,000 donation to support a soda tax and $7.1m to defeat an initiative to reverse a ban on e-cigarette sales – both measures supported by Breed. In 2018, San Jose received up to $2.5m from Bloomberg Philanthropies to tackle climate change. In June, Bloomberg Philanthropies donated $500,000 to a Stockton-based education reform group."Mike has made significant investments in San Francisco, in cities throughout California, and indeed across the nation," Breed said on Facebook.It's significant that Bloomberg has been able to win the endorsements of black trailblazing mayors like Tubbs and Breed.At his first campaign stop in Stockton, California, in December 2019 Bloomberg stood next to Tubbs and apologized again for stop-and-frisk, but never acknowledged why the policy was harmful, or who it harmed."There isn't a politician alive who hasn't made a mistake," Breed said of stop-and-frisk. "The difference with Mike Bloomberg is he owned up to his.""I think there is a long track record of people reaching out to black leaders and black communities in transactional ways," Alicia Garza, founder of the Black Lives Matter movement, told the Guardian. "It really represents a lot of what's wrong with politics in this country and I think it's hard to believe that change will happen when these same kinds of dynamics are at play."With that being said," she continued, "there are decisions that leaders are having to make and they're doing the calculus. Every leader has a right to do that."Garza's group, Black to the Future Action Fund, will be announcing its endorsement in February. While she demurred on her thoughts on Bloomberg and stop-and-frisk, she made a point to say that the group will consider "not just [the candidates'] future plans, but interrogating their records since they've been in power".
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| Family attorneys say cruise line's story of toddler's death is 'physically impossible' Posted: 23 Jan 2020 12:53 PM PST  Attorneys representing Chloe Wiegand's family say a ship visit proves it's "physically impossible" for her grandfather to hold her out of the window.
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| The flu is a far bigger threat to most people in the US than the Wuhan coronavirus. Here's why. Posted: 24 Jan 2020 01:19 PM PST  Two people in the US have been diagnosed with the coronavirus that originated in China. Since October, up to 20,000 Americans have died of influenza.
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| Greta Thunberg says climate demands 'completely ignored' at Davos Posted: 24 Jan 2020 02:25 AM PST  Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg on Friday said calls to the corporate elite meeting in Davos to immediately disinvest in fossil fuels had been ignored. Of course these demands have been completely ignored. Thunberg was a highlight of the 50th edition of the conference, drawing massive attention including barbs by US Secretary Steven Mnuchin who on Thursday told the teen to go "study economics".
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| Democrats speak to history with exhaustive impeachment case Posted: 24 Jan 2020 09:38 PM PST  One speech Wednesday by the lead prosecutor, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., ran around two hours. Overall, it was a performance that defied today's short attention spans as Democrats made an exhaustive — and some said exhausting — case for Trump's removal from office. "This is not just for the senators now, or the American people, but forever," said Michael Gerhardt, a constitutional law professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law.
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| New Trump Rule Requires U.S. Officials to Weigh Pregnant Visa Applicants' Medical Needs Posted: 24 Jan 2020 03:40 PM PST  Would this new restriction impact pregnant women with genuine medical needs? It will come down to how individual counselors enforce it
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| 'No, No America': Iraq protesters demand expulsion of U.S. troops Posted: 24 Jan 2020 12:56 AM PST  Tens of thousands of Iraqis rallied in central Baghdad on Friday calling for the expulsion of U.S. troops, but the protest mostly dissipated after a few hours despite a cleric's call for a "million strong" turnout. Populist cleric Moqtada al-Sadr convened the march after the U.S. killing of an Iranian general and an Iraqi paramilitary chief in Baghdad this month. Three French nationals and one Iraqi, working for charity SOS Chretiens d'Orient, also went missing in Baghdad, the NGO said.
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| The Indian Air Force Hopes to Dodge Sanctions as Its Springs for Russian Missiles and MiG and Sukhoi Jet Fighters Posted: 25 Jan 2020 02:00 AM PST  Some history you may not have know about until now.
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| Frailty of Libya Accord on Display In Merkel-Erdogan Squabble Posted: 24 Jan 2020 08:50 AM PST ![Frailty of Libya Accord on Display In Merkel-Erdogan Squabble]( "Frailty of Libya Accord on Display In Merkel-Erdogan Squabble") (Bloomberg) -- Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan blasted a five-day-old agreement to halt fighting in Libya as he squabbled with Chancellor Angela Merkel in public over the viability of the accord.One of the two main Libyan combatants, Khalifa Haftar has failed to commit to a truce and should be shunned by leaders who gathered in Berlin last Sunday to work toward a more durable cease-fire in the North African country's civil war, Erdogan said."It's hard to understand how some countries recognize Haftar," the Turkish leader told journalists in Istanbul on Friday alongside Merkel, who came for talks.The frailty of the Berlin commitment was also on display as the two leaders bickered over Haftar's refusal to officially sign an ceasefire agreement.Merkel acknowledged there had been "individual" violations of the truce in recent days, but said violence overall "has significantly dropped."Erdogan chimed in, saying Haftar hadn't signed anything, but only verbally accepted a truce, which isn't "full acceptance." Merkel rebutted, citing the verbal commitment and an agreement to put forward five names for a committee to hash out the terms of a more permanent cease-fire."Madame Chancellor, it's accepted but not signed, I want to make that clear," Erdogan responded."I think we misunderstand each other a bit," Merkel said, agreeing that there was no signing. "You're right."Read More:Erdogan's Libya Gamble Turns Mediterranean Into Sea of TroublesEurope Mulls Military Mission in Libya, Amid Oil Disruption (1)Warring Libya Factions Agree to Set Up Cease-Fire Committee (3)The parrying between the two leaders illustrates the difficulty of resolving the proxy war, which has seen Turkey and Russia back opposing parties in the struggle and outside nations squabble over energy interests. The Libya conflict has raged for years, killing thousands and disrupting the country's oil output.Haftar, who has led a months-long march on the capital Tripoli, and Libya's internationally recognized Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, backed by Erdogan, variously agreed to a truce and pledged to put forward names to secure a more lasting cease-fire."We won't leave Sarraj alone," Erdogan said.\--With assistance from Arne Delfs.To contact the reporters on this story: Patrick Donahue in Istanbul at pdonahue1@bloomberg.net;Firat Kozok in Istanbul at fkozok@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net, Raymond ColittFor 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.
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| Inside the mile-long California homeless camp that is tearing a town apart as Silicon Valley house prices soar Posted: 24 Jan 2020 07:12 AM PST  Inside the mile-long California homeless camp that is tearing a town apart amid soaring Silicon Valley house pricesOn the outskirts of Santa Rosa, the first real city to emerge as you drive through the rolling wine country north of San Francisco, two new settlements hum with life. On one side of a chain link fence, construction workers raise a new neighborhood of handsome, two-story homes. Rich Bay Area people might eye these as second homes, or rental investments.
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| The FBI reportedly stopped a Saudi plot to kidnap a YouTuber on US soil after he criticized Mohammed bin Salman for Jamal Khashoggi's killing Posted: 23 Jan 2020 07:58 PM PST  Abdulrahman Almutairi used social media to criticize the Saudi government. It appears to have almost cost him his life.
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| Islamic leaders make 'groundbreaking' visit to Auschwitz Posted: 24 Jan 2020 12:21 PM PST  Muslim religious leaders joined members of a U.S. Jewish group at Auschwitz on Thursday for what organizers described as "the most senior Islamic leadership delegation" to visit the site of a Nazi German death camp.
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| China virus outbreak revives calls to stop wildlife trade Posted: 24 Jan 2020 10:18 PM PST  The outbreak of a new virus linked to a wildlife market in central China is prompting renewed calls for enforcement of laws against the trade in and consumption of exotic species. It's also raising questions about how it could happen again after the lessons learned from the 2002-2003 outbreak of SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which was traced to consumption of wild animals in the southern city of Guangzhou. Demand for wild animals in Asia, especially China, is hastening the extinction of many species, on top of posing a perennial health threat that authorities have failed to fully address despite growing risks of a global pandemic.
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| Trump’s Still Normalizing Anti-Semitism, and It’s Only Going to Get Worse Posted: 24 Jan 2020 01:19 AM PST  After the horrific anti-Semitic attack in late December when five people were stabbed while celebrating Hanukkah at the home of a rabbi in New York, Donald Trump tweeted, "The anti-Semitic attack in Monsey, New York, on the 7th night of Hanukkah last night is horrific. We must all come together to fight, confront, and eradicate the evil scourge of anti-Semitism."Those were the right words. But tragically Trump has followed that up with the wrong actions as he's continued to normalize anti-Semitism in our country at a time when anti-Semitic hate crimes are at alarming levels. While his daughter and son-in-law are Jewish, Trump appears to be doing this by design in order to court and maintain his supporters who respond to this kind of bigotry—just as he did in 2016.Trump Talk About 'Disloyal' Jews Isn't Just Anti-Semitic—It's Anti-AmericanThere were two alarming examples this week. First, Trump doubled down on using an anti-Semitic slur by calling Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, who is Jewish, "shifty." When Trump first used this trope in October, Peter Beinart, who is Jewish, explained in The Forward, "It's no surprise that Trump called Schiff 'shifty' — which means tricky or deceitful," adding, "When discussing Jews, Trump often plays on well-worn caricatures about cleverness, deviousness, and physical weakness."Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took to Twitter to denounce Trump, writing that "Trump is engaged in deliberate, atrocious, targeted antisemitism towards Chairman Schiff." She added: "It's wrong. It's harmful. And his bigotry is reflective of the white supremacist base he relies on for political gain."There's little doubt that Trump—who is obsessed with his media coverage—saw these reports at the time, especially given AOC's involvement. But at the World Economic Summit in Davos, Switzerland, Trump again accused "Shifty Schiff" of lying—his use of the anti-Semitic slur is now memorialized forever as part of the official transcript posted on whitehouse.gov.Imagine if Rep. Ilhan Omar—or any other visible Democrat—continually called a GOP Jewish member of Congress "shifty." It would be vocally, and rightly, condemned as anti-Semitic. But with Trump, there's silence from groups like the Republican Jewish Coalition, which condemned Omar for her use of an anti-Semitic trope in a tweet last year, which she apologized for and has not used again. This partisan double standard is dangerous. A potentially even more disturbing development this week was that Trump's White House—per media reports—approved press credentials for the virulent anti-Semite Rick Wiles, the founder of TruNews, which the ADL describes as "a fundamentalist Christian streaming news and opinion platform," to cover Trump in Davos. Wiles, a Christian pastor and rabid Trump supporter, made headlines last November when he called the impeachment proceedings a "Jew Coup." In that TruNews broadcast, Wiles featured images of Schiff and other Jewish Americans involved in the impeachment proceedings while declaring that Jews are "deceivers, they plot, they lie, they do whatever they have to do to accomplish their political agenda." (Sounds a lot like Trump's attacks on Schiff.) Yet here was Wiles at Davos with press credentials from the White House covering Trump. That's no one-off. Trump directly called on TruNews at a press conference in 2018. In 2019, Donald Trump, Jr. was interviewed by the outlet at his father's rally in Michigan. In fact, the White House had issued so many press credentials and invitations to TruNews that Wiles has humble-bragged about how they can't attend them all "because we just don't have the funding and the manpower."The White House has kept quiet about why Wiles and his outlet again received press credentials this week, amid a wave of condemnation. Anti-Defamation League President Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted that "Last month, the virulently antiSemitic, Islamophobic and homophobic TruNews declared impeachment a 'Jew coup.' Now TruNews is at the WEF in Davos on press credentials from the White House. Unacceptable is an understatement."And an editor at The Forward, Batya Ungar-Sargon, remarked on Twitter, "The folks behind the anti-Semitic conspiracy theory that impeachment is a 'Jew coup' seem to have been personally credentialed by the White House. There's no plausible deniability here, just shameful normalization of anti-Semitism from @realDonaldTrump."She's 100 percent correct. Trump is normalizing anti-Semitism right in front of our eyes. And he's doing so at a time where we've seen a documented spike in anti-Semitic attacks, including the stabbings in New York and the targeted murder of two Jews at a kosher deli in New Jersey. Given that hate crimes have increased in every presidential election year since the early 1990s, we can expect to see more anti-Semitic attacks, along with hate crimes directed at other groups before 2020 is done. Trump gets this. He knows the power of his words. But he doesn't care. To Trump, whatever happens to Jews, Muslims, blacks, Latinos or other groups he demeans and worse is an acceptable price to pay for a victory in November. 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. 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| America's B-25G Bomber Was The Air Force's Very Own Flying Tank Posted: 24 Jan 2020 09:00 AM PST  And it shot like one too.
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