| Pompeo blasts China, Iran for response to virus outbreak Posted: 25 Feb 2020 07:46 AM PST  Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday hit out at China and Iran for their response to the outbreak of coronavirus, accusing the two governments of censorship and of trying to cover up the severity of the spread of the deadly illness. Pompeo assailed Beijing for expelling three Wall Street Journal reporters and said a free press was needed to ensure accurate information about the virus is available to the public and medical personnel.
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| Claims of Russian Election Meddling Are Still a Scam Posted: 24 Feb 2020 03:30 AM PST  The fearmongering over Russian election "interference" might be the most destructive moral panic in American political life since the Red Scare. Then again, to be fair, those who prosecuted the post-war hunt for Communists had the decency to uncover a handful of infiltrators. We've yet to meet a single American who's been brainwashed or had their vote snatched away by an SVR Twitterbot. Probably because no such person exists.Nevertheless, millions of Americans believe that a handful of terrible memes — and I mean the most amateurish and puerile efforts imaginable — on social media were enough to overturn a presidential election in the most powerful nation on earth. Or, more likely, most pretend to believe it. As Donald Trump's fortunes have turned somewhat in recent weeks, and socialist Bernie Sanders looks poised to take the Democratic Party nomination, the Russians are once again coming to snatch your vote.There were lots of "wows" from journalists on Twitter last week when the New York Times reported that members of the House Intelligence Committee were warned by an aide to Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire that Russia would be meddling in the 2020 campaign in order to get President Trump reelected. When Trump found out, the Times reported, he was furious that briefers had given Adam Schiff ammunition for political attacks.First off, this isn't an absurd concern. In his effort to undermine the public's confidence in the elections for partisan purposes, Schiff has shown an ugly and cynical propensity to exaggerate and lie about Russian attempted meddling. He's done more harm in undercutting American trust in "democracy" than Putin.He's not the only one."Putin's Puppet is at it again, taking Russian help for himself," Hillary Clinton, still struggling to come to terms with her devastating loss, said Friday. "He knows he can't win without it. And we can't let it happen.""We are now in a full-blown national security crisis," tweeted former CIA Director John Brennan, one of the leading culprits perpetrating the Russia fraud. "By trying to prevent the flow of intelligence to Congress, Trump is abetting a Russian covert operation to keep him in office for Moscow's interests, not America's."As if often the case in Trump era, the initial thinly sourced story and subsequent freakout was quickly tempered by additional reporting. CNN's Jake Tapper, for instance, reported that there was no intelligence showing that Russians would interfere for Trump, only that they likely had a "preference" for Trump because he was "a dealmaker."Here is Bloomberg's Eli Lake:> In fact, Schiff — who was present at the briefing in question — knows that there is no formal intelligence finding that Russia is meddling on behalf of Trump. Administration and House Republican sources tell me that the intelligence official who was briefing the committee went "off script" when asked about Russia's preference for Trump in the presidential election. No other representatives from the intelligence community at the briefing backed up her assertion, these sources say, nor did the briefers provide specific intelligence, such as intercepted emails or conversations, to support the claim.The Washington Post also reported on Friday that Sanders had been briefed by U.S. officials warning that Russia was trying to help his presidential campaign. Democratic Party operatives took to the Sunday shows to blame Russia for supporting Sanders — all in an effort to get Trump reelected. Never mind that Bernie could easily have won the nomination in 2016. Never mind that Sanders has built an impressive national movement over the years. Never mind that the champions of the Democratic Party establishment are astonishingly weak. Never mind the party's base has been dramatically moving Left for years. It's gotta be Putin!The Washington Post piece is thin on specifics, which should lead us to believe the story is a politically motivated leak meant to slow Sanders's momentum. (Then again, Bernie was implying that the Russians were responsible for the toxic campaign behavior of his Bro-sheviks, so maybe he deserves it.)There are few people who detest the candidacy and philosophy of Sanders more than I, yet I'm positive that the KGB can't give him the Democratic Party nomination any more than they can install Donald Trump in the White House. Only voters can.It's likely that Russia, as it did in 2016, will engage in amateurish efforts to foment divisions among some American — as if we needed any help. If they actually "hack" an election — a word incessantly, and erroneously, used by journalists at the height of the Russia scare in 2017 — we'll know.But the Russian hysteria plays into a long-standing liberal conviction that feeble-minded conservatives vote against their own interests only because they've been hoodwinked. It might be the doing of a foreign power. It might be the plutocrats. It might be "special interests." It might even be domestic tricksters, like the ones in the much-discussed recent McKay Coppins piece in The Atlantic, "The Billion-Dollar Disinformation Campaign to Reelect the President" — a piece that offers over 8,000 chilling words describing traditional political operations as something dark, undemocratic, and new. Be prepared for a flood of similar pieces. Democrats never lose elections. Elections are only stolen from them. Nothing but Trump stepping down and admitting he's a Putin asset will stop Democrats from questioning the legitimacy of the 2020 election.Of course, if you can't handle some memes or misleading ads, you probably shouldn't be voting, anyway. You're clearly not prepared for the civic responsibilities that come with an open debate, which is often messy and ugly, rather than hermetically sealed in a media-approved bubble.
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| China sentences Swedish bookseller Gui Minhai to 10 years' jail Posted: 25 Feb 2020 09:17 AM PST  China has sentenced Swedish book publisher Gui Minhai to 10 years in prison on charges of illegally providing intelligence abroad, and claimed him as a citizen, prompting Stockholm to call for his release in a case that has rattled diplomatic relations. Gui, one of five Hong Kong-based booksellers known for publishing salacious titles about China's political leaders, was snatched by authorities while on a train to Beijing in February 2018, the second time he disappeared into mainland custody. A court in the eastern city of Ningbo said Chinese-born Gui was sentenced Monday to 10 years in jail, and claimed he had also voluntarily reinstated his Chinese citizenship in 2018.
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| California woman, boyfriend accused of killing 3 roommates over rent argument Posted: 24 Feb 2020 10:28 AM PST  The California couple are in jail in Nevada awaiting extradition on three counts of murder possibly stemming from a rent dispute, police said.
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| Michael Bloomberg called Goldman Sachs bankers his ‘peeps’ and promised to defend them, leaked tape reveals Posted: 25 Feb 2020 05:41 AM PST  Presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg is being criticised for telling bankers he would have defended them as president in a leaked audio from a private Goldman Sachs event in 2016.At the event, Mr Bloomberg first described the audience as his "peeps", and said that had he run for president that year, his "first campaign platform" would have been "to defend the banks."
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| Tom Steyer has paid more than $40,000 to rent a property owned by Jim Clyburn's daughter Posted: 24 Feb 2020 06:49 AM PST  Billionaire Tom Steyer is facing some criticism over his spending in South Carolina, a state where his Democratic presidential campaign is making some legitimate headway.Some people have even accused him of trying to buy votes from the state's African-American voters, which Steyer and many others have adamantly denied, The New York Times reports. One thing that's been particularly scrutinized is the Steyer campaign's rental agreement with a company owned by Jennifer Clyburn Reed, the daughter of Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), the highest-ranking African American in Congress whose endorsement is considered key in South Carolina. Since October, the Steyer campaign has paid more than $40,000 to the company to rent one of its properties as its state headquarters in Columbia, South Carolina. A California-based bank founded by Steyer, meanwhile, has loaned $1 million to a Columbia-based bank that has one of Clyburn's sons-in-laws on its board.The campaign has brushed off the accusations of trying to procure political favor from the Clyburn family, arguing Steyer is simply committed to hiring local organizers and investing in local businesses to get his grassroots operations running. "The question isn't why Tom is doing this," Steyer spokesman Benjamin Gerdes said in a statement. "The real question is why isn't every other candidate doing it?"The politically-active Reed called the accusations of vote-buying "disturbing" and seemed a bit annoyed that people think she merely serves as a surrogate for her father. "I'm an adult," she told the Times. "There is no connection. My father has his business and I have mine. We do not vote the same way."Besides, it's probably all a moot point — both Reed and Clyburn seem likely to back former Vice President Joe Biden. Read more at The New York Times.More stories from theweek.com The coronavirus recession? The real third way in 2020 Top member of Trump's coronavirus task force asks Twitter for help accessing map of virus
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| United Airlines dished out $10,000 each to 9 passengers who were forced to downgrade from business class to 'Premium Plus' Posted: 25 Feb 2020 07:34 AM PST  United offered $10,000 travel vouchers to nine passengers who agreed to sit in "Priority Plus" rather than business class during an 11-hour flight from New Jersey to Hawaii.
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| U.S. Supreme Court turns away religious bias claim against Walgreens Posted: 24 Feb 2020 06:52 AM PST  The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday handed a victory to Walgreens, turning away an appeal by a fired former Florida employee of the pharmacy chain who asked not to work on Saturdays for religious reasons as a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The justices declined to review a lower court ruling in Darrell Patterson's religious discrimination lawsuit that concluded that his demand to never work on Saturday, observed as the Sabbath by Seventh-day Adventists, placed an undue hardship on Walgreens. Patterson, who had trained customer service representatives at a Walgreens call center in Orlando, was fired in 2011 after failing to show up for work on a Saturday for an urgent training session.
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| Crackdown on immigrants using public benefits takes effect Posted: 24 Feb 2020 10:04 AM PST  With new rules taking effect on Monday that disqualify more people from green cards if they use government benefits, droves of immigrants, including citizens and legal residents, have dropped social services they or their children may be entitled to out of fear they will be kicked out of the United States.
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| A 'brokered convention' designed to block Bernie Sanders would be a poison pill Posted: 25 Feb 2020 03:16 AM PST  If the Democratic party doesn't allow the person with most delegates to become the nominee, it will be a disasterSomething deeply troubling happened during last week's Democratic presidential debate, though it was overshadowed by Michael Bloomberg's spectacular implosion. Towards the end, the candidates were asked whether they believed that the person who receives the most votes should be given the Democratic nomination. The only candidate who said "yes" was Bernie Sanders. All of the others said they wanted the "process" to "play out".It's not surprising that the non-Sanders candidates don't want "winning the primaries" to determine who the nominee is, because by that measure, it's very unlikely to be any of them. Sanders has lately taken a commanding lead in the polls and is now the favorite to win in the vast majority of states. He received more votes than any other candidate in both Iowa and New Hampshire, which political scientists treat as a strong sign that a candidate will ultimately win. There are growing concerns in the party that Sanders' lead may be becoming "insurmountable".But the other Democrats have not given up. They still hold out hope that they can win through what is known as a "brokered convention". If Sanders has only a plurality of delegates at the Democratic national convention in July, rather than an outright majority, he might not win the nomination on the first ballot. Under convention rules, this would allow "superdelegates" to vote on the second ballot, and open up the possibility that other candidates can "horse trade" their delegates in order to receive the nomination, even if Sanders won all or most of the primaries and a strong plurality of pledged delegates.> What's the point in having primaries if party insiders at the convention just override the result?It may seem ludicrous to deny Sanders the nomination if he wins the most delegates and sweeps the primaries. What's the point in having primaries if party insiders at the convention just override the result and choose a nominee they prefer? But Democrats who fear Sanders' takeover of the party, or who fear that a "radical" cannot beat Donald Trump, will argue that democracy needs to take a backseat to the urgency of choosing a "unity" candidate. Michael Bloomberg is reported to be plotting a brokered convention strategy, whereby other candidates would give him the delegates necessary to beat Sanders in exchange for various commitments and handouts. And Democrats are already trying to convince people that brokered conventions are fine, with the former Democratic Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell writing that we "shouldn't fear" a brokered convention, because it would be "exciting". The candidates' answers on the debate stage indicated that each of them is open to using the "process" to subvert the result of the elections, if that's what it takes to win.But these strategies are an outright rejection of democracy, and should be treated as such. "The candidate with the most votes ought to win" is a sound electoral principle, albeit one that is absent in many areas of American politics, from the Iowa caucuses to the electoral college. If "superdelegates" swung the nomination to a candidate with fewer votes, it would be confirmation that the country is ruled by elites rather than governed by the people.Critics will point out that in 2016, the Sanders camp briefly floated the possibility of lobbying superdelegates for the nomination. Indeed, and it would have been wrong then, too, if it had happened, which it didn't. Hillary Clinton won through getting millions more votes, and nobody should have taken it away from her. Not that they ever would have: the superdelegates were overwhelmingly for Clinton, even in states that Bernie won, and the process ended up being far more unfair to Sanders.It's understandable that campaigns are getting desperate to win by any means necessary. Elizabeth Warren, after criticizing the other candidates for having Super Pac support, has reversed her position and accepted help from a Super Pac in an attempt to win Nevada. Last week's debate was the nastiest of the entire cycle, with candidates doing everything they could to tear one another down. But while we can see why they'd want to exploit existing processes however they can, there's no reason we should let them.Besides, if a candidate did win through a brokered convention, it would be a disaster for the Democrats in November. Millions of Sanders supporters would be enraged at having the nomination snatched from them and might defect to a third party. Even those who did support a nominee they considered illegitimate would do so only grudgingly. The Democrats might be able to stop Sanders, but in doing so they would destroy their party's own electoral prospects. It would be a completely reckless and irrational maneuver, and every sensible Democrat should oppose it.If Democrats decide to take this "poison pill" and have party elites choose their own nominee, voters will need to be prepared to fight back. As Sam Lewis and Beth Huang write in Jacobin, anyone who votes to deprive the rightful nominee of the nomination "should be taking that vote with the absolute certainty that the organized working class in this country will use civil disobedience, mass protest, and primary election challenges to exact retribution and remove them from office". But hopefully even self-interested Democrats are smart enough to realize that there's no real alternative to respecting the results of the election, at least not one that would offer a chance of beating Donald Trump.
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| Fake News or Reality? Did F-35s from Israel Fly Over Iran? Posted: 25 Feb 2020 01:30 AM PST  Could that be true?
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| Trump Admin. Considers Booting Chinese Reporters in Response to ‘Egregious’ Expulsion of WSJ Journalists: Report Posted: 24 Feb 2020 01:09 PM PST  The Trump administration is considering whether to expel Chinese journalists in response to China's own expulsion of three Wall Street Journal reporters, Bloomberg News reported on Monday.A meeting will be held at the White House on Monday to discuss the administration's options. The meeting will be led by deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger, who himself was a Journal reporter based in Beijing.According to Bloomberg, administration officials are debating whether to expel up to hundreds of Chinese journalists in its response, or whether such a move would even be legal, seeming to contradict American values regarding freedom of the press."This expulsion is yet another attempt to control the press, and prevent the world's readers as well as investors from reading important stories about China," said John Ullyot, a spokesman for the National Security Council, in comments on the situation on Friday. Ullyot called China's expulsion of the Journal reporters an "egregious act."China expelled the three reporters after the Journal refused to apologize for a headline China deemed "racist." The headline, "China is the Real Sick Man of Asia," was chosen for a column by Bard College professor Walter Russell Mead on China's difficulty in coping with the Wuhan coronavirus and the shaky financial foundations of its economy.The phrase "sick man of Asia" was used in the late 1800's to describe a China that had lost a string of wars and feared conquering by the western colonial powers. Dozens of reporters from the paper's China bureau have called on the Journal's publisher to change the headline.
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| Tennessee continues push for executions, setting 2 more Posted: 24 Feb 2020 02:27 PM PST  Tennessee on Monday set two new execution dates, days after putting to death its seventh inmate in the past year and a half. The Tennessee Supreme Court ordered an Oct. 8 execution date for Byron Black and a Dec. 3 execution date for Pervis Payne. Black was convicted by a Nashville court of murdering his girlfriend Angela Clay and her daughters Latoya, 9, and Lakesha, 6, at their home in 1988.
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| Rush Limbaugh is under fire for claiming the coronavirus is a 'common cold' being 'weaponized' to bring down Trump Posted: 25 Feb 2020 07:59 AM PST  Limbaugh accused China of bioterrorism, claiming it was using the coronavirus to destroy the US economy.
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| 'Guilty as charged': Chuck Schumer admits he spent nearly $9,000 on cheesescakes Posted: 24 Feb 2020 01:59 PM PST  Chuck Schumer has managed to keep his Senate Democratic caucus together since becoming its leader. But next time one of his members needs a favor, perhaps they can appeal to his sweet tooth.It turns out the Senate Democratic leader has dropped $9,000 on cheesecakes from a Brooklyn bakery over the years – and he's fully embracing his habit.
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| 30 of the Best Stainless Steel Kitchen Faucets Posted: 24 Feb 2020 03:28 PM PST |
| With $1.5 trillion childcare plan, Sanders floats another big campaign pledge Posted: 24 Feb 2020 06:58 AM PST  U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders on Monday proposed spending $1.5 trillion over 10 years to create a universal child care and early education system, to be funded by taxing the wealthiest Americans. The proposal is the latest by the frontrunner Democratic candidate that would vastly expand America's social welfare system as he seeks the nomination to challenge Republican President Donald Trump in the November election. Sanders is proposing massive overhauls of the U.S. economy, including banning private health insurance in favor of a government-run system that guarantees universal health coverage, an approach already taken by many developed countries.
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| A rare, 'cryptic' rainbow snake was spotted in a Florida forest for the first time since 1969 Posted: 25 Feb 2020 07:13 AM PST  A rainbow snake, also known as an "eel moccasin," was spotted in Florida's Ocala National Forest for the first time in five decades.
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| South Korea's F-15K Slam Eagle Fighters Could Make North Korea Hurt Posted: 24 Feb 2020 06:30 PM PST  And North Korea has taken notice.
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| Two-Thirds of the World’s Most Polluted Cities Are in India Posted: 25 Feb 2020 02:35 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Several Chinese cities, including Beijing, have dramatically improved their air quality in recent years, while Indian metropolises remain some of the world's worst polluted, according to a new report.Beijing -- once infamous for its toxic haze -- has reduced smog levels and dropped down a list of the world's most polluted cities, falling to 199 from 84 three years before, according to the 2019 World Air Quality Report published Tuesday by IQAir AirVisual. In contrast, India still dominated its list of the smoggiest urban areas, accounting for 14 of the top 20.Despite new government policies meant to address the issue, New Delhi's air quality has fallen from where it was five years ago, rising to the fifth-worst spot globally and making it by far the world's most polluted major city, the report said. The worst-ranked city -- Ghaziabad -- is a Delhi suburb, as are a number of others ranked separately in the top 20.India, China and other Asian countries remain disproportionately affected by toxic air as a result of factors ranging from crowded cities, vehicular exhaust, coal-fired power plants, agricultural burning and industrial emissions. The issue is hardly tangential. The World Health Organization estimates that dirty air kills around 7 million people each year, while the World Bank says it drains the global economy of $5 trillion annually.Even before the coronavirus outbreak and trade war slowed China's smog-producing industries, Chinese officials had mobilized the country's top-down, authoritarian state to implement -- and enforce -- sweeping measures, as well as shifting production away from its biggest cities. A recent report from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air separately found that Beijing and Shanghai had seen "major progress," while levels of fine particular called PM 2.5 increased in other parts of the country.India faces a starkly different situation. Across much of northern India, air quality remains catastrophic as politicians prioritize economic growth and spar over responsibility. Many citizens are still unaware of health concerns and resource-starved agencies struggle to carry out new -- or even existing -- measures designed to curb the smog."In Beijing, it's a priority -- in China, when they say something, they do it, they put the resources in," said Yann Boquillod, AirVisual's director of air quality monitoring. "In India, it's just starting. People need to put more pressure on government."A spokesman for India's environment ministry didn't respond to a request for comment.Why Winter Brings Deadly Smog to India's Capital: QuickTakeIndian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has won praise for promoting solar power and improving emission standards. It has handed out millions of gas canisters to reduce the number of families using smoky household cooking fires. In January of last year, the government also launched the National Clean Air Programme.But these measures haven't had a serious impact on increased coal power plant usage, dust left by the thousands of under-regulated construction sites and exhaust from millions of new cars and motorcycles. Air quality experts have also criticized the national program for lacking strong enforcement and funding.Although many Indian cities saw progress between 2018 and 2019, "unfortunately these improvements are not representative of the very recent, but promising National Clean Air Programme" and cleaner fuel standards, according to the AirVisual report.Indians Are Addicted to Cheap Coal Power and It's Killing ThemInstead, the authors said, they signal a lagging economy, which grew at about 5% -- the slowest expansion since 2009 -- compared with 8.3% in 2017. The deadly air also kills roughly 1.2 million Indians each year, according to a recent study in the Lancet.While President Donald Trump visited the Indian capital and met with Modi on Tuesday, New Delhi was ranked by AirVisual as the world's most polluted city. PM 2.5 levels soared as high as 199 -- more than double the local annual average last year.India was far from the only country that remained deeply challenged by smog. Although several Chinese cities -- including Shanghai -- saw improvement in air quality, Kashgar and Hotan in the restive, western Xinjiang region were among the world's worst.Cities across Asia -- including Chiang Mai, Hanoi, Jakarta and Seoul -- saw sharp increases in PM 2.5 levels. Since 2017, Jakarta saw pollution increase by 66%, making it the worst in Southeast Asia. In Thailand, Chiang Mai and Bangkok both saw a number of extremely smoggy days -- some of which led authorities in the capital to close schools -- resulting from construction, diesel fuel and crop fires in surrounding regions.The problem is particularly challenging for South Asian countries. Using a weighted population average, Bangladesh was actually ranked the world's most polluted country, while its capital Dhaka was the second worst after Delhi. Pakistan was the second-most-polluted country, while Afghanistan, India and Nepal were all in the top 10.(Updates with details of Trump visit to Delhi in 13th paragraph. A previous version of this story corrected the labeling of Delhi and Chennai on the chart showing pollution levels of Indian cities.)\--With assistance from Bibhudatta Pradhan.To contact the reporters on this story: Iain Marlow in Hong Kong at imarlow1@bloomberg.net;Hannah Dormido in Hong Kong at hdormido@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Chris KayFor 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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| New Virginia sentencing law ends high court's DC sniper case Posted: 24 Feb 2020 12:21 PM PST  Lee Boyd Malvo, the Washington, D.C., area sniper, and Virginia agreed Monday to dismiss a pending Supreme Court case after the state changed criminal sentencing law for juveniles. Under the new law, signed by Gov. Ralph Northam earlier in the day, people serving life terms for crimes they committed before they turned 18 can be considered for parole after serving at least 20 years. The two sides agreed that Malvo's life term would remain in effect, though he will have a chance at parole early in 2024.
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| Rush Limbaugh: coronavirus a 'common cold' being 'weaponised' against Trump Posted: 25 Feb 2020 05:43 AM PST  * Rightwing shock jock rails at 'effort to bring down Trump' * More than 2,700 people have died from virus worldwideThe coronavirus outbreak is being "weaponised" by the media to bring down Donald Trump when in fact it is simply a version of the "common cold", the conservative radio host and presidential medal of freedom recipient Rush Limbaugh claimed on Monday.His comments were widely condemned: more than 80,000 people are known to have contracted the virus worldwide and 2,700 are known to have died. Authorities are struggling to cope in China, Iran, Italy and Tenerife.The World Health Organization has not yet declared the outbreak, which originated in China, a pandemic.On Tuesday, Professor Mary-Louise McLaws, an infection control expert who has advised the WHO, told the Guardian: "Part of the reason for declaring a pandemic, if they do declare one, would be to get the critical mass on board to take it seriously and not ignore symptoms, and to get the finances required to help tackle and control it."There are more than 50 known cases in the US, subject to quarantine. In India on Tuesday, Trump downplayed stock market falls in response to the outbreak, praised China for its response, and said coronavirus was "a problem that is going to go away". But on Monday, his administration asked Congress for $1.8bn to boost its own response.Limbaugh's conspiracy theorist take is that the outbreak is being used by the media to discredit a president who earlier this month honoured the rightwing shock jock during the State of the Union address."It looks like the coronavirus is being weaponised as yet another element to bring down Donald Trump," Limbaugh said on his Monday show. "Now, I want to tell you the truth about the coronavirus. I'm dead right on this. The coronavirus is the common cold, folks."The drive-by media hype of this thing as a pandemic, as the Andromeda strain, as, 'Oh, my God, if you get it, you're dead' … I think the survival rate is 98%. Ninety-eight per cent of people get the coronavirus survive. It's a respiratory system virus."Limbaugh has used his platform on talk radio to campaign to attack liberals, often causing controversy with extreme rightwing views on abortion, feminism and race.Earlier this month, he revealed that he has advanced lung cancer.According to the Guardian's guide to the coronavirus, it "can cause pneumonia. Those who have fallen ill are reported to suffer coughs, fever and breathing difficulties. In severe cases there can be organ failure. As this is viral pneumonia, antibiotics are of no use. The antiviral drugs we have against flu will not work. Recovery depends on the strength of the immune system. Many of those who have died were already in poor health."Limbaugh said: "It probably is a ChiCom laboratory experiment that is in the process of being weaponised."That was a reference to a baseless theory spread in the US by figures including a Republican senator, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, that the coronavirus may have originated in Chinese biological weapons research.In the US, Limbaugh claimed, "the way [coronavirus] is being weaponised is by virtue of the media, and I think that it is an effort to bring down Trump, and one of the ways it's being used to do this is to scare the investors, to scare people in business."It's to scare people into not buying Treasury bills at auctions. It's to scare people into leaving, cashing out of the stock market – and sure enough, as the show began today, the stock market – the Dow Jones Industrial Average – was down about 900 points, supposedly because of the latest news about the spread of the coronavirus."The Dow fell by 1,000 points on Monday, its worst fall in two years.The media's response to the coronavirus story has indeed attracted criticism for sensationalism and stoking public fear.Speaking to Time magazine earlier this month, for example, Rutgers journalism professor Steven Miller said: "It's just amazing how quickly word about this [coronavirus] has spread, the intensity of the coverage. It seems to me that the coronavirus is being covered in more sensationalistic terms than Ebola in 2018."
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| Senate FISA Abuse Investigation to Focus on Mystery Source Who Contradicted Steele Dossier Posted: 24 Feb 2020 06:04 AM PST  Senator Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) on Sunday told Fox News the Senate's investigation into FBI abuse of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act will focus on interviews the agency conducted with a Russian source who contradicted much of the information in the Steele dossier."The first thing I want to do is call the people who heard from Russian sub-source that this dossier is a bunch of bar talk and hearsay," Graham said on Fox's Sunday Morning Futures. "I want to find out when did [former FBI director James] Comey and [former FBI deputy director Andrew] McCabe understand it was not reliable and start from there."The source, known in the Justice Department Inspector General's report as "Primary Sub-Source," was former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele's only direct contact in Russia for the allegations contained in the dossier. However, the IG report states that the primary sub-source told the FBI and Justice Department that Steele's allegations were false or misleading, including the assertion of Page's involvement in what the dossier terms a "well-developed conspiracy of cooperation" between the Trump campaign and Russian government."The Primary Sub-source made statements during his/her January 2017 FBI interview that were inconsistent with multiple sections of the Steele reports, including some that were relied upon in the FISA applications," the IG report states.Following the publication of the IG report, prominent Republicans called for an overhaul of the FISA system to prevent future abuses. On Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported the Trump administration is considering doing just that before FISA legislation is set to expire in March.
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| Iran's deputy health minister says he has coronavirus Posted: 25 Feb 2020 06:15 AM PST  Iran's deputy health minister confirmed on Tuesday that he has tested positive for the new coronavirus, amid a major outbreak in the Islamic republic. Iraj Harirchi coughed occasionally and wiped sweat from his brow repeatedly during a news conference in Tehran on Monday with government spokesman Ali Rabiei. At the time, he denied a lawmaker's claim that 50 people had died from the virus in the Shiite shrine city of Qom, saying he would resign if the number proved accurate.
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| NASA space telescope spots a double star system with an alter ego Posted: 24 Feb 2020 07:53 AM PST  It's like a cosmic story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
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| Detectives eye Yellowstone in missing Idaho kids case Posted: 24 Feb 2020 05:30 PM PST  Phone records show Tylee Ryan visited Yellowstone with her mother, uncle and brother JJ on September 8, according to court documents.
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| Audio: Bloomberg slammed Warren as 'scary' and demeaned his endorsement of Obama Posted: 25 Feb 2020 07:20 AM PST  Bloomberg's campaign said his comments about banks were a "joke" and that the comments about Obama were "an important point."
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| Sunk: How Sweden Sent America's USS Ronald Reagan to the Bottom of the Sea Posted: 24 Feb 2020 05:00 PM PST  (In a simulation.)
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| Ginni Thomas: SCOTUS justice's wife leading right-wing effort to purge officials 'disloyal' to Trump Posted: 24 Feb 2020 11:28 AM PST  A group of pro-Trump activists led by Ginni Thomas has reportedly compiled lists of "disloyal" government officials it wants sacked.
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| North Korea has yet to officially report any coronavirus cases. But it just quarantined 380 foreigners. Posted: 24 Feb 2020 08:23 AM PST  The majority of the quarantined individuals in the secretive, isolated country are diplomats. The nationalities of the quarantined individuals have not been identified.
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| Russia Unveils Laika, Its Next-Gen Nuclear Attack Submarine Posted: 24 Feb 2020 01:11 PM PST  It looks like an exotic sea creature.
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| Violence in Indian capital casts shadow over Trump's visit Posted: 24 Feb 2020 09:58 PM PST  An angry group of Hindus carrying pickaxes and iron rods hurled rocks Tuesday at Muslims in a fresh round of violent protests in the Indian capital over a new citizenship law, with at least 10 people killed in two days of clashes that cast a shadow over U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to the country. After talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Trump told reporters that he had heard about the violence but did not discuss it with Modi. Black smoke rose into the sky over northeastern New Delhi after Hindu protesters set fruit and vegetable shops and a Muslim shrine on fire, witnesses said.
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| ‘Don’t You Think You Ought to Check?’: Sen. Kennedy Demands DHS Chief Provide ‘Straight Answers’ on Coronavirus Spread Posted: 25 Feb 2020 08:57 AM PST  Senator John Kennedy on Tuesday demanded answers from acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf regarding the likely extent of the domestic coronavirus outbreak, saying the American people deserve "straight answers" about the deadly virus.During a hearing of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, Kennedy asked Wolf how many cases of people infected with the coronavirus the U.S. anticipates having."You're head of Homeland Security, and your job is to keep us safe. Do you know today how many the experts are predicting?" the Louisiana Democrat-turned-Republican said."We only know that, again, we anticipate those numbers to grow in the U.S.," Wolf responded, saying that he cannot provide an "exact number.""Don't you think you ought to check on that?" Kennedy asked. "You're the secretary. I think you ought to know that answer."Kennedy also asked Wolf for answers on the mortality rate of the coronavirus, whether the U.S. has enough respirators, and when a vaccine is expected."You're the secretary of Homeland Security and you can't tell me if we have enough respirators?" Kennedy said, adding that lawmakers previously heard separate testimony that the U.S. does not have enough respirators.Kennedy also pointed out that the DHS chief's testimony does not match up with information put out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."Your numbers aren't the same as CDC's. Don't you think you ought to contact them and find our whether you're right or they're right?" Kennedy said. "The American people deserve some straight answers on the coronavirus and I'm not getting them from you."Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen afterwards urged Wolf to hold "open briefings" about the situation surrounding the coronavirus, adding, "I didn't hear anything this morning that I haven't read in the newspaper."A slew of new countries on Monday confirmed their first cases of the virus, a respiratory illness that originated in China and has infected close to 80,000 people in 37 countries, killing at least 2,600.
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| Egypt executes eight men over church bombings: sources Posted: 25 Feb 2020 03:52 AM PST  Egypt has executed eight men sentenced to death over deadly attacks claimed by the Islamic State group on churches and a police checkpoint, judicial and medical sources said Tuesday. The convicts, whose final appeal against the death penalty was denied in May last year, were put to death at dawn on Monday, the sources said.
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| Trump fumbles his pronunciation of several Indian names and a Hindi word at India speech Posted: 24 Feb 2020 07:04 AM PST  President Trump managed on Monday to mangle his pronunciation of several Indian names and a Hindi word on an otherwise successful first day of his state visit to India.
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| White House seeks $2.5B for coronavirus, but Pelosi says that's not enough Posted: 25 Feb 2020 07:58 AM PST  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that the request was long overdue and inadequate and that the House would advance its own funding package.
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| Missing Tennessee toddler's grandmother and her boyfriend extradited after arrest Posted: 24 Feb 2020 11:11 AM PST  Evelyn Boswell, a Tennessee toddler who is 15 months old, was last seen in December. An Amber Alert was issued for her on Wednesday.
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| Canadian military stands up for women troops after viral tweet questioned 'how men could be attracted to women dressed as men' Posted: 24 Feb 2020 03:06 PM PST  "These are men's jobs," a blogger said in a viral tweet, adding that women ought to "stick to being feminine."
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| A British Tank Army Expected to Last Just a Few Days Against the Russians Posted: 25 Feb 2020 02:30 AM PST  A cold war horror story: "We would have fought and probably all died," tweeted Nigel Price, a Cold War veteran of 3 Armored Division. "But we would have fought. And the enemy knew it. Deterrent worked."
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| U.S. judge rejects Roger Stone's request she be kicked off his case Posted: 23 Feb 2020 04:35 PM PST  A U.S. federal judge on Sunday denied a request by Roger Stone's lawyers that she be removed from the case in which she last week sentenced the long-time adviser to President Donald Trump to three years and four months in prison. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson had been accused of bias by Stone's attorneys in a filing on Friday that called for her recusal. Stone, 67, was convicted on Nov. 15 of lying to Congress, obstruction of justice and witness tampering.
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| World is on the brink of a coronavirus pandemic, warn virologists, as four more cases emerge in Britain Posted: 23 Feb 2020 12:19 PM PST  Four new cases of coronavirus were confirmed in the UK on Sunday, as experts warned of an impending pandemic with parts of Italy in lockdown after a massive rise in the number of new infections there. The new British patients had all been passengers on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship and were in quarantine in The Wirral when they fell ill, having returned from Japan on Saturday. It emerged on Sunday that the patients had been tested while in Japan, but the results were not received until Sunday morning, by which point they were back in the UK. They have now been transferred to specialist NHS infection centres. Of the four people who tested positive for coronavirus, two patients are in the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield, one is in the Royal Liverpool University Hospital and a fourth was taken to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, NHS England said. Professor Keith Willett, NHS strategic incident director for coronavirus, said: "These specialist centres are well prepared to deal with cases and earlier this year, the Newcastle unit successfully treated and discharged two patients who had contracted the virus." It brings the total number of UK cases to 13, and comes as the European threat from coronavirus dramatically increased, with four deaths in northern Italy following the diagnosis of more than 152 cases.
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| Italian hikers rescued in Alaska after visiting infamous bus Posted: 24 Feb 2020 03:04 PM PST  An Italian man suffering from frostbite and four other tourists were rescued in the Alaska wilderness after visiting an abandoned bus that has become a lure for adventurers since it was featured in the "Into the Wild" book and movie. Alaska State Troopers say the five Italians were rescued Saturday from a camp they set up after visiting the dilapidated bus on the Stampede Trail near the interior town of Healy. The hikers were found 13 miles from the trailhead, Trooper spokesman Tim DeSpain said.
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| Supreme Court denies Rodney Reed appeal Posted: 24 Feb 2020 06:49 PM PST  The court did leave open the possibility for another appeal following the outcome of upcoming hearings, which could lead to a new trial.
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| Americans Show Fresh Signs of Panic as Coronavirus Cases Jump Again Posted: 24 Feb 2020 11:50 AM PST  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Monday that the number of 2019 novel coronavirus cases in the United States rose from 34 on Friday to 53 as more passengers from the Diamond Princess cruise ship tested positive for the disease. The virus quickly spread among 695 passengers aboard the Carnival cruise ship docked in Yokohama, Japan, and has since killed at least two and forced many of the rest into quarantine and isolation. The U.S. State Department eventually repatriated those Americans who wished to come home, though local officials across the United States have shown signs of resistance to housing the potentially infected in state or federal facilities. COVID-19, as the virus is officially known, has infected more than 79,000 people in two dozen countries and killed at least 2,600. Businesses across the world have responded by canceling conferences and restricting travel, especially to China. U.S. financial markets plunged Monday as the number of confirmed cases rose in South Korea, Italy, and Iran. Meanwhile, at least one man in Miami was facing a medical bill for up to thousands of dollars after a coronavirus scare. He was ultimately diagnosed with the flu, but the case showed the potential for people with high cost health plans to rack up fees as panic spreads in a country without universal health care.The Ticking Coronavirus Time Bomb: America's UninsuredEven as the petri dish of the Diamond Princess and the surge in cases in Europe and the Middle East have captured the world's attention, the vast majority of cases remain in China, where the virus was first documented in December.Still, the emergence of the virus has produced a range of emotional responses across American professions and demographic groups. The possibility of infection has previously caused panic among ride-share drivers, while teenagers have pretended to be infected with the virus to prompt others to share their videos. There have also been reports of bullying and discrimination against students of Asian descent.Now residents of Salt Lake City appear to be projecting their fears of the virus onto Shen Yun, a dance troupe known as much for its ubiquitous marketing as for its traditional Chinese performances. The group was slated to perform Feb. 25 and 26 in Salt Lake, and residents began calling the local and state public health departments to ask whether dancers might be contagious.Nicholas Rupp, a spokesman for the Salt Lake City health department, said his agency had received four calls since Friday from residents concerned over the risk of infection because of rumors they saw on social media. There is, he said, no basis for the rumors, as the group's North American branch only tours in North America and therefore would not be likely to come into contact with coronavirus patients."We've investigated, and we have no reason to believe that anyone associated with the troupe is ill," he told The Daily Beast.The Utah State Department of Health has also received calls about this week's Shen Yun performance and coronavirus, according to spokeswoman Charla Haley, though she said she did not know how many. She reiterated Rupp's point that the claims have no basis.One email to public health officials obtained by The Daily Beast describes a medical conspiracy by Shen Yun leadership, though the message offers no evidence. "A friend gave me news that this group just finished performing In Korea and a few of their members returned to the US with coronavirus symptoms but was prevented to seek medical help from their leader. They are suppressing their members to leak the news so no performing schedules will be interrupted," the email reads. The writer's name has been redacted. The emailer expressed doubts about the provenance of the information but decided acting on it was better than staying silent."A group of SL local people are asking the public to call Mitt Romney, SL mayor Office and the health department to stop them from coming. I don't know where this source is from. Too many fake news these days but if this one happens to be true I would do my share of citizen duties to call to the officials."Staffers at Shen Yun appear to be aware of the perception, however baseless, that dancers might be infected, as well. The group published an undated press release dispelling the whispers: "Shen Yun Is Not From China, Shows In No Way Affected By Coronavirus."Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet 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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| Israel targets Islamic Jihad in Syria and Gaza Posted: 24 Feb 2020 05:59 AM PST  The hostilities came after militants attempted to plant explosives next to Gaza border, and dozens of rockets were fired at Israel, military said.
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