| The Trump campaign’s surrogate army descends on Iowa and faces down a protest Posted: 03 Feb 2020 04:57 PM PST  President Trump's campaign brought an unusually large show of force to the caucuses in Iowa on Monday, even though he faces no major opposition in the primary and won the state handily in 2016.
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| U.S. announces more coronavirus cases, details quarantine plans for returning travelers Posted: 03 Feb 2020 10:06 AM PST  The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday announced a second case of transmission of the new coronavirus within the United States and provided more detailed plans on how it will handle travelers returning from China as the country works to limit the outbreak. "We expect to see more cases of person-to-person spread," Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said during a conference call that included confirmation of a handful of new cases, bringing the U.S. total to 11. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is making nearly $250 million in emergency funds available to cover the cost of the response, an agency spokesman said on Monday.
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| Lebanese-American who worked for Israel charged with murder Posted: 04 Feb 2020 04:22 AM PST  A military investigative judge charged a Lebanese-American man with murder and torture of Lebanese citizens on Tuesday, crimes he allegedly committed during Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon, judicial officials said. Amer Fakhoury is accused of working as a senior warden at Khiam Prison, which was run by an Israel-backed Lebanese militia.
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| Pete Buttigieg Wakes Up in New Hampshire With a Fresh Dig at Sanders and Talk of ‘Transparency’ Posted: 04 Feb 2020 08:04 AM PST  MANCHESTER, New Hampshire—Echoing through the Rex Theatre's amplified sound system, Demi Lovato asked, loudly, "What's wrong with being confident?" the morning after Pete Buttigieg declared victory in the Iowa caucuses before any official results were known.The song fit the moment. Kicking off his first event of five here on Tuesday, the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor was nothing if not confident. Just hours after Iowa's results, still uncertain, devolved into a stunning mass of confusion among Democratic voters and candidates, Buttigieg delivered a speech denouncing "my way or the highway" politics—an implicit dig at Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in the state he swept by a double-digit margin four years ago—and promising "openness" and "transparency" in 2020. "Now here we are at decision time," the 38-year-old Democrat said to a full audience, acknowledging attendees who are still "thinking it through" a week before voting starts here. He did not mention the word "Iowa" in his opening remarks, instead opting to turn the page swiftly. "I'm so glad to be here with you this morning," he said, to laughs. "I think it's morning." New Hampshire voters began lining up nearly two hours before the kickoff. While Buttigieg didn't mention the caucus results, Rep. Annie Kuster, one of his most prominent state supporters, gave a lighthearted nod to the wildness that unfolded Monday night half the country away."I'm sure when the results are all in, we are going to have a fantastic result!" Kuster said. Speaking on stage, Buttigieg, who plans on camping out here in the Granite State every day before Feb. 11 primary, added, "if there's one thing I've learned from being on the ground from these early states… it's just how seriously you all take that."Hours earlier, Buttigieg suggested a win in New Hampshire was integral to sweeping the nomination. "We're on our way to New Hampshire, on to the nomination, and on to chart a bold new course for our country. But only if you're with me," he wrote on Twitter at 2 a.m., pinning the tweet with a link to his fundraising page. The Dirty Little Secret Behind Iowa's Amateur HourRead 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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| Biden Opens Lead in Texas While Support in South Carolina Slips Posted: 02 Feb 2020 12:09 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Joe Biden is opening a daunting lead over the rest of the field in the March 3 Texas primary, but his advantage has slipped in South Carolina, where the primary later this month is crucial for his campaign, according to two polls released Sunday.The former vice president leads Senator Bernie Sanders, his closest competitor, in Texas by 17 points in a poll by the Dallas Morning News and the University of Texas at Tyler.The good news for Biden in one of the biggest "Super Tuesday" states was tempered by results of a Charleston Post and Courier poll in South Carolina. His lead there ahead of the Feb. 29 primary has slipped to a mere 5 points over Sanders, after having been as large as 31 points last May in the newspaper's poll.South Carolina is supposed to be Biden's firewall, giving him a reliable tranche of delegates after harder-fought contests in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.Taken together, the two poll results suggest that Biden could face a more complicated path to the nomination. Results of later primaries are likely to be influenced by the results of earlier ones, so South Carolina is seen as a key momentum-builder going into delegate-rich states like Texas and California.Biden's strength in the Palmetto State is based largely on his support from African-American Democrats, who view him fondly for his role as President Barack Obama's running mate.Now, African-American voters in South Carolina have begun to look at alternatives. Biden has 30% support among African-Americans, down from 50% last year. Billionaire Tom Steyer is at 24% among those voters; Sanders is at 16%.Super TuesdayThe timing of the South Carolina primary is critical, coming three days before Texas and 15 other Super Tuesday primaries that will award more than a third of the delegates to the Democratic National Convention.The Texas poll released Sunday shows Biden at 35%, followed by Senator Bernie Sanders at 18%. Senator Elizabeth Warren and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg have 16% each.Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News. He is not competing in South Carolina.In Texas it's Hispanic and African-American voters helping to give Biden a boost: 50% of African-American Democrats in Texas support him, as do 33% of Hispanics.Texas is the third largest delegate prize on the Democratic calendar. And although Democrats use proportional representation to award delegates, Biden's large margin could give him the overwhelming majority of the state's 228 delegates.The margins of error are 4 percentage points in the South Carolina poll and 4.4 points in the Texas poll.To contact the reporter on this story: Gregory Korte in Des Moines at gkorte@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Joe Sobczyk, Magan CraneFor 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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| Disabled Chinese boy dies while father in virus quarantine Posted: 03 Feb 2020 09:34 PM PST  A disabled boy has died after being left to fend for himself when his father was quarantined over the deadly new coronavirus in China's Hubei province. Yan Cheng, who was confined to a wheelchair because of cerebral palsy, was abandoned at home when his father was isolated because of a fever. "Yan Xiaowen was unable to take care of Yan Cheng's daily life (because of being in isolation)... so he entrusted his relatives, village cadres and village doctors to take care of Yan Cheng," the county government said.
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| China says it will ban the trade in wild animals, like bats, believed to be behind the Wuhan coronavirus, and tighten supervision on 'wet markets' Posted: 03 Feb 2020 07:27 PM PST  Experts believe the Wuhan coronavirus likely started in a wet market, where live and dead animals are often sold in poorly regulated conditions.
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| Black Americans got the right to vote 150 years ago, but voter suppression still a problem Posted: 03 Feb 2020 05:33 AM PST  On the 150th anniversary of the 15th Amendment, voting rights continue to be assailed. America lacks a national voting right for all citizens.
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| Taiwan vice-president elect to attend high-profile U.S. prayer breakfast Posted: 02 Feb 2020 07:16 PM PST  Taiwan's vice president-elect William Lai will go to this week's high-profile National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, he said on Monday, an event traditionally attended by U.S. presidents and which President Donald Trump was at last year. Lai, who assumes office in May, has angered China by saying he is a "realistic worker for Taiwan independence", a red line for Beijing which considers the island merely a Chinese province with no right to state-to-state relations. Taiwan says it is an independent country called the Republic of China, its official name.
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| DHS: New screening to begin amid coronavirus concerns Posted: 02 Feb 2020 01:31 PM PST  As the U.S. steps up its response to the coronavirus outbreak, the Department of Homeland Security is warning airline passengers that their flights may wind up rerouted if officials discover mid-flight that someone onboard has been in China in the last 14 days. "The exact timing of those we're still coordinating with the Chinese government," Pompeo said at a news conference Monday in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
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| Rush Limbaugh has been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer Posted: 03 Feb 2020 12:49 PM PST  Rush Limbaugh has announced he's been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer.The conservative radio host shared the news on his show Monday afternoon on what he called "one of the most difficult days in recent memory for me," telling listeners he was diagnosed last month and that "there are going to be days that I'm not going to be able to be here" as he undergoes treatment, per Mediaite. It was for this reason Limbaugh said he decided to announce the news publicly, even though he explained he didn't "want to burden anybody with it" and considered keeping the diagnosis private. "My intention is to come here every day I can," Limbaugh said. He ended by noting he would be off the air for the next several days but that "every day I'm not here, I'll be thinking about you and missing you." Limbaugh has hosted his radio show nationally for more than three decades, and Brian Rosenwald noted he's "probably the most influential voice on the right except for" President Trump. The Hill reports he recently signed a new contract, as announced by Trump at a rally. More stories from theweek.com Trump just won the Iowa Democratic caucuses Should financial markets be freaked out by coronavirus? America is doing so much better than you think
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| A woman bit off an inch of a man's tongue after she told him not to use it while kissing her, authorities say Posted: 03 Feb 2020 02:45 PM PST  Youlette Wedgeworth, 52, was charged with aggravated assault after police said she bit off part of a man's tongue.
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| In unreleased Iowa poll, Sanders finishes 1st, Biden 4th Posted: 04 Feb 2020 06:32 AM PST  Remember that final poll of Iowa Democrats from CNN and the Des Moines Register that wasn't released because of an interviewing error? Well, FiveThirtyEight reportedly confirmed the final results. It would've been good news for Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, who led the pack with 22 percent and 18 percent, respectively. That falls in line with an earlier report that media outlets increased their coverage of Warren after glimpsing the numbers.
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| Iowa Reports No Caucus Winner After ‘Inconsistencies’ Bedevil Count Posted: 04 Feb 2020 10:28 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Iowa Democrats will finally release most of the much-delayed results of its troubled caucuses by 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, hoping to salvage the process after a disastrous night cast doubts on its key role in the presidential nominating process.Chairman Troy Price told the campaigns on a conference call that more than 50% of the results would be released after the party "worked through the night" to check the quality of its results and to collect any outstanding data.On Monday night, the caucuses that were meant to give shape to the Democratic presidential race devolved into political embarrassment for the party and left candidates and voters hanging with no results and no springboard into the next round of contests, including New Hampshire's primary in seven days.The top Democratic candidates, except Joe Biden, claimed strong showings using their internal analysis. Biden's campaign didn't have the organization in place to collect the data, an emblem of his struggling Iowa campaign.One candidate who didn't compete in Iowa, Michael Bloomberg, moved to capitalize on the chaos by authorizing his team to double his already record spending on advertisements and doubling his field staff to 2,000 people, the New York Times reported.The chaos began when an attempt to modernize the arcane Iowa caucus system and make it more transparent melted down with the introduction of new technology and more complex rules. The Iowa Democratic Party was unable to release results from Monday's caucuses after discovering "inconsistencies" in reporting from some precincts.By morning, the state Democratic Party said in a statement that it had identified a flaw in the phone application used to report results that failed Monday night."We determined with certainty that the underlying data collected via the app was sound," Price, the state chairman, said in the statement. "While the app was recording data accurately, it was reporting out only partial data. We have determined that this was due to a coding issue in the reporting system. This issue was identified and fixed."The party's clean-up efforts are unlikely to quiet critics.An official with Biden's campaign confirmed that the campaign had previously used services from the vendor that created Iowa's failed app, but stopped because its IT team expressed security concerns. However, the campaign didn't use the specific app that the Iowa Democratic Party adopted.Earlier, Chad Wolf, acting secretary of Homeland Security, said in a Fox News interview Tuesday that the federal department had offered to review the Iowa Caucus app, but the agency's offer was rebuffed.In the void, several campaigns leaked unverified internal campaign data -- submitted by their own precinct captains -- to claim a strong showing.Pete Buttigieg effectively delivered his victory speech to supporters, saying, "By all indications we are going on to New Hampshire victorious." Bernie Sanders's campaign also released a ranking that showed Sanders at No. 1. Amy Klobuchar's campaign said she outperformed Biden for fourth place.None of those results could be confirmed.Electoral CredibilityThe foul-up occurred just days after the closely watched Iowa Poll canceled a Saturday release, saying, in effect, it couldn't stand behind the results. And the controversy occurred against a backdrop of increasing worry about the credibility of electoral results, following Russian interference in President Donald Trump's election in 2016. It threatened to put a shadow over the final results, whenever they are announced.Trump on Tuesday morning claimed on Twitter that he was "the only person that can claim a very big victory in Iowa last night." He called the Democratic results "an unmitigated disaster."The Iowa contest is the first in a long cycle of caucuses and primaries that stretches until June -- awarding just 1% of the delegates needed to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination. But Iowa offers outsized momentum to its strong finishers as they headed to New Hampshire a week away. Sanders leads the polls there comfortably, followed by Biden, Elizabeth Warren and Buttigieg.The Iowa Democratic Party said there was no evidence of hacking in the results, merely human error and other inconsistencies that forced the party to resort to hand-counting the votes.What happened was that the state party deployed a new phone app for precinct chairmen to report results at the same time it deployed a new system for tabulating winners. Both appear to have failed.Precinct chairmen found it difficult to use the app and instead resorted to calling a hotline. The hotline got so jammed up that they were waiting for 30 minutes or more for someone to answer. Then the party reported there were "inconsistencies" in the count and decided to withhold announcing results until at least Tuesday.Warren's campaign manager, Roger Lau, said the delay was concerning and disappointing. "Every second that passes undermines the process a little bit," he said.'Full Explanations'Biden's campaign was the most muted about its Iowa showing, preferring instead to issue a sharply worded letter from the campaign's general counsel, demanding "full explanations and relevant information" about its quality control efforts and a chance to respond "before any official results are released."Biden, who had been leading in national polls but was struggling in Iowa, said he was moving on to the New Hampshire primary and beyond. "We're in this for the long haul," Biden told a crowd in Des Moines.Trump's campaign and his allies ridiculed the Democrats for the chaos and used it to try to stoke divisions among the candidates, suggesting the party was trying to "fix" the results. Brad Parscale, Trump's campaign manager, called it "the sloppiest train wreck in history.""And these are the people who want to run our entire health care system?" he said in an email.The disruption in the reporting is likely to accelerate calls for an end to caucuses. Only three other states -- Nevada, Wyoming and Kansas -- still use the caucus system in the nomination race as the national party has tried to shift states toward using primaries.State party officials held a conference call with representatives of the campaigns late Monday and read a statement about the failures that had already been released, according to another person, who was familiar with the call. When campaign representatives began asking questions and expressed frustration, the Iowa Democrats abruptly ended the call, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity.In the earlier statement, Iowa Democratic Party Communications Director Mandy McClure said officials "found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results." She said that in addition to their technology systems, party officials also were using photos of results and paper records to verify the tallies."This is simply a reporting issue, the app did not go down and this is not a hack or an intrusion," McClure said. "The underlying data and paper trail is sound and will simply take time to further report the results."The Iowa Democratic Party went into the 2020 caucuses touting a series of reforms intended to make the process more fair, accountable and transparent.There are now three sets of results reported, allowing greater visibility into who participants supported in the first and second rounds, as supporters of candidates who don't meet a 15% threshold are given a chance to join with backers of other candidates.The party developed a smartphone app to expand the online reporting of results from precincts to party headquarters. And there's a paper trail of presidential preference cards filled out by each caucus-goer, allowing the party to re-create the results even after the caucus ends.But the rule changes created chaos and confusion.The delay in reporting results followed complaints from some local party officials that they were struggling to use the new telephone application to report tallies from precincts.Read more: A QuickTake on how the Iowa caucuses workOne precinct chair in Polk County told Bloomberg News he hadn't been able to report his results because the phone app wasn't working and he had been on hold with an alternative hotline for more than 30 minutes.The application is one of the ways local officials who oversee individual caucuses are able to send results from each of the almost 1,700 sites to the Iowa Democratic Party, which compiles and checks the results.Four Democratic county chairs told Bloomberg News earlier in the day that some precinct-level officials told them that they had been unable to download or log in to the phone app."We are experiencing some issues in terms of people being able to load and connect with the app for their precinct reporting," said Bret Nilles, chairman of the Linn County Democratic Party.The party first used a smartphone application to report results in 2016, but before then, all results were submitted by phoning them in."A lot of us are going to be doing it on paper and calling it in," said Kelcey Brackett, the chairman of the Muscatine County Democratic Party.(Disclaimer: Michael Bloomberg is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. He is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.)(Updates with Bloomberg reportedly doubling ads and staff beginning in fourth paragraph)\--With assistance from Gregory Korte and Jennifer Jacobs.To contact the reporters on this story: Tyler Pager in Des Moines at tpager1@bloomberg.net;Jennifer Epstein in Des Moines at jepstein32@bloomberg.net;Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou in Des Moines at megkolfopoul@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Craig GordonFor 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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| A county in China is offering people $140 to tell on neighbors who have visited Wuhan, and another is threatening the death penalty to anyone deliberately spreading the coronavirus Posted: 04 Feb 2020 04:33 AM PST  China has been struggling to contain the coronavirus epidemic, which initially broke out in the central province of Hubei.
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| China Says India Can’t Build An Effective Missile Defense System Posted: 04 Feb 2020 01:35 AM PST  China is indisputably more powerful, with a larger economy and a military that is rapidly procuring advanced conventional and nuclear weapons. But India also has nuclear weapons, and an Indian missile system that could intercept Chinese ballistic missiles would enhance India's deterrence capabilities versus China.
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| China accuses U.S. of scaremongerng over coronavirus Posted: 02 Feb 2020 11:44 PM PST  Beijing on Monday accused the United States of spreading fear over a coronavirus outbreak by pulling nationals out and restricting travel instead of offering significant aid. The United States was the first nation to begin evacuations, issued a travel warning against going to China, and from Sunday barred entry to foreigners recently in China. Washington has "unceasingly manufactured and spread panic", Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters, noting that the World Health Organization (WHO) had advised against trade and travel curbs.
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| House leader urges action on bill tied to Ohio State scandal Posted: 03 Feb 2020 01:48 PM PST ![House leader urges action on bill tied to Ohio State scandal]( "House leader urges action on bill tied to Ohio State scandal") Unhappy with Ohio State's response to allegations of widespread, decades-old sexual abuse by a team doctor, the leader of the Ohio House called Monday for lawmakers to act soon on a stalled proposal to enable the survivors to sue the university under state law. About 350 men alleging sexual misconduct by the late Richard Strauss have sued the school in federal court. Ohio State initially argued those claims are time-barred by law, but it has since committed to a "monetary resolution" for those who were abused.
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| Nigeria to receive $308m stolen by ex-dictator: US Posted: 03 Feb 2020 01:33 PM PST  Nigeria is set to receive around $308 million seized from former military dictator Sani Abacha under a deal backed by the United States and the island of Jersey, US prosecutors said Monday. The sum is the latest to be recovered from the accounts of Abacha, an army officer who ruled Nigeria from 1993 until his death in 1998 aged 54, which sparked an ongoing search for hundreds of millions of dollars he stole and hid abroad. The repatriation of the money from Jersey, in the English Channel off the coast of northern France, follows a 2014 US court ruling authorizing the seizure of $500 million of cash laundered by Abacha in accounts worldwide, the US Department of Justice said in a statement.
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| Air Force colonel slated to command base that hosts Air Force One is sentenced in child porn case Posted: 04 Feb 2020 08:26 AM PST  An Air Force colonel slated to command Joint Base Andrews, home of Air Force One, has been sentenced to five years in prison for child porn.
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| U.S. Mulls More Charges Against Giuliani Allies; Trial Date Set Posted: 03 Feb 2020 02:17 PM PST ![U.S. Mulls More Charges Against Giuliani Allies; Trial Date Set]( "U.S. Mulls More Charges Against Giuliani Allies; Trial Date Set") (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. government may file additional charges against Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas and others accused of campaign-finance crimes before the start of their trial Oct. 5, a prosecutor said Monday.Parnas and co-defendant Igor Fruman worked closely with Giuliani in trying to dig up dirt in Ukraine on Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden, and in ousting the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, the government alleges. Prosecutors had indicated in December that the case could be expanded based on a review of evidence including bank accounts, email addresses and other materials.The government is "still evaluating" whether to file more charges, Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicolas Roos told a federal judge in New York Monday.Roos didn't say what an expanded case might entail or if it would include additional defendants. Bloomberg and other news organizations have reported that Giuliani is a subject of interest in the case.Also during the hearing Monday:Prosecutors told U.S. District Judge Paul Oetken in Manhattan federal court they have not been able to completely access 20 electronic devices seized in the case because the defendants have declined to provide their passwords.Oetken rejected a defense request that the government disclose how it obtained information to begin its prosecution, including whether communications by the defendants was intercepted or gathered by U.S. intelligence agencies. The use of such evidence -- or anything else derived from it -- can be problematic in U.S. courts because the means of obtaining it do not always meet legal standards. But "defendants have not established a colorable basis to claim they were aggrieved by any unlawful surveillance," the judge said.To contact the reporter on this story: Christian Berthelsen in New York at cberthelsen1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Steve StrothFor 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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| Japan quarantined a cruise ship with 3,700 people onboard after one passenger contracted the Wuhan coronavirus. Here's what it's like onboard. Posted: 04 Feb 2020 05:20 AM PST  The Diamond Princess is currently floating in Yokohama Bay, eastern Japan, and passengers are undergoing tests.
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| F-35s For Everyone: How China Spied and Stole Its Way To Military Dominance Posted: 04 Feb 2020 03:00 AM PST  Or at least parity.
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| Iran to launch satellite in program that U.S. links to missiles Posted: 03 Feb 2020 06:12 AM PST  Iran will launch a satellite into orbit by the end of this week, a government minister said on Monday, as part of a fledging program that the United States says is a cover for ballistic missile development. Iran had at least two failed satellite launches last year. The United States fears long-range ballistic technology used to put satellites into orbit could also be used to launch nuclear warheads.
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| A pro-Israel lobby group has launched a campaign against Jewish candidate Bernie Sanders Posted: 03 Feb 2020 12:36 PM PST  The group is spending at least $800,000 on the ad, according to a Federal Election Commission filing.
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| Germany, Austria at odds on European financial trade tax Posted: 03 Feb 2020 05:50 AM PST  Germany and Austria are at odds over plans for a new tax on financial transactions, raising more questions about the chances of the levy becoming reality after years of talks. The two countries are among 10 in the European Union that have been working on a financial transaction tax after a wider agreement proved elusive. German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz has proposed a levy of 0.2% on share purchases and wants to use the proceeds at home to help top up the pensions of low-paid people.
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| China Arrested Doctors Who Warned About Coronavirus Outbreak. Now Death Toll’s Rising, Stocks Are Plunging. Posted: 03 Feb 2020 03:12 AM PST  HONG KONG—The new coronavirus that has spread consternation around the world over the last few weeks has now killed more people in China than the SARS epidemic of 2002-2003. China's health commission reported Sunday that there were 361 deaths nationwide. During the SARS outbreak, 349 people died in mainland China and 774 altogether around the world. The Chinese stock markets took major hits Monday, and the whole nation feels its growing isolation.Three New Cases of Coronavirus Confirmed in CaliforniaYet last December—before people all over China began falling sick with pneumonia-like symptoms, before people around the world grew alarmed about a disease leaping from captured wild animals to human shoppers in dense Chinese food markets, and before the coronavirus reached new shores after being carried onto planes by human hosts, forcing the World Health Organization to declare a global emergency—eight people discussed how several patients in Wuhan were experiencing severe, rapid breakdowns in their respiratory systems.They were part of a medical school's alumni group on WeChat, a popular social network in China, and they were concerned that SARS, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, was back. It wasn't long before police detained them. The authorities said these eight doctors and medical technicians were "misinforming" the public, that there was no SARS, that the information was obviously wrong, and that everyone in the city must remain calm. On the first day of 2020, Wuhan police said they had "taken legal measures" against the eight individuals who had "spread rumors."Since then, the phenomenal spread of the virus has created cracks even within the normally united front of the Chinese Communist Party. "It might have been fortunate if the public had believed the 'rumor' and started to wear masks, carry out sanitization measures, and avoid the wild animal market," a judge of China's Supreme People's Court wrote online last Tuesday.Li Wenliang, a doctor who was among the eight people who tried to sound the alarm before the coronavirus infected many thousands and killed hundreds, has been diagnosed as someone infected with the coronavirus and is being treated at a hospital.As of 5 p.m. Monday, the official tally of coronavirus damage runs at more than 17,000 confirmed infections, more than 21,000 under observation, and 361 dead. But the actual numbers must be far higher, possibly by a considerable magnitude, according to estimates by doctors in China and infectious-disease experts around the world.Authorities are still actively censoring social-media posts and news articles that question the government's response to the outbreak. One Wuhan man, Fang Bin, uploaded footage of corpses in a van and a hospital in Wuhan, and was then tracked down and taken into custody. His laptop was confiscated, and he had to pedal for three hours on a bicycle to get home after he was questioned, warned, and released. His coronavirus video went viral.The Chinese government is eager to project the image that everything is under control. Beijing pushed back the post-Lunar New Year opening of financial markets by a few days, and traders returned to their posts Monday morning. The Shanghai Composite Index and Shenzhen Composite Index quickly dropped 8.7 percent and 8.6 percent, respectively. By lunch time, more than 2,600 stocks had tripped regulator-imposed breakers after losing 10 percent in value. At market closing at 3 p.m., the indices were unable to recover from their nosedives.This was the worst plummet in China's markets since an equity bubble burst in 2015, and it isn't difficult to see why. Schools have been closed indefinitely. Flights have been grounded, and domestic travel has been limited or even halted. Office buildings, restaurants, and malls are empty. Public functions have been canceled. Overwhelmingly, white-collar workers across the country are telecommuting. The country, it seems, is a network of ghost towns with wide boulevards and glass towers. Combined with the ongoing swine flu and a new outbreak of avian flu south of Wuhan, the coronavirus is hitting China's economy on many fronts.Perhaps the most striking development in China is how borders became tangible. Villages, towns, and cities are physically blocked off from each other, sometimes with local officials posted on roads to stop anyone except emergency relief personnel from passing through. Married couples who hail from different parts of the country have been separated if they chose to travel over the Lunar New Year; as they returned home after the break, local officials in some locations barred one spouse, whoever is an "outlander," from entering city limits.The coronavirus is isolating China from the rest of the world, too. Many countries have imposed travel restrictions on Chinese nationals, or even banned visitors who have recently been in mainland China. In Hong Kong, medical workers who joined a newly formed union voted to begin a strike Monday to pressure the city's officials to seal the border with mainland China. Clashes have broken out at sites where the government had attempted to set up mass quarantine facilities in Hong Kong.Coronavirus Has Europe Treating Chinese People Like the PlagueBack in Wuhan, one of two speed-built hospitals began absorbing patients on Monday. The hospital took 10 days to build, has 1,000 beds, and is staffed by 1,400 military doctors who are managing the symptoms of those under their care. The additions are welcome, but people living in Hubei, the province where Wuhan is the capital, have doubts about how effective the facilities will be. There's a severe shortage of testing kits, and sick people are still being turned away from hospitals. It is common for patients to wander between several emergency rooms before giving up to head home and tough it out.This outbreak has given new meaning to a well-worn adage: When China sneezes, the world catches a cold. People recall a lack of transparency when SARS was hitting China, even though the WHO has praised Beijing repeatedly for improving its performance this time around. But that may not be enough. Right now, every country in the world is trying to prevent the epidemic from flaring up on its own shores.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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| Kobe Bryant: 911 calls from helicopter crash released Posted: 03 Feb 2020 08:17 PM PST  Tragic 911 calls from the day of Kobe Bryant's helicopter crash in Calabasas have been released.Audio transcripts reveal how residents of the exclusive neighbourhood called in to report a helicopter vanishing from the sky and the fiery wreckage on the ground.
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| Mauritania Says U.A.E. to Invest $2 Billion—One-Third of Its GDP Posted: 03 Feb 2020 01:14 AM PST ![Mauritania Says U.A.E. to Invest $2 Billion—One-Third of Its GDP]( "Mauritania Says U.A.E. to Invest $2 Billion—One-Third of Its GDP") (Bloomberg) -- Mauritania's government said the United Arab Emirates has made $2 billion available in investment, development projects and soft loans, a sum that equals roughly a third of its gross domestic product.The announcement came after President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani met Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, marking his first state visit to an Arabic country since assuming office in June 2019."This generous support will contribute to create economic and social growth and increase living standards," according to a statement. No further details were provided.While the arid West African nation with a population of about 4 million people is among the region's poorest, it's expected to become a natural-gas exporter following large offshore discoveries by major oil and gas explorers last year. To contact the reporter on this story: Oudaa Marouf in Nouakchott at moudaa@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net, Pauline Bax, Jacqueline MackenzieFor 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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| Republican senator suggests 'worse than Chernobyl' coronavirus could've come from Chinese 'superlaboratory' Posted: 03 Feb 2020 04:34 PM PST  The US senator described the novel coronavirus as the "biggest and most important story in the world" and "worse than Chernobyl."
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| Look Closely: This U.S. Navy Patrol Plane Is Looking More and More Like a Bomber Posted: 03 Feb 2020 06:30 PM PST  The U.S. Navy wants to arm its Boeing P-8 Poseidon patrol planes with new anti-ship missiles plus precision-guided bombs, mines and aerial decoys.
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| Kenya's former President Daniel Arap Moi dies Posted: 03 Feb 2020 08:25 PM PST  Kenya's longest-serving president Daniel Arap Moi, whose rule was marred by corruption and torture of opponents, died on Tuesday, the office of the president said. There was no immediate explanation for Moi's death, but he had been in and out of hospital with breathing problems in recent months. "Our nation and our continent were immensely blessed by the dedication and service of the late ... Moi, who spent almost his entire adult life serving Kenya and Africa," President Uhuru Kenyatta said in a statement.
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| Iowa might have just witnessed the start of a Democratic Party takeover Posted: 03 Feb 2020 02:05 AM PST  Takeaways from the wild final days of the Iowa campaign.
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| Iranian spy to be executed for CIA work: Report Posted: 04 Feb 2020 03:56 AM PST  Iran said Tuesday that its top court confirmed a death sentence for an Iranian man convicted of spying for the CIA, with state media alleging that he had shared details of the Islamic Republic's nuclear program with the American spy agency.
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| North Korea making 'all-out efforts' to guard against virus Posted: 03 Feb 2020 09:30 PM PST  North Korea said Tuesday it was mobilizing 30,000 health workers everyday in its "all-out efforts" to guard against the spread of a virus from neighboring China. North Korea hasn't reported any case of the new coronavirus, but some experts say an epidemic in North Korea could be dire because of its chronic lack of medical supplies and poor health care infrastructure. It said the 30,000 workers are examining and monitoring residents and trying to inform North Korean people about how dangerous the virus is, how it spreads and what precautionary steps they should take.
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| Why American Scientists Take Chinese Money Posted: 03 Feb 2020 03:30 AM PST  Harvard Chemistry Department chair Charles Lieber was charged this week with lying to the Defense Department about receiving funds from the Chinese government. Lieber allegedly took $1.5 million to open a research lab in China, as well as $200,000 monthly in cash and living expenses to conduct research for the Wuhan University of Technology.A pioneer in the field of nanowires — infinitesimally small conductors of electricity with a wide range of potential uses — Lieber is no small fry. "For a person with his status and reputation the work for him [in China] was not important, and it was not necessary for him to do that for the money," a Case Western Reserve professor who had worked with him told the Wall Street Journal. Indeed, Lieber received more than $15 million in grants from the American government. So why did he accept funding from China?U.S. government agencies including the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health dole out more than $150 billion in research grants each year. University scientists rely on that money to fund their labs. Because grants can make or break a career, professors spend an inordinate amount of time navigating the funding labyrinth. A 2007 study found that researchers spend 42 percent of their time writing grant proposals and ensuring compliance with the conditions of the grants they receive. Stringent regulations on everything from affirmative action to animal welfare place a needless burden on scientists, reducing their productivity. Since any given proposal has a 20 percent chance of being approved, researchers devote 170 days to proposal-writing for every grant they're awarded.In addition to the administrative burden, American funding programs push researchers toward low-risk, low-reward studies. Since papers are evaluated by the number of citations they generate, professors tend to focus on questions that guarantee a meaningful result, rather than taking risks on novel research that might fail. Though the latter is more likely to deliver high gains in the long run, delayed recognition of breakthrough research means that scientists in new fields may have to wait years before they see results, which reduces their ability to attract funding in the interim. A 2016 paper found that "funding decisions which rely on traditional bibliometric indicators . . . may be biased against 'high risk/high gain' novel research." As a result, American scientists tinker at the margins of existing research but rarely attempt breakthroughs. This partially explains the general slowdown of scientific progress over the past few decades.Enter China. In 2008, the Chinese Communist party (CCP) announced the Thousand Talents Plan (TTP), which was designed to recruit 2,000 high-quality foreign professionals within five to ten years. By 2017, the program had lured 7,000 foreigners — more than triple its target. As part of a broad push to achieve global technological supremacy, China has committed 15 percent of its GDP — equivalent to $2.1 trillion in 2019 — to human-capital development.The TTP doesn't require grant applications or regulatory compliance, either. Faced with a choice between a Byzantine funding apparatus at home and instant cash from China, more than 3,000 university researchers have opted for the latter. In return for that money, the CCP requires its researchers to turn over intellectual property to which they have access, as well as to sign agreements preventing them from disclosing the results of work conducted under Chinese patronage. Some scientists have concluded that those stipulations are worthwhile. And in a perverse sense, it is true that the Chinese system provides a great deal of academic freedom: no applications, no progress reports, no environmental standards. In a few cases, TTP-linked academics have even opened "shadow labs" in China that conduct research identical to what they are doing domestically. The effect is a wholesale transfer of American intellectual capital and property to our largest geostrategic foe.The TTP encompasses not only university labs but also U.S. government facilities. Federal agencies have discovered that employees downloaded classified information before visiting China, and an American defense contractor testified to the Senate that more than 300 U.S. government researchers had accepted TTP money right under the government's nose.In November 2019, the Senate Subcommittee on Investigations issued a long-overdue report on the TTP. The report recommended stricter grant-compliance provisions, stronger cybersecurity, and increased scrutiny of research facilities by American law-enforcement agencies. While these measures would partially combat Chinese intellectual-property theft, lawmakers in Washington should also reflect on why China's money is so alluring to American scientists.Partially, it's because there's a lot of it. While the White House has proposed cuts to the NSF and NIH budgets in recent years, the CCP has committed orders of magnitude more money to its recruitment programs. In addition to beefing up IP protections, Congress should allocate more funding to foundational research. But money alone won't solve the problem. As long as the federal grant-approval process remains sclerotic and risk-averse, American scientists will be unlikely to maintain their global preeminence. Federal agencies should roll back onerous regulations and give researchers more control over grant money and lab operations. By deemphasizing bibliometric criteria, they could also provide scientists more of the leeway necessary for scientific breakthroughs. Outside the public sector, tax incentives could increase the viability of novel research in private labs.The Chinese threat must be confronted head-on, but to truly neutralize it, America will also have to nurture its natural competitive advantage.
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| Hong Kong’s Striking Health Workers Pose New Threat to Beijing Posted: 03 Feb 2020 06:25 PM PST ![Hong Kong's Striking Health Workers Pose New Threat to Beijing]( "Hong Kong's Striking Health Workers Pose New Threat to Beijing") (Bloomberg) -- Sign up for Next China, a weekly email on where the nation stands now and where it's going next.Thousands of Hong Kong medical workers went on strike for a second day on Tuesday to demand that leader Carrie Lam immediately close the city's border with the mainland to prevent the spread of a deadly coronavirus.Yet the strike also revealed a longer term threat to her administration, as well as to her bosses in Beijing: It shows the growing strength of pro-democracy unions formed in recent months by protesters who want to curb China's influence on the financial hub. The strategy aims to allow pro-democracy groups to quickly organize mass actions and, ultimately, transform a political system designed to favor Beijing loyalists."Government opponents are going through strenuous efforts to form new trade unions, hoping this could increase their chances of winning more seats in the legislative council," said Lau Siu-kai, the former head of a Hong Kong government think tank and an emeritus professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. "These efforts will go hand-in-hand with the protests, bolstering the political movement in Hong Kong to seek more detachment from mainland China."The Hospital Authority Employees Alliance, which was formed in December, says it's already attracted more than 18,000 members -- nearly a quarter of the staff at the Hong Kong Hospital Authority, the city's second biggest employer. The group said about half of them planned to strike this week in a bid for stronger measures to stop a coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 420 people.The union is among dozens that were formed recently by participants in pro-democracy protests that have rocked the city since last June. In the second half of 2019, the city's labor department received 135 applications for new trade unions, spanning industries from finance to education and bartenders. That compares with only 10 during same period the previous year.The rise of pro-democracy unions threatens the monopoly of pro-government unions that have an outsized influence on labor policy, and in elections for the city's Legislative Council and chief executive. They could also potentially add to disruptions to the economy, which has slid into recession as protesters shut down transport networks, vandalized China-linked businesses and deterred tourists from visiting Hong Kong.'Hamstring Some Businesses'"Hong Kong traditionally has not been a unionized place -- if the unions were to get individuals together for collective demands it could hamstring some businesses," said Benjamin Quinlan, chief executive officer and managing partner of Quinlan & Associates, a strategy consultancy based in Hong Kong. Hospitality, food and beverage, and medical businesses could be the first to suffer the impact, he said.Hong Kong's labor rules are a big attraction for foreign companies: The World Economic Forum's competitiveness rankings last year put the city as the number one location for its hiring and firing practices among 141 economies. Yet in the category of "workers rights," it came in at 114 on the list.This week's strike among medical workers, which was opposed by the government and drew criticism in some local newspapers, will test the ability of protesters to turn their street numbers into organized collective action."People are genuinely worried and even more reluctant to go outside now that they know there's a risk of medical workers being on strike," Quinlan said.Not Closing BorderLam, the city's leader, said Monday it wasn't acceptable that medical workers went on strike and most of those infected in Hong Kong were local residents. Hong Kongers now accounted for 90% of people passing through the border, she said, adding that banning mainland visitors wasn't in line with the World Health Organization guidance."We must not encourage any discrimination so we have to exercise caution here," Lam said.The medical union is embarking on the second stage of its stike after talks with the government failed. It hopes to rally 9,000 members to take action and also protest in front of the city's Hospital Authority.Among 3,164 union members who took part in a vote on Saturday, nearly 99% of people favored going on strike unless the Hong Kong government barred all visitors entering from mainland and ensured an ample supply of masks. The city's infected patients have risen to 15 as of Tuesday, while in China the number of confirmed cases jumped to more than 20,470.Pet Stores, Accountants"Our members have spiked because of the pneumonia outbreak," Ivan Law, a registered nurse of more than three years and vice chairman of the Hospital Authority Employees Alliance, said in an interview. "On top of workspace issues, we hope the union can be a representative to speak out on political issues."The medical workers aren't alone. Pet store workers, tech staff and accountants are also weighing measures to deal with the pneumonia outbreak.The Hong Kong Alliance of Accounting Professionals is asking companies to halt business trips to China, according to an executive with the group who asked to be identified only by his last name Chan for fear of retribution by his employer. He appeared at a press briefing on Friday wearing a face mask and hat to avoid being recognized.The formation of unions is also another step for Hong Kong protesters to have more say in the city's carefully managed elections. They are seeking to erode the influence of pro-Beijing unions, including the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions, which command five seats on the Legislative Council.Election ImpactHong Kong's legislature comprises 70 members, half of whom are elected through five geographical districts under a proportional representation system, and the other half indirectly through 29 functional constituencies such as accountancy and textile. That means a small clutch of companies and industry professionals that tend to vote in favor of the pro-Beijing camp have just as much say as all the city's 4.1 million registered voters.The newly formed unions can apply to receive one vote for each union after being registered for a year. If enough unions are formed, they can potentially win more lawmaker seats for the pro-democracy camp, shifting the power dynamics in the city's main lawmaking body."The government needs the functional constituencies because it would lose majority otherwise," said Ma Ngok, associate professor at the Department of Government and Public Administration at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. "It has a large impact on the LegCo's legitimacy and has prompted citizens to think that the council cannot effectively represent public opinion."(Updates with medical workers' strike on Tuesday)\--With assistance from Alfred Liu and Natalie Lung.To contact the reporters on this story: Josie Wong in Hong Kong at jwong836@bloomberg.net;Lulu Yilun Chen in Hong Kong at ychen447@bloomberg.net;Shawna Kwan in Hong Kong at wkwan35@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Daniel Ten Kate at dtenkate@bloomberg.net, Philip LagerkranserFor 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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| Delta and United flight attendants reveal their best travel hacks Posted: 03 Feb 2020 10:26 AM PST  A group of flight attendants working for Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and other carriers told Business Insider their best secrets for traveling.
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| Susan Collins’ Campaign Is Being Helped by a Mysterious Hawaii Company Posted: 03 Feb 2020 08:27 AM PST  A mysterious Hawaii company may have illegally funneled a six-figure contribution to a political group boosting an embattled Republican senator 5,000 miles away, an ethics watchdog alleged on Monday.The company, Society of Young Women Scientist and Engineers LLC, was formed in late November, according to corporate records in Hawaii. Just over a month later, on Dec. 31, the company donated $150,000 to 1820 PAC, a deep-pocketed super PAC with ties to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that was created to help reelect Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME).There is scant public information about the company. It does not appear to have a website or any social media presence. Its listed address is a P.O. box in Honolulu (listed as a "unit" number in 1820's FEC filings). Google searches turn up no information on the company. And there's no record of prior political involvement by its sole officer, Jennifer Lam.All of that suggests that the Society of Young Women Scientist and Engineers was set up for the sole purpose of making political contributions, according to the Campaign Legal Center, which filed a complaint on Monday asking the Federal Election Commission to investigate its December contribution to 1820 PAC, which was named after the year Maine was founded."The available facts do not suggest that SYWSE conducted any business or had sufficient income from assets, investment earnings, business revenues, or bona fide capital investments to cover the $150,000 contribution to 1820 PAC at the time the contribution was made, without an infusion of funds provided to them for that purpose," the group wrote.CLC goes on to suggest that the group likely made an illegal straw donation designed to conceal the true source of the funds.How Susan Collins Became the Senate's Most Vulnerable RepublicanBrendan Fischer, CLC's director of federal and FEC reforms, compared the alleged scheme to a 2018 donation made by a company, Global Energy Producers, to another Republican super PAC, pro-Trump group America First Action, that wound up at the center of the impeachment case against President Donald Trump. That case also involved a six-figure donation by a newly formed corporation with no web presence or documented business activity. At the time, GEP and its executives, most notably Igor Fruman and Lev Parnas, flatly denied CLC's allegations. They were subsequently indicted for allegedly using GEP to flout federal campaign finance laws. Both men have pleaded not guilty.At the very least, CLC claims in the complaint filed on Monday that the Society of Young Women Scientist and Engineers should be required to disclose the sources of the funds it used to donate to 1820 PAC.The only public information about the company is in corporate documents filed with the Hawaii government. Those documents list a woman named Jennifer Lam as its registered agent. There are multiple people by that name in Hawaii and elsewhere in the United States. It was not immediately clear who the person behind the company is.The 1820 PAC is one of the most prominent super PACs in the fight over control of the U.S. Senate, which could very much rest on Collins' ability to hold her seat in the 2020 elections. As The Daily Beast has reported, 1820 PAC has notable ties to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the nation's largest business lobby and a heavy hitter in national politics. The 1820 PAC has raised more than $1.5 million for its pro-Collins campaign. Its top donors include prominent financial services executives Stephen Schwarzman and Warren Stephens. The group has reported just $500 in contributions from donors in Maine.The PAC's treasurer, Thomas Datwyler, did not respond to a request for comment on CLC's complaint.It's not likely that much will come of that complaint. The FEC is currently operating without a quorum of commissioners, meaning it is unable to take any legal action against alleged violators of the laws the commission is charged with enforcing.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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| The Surprising Threat to America (No, Not Russia, China or Iran) Posted: 03 Feb 2020 09:00 PM PST  It comes from within.
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| Buttigieg claims victory in Iowa but results still pending Posted: 04 Feb 2020 06:43 AM PST  Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg claimed victory on Tuesday in the Iowa caucuses although party officials have yet to release any official results from a vote plagued by technical problems. "We were able to demonstrate both the winning message and the winning organization," the 38-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, said in an interview with MSNBC. According to Buttigieg's website, citing results from 1,200 of the nearly 1,700 precincts in the midwestern state, he earned the support of 24.7 percent of the 152,000 voters who took part in Monday's caucuses, the kickoff of the presidential nominating season.
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| Here's why Hannity's Trump Super Bowl interview was even worse than we could have expected Posted: 03 Feb 2020 09:11 AM PST  No one expected Sean Hannity's interview with Donald Trump before the Super Bowl 2020 would be tough, but this was basically just a campaign ad.
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