| The Latest: Biden faces down pro-gun worker at Detroit plant Posted: 10 Mar 2020 07:59 AM PDT  Joe Biden has faced down a pro-gun worker in a testy exchange over his plan to reinstate the assault weapons ban. Biden spoke at an auto plant in Detroit on Tuesday and then was confronted by a worker in a hard hat who accused him of "actively trying to end our Second Amendment right." Biden used an expletive to tell the worker he was "full of" it and hushed an aide who was trying to end the conversation.
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| Coronavirus vs. common flu: Doctor explains the difference Posted: 09 Mar 2020 08:54 PM PDT  Flu symptoms like high fever, cough and shortness of breath can also be seen in coronavirus patients, which is why "tests are so important."
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| 18 Shot, 1 Dead in Ohio After Clash at a Party Attended by Motorcycle Clubs: Police Posted: 08 Mar 2020 12:50 PM PDT  The victims were both male and female, and they suffered a range of serious and minor injuries
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| U.S. says in talks with NATO allies to provide Turkey military aid Posted: 10 Mar 2020 06:21 AM PDT  The U.S. is discussing with its NATO allies what they can offer Turkey in terms of military assistance in Idlib and discussing measures that may be taken if Russia and the Syrian government breaks a ceasefire, officials said on Tuesday. "We are looking at what NATO can do," James Jeffrey, the U.S.' special envoy for Syria, told reporters in a conference call from Brussels where he was holding talks with allies. Jeffrey, who was speaking alongside the U.S. ambassador to Turkey David Satterfield, ruled out the use of ground troops should the ceasefire be broken and repeated that Ankara needed to clarify its stance on purchase of the Russian S400 Air Defence System.
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| Wuhan Official Called for ‘Gratitude Education’ to Teach Citizens to Thank Xi Jinping for Coronavirus Response Posted: 09 Mar 2020 12:09 PM PDT  The top Communist Party official in Wuhan suggested Saturday that the government conduct "gratitude education" to teach citizens how to properly thank the party and general secretary Xi Jinping for the government's response to the coronavirus outbreak."The people of Wuhan are heroic people who understand gratitude," Wuhan party secretary Wang Zhonglin said in comments published by Changjiang Daily. "[We] must through various channels carry out gratitude education among the citizens of the whole city as well as cadres so that they thank the general secretary [Xi Jinping], thank the communist party, listen to the party's words, follow the party's way, and create strong positive energy."The comments were first reported on in English by the China Media Project, and were subsequently seen by The Guardian. China Media Project reported that the remarks drew strong backlash on social media and from Chinese journalists, and Changjiang Daily apparently removed the article from its website.Chinese authorities have faced unprecedented criticism from the country's citizens over its response to the coronavirus outbreak. On Thursday, quarantined Wuhan residents angrily shouted from their windows as Vice-premier Sun Chunlan, one of the highest-ranking officials in the government, visited a residential complex."It's fake, it's fake, everything is fake!" residents shouted. Video of the incident went viral, and was even shared by China state newspaper The Global Times.> "It's fake! It's fake!" shout residents of a community in COVID19 epicenter Wuhan in a viral video on China's social media. They have accused property management of cheating them by only appearing to provide promised necessities. Investigation is underway https://t.co/kzq4gbB4RM pic.twitter.com/0ujObfedR8> > -- Global Times (@globaltimesnews) March 6, 2020Wuhan residents have been quarantined at home for weeks now, relying on local government workers to provide basic necessities.China has confirmed over 80,000 cases of the coronavirus and reported 3,119 deaths from the illness.
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| Trump cheers lower gas prices amid stock market plunge, downplays coronavirus fears again Posted: 09 Mar 2020 08:23 AM PDT  When it comes to the novel coronavirus, President Trump is ever the optimist.As the virus spreads throughout the U.S. and across the globe, stoking fears about physical and economic health (amplified by Monday's stock market plunge), Trump has maintained a mostly rosy outlook. He continued that Monday first by highlighting tumbling gas prices — spurred by Saudi Arabia's decision to slash oil exports by 10 percent over the weekend and crude oil falling more than 20 percent — which he said were "good for the consumer."> Good for the consumer, gasoline prices coming down!> > — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 9, 2020A few minutes later he complained about the economic ramifications of COVID-19, arguing that the flu affects and kills a lot more people than the new virus, but nothing shuts down.> The president, in a series of tweets this morning, seems to be flailing about for a means to reassure a sliding Wall St https://t.co/JvRElh0SH3> > — Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) March 9, 2020Trump, for what it's worth, admitted he only recently learned people died from the flu. But he now seems to be running with the knowledge at full speed.More stories from theweek.com Trump retweets White House photo of him fiddling, says he doesn't know 'what this means' Coachella might be moved to October because of the coronavirus California's Santa Clara County bans large gatherings after 1st coronavirus death
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| Mexican stock exchange and peso crash amidst coronavirus, oil fears Posted: 09 Mar 2020 03:57 PM PDT  Mexico's stock exchange on Monday suffered its largest single-day crash since 2008 as the peso dropped to its lowest exchange rate compared to the US dollar in three years. The falls come amidst global fears over the new coronavirus and plummeting oil prices. The stock exchange plunged 6.42 percent to close at 38,730.56 points.
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| Joe Biden predicted to win every primary on 'Big Tuesday' in bitter blow to Bernie Sanders Posted: 10 Mar 2020 08:25 AM PDT  As voters head to the polls in five states across the country for "Big Tuesday", the latest predictions show Joe Biden sweeping each state in what would be a devastating blow to Bernie Sanders and what appears to be his increasingly long odds of becoming the Democratic nominee.While close, the primaries across the country could serve as a clarifying moment in the campaign, especially if Mr Biden pulls off decisive wins that cement his status as frontrunner.
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| Experts: Rapid testing helps explain few German virus deaths Posted: 09 Mar 2020 10:27 AM PDT  Germany has confirmed more than 1,100 cases of the new coronavirus but — so far — just two deaths, far fewer than other European countries with a similar number of reported infections. Experts said Monday that rapid testing as the outbreak unfolded meant Germany has probably diagnosed a much larger proportion of those who have been infected, including younger patients who are less likely to develop serious complications. "We in Germany were simply at the forefront in terms of diagnostics," said Christian Drosten, the director of the Institute for Virology at Berlin's Charite hospital.
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| 'Put it in God's hands': As coronavirus spreads, changes come for Catholics at Mass Posted: 08 Mar 2020 02:13 PM PDT  As the new coronavirus spreads around the United States, Catholic churches are changing practices during Mass. But most worshipers aren't too worried.
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| Oil jumps after rout on stimulus hopes, Russian signal on OPEC talks Posted: 09 Mar 2020 05:42 PM PDT  Oil prices jumped by more than 7% on Tuesday, bouncing from the biggest rout in nearly 30 years a day earlier, as the possibility of economic stimulus encouraged buying, and Russia signaled that it may yet hold talks with OPEC about cooperation on output cuts. On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump pledged "major" steps to gird the U.S. economy against the impact of the spreading coronavirus outbreak. Oil, which plunged about 25% on Monday, rebounded on Tuesday along with equities and other financial markets.
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| Italy enters its first day of a nationwide coronavirus lockdown as it becomes the worst-hit country outside China Posted: 10 Mar 2020 02:00 AM PDT  The number of coronavirus cases in Italy surpassed 9,100 on Monday night, prompting the government to quarantine the whole nation.
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| World Health Organization: Threat of Wuhan Coronavirus Becoming a Pandemic ‘Very Real’ Posted: 09 Mar 2020 10:30 AM PDT  The World Health Organization warned on Monday that the threat of a Wuhan coronavirus pandemic is now "very real.""Now that the virus has a foothold in so many countries, the threat of a pandemic has become very real," WHO General Director Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference. "But, it would be the first pandemic in history that could be controlled. The bottom line is we are not at the mercy of this virus."Tedros also noted that most confirmed patients in China, where the coronavirus originated, have recovered."We need to remember that with decisive, early action, we can slow down the coronavirus and prevent infections. Among those who are infected, most will recover," Tedros said. "Of the 80,000 reported COVID-19 cases in China, more than 70 percent have recovered."China has confirmed 80,734 cases of the coronavirus, with 3,119 deaths. After China, the countries hardest-hit by the outbreak are South Korea (7,478 cases, 53 deaths), Italy (7,375 cases, 366 deaths), and Iran (6,566 cases, 194 deaths), although the epidemic in Iran may be much worse than the country's authorities currently report. The U.S. has confirmed 545 cases and 22 deaths.Chinese authorities have taken drastic measures to curb the outbreak since it spread from the city of Wuhan, imposing quarantines on entire cities and severely restricting movement within Hubei Province, where Wuhan is located. However, it is so far unclear if these measures have stopped the coronavirus entirely or if its spread could restart if quarantines are lifted."I think they did an amazing job of knocking the virus down," Michael T. Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, told the New York Times on Saturday. "But I don't know if it's sustainable. What have the Chinese really accomplished? Have they really contained the virus? Or have they just suppressed it?"
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| A Look at the Complete Works of Antoni Gaudí Posted: 09 Mar 2020 02:02 PM PDT |
| Czech prime minister says China should replace its ambassador Posted: 09 Mar 2020 09:46 AM PDT  China should replace its ambassador in the Czech Republic after the Chinese embassy sent a threatening letter to Czech authorities, Prime Minister Andrej Babis said.
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| 22-year-old Guatemalan asylum-seeker dies in ICE custody Posted: 09 Mar 2020 06:41 PM PDT  Maria Celéste Ochoa Yoc de RamÃrez died after six months in ICE custody.
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| Trump only wants to hear good news about the coronavirus outbreak, hindering the response, officials say Posted: 09 Mar 2020 04:33 AM PDT  When Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar met with President Trump in late January, he "was having trouble focusing Trump's full attention on his coronavirus briefing," The Washington Post reports. "Trump instead interjected, badgering the health chief about the administration's messy decision to implement a limited ban on flavored e-cigarettes."Azar "had concluded that the new coronavirus posed a public health risk and tried to share an urgent message with the president: The potential outbreak could leave tens of thousands of Americans sickened and many dead," Politico adds. "But Trump's aides mocked and belittled Azar as alarmist," and Azar, trying to ingratiate himself with Trump after a bruising fight with CMS chief Seema Verma, wasn't "in the position to deliver the message that the president didn't want to hear," one former official told Politico.The coronavirus had already proved its ferocity in China by that point, but "the boss has made it clear, he likes to see his people fight, and he wants the news to be good," an adviser to a senior coronavirus team member tells Politico. "This is the world he's made."Last Monday there were 89 cases in the U.S., Stephen Collinson writes at CNN. But after "a week packed with conflicting messages, misplaced optimism, and obfuscation by the president," the coronavirus "has now spread into 34 states and the District of Columbia, at least 550 cases have been confirmed, and at least 21 people have died," and "the true extent of the crisis was disguised by delays and malfunctions in coronavirus testing that suggest the administration squandered valuable time as the virus ravaged China to properly prepare for its U.S. arrival.""For a president who lives in the moment, rarely planning too far ahead, the coronavirus has proved to be a leadership challenge he was not prepared for either," Peter Baker writes at The New York Times. Trump "has expressed an astonishing lack of knowledge while at the same time claiming to be a medical savant. He has treated the crisis as a partisan battle. ... He even admitted that he wanted to leave passengers stranded on a cruise ship rather than see statistics for the number of cases on American soil go up because it would look bad." Trump also incorrectly said tests were available for anyone who needs them.Trump insists his administration has the COVID-19 outbreak under control.More stories from theweek.com Trump retweets White House photo of him fiddling, says he doesn't know 'what this means' Netanyahu's chief rivals in Israel unite in bid to unseat him with coalition government Trump's campaign is reportedly paying Eric Trump's wife and Don Jr.'s girlfriend 'out of public view'
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| ‘It is likely that people you know will die’: Coronavirus could be like 1918 flu pandemic, warns ex-CDC expert Posted: 10 Mar 2020 06:20 AM PDT  The coronavirus crisis could be as serious and deadly as the 1918 flu pandemic which killed up to 50m people around the world, a former CDC infectious disease specialist has warned.As health experts from Milan to Wuhan scrambled to try and stop the spread of Covid-19, which has now infected more than 108,000 people and killed 3,800, an epidemiologist in Washington state has warned that "people you know" will likely die.
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| Iran to call dead medical staff 'martrys' as virus kills 291 Posted: 10 Mar 2020 03:59 AM PDT  Iran will recognize doctors and nurses who die combating the new coronavirus as "martyrs" like slain soldiers, the country's supreme leader announced Tuesday as the outbreak killed 54 more people and pushed the nation's death toll to 291. The decision by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei comes amid a propaganda campaign already trying to link the fight against the virus to Iran's long, bloody 1980s war with Iraq. The rising casualty figures each day in Iran suggest the fight against the new coronavirus is far from over, even as more people die from drinking methanol in the false belief it kills the virus.
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| Turkey says U.S. offering Patriot systems if S-400s remain unboxed Posted: 10 Mar 2020 04:31 AM PDT  The United States has offered to sell Turkey its Patriot missile defense system if Ankara promises not to operate a rival Russian system, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said, in what he called a significant softening in Washington's position. Two Turkish officials told Reuters that Turkey was evaluating the U.S. offer but that Ankara had not changed its plans for the Russian S-400 systems, which it has said it will start to activate next month. NATO allies Turkey and the United States have been at odds over Ankara's purchase last year of the S-400s, which Washington says are incompatible with the alliance's defense systems.
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| Italy Prison in Flames in Coronavirus Lockdown Riot Among Cut-Off Inmates Posted: 09 Mar 2020 04:42 AM PDT  ROME—As least six inmates have died, and at least 50 others have escaped from an Italian prison in the southern region of Puglia on Monday amid extensive rioting in 27 prisons across the country after visitation rights were curtailed due to the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus. Italy Locks Down 16 Million People To Contain CoronavirusRiots broke out Sunday afternoon in half a dozen prisons after the Italian government enacted a draconian decree that has locked down 16 million people and curtailed movement across the entire country to try to contain the spread of COVID-19. By Monday, the riots had spread to nearly 30 detention facilities.The number of coronavirus cases in Italy reached 9,172 on Monday, the highest number outside of China. At least 463 people have died in Italy with the virus, the second highest number of fatalities after China. In Modena, now part of the extended outbreak red zone designated by the government, prisoners were able to take two guards hostage Sunday and steal keys before climbing a barrier fence to try to escape. They were eventually pushed back by riot police, but the prison had been so damaged that all inmates had to be moved to temporary facilities. In a prison in Pavia, inmates lit mattresses on fire, causing a wing of the facility to be evacuated Sunday. Flames coming from the prison could be seen more than a half-mile away.On Monday, prisoners were seen on top of the San Vittore Prison in Milan, at the heart of the outbreak. There, fires were burning in some areas after all visitation rights were banned after the city was put on lockdown Sunday. During morning recreational time, inmates charged guards and gained access to the roof.In Rome, where nearly 90 people have tested positive for the disease across the province, prisoners have been prohibited from congregating in open areas for recreation. In the Regina Coeli prison in central Rome, inmates could be heard yelling and banging objects in their cells on Monday. Prisoners in the city's Rebibbia prison also set that facility on fire on Monday afternoon, after which around 30 prisoners escaped. Helicopters were flying low over the city center, and sirens wailed for most of the afternoon as the inmates were apprehended. Most criminal trials that have not been suspended across the country will be held in closed courtrooms without prisoners present—out of fear of them contracting the virus in court and spreading it to other inmates. The murder trial involving American teens Finnegan Elder and Gabe Natale for the stabbing death of an Italian police officer last July was in session behind closed doors Monday, but the suspects were not allowed to leave the prison to attend the hearing. Italian prisons are severely overcrowded, with 61,230 inmates in detention centers meant to hold a capacity of no more than 50,950. Inmate-rights groups have complained that testing is not being conducted inside prisons across the country and that a lack of confirmed cases among the incarcerated is not reflective of the current situation. 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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| Chinese Propagandists Stoke Theory That Coronavirus Originated in U.S. Posted: 09 Mar 2020 12:17 PM PDT  Chinese state media are amplifying a conspiracy that the Wuhan coronavirus may have originated in the U.S.The media push may have begun in earnest on February 27 when Zhong Nanshan, a pulmonologist who has made major announcements on Chinese state media, said at a press conference: "The coronavirus first appeared in China but may not have originated in China." Other media outlets have repeated or implied the same message."If it's true that the virus originated in the United States, should China still apologize to the world?" read an article in College Daily, a WeChat account based in New York City popular with Chinese students studying abroad. On Saturday, China's ambassador to South Africa wrote on his Twitter account, "Although the epidemic first broke out in China, it did not necessarily mean that the virus is originated from China, let alone 'made in China.'""Go on WeChat, go on Weibo, look on Baidu search, and it's full of 'look at all the other countries getting sick,' or 'the virus came from the United States,' or all different levels of conspiracy theories," Xiao Qiang, founder of the China Digital Times and adjunct professor at the University of California at Berkeley's School of Information, told the Washington Post."It's more than just some disinformation or an official narrative," Xiao said. "It's an orchestrated, all-out campaign by the Chinese government through every channel at a level you rarely see. It's a counteroffensive."Dali Yang, professor of political science at Chicago University, said the media campaign was an attempt to draw citizens' attention away from China's response to the outbreak."The purpose is to lessen the focus on how China bungled its response," Yang said. "It's a kind of blame-shifting."
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| Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Had Been Laying Low. That's Over. Posted: 10 Mar 2020 05:07 AM PDT  First he ordered the detention of at least four senior members of his own royal family. The next day he plunged Saudi Arabia into a price war with Russia that sent energy and stock markets around the world into free fall.For a while, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia had appeared to be living down his reputation for dangerous aggression.Perhaps chastened by the blowback over his connection with the killing of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the 34-year-old crown prince had kept a low profile for more than a year.Now his new power plays are reviving debates in Western capitals about whether he is too rash to trust as a partner. His sudden, steep cut to the price of oil has rocked a global economy already at risk of falling into recession, threatened to burn through Saudi Arabia's cash reserves and undermined his grandiose promises of new investments to lessen the kingdom's dependence on oil."It is mutually assured destruction for any oil exporting economy, certainly including Saudi Arabia and Russia and probably the United States as well," said Greg Brew, a scholar of the region and a fellow at Southern Methodist University."But this is typical MBS, right?" he added, referring to the crown prince by his initials. "He is a risk taker, and he is prone to impulsive decisions."The detention of the senior royals, which began to leak out on Friday, has not been acknowledged or explained by the Saudi officials.Two of the detained princes -- Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz, the younger brother of the crown prince's aging father, King Salman, and Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, the former crown prince and interior minister -- had once been seen as possible rivals for power. Their arrests stirred anxious speculation among cowed members of the royal family that Crown Prince Mohammed might be sidelining opponents in preparation for taking the throne from his father, who is 84 and has sometimes appeared forgetful or disoriented.People close to the royal court, though, insisted the crown prince had merely lashed out at his uncle and cousins for speaking critically about him. He wanted to teach the rest of the family a lesson."It was quiet for a while and people were wondering if MBS had mellowed," Steffen Hertog, a scholar at the London School of Economics, said. "But clearly his character is pretty persistent."Crown Prince Mohammed slashed the oil price to punish Russia, which he faulted for failing to cooperate in cutting production and propping up prices. The slowdown caused by the coronavirus was already reducing demand for oil."The Russians called their bluff, and now the Saudis are trying to demonstrate to the Russians what the cost is of a lack of cooperation," Hertog said. But for Saudi Arabia, "it is a risky game of chicken."Saudi Arabia has much more to lose than Russia. Russia has more diverse sources of revenue and it has built up its reserves since the last oil price downturn.Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, remains overwhelmingly dependent on oil. What's more, its cash reserves have remained flat for about four years at around $500 billion, down from a peak of about $740 billion in the summer of 2014.Analysts say that the kingdom needs a so-called break-even price of about $80 a barrel to meet its budget without either further drawing down those reserves or adopting painful austerity measures. But the price on Monday fell to about $35 a barrel, less than half the break-even price.A downturn of as much as two years could cut into those reserves severely enough to put pressure on the Saudi exchange rate as well as the plans to diversify the economy, Hertog said.The crown prince's economic plan for the country centered on a public offering of shares in the Saudi state oil company, Aramco, to raise money to invest in other sectors. But plans for a debut on a major international market were pulled in favor of the more lax Saudi domestic exchange, and over the last two days the oil price cut has sent shares tumbling by 20%, shaving $320 billion off the value of the company.The timing of the price war so soon after the roundup of his royal relatives on Friday has aroused speculation that the crown prince sought to contain potential opponents in anticipation of trouble. Perhaps he wanted to preempt any foes before economic pain from the downturn made him politically vulnerable, some suggested."The threat to MBS is not coming from his royal rivals," argued Kristin Smith Diwan, a scholar at the Gulf States Institute in Washington. "It is coming from the collapse in oil revenues and what that does to his ambitious economic plans."But other analysts, former diplomats and officials with experience in Saudi Arabia, and Saudis close to the royal court said that Crown Prince Mohammed had consolidated power so thoroughly that he had little left to fear.With a level of ruthlessness unprecedented in modern Saudi history, the crown prince has seized more direct power over the kingdom than any monarch in decades, largely by intimidating into submission his own sprawling ruling family. Even in a severe downturn, the members of the royal family he detained had little hope of challenging him.He had already put the same royals under tight surveillance, limiting their ability to plot against him, according to people close to the royal court.A spokesman for the Saudi government did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.The most senior figure detained, Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz, more than 70 years old, had once been recorded in London making comments distancing himself from the crown prince's policies but had since appeared submissive, at least in public.The other prominent royal detained, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, had already been under house arrest since 2017, when he was removed from his posts as crown prince and interior minister by the current crown prince.Previous Saudi rulers might have provided some advance warning to Washington and London before such high profile detentions, former diplomats said. Crown Prince Mohammed had met in Riyadh last week with Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab of Britain and last month with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.Yet the crown prince gave no indication that the arrests were imminent, according to diplomats and other officials with knowledge of the matter.Western officials worry about the "reputational risk" of associating with such an unpredictable leader, said Emile Hokayem, a scholar at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. But so far Crown Prince Mohammed has faced few adverse consequences.He has led a five-year military intervention in Yemen that has produced a humanitarian catastrophe. He rounded up hundreds of his royal relatives and other wealthy Saudis in a Ritz Carlton hotel in 2017 to squeeze them for repayment of what he claimed was self enrichment. He even temporarily kidnapped the prime minister of Lebanon and forced him to announce a resignation (which the prime minister later retracted).American intelligence agencies concluded that in 2018 Crown Prince Mohammed ordered the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident and Washington Post columnist who lived in Virginia.Since then, some analysts have seen signs of maturation, in particular his pulling back from a potential armed clash with his nemesis, Iran, last year. At a meeting last summer in Japan of the leaders of the world's 20 largest economies, Crown Prince Mohammed was welcomed as a fellow statesman and tapped to host the group's next summit this fall in Riyadh.President Donald Trump called him "a friend of mine.""You have done a spectacular job," the president told him.And when the crown prince shook world markets on Monday, Trump emphasized the positive."Good for the consumer, gasoline prices coming down!" he said in a Twitter posting.Andrew Miller, a researcher for the Project on Middle East Democracy and a former State Department official, said the detentions and price war were "just MBS.""Contrary to what many had said previously, he has not learned any lessons and he has not matured," Miller said. "He has drawn the opposite lessons, that he is above the law, because Saudi Arabia is so important to its Western allies that he will always be welcomed back into the fold."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
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| Advice for older Americans as coronavirus spreads Posted: 09 Mar 2020 04:26 AM PDT  "The data really says that as you get older the risk goes up," said a top doctor at the CDC. Here's what you should know and do.
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| Republican Michigan mayor endorses Biden instead of 'deranged' Trump Posted: 10 Mar 2020 07:34 AM PDT  Michael Taylor, mayor of Sterling Heights, says he's voting for former vice-president as Biden and Sanders battle for key state * US politics – live updatesAs Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders compete for victory in Michigan, the biggest prize on offer in Tuesday's slate of Democratic primaries, Biden has received a key and unexpected endorsement: from the Republican mayor of the state's fourth-largest city."How could I look at those three kids and tell them I'm proud to support Donald Trump?" Michael Taylor, the mayor of Sterling Heights, wrote about his family on Twitter on Monday."I can't. I won't. I'm voting for Joe Biden tomorrow and endorsing him for president of the United States. I hope you'll join me."Taylor also wrote that Biden was "the candidate who can unify all of the Democrats, and he's the candidate who can appeal to moderates and Republicans like me who don't want to see four more years of President Trump".Sterling Heights is in Macomb county, a white working-class battleground in a key swing state, home to the fabled "Reagan Democrats" who powered a Republican to the White House in 1980.Barack Obama won Macomb twice before Trump took it from Hillary Clinton in 2016, on his way to the White House thanks in large part to wins in Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio and Pennsylvania.Speaking to the Chicago Tribune, Taylor, 36, said: "I remember thinking this Trump thing is insane, but when it was down to him and Hillary, I kind of said: 'Well, you are a Republican, and yeah he's nuts, but maybe he'll get better and you know he's going to lower taxes.'"I slowly talked myself into it. 'He can't seriously be this deranged once he gets in there,' and he's even more deranged now than I thought then. So, I take the blame. I voted for him."Michigan offers 125 national convention delegates, a significant prize as Biden seeks to build an insurmountable lead.It may be Biden does not need the support of a former Tea Party favorite to swing the primary his way. After his Super Tuesday surge, polling in Michigan has given him a commanding lead over Sanders, who beat Clinton in the state four years ago.Taylor's endorsement seems to embody the main problem facing Sanders, a self-proclaimed socialist: appealing to moderates, independents and Republicans seeking to dump Trump.Speaking to the Guardian recently, the former Republican consultant Rick Wilson said Biden was "the one candidate who has shown the most ability to contrast with Trump in terms of a broader, bigger picture that isn't just locked into what's the hot flavor of Democratic messaging this year."He's talking about that big American sense of unity and reconciliation and saying we've got to work with Republicans too."Biden has attracted much local criticism for an endorsement he gave in Michigan in 2018.Speaking for a reported $200,000 fee from the Economic Club of Southwestern Michigan, Biden called the Republican congressman Fred Upton, an architect of attempts to kill the Affordable Care Act, "one of the finest guys I've ever worked with".Upton was re-elected, beating the Democrat, boosted by using Biden's comments in his campaign advertising.
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| Coronavirus US: Woman tests positive for virus after traveling from Chicago to St Louis by Amtrak Posted: 09 Mar 2020 03:52 AM PDT  A 20-year-old woman from Missouri who tested positive for coronavirus traveled from Chicago to St. Louis on an Amtrak train after returning from a trip to Italy on 3 March.
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| Asian stocks steady after plunge on virus, oil crash Posted: 09 Mar 2020 06:42 AM PDT  Asian stock markets rebounded Tuesday from record-setting declines after U.S. futures rose following President Donald Trump's announcement he would ask Congress for a tax cut and other measures to ease the pain of the spreading coronavirus outbreak. Oil prices also recovered some of their losses in Monday's record-setting plunge. China's main stock index rose 1.7% and Tokyo advanced 0.9%.
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| Iran temporarily releases 70,000 prisoners as coronavirus cases surge Posted: 09 Mar 2020 04:03 AM PDT  Iran has temporarily freed about 70,000 prisoners to combat the spread of the coronavirus in jails, the head of the judiciary said on Monday, as officials reported hundreds of new infections and dozens more deaths across the country. Iran has reported 595 new infections and 43 new deaths within the past 24 hours. Judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi announced the temporary release of prisoners as Iranian authorities seek to counter one of the worst national outbreaks outside China, where the new virus originated, and one of the highest death rates from the illness.
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| North Korea launches 3 projectiles: Report Posted: 09 Mar 2020 04:37 AM PDT  Two days after threatening to take "momentous" action, North Korea on Monday fired three projectiles off its east coast, South Korea's military said.
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| Italians have been told they won't have to pay their mortgage payments while the country goes into coronavirus lockdown Posted: 10 Mar 2020 05:30 AM PDT  Italy's population has been locked down because of the coronavirus outbreak. Italy has reported more than 9,000 infections and more than 460 deaths.
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| Remains of 'Baby Evelyn' Boswell are believed to have been found at relative's home Posted: 08 Mar 2020 12:04 PM PDT  The remains were found at a property owned by her mom's relative.
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| US Army to conduct shoot-off for future indirect fires protection Posted: 10 Mar 2020 07:05 AM PDT  A shoot-off will determine the path for the Army's enduring indirect fires protection capability beyond Iron Dome.
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| Break a coronavirus quarantine in the US? Yes, you could face jail time. Posted: 10 Mar 2020 09:00 AM PDT  While breaking a self-quarantine won't land you in jail, states and the federal government have the power to impose quarantines.
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| Oil price war, Mecca ban are latest risks by Saudi crown prince Posted: 09 Mar 2020 04:50 PM PDT  Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is behind the kingdom's boldest and riskiest moves in decades, most recently shutting down Islam's holiest sites to pilgrims to stymie the spread of a new virus and the government's decision to slash oil prices in what analysts say has sparked a price war with major producer Russia.
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| Holi festival subdued in India over coronavirus concerns Posted: 10 Mar 2020 04:27 AM PDT  Hindus threw colored powder and sprayed water in massive celebrations of the festival of Holi in India on Tuesday, but the enthusiasm was subdued compared to previous years because of fears of the new virus. Brightly colored powder filled the air in most parts of North India. Holi, which marks the advent of spring, is widely celebrated in India, Nepal and other South Asian countries.
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| Guatemalan migrant dies in U.S. custody after gallblader operation Posted: 09 Mar 2020 05:21 PM PDT  A Guatemalan migrant who had passed a key hurdle in her bid to win asylum in the United States has died in U.S. custody after a gallbladder operation, the Guatemalan government said on Monday. Maria Ochoa, 22, from the poor San Marcos region near Guatemala's border with Mexico, died on Sunday in a hospital in Houston, Texas, months after she was detained at the border by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in September. Ochoa, whose two brothers live in the United States, had an operation on her gallbladder in the neighboring state of Oklahoma on Feb. 7 and spent a week in hospital afterwards, Guatemala's foreign ministry said in a statement.
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| Italy is in a nationwide lockdown over the coronavirus. Here are the rules all 60 million citizens now have to follow. Posted: 10 Mar 2020 05:01 AM PDT  The nationwide lockdown began Tuesday. Citizens now need police permission to travel, and businesses can open only if customers stay 3 feet apart.
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| Man who threatened to kill Ilhan Omar given lighter sentence after she asks for compassion Posted: 09 Mar 2020 09:57 AM PDT  A man who threatened the life of Rep. Ilhan Omar has been given a lighter sentence after the politician asked for leniency.Patrick Carlineo Jr. was sentenced on Friday to 12 months and one day in prison alongside three years of supervised release for threatening to assault and murder a United States official, and for being a felon in possession of firearms, according to The Department of Justice.
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| Don’t Let the Chinese Government Escape Blame for Coronavirus’s Initial Spread Posted: 10 Mar 2020 03:30 AM PDT  From almost the very beginning of the COVID-19/coronavirus crisis in January and early February, it's often been asked whether it might be the "Chinese Chernobyl." Could the crisis expose the weakness of the mix of oppression, information control, and social disgust that underpin the Chinese Communist regime and trigger its collapse? Others have suggested that it might instead be "president Xi Jinping's Tiananmen," meaning he will use all the tools at his disposal to tighten down and prevent, well . . . a Chinese Chernobyl.It is too soon to know what may happen. But it's not too soon for attempts to whitewash the timeline and Chinese-government actions in the earliest moments of the crisis. Indeed, even now, the level of public anxiety about both the virus and what the Chinese government is doing and saying about it remain high.It is helpful to review the current status and the timeline that got us here. On Monday, February 24, the World Health Organization determined that reported cases of COVID-19/coronavirus had peaked. At the time, there were about 76,000 reported cases in China, and about 1,800 cases elsewhere in the world. In the United States, there were 14 reported cases. As of March 7, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and state and local public health reporting suggest the number is more than 300 cases, a twenty-fold increase. Globally, there are more than 100,000 cases, with more than 350 deaths in Italy alone.The world has barely begun to reckon with what the Chinese government claims to have gotten under control. It's true that forced quarantining and other extreme measures in China played a critical role. The World Health Organization report of its February mission to China praises the PRC for its response: "The response structures in China were rapidly put in place according to existing emergency plans and aligned from the top to the bottom. This was replicated at the four levels of government (national, provincial, prefecture and county/district)." The leader of the World Health Organization mission to China in February, Canadian epidemiologist Dr. Bruce Aylward, encouraged the world to "access the expertise of China," adding that "if I had COVID-19, I'd want to be treated in China."But the WHO report and subsequent reporting about what the world can learn from China represents a real-time cleansing of the actual record, a record that includes intentional obfuscation and failure to respond in the early stages of the crisis. This includes the government's early attempts to stifle communication about the virus, the censorship of doctors and others on social media as cases were being observed in late December, and the continuing suppression of information on social media across the country about how the government, from President Xi Jinping to local administrators, continues to mislead the public and the rest of the world.On March 3, researchers at the University of Toronto Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy published "Censured Contagion," a report that meticulously documents a timeline and body of facts that paint quite a different picture than the WHO report, and placing WHO's accolades for China's "response structures" that were "rapidly put in place" in doubt. The WHO report concludes that the beginning of the epidemic was December 30, 2019, with the collection of samples from a pneumonia patient in Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital. Data provided in graphics in the report show essentially zero cases before that date.Yet the Munk School researchers found that censorship of certain keywords in social media had already begun by then. They highlight social-media reports during the prior week by doctors reporting an unknown pathogen, linking it to the Wuhan seafood market. By December 31, social-media channels, including WeChat, were already censoring the terms "Wuhan seafood market" and "unknown Wuhan pneumonia."As careful as the recent Munk School report is, its essential elements were available to WHO researchers before they made their February 16-24 trip and wrote their report praising the PRC response. On February 1, the Washington Post published a story excoriating Beijing's early handling of the outbreak. The story includes anecdotes consistent with the Munk School analysis, such as how the Wuhan Public Security Bureau on New Year's Day had begun detaining people for "spreading 'rumours' about Wuhan hospitals receiving SARS-like cases." The government-controlled Xinhua News Agency, the Post reported, called on those online to "jointly build a harmonious, clear and bright cyberspace."WHO and its director-general, the Ethiopian politician Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, have received criticism for their own response to the crisis. Michael Collins at the Council on Foreign Relations labeled it a joint "dereliction of duty" in a searing blog post in late February. Collins correctly concludes that WHO "laundered" the PRC record, damaging its own credibility by doing so.The most galling result of that image-burnishing is the ubiquity of coverage -- and repetition by third parties who don't care to find out the truth -- to the effect that the world should actually thank the PRC for its strong reaction, because it bought the world the necessary time to prepare for the challenge. Science magazine online, the publication of the American Academy for the Advancement of Science, posed the question this week: "Can China's COVID-19 strategy work elsewhere?" This is just one example.This reflects what we already know about the Chinese government. It is developing into a modern state, one whose public-health system has significantly advanced from its ordeal with the SARS epidemic just 20 years ago. Per capita wealth is up more than 300 percent, and the Chinese share of the global GDP has more than doubled, from about 7 percent to more than 16 percent over the same period.Alongside that growth and progress, though, China under President Xi is ever more repressive. It uses some of the most sophisticated technology in the world simply to control its population. That includes Internet censorship, social-media monitoring and tracking of ordinary citizens, and the mass detention of Muslims and other minorities.But Chinese government face-saving is not stopping at the Chinese border. It is also attempting to control the narrative through state-controlled media, and through their willing partners in the West, including WHO. Government propagandists published a compendium of state-news agency articles, official government statements, and other documents in a book called A Battle Against Epidemic: China Combatting COVID-19 in 2020. The publication faced immediate scorn in social media within the country.Fortunately, despite the well-documented censorship of social media, citizen journalism continues. A popular meme shows Dr. Li Wenliang, the Wuhan ophthalmologist whose social media questioned the "Wuhan pneumonia" in late December and who eventually died from the virus, with barbed wire where his facemask should be. Several citizen journalists have gone missing, including in Shandong province, where there have been reports including in the Epoch Times that significant underreporting of COVID-19 by official statistics continues despite the WHO declaration that the caseload has peaked.In times of duress, the most innate qualities of countries tend to predominate. That's what we've seen with the PRC. We can recognize the intensity of China's public-health response. But we should acknowledge and condemn the methods by which the world was kept in the dark for too long, and the means by which Beijing continues to interrupt the flow of information. We should not be thanking Beijing for its actions. Instead, we need honesty and the pursuit of the truth to defeat this challenge. And we must acknowledge that the Chinese government's actions early on almost certainly led to the global crisis we're facing.
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| A US medical worker who tested positive for the new coronavirus says his condition is 'getting worse' every day, even though he's 32 and has no underlying conditions Posted: 10 Mar 2020 06:47 AM PDT  "The virus is everything," James Cai told New York City's WCBS. "Diarrhea, watery eyes, shortness of breath, chest pain, you name it. High fever."
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| Trevor Noah Accuses Kamala Harris of ‘Gaslighting’ Voters With Biden Endorsement Posted: 09 Mar 2020 10:05 PM PDT  On the eve of what some cable news networks are calling "Super Tuesday 2," Trevor Noah dubbed the Democratic presidential primary race "2 Old, 2 Furious." And as Joe Biden looks to extend his delegate lead over Bernie Sanders, The Daily Show host examined the "hostage-style" video endorsement the former vice president's received from Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA)."Now please send $10,000 in unmarked bills so that my family can see me again," Noah said, imitating Harris. "I'm very happy to be here." The host went on to joke that "even the Taliban is looking at this video like, 'we had better lighting and we were in a cave!'" As an outsider to American politics, Noah said he found the whole thing "a little strange." Stephen Colbert Unloads on Trump Over Coronavirus: 'You're a Monster'Bill Maher Goes Full Sexist, Defends Chris Matthews and Mocks His Sexual Harassment Accuser"How is Kamala gonna endorse Joe Biden and not acknowledge that she once called him a friend of racists who opposed integrated public schools?" he asked, accusing Harris of "gaslighting" voters by pretending their infamous debate confrontation never happened. "For me, you have to at least say, 'Look, we've had our differences, but—' or something like that," Noah said. "Otherwise, you make it seem like we're crazy." For more, listen to Jordan Klepper on The Last Laugh podcast. 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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| Trump reportedly told aides he fears journalists will purposefully try to infect him with coronavirus on Air Force One Posted: 09 Mar 2020 11:46 AM PDT  President Trump puts on a brave face when talking about the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, but things are reportedly pretty different behind closed doors.Vanity Fair reports that Trump — a self-professed germaphobe — is "melting down over this." Perhaps not shockingly, he's focused on the media, in particular, one person close to the White House said. That reportedly includes him telling aides last week that he was concerned journalists would purposefully contract COVID-19 in an attempt to infect him on Air Force One.Another source painted an image more in line with Trump's public reaction to the virus, as well, telling Vanity Fair he reportedly wants the Justice Department to "open an investigation of the media for market manipulation" as he tries to stave off, or at least provide a more optimistic outlook for, the plummeting stock market.The White House did not respond to Vanity Fair's request for comment. Read more at Vanity Fair.More stories from theweek.com Trump retweets White House photo of him fiddling, says he doesn't know 'what this means' Coachella might be moved to October because of the coronavirus California's Santa Clara County bans large gatherings after 1st coronavirus death
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| 'Odd' quirk raises delegate stakes in Tuesday's elections Posted: 10 Mar 2020 02:34 AM PDT  A quirk in how delegates are won under Democratic Party rules is raising the stakes for Tuesday's elections, allowing a candidate to make up ground in the race quickly — or fall further behind. For Bernie Sanders, it's an opportunity to catch up to Joe Biden, who enters the day ahead by 96 delegates. For Biden, it's a chance to open up what could become an insurmountable lead.
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| In northeast Syria, US and Russia in fragile coexistence Posted: 09 Mar 2020 03:50 AM PDT  On a Syrian highway, Hussein Abdel Hamid recently found himself trapped inside his car. The incident two weeks ago is not a rare sight in war-torn northeastern Syria, where Russian and US forces demonstrate a fragile coexistence despite backing opposite sides in the nine-year conflict. "We always see US and Russian forces going head-to-head," Abdel Hamid, a 55-year-old Syrian Kurd, said.
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