| Wisconsin mother, two daughters found dead after Amber Alert issued; boyfriend arrested Posted: 16 Feb 2020 04:30 PM PST  A mother and two daughters were found dead after an Amber Alert was issued Saturday.
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| Democratic rivals tell billionaire Bloomberg: Let's debate Posted: 16 Feb 2020 08:26 AM PST  U.S. Democratic presidential candidates said on Sunday billionaire Michael Bloomberg should face the same rigorous scrutiny as his rivals and they would welcome the chance to square off with him in a 2020 presidential debate. Bloomberg, a media mogul and former New York City mayor, has vastly outspent other Democratic candidates in campaign advertisements. Former Vice President Joe Biden said he would challenge Bloomberg over his mayoral record, specifically his support for a policing strategy known as "stop and frisk" that was criticized for ensnaring disproportionate numbers of blacks and Latinos.
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| USS Arizona crew member, Pearl Harbor survivor dies age 97 Posted: 16 Feb 2020 02:36 PM PST |
| Why Joe Biden needs ‘a political miracle’ to stay in the race to face Trump Posted: 15 Feb 2020 11:00 PM PST  Barack Obama's vice-president is floundering in the Democratic primary, losing key support as vital votes loomLarry Sabato is an analyst, author and director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. His students are currently embedded in various presidential campaigns. Two were working for Joe Biden in Iowa. Before caucus day, they texted Sabato to say they expected to lose badly.Sabato asked why. The answer: "No energy at all."And so it proved. Biden, who was Barack Obama's righthand man for eight years and long the Democrats' national frontrunner to take on Donald Trump, trailed in fourth. A week later, he fled New Hampshire before the votes were even counted, to escape the public humiliation of finishing fifth.Now, in the words of one commentator, Biden "needs a miracle" to stay in the race. A man whose candidacy a year ago seemed to be predicated on his appeal to the white working class is depending on African American voters to rescue him from the oft-quoted maxim that all political lives end in failure. What went wrong?"I've watched Joe Biden since he was first elected [to the Senate] in 1972," Sabato said. "He was full of energy and joking around and had a big personality but I don't think anyone has associated the word 'vision' with Joe Biden. Democrats are looking for a vision; Biden's vision is to go back to Obama's policies. I understand it, but it doesn't get you standing up and cheering."The 77-year-old's debate performances have failed to inspire and his rallies have drawn small crowds. His rally in Des Moines on the eve of the Iowa caucuses was in a more compact venue than Pete Buttigieg's across the city and, while delivering a heartfelt critique of Trump, offered fewer policy specifics and generated less electricity.Sabato added: "People are charged up and incensed about Trump. But if you're standing there talking and they go to sleep, it doesn't suggest you're the best one to beat Trump. People keep saying he's lost a step or two but this is the same Joe Biden I remember from the 1970s. He's a meanderer. Some speakers get you fired up but Joe's not that."> In Iowa I saw one of the most inferior ground games in politics. I have never seen anything so inept> > Moe VelaThere is a distinct whiff of déja vu. Biden's first run for president fell apart in 1987 when he quoted British politician Neil Kinnock but forgot to credit him, prompting charges of plagiarism. His second attempt went off the rails in 2007 when he described Obama as "the first mainstream African American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy". (His third-place finish in his home state, Delaware, remains his best performance in a primary.)The 2020 effort was meant to be different story with Biden, who served with distinction as Obama's vice-president, cast as the antidote to Trump and restorer of normalcy. But he was poleaxed by Senator Kamala Harris of California in the first Democratic debate in June, when she challenged his past views on desegregated school busing.He fared little better in a debate in September when, asked about what responsibility Americans have to repair the legacy of slavery, he gave a rambling answer that included "make sure you have the record player on at night, make sure that kids hear words, a kid coming from a very poor school, a very poor background, will hear 4 million words fewer spoken by the time we get there."Debates came and went. Trump's attacks on Biden's son, Hunter, over his business dealings in Ukraine generated media scrutiny, both fair and unfair, that in some minds may have planted seeds of doubt. In Iowa it was clear the Obama magic, which swept the caucuses in 2008, had not rubbed off on his running mate. The blame seemed to lie with both an underwhelming candidate and a poorly organised campaign.Moe Vela, who was director of administration and senior adviser to Biden at the White House, said: "In Iowa I saw one of the most inferior ground games in politics. I have never seen anything so inept. He's not being served properly by his campaign."Vela, now an LGBTQ and Latino activist and board director at TransparentBusiness, added: "He had been the front runner for so long that I think the campaign staff became complacent. You got a sense they were so busy talking about electability and pitting him against Trump they forgot they have to deal with these 15 people first. You could see this rude awakening in Iowa as the night was slipping away."In New Hampshire, where Biden called a student a "lying dog faced pony soldier", he fared even worse. A comeback win in Nevada looks unlikely, setting up a potential last stand in South Carolina, the first contest in a state with a significant African American population – a constituency where he has consistently polled strongly. (Biden has been at pains to point out that 99% of the African American population have not yet had a say.)But even this advantage appears to have been eroded by Senator Bernie Sanders and billionaire Tom Steyer. Then comes Super Tuesday, where another billionaire, Michael Bloomberg, has spent nearly $350m on ads focused on the 16 states and territories that vote, eating into Biden's support among moderates and African Americans. Several black members of Congress and city mayors have endorsed Bloomberg despite the discriminatory "stop-and-frisk" policy he supported as mayor of New York.Michael Steele, former chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), said: "Biden has lost half the black support that he had. It's bled off and is now largely with Mike Bloomberg. Some of it has gone to Bernie Sanders, a little bit maybe to Elizabeth Warren, none of it to Pete Buttigieg. So he's sitting there holding 22, 23% of the black vote now. Mike Bloomberg is behind them at what, 21?"Clearly whatever the decision-making process was that led them to run the first leg of this race the way they have has cost him dearly. They have to make up a lot of ground in a very short period of time. When you swing into Super Tuesday, you've got to have bankroll." 'If you're saying you're a winner, you'd better win'Is there still time to turn it around? Yes, but it will be an uphill struggle. Since 1972, no candidate from either party has finished below second in both Iowa and New Hampshire and won the nomination.Bob Shrum, a Democratic strategist who was an adviser to the Al Gore and John Kerry presidential campaigns, said: "For him to recover from this would be a political miracle unlike anything we've seen in modern presidential politics. I don't think it's impossible but it's unlikely and would fly in the face of all our knowledge of political history."Biden's main pitch had been that in this moment of national emergency, he was the steady hand best placed to prevent Trump winning a second term. To centrists, he would be less of a gamble than progressives Sanders or Warren. But after the heavy losses in Iowa and New Hampshire, he is caught in his own electability trap.Shrum, a political science professor at the University of Southern California, said: "The centrepiece of the campaign was, 'I'm going to beat Trump like a drum'. The public said, 'If you're saying you're a winner, you'd better win'.""Al Gore had this line: elections are not a reward for past performance. I think they are always about the future, not just the past. In Democratic primaries, you've got to have a future offer to people, no matter how dissatisfied they are with the Republican incumbent. Joe Biden has a lot of policies on his website but that's not what comes over on the debate stage."> There's still to recover but if he's not willing to restructure his campaign, I don't think he can bounce back> > Coby OwensIn a small but telling measure of a campaign in a downward spiral, Biden's press team did not respond to multiple phone and email requests from the Guardian seeking comment. The Trump, Bloomberg and other campaigns are generally far more responsive.Shrum added: "I suspect they have many pressures and I have nothing but sympathy for the candidate and the people around him. It's hard to start at the top of the mountain and end up in the valley."Biden's struggles have dismayed supporters in his home state, where he remains immensely popular. Coby Owens, a local civil rights activist whose family has known Biden for years, and who is still trying to decide between Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, said: "There are a lot of people who are shocked and concerned about it and want to know what's going on."They have been hearing the message that he's the most electable so they thought he was going to cruise through the first two states, which are predominantly white. There's still a lot of room left for him to recover but if he's not willing to restructure his campaign, I don't think he can bounce back." 'Telltale signs'Biden has frequently referenced his partnership with Obama but America's first black president has remained notably silent.Obama reportedly discouraged Biden from running in 2016 because he believed Hillary Clinton had a better chance of winning. This time, rumour has it that he nudged Deval Patrick, the former governor of Massachusetts, to make a late bid because again he was dubious about Biden's viability (Patrick dropped out after a poor showing in New Hampshire).Steele, the ex-RNC chairman and former lieutenant-governor of Maryland, commented: "The telltale signs were there: the lack of interest that Barack had in the Biden campaign, the fact that the word on the street was that Deval Patrick was in the race was because Obama encouraged him to get in the race. Why would you do that with your vice-president already in the game?"While cautious about writing Biden off just yet, Steele added: "For me, just watching the Biden campaign, I get the sense that he's kind of walked through it. I think he's going through the paces of it. I'm not convinced at this stage that he really wants it any more. I don't think you take the front runner status that he's held for over a year, anchored by 50% of the black vote in a party where that is a very important and huge demographic edge, and just leave it on the table."I've never seen a candidate do that the way it's been done. Maybe there's a little bit of hubris and you assume that you've got the weight to throw around to win this thing. But then again, at the same time, I think at a certain point the gas is out of the tank and you just sleepwalk your way through it."
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| Man who left puppy to drown in cage sentenced to 1 year for animal cruelty Posted: 16 Feb 2020 07:57 AM PST  The 36-year-old New Jersey man left the puppy in a cage along the rising tide of Sandy Hook Bay after a fight with his ex-girlfriend.
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| Assistant principal accused of raping student avoids jail Posted: 15 Feb 2020 07:28 AM PST  An assistant principal charged with raping a 16-year-old student in Missouri has avoided jail time by accepting an Alford plea, which allows her to assert innocence while acknowledging the evidence proves her guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
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| Inside the Family's Manhattan Apartment Posted: 16 Feb 2020 05:00 AM PST |
| France warns of bloody Brexit talks battle Posted: 15 Feb 2020 04:25 PM PST  France on Sunday warned Britain to expect a bitter, bloody battle in Brexit trade talks with the EU, saying the two sides would "rip each other apart". Negotiations for a deal on future EU-UK relations are not due to start until next month, but London and Brussels have already clashed over rules for British financial firms' access to the EU after Brexit. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves le Drian said it would be tough to achieve Britain's aim of agreeing a free trade deal by the end of the year, with the two sides far apart on a range of issues.
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| Germany wants another crack at a EU mission in the Strait of Hormuz Posted: 15 Feb 2020 10:25 AM PST  Berlin last summer rejected a request to join a U.S.-led naval protection mission for fear of getting tangled up in shooting war between the United States and Iran.
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| DNC announces debate qualification threshold for South Carolina Posted: 15 Feb 2020 02:19 PM PST  Candidates will need to win one delegate in the first three states or poll above 10 percent to make the South Carolina debate state.
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| Judge sets Tuesday phone hearing in Roger Stone case Posted: 16 Feb 2020 12:57 PM PST  The court session would be the first since prosecutors abruptly quit last week
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| Coronavirus panic could be the endangered pangolin's new threat Posted: 14 Feb 2020 08:30 PM PST  Bill Zeigler, a top researcher at Chicago's Brookfield Zoo, shared his concerns.
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| I just spent a day using Samsung's new foldable flip phone — here are the best and worst things about it so far Posted: 15 Feb 2020 04:00 AM PST  Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip phone has a foldable display that brings something new to the smartphone experience. Here's what it's like to use it.
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| Costa Rican police find six tonnes of cocaine in biggest ever haul Posted: 16 Feb 2020 07:15 AM PST  Police in Costa Rica have found almost 6 tonnes of cocaine in a shipping container, leading to the country's biggest ever drug seizure.The drugs, which weighed 5,800kg, were discovered on Friday evening in Limón in a container of flowers due to be sent to Rotterdam, Holland, according to the Costan Rican national newspaper La Nación.
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| Nine homeless drug users shot dead in Afghan capital: police Posted: 16 Feb 2020 01:51 AM PST |
| Israeli army: Hamas hackers tried to 'seduce' soldiers Posted: 16 Feb 2020 02:05 AM PST  The Israeli military on Sunday said it has thwarted an attempt by the Hamas militant group to hack soldiers' phones by posing as young, attractive women on social media, striking up friendships and persuading them into downloading malware. Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus told reporters that the phones of dozens of soldiers had been infected in recent months, although he said the army detected the scam early on and prevented any major secrets from reaching the Islamic militant group. Conricus said this was the third attempt by Hamas to target male soldiers through fake social media accounts, most recently in July 2018.
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| 'Housing is not the end': Former homeless struggle to adapt Posted: 16 Feb 2020 02:00 AM PST  "There needs to be continued support," one woman said.
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| An invasion of propaganda: Experts warn that white supremacist messages are seeping into mainstream Posted: 16 Feb 2020 11:06 AM PST  White supremacy propaganda is on the rise, and experts say mainstreaming of that ideology contributes to acts of domestic terrorism.
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| Taking migraine seriously Posted: 15 Feb 2020 10:12 PM PST  About one in seven people lives with what's ranked as the second-most debilitating disease on the planet, but experts say research into its causes and treatments is dramatically underfunded.
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| Remember When Iran Took Out Saddam Hussein's Navy In One Day—With American-Made Jets? Posted: 15 Feb 2020 10:00 PM PST  One of the most intense air battles since World War II.
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| Biden says he'd 'disown' anyone who made online attacks like Bernie Sanders' supporters Posted: 15 Feb 2020 07:53 PM PST  Biden said Sanders must "find out who the hell they are, if any of them work for [him]," and fire them if need be.
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| Mark Zuckerberg admits Facebook was ‘slow to understand’ election interference Posted: 15 Feb 2020 12:04 PM PST  Facebook is taking down more than a million fake accounts a day to counter a massive upsurge in malicious material in the web, Mark Zuckerberg told an international security forum, and disclosed that more than 50 information operations aimed at elections have been uncovered since the 2016 US presidential race.There are continuing investigations into claims that Donald Trump was the Muscovian candidate at the election and a Kremlin campaign, including a disinformation drive, helped put him in the White House.
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| 'Animals live for man': China's appetite for wildlife likely to survive virus Posted: 16 Feb 2020 03:17 PM PST  HONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters) - For the past two weeks China's police have been raiding houses, restaurants and makeshift markets across the country, arresting nearly 700 people for breaking the temporary ban on catching, selling or eating wild animals. The scale of the crackdown, which has netted almost 40,000 animals including squirrels, weasels and boars, suggests that China's taste for eating wildlife and using animal parts for medicinal purposes is not likely to disappear overnight, despite potential links to the new coronavirus. "I'd like to sell once the ban is lifted," said Gong Jian, who runs a wildlife store online and operates shops in China's autonomous Inner Mongolia region.
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| Man gets 1 year in case of dog left in cage with tide rising Posted: 15 Feb 2020 09:18 AM PST |
| Questions over fate of Saudi crew in Yemen jet crash Posted: 16 Feb 2020 03:18 AM PST  The fate of the crew of a Saudi warplane that crashed in Yemen remained uncertain Sunday after Iran-linked Huthi rebels claimed to have shot down the aircraft. The Riyadh-led military coalition fighting the rebels said the two officers ejected from the plane before it crashed in northern Al-Jawf province Friday but that the rebels opened fire at them "in violation of international humanitarian law". "The joint forces command of the Coalition holds the terrorist Huthi militia responsible for the lives and wellbeing of the Tornado air crew," the coalition said in a statement released by the official Saudi Press Agency late Saturday.
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| American woman from cruise ship tests positive again for coronavirus Posted: 16 Feb 2020 12:25 PM PST  An American passenger from a cruise ship that docked in Cambodia has tested positive for the new coronavirus a second time in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysiam officials said on Sunday, after the cruise line and Cambodian authorities sought further tests.
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| This creamy Tuscan chicken dinner is the cure for the Sunday blues Posted: 16 Feb 2020 05:40 AM PST  Feel a little droopy? This colorful and creamy chicken and pasta dish is the perfect pick-me-up.
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| Hitler's Submarines Almost Launched A Missile Attack On America Posted: 16 Feb 2020 04:00 AM PST  In March, the Allies intercepted a message from German Admiral Godt dispatching seven Type IX long-range submarines to "attack targets in American coastal zone" as part of an attack group awesomely codenamed Seewolf.
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| ‘We’d be f—ed’: Texas Dems sweat a Bernie Sanders ticket Posted: 15 Feb 2020 04:00 AM PST  Veteran operatives fear it undermines an opportunity to flip the state House.
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| Smugglers helping migrants scale Trump’s border wall ‘using $5 ladders’ Posted: 16 Feb 2020 04:25 AM PST  Smugglers are reportedly helping migrants scale sections of Donald Trump's multi-billion border wall using $5 ladders.US Border Patrol has seen a rise in camouflage "hook-and-ladders" within the far south-west region of Texas since May last year, according to The El Paso Times.
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| Trump blames border wall falling over on 'big winds' Posted: 16 Feb 2020 11:41 AM PST  President Trump has blamed reports about a section of his border wall falling over on the "Fake News," claiming in a tweet the part of the wall fell due to "big winds" and had since been fixed "forever."
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| Coronavirus cases rise again in China's Hubei province Posted: 16 Feb 2020 04:35 PM PST  The number of reported new cases of coronavirus in China's Hubei province rose on Monday after two days of falls, as authorities imposed tough new restrictions on movement to prevent the spread of the disease which has now killed more than 1,700 people. The tighter lockdown on the central province where the flu-like virus originated in December came as American passengers were taken off a cruise liner on Sunday to fly home after being quarantined for two weeks off Japan. Seventy new coronavirus cases were confirmed on board the Diamond Princess where 3,700 passengers and crew have been held since Feb. 3.
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| Israel says Hamas used 'attractive' women in thwarted cyberattack Posted: 16 Feb 2020 03:46 AM PST  Israel's military said on Sunday it had thwarted an attempted malware attack by Hamas that sought to gain access to soldiers' mobile phones by using seductive pictures of young women. The phones of a few dozen soldiers were affected, but the military "does not assess that there has been a substantial breach of information", said Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus, an army spokesman. Conricus said this was the third attempted malware attack by Hamas in less than four years, but that the latest effort indicated the Islamist group, which controls the Gaza Strip, had improved their capacity to wage cyber-warfare.
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| Israel's Gantz vows to form government without Netanyahu Posted: 16 Feb 2020 01:43 AM PST  Israeli opposition leader Benny Gantz is vowing to form a government that will include neither the indicted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor the predominantly Arab parties in Parliament. In a series of TV interviews two weeks before national elections, Gantz looked to project confidence that the March 2 vote will provide the decisive outcome that eluded the two previous elections last year. Gantz's Blue and White party is currently polling ahead of Netanyahu's Likud, although neither appears to have a clear path to a parliamentary majority required to form a coalition government.
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| Outcry that Seattle teachers were fired for being gay, Catholic school says they resigned Posted: 16 Feb 2020 11:45 AM PST  A county councilman claims the two teachers were forced out of their positions at Kennedy Catholic High School "solely because they are gay."
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| North Korea vs. South Korea: Who Wins a War Straight-Up? Posted: 16 Feb 2020 12:00 PM PST  Quality vs. quantity?
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| ‘Photographer’ Drugged New Mom, Planned to Steal Baby, Cops Say Posted: 15 Feb 2020 01:20 PM PST  It began with an offer on Facebook group for the mothers of newborns: An aspiring photographer wanted to take pictures of babies for free to build her portfolio.To the mother of a 5-week-old infant, it sounded like a great deal. But after three sessions with the photographer, her teenage daughter in tow, things allegedly took a terrifying turn.The new mom ate a cupcake offered by the pair and soon began to feel wobbly, numb and drowsy. She feared she had been drugged, told the visitors to leave, and called 911.Police in Washington state suspect she was correct—and they say she's lucky the Feb. 5 encounter in Spanaway didn't turn out much worse. Investigators said they have collected evidence that the 38-year-old "photographer," Juliette Parker, had a plan to steal a baby and raise it as her own.On Friday afternoon, detectives from the Pierce County Sheriff's Department arrested Parker, who has also gone by the names Juliette Noel and Juliette Gains, and her 16-year-old daughter. Parker was charged with attempted kidnapping and second-degree assault.A release from the sheriff's office said there were red flags that something strange was afoot during Parker's earlier visit to the home. "The suspect was observed taking cell phone selfies with the victim's baby and was seen wiping her fingerprints off items she touched inside the victim's home," they said.The sheriff's office said they have identified "additional victims" but provided no details.Parker's ex-husband, Daniel Gaines, who is locked in a custody battle with her, said that he finds it hard to believe his daughter was in on the alleged plot."I question what my daughter knew," he told The Daily Beast.Last year, Parker ran for mayor of Colorado Springs, Colorado, according to KOAA. At the time, she had only been a resident of the city for two years."I love Colorado Springs, and I want to live here the rest of my life," Parker said then, according to The Gazette. "I would like my kids to be able to live here and grow up here. I would like to have my grandkids be able to grow up here and live here and have their kids here."Parker, who ran on a platform of affordable housing and ending homelessness, lost by a landslide.The Gazette reported last year that Parker had been charged in federal court with trespassing in 2014; she explained that she wandered onto military property during a hike and picked up some old rifle bullets—one of which exploded at home, injuring her.Court records say she and a companion were scavenging for metal and took the shells home to melt them for scrap, the Tacoma News Tribune reported. While disassembling one, it blew up, blasting a 2-foot-wide hole in the floor and causing injuries to both.Additional reporting by Barbie Latza NadeauRead 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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| Two British Airways executives step down following the airline's first strike in decades Posted: 16 Feb 2020 11:56 AM PST  The departures also arrive as the airline's parent firm, International Consolidated Airlines Group, transitions to a new CEO.
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| US embassy in Baghdad attacked with rockets Posted: 16 Feb 2020 10:29 AM PST  Rockets have dropped near the US embassy in Iraq and a military base hosting American troops, according to officials.There have been no causalities reported following the strikes, which fell amid heightened tensions in the Middle East.
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| Hong Kong protesters rally against planned virus quarantine centers Posted: 16 Feb 2020 02:13 AM PST  Hundreds of demonstrators rallied for a second day in Hong Kong on Sunday to protest against plans to turn some buildings into coronavirus quarantine centers, reviving anti-government protests in the Chinese-ruled city. The virus has opened a new front for protesters after months of demonstrations over the perceived erosion of freedoms had largely fizzled out over the past month, as people stayed at home amid fears of a community outbreak of the virus. About 100 people braved rain in the New Territories district of Fo Tan, where authorities plan to use a newly built residential development that was subsidized by the government as a quarantine center.
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| China toll leaps past 1,600 as first death reported outside Asia Posted: 15 Feb 2020 03:35 PM PST  The death toll from the new coronavirus outbreak surpassed 1,600 in China on Sunday, with the first fatality reported outside Asia fuelling global concerns. More than 68,000 people have now been infected in China from a virus that emerged in central Hubei province in December before spreading across the country and some two dozen countries. Amid criticism over the handling of the crisis, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for tighter policing to protect social stability, while Beijing ordered people returning to the capital to self-quarantine for 14 days in the latest drastic measure aimed at containing the virus.
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| California to apologize for internment of Japanese Americans Posted: 16 Feb 2020 11:28 AM PST  Les Ouchida was born an American just outside California's capital city, but his citizenship mattered little after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and the United States declared war. Based solely on their Japanese ancestry, the 5-year-old and his family were taken from their home in 1942 and imprisoned far away in Arkansas. On Thursday, California's Legislature is expected to approve a resolution offering an apology to Ouchida and other internment victims for the state's role in aiding the U.S. government's policy and condemning actions that helped fan anti-Japanese discrimination.
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