| Nearly two-thirds of voters expect Trump to win reelection in November, poll finds Posted: 23 Feb 2020 10:51 AM PST  Opinions on the race appear to be firmly set for most voters, with 63% saying they know how they will vote no matter who is the Democratic nominee.
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| Missing 6-month-old boy found dead in cemetery after mom's arrest Posted: 22 Feb 2020 09:59 AM PST  The body of Chi-Liam Cody Brown-Erickson was found hours after his mother was arrested and an Amber Alert was issued on his disappearance.
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| Here Comes 1984: China's Regime Is An Existential Threat to the World Posted: 22 Feb 2020 02:33 PM PST  One expert tells you why.
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| Greyhound will stop allowing immigration checks on buses Posted: 23 Feb 2020 10:54 AM PST  Greyhound, the U.S.'s largest bus company, said on Friday that it will stop allowing Border Patrol agents without a warrant to board its buses to conduct routine immigration checks.
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| Haiti police exchange fire with troops near national palace Posted: 23 Feb 2020 11:37 AM PST  PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haitian police officers exchanged gunfire for hours Sunday with soldiers of the newly reconstituted army outside the national palace, in a dangerous escalation of protests over police pay and working conditions. At least three police officers were wounded, fellow officers told The Associated Press. Haiti's raucous three-day Carnival celebration was to have started Sunday afternoon in Port-au-Prince and other major cities but the government announced Sunday night that Carnival was cancelled in the capital "to avoid a bloodbath." Police protesters and their backers had burned dozens of Carnival floats and stands at recent protests, saying they did not believe the country should be celebrating during a crisis.
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| Grave of slain Iraq commander, a new anti-US magnet Posted: 22 Feb 2020 07:44 PM PST  Clad in black, they joined wailing women and men beating their chests in grief at Wadi al-Salam (valley of peace), an ever expanding cemetery. All eyes were on the grave of Iraqi paramilitary commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. Killed alongside top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in a US drone strike in Baghdad on January 3, Muhandis is now revered as a martyred icon of anti-American resistance.
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| Coronavirus challenges $45 billion cruise industry Posted: 23 Feb 2020 09:37 AM PST  'Business is soft, people are scared to travel,' said Frank Del Rio, CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line.
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| U.S. judge rejects Roger Stone's request she be kicked off his case Posted: 23 Feb 2020 04:31 PM PST |
| I Live in South Korea Where Coronavirus Cases are Rising. Not Much Has Changed Posted: 22 Feb 2020 05:28 AM PST  It is important to keep perspective. There are fifty-three million people in South Korea. Only four hundred thirty or so of them have corona, and only two have died. The sensationalism of disease outbreak coverage does not help. We have all seen too many movies, and overwrought invocations of Contagion or zombie apocalypse movies generate paranoia and unnecessary anxiety. South Korea is safe.
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| Exit polls: Social Democrats win, far-right loses in Hamburg Posted: 23 Feb 2020 12:41 AM PST  The center-left Social Democrats won the most votes in the Hamburg state election Sunday, according to exit polls, followed by the environmentalist Green party in a vote that was overshadowed by a racist massacre and political turmoil in Germany. Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats appeared to lose badly, receiving the weakest results in Hamburg, which is Germany's second-biggest city and its own state, in the last seven decades. In what would be a large upset, the far-right Alternative for Germany — which has been especially successful in state elections in eastern Germany where it got up to about a quarter of the vote — appears to not have received the 5% of the vote needed to get into the state assembly.
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| Hawaii holds woman over missing children amid suspicious deaths Posted: 22 Feb 2020 01:42 PM PST  A 46-year-old American woman with reported links to a doomsday cult and to at least three people whose deaths are being investigated has been arrested in Hawaii over the disappearance of her two children. Lori Vallow was arrested Thursday on the island of Kauai and charged with felony desertion of the children, 7-year-old Joshua Vallow, who is autistic, and 17-year-old Tylee Ryan, police said in a statement. According to US media reports, the children, who have different fathers, were last seen on September 23, 2019.
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| N.Y. Gov. Cuomo compares the 'virus of hate' to the coronavirus after bomb threats were emailed to 19 Jewish community centers in one single morning Posted: 23 Feb 2020 12:43 PM PST  "People are worried about the Coronavirus, which we're watching in this state – there's also a virus of hate, and it's spreading," Cuomo said.
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| Outcry after MSNBC host compares Sanders’ Nevada win to Nazi invasion Posted: 23 Feb 2020 06:51 AM PST  * Calls for firing of Chris Matthews after widespread anger * Sanders, a self-proclaimed democratic socialist is JewishMSNBC host Chris Matthews compared Bernie Sanders' victory in the Nevada caucuses on Saturday to the Nazi invasion of France, spurring calls for his firing."I was reading last night about the fall of France in the summer of 1940 and the general, Reynaud, calls up Churchill and says, 'It's over,'" Matthews said on air on Saturday night."And Churchill says, 'How can that be? You've got the greatest army in Europe. How can it be over?' He said, 'It's over.'""So I had that suppressed feeling," Matthews also said.Sanders, a senator from Vermont and self-proclaimed democratic socialist, is Jewish.He won the Nevada caucuses easily, helping solidify his status as the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination in a primary split between moderates and progressives. Sanders' win came in the wake of a strong showing in Iowa and victory in New Hampshire.> MSNBC's Chris Matthews likens Sanders victory in Nevada to Nazi Germany overrunning France in 1940: "It's too late to stop him … it's over" pic.twitter.com/6GJetLoDkq> > — Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) February 22, 2020Matthews' words prompted widespread anger."Bernie is Jewish and his family was killed by the Nazis," tweeted David Sirota, a Sanders speechwriter and former Guardian contributor. "None of this is OK.""This is absolutely disgusting on [Matthews'] part," tweeted Parker Molloy, editor-at-large at Media Matters for America. "Retire, get fired, whatever. Bottom line is that Matthews needs to be out of a job."On air, Matthews said Republicans would disclose opposition research on Sanders that would "kill him" in the general election against Donald Trump."It looks like Bernie Sanders is hard to beat," Matthews said of the primary, adding: "I think it's a little late to stop him, and I think that's the problem."MSNBC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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| Indian authorities scramble to give Trump mega-rally Posted: 23 Feb 2020 07:50 AM PST  The city of Ahmedabad in India was jostling with activity on Sunday as workers cleaned roads, planted flowers and hoisted billboards featuring President Trump, a day ahead of his maiden two-day visit to India after Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised him a lively public reception.
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| Iran announces low poll turnout, blames coronavirus 'propaganda' Posted: 23 Feb 2020 01:36 AM PST  Iran on Sunday announced a 42% turnout in its parliamentary election, the lowest rate since the 1979 Islamic revolution, while its top leader said Tehran's enemies played up the new coronavirus threat to dissuade people from voting. With Iran facing growing isolation and threats of conflict over its nuclear standoff with the United States, and increasing discontent at home, the turnout is seen as a referendum on the popularity of the Islamic republic's rulers. The final results, announced by the Interior Ministry, showed big gains by hardline loyalists close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the last say on all state matters.
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| Roger Stone moves to disqualify judge in last-ditch bid to avoid prison Posted: 21 Feb 2020 08:31 PM PST  Stone was convicted last year on multiple counts of lying to congressional investigators, as well as a count of witness intimidation.
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| Coronavirus updates: Italian towns locked down as almost 150 test positive Posted: 23 Feb 2020 03:57 AM PST  As Italy experiences a surge in coronavirus cases, here is the latest for Sunday, Feb. 23.
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| Wrong-way crash on Interstate 95 in Georgia kills 6 people, including Virginia parents and their 3 children Posted: 23 Feb 2020 04:35 PM PST  Six people, including three children, were killed early Sunday in a head-on crash on Interstate 95, according to the Georgia State Patrol.
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| 10,000 mourn victims of racist shooting rampage in Germany Posted: 23 Feb 2020 11:00 AM PST  Around 10,000 protesters marched through the central German town of Hanau on Sunday to mourn the nine people who were killed by an immigrant-hating gunman four days ago. "These days and hours are the blackest and darkest our town has ever experienced during peace times," Hanau mayor Claus Kaminsky told the somber crowds, according to the German news agency dpa. Five of the victims were reported to be Turkish citizens.
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| Police at checkpoints, events scrapped as virus fears hit Italy Posted: 23 Feb 2020 11:48 AM PST  Police patrolled perimeters of virus-stricken town in northern Italy Sunday as tens of thousands of people were placed under lockdown and public events cancelled to stem Europe's worst outbreak of the new coronavirus. "Virus -- Northern Italy under Siege," read Sunday's headline in the Il Fatto Quotidiano daily, as television stations delivered a steady stream of images of masked locals and hospital workers in protective suits. "Virus Paralysis," read La Repubblica.
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| Three Weinstein Accusers Could Send Producer to Prison for Life Posted: 23 Feb 2020 11:59 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- As the jurors in Harvey Weinstein's sexual assault trial wrestle with a pair of charges that could send the fallen movie mogul to prison for life, the testimony of three women who don't even appear in his indictment could help seal his fate.They're known as Molineux witnesses in New York, where Weinstein is being tried, and they testified to their own encounters with him as prosecutors sought to persuade the jury that the two women he is charged with attacking never gave their consent to sex. Such witnesses testified in the retrial of Bill Cosby in Pennsylvania, which ended in his conviction.On Friday the jury sent a note to the judge referring to two counts of predatory sexual assault -- counts one and three on the verdict sheet it's working from -- and suggesting it might be deadlocked."We the jury request to understand if we can be hung on one and/or three and unanimous on the other charges. Thank you," the jurors told the judge. He told them to keep trying.The other charges are a criminal sexual act and rape. Weinstein is accused of forcing oral sex on "Project Runway" assistant Miriam Haley in his SoHo loft in 2006 and raping aspiring actor Jessica Mann in a midtown Manhattan hotel in 2013.In a category by herself is the actor Annabella Sciorra, who told the jury that Weinstein raped her in the early 1990s. Her allegations are a linchpin for the two predatory sexual assault counts, the gravest charges facing the former Hollywood power broker.Predatory sexual assault requires a serious attack on at least two people. To find Weinstein guilty on count one, the jury would need to be persuaded by the evidence for the alleged attacks on both Haley and Sciorra. To convict him on count three, it would need to find that he assaulted both Mann and Sciorra.Read More: Weinstein Jury Stuck on Most Serious Charges, Told to Keep at ItThe testimony of the Molineux witnesses may come into play as well. Weinstein's lawyers argue that any encounters their client had were consensual. If the jury finds the allegations of assault from these three women credible, it may decide Haley and Mann never gave Weinstein their consent either, and convict him of rape and a criminal sexual act.And if the jurors believe Sciorra, too, that will meet the requirements of predatory sexual assault -- the two counts they seem to be stuck on -- and Weinstein, 67, could spend the rest of his life behind bars.Weinstein's lawyers have told the jury that the women had consensual, and even transactional, sex with their client, and that they "re-labeled" the encounters as assaults years after the fact in the wake of the MeToo movement.The first of the three witnesses, Dawn Dunning, testified that in 2004, when she was an aspiring actor waiting tables, Weinstein lured her to a business meeting in a hotel room and digitally penetrated her. The second, Tarale Wulff, told the court that minutes after meeting the producer in 2005, when she was working as a cocktail waitress, he dragged her up a secluded stairwell and masturbated, and later raped her in his SoHo apartment. The third, Lauren Young, said she was a model trying to make it as a screenwriter in 2013 when Weinstein trapped her in his hotel suite's bathroom, where he stripped off the top of her dress and groped her.Such testimony about uncharged crimes is typically considered too prejudicial to allow, but it's permitted under limited circumstances. While it can't be used to suggest a defendant has a propensity to commit a crime, it can explore the defendant's intent or a common theme. In New York it dates back to a landmark 1901 decision involving a chemist named Roland Molineux who was accused in a fatal cyanide poisoning.Read More: Weinstein's 'Trial of the Century' Gets Its Own PodcastNew York State Supreme Court Justice James Burke ruled in December, over the objections of the defense, that the three accusers could be called to rebut Weinstein's argument that the encounters were consensual and to show his "intent to use forcible compulsion" on Haley and Mann. The decision was unsealed on Feb. 7, revealing that prosecutors sought to call a total of five such witnesses, the same number as at the Cosby trial.In the end, Burke allowed three."The consistent theme is that the defendant used his business stature in the movie industry to lure women to believe that he would connect them to careers in the entertainment industry," Burke wrote, adding that the testimony could help the jury of seven men and five women understand why Haley and Mann feared reprisals if they went to the police.He said it could help the jurors decide whether Weinstein "created an engineered situation where he could be alone" with Mann and Haley "and then sexually assault them."Weinstein's lawyers have cited Burke's Molineux ruling, as well as other decisions that went against them, in calling for a mistrial. Burke has denied the requests.The case is People v. Weinstein, 450293/2018, New York State Supreme Court (Manhattan).Read MoreJurors Focus on Predatory Assault, Most Serious ChargeSciorra Describes Gift of Popcorn, Then RapeWeinstein Was Jekyll and Hyde, Witness Testifies'I Think I Was Raped': Jury Hears Rosie Perez Back Up SciorraJessica Mann Is Grilled on Contact After Alleged Assault Accuser Called Weinstein a 'Soul Mate,' Friend TestifiesWeinstein's Dream Jury Is Conservative, Traditional, SkepticalA MeToo Moment Two Years in the MakingTo contact the reporter on this story: Patricia Hurtado in Federal Court in Manhattan at pathurtado@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Peter JeffreyFor 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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| FYI, Democrats: New Hampshire and Nevada Are Very Different Posted: 22 Feb 2020 04:44 AM PST  It's not 2016 anymore.
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| Joe Biden says he was arrested in South Africa on a visit to see Nelson Mandela. He has never mentioned the arrest before. Posted: 23 Feb 2020 07:58 AM PST  Former Vice President Joe Biden, 77, has mentioned at three campaign events about being arrested while trying to visit Nelson Mandela in the 1970s.
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| Judge won’t bow out of Roger Stone case Posted: 23 Feb 2020 04:38 PM PST  Amy Berman Jackson accuses the defense of abusing the court's docket with claims of bias.
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| Why the Boy Scouts bankruptcy is good news for victims — and for America Posted: 22 Feb 2020 01:04 PM PST  We believe that if the BSA sees this moment as a wake-up call, the organization can continue its century-long tradition of positively influencing millions of lives.
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| Ira Hayes raised the flag on Iwo Jima. 75 years later, he still inspires this Indian community. Posted: 23 Feb 2020 04:33 PM PST  75 years ago, Ira Hayes was one of the six Marines captured in the historic photograph raising the American flag on Iwo Jima.
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| For Virginia Tech parents, new gun laws a long struggle Posted: 23 Feb 2020 06:29 AM PST  When Virginia lawmakers pass sweeping new gun control laws in the coming days, it will mark the culmination of nearly 13 years of often thankless work for two parents whose children were shot in one of the country's worst mass shootings. Lori Haas and Andrew Goddard started pressing lawmakers to enact new gun laws shortly after a gunman killed 32 people and wounded more than a dozen others at Virginia Tech in 2007. Haas and Goddard have been Virginia's most visible gun-control lobbyists for years, but until recently had little to show for their work.
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| Xi says China facing 'big test' with virus, global impact spreads Posted: 23 Feb 2020 02:52 PM PST  China's leader said Sunday the new coronavirus epidemic is the communist country's largest-ever public health emergency, but other nations were also increasingly under pressure from the deadly outbreak's relentless global march. Italy and Iran began introducing the sort of containment measures previously seen only in China, which has put tens of millions of people under lockdown in Hubei province, the outbreak's epicentre. Italy reported a third death while cases spiked and the country's Venice carnival closed early.
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| After Bernie Sanders' landslide Nevada win, it's time for Democrats to unite behind him Posted: 23 Feb 2020 08:14 AM PST  No other Democrats can beat him at this point. Sill, the liberal establishment is still struggling to come to terms with Sanders' inevitable nomination It was a landslide. Bernie Sanders had been expected to win the Nevada caucuses, but not like this. With just 4% of the vote in, news organizations called the race for Sanders, since his margin of victory was so large. Sanders has now won the popular vote in all of the first three states, and is currently leading in the polls almost everywhere else in the country. He was already the favorite to take the nomination before the Nevada contest, with Democratic party insiders worrying he was "unstoppable." His campaign will only grow more powerful now.Importantly, Sanders' Nevada victory definitively disproved one of the most enduring myths about his campaign: that it could attract left-leaning young white people, but was incapable of drawing in a diverse coalition. In fact, voters of color were a primary source of Sanders' strength in Nevada; he received the majority of Latino votes. Entrance polls showed Sanders winning "men and women, whites and Latinos, voters 17-29, 30-44 and 45-65, those with college degrees and those without, liberal Democrats (by a lot) and moderate/conservatives (narrowly), union and non-union households." The poisonous concept of the white "Bernie Bro" as the "typical" Sanders supporter should be dead.Some members of the media establishment had no idea what to make of Sanders' Nevada victory. On MSNBC, James Carville said that "Putin" had won Nevada, and Chris Matthews declared the primary "over" (ill-advisedly comparing Sanders' victory to the Nazi invasion of France). Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post admitted that Sanders had been stronger with nonwhite voters than she expected, and it might now be "too late" to do anything about him.The other candidates and their supporters did their best to spin a humiliating defeat. Amy Klobuchar said her sixth-place finish "exceeded expectations"—if sixth place is better than you expected, you're probably not a viable candidate. Biden vowed, implausibly (and for the third time) that he would bounce back. Pete Buttigieg took to the stage to denounce Sanders, who he said "believes in an inflexible, ideological revolution that leaves out most Democrats, not to mention most Americans." A Warren supporter rather charmingly said that while Sanders had won, Warren had the "momentum," and the Warren campaign itself said the Nevada "debate" mattered more than the Nevada "result."Let's be clear: the other candidates were crushed, and Nevada was yet more evidence that there is no longer much serious opposition to Sanders. Michael Bloomberg fizzled completely in his big debut, and Democrats would be out of their minds to enrage every Sanders supporter by nominating a Republican billionaire. Joe Biden has lost badly in all of the first three contests, and it's very clear that he can't run an effective campaign. Elizabeth Warren's campaign has nearly gone broke and in desperation she has resorted to relying on the Super PACs that she previously shunned. Pete Buttigieg can't win voters of color or young people (and has accurately been described as sounding like "a neural network trained on West Wing episodes"). As Matthews says: it's over. Bernie is dominating the fundraising, dominating the polls, and winning every primary. I am not sure Jacobin is right that "it's Bernie's party now"—for one thing, virtually the entire Congressional Democratic party is still opposed to Bernie. But it's certainly Bernie's nomination. There is simply no other credible candidate.Democrats shouldn't worry, though: Bernie has a strong organization and a lot of money, and can mobilize millions of people to support him in November. He's exactly the kind of candidate you should want your party to have. And for all the fear of his "radicalism," he's really a moderate: his signature policies are a national health insurance program, a living wage, free public higher education, and a serious green energy investment plan. It's shocking that there is such opposition to such sensible plans. On what planet are these things so politically toxic that Democrats are afraid to run on them? Voters like these ideas, and so long as Democrats unify behind Bernie rather than continuing to try to tear him down, they will have a very good shot at defeating a radical and unhinged president like Donald Trump. The polling looks good for Bernie in November, so now we just need to get this primary over with and focus on the real fight. The other candidates had their shot: they lost. They need to accept it.One other takeaway from Nevada is that no future election should occur without significant reform to the caucus process. Nevada wasn't an outright catastrophe like Iowa was—at least we got results on election night. But it was still plagued with "voting rules confusion, calculation glitches and delays in reporting tallies." And the caucus process can be downright bizarre: tied results in the Las Vegas caucuses are resolved with a card game, and at one point Sanders lost a delegate to Pete Buttigieg because the Sanders team pulled an Ace and Buttigieg pulled a 3. (Aces were low.) From the electoral college to the Iowa caucus, American elections desperately need to reworked from the bottom up according to the simple principle "the person with the most votes ought to win."And yet caucuses also produce some truly inspiring on-the-ground stories, from the cab driver who spoke up for Bernie and kept billionaire Tom Steyer from being viable to the guy who switched from Trump to Bernie because he was convinced socialists were good people. Ordinary people gave incredible speeches as part of the caucus process—one reason why it should be fixed rather than ditched entirely. Members of the Culinary Union, whose leadership had prominently opposed Sanders over Medicare For All, ended up defying their leaders and pushing Sanders to victory at a number of caucus sites.All in all, Nevada was an inspiring moment for American democracy, proof that ordinary working people of all races and incomes and genders can come together around a robust progressive agenda. Democrats need not worry: this is a good thing. It's a night to be celebrated. The primary is not completely over, but hopefully it is now clear to every sensible observer that Bernie is cruising toward the nomination and needs to be supported rather than torn down. * Nathan Robinson is a Guardian US columnist and the editor of Current Affairs
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| How China Is Humiliating Pakistan Posted: 22 Feb 2020 04:30 PM PST  Pakistan sees itself as a major regional power but recent events show that Beijing considers Pakistan little more than a subordinate colony to be exploited but not heard.
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| Mike Bloomberg is roasting Donald Trump in billboards in two Western cities — see photos of the ads Posted: 22 Feb 2020 11:50 AM PST  Presidential hopeful Mike Bloomberg is slamming Donald Trump for eating burnt stake and cheating at golf in his campaign's latest deluge of ads.
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| White House reportedly to ask Congress for coronavirus funds but the amount may not be enough Posted: 23 Feb 2020 04:41 AM PST  The White House is about to turn to Congress and request emergency funds in an attempt to curb the coronavirus outbreak, four people with knowledge of the request told Politico.So far, the vast majority of cases of the respiratory virus are in China where it originated, but it has been spreading across the globe, and over 30 people are infected in the United States. Because scientists know so little about the virus, including its incubation time, they're worried an outbreak could eventually hit the U.S.But it looks like the amount the White House plans to ask for — $1 billion — might be lower than some public health officials consider necessary, per Politico. If that's all there is, it could reportedly be exhausted swiftly by vaccine development, lab tests, and other investments. For comparison, the Obama administration requested $6 billion to fight Ebola in 2014 and received $5.4 billion.One White House official told Politico the amount is still subject to change, however. Read more at Politico.More stories from theweek.com CNN analyst: Republicans 'may regret' hoping Sanders wins nomination The stunning Southern Baptist controversy over Donald Trump and Russell Moore, explained White House officials are reportedly hoping to scale back surveillance powers
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| Doctor, parents face trial in Egypt for girl's death after genital cutting Posted: 23 Feb 2020 11:14 AM PST |
| Charter bus rollover kills 3, injures 18 outside San Diego Posted: 22 Feb 2020 12:58 PM PST  A charter bus swerved on a rain-slicked Southern California highway and rolled down an embankment Saturday, killing three people and injuring 18 others, authorities said. Several passengers were thrown from the bus, and one of the dead was trapped under the vehicle after it landed on its roof shortly after 10 a.m. off Interstate 15 in Pala Mesa, an unincorporated community about 45 miles (72 kilometers) north of San Diego, North County Fire Protection District spokesman John Choi said. "There were no seat belts on this bus," Choi said.
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| South Korea Signals Unprecedented Steps to Contain Outbreak Posted: 23 Feb 2020 05:55 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in raised the country's infectious-disease alert level to the highest and signaled the potential for unprecedented steps to contain a coronavirus outbreak that has killed six and infected hundreds.The government ordered that schools delay resuming lessons after a holiday break as more than 600 people were confirmed to have been infected, a 20-fold surge in reported cases over five days. More than half are linked to members of Shincheonji Church of Jesus, an opaque religious sect, while almost an entire hospital psychiatric ward of over 110 patients and staff tested positive for the virus.The worsening outbreak may add further pressure on South Korean assets. The won recorded its biggest five-day drop in more than four years last week when the number of infections jumped. Government bonds could extend gains as the economic fallout from the outbreak bolsters the case for the central bank to ease policy again.The quick spread in South Korea has triggered travel advisories around the world. Israel is closing its borders to foreign nationals who live in or have visited South Korea in the past two weeks, while the U.S. and the U.K. also raised their alert levels for travel in the Asian country.South Korea was last on red alert in 2009, during the H1N1 virus outbreak that resulted in 250 deaths in the country. At the red level, the government has the power to stop military personnel from going on vacation leave, control the activities of aircraft, suspend public schools from restarting, as well as impose stricter measures to bar foreigners from entering the country, the DongA Ilbo newspaper reported, citing an official.A day after the prime minister asked citizens to stop mass religious activities for safety reasons, President Moon said the government could take "powerful measures like never before without being tied to regulations" to contain the outbreak. He emphasized that shutting down Shincheonji facilities was a safety measure, not a suppression of religion.Daegu, the southeast Korean city where the Shincheonji group is located, has deployed some 600 police officers to track down members who have been unreachable, according to the Maeil Business newspaper. There are about 670 people who have been uncontactable, the paper said.Health officials in that city have a list of residents who are members of the sect, and are getting in touch to explain self-quarantine measures. Authorities have stationed a total of about 500 military personnel at two hospitals in Daegu to implement stricter measures for patients who are confirmed to be infected.Daegu is one of two cities, along with nearby Cheongdo, subject to a U.K. travel advisory on Saturday. Britain's Foreign Office advised against "all but essential travel" to the two locations. The U.S. separately raised its guidance to Level 2 -- "exercise increased caution" -- for the country as a whole. That level warns of sustained community transmission and calls for "precautions for high-risk travelers," such as those with chronic medical conditions.Israel took sterner measures after from a group of Catholics from South Korea who went on a Holy Land Pilgrimage of religious sites was confirmed to have the virus.South Korea's CDC said 18 people out of the 39 who went on the tour in Israel were confirmed to have the virus. Authorities are conducting further tests on the remaining 21. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Andong has halted all masses and assemblies until March, the CDC said in the statement.(Updates with markets in third paragraph)\--With assistance from Liau Y-Sing.To contact the reporter on this story: Jihye Lee in Seoul at jlee2352@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Shamim Adam at sadam2@bloomberg.net, Christopher AnsteyFor 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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| Italy has quarantined a dozen cities over coronavirus Posted: 23 Feb 2020 03:15 AM PST  The lockdown followed a confirmed 79 cases of coronavirus in Italy along with two deaths, and affects some 50,000 Italian citizens.
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| Vietnamese dissident monk who was a Nobel Prize nominee dies at 93 Posted: 22 Feb 2020 09:50 PM PST  Thich Quang Do, a dissident Buddhist monk who has effectively been under house arrest since 2003 and was nominated multiple times for the Nobel Peace Prize, has died aged 93. Head of the banned Unified Buddist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), the vocal patriarch was born on November 27, 1928 in northern Thai Binh province and spent most of his life advocating for religious freedom and human rights in communist-run Vietnam.
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| Two arrested as search for missing 15-month-old girl continues Posted: 22 Feb 2020 10:14 AM PST  "This case is unlike anything I've ever been involved in," a sheriff said. Toddler Evelyn Mae Boswell has not been seen in nearly two months, but it "was just reported this week."
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| RESULTS: Bernie Sanders wins the Nevada caucus, follow the full vote count and delegate race here Posted: 23 Feb 2020 12:42 PM PST  Sanders has now won the popular vote in the first three primary contests and holds his biggest lead yet in the diverse state of Nevada.
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| Locusts Could be the Next Plague to Hit China Posted: 22 Feb 2020 02:34 AM PST  HONG KONG—Swarms of desert locusts have devastated crops in East Africa, hit the Middle East and moved into South Asia. They're breeding fast thanks to changes in global climate patterns that have brought about major cyclones and heavy rains, and they are feeding off human food supplies across continents. So far, India has managed to prevent a swarm of biblical proportions from spilling over into Bangladesh, Burma, and then China—where the coronavirus has already paralyzed much of the country's activity. But it's not clear how long that line will hold. The Next Coronavirus Nightmare Is Closer Than You ThinkEastern Africa has been hit the hardest by the xanthic bugs, with fields in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia ravaged by 360 billion locusts. Swarms can be city-sized, and one of the largest—located in Kenya—covers about 37 miles by 25 miles. It is so dense that it turns daylight to darkness for anyone caught within. Alarmist headlines are proliferating, too, many of them drawing parallels with the plagues in scripture. "Bible coming to life?" asked the Jerusalem Post. The swarms appear in the Old Testament, most notably in Exodus as one of the plagues Moses calls down on Egypt, which also is referenced in the Quran. In the New Testament locusts are associated with Revelation 9:3, where they emerge in ferocious swarms that also have the sting of scorpions. Allusions to the Apocalypse aside, the real life potential for disaster is huge.A square mile of a swarm can be formed by up to 210 million locusts, which can eat as much food as 90,000 people in a day. In East Africa, the bugs have been tearing through maize, sorghum, cowpeas, as well as vegetation that cattle graze on.Kenya hasn't seen a swarm this size in seven decades, while Ethiopia and Somalia have managed to avoid these conditions for a quarter of a century. The governments of Kenya and Ethiopia have each dispatched several planes to dump pesticides from the air, which the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says is the only effective way to kill desert locusts. Farmers attempt to chase the bugs off, blasting the claxons on their motorbikes, or rigging contraptions that make loud, metallic noises when shaken. These methods have not made a dent in the locust population. There are simply too many of them.The FAO calls locusts the "most dangerous migratory pest." They are highly mobile, able to travel up to 90 miles a day if wind conditions are in their favor, and wreak havoc along the way. Female locusts can lay up to 300 eggs within their life span of three to five months. As many as 1,000 egg pods, each holding up to 80 eggs, can incubate underground within a square meter (10.7 square feet). Australian Bushfires and Heat Are Killing Flying Foxes by the ThousandsIn the past, desert locusts have been a key factor that aggravated famines in Ethiopia. And in 1915, they stripped Ottoman-era Palestine of nearly all vegetation.Nowadays, desert locusts are still hard to control, chiefly because they tend to breed and thrive in large swathes of remote land, making it difficult for authorities to tackle the problem before it emerges. The countries that are most severely affected also tend to have weaker infrastructure, making them slower to move the necessary supplies and information to parties that need them.In the East African countries where locusts are swarming now, 20 million people already face food insecurity.The bugs multiplied and some swarms went north to Egypt, threatening a nation where food insecurity is a massive concern, particularly outside of the capital and major cities. (Headline in British tabloid The Express: "'We are in the last days' Locust swarm approaching Egypt sparks Bible apocalypse fears.")But most swarms crossed the Red Sea and made their way to Western Asia, chewing through Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Iran in early January and laying more eggs along the way.The Middle Eastern nations' pest control operations failed to cull the locusts, so beds of eggs will hatch by mid-March, releasing new hungry bugs. In the first two weeks of this year, fields in Pakistan and India came under attack too, the swarms intensifying day after day. In India's Rajasthan and Gujarat—two states in the country's northwestern quadrant that share borders with Pakistan—more than 380,000 hectares of farmland have been damaged. The season's harvest of mustard, cumin, and wheat has been consumed by the swarm.What makes the current surge of locusts stand out is not only their numbers and intensity, but also that they are active in the subcontinent during winter months. In the past, swarms typically would dissipate by October. Now it's February, and they are still going strong.The Indian government was quick to identify the locusts as a major problem, and dispatched experts to work with their counterparts from the FAO in the affected regions. They're tracking the swarms and destroying beds of locust eggs to limit the bugs' propagation. And the government has diverted $4.3 million as compensation for farmers who have lost their crops.For now, the Himalayan range is acting as a natural barrier for China, insulating its southwestern border from the scourge that is in Pakistan. But the locusts could bank into Southeast Asia, flowing through Bangladesh and up into Burma, landing in China's Yunnan province, hitting a country that is already locked down because of the coronavirus' rapid spread.As fears rise, the state-run media outlet Global Times has been offering ludicrous consolation to the public, claiming that the desert locusts are "eaten by ducks, fried for food," and "not a threat to China." And the international arm of state-run CCTV even released a bizarre video of "duck troops" amassing at the border. But the species of locust that is on the country's doorstep emits phenylacetonitrile, a foul-smelling secretion that is meant to deter predators. Birds typically do not seek them out as a food source.Spokespersons for China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs claim that there is a "very low risk" of locust plagues hitting China, but a researcher at the Beijing-headquartered Institute of Plant Protection of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences suggests more caution. The agriculture expert, Zhang Zehua, said that Yunnan province (which borders Burma), Guangxi (an autonomous region east of Yunnan), and Sichuan province (north of Yunnan) could be affected in June or July if the plagues are not brought under control in neighboring countries.Zhang may be right, at least according to India's Ministry of Agriculture, which issued a notice saying that it expects 200,000 square kilometers (77,200 square miles) of farmland to be blanketed by locusts in June during the onset of monsoon season—when conditions are perfect for ravenous insects to breed.For now, whether the summer may bring another catastrophe to China depends chiefly on Delhi and Karachi's efforts to exterminate a storm of insects in a race against the seasons.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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