| Pompeo appeared to coordinate with Giuliani on Ukraine, new documents show Posted: 24 Feb 2020 11:28 AM PST  While the impeachment proceedings are now over, ongoing lawsuits and upcoming books are expected to reveal still more details about the campaign to have Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pursue the investigations Trump wanted.
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| Virus 'peaked' in China but could trigger global pandemic: WHO Posted: 24 Feb 2020 12:18 PM PST  The World Health Organization on Monday said the new coronavirus epidemic had "peaked" in China but warned that a surge in cases elsewhere was "deeply concerning" and all countries should prepare for a "potential pandemic". WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the peak in China occurred between January 23 and February 2 and the number of new cases there "has been declining steadily since then". "This virus can be contained," he told reporters in Geneva, praising China for helping to prevent an even bigger spread of the disease through unprecedented lockdowns and quarantines in or near the outbreak's epicentre.
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| Eleven-year-old girl with AR-15 rifle enters US statehouse to support concealed gun legislation Posted: 24 Feb 2020 02:29 PM PST  An 11-year-old girl has openly carried an AR-15 rifle into a gun legislation hearing in Idaho's capital.Bailey Nielsen – escorted by her grandfather – visited a House panel at the Idaho Statehouse to support legislation allowing visitors to the state who can legally posses firearms to carry concealed handguns in urban areas.
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| Nine of the World’s Most Beautiful Outdoor Saunas Posted: 24 Feb 2020 08:25 AM PST |
| Trump Admin. Considers Booting Chinese Reporters in Response to ‘Egregious’ Expulsion of WSJ Journalists: Report Posted: 24 Feb 2020 01:09 PM PST  The Trump administration is considering whether to expel Chinese journalists in response to China's own expulsion of three Wall Street Journal reporters, Bloomberg News reported on Monday.A meeting will be held at the White House on Monday to discuss the administration's options. The meeting will be led by deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger, who himself was a Journal reporter based in Beijing.According to Bloomberg, administration officials are debating whether to expel up to hundreds of Chinese journalists in its response, or whether such a move would even be legal, seeming to contradict American values regarding freedom of the press."This expulsion is yet another attempt to control the press, and prevent the world's readers as well as investors from reading important stories about China," said John Ullyot, a spokesman for the National Security Council, in comments on the situation on Friday. Ullyot called China's expulsion of the Journal reporters an "egregious act."China expelled the three reporters after the Journal refused to apologize for a headline China deemed "racist." The headline, "China is the Real Sick Man of Asia," was chosen for a column by Bard College professor Walter Russell Mead on China's difficulty in coping with the Wuhan coronavirus and the shaky financial foundations of its economy.The phrase "sick man of Asia" was used in the late 1800's to describe a China that had lost a string of wars and feared conquering by the western colonial powers. Dozens of reporters from the paper's China bureau have called on the Journal's publisher to change the headline.
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| ‘Senator Sanders, I’m Sorry’: Chris Matthews Apologizes for Nazi Analogy Posted: 24 Feb 2020 04:36 PM PST  Facing outrage over comparing Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders' Nevada Democratic caucus victory to France falling to the Nazis in World War II, Chris Matthews addressed the controversy at the top of his Monday night broadcast."As I watched one-sided results of the caucus in Nevada, I reached for a historical analogy and used a bad one," the veteran MSNBC personality said. "I was wrong to refer to an event from the last days, or actually the first days, of World War II.""Senator Sanders, I'm sorry for comparing anything from that tragic era in which so many suffered, especially the Jewish people, to an elected result in which you were a well-deserved winner," Matthews continued. "This is going to be a hard-fought, heated campaign of ideas."The Hardball host concluded his apology by saying he would "strive to do a better job" of "elevating the political discussion" in the coming weeks and months before congratulating the Democratic presidential hopeful on his "tremendous win down in Nevada."Matthews then welcomed on New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who recently endorsed Sanders, to make the case for the Vermont senator's candidacy.MSNBC has come under fire for its increasingly negative and critical coverage of the Democratic socialist lawmaker as the primary has heated up. Even before Matthews made his unfortunate analogy, the longtime host had been blasted over his unhinged reactions to Sanders' rise.Prior to Monday's mea culpa, Matthews received criticism from his own colleagues for his remarks, with MSNBC analyst Anand Giridharadas slamming Matthews on Sunday for likening Sanders' win to a Nazi invasion, noting that Sanders had relatives "murdered in the Holocaust."Following Matthews' on-air apology, Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir told the Washington Examiner that the campaign appreciates "some of the steps MSNBC has taken, and we hope to get fairer coverage going forward."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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| Probe into abuse at America's oldest deaf school finds 'appalling truths' Posted: 23 Feb 2020 08:21 PM PST  Officials apologized for the "inexcusable actions" of staff and faculty members and the "fact that the school did not prevent or stop them."
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| Trump administration backs off sending coronavirus patients to Alabama -governor Posted: 23 Feb 2020 05:34 PM PST  The news came as worry grew over the spread outside China of the sometimes fatal virus, with a spike in the number of cases found in South Korea, Iran and Italy. Alabama Governor Kay Ivey tweeted that she had thanked Trump during a separate phone call.
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| 'Truth still matters': Judge sentences Roger Stone to 3 years in prison for obstructing Congress' Russia investigation Posted: 24 Feb 2020 10:12 AM PST  The sentence caps a tumultuous 10 days for the Justice Department. Prosecutors originally recommended seven to nine years, but they were overruled.
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| New Virginia sentencing law ends high court's DC sniper case Posted: 24 Feb 2020 12:21 PM PST  Lee Boyd Malvo, the Washington, D.C., area sniper, and Virginia agreed Monday to dismiss a pending Supreme Court case after the state changed criminal sentencing law for juveniles. Under the new law, signed by Gov. Ralph Northam earlier in the day, people serving life terms for crimes they committed before they turned 18 can be considered for parole after serving at least 20 years. The two sides agreed that Malvo's life term would remain in effect, though he will have a chance at parole early in 2024.
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| China said it would relax its lockdown of Wuhan's 11 million residents, only to immediately reintroduce it Posted: 24 Feb 2020 03:25 AM PST  Wuhan announced that some people could leave the locked-down city, only to reverse the announcement hours later as the coronavirus spreads.
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| Iran Prepares to Suffer the Wrath of the Coronavirus Posted: 24 Feb 2020 01:01 PM PST  Iran has sought to deny that the coronavirus is spreading within its borders. Now, the Middle East is facing a new type of crisis—one that could further exacerbate tension in the region.
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| Donald, Melania, Ivanka, and Jared Visited the Taj Mahal. Their Poses Spoke Volumes. Posted: 24 Feb 2020 10:14 AM PST  Melania Trump stood in front of the Taj Mahal, built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as a symbol of devotion to his wife, Mumtaz, and watched her open-mouthed husband bellow to photographers.Her high-necked, ivory jumpsuit matched the exterior of the famed marble mausoleum (CNN's Kate Bennett identified the one piece as made by Trump's stylist, Hervé Pierre). It came with a moss green sash made of "vintage Indian textile" that slightly clashed with her husband's canary yellow tie. Still, the First Lady—known for looking absolutely miserable when out with her husband—appeared happy, or at least flashed a few more step-and-repeat smiles than normal. One tabloid described the pair as "loved-up," which is as big of a stretch as the notion that burger-loving Trump enjoyed his meatless Monday in India. Still, the Trumps were able to hold hands for a while, and they stood close while watching a flock of birds fly away, like two characters from a gothic poem. Trump Taj Mahal Slashed Security. Then the Murders Started.Ivanka, too, arrived with Jared Kushner in tow, though she kicked her husband out of her own picture. In a poppy-patterned turquoise dress, which matched the reflection pool she stood in front of, Ivanka mugged with her vacant-eyed but determined smile.If you have any doubts about any future political aspirations for this "presidential adviser," then (take a deep breath and) look at her Taj Mahal photo op. Despite all those "Unwanted Ivanka" detractors, just like the building itself, she endures. In Ivanka's words, such resilience is "awe inspiring." Others might call her seemingly ceaseless, free vacations (thinly) disguised as diplomacy, a horror scenario. The Taj Mahal was completed after ten years of construction in 1653, outlasting threats from the Japanese Air Force in World War II and Pakistan's bomber pilots in the late '60s. But the historic site, frequently referenced as a Wonder of the World, has succumbed to one thing: the rich and powerful using it as a backdrop to make coded statements to the world. The tradition began in earnest with the 1992 image of Princess Diana on a marble bench, her body a lithe strip in a cherry red blazer, nearly dwarfed compared to the gargantuan building behind her. She went to the site alone, without her husband Prince Charles, implying a fissure in their not-so-storybook romance. But Diana was not the first celebrity photo op at the Taj Mahal. In 1962, Jackie Kennedy took a solo trip to India and Pakistan, at a time when First Ladies did not often dabble in foreign diplomacy. For her pilgrimage to the spot, she wore a preppy blue and green sheath, projecting the Camelot-era's sunny confidence. Four years later, George Harrison snapped a selfie in front of the site, looking very anti-Kennedy in his counterculture duds: an unbuttoned cotton shirt and dark sunglasses. Since then, plenty of other young and famous men have come to the mausoleum in search of themselves, or at least a performative version of it.In 2015, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said the Taj Mahal was an example of "what people can build—and what love can motivate us to build," using the elegant language of a good copywriter to plug his company after paying respects. That same year, Leonardo DiCaprio visited too, while in the country working on a climate change documentary. It was a "secret trip;" DiCaprio asked tourists not to take pictures, because he was working. In 1995, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton also sat on one of the Taj Mahal's benches for photographers, sitting close and smiling, visual code for girl power. Five years after that, the first daughter would return with her father, Bill. In wide-angle snapshots of Donald and Melania strolling in front of the Taj Mahal, the yuge building's scope leaves the pair looking tiny, nearly as tall as the shrubs which line the monument's grassy aisles. Trump, who's got a thing for screaming about his own bigness, might not appreciate how tiny he looks. But for a man who views the presidency as just another prize to show off that he's won, the Taj Mahal visit was a success. The man whose legacy was once a knockoff-named casino now has got his photo in front of the real thing, joining the star-studded ranks of those who came before him. And as we've seen from this optics-obsessed administration so many times before, the facade is all that matters. Samantha Bee Explains How Ivanka Trump Made Her Grow UpRead 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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| Senate FISA Abuse Investigation to Focus on Mystery Source Who Contradicted Steele Dossier Posted: 24 Feb 2020 06:04 AM PST  Senator Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) on Sunday told Fox News the Senate's investigation into FBI abuse of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act will focus on interviews the agency conducted with a Russian source who contradicted much of the information in the Steele dossier."The first thing I want to do is call the people who heard from Russian sub-source that this dossier is a bunch of bar talk and hearsay," Graham said on Fox's Sunday Morning Futures. "I want to find out when did [former FBI director James] Comey and [former FBI deputy director Andrew] McCabe understand it was not reliable and start from there."The source, known in the Justice Department Inspector General's report as "Primary Sub-Source," was former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele's only direct contact in Russia for the allegations contained in the dossier. However, the IG report states that the primary sub-source told the FBI and Justice Department that Steele's allegations were false or misleading, including the assertion of Page's involvement in what the dossier terms a "well-developed conspiracy of cooperation" between the Trump campaign and Russian government."The Primary Sub-source made statements during his/her January 2017 FBI interview that were inconsistent with multiple sections of the Steele reports, including some that were relied upon in the FISA applications," the IG report states.Following the publication of the IG report, prominent Republicans called for an overhaul of the FISA system to prevent future abuses. On Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported the Trump administration is considering doing just that before FISA legislation is set to expire in March.
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| Ginni Thomas: SCOTUS justice's wife leading right-wing effort to purge officials 'disloyal' to Trump Posted: 24 Feb 2020 11:28 AM PST  A group of pro-Trump activists led by Ginni Thomas has reportedly compiled lists of "disloyal" government officials it wants sacked.
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| Fox Business host blames stock market plunge on Bernie Sanders Posted: 24 Feb 2020 09:50 AM PST  Coronavirus? Never heard of her.Fox Business host Charles Payne is attributing Monday's massive stock market drop — which is widely considered to be connected to the deadly coronavirus outbreak — to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).According to Payne, Sanders' recent presidential primary win in Nevada is what caused the Dow Jones Industrial Average to tumble to its biggest one-day point drop in three years, rather than the deadly COVID-19 outbreak that has claimed over 2,600 lives and continues to surge in new countries.Sanders decisively won the Nevada Democratic caucuses Saturday, boasting high numbers in the Democratic primary's most diverse contest thus far. Payne pointed to a dive in several health insurance stocks following Sanders' win, saying "the Bernie factor is finally rearing its head in the stock market."> Fox Business host Charles Payne blames much of today's Dow plunge on Bernie Sanders' Nevada win:> > "The Bernie factor is finally rearing its head in the stock market...there's absolutely no doubt." pic.twitter.com/20041Y0oHE> > — Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) February 24, 2020Sanders' has made health care the hallmark of his campaign, but Payne attributing this to the stock market plunge might be a little iffy.China, where the outbreak originated, boasts the world's second-largest economy, so it shouldn't be too surprising that the largest economy would be affected. Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 3.2 percent and 4 percent, respectively, on Monday, and several major industries, including several that rely heavily on Chinese consumers, have taken hits.Still, Payne said this may be the first time Wall Street is taking "Sanders very seriously."But Payne should know that age-old wisdom tells us Sanders' Nevada win wouldn't travel far anyway — what happens in Vegas is supposed to stay in Vegas.More stories from theweek.com The coronavirus recession? The real third way in 2020 Top member of Trump's coronavirus task force asks Twitter for help accessing map of virus
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| NASA space telescope spots a double star system with an alter ego Posted: 24 Feb 2020 07:53 AM PST  It's like a cosmic story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
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| ‘I have never seen him eat a vegetable’: With steak off the menu, officials scramble to feed fussy eater Trump in India Posted: 24 Feb 2020 07:24 AM PST  Donald Trump has embarked on his first presidential visit to India, the world's largest democracy – and home to the world's largest population of vegetarians. Since Mr Trump is a noted beef-eater, in particular a lover of steak and burgers, gastronomically speaking, the visit will prove one of his most challenging.It's not all bad news for Mr Trump. India's reputation for overwhelming vegetarianism is overstated, and it's thought that more families eat beef at home than generally admit it.
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| Malaysian PM Mahathir sends resignation letter to king - sources Posted: 23 Feb 2020 10:13 PM PST  Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has submitted his resignation to the king, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Monday, amid talks of forming a new coalition to govern the country. Mahathir, 94, assumed office in May 2018 for his second stint as prime minister. A spokesman from the prime minister's office declined to comment, saying only that a statement will be issued soon.
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| South Korea becomes biggest coronavirus centre outside China Posted: 23 Feb 2020 08:14 PM PST  South Korea reported 161 more coronavirus cases Monday, taking the nationwide total to 763 and making it the world's largest total outside China. The country has seen a rapid surge in the number of coronavirus cases -- adding more than 700 cases in less than a week -- since a cluster of infections emerged from a religious sect in the southern city of Daegu. Most of the country's cases are connected to the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu, including 129 of Monday's confirmations, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement.
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| 30 of the Best Stainless Steel Kitchen Faucets Posted: 24 Feb 2020 03:28 PM PST |
| The coronavirus death toll is still rising, but US interest in the outbreak is plummeting Posted: 24 Feb 2020 01:39 PM PST  Serious outbreaks outside of China have been reported in Italy, Iran, and South Korea in the last week.
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| 'It's my guilty pleasure': Sen. Chuck Schumer confirms spending $8,600 on Junior's cheesecake Posted: 24 Feb 2020 02:29 PM PST  Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer admitted he has dropped almost $9,000 on his favorite cheesecake over the years. "Guilty as charged," he said.
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| Indian women protest new citizenship laws, joining a global 'fourth wave' feminist movement Posted: 24 Feb 2020 05:47 AM PST  Women are among the strongest opponents of two new laws in India that threaten the citizenship rights of vulnerable groups like Muslims, poor women, oppressed castes and LGBTQ people.The Citizenship Amendment Act, passed in December 2019, fast-tracks Indian citizenship for undocumented refugees from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan – but only those who are non-Muslim. Another law - the National Register of Citizens – will require all residents in India to furnish extensive legal documentation to prove their citizenship as soon as 2021. Critics see the two laws as part of the government's efforts to redefine the meaning of belonging in India and make this constitutionally secular country a Hindu nation. Since Dec. 4, 2019, Indians of all ages, ethnicities and religions have been protesting the new citizenship initiatives in scattered but complementary nationwide demonstrations. The uprisings have persisted through weeks of arrests, beatings and even killings across India by the police.But the most enduring pocket of resistance is an around-the-clock sit-in of mostly hijab-wearing women in a working-class Delhi neighborhood called Shaheen Bagh. Women take chargeSince Dec. 15, 2019, women of all ages – from students to 90-year-old grandmothers – have abandoned their daily duties and braved near-freezing temperatures to block a major highway in the Indian capital. This is a striking act of resistance in a patriarchal country where women – but particularly Muslim women – have historically had their rights denied.The Shaheen Bagh protests are as novel in their methods as they are in their makeup. Protesters are using artwork, book readings, lectures, poetry recitals, songs, interfaith prayers and communal cooking to explain their resistance to citizenship laws that, they say, will discriminate against not just Muslims but also women, who usually don't have state or property papers in their own names. On Jan. 11, women in the Indian city of Kolkata performed a Bengali-language version of a Chilean feminist anthem called "The Rapist is You." This choreographed public flash dance, first staged in Santiago, Chile in November 2019, calls out the police, judiciary and government for violating women's human rights. A dangerous place for womenIndia is the world's most dangerous country for women, according to the Thompson Reuters Foundation. One-third of married women are physically abused. Two-thirds of rapes go unpunished. Gender discrimination is so pervasive that around 1 million female fetuses are aborted each year. In some parts of India, there are 126 men for every 100 women.Indian women have come together in protest before, to speak out against these and other issues. But most prior women's protests were limited in scope and geography. The 2012 brutal gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old Delhi woman – which sparked nationwide protests – was a watershed moment. All at once, the country witnessed the power of women's rage. The current women-led anti-citizenship law demonstrations are even greater in number and power. Beyond Shaheen Bagh, Indian women across caste, religion and ethnicity are putting their bodies and reputations on the line. Female students are intervening to shield fellow students from police violence at campus protests. Actresses from Bollywood, India's film industry, are speaking out against gender violence, too. Women's secular agendaWith their non-violent tactics and inclusive strategy, the Shaheen Bagh women are proving to be effective critics of the government's Hindu-centric agenda. Their leaderless epicenter of resistance raises up national symbols like the Indian flag, the national anthem and the Indian Constitution as reminders that India is secular and plural – a place where people can be both Muslim and Indian. The Shaheen Bagh movement's novel and enduring strategy has triggered activism elsewhere in the country. Thousands of women in the northern Indian city of Lucknow started their own sit-in in late January. Similar "Shaheen Baghs" have sprung up since, in the cities of Patna and even Chennai, which is located 1,500 miles from Delhi. Global women's springIndia's Shaheen Bagh protests form part of a broader global trend in women's movements. Worldwide, female activists are combining attention to women's issues with a wider call for social justice across gender, class and geographic borders. In January 2019 alone, women in nearly 90 countries took to the streets demanding equal pay, reproductive rights and the end of violence. Young women were also at the forefront of the 2019 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, Lebanon, Sudan, Brazil and Colombia.As I write in my 2017 book, such inclusive activism is the defining characteristic of what's called "fourth wave feminism." There isn't a common definition of the first three feminist waves. In the United States, they generally refer to the early 20th century suffragette movement, the radical women's movement of the 1960s and 1970s and the more mainstream feminism of the 1990s and early 2000s. Fourth wave feminism appears to be more universal. Today's activists fully embrace the idea that women's freedom means little if other groups are still oppressed. With its economic critique, disavowal of caste oppression and solidarity across religious divides, India's Shaheen Bagh sit-in shares attributes with the women's uprisings in Chile, Lebanon, Hong Kong and beyond. The last time women came together in such numbers worldwide was the MeToo movement, a campaign against sexual harassment which emerged on social media in the United States in 2017 and quickly spread across the globe. Shaheen Bagh and similarly far-reaching women's uprisings underway in other countries take MeToo to the next level, moving from a purely feminist agenda to a wider call for social justice. Women protesters want rights – not just for themselves, but human rights for all.[Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend. Sign up for our weekly newsletter.]This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.Read more: * India's plan to identify 'illegal immigrants' could get some Muslims declared 'foreign' * India has a sexual assault problem that only women can fixAlka Kurian has been awarded the 2020-2021 Fulbright U.S. Scholar award. She volunteers for Tasveer, a South Asian non-profit dedicated to social change through thought-provoking South Asian films, art and storytelling.
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| Americans Show Fresh Signs of Panic as Coronavirus Cases Jump Again Posted: 24 Feb 2020 11:50 AM PST  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Monday that the number of 2019 novel Coronavirus cases in the United States rose from 34 on Friday to 53 as more passengers from the Diamond Princess cruise ship tested positive for the sickness. The virus quickly spread among 695 passengers aboard the Carnival cruise ship docked in Yokohama, Japan, and has since killed at least two and forced many of the rest into quarantine and isolation. The U.S. State Department eventually repatriated those who wished to come home, though local officials across America have shown signs of resistance to housing the potentially infected in state or federal facilities. COVID-19, as the virus is officially known, has infected more than 79,000 people in two dozen countries and killed at least 2,600. Businesses across the world have responded by cancelling conferences and restricting travel, especially to China. U.S. financial markets plunged Monday as the number of confirmed cases rose in South Korea, Italy, and Iran. Meanwhile, at least one man in Miami was facing a medical bill for up to thousands of dollars after a Coronavirus scare. He was ultimately diagnosed with the flu, but the case showed the potential for people with high-cost health plans to rack up fees as panic spreads in a country without universal healthcare.The Ticking Coronavirus Time Bomb: America's UninsuredEven as the Petri dish of the Diamond Princess and the surge in cases in Europe and the Middle East have captured the world's attention, the vast majority of cases remain in China, where the virus was first documented in December.Still, the emergence of the virus has produced a range of emotional responses across American professions and demographic groups. The possibility of infection has previously caused panic among ride-share drivers, while teenagers have pretended to be infected with the virus to prompt others to share their videos. There have also been reports of bullying and discrimination against students of Asian descent.Now residents of Salt Lake City appear to be projecting their fears of the virus onto Shen Yun, a dance troupe known as much for its ubiquitous marketing as for its traditional Chinese performances. The group was slated to perform Feb. 25 and 26 in Salt Lake, and residents began calling the local and state public health departments to ask whether dancers might be contagious.Nicholas Rupp, a spokesman for the Salt Lake City health department, said his agency had received four calls since Friday from residents concerned over the risk of infection because of rumors they saw on social media. There is, he said, no basis for the rumors, as the group's North American branch only tours in North America and therefore would not be likely to come into contact with coronavirus patients."We've investigated, and we have no reason to believe that anyone associated with the troupe is ill," he told The Daily Beast.The Utah State Department of Health has also received calls about this week's Shen Yun performance and coronavirus, according to spokeswoman Charla Haley, though she did not know how many. She reiterated Rupp's point that they have no basis.Staffers at Shen Yun appear to be aware of the perception, however baseless, that dancers might be infected, as well. The group published an undated press release dispelling the whispers: "Shen Yun Is Not From China, Shows In No Way Affected By Coronavirus."Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| The 10th Democratic presidential debate: Everything you need to know Posted: 24 Feb 2020 11:17 AM PST  The lineup for the South Carolina debate will again include Mike Bloomberg, who will try to rebound from his widely panned performance in Las Vegas.
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| Susan Collins Breaks With Trump on Director of National Intelligence Pick Posted: 24 Feb 2020 04:13 PM PST  Republican Senator Susan Collins, a senior member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, on Monday rejected President Trump's pick to lead the intelligence community, saying Richard Grenell does not have the experience to serve as director of national intelligence."I would have much preferred that the president nominate the acting director Maguire for the post," Collins said, referring to the former director of national intelligence, Joseph Maguire."As one of the four authors of the law that created the DNI back in 2004, I care deeply about that position and believe the person needs experience in the intelligence community, which regrettably Ambassador Grenell does not have," Collins continued.The Maine Republican, who is up for reelection this year, is the first in Trump's party to raise concerns about his pick. Collins helped draft the 2004 law that established the office of director of national intelligence.Maguire was forced out on Thursday, his sudden departure causing consternation among the Intelligence Community, and replaced with Grenell, formerly the U.S. Ambassador to Germany.His departure came after Trump was reportedly irked about a classified briefing last Thursday during which Shelby Pierson, the intelligence community election threats executive, warned lawmakers that Russia is again interfering in the 2020 campaign and attempting to get Trump reelected.The president was said to be "out of joint with Maguire" on that process after hearing about the intelligence conclusion from a House Republican rather than from the intelligence community itself.Trump later pushed back on the narrative that he is the favorite candidate of Russia, calling it "another misinformation campaign" that was "launched by Democrats."
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| Daredevil 'Mad Mike' Hughes dies in crash of his homemade rocket in California Posted: 23 Feb 2020 02:07 PM PST  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Mad Mike" Hughes, a self-styled explorer and daredevil bent on proving that the earth is flat was killed over the weekend when his homemade rocket crashed in the California desert over the weekend. "Michael 'Mad Mike' Hughes tragically passed away today during an attempt to launch his homemade rocket," the Science Channel, which was planning to feature him on an upcoming series called "Homemade Astronauts," said on Twitter. A videotape of the incident, in which the rocket appears to fail shortly after take-off in the Mojave Desert outside Barstow, California, was posted to Twitter by Justin Chapman, a freelance journalist who was filming the launch.
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| Coronavirus Cases Outside China Are Accelerating Rapidly. Here’s What to Know Posted: 24 Feb 2020 03:49 AM PST  Countries including South Korea, Italy and Iran are seeing a significant uptick in the number of COVID-19 cases
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| US economy faces long-lasting damage from trade war: Fed official Posted: 24 Feb 2020 12:43 PM PST  The trade conflict of the past two years likely left a mark on the US economy, even with the recent agreement to defuse the situation, a Federal Reserve official said Monday. The outbreak of the new coronavirus in China adds another risk factor to the outlook, which otherwise seemed poised to provide steady growth, said Loretta Mester, president of the Federal Reserve's regional bank in Cleveland. With the partial agreement signed with China to call a truce in the dispute with Beijing -- despite leaving many tariffs in place -- as well as a new continental free trade pact with Canada and Mexico, Mester said the trade picture is "somewhat better" heading into 2020.
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| Democrats' strategy to stop Sanders could be fatally flawed Posted: 24 Feb 2020 11:05 AM PST  As the results of the Nevada caucuses showed Sen. Bernie Sanders solidifying his status as a — or the — Democratic frontrunner, those in the party who fear his nomination mounted increasingly panicked calls for other candidates to drop out and allow the opposition to coalesce around a single challenger.
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| Climate change could be a 'catastrophic' national security threat, report warns Posted: 24 Feb 2020 09:04 AM PST  "Even at scenarios of low warming, each region of the world will face severe risks to national and global security in the next three decades," according to a report by the Center for Climate and Security.
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| Canadian military stands up for women troops after viral tweet questioned 'how men could be attracted to women dressed as men' Posted: 24 Feb 2020 03:06 PM PST  "These are men's jobs," a blogger said in a viral tweet, adding that women ought to "stick to being feminine."
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| Auschwitz Museum upset at scene in Amazon series 'Hunters' Posted: 24 Feb 2020 02:59 AM PST  The museum of the Nazi German Auschwitz death camp is objecting to a scene in a new Amazon TV series that shows a murderous game of human chess being played there, insisting that no such thing took place at the camp. The museumand memorial that guard the Auschwitz-Birkenau site in southern Poland, its historic facts and the memory of the victims tweeted about the scene in Amazon's series "Hunters." It said inventing fake scenes is "dangerous foolishness and caricature," encourages Holocaust deniers and is disrespectful of the camp's some 1.1 million victims, including women and children. The series' creator, David Weil stressed in a statement it was not a documentary but a narrative with largely fictional characters.
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| 14 products dermatologists recommend for soothing redness and rosacea Posted: 24 Feb 2020 01:59 PM PST  These products help soothe skin, minimize redness and prevent flare-ups of rosacea.
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| Trump Says U.S.-India to Sign $3 Billion in Defense Deals Posted: 24 Feb 2020 03:51 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. will sign military deals worth more than $3 billion with India on Tuesday, President Donald Trump said at the start of a two-day state visit to the South Asian nation."We make the greatest weapons ever made. Airplanes. Missiles. Rockets. Ships. We make the best and we're dealing now with India. But this includes advanced air-defense systems and armed and unarmed aerial vehicles," Trump told a cheering crowd at the western Indian city of Ahmedabad on Monday as he shared the stage with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Last week, India's cabinet cleared $2.6 billion purchase from Lockheed Martin Corp. of 24 multi-role MH-60R Seahawk maritime helicopters to Indian navy.The State Department has also approved a potential sale to India of $1.8 billion in arms, including air-defense radars and missiles, rifles and other equipment, the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced.Trump also reiterated his pledge that the U.S. would make a significant trade deal with India."We are in the early stages of discussion for an incredible trade agreement to reduce barriers of investment between the United States and India," he said. "And I am optimistic that, working together, the prime minister and I can reach a fantastic deal that's good and even great for both of our countries."Trump gave no time line for a deal and speaking to reporters later he said he was in "no rush."Officials have tried to hammer out a modest trade deal opening up India to U.S. agricultural products and medical devices in return for the restoration of preferential export status that Trump stripped from India in 2019."There has been comparatively less activity during President Trump's first term so it's important for the two sides to get a win in the arms sales arena, particularly since the trade deal that's been under negotiations for over a year appears to be off the table for now," Jeff M. Smith, research fellow at the Washington D.C.-based Heritage Foundation's Asian Studies Center.(Updates with Trump quote on trade deal in the seventh paragraph.)\--With assistance from Bibhudatta Pradhan.To contact the reporters on this story: Justin Sink in Ahmedabad at jsink1@bloomberg.net;Archana Chaudhary in Ahmedabad at achaudhary2@bloomberg.net;Jordan Fabian in Ahmedabad at jfabian6@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Ruth Pollard at rpollard2@bloomberg.net, Muneeza NaqviFor 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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| Putin Sent Her Activist Boyfriend to the Arctic Circle. Now She Wants to Go, Too. Posted: 24 Feb 2020 02:11 AM PST  MOSCOW—Few people are familiar with Novaya Zemlya, a very obscure archipelago above the Arctic Circle that is controlled by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), the successor to the infamous Soviet spy agency, the KGB. Even fewer people hope to travel to those thinly populated and thoroughly militarized islands, where the Russian army tests its Arctic missile systems, and where polar bears suffering the effects of climate change dig through garbage pits at impoverished settlements. Alexei Navalny on Standing Up to Putin and His Murderous MinionsIt sounds like hell frozen over, in fact—and it figures in what looks like a new tactic by President Vladimir Putin (a former KGB operative) to intimidate his most vocal critics. But Kira Yarmysh has a special reason to go there. She is desperate to see her partner, who became the first victim of such an operation last December."The FSB abducted my boyfriend, Ruslan Shaveddinov, and isolated him in Novaya Zemlya," Yarmysh told The Daily Beast. "The most outrageous truth is that several divisions of the state system, including military authorities, aviation, and secret services, are helping to hide Ruslan from us." This was hardly a random act. Yarmysh is a news presenter and spokesperson for Russia's top opposition leader, Aleksei Navalny, and his Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK). Shaveddinov is one of the group's star reporters and presenters as well.Russia still has a military draft, and 12 months of service are mandatory for all male citizens age 18 to 33. Shaveddinov, known as "Shav," has been famous for presenting vivid, well-documented corruption investigations on YouTube. But at 23 years old, he was vulnerable, and authorities claimed he was draft-dodging.The news agency TASS quotes Moscow's military commissar, Col. Maksim Loktev, claiming the conscription of Shaveddinov was perfectly ordinary: "He departed to the place of his military service on the draft." But the young activist's colleagues aren't buying it. It's not just the matter of conscription; it's the deployment that's suspicious."This is a unique example of how the FSB begins to use military service as a prison for politically active young men," Navalny told The Daily Beast. "I think the order was to isolate Shav."Viewers all over Russia recognize Yarmysh and Shaveddinov from YouTube, which is the main outlet for Navalny's reports. More than three million viewed their presentation last summer (while Navalny was in jail) about Moscow Deputy Mayor Natalia Sergunina. They reported she was making millions of dollars off property deals in the Russian capital for companies controlled by her relatives, an allegation that she has denied. There are frequent police raids on FBK offices, along with confiscations of computers, cellphones, and video cameras. On July 27, members of an armed special unit raided Yarmysh's home at dawn, woke the couple up, put Ruslan on the floor, and confiscated all of the digital equipment. After a tough 2019, Kira and Ruslan looked forward to celebrating the New Year's holiday together, without any people around. But on Dec. 23, Kira's boyfriend vanished and his cellphone was not answered. His friends found the door to his apartment broken. Nearly 24 hours later, Yarmysh discovered that her partner was more than 3,000 kilometers (some 2,000 miles) away, in a unit of what's called the 33rd Guards Rocket Army based in Rogachevo village on the Southern Island of Novaya Zemlya. Yarmysh had never heard much about the rules of the archipelago and the news came as a shock: there was an old nuclear testing ground near Ruslan's base; she could not visit his island without a special FSB permit. Then Ruslan called her, and what she heard broke her heart, she says."There were two army captains with him listening in our conversation, so every time I asked him how he was, he said, 'Let's talk about you," Yarmysh remembered. "He told me he was banned from using his cellphone, which is a violation—every Russian soldier can call home once a week! So I decided to sue his commander."Yarmysh wanted to be present during the court hearing last week, and, of course, to see Ruslan. She requested an FSB permit earlier this month, but days passed and there was no word back. The court hearing was scheduled for last Wednesday, but a Moscow judge on the case was not able to get to Novaya Zemlya, Yarmysh said—the flight got canceled due to harsh weather conditions. (This is not unusual given the brutal Arctic weather.) "They regularly cancel flights during the winter, so I am surprised that the army managed to transport Ruslan there so easily in December," Yarmysh said. "It is obvious that the weather is not an issue, if there is an order to bring the guy."Finally a hearing was held at the end of the week, and a lawyer from the Navalny team was able to make it there, but there was no satisfaction to be had and communications were spotty. At midday on Saturday, Yarmysh tweeted that she still had heard nothing about her boyfriend's fated. (A troll responded with pictures of polar bears eating a bloody corpse: "Found him. But no need to thank me.")The lawyer finally got in touch late Saturday, but only briefly. He reported that, officially, the court said Shaveddinov had no unusual restrictions. But in practical terms that was no consolation, and Yarmysh said she couldn't be sure what happened until the attorney made it back to Moscow. As of Monday, however, he was till stuck above the Arctic Circle because of the weather."Prisoners have more rights than Ruslan," Yarmysh told The Daily Beast. "He doesn't have any right to call, or even to send letters."Yarmysh grew up in Rostov-on-Don, a provincial southern town on the border with Ukraine's Donbas region. Her single mother brought her up dreaming that one day Kira would win The Clever Heads, a televised competition for high-schoolers that awards the winners with a chance to enroll in Russia's most prestigious university for future diplomats, the MGIMO, or Moscow State Institute of International Relations. And, yes, Yarmysh won.While studying at MGIMO, she thought she would one day get a diplomat's position in Africa, far from the Russian political scene. But anti-Putin street protests in 2011-2012 changed her life, and she wound up on the front line of the opposition's constant fight with corrupt bureaucrats. Her mother has always been an Aleksey Navalny fan, Yarmysh said, so when she got her job at the FBK six years ago, her family supported her. "Kira Yarmysh is one of the brightest stars in Navalny's team. She is emerging to be even bigger but still stay in Navalny's shadow," Echo of Moscow Deputy Chief Editor Olga Bychkova told The Daily Beast. Yarmysh says that if she has to she will wait for her boyfriend for 12 months, as do millions of other Russian girls all over the country. "I hope this is going to be just one year," she says. For two months, Yarmysh has been worried, feeling "hurt," she says, wondering why out of all Russia's vast military bases, her boyfriend was isolated in the Arctic. "The authorities might think that Ruslan and I, if we come out to a street protest, might lead masses of people," Yarmysh said, then added: "I personally have no fear. If they raid our homes, if they detain us, I tell myself, we must be doing everything right." But for the moment that is, at best, cold comfort.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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| President Trump, first lady visit Taj Mahal in India Posted: 24 Feb 2020 06:47 AM PST  President Trump, who once owned the former Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, N.J., took in breathtaking views of the real Taj Mahal Monday in India. As Trump walked from the iconic 17th century mausoleum, he told reporters that it is s an "incredible place."
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| Harvard scientist predicts coronavirus will infect up to 70 percent of humanity Posted: 24 Feb 2020 11:58 AM PST  Harvard University epidemiologist Marc Lipsitch is predicting the coronavirus "will ultimately not be containable" and, within a year, will infect somewhere between 40 and 70 percent of humanity, The Atlantic reports. But don't be too alarmed. Many of those people, Lipsitch clarifies, won't have severe illnesses or even show symptoms at all, which is already the case for many people who have tested positive for the virus.That's precisely why he doesn't think the virus can be stopped. Viruses like SARS, MERS, and the avian flu were eventually contained in part because they were more intense and had a higher fatality rate. In other words, if you were infected by the virus that caused SARS, chances were you weren't out and about. But because the current coronavirus, known as COVID-19, can be asymptomatic, or at least very mild, there's a better chance people will likely go about their day as normal. The down side, though, is that it becomes harder to trace and prevent. In that sense it's similar to the flu, which can also be deadly, but often passes without the infected person seeking medical care.The Atlantic reports Lipsitch is definitely not alone in his prediction. There's an emerging consensus that the outbreak will eventually morph into a new seasonal disease, which, per The Atlantic, could one day turn "cold and flu season" into "cold and flu and COVID-19 season." Read more at The Atlantic.More stories from theweek.com The coronavirus recession? The real third way in 2020 Top member of Trump's coronavirus task force asks Twitter for help accessing map of virus
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| Trump's 'Big' China Trade Deal Has Some Really Big Problems Posted: 23 Feb 2020 09:30 AM PST  The remaining issues, such as cyber theft, cyber security, and standardization, are untouched by the Agreement and could be the source of tension in the future.
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| Two 13-year-old boys charged with murder in California library fire Posted: 24 Feb 2020 09:11 AM PST  Charges have been filed against two 13-year-old boys linked to a library fire at California's Porterville City Library that killed two firefighters.
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| An official leading South Korea's battle against COVID-19 says he's a member of a doomsday cult where a virus 'super-spreader' event occurred Posted: 24 Feb 2020 02:14 PM PST  "If we have another Daegu in this country, I can't imagine what would happen," a professor said since medical resources are being stretched thin.
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| Coronavirus updates: 5 dead and 200 infected in Italy as Europe braces for COVID-19 Posted: 24 Feb 2020 06:44 AM PST  As new hotspots arise in South Korea, Italy and Iran, here is the latest for Monday, Feb. 24.
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| Forest fire near I-80, Appalachian Trail mostly contained Posted: 23 Feb 2020 09:48 PM PST  A forest fire burning through a popular hiking area that is crossed by the Appalachian Trail and a major interstate highway was about 80% contained by Monday afternoon, New Jersey fire officials said. The fire began Sunday afternoon on Mount Tammany, a steep, rugged area of New Jersey's Worthington State Forest and the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area on the New Jersey-Pennsylvania border.
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| How the Spread of Coronavirus Could Affect Your Travel Plans Posted: 24 Feb 2020 03:28 PM PST  The coronavirus has now spread well beyond Asia, hitting the Middle East, Europe, and other parts of the globe. As new cases continue to erupt in different countries, what should American consume...
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| Samos villagers up in arms over new refugee camp plan Posted: 24 Feb 2020 06:34 AM PST  For many of those who live on the Greek Aegean island of Samos it is absolutely clear -- they want no more refugees, no new camps and to be left alone as they were before the migrant crisis broke in 2015. "We, the people who live here, we oppose this idea of a camp," says an angry Nikos Ftinogiannis. Just a stone's throw from his village of Mitilinii in the arid Zervou area, more than a hundred containers have already been positioned in an enclosure marked out with barbed fences to serve as a new, closed camp.
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| US staged 'limited' nuclear battle against Russia in war game Posted: 24 Feb 2020 03:14 PM PST  The Pentagon has briefed about the simulated exchange in a move that could signal readiness to fight and win nuclear conflictThe US conducted a military exercise last week which simulated a "limited" nuclear exchange with Russia, a senior Pentagon official has confirmed.The war game is notable because of the defence department's highly unusual decision to brief journalists about the details and because it embodied the controversial notion that it might be possible to fight, and win, a battle with nuclear weapons, without the exchange leading to an all-out world-ending conflict.The exercise comes just weeks after the US deployed a new low-yield submarine-launched warhead commissioned by Donald Trump, as a counter to Russian tactical weapons and intended to deter their use.According to a transcript of a background briefing by senior Pentagon officials, the defence secretary, Mark Esper, took part in what was described as a "mini-exercise" at US Strategic Command in Nebraska. Esper played himself in the simulated crisis, in which Russia launched an attack on a US target in Europe."The scenario included a European contingency where you are conducting a war with Russia, and Russia decides to use a low-yield limited nuclear weapon against a site on Nato territory," a senior official said. "And then you go through the conversation that you would have with the secretary of defense and then with the president, ultimately, to decide how to respond."The official said that "in the course of [the] exercise, we simulated responding with a nuclear weapon", but described it as a "limited response".The limited response could suggest the use of a small number of nuclear weapons, or an existing low-yield weapon, or the new W76-2 low-yield submarine-launched missile which was deployed in the Atlantic for the first time at the end of last year. The deployment only became public at the end of January.At the same time as describing last week's war game, Pentagon officials defended the fielding of the W76-2."It's a very reasonable response to what we saw was a Russian nuclear doctrine and nuclear capability that suggested to us that they might use nuclear weapons in a limited way," a senior official said.The briefing was first reported by National Defense, a trade magazine of the National Defense Industrial Association.Hans Kristensen, the director of the nuclear information project at the Federation of American Scientists, pointed out that it was extremely rare for the Pentagon to give such detailed briefings about nuclear exercises and suggested it could have been a marketing exercise for the new weapons being added to the US arsenal."Remember, it's only a few weeks ago that we had the official confirmation that this new low-yield warhead had been deployed," Kristensen said. "And we're now moving into a new budget phase where they have to go to Congress and try to justify the next new nuclear weapon that has a low-yield capability which is a sea-launched cruise missile. So all of this has been played up to serve that process."Advocates of the new US weapons say they represent a deterrent against Moscow believing it can use a tactical nuclear weapon without a US response, as Washington would have to choose between not responding, or dramatically escalating through the use of a much more powerful strategic nuclear warhead.Arms control advocates are concerned that the leadership in both the US and Russia are developing a mindset in which their vast nuclear arsenals are not just the ultimate deterrent but weapons that could be used to win "limited" conflicts.
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| Nazi Killer: This Was the Battle That Made Patton a Legend Posted: 22 Feb 2020 09:00 PM PST  But the cost of victory, like so many times during World War II, was high.
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