| Roosevelt who? 2020 Democrats steer clear of talking history Posted: 09 Mar 2020 04:01 PM PDT  Modern politicians talk less and less about the traditions and legacy of their own political parties. Joe Biden's rise in the Democratic primary shows this might be a misjudgment.
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| Should daylight saving time be eliminated? Posted: 08 Mar 2020 08:22 AM PDT  A push to end the practice of changing clocks twice a year is gaining steam in parts of the U.S. Should daylight saving time be abolished nationwide?
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| Experts: Rapid testing helps explain few German virus deaths Posted: 09 Mar 2020 10:27 AM PDT  Germany has confirmed more than 1,100 cases of the new coronavirus but — so far — just two deaths, far fewer than other European countries with a similar number of reported infections. Experts said Monday that rapid testing as the outbreak unfolded meant Germany has probably diagnosed a much larger proportion of those who have been infected, including younger patients who are less likely to develop serious complications. "We in Germany were simply at the forefront in terms of diagnostics," said Christian Drosten, the director of the Institute for Virology at Berlin's Charite hospital.
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| As markets plummet, Trump says White House to seek possible payroll tax cuts Posted: 09 Mar 2020 04:03 PM PDT  President Trump on Monday evening said he will speak with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senate Republicans about a possible payroll tax cut that would provide "very substantial relief" amid the COVID-19 coronavirus epidemic."We have a great economy, a very strong economy, but this has blindsided the world," Trump said. The coronavirus epidemic, as well as Saudi Arabia cutting oil export prices by nearly 10 percent, is worrying investors, and on Monday, U.S. stocks fell more than 7 percent in the Dow's worst day since 2008. Trump said he wants to meet with McConnell on Tuesday, and in addition to discussing a payroll tax cut, he will also bring up "hourly wage earners getting help so they can be in a position where they are not ever going to miss a paycheck."Trump said the COVID-19 epidemic is "not our country's fault, this is something we've been throw into," and the government is working with the airline, cruise, and travel industries as they will feel the effects of people staying home. "The main thing is we are taking care of the American public," he said.More stories from theweek.com Trump retweets White House photo of him fiddling, says he doesn't know 'what this means' Washington nursing home with coronavirus outbreak reported shocking escalation from 'no symptoms to death' S&P 500 has 7th worst decline since World War II
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| A Look at the Complete Works of Antoni Gaudí Posted: 09 Mar 2020 02:02 PM PDT |
| Thousands of people in Italy panicked and tried to flee its 16-million-person coronavirus quarantine after the plan leaked Posted: 09 Mar 2020 04:37 AM PDT  "Some of those who fled will be infected with the disease," said one virus expert — increasing the risk it will spread further.
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| Pakistan, northern India face renewed threat of flooding from rounds of showers, thunderstorms Posted: 09 Mar 2020 09:14 AM PDT  After flooding and landslides caused numerous deaths in Pakistan late last week, parts of the country are bracing for the arrival of another potent storm system.The storm will track from southern Iran into Pakistan through Tuesday before arriving in northern Pakistan on Wednesday.Showers and thunderstorms will spread from eastern Afghanistan into far northern India, including the states of Himachal, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh by Wednesday. Steadier and heavier rain is forecast for far eastern Afghanistan, northern Pakistan and into far northern India as the storm forces moisture into the meeting point of the Hindu Kush and Himalayan mountains.By Friday, the storm will begin to move east. Rain and storms will begin to gradually taper off across Pakistan, but they will spread east along the Himalayas into northeastern India and Bhutan.Through the second half of the week, isolated showers and thunderstorms are also expected to develop in parts of Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal of eastern India.A couple of storms can drift into northwestern Bangladesh.CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APPRainfall totals up to 13-25 mm (0.5-1 inch) will be common across the region from this system, but totals can accumulate up to 25-50 mm (1-2 inches) in areas of heavier rain. An AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 150 mm (6 inches) is possible in the mountains of Pakistan and far northern India.Localized flooding will be possible in areas of poor drainage and in any downpours that develop through the second half of the week. Northern Pakistan will face the greatest risk after torrential rain caused flooding late last week and into this past weekend.Flooding and landslides in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan were to blame for at least 17 deaths and officials in the province declared a weather emergency to help relocate residents displaced by the disaster, reported The Express Tribune.Colder air arriving with the storm will cause precipitation to fall as snow in higher elevations, but it could also pose a risk to those displaced in the mountainous areas of Pakistan.Flooding and chilly conditions will not be the only concerns as storms return to the area. Frequent lighting strikes will be dangerous for anyone caught outside during the unsettled period.Residents are reminded to head inside at the first rumble of thunder.Some of the wet weather may prove beneficial. Lengthy periods of rain could improve air quality across northern India where air pollution reaches dangerous levels during the drier season.Occasional showers and thunderstorms are forecast to continue into the weekend near the mountains of northern India and Nepal.Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
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| Turkey issues new arrest warrant for jailed businessman Kavala Posted: 09 Mar 2020 02:01 PM PDT  A Turkish court issued a new arrest warrant on Monday against Turkish businessman and philanthropist Osman Kavala, who was re-arrested last month after being acquitted in a separate trial, one of his lawyers told Reuters. Kavala had been cleared of charges related to nationwide protests in 2013, but was re-arrested the following day, accused of attempting to overthrow the constitutional order in a failed coup in 2016. On Monday, a second arrest warrant was issued in relation to the coup attempt, this time for espionage.
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| Why Is Alleged Quack Dr. Oz the Face of NBC’s ‘Coronavirus Crisis Team’? Posted: 09 Mar 2020 01:41 AM PDT  For the past week—as the global COVID-19 death toll surpassed 3,800, including at least 22 fatalities in the United States—NBC News has been promoting celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz as the most visible member of the Today show's so-called "Coronavirus Crisis Team."The 59-year-old Oz, an Oprah Winfrey protégé who registered the trademark "America's Doctor" as his self-awarded title, has been urging Today viewers to vigorously scrub their thumbs and fingertips as part of a 20-second hand-washing ritual to combat the spread of the pandemic, and on Friday, exhorted people over the age of 60—those at highest risk of succumbing to the disease—to stick close to home."If I was younger I would go ahead and travel, but if I was older, I wouldn't—and would avoid crowded places," Oz told Today co-host Craig Melvin, suggesting that senior citizens keep at an "arm's length" distance from strangers. "Why take a chance?"That is prudent counsel, to be sure. (Never mind that it directly contradicted Oz's recommendation to 88-year-old William Shatner—on Monday's episode of Access Daily—that the "apprehensive" Star Trek actor proceed with his plans for an international lecture tour: "He can go anywhere he wants. Do not make decisions based on fear… We've gotta live our lives.")The telegenic Oz might well be a talented thoracic surgeon—best known as the host of the popular syndicated daytime program The Dr. Oz Show—but he is hardly an ideal dispenser of medical advice for an increasingly anxious American public."He's just a quack," said physician and scientific researcher Henry I. Miller, one of Oz's more vocal critics in the medical community, but by no means unique in his condemnation of, among other transgressions, Oz's enthusiastic endorsements of phony weight-loss remedies, his bogus claims of dangerous levels of arsenic in children's apple juice, and his willingness to provide a platform to the debunked assertion that genetically modified food causes cancer."He's been dishonest and he has been dispensing misinformation to millions now for years," said Miller, who in 2015 led an unsuccessful campaign to pressure Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons to fire Oz from its faculty. "I wouldn't trust any of his observations, and don't see how he would have responsible and valid views on coronavirus."NBC News declined to comment on Oz's critics or his role on the Today show, where he is one of several paid physician-contributors—but surely the most famous and camera-savvy—who've been enlisted in recent days as on-air experts to address viewers' coronavirus concerns.In a statement to The Daily Beast, Oz responded: "There are lots of detractors in life who have trouble hearing the truth or engaging in difficult debates about multi-sided topics. I have spent my career with the belief that knowledge is power and I have never shied away from that mantra. We are in the midst of one of the biggest epidemics in recent time and my focus is on educating and calming a fearful public. That's what we all should be focused on right now."Oz and the 72-year-old Dr. Miller—a former Food and Drug Administration official and ex-academic fellow at Stanford University's conservative-leaning Hoover Institution—are longtime adversaries. On an April 2015 installment of The Dr. Oz Show, Oz countered Miller's headline-grabbing open letter to Columbia University demanding his dismissal by slamming Miller as a paid shill for the tobacco, pesticide, and genetically modified food industries. (Indeed, Miller was dropped as a columnist by Forbes magazine in 2017 after The New York Times reported that one of his 2015 bylined columns largely echoed a draft prepared by employees of Monsanto.)In addition, Oz noted that one of the letter's 10 physician co-signers, Dr. Gilbert Ross, was a convicted felon who served prison time for Medicaid fraud.Still, most of Oz's critics are not so easily attacked.Three Mayo Clinic scientists—Dr. Jon C. Tilburt, M.D., and PhDs Megan Allyse and Frederic W. Hafferty—pulled no punches in their February 2017 article in the AMA Journal of Ethics about the troubling questions raised by Oz's public influence."Should a physician be allowed to say anything—however inaccurate and potentially harmful—so long as that individual commands market share?" they wrote. "In a professional sector whose history and growth is marked by the sustained and rightful denouncement of quacks and quackery… an inability to define and fence the epistemic boundaries of scientific medicine from apparent quackery on such a visible scale becomes something akin to a full-scale identity crisis for medicine…"Dr. Oz certainly appears to be someone peddling unproven and ineffective remedies for personal gain… Yet, he remains immensely popular, prompting us to wonder, if we can't effectively sanction Dr. Oz, whom can we sanction?"Meanwhile, a May 2018 article by Rina Raphael, Fast Company magazine's health and technology writer, decried Donald Trump's appointment of Oz to the President's Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition."The inclusion of Dr. Oz took many in the health industry by surprise, especially those who have been following the TV star's snake-oil antics over the last few years," Raphael wrote. "Oz has been repeatedly called out for his support of false, deceptive products and unproven medical practices, both from the medical community and consumer watchdog groups."His appointment clearly speaks in no way to his reputation as a trusted medical source, but rather to his celebrity status—and the ability to parlay that into multiple business opportunities. Perhaps that's what Trump, who has shown a preference for pundits over experts, finds appealing."More likely, Trump was simply rewarding Oz for letting the then-Republican presidential nominee and his daughter Ivanka onto the Sept. 15, 2016 installment of his syndicated show to tell whoppers, unchallenged, about his physical condition, especially the obvious sham that the obese candidate weighed only 236 pounds. Oz accepted at face value the conclusions of Trump's discredited doctor, Harold Bornstein, who declared that his patient "will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency.""Talk about two snake-oil salesman!" then-Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill said at the time about Trump's appearance on Dr. Oz."I mean one of them says, 'Take a pill and you'll be thin'… from your lips to God's ear wouldn't we all love that? Not true. Not medically true. Not scientifically true. And Dr. Oz knows it," said McCaskill, who famously dressed Oz down for pushing diet scams during a 2014 Senate hearing.Trump, meanwhile, is "promising things that are totally not true. Lying every time he opens his mouth," McCaskill added. "So I think it's really a marriage made in heaven."Oz's legion of critics also includes, but isn't limited to, New Yorker science writer Michael Specter, the British Medical Journal, and Popular Science magazine.As of this writing, however, it seems highly doubtful that NBC News and the Today show will spend even a second, much less 20, washing their hands of Dr. Oz.Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Coronavirus live updates: US death toll hits 21; Grand Princess to dock Monday; Sen. Ted Cruz to self-quarantine Posted: 08 Mar 2020 08:59 PM PDT  The U.S. death toll climbed to 19 this weekend, but there was some good news for passengers and crew of a cruise ship hit by the new coronavirus.
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| World Health Organization: Threat of Wuhan Coronavirus Becoming a Pandemic ‘Very Real’ Posted: 09 Mar 2020 10:30 AM PDT  The World Health Organization warned on Monday that the threat of a Wuhan coronavirus pandemic is now "very real.""Now that the virus has a foothold in so many countries, the threat of a pandemic has become very real," WHO General Director Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference. "But, it would be the first pandemic in history that could be controlled. The bottom line is we are not at the mercy of this virus."Tedros also noted that most confirmed patients in China, where the coronavirus originated, have recovered."We need to remember that with decisive, early action, we can slow down the coronavirus and prevent infections. Among those who are infected, most will recover," Tedros said. "Of the 80,000 reported COVID-19 cases in China, more than 70 percent have recovered."China has confirmed 80,734 cases of the coronavirus, with 3,119 deaths. After China, the countries hardest-hit by the outbreak are South Korea (7,478 cases, 53 deaths), Italy (7,375 cases, 366 deaths), and Iran (6,566 cases, 194 deaths), although the epidemic in Iran may be much worse than the country's authorities currently report. The U.S. has confirmed 545 cases and 22 deaths.Chinese authorities have taken drastic measures to curb the outbreak since it spread from the city of Wuhan, imposing quarantines on entire cities and severely restricting movement within Hubei Province, where Wuhan is located. However, it is so far unclear if these measures have stopped the coronavirus entirely or if its spread could restart if quarantines are lifted."I think they did an amazing job of knocking the virus down," Michael T. Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, told the New York Times on Saturday. "But I don't know if it's sustainable. What have the Chinese really accomplished? Have they really contained the virus? Or have they just suppressed it?"
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| Hillary Clinton says Biden's following in her footsteps Posted: 08 Mar 2020 11:02 AM PDT  Hillary Clinton said in a new interview that Joe Biden's path to the 2020 nomination looks similar to hers back in 2016.
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| 'Every day is getting worse': Coronavirus patient sends stark warning to others about disease Posted: 09 Mar 2020 11:28 AM PDT  The first confirmed coronavirus patient in New Jersey has spoken out about his experience of contracting the virus.James Cai, a 32-year-old physician's assistant, who was the first patient to test positive for the virus in the state, spoke to CBS2's Hazel Sanchez about how rapidly he had fallen ill after contracting Covid-19.
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| Trump reportedly told aides he fears journalists will purposefully try to infect him with coronavirus on Air Force One Posted: 09 Mar 2020 11:46 AM PDT  President Trump puts on a brave face when talking about the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, but things are reportedly pretty different behind closed doors.Vanity Fair reports that Trump — a self-professed germaphobe — is "melting down over this." Perhaps not shockingly, he's focused on the media, in particular, one person close to the White House said. That reportedly includes him telling aides last week that he was concerned journalists would purposefully contract COVID-19 in an attempt to infect him on Air Force One.Another source painted an image more in line with Trump's public reaction to the virus, as well, telling Vanity Fair he reportedly wants the Justice Department to "open an investigation of the media for market manipulation" as he tries to stave off, or at least provide a more optimistic outlook for, the plummeting stock market.The White House did not respond to Vanity Fair's request for comment. Read more at Vanity Fair.More stories from theweek.com Trump retweets White House photo of him fiddling, says he doesn't know 'what this means' Washington nursing home with coronavirus outbreak reported shocking escalation from 'no symptoms to death' S&P 500 has 7th worst decline since World War II
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| From silencing medics to banning 'rumors': Here's why Iran is struggling to contain its coronavirus outbreak Posted: 09 Mar 2020 08:13 AM PDT  Iran's government is accused of downplaying the outbreak's severity and withholding key information. Many top politicians have also caught the virus.
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| South Korea sees coronavirus 'stable phase' but 'too early to be optimistic' Posted: 08 Mar 2020 06:33 PM PDT  South Korean President Moon Jae-in expressed guarded hope for the country's fight against the coronavirus on Monday, saying a downward trend in new infections could lead to a phase of stability, but he warned that it was too early to be optimistic. The numbers showed the rate of increase in new infections fell to its lowest level in 11 days in one of the most severely affected countries outside mainland China. Moon said South Korea can enter the "phase of stability" soon if it continues to reduce the number of new cases.
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| Italy Prison in Flames in Coronavirus Lockdown Riot Among Cut-Off Inmates Posted: 09 Mar 2020 04:42 AM PDT  ROME—As least six inmates have died, and at least 50 others have escaped from an Italian prison in the southern region of Puglia on Monday amid extensive rioting in 27 prisons across the country after visitation rights were curtailed due to the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus. Italy Locks Down 16 Million People To Contain CoronavirusRiots broke out Sunday afternoon in half a dozen prisons after the Italian government enacted a draconian decree that has locked down 16 million people and curtailed movement across the entire country to try to contain the spread of COVID-19. By Monday, the riots had spread to nearly 30 detention facilities.The number of coronavirus cases in Italy reached 9,172 on Monday, the highest number outside of China. At least 463 people have died in Italy with the virus, the second highest number of fatalities after China. In Modena, now part of the extended outbreak red zone designated by the government, prisoners were able to take two guards hostage Sunday and steal keys before climbing a barrier fence to try to escape. They were eventually pushed back by riot police, but the prison had been so damaged that all inmates had to be moved to temporary facilities. In a prison in Pavia, inmates lit mattresses on fire, causing a wing of the facility to be evacuated Sunday. Flames coming from the prison could be seen more than a half-mile away.On Monday, prisoners were seen on top of the San Vittore Prison in Milan, at the heart of the outbreak. There, fires were burning in some areas after all visitation rights were banned after the city was put on lockdown Sunday. During morning recreational time, inmates charged guards and gained access to the roof.In Rome, where nearly 90 people have tested positive for the disease across the province, prisoners have been prohibited from congregating in open areas for recreation. In the Regina Coeli prison in central Rome, inmates could be heard yelling and banging objects in their cells on Monday. Prisoners in the city's Rebibbia prison also set that facility on fire on Monday afternoon, after which around 30 prisoners escaped. Helicopters were flying low over the city center, and sirens wailed for most of the afternoon as the inmates were apprehended. Most criminal trials that have not been suspended across the country will be held in closed courtrooms without prisoners present—out of fear of them contracting the virus in court and spreading it to other inmates. The murder trial involving American teens Finnegan Elder and Gabe Natale for the stabbing death of an Italian police officer last July was in session behind closed doors Monday, but the suspects were not allowed to leave the prison to attend the hearing. Italian prisons are severely overcrowded, with 61,230 inmates in detention centers meant to hold a capacity of no more than 50,950. Inmate-rights groups have complained that testing is not being conducted inside prisons across the country and that a lack of confirmed cases among the incarcerated is not reflective of the current situation. Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Pentagon awards contracts to design mobile nuclear reactor Posted: 09 Mar 2020 10:42 AM PDT  The Department of Defense has two parallel nuclear reactor programs underway, one for domestic use, one for use abroad.
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| Wuhan Official Called for ‘Gratitude Education’ to Teach Citizens to Thank Xi Jinping for Coronavirus Response Posted: 09 Mar 2020 12:09 PM PDT  The top Communist Party official in Wuhan suggested Saturday that the government conduct "gratitude education" to teach citizens how to properly thank the party and general secretary Xi Jinping for the government's response to the coronavirus outbreak."The people of Wuhan are heroic people who understand gratitude," Wuhan party secretary Wang Zhonglin said in comments published by Changjiang Daily. "[We] must through various channels carry out gratitude education among the citizens of the whole city as well as cadres so that they thank the general secretary [Xi Jinping], thank the communist party, listen to the party's words, follow the party's way, and create strong positive energy."The comments were first reported on in English by the China Media Project, and were subsequently seen by The Guardian. China Media Project reported that the remarks drew strong backlash on social media and from Chinese journalists, and Changjiang Daily apparently removed the article from its website.Chinese authorities have faced unprecedented criticism from the country's citizens over its response to the coronavirus outbreak. On Thursday, quarantined Wuhan residents angrily shouted from their windows as Vice-premier Sun Chunlan, one of the highest-ranking officials in the government, visited a residential complex."It's fake, it's fake, everything is fake!" residents shouted. Video of the incident went viral, and was even shared by China state newspaper The Global Times.> "It's fake! It's fake!" shout residents of a community in COVID19 epicenter Wuhan in a viral video on China's social media. They have accused property management of cheating them by only appearing to provide promised necessities. Investigation is underway https://t.co/kzq4gbB4RM pic.twitter.com/0ujObfedR8> > -- Global Times (@globaltimesnews) March 6, 2020Wuhan residents have been quarantined at home for weeks now, relying on local government workers to provide basic necessities.China has confirmed over 80,000 cases of the coronavirus and reported 3,119 deaths from the illness.
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| James Biden’s health care ventures face a growing legal morass Posted: 09 Mar 2020 01:30 AM PDT  A mysterious FBI raid. New allegations from former executives. Questions are swirling about the business dealings of Joe Biden's brother.
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| Elizabeth Warren is out of the race, but advocates hope her disability plan is the new standard Posted: 09 Mar 2020 08:42 AM PDT  Elizabeth Warren exited the presidential race this week, but advocates who worked on her disability plan hope it will set a "standard" going forward.
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| Oil price war, Mecca ban are latest risks by Saudi prince Posted: 09 Mar 2020 05:26 AM PDT  Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is behind the kingdom's boldest and riskiest moves in decades, most recently shutting down Islam's holiest sites to pilgrims to stymie the spread of a new virus and the government's decision to slash oil prices in what analysts say has sparked a price war with major producer Russia. As his father's favored son, the 34-year-old prince oversees nearly every major aspect of the country's defense, economy, internal security, social reforms and foreign policy. The prince's headline-grabbing path to power has been paved with controversy, conflict and combat.
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| Russia has been accused by the US of spreading conspiracy theories that coronavirus is a biological weapon created by the CIA, and now the UK has set up a unit to fight them Posted: 09 Mar 2020 04:45 AM PDT  Thousands of social-media accounts have been made to spread conspiracy theories that the novel coronavirus is a biological weapon created by the CIA.
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| Transgender queen crowned in Thailand as coronavirus limits crowd Posted: 07 Mar 2020 06:12 PM PST  After temperature checks for contestants and with a smaller crowd than last year because of coronavirus fears, Mexico's Valentina Fluchaire was crowned in Thailand as winner of what is billed as the world's biggest transgender pageant on Saturday. Although Miss International Queen 2020 went ahead, unlike many events cancelled around the world since the coronavirus outbreak emerged in China, the crowd was markedly smaller than in previous years, with many empty seats. The contestants all had their temperatures taken with hand scanners before being allowed to go on stage in national costumes, swimsuits and glamorous evening gowns.
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| The Muslim running for mayor in Christian Bavaria Posted: 07 Mar 2020 09:28 PM PST  With his neatly trimmed beard, sharp suit and broad smile, Ozan Iyibas looks like a typical politician out to win votes ahead of a municipal election in southern Germany's Bavaria region. "I don't see any contradiction in this choice," says the 37-year-old, sitting back in an armchair and clutching a mug of tea in the town of Neufahrn. While Iyibas won the local CSU's nomination unanimously, such support is not always a given in the region where party chief Markus Soeder in 2018 ordered crosses to be displayed at the entrances of all public buildings, as a way of honouring the region's "cultural heritage".
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| US regulators will force Boeing to rewire 737 MAX jets: report Posted: 08 Mar 2020 10:55 PM PDT  US aviation regulators plan to require Boeing to rewire all 737 MAX aircraft before allowing the troubled planes fly again, the Wall Street Journal has reported. The MAX has been grounded worldwide since an Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed shortly after take-off last March, less than six months after the same model was involved in a similar fatal accident in Indonesia. Regulators have since concluded that the current wiring layout violated safety standards to prevent short-circuits that could cause similar sharp drops in aircraft pitch, the newspaper said Sunday.
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| Chinese Propagandists Stoke Theory That Coronavirus Originated in U.S. Posted: 09 Mar 2020 12:17 PM PDT  Chinese state media are amplifying a conspiracy that the Wuhan coronavirus may have originated in the U.S.The media push may have begun in earnest on February 27 when Zhong Nanshan, a pulmonologist who has made major announcements on Chinese state media, said at a press conference: "The coronavirus first appeared in China but may not have originated in China." Other media outlets have repeated or implied the same message."If it's true that the virus originated in the United States, should China still apologize to the world?" read an article in College Daily, a WeChat account based in New York City popular with Chinese students studying abroad. On Saturday, China's ambassador to South Africa wrote on his Twitter account, "Although the epidemic first broke out in China, it did not necessarily mean that the virus is originated from China, let alone 'made in China.'""Go on WeChat, go on Weibo, look on Baidu search, and it's full of 'look at all the other countries getting sick,' or 'the virus came from the United States,' or all different levels of conspiracy theories," Xiao Qiang, founder of the China Digital Times and adjunct professor at the University of California at Berkeley's School of Information, told the Washington Post."It's more than just some disinformation or an official narrative," Xiao said. "It's an orchestrated, all-out campaign by the Chinese government through every channel at a level you rarely see. It's a counteroffensive."Dali Yang, professor of political science at Chicago University, said the media campaign was an attempt to draw citizens' attention away from China's response to the outbreak."The purpose is to lessen the focus on how China bungled its response," Yang said. "It's a kind of blame-shifting."
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| Czech prime minister says China should replace its ambassador Posted: 09 Mar 2020 09:46 AM PDT  China should replace its ambassador in the Czech Republic after the Chinese embassy sent a threatening letter to Czech authorities, Prime Minister Andrej Babis said.
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| Fox Hosts Varney and Bartiromo Look to Joe Biden to Calm the Stock Market Posted: 09 Mar 2020 10:29 AM PDT  With the stock market experiencing record-setting drops on Monday morning that prompted trading to briefly halt, pro-Trump Fox Business Network hosts Stuart Varney and Maria Bartiromo turned their eyes to... uh... Joe Biden to boost the stocks.During Monday morning's broadcast of Fox Business Network's Varney & Co., the eponymous host wondered aloud whether the markets—plunging due to fear and uncertainty surrounding a coronavirus outbreak—could "see a bounce" in the next couple of days due to a likely Biden victory this week."I mean, Michigan primary, maybe I'm grasping at straws here," the Fox host added.Bartiromo, meanwhile, said she agreed with her colleague before finding a silver lining in the market volatility, noting that the historically low 10-year Treasury yield meant it was "time to take out a mortgage" and plummeting stock prices represented an "enormous buying opportunity." (Trump took to Twitter on Monday to boast that gas prices plummeting were "good for the consumer.")SNL Roasts Trump's Coronavirus Response: 'We're All Gonna Die'Varney, for his part, wanted to pivot the discussion back to politics and how the markets will react to democratic-socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) possibly losing handily in Tuesday's primaries to the former vice president."I think Bernie's gonna lose," Varney asserted. "I think Joe Biden, he's got the momentum and I think the market will like that. The very hint, if Bernie does well, I think the market has another problem on its hands.""Absolutely," Bartiromo responded. "You wanna see this market taken out even more than today, have a victory for Bernie Sanders. That will really kill any expectation of a comeback here."As the markets have reacted negatively over the past couple of weeks to the impact a likely coronavirus pandemic will have on the global economy, a number of Fox hosts have insisted that the possibility of Sanders becoming the Democratic presidential nominee has also spooked traders.Last month, when the market began its massive sell-off, Fox Business host Charles Payne blamed much of the losses on "the Bernie factor," claiming there was "absolutely no doubt" that Wall Street had taken Sanders' then-rise in the race "very seriously."Varney himself has recently said that a Sanders win would result in both the stock market and economy crashing. "I think I'm totally right," he told Fox & Friends earlier this month, adding that his prediction was "guaranteed." White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham Promises 'Healthy' Trump Will Be 'Just Fine'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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| Grand Princess passengers prepare to disembark, quarantine; 'Don't get on a cruise,' health official advises Posted: 09 Mar 2020 03:04 AM PDT  Grand Princess passengers ready to disembark Monday, while health official Anthony Fauci urges, "Just don't get on a cruise ship" to protect elderly.
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| 'I'm frightened there's not a sense of urgency': Most Americans don't approve of Trump's handling of coronavirus Posted: 09 Mar 2020 01:50 PM PDT  A slight majority of Americans disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling the coronavirus outbreak, and just under 40 per cent say his response would make them less likely to vote for his re-election.The survey, conducted last week by Public Policy Polling, found 51 per cent of Americans disapprove of the president's response to the virus, with 42 per cent saying they approve.
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| The Middle East is coping with the coronavirus by disinfecting mosques and canceling Muslim prayers Posted: 09 Mar 2020 11:38 AM PDT  Mosques across the Middle East are being disinfected to help combat the spread of the novel coronavirus.
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| China reports no new locally transmitted coronavirus cases outside epicenter Posted: 08 Mar 2020 05:22 PM PDT  BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Mainland China reported no new locally transmitted coronavirus cases outside the epicenter of Hubei province for the second day running on Monday, but a top Communist Party official warned against people dropping their guard. China had 40 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infections as of Sunday, the National Health Commission said, down from 44 cases a day earlier, and the lowest number since the health authority started publishing nationwide data on Jan. 20. Of the new cases, 36 were in Wuhan, the provincial capital of Hubei, and four in Gansu province in people arriving from Iran.
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| Police: Fight over parking spot led to deadly mall shooting Posted: 09 Mar 2020 12:22 AM PDT |
| Hands off: 'No touch' virus policy for Philippines president Posted: 09 Mar 2020 04:31 AM PDT  Well-wishers will not be allowed to touch Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte under new measures announced Monday by his security detail, as the deadly coronavirus spreads in the country. At 74, Duterte is in a vulnerable age group for the virus, which has proven particularly harmful in older people with pre-existing conditions. "The PSG (Presidential Security Group) will implement a no-touch policy between the president and the public," group commander Jesus Durante said in a statement.
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| Destroyers left behind: US Navy cancels plans to extend service lives of its workhorse DDGs Posted: 09 Mar 2020 07:16 AM PDT  The Navy is killing a plan to add 10 years to the hull life of its Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.
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| Girl who lost sight due to flu regains vision Posted: 08 Mar 2020 08:49 PM PDT  "We put our daughter to bed and she never woke up the same," the girls' mother wrote in an update about her daughter's health.
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| Democrats in South Florida Know Castro Better Than Bernie Sanders Does Posted: 09 Mar 2020 03:30 AM PDT  Again, Bernie Sanders has run for president of the United States as he thinks it should be, not as it is. In 2040, we might look back and say that his greatest contribution to American political culture was, for better or for worse, to open the Overton window to the word "socialism." In 2020, the word hurts him more than it helps, but reactions to it split along generational lines, and time may be on its side. Not enough time, though, in a mere campaign season or two, to make much difference for Sanders.Whatever Americans think that socialism is, they disapprove of it, 59 percent to 39 percent, according to Gallup in October. Two years ago, 38 percent told Gallup that "we have socialism in the United States today." Presumably some of them thought that it was bad while others thought that it was good and that we should have more of it. Only 17 percent said that socialism means government ownership of the means of production. A couple of weeks ago, Gallup released a poll in which 45 percent said they'd be willing to vote for a socialist.What Millennials tend to mean by "socialism" — progressive taxes, social-welfare entitlements — is different from the images that the word conjures in the minds of older voters who have some memory of the Cold War and are most of the electorate. Sanders and his supporters shake their heads at critics who seem to think that an increase in taxpayer-funded health care would be the first stop on a road to reeducation camps and the gulag. The critics would be less likely to think that if Sanders and his supporters didn't call their policy wish list "socialism."Many Democrats, perhaps most, who want to win in November resent Sanders for, as they see it, using their party's national campaign as a platform on which to play a longer game than the schedule permits. He and his base may like to think they're the future of the party. Their problem is that most voters live in the here and now.The Sanders campaign drags us into semantic arguments. Is Sanders a socialist? Is he a "democratic socialist"? Is there a difference? Maybe the more accurate label for him is "social democrat"? What's a social democrat? How should we label the Scandinavian countries that he's wont to cite as examples of what he has in mind?An unstated premise of the national seminar that he's inspired has been that only a clod would confuse Sanders socialism with Soviet Communism, never mind his past expressions of admiration for the USSR, which, the New York Times now reports, "spotted opportunity" in him. In both his record and his rhetoric he affirms the conflation, of socialism and authoritarian Communism, that many younger socialists spend so much energy trying to dispel. He makes an awkward figurehead for their cause.As if to aggravate the problem, two weeks ago he went on 60 Minutes and defended Fidel Castro. No doubt his comments were more warmly received in Oberlin than in South Florida. Here's Andrew Gillum, the leading light of the left wing of the Florida Democratic Party (he was its gubernatorial nominee in 2018), in an interview with David Axelrod:> One Colombian-American state senator, a Democrat, put it this way. She said, "Listening to Sanders talk about, or romanticize, or give credit to the Castro regime because of a literacy reading program is like listening to Donald Trump after Charlottesville say there were good people on both sides." That's how deep this hits in those communities.Sanders subsequently doubled down on his Castro talk. Who needs Florida?Last time, in 2016, he lost it to Clinton in a rout. The split was two to one. Of Florida's 67 counties, he carried nine, concentrated in the northernmost end of the state; three were in the Panhandle. The county where Clinton beat him hardest was the state's largest, Miami-Dade, where the split was three to one — no surprise, given the clash of two hard facts: Sanders brands himself a socialist, and much of the population in South Florida either has fled from, or has family who have fled from, Latin American countries where "socialism" has come to mean gun violence and empty supermarket shelves.His apologia for Castro amounts almost to a formal forfeit of the Florida Democratic primary on March 17. Democratic congresswoman Stephanie Murphy said that Sanders "has consistently taken positions that are wrong on the merits and will alienate many Florida voters." Representative Donna Shalala, whose district covers much of Miami-Dade, issued this statement:> Senator Sanders' comments on the Castro regime are misguided, ill-informed, and unacceptable. Over the last six decades, hundreds of thousands of Cubans have risked their lives to escape the tyranny of the Castro regime — a reign of fear, paranoia, and oppression that regularly abuses human rights in order to stifle free thought and democracy in Cuba to this very day.> > I believe Senator Sanders would benefit from taking time to meet with the many survivors of Castro's Cuba who now live in South Florida. My hope is that after meeting with the exile community, he will recognize that the Cuban regime — and other similar authoritarian regimes across Latin America — are instruments of evil and are not worthy of his praise.Under the headline "Florida Democrats Stand in Solidarity with People Fleeing Dictatorships," the Florida Democratic Party issued a statement that reads in part:> Florida Democrats condemn dictators who toppled democracies across the globe and stand in solidarity with the thousands of people who have fled violent dictatorships in Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. Candidates need to understand our immigrant communities' shared stories, as well as provide solutions to issues that matter to all Floridians.Florida would be out of Sanders's reach in a general election, too. It's not the only reason that Democrats nationwide appear ready to deny him the nomination. It's not even the main reason. But it's a near-perfect illustration of the main reason.
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| World Must Move Fast to ‘Whatever It Takes’ Mode, El-Erian Says Posted: 09 Mar 2020 07:10 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Mohamed El-Erian said the world's policy makers will do all they can to keep the coronavirus from spurring a deeper economic slump, but he said it's worrisome that international policy coordination isn't as solid as it was in the past."I foresee a whatever-it-takes policy approach that is going to be both in central banks and government agencies," El-Erian, chief economic adviser at Allianz SE, said in a Bloomberg Radio interview Monday. A sudden economic halt "is particularly dangerous because it destroys both demand and supply, and that is what we are living through right now."Policy makers "have massive catch-up to play" as the scope of the challenge becomes clearer, said El-Erian, who's also a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He said he doesn't see direct parallels with the start of the crisis in 2008 because he isn't worried about banks and potential issues with the payments and settlements system. But he said another comparison is more worrying: the world's economic authorities so far aren't acting in concert as they have in the past."The extent of global policy coordination is much lower, and whether it's the coronavirus, whether the excessive reliance on liquidity, whether it is markets that have been mispriced for a long time, this is a global problem that requires collective action," he said.But the kind of action that Group of 20 leaders took during the global financial crisis, when they met in London to coordinate a response, will likely be harder now, El-Erian said. "The bad thing relative to 2008 is that we're not going to get a London Summit quickly." that will allow to put in an economic bottoming."'Do Not Buy'In a subsequent interview on Bloomberg Television as U.S. stocks plunged at the open in New York, El-Erian said it's too soon for investors to start buying again."Do not buy this dip, respect the technicals," he said. "This will sort itself out, but will not sort itself out before some further damage unfortunately. You should also not panic."It's time to stay on the sidelines and wait for technical factors to play out, as painful as it might be, he said. He added that there's been a turn in credit cycle as economic and earnings prospects have worsened and that the corporate bond market is likely to see an increase in defaults."You're going to get more of a freeze on new issuance, companies with vulnerable balance sheets -- meaning little cash, high maturing debt -- are going to have difficulty re-funding themselves," he said.(Updates to add comments from television interview under 'Do Not Buy' subheadline)\--With assistance from Jonathan Ferro, Tom Keene and Sarah Ponczek.To contact the reporters on this story: Max Reyes in Washington at mreyes125@bloomberg.net;Jeff Kearns in Washington at jkearns3@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Scott Lanman at slanman@bloomberg.net, Jeff KearnsFor 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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| Trump only wants to hear good news about the coronavirus outbreak, hindering the response, officials say Posted: 09 Mar 2020 04:33 AM PDT  When Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar met with President Trump in late January, he "was having trouble focusing Trump's full attention on his coronavirus briefing," The Washington Post reports. "Trump instead interjected, badgering the health chief about the administration's messy decision to implement a limited ban on flavored e-cigarettes."Azar "had concluded that the new coronavirus posed a public health risk and tried to share an urgent message with the president: The potential outbreak could leave tens of thousands of Americans sickened and many dead," Politico adds. "But Trump's aides mocked and belittled Azar as alarmist," and Azar, trying to ingratiate himself with Trump after a bruising fight with CMS chief Seema Verma, wasn't "in the position to deliver the message that the president didn't want to hear," one former official told Politico.The coronavirus had already proved its ferocity in China by that point, but "the boss has made it clear, he likes to see his people fight, and he wants the news to be good," an adviser to a senior coronavirus team member tells Politico. "This is the world he's made."Last Monday there were 89 cases in the U.S., Stephen Collinson writes at CNN. But after "a week packed with conflicting messages, misplaced optimism, and obfuscation by the president," the coronavirus "has now spread into 34 states and the District of Columbia, at least 550 cases have been confirmed, and at least 21 people have died," and "the true extent of the crisis was disguised by delays and malfunctions in coronavirus testing that suggest the administration squandered valuable time as the virus ravaged China to properly prepare for its U.S. arrival.""For a president who lives in the moment, rarely planning too far ahead, the coronavirus has proved to be a leadership challenge he was not prepared for either," Peter Baker writes at The New York Times. Trump "has expressed an astonishing lack of knowledge while at the same time claiming to be a medical savant. He has treated the crisis as a partisan battle. ... He even admitted that he wanted to leave passengers stranded on a cruise ship rather than see statistics for the number of cases on American soil go up because it would look bad." Trump also incorrectly said tests were available for anyone who needs them.Trump insists his administration has the COVID-19 outbreak under control.More stories from theweek.com Trump retweets White House photo of him fiddling, says he doesn't know 'what this means' Washington nursing home with coronavirus outbreak reported shocking escalation from 'no symptoms to death' S&P 500 has 7th worst decline since World War II
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| The Army general in charge of US soldiers in Europe may have been exposed to the coronavirus Posted: 09 Mar 2020 03:36 PM PDT  An Army general and his staff are self-monitoring for coronavirus after they may have been exposed during a conference, the Army said Monday.
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| Iran temporarily releases 70,000 prisoners as coronavirus cases surge Posted: 09 Mar 2020 04:03 AM PDT  Iran has temporarily freed about 70,000 prisoners to combat the spread of the coronavirus in jails, the head of the judiciary said on Monday, as officials reported hundreds of new infections and dozens more deaths across the country. Iran has reported 595 new infections and 43 new deaths within the past 24 hours. Judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi announced the temporary release of prisoners as Iranian authorities seek to counter one of the worst national outbreaks outside China, where the new virus originated, and one of the highest death rates from the illness.
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| Man who threatened to kill Ilhan Omar given lighter sentence after she asks for compassion Posted: 09 Mar 2020 09:57 AM PDT  A man who threatened the life of Rep. Ilhan Omar has been given a lighter sentence after the politician asked for leniency.Patrick Carlineo Jr. was sentenced on Friday to 12 months and one day in prison alongside three years of supervised release for threatening to assault and murder a United States official, and for being a felon in possession of firearms, according to The Department of Justice.
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| Embassies close in North Korea as diplomats evacuated over virus Posted: 09 Mar 2020 02:10 AM PDT  Several embassies in North Korea closed Monday as many diplomats were flown out following weeks of tight quarantine restrictions imposed by Pyongyang over the spread of the novel coronavirus. North Korea has not confirmed a single infection but has imposed strict rules, including closing its borders and putting thousands of its own people into isolation. It has also subjected hundreds of foreigners -- including diplomats -- to a virtual lockdown in their own premises.
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| Report: Pilots restarted software, causing fatal nosedive Posted: 09 Mar 2020 07:39 AM PDT  Ethiopian investigators are mostly blaming Boeing for last year's crash of a Ethiopian Airlines jet shortly after takeoff, saying in an interim report Monday that there were design failures in the jet and inadequate training for pilots. The update from Ethiopian investigators — timed to beat the anniversary of the crash on March 10, 2019 — pointed to the role played by a new flight-control system that Boeing installed on the 737 Max and which repeatedly pushed the nose of the plane down. The system, called MCAS, overwhelmed the pilots' attempts to control the plane.
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| Report: Iran commander killed in Syria Posted: 09 Mar 2020 07:39 AM PDT  An official with Iran's Revolutionary Guard who took part in battles around war-torn Syria was killed near the Syrian capital, an Iranian semiofficial news agency and an opposition war monitor reported Saturday.
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| Joe Biden Owes Clarence Thomas an Apology Posted: 09 Mar 2020 03:30 AM PDT  On the day Chuck Schumer was threatening Supreme Court justices in front of pack of a cheering partisans, Representative Ayanna Pressley told the same crowd, "We have two alleged sexual predators on the bench of the highest court of the land, with the power to determine our reproductive freedoms. I still believe Anita Hill. And I still believe Dr. Christine Blasey Ford!"Now, it is far more accurate to call Hill a "disgraced accuser" than Clarence Thomas an "alleged sexual predator." Not a single person — and Thomas had scores of subordinates working for him during his years in government — ever corroborated Hill's description of Thomas's actions. Nor has single person ever accused Thomas of any similar behavior in his 30-plus years as a justice. Twelve former female colleagues of both Thomas and Hill signed an affidavit supporting Thomas, while not a single person who worked with both vouched for Hill.Unlike Blasey Ford, whose nebulous and unverifiable accusations were decades old, Hill's allegations were a potential criminal matter. So the FBI investigated Hill's claims — though they found her reluctant to cooperate — and failed to uncover any evidence to substantiate the accusations. After the hearings, agents sent affidavits to the Senate accusing Hill of misleading them and the public, skipping portions of her story, and offering testimony that contradicted what she had told law-enforcement officials. This part of the story rarely gets mentioned when the media recount her supposed heroics.And though it isn't particularly important in proving or disproving the veracity of her statements, most people didn't believe Anita Hill at the time, either:> At every point in the final polls, a plurality or majority of black Americans supported the nomination. In the final Gallup/CNN poll (conducted on October 14, 1991), 69 percent said they would like to see the Senate vote in favor of confirming him. Differences by gender were modest throughout, on the confirmation vote. In the final CNN/Gallup poll, 57 percent of women said the Senate should vote in favor, 31 percent said it should not, and 12 percent were unsure.Accusing Thomas and Kavanaugh of being "alleged sexual predators" -- which, incidentally, suggests something even worse than Hill's accusation -- is a politically motivated slander. It is meant to undercut the authority of the court and to intimidate justices (and future nominees) who take the "wrong" side on the issue of life. For contemporary Democrats, the court exists primarily to safeguard the only constitutional "right" that really matters to them anymore: abortion.In that regard, it's curious to see presidential hopeful Joe Biden, who has spent 40 years shifting his abortion position to appease the base of his party, being dragged by progressives for failing to give Hill the unrestrained ability to destroy Thomas back in 1991. After all, it was Biden who helped turn Senate Judiciary Committee hearings into nasty, hyper-politicized smear-fests that set the precedent for the Kavanaugh hearing.In 1986, the year before Biden was lifted to chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Antonin Scalia had been approved 98–0 by the Senate. There weren't really any Supreme Court confirmation battles before then. A year later, in 1987, Robert Bork -- who, Warren Burger, the former chief justice, claimed was the most qualified jurist he'd seen in 50 years -- would be grossly caricatured by real-life sexual harasser Ted Kennedy, who warned that "Robert Bork's America is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens' doors in midnight raids." Thomas would be accused of being a puppet of his white colleagues, among other racist stereotypes, merely for his ideological outlook. In those days, hyperbolic statements from Senators were somewhat rare. Now they are a modus operandi.To be fair to Biden, he was an exceptionally incompetent and indecisive chairman, easily cowed and unable to control the hearings. After promising to support Bork, he switched his vote. After promising to afford Thomas some semblance of due process, he presided over what the future justice famously called a "high-tech lynching."Biden now claims to regret that he "couldn't come up with a way" to give Hill "the kind of hearing she deserved." What does Biden think Hill deserved? Without any supporting evidence, the Senate gave her the opportunity to make her case. She was given enormous coverage by the media when her allegations emerged -- leaked to the press, most likely by Democrats -- despite the obvious problems with her story from the start. No one ever stopped Hill from telling that story. Hill still tells her story. Hill wrote a book telling her story. There are hagiographic movies and documentaries about her story. Even today, journalists interview her without a hint of journalistic skepticism.Sensing that the issue might be problematic, Biden called Hill last year to apologize. Hill, a professor, wasn't impressed, saying, "I will be satisfied when I know that there is real change and real accountability and real purpose." Or, in other words, the patriarchy must unilaterally surrender to the poetic truth, rather than to the evidence -- or, in Hill's case, to a lack of it.If Biden should apologize to anyone, it's Clarence Thomas. Or maybe the American people, for allowing judicial confirmation hearings to be turned into partisan-fueled character assassinations, weaponized to destroy the legitimacy of the Supreme Court -- all in the service of nothing more noble than the killing of the unborn.
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| 'Put it in God's hands': As coronavirus spreads, changes come for Catholics at Mass Posted: 08 Mar 2020 02:13 PM PDT  As the new coronavirus spreads around the United States, Catholic churches are changing practices during Mass. But most worshipers aren't too worried.
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