| Uganda's Kanungu cult massacre that killed 700 followers Posted: 16 Mar 2020 05:11 PM PDT  Twenty years ago, they were locked inside a church that was set on fire in south-west Uganda.
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| Justice Department drops plans for trial over Russian interference in 2016 U.S. election Posted: 16 Mar 2020 04:47 PM PDT |
| ‘Putin’s Chef’ Case Dropped in Mueller Election Meddling Probe Posted: 16 Mar 2020 04:47 PM PDT |
| USAID head, rare Trump aide with bipartisan support, resigns Posted: 16 Mar 2020 04:02 PM PDT  The head of the U.S. Agency for International Development is stepping down after two-and-a-half years of running America's main foreign humanitarian aid programs. Former Republican congressman Mark Green announced his resignation to return to the private sector on Monday, saying he was proud of the work the agency had done. Green, one of President Donald Trump's few nominees for senior positions to win overwhelming bipartisan support in the Senate, said his last day on the job would be April 10.
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| Macron Invokes War as Europe Goes Dark in Coronavirus Fight Posted: 16 Mar 2020 03:12 PM PDT |
| Oil War May Revive China's Yuan Ambitions Posted: 16 Mar 2020 03:00 PM PDT |
| Oil War May Revive China's Yuan Ambitions Posted: 16 Mar 2020 03:00 PM PDT |
| Europe, Canada, U.K. Limit Travel in Attempt to Seal Out Virus Posted: 16 Mar 2020 02:39 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- The European Union proposed a temporary halt to non-essential travel, while Canada and the U.K. placed restrictions on who can enter the country, further steps to firm up the world's borders to prevent the spread of Covid-19.The measures are meant to suppress transmission of the deadly virus, which has killed more than 7,000 lives worldwide. But they will deepen the economic toll on the travel industry and provide fresh challenges for trade and for families separated by borders. The decisions follow U.S. President Donald Trump's move to ban travelers from Europe for 30 days.The EU's proposal Monday followed a series of tighter rules on international travel in the U.S. and Europe, and closures of public spaces, restaurants and movie theaters in cities including New York and Los Angeles.In a memo sent to EU governments, and seen by Bloomberg, the European Commission said the ban on incoming visits to Europe and the restrictions to outgoing travel are aimed at lifting an ever growing number of internal border closings, which have disrupted free movement within the bloc -- one of the key pillars of European integration.In Canada, foreigners won't be able to cross the border except for Americans. International flights will be restricted to four airports, except for those from Mexico, the Caribbean and the U.S. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the move at a press conference Monday outside his residence in Ottawa, where the leader remains in self isolation after his wife contracted the illness.In the U.K., Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged the public to avoid unnecessary travel, among other steps to limit the spread of the virus.The airline industry is reeling from such decisions and pushing for government aid and bailouts. The collapse in travel stands to wipe out more than $60 billion revenue in Europe alone, according to one estimate. In the U.S., the industry is seeking $58 billion in government aid.In an unusually blunt admission, the EU's executive arm also warned the travel restrictions may not be effective in slowing the spread of the virus.The desperate move comes as member states erect unprecedented barriers within the EU's boundaries, halting the normal free flow that underpins the livelihoods of 500 million people and prompting output cuts at manufacturers including PSA Group and Volkswagen AG, Europe's two largest carmakers.A 32-kilometer (20-mile) tailback of trucks on the border between Poland and Lithuania is the latest indicator of how the coronavirus is bogging down Europe's economy. Like most in the 27-nation bloc, Poland is desperate to keep a lid on the outbreak of the disease, but national measures have gummed up supply routes.Alongside the internal snarls of traffic, there's a similar story on the periphery: Ukraine, which enjoys free trade with the EU, has closed 150 customs checkpoints. Bulgaria says trucks trying to leave for Turkey along a critical transport corridor face "significant" delays. Sea cargo from China is being held for at least 14 days at Romania's Constanta port.Health-care professionals, frontier workers, diplomats and people in need of humanitarian protection are exempt from the proposed travel ban. Also travel between the U.K. and EU will be allowed, under the plan, which is due to last for a month but could be extended. EU leaders are scheduled to adopt the proposal over a conference call on Tuesday.German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke Monday with French President Emmanuel Macron, European Council chief Charles Michel and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen about ways to coordinate and unify "measures to ensure the functionality of the domestic market."\--With assistance from William Horobin, Daryna Krasnolutska, Andra Timu, Boris Groendahl, Patrick Donahue, Birgit Jennen, Joao Lima, Kati Pohjanpalo, Christoph Rauwald and Rodrigo Orihuela.To contact the reporters on this story: Nikos Chrysoloras in Brussels at nchrysoloras@bloomberg.net;Viktoria Dendrinou in Brussels at vdendrinou@bloomberg.net;Milda Seputyte in Vilnius at mseputyte@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Chad Thomas at cthomas16@bloomberg.net, Andrew Langley, Chris ReiterFor 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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| How social distancing works and what it means for you Posted: 16 Mar 2020 01:54 PM PDT  Here are some questions and answers about the "social distancing" efforts to slow the epidemic in the U.S. WHAT IS SOCIAL DISTANCING? Social distancing are practices implemented by public health officials to keep contagious diseases from spreading.
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| Merkel announces sweeping curbs to keep Germans home in virus fight Posted: 16 Mar 2020 01:13 PM PDT  German leaders on Monday urged citizens to stay home, as the government announced unprecedented nationwide measures to radically scale back public life in order to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Chancellor Angela Merkel called on Germans to cancel any holidays at home and abroad, while president Frank-Walter Steinmeier told people to "stay at home". The government banned gatherings in churches, mosques and synagogues and ordered non-essential shops as well as playgrounds shut.
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| UN Security Council halts meetings due to coronavirus epidemic Posted: 16 Mar 2020 12:54 PM PDT  The UN Security Council's Chinese presidency cancelled Monday the body's two final meetings scheduled this week due to the coronavirus crisis, diplomatic sources said. After the earlier cancellation of the meeting planned for Tuesday, the Security Council was planning to discuss the situation of Darfur in Sudan on Wednesday, and address multilateralism on Thursday. It was not possible Monday to confirm the cancellations with the Chinese mission to the United Nations, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council.
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| Pakistan PM warns new virus may devastate developing nations Posted: 16 Mar 2020 12:50 PM PDT  Pakistan's prime minister said Monday he fears the new coronavirus will devastate the economies of developing nations, and warned richer economies to prepare to write off the debts of the world's poorer countries. In an interview with The Associated Press, Imran Khan criticized recent comments by the president of neighboring Afghanistan, which appeared to reference accusations that Pakistan used militants to further its own goals in years past. Khan also raised concern over India's worst Hindu-Muslim violence in decades, saying the Indian prime minister's Hindu nationalist-led government threatens to disenfranchise hundreds of millions of people through a controversial new citizenship law.
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| Sub-Saharan Africa Shuts Borders, Schools to Contain Virus Posted: 16 Mar 2020 12:36 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- South African President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national state of disaster to combat the spread of the coronavirus as his counterparts in sub-Saharan Africa took similar steps to curb the threat in a region that accounts for only 1% of global health-care spending.Ramaphosa's measures ranged from halting flights from nations struggling to control the virus, closing 35 of the country's 53 land border posts, banning gatherings of more than 100 people and shutting schools from March 18. He also said the government plans economic interventions, without giving details."This situation calls for an extraordinary response," he said in a televised speech on Sunday, urging South Africans to cooperate and work together to minimize the impact of the outbreak. "There can be no half measures."With a total of 62 infections, Ramaphosa said there is evidence of transmission within the country for the first time rather than just infections contracted by people who had traveled overseas."The greatest danger to our country at this time are fear and ignorance," he said. "We cannot allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by fear and panic."Slow SpreadWhile sub-Saharan Africa has so far recorded relatively few local transmissions, most governments are reacting swiftly by restricting access, prohibiting religious and cultural events and closing schools. More than 300 people have so far tested positive for the coronavirus in 30 African countries, many of them recent travelers to Europe or the U.S.Africa's economic growth could slow to 1.8% this year from 3.2% as global supply chains are disrupted and investments drop, according to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.Kenya, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Burundi and Gabon also halted entry of travelers from countries most affected by the disease. The five nations will only allow in citizens and foreigners with residence permits provided they go into quarantine upon arrival. The Indian Ocean archipelago of Seychelles, which relies heavily on tourism, banned all crews and passengers of cruise ships from disembarking.Liberia won't accept any travelers from countries with more than 200 cases after the head of its Environmental Protection Agency bypassed protocols at the airport and became the first confirmed patient on Monday. Other countries, including Mali and Botswana, stepped up screening of travelers at airports and land borders.'Act Together'Large public and private events have been banned in a range of West African nations, with Senegalese President Macky Sall canceling the country's most important religious festival due to take place later this month following a surge in cases to 26 from 10. That includes 17 contacts of a Senegalese national who recently returned from Italy."I call on my African colleagues to act together," Sall said on Twitter. "Africa must not be the new focus of the disease."Senegal, Rwanda, Ghana and Namibia instructed schools and universities to close, while Kenya is shutting primary and secondary schools from Monday and universities by Friday.In Guinea, President Alpha Conde banned all large gatherings even as his administration prepares to hold a controversial referendum on March 22 to change the constitution. Conde didn't say whether the referendum will go ahead. Burkina Faso said last week it's reviewing the use of public bathhouses and both Gabon and Ivory Coast closed its nightclubs.(Updates with Ivory Coast in eighth paragraph)\--With assistance from David Malingha, Ougna Camara, Eric Mbog Batassi, Simon Gongo, Festus Poquie and Leanne de Bassompierre.To contact the reporters on this story: Pauline Bax in Johannesburg at pbax@bloomberg.net;Katarina Hoije in Abidjan at khoije@bloomberg.net;Antony Sguazzin in Johannesburg at asguazzin@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: John McCorry at jmccorry@bloomberg.net, Antony SguazzinFor 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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| US and South Korea may scale back joint military exercises over coronavirus fears Posted: 16 Mar 2020 12:09 PM PDT  Cancellation of joint exercises on the Korean peninsula has fanned worries by national security experts and lawmakers that U.S. forces and their South Korean allies are ill prepared to handle a crisis or conflict orchestrated by North Korea.
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| UN peacekeeper killed in attack in Central African Republic Posted: 16 Mar 2020 11:52 AM PDT |
| Iran closes key religious sites as virus death toll hits 853 Posted: 16 Mar 2020 11:26 AM PDT  Iran on Monday closed four key Shiite pilgrimage sites to stop a coronavirus outbreak that has killed over 850 people out of nearly 15,000 cases recorded in the Islamic republic. The holy shrines of Imam Reza in Mashhad, Fatima Masumeh in Qom and Shah Abdol-Azim in Tehran were shut until further notice "upon the orders of the anti-coronavirus headquarters and the health minister," state television said. Qom's Jamkaran mosque also said it would close its doors, the official IRNA news agency reported.
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| Two Dozen Overseas Entities Placed On Restrictive US Export Control List Posted: 16 Mar 2020 11:14 AM PDT  The U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) on March 16 added 24 companies and individuals to the Entity List for posing a risk to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests.The Entity List subjects U.S. exporters to specific export licensing requirements and prohibitions when conducting business with the listed entities. Organizations or persons who violate U.S. export control rules – as defined under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) – are subject to criminal penalties and administrative sanctions.The newest additions to the Entity List include nine entities in Pakistan that are associated with the country's missile technology program. Entities also were added to the list from Iran (six), United Arab Emirates (five), China (two), and Russia (two). A complete list of the entities' names and locations is available in the Federal Register.An End-User Review Committee (ERC), which is composed of export control officials from the Commerce, State, Defense, Energy and Treasury departments, decides which entities are added to the list.The ERC, for example, determined that Iran Air, which was added to the Entity List on March 16, transports "military-related equipment" for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL).The Iranian air carrier also "has a history of diverting spare aircraft parts intended for civil aviation to military-linked entities and for military purposes," BIS said.Since last year, BIS has added numerous entities, mostly in China, to the Entity List, including the high-profile additions of Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. and 114 of its overseas affiliates and subsidiaries in May 2019.Image Sourced from PixabaySee more from Benzinga * Tender Rejection Rates Surpass March 2019 Highs – FreightWaves NOW * Brokers: Spot Rates "Escalating Sharply" * Today's Pickup: Amazon Insourcing Hurting DHL Globally(C) 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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| Coronavirus: Kenya introduces tight restrictions Posted: 16 Mar 2020 10:55 AM PDT  The East African state is in partial lockdown following the detection of three cases since Friday.
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| Russia's constitutional court clears proposal to let Putin stay in power beyond term limits Posted: 16 Mar 2020 10:49 AM PDT  Russia's Constitutional Court on Monday gave its approval to an attempt by Vladimir Putin to reset the count on his presidential terms, opening the way for him to run again for president in 2024 when term limits would have forced him to step down. Last week, with Putin's encouragement, Russia's parliament voted quickly to pass a constitutional amendment that would reset the clock on his presidential terms to zero. In a speech at the time, Putin said that he would accept the change on "one condition"—that the Constitutional Court found it did not violate the constitution.
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| Coronavirus: African states impose strict restrictions Posted: 16 Mar 2020 10:40 AM PDT  Several states restrict foreign nationals, close schools and ban mass gatherings to halt the outbreak.
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| Virus-hit Iran closes four key religious sites Posted: 16 Mar 2020 10:24 AM PDT Iran closed four key Shiite pilgrimage sites across the Islamic republic Monday in line with measures to stop the new coronavirus, state media said, sparking protests at one of them. State television said that "upon the orders of the anti-coronavirus headquarters and the health minister, the holy shrines of" Imam Reza in Mashhad, Fatima Masumeh in Qom and Shah Abdol-Azim in Tehran were shut until further notice.
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| Merkel: Drastic closures needed to counter coronavirus Posted: 16 Mar 2020 10:14 AM PDT |
| Restore soil to absorb billions of tonnes of carbon: study Posted: 16 Mar 2020 10:13 AM PDT  Restoring and protecting the world's soil could absorb more than five billion tonnes of carbon dioxide each year -- roughly what the US emits annually -- new research showed Monday. Last year the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said that the world needed to work harder to retain the land's ability to absorb and store planet-warming greenhouse gases and prevent it turning from a carbon sink to a source. Just the first metre of soil around the world contains as much carbon as is currently in the atmosphere, locking up the CO2 sequestered in trees as they decompose and return to the earth.
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| 5 questions heading into Tuesday's Democratic primaries Posted: 16 Mar 2020 10:02 AM PDT  Four states are scheduled to hold Democratic presidential primaries on Tuesday amid a global pandemic and outbreak of the novel coronavirus. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday suggested delaying Tuesday's votes. Turnout has surged in recent Democratic contests as a wave of suburban voters helped catapult former Vice President Joe Biden to his solid lead in the race.
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| Another storm will swing into the Middle East, increase flood risk Posted: 16 Mar 2020 09:59 AM PDT  A stormy pattern will continue to increase the risk of localized flash flooding across parts of the Middle East into at least the second half of the week.Rain and high elevation snow arrived in Turkey late this weekend and will continue into Tuesday as the next storm moves into the area.By Tuesday night and Wednesday, the storm will start to swing into the Middle East. Showers are expected to spread from the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea to Jordan, Iraq and parts of Iran. Steadier rain will spread from eastern Turkey into Lebanon, far northern Iraq and northwestern Iran.Thunderstorms will also develop across the region and are forecast to produce occasional downpours as well as gusty winds.CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APPIn areas of prolonged periods of rain or in areas of heavier downpours, rainfall can total up to 25 mm (1 inch). However, rainfall totals can climb to 50 mm (2 inches) in eastern Turkey, northern Syria and northern Iraq where rain is expected to fall for longer periods of time."Any period of heavier rain can lead to localized flooding, especially in any low-lying or poor drainage areas," stated AccuWeather Meteorologist Brett Edwards.Areas that have received rounds of rain in recent days will also be more at risk for flooding."Some dust storms will also be possible as winds increase with the storm's arrival," added Edwards.Meanwhile, the northern edge of the storm will run into cooler air, causing precipitation to fall as snow from northeastern Turkey to far northern Iran and in any higher elevations.Snowfall totals can reach 15-30 mm (6-12 inches), especially into the mountain peaks.As the storm continues to push inland across the Middle East on Wednesday night, it will begin to lose power and moisture.The heaviest rain and snow showers will gradually dissipate through Thursday, while a couple of rain and snow showers can linger across Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.Outside of a few stray showers along the coast, Egypt will remain dry as the storm stays to the north. This will allow ongoing recovery efforts to continue in the wake of last week's 'dragon' storm.Unsettled conditions are forecast to continue over Turkey through the rest of the week as the next storm moves into the region. By the weekend, the storm will bring wet weather into the Middle East.Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
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| Putin Worries Coronavirus Could Screw Up His Constitutional ‘Coronation’ Posted: 16 Mar 2020 09:53 AM PDT  MOSCOW—Around the world, more than 5,000 people have died from COVID-19 and European countries are closing their borders one after another, but authorities in Russia—adjacent to both Europe and China—continue acting as if people here in the motherland have some kind of magical immunity.State officials shake hands at public meetings, go around without masks, and organize big public events, while the number of diagnosed COVID-19 cases in Russia has jumped from 63 to 93 overnight. The plague's trolls, styling themselves coronavirus dissidents, spread fake news claiming the epidemic is "a project of the pharmaceutical companies."For three decades, even before the advent of social media, this same kind of conspiratorial misinformation helped HIV/AIDS spread across the country virtually unchecked, at a cost of more than 200,000 lives. Fake News Helped Spread HIV/AIDS in Russia. Has It Stopped?But in this case there's a particular edge to it—an unmistakable political context. Russia's parliament has just paved the way for Vladimir Putin to run in rubber-stamp elections and serve in office until he's in his 80s. And then? Maybe longer. In effect, he'll be president for life. In Russian terms, he'll be the 21st century version of a czar. But there's a hitch.Although the Russian parliament passed the necessary amendments to the constitution on March 11 with a vote of 383 to 0, they are supposed to receive popular approval in a plebiscite scheduled for April 22. And if the coronavirus pandemic takes off in Russia before then—or, rather, can be seen to have taken off—the new czar might have to wait for his quasi-constitutional quasi-coronation. The Kremlin insists that in spite of the growing fear of an outbreak, the plebiscite will take place as scheduled.So what we're hearing from Putin is that there is "nothing critical" happening on the coronavirus front, the main sources of news about sick people in Russia are both fake and foreign: "Their goal is clear, to spread panic among our population," Putin told a governmental conference on March 4. Putin's Now Positioned to Be President for LifeThis does not inspire confidence, especially among those who lived through Soviet times and remember such explanations about the nuclear catastrophe at Chernobyl in 1986, when Soviet leaders delayed telling citizens the truth at the cost of thousands of lives. On Monday Moscow's city hall confirmed 53 diagnoses of coronavirus. The first one was registered on March 3. With the growing number of cases there is increasing public suspicion that there are many more carriers than state the television will acknowledge, either because they are asymptomatic, or misdiagnosed. There is also a rapidly growing public sentiment that officials will hide the facts deliberately, at least through April 22. Meanwhile, after China carried out the biggest quarantine in recorded history, and as European countries are shutting down cinemas, bars, restaurants, factories and eventually, as in Italy, emptying the streets, with the United States belatedly preparing to follow suit, Moscow opened a St. Patrick's Day Irish Film Festival at one of its major movie theaters—one of more than 600 here in the capital. More than 160 drama and musical theaters also continue to work. Though the situation is rapidly changing: n Sunday, the Bolshoi Theatre, with 1600 seats, presented "Swan Lake" but on Monday the major Russia's theatre made a decision to cancel all its shows. The Vatican may have canceled public services at Easter, in Saint Petersburg crowds have been lining up all week to kiss the holy relics of Saint John the Baptist at Kazan Cathedral. "The infection cannot be spread in church," priest Aleksander Pashkov told journalists. The coronavirus pandemic is "an anti-church campaign." In most recent developments Russian authorities closed the border with Belarus recommended all universities to switch to distance education online. All sorts of pseudo experts speak their mind on YouTube. Igor Gundarov, presenting himself as a doctor and a medical authority, says he doubts that the pandemic outbreak is taking place at all. "Evil people with capital, they go crazy," he proclaims. "As Karl Marx said, they can kill even their own mother—to sell an idea, they manipulate people's minds." Gundarov racked up more than 800,000 Russian YouTube viewers in January and his words inspired dozens of conspiracy theorists to push out their dissident messages about an ostensible COVID-19 hoax even as 100,000 people got infected around the globe.Medical workers find refuge in cynicism and in some cases wishful thinking. They know they will be on the front lines and highly vulnerable if the pandemic explodes here as it has done elsewhere. Right now, for instance, Moscow has banned mass demonstrations of more than 5,000, and they wonder why that would be the case if there is "nothing critical" happening. Three doctors at First City Hospital were laughing at the new rule on Friday night: So, if there is a gathering of 4,999 people, they wondered, are they can cough all over each other and it's okay? "We sign a non-disclosure agreement, so we cannot give journalists' information," one physician told The Daily Beast. Asked about rumors that there are some 6,000 Russians known to have coronavirus symptoms, the doctor did not say that was wrong.Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin, however, vehemently denied such stories. "All these rumors we come across, irresponsible declarations about a huge number of infected patients in Moscow, are not true," he said Sunday the television show A Week in Town. "Some politicians obviously want to inflame this topic, as often happens in difficult times. On the contrary, we are interested in immediately telling our citizens about novel coronavirus cases." Even so, when news broke last week of a teenage girl diagnosed with coronavirus, Moscow started a volunteer quarantine for school children. Unlike most of the rules dictated in Russia's life, this time it is not up to the Kremlin but up to the parents to decide if they want to put their children at risk.All state institutions, including kindergartens, schools and universities, work without interruption in Nizhny Novgorod, a Russian city on the Volga with a population of more than 1.2 million. A crowd of parents with children filled up the circus on Friday night and fans gathered at Jupiter concert hall to listen to a concert. The first case of coronavirus reported in this city last week did not inspire the local authorities to take serious action, although one municipal deputy, Yevgeny Lazarev, showed up wearing a thin face mask at the city council meeting on Tuesday. "More than 63,000 people live below the poverty line and cannot afford simple things, including gauze masks," Lazarev declared. He called on his fellow deputies to raise the city administration's awareness of the new virus and its danger. But a majority of his colleagues did not support Lazarev. They thought there were other more important things on the city's agenda. After all, the czar-to-be has told them there's no real problem.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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| Russian court backs Putin presidential 'reset' plan Posted: 16 Mar 2020 09:51 AM PDT  Russia's Constitutional Court on Monday approved a package of amendments including a "reset" of President Vladimir Putin's previous terms, giving him the possibility to rule into 2036. The approval came just two days after Putin signed the reform bill, which has faced fierce criticism from opposition figures who say it will allow the longtime Russian leader to become "president for life". The court published the ruling on its website, upholding a wide-ranging package of reforms first proposed by Putin in January and approved last week by Russia's two houses of parliament.
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| Lebanon military court orders Lebanese-American be released Posted: 16 Mar 2020 09:30 AM PDT  A military tribunal in Beirut on Monday ordered the release of a Lebanese-American held in the country for nearly six months on charges of working for an Israeli-backed militia two decades ago, Lebanon's state-run news agency said. Amer Fakhoury was ordered released because more than 10 years had passed since he allegedly tortured prisoners at a jail run by the so-called South Lebanon Army, the National News Agency said. Fakhoury has not been attending questioning sessions in Lebanon over the past few months, after being hospitalized with stage 4 lymphoma.
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| Sheriff: North Carolina man kills 6 relatives and himself Posted: 16 Mar 2020 08:31 AM PDT |
| US officials: Foreign disinformation is stoking virus fears Posted: 16 Mar 2020 08:29 AM PDT  The Trump administration is alleging that a foreign disinformation campaign is underway aimed at spreading fear in the country amid the coronavirus pandemic, three U.S. officials said Monday. On Sunday, federal officials began confronting what they said was a deliberate effort by a foreign entity to sow fears of a nationwide quarantine amid the virus outbreak. It was unclear if the disinformation effort was related to administration officials' complaints in recent days that China was spreading misinformation about the U.S.
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| Holed up in the US: Coronavirus shutdown threatens jobs Posted: 16 Mar 2020 08:18 AM PDT  The rapid work stoppage had Americans fretting about their jobs and their savings, threatened to overwhelm unemployment benefit programs, and heightened fears the country could plunge into a recession. President Donald Trump acknowledged that possibility for the first time and suggested the nation may be dealing with the virus until July or August. The number of infections in the U.S. climbed to nearly 4,500, with at least 80 deaths, two-thirds of them in hard-hit Washington state, where many residents of a suburban Seattle nursing home have been cut down by the virus.
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| Presidential primaries in 4 states will go on as planned Posted: 16 Mar 2020 08:02 AM PDT  The four presidential primaries scheduled for Tuesday will go on as scheduled, after a judge in Ohio turned down a request to delay that state's election over concerns of widespread disruption caused by the coronavirus outbreak. Ohio's governor and secretary of state had supported the lawsuit by voters seeking a delay in the primary until June 2, in the hope that the outbreak subsides by then. Ohio Judge Richard Frye ruled against the motion Monday night because he didn't want to rewrite the law, The Columbus Disptach reported.
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| Supreme Court postpones arguments because of virus outbreak Posted: 16 Mar 2020 07:50 AM PDT  The Supreme Court announced Monday that it is postponing arguments for the first time in more than 100 years because of the coronavirus, including fights over subpoenas for President Donald Trump's financial records. Arguments scheduled at the high court for late March and early April were indefinitely postponed, as federal and state courts around the country closed or curtailed their operations as they tried to come to grips with the virus outbreak. Other business at the Supreme Court will go on as planned, including the justices' private conference on Friday and the release of orders in a week's time.
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| Paratrooper exercise is all about preparation - and the jump Posted: 16 Mar 2020 07:30 AM PDT  The soldiers of the 82nd Airborne Division can't move much — they're loaded down with rifles and nearly 100 pounds of gear. For these 75 American paratroopers from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, this weeklong training exercise with the Colombian Army is not a deployment — a word reserved for occasions like the New Year's Eve mobilization that sent members of the division's Immediate Response Force to the Middle East, amid rising tensions with Iran. For now, 2,500 division paratroopers remain in the Middle East on standby.
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| Russian court approves law that could extend Putin's reign Posted: 16 Mar 2020 07:09 AM PDT  Russia's Constitutional Court on Monday approved a law on constitutional amendments that could allow Vladimir Putin to remain in power for another 16 years. The law still must be approved in a national referendum that has been scheduled for April 22. The court's approval came just two days after Putin signed the law.
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| What's Happening: Millions stocked up, slowing down Posted: 16 Mar 2020 05:55 AM PDT  Millions of people are stocking up and holing up at home a as a growing number of governments fight to bring the coronavirus under control. China, where the virus was first detected in December, now accounts for less than half of the world's nearly 175,000 reported cases, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. Spain overtook South Korea as the country with the fourth most confirmed cases, after China, Italy and Iran.
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| Women's domestic burden just got heavier with the coronavirus Posted: 16 Mar 2020 04:57 AM PDT  The bulk of household chores in heterosexual couples is already borne by women – a situation exacerbated by the huge dislocations of the pandemic * Coronavirus – latest updates * See all our coronavirus coverageJuggling work and kids is always a challenge, but now with the coronavirus shutting down schools, Dusti Arab knows she's facing a reckoning. A mother of two living in the greater Portland, Oregon, area, Arab had just stopped working in an office and was looking forward to being able to focus on the small marketing agency she runs from her home when coronavirus hit. "This thing destroyed everything I had going on," she said. "Everything's a disaster here."So far she has had to cancel a long-held vacation plan to Europe and figure out how to accommodate her kids on what she now expects will be a very extended spring break. "My kids go to two different schools and are in different districts, so I'm managing a lot, trying to make sure my family and extended family are prepared for this," she said.Her husband, who typically works out of an office in downtown Portland, will also be working from home for at least the next two weeks, per company mandate – but that doesn't fix her problems. "He's great with helping with rides and getting the kids back and forth," she said, "but this is primarily going to fall on my shoulders."Arab is one of millions of women who will find themselves needing to step up their roles at home as the coronavirus spreads. Study after study has shown that even as women have stepped forward in the workforce, in married heterosexual couples women still shoulder the bulk of household chores. (A Gallup poll from January found women were more than seven times as likely to care for their children on a daily basis as men in heterosexual married or cohabitating couples.) And 80% of single-parent families are headed by single mothers, according to 2019 US Census Bureau data.The World Health Organization is recommending that people take simple precautions to reduce exposure to and transmission of the coronavirus, for which there is no specific cure or vaccine.The UN agency advises people to: * Frequently wash their hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or warm water and soap * Cover their mouth and nose with a flexed elbow or tissue when sneezing or coughing * Avoid close contact with anyone who has a fever or cough * Seek early medical help if they have a fever, cough and difficulty breathing, and share their travel history with healthcare providers * Avoid direct, unprotected contact with live animals and surfaces in contact with animals when visiting live markets in affected areas * Avoid eating raw or undercooked animal products and exercise care when handling raw meat, milk or animal organs to avoid cross-contamination with uncooked foods.Despite a surge in sales of face masks in the aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak, experts are divided over whether they can prevent transmission and infection. There is some evidence to suggest that masks can help prevent hand-to-mouth transmissions, given the large number of times people touch their faces. The consensus appears to be that wearing a mask can limit – but not eliminate – the risks, provided it is used correctly.Justin McCurryThat means when kids come home from school, sick or otherwise – as they are and will be around the country in the coming days and weeks – the answer to the question of who takes care of them is gendered."Women are typically the chief healthcare officer, the chief entertainment officer, the chief education officer in their homes," said Kristy Wallace, CEO of Ellevate Network, a group that supports women in the workplace. "In a time of crisis, a time where we don't have a clear playbook but we do have a lot of panic and anxiety – the weight of these roles is quite overwhelming."Rachel Sklar, a single mother and gender advocate, sees the hardship posed by the pandemic two ways."There's the Covid-19 mental load – are we ready, what do we need, fear of what's going to happen – and then there is the mental load of the single parent in a one-income household after terrifying market drops and business grinding to a standstill," said Sklar, who founded TheLi.st, an online community of professional women, in an email.Her daughter's father lives in Canada, she added, "So practically it's just been me doing the prepping, and the reading about the prepping, and the gaming out contingencies, weighing whether to go to gymnastics and swimming, conferring with my co-founder about how best to support our members (I run an online network of professional women), conferring with clients (I am also a consultant to early-stage startups) and pitching articles (I am also a writer!)."Already total shutdowns have been announced in 23 states, as well as in large urban areas like Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington DC. Experts expect daycare centers may soon also close en masse, and some already have.default Such headlines are especially bad news for mothers, who already do 2.6 times as much unpaid caregiving and domestic work as their heterosexual partners, according to a recent report from the United Nations. And in the face of a pandemic such dynamics will only be exacerbated, with the elderly – whose care is also primarily shouldered by women – needing more care than ever, and the sick proliferating.Julie Kohler, a single mother in DC who works for Democracy Alliance and a fellow in residence at the National Women's Law Center, is reducing her work hours to care for her five-year-old son.As his sole legal guardian, Kohler is fortunate to have a babysitter who helps out part-time. (She has decided she will continue to pay her babysitter's weekly salary regardless of whether she's able to come to work or not during the crisis.)But as a scholar of family social science, the upheaval has only served to highlight to her how inadequate individual responses are in face of a pandemic."We can try to do the right things individually but we really need government leadership at a time like this," Kohler said, ticking down a list of US policy solutions that would help support women caregivers like paid family leave, paid sick leave and other family-focused social programs she would like to see enacted.On Saturday, the House passed a coronavirus relief package that would help assist working families by granting employees affected by the coronavirus crisis up to 12 weeks of paid leave should they need to go into quarantine, care for a quarantined family member, or look after a child whose school is closed, though the provision would apply only to employers with fewer than 500 employees. The bill is expected to be taken up by the Senate as early as Monday.In a statement last week, Tina Tchen, the CEO of Time's Up, called providing paid sick leave "key to unlocking deeply entrenched gender, racial and economic disparities," noting that "the majority of our healthcare and public health workforce are women, who are on the frontlines of the fight to stop the spread of the coronavirus."Antonina Mamzenko, a freelance photographer who works flexibly from home to accommodate the schedule of her home-educated son, said the crisis has created a ton of new work for her individually."I definitely found that everything coronavirus-related fell on me, from staying on top of news and learning about the symptoms, to having pep talks with my nine-year-old and explaining what all this means without making him too anxious, to reminding him to go wash his hands, to noting if any of us have symptoms, to making the decisions as to whether to stay home or go to classes and clubs, and manage work around all of that too," she said in an email."It's frustrating but I'm definitely used to it. It seems just so par for the course that I'm expected to be the one managing it all."
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| 5 dead, including officer and gunman, in Missouri shooting Posted: 16 Mar 2020 04:44 AM PDT  A man fired randomly from his vehicle several times while driving through a southwest Missouri city before eventually crashing into a convenience store, where he walked inside, opened fire and left five people dead, including a police officer and himself, police said Monday. The gunman's motives remain unclear, Springfield police Chief Paul Williams said at a news conference, where his voice broke as he described his officers' actions. Williams said police received reports of "multiple shooting calls throughout the city" late Sunday starting in the south and moving north through the city's east side.
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| Iran's death toll from coronavirus increases to 853 - official Posted: 16 Mar 2020 03:44 AM PDT |
| Israel swears in new parliament under coronavirus shadow Posted: 16 Mar 2020 03:19 AM PDT  Israel swore in its newly elected parliament on Monday under stringent restrictions because of the coronavirus outbreak, in a surreal ceremony reflecting the country's unprecedented dual crisis in politics and public health. Instead of the typical festive gathering of parliament's 120, the new lawmakers took the oath of office in groups of three over 40 staggered rounds, in keeping with a Health Ministry ban on gatherings of more than 10 people. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin presided over the unusual event after the Israeli Knesset, or Parliament, was thoroughly sprayed with disinfectant.
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| Government official: Coronavirus vaccine trial starts Monday Posted: 16 Mar 2020 03:15 AM PDT  The first participant in a clinical trial for a vaccine to protect against the new coronavirus will receive an experimental dose on Monday, according to a government official. The National Institutes of Health is funding the trial, which is taking place at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle. The official who disclosed plans for the first participant spoke on condition of anonymity because the move has not been publicly announced.
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| Shock and Awe Fails to Stem Coronavirus Fears Posted: 16 Mar 2020 03:10 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Federal Reserve deployed some unscheduled shock and awe against the coronavirus yesterday, slashing its benchmark rate back to a record low. Global markets slumped.Today world leaders get their turn to try and calm investors, businesses and the general public as the virus takes hold across Europe, the U.S. and the Middle East, forcing widespread shutdowns. The Group of Seven, which includes the U.S., Germany, France and Japan, will meet by teleconference to discuss coordinated responses to the economic challenges.Some governments are already enacting packages to support key industries like tourism and aviation, tide over small businesses and encourage people to spend. But a sense of global urgency and determination has come with a lag.The G-7 itself has been struggling to matter since Donald Trump was elected on his "America First" platform. As Ben Sills, Arne Delfs and Jenny Leonard explain, Trump had to be persuaded (as G-7 host this year) to even have the call. The leaders of France and Germany quietly joined forces to coax him into it.Broader tensions in trans-Atlantic ties, which resurfaced again with Trump's ban on European travelers, may weigh on the talks. There are newspaper reports Trump tried to recruit a German-based company to get exclusive U.S. access to a possible coronavirus vaccine.Today's meeting will happen without the crucial in-person touch that has smoothed the way before. As this story notes, that makes leadership and coordination even harder.Global HeadlinesDefensive measures | Deaths exceeded 6,400 as worldwide cases topped 166,000. With Spain and Italy in lockdown, other European Union nations weighed tighter movement restrictions. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national state of disaster as counterparts in sub-Saharan Africa took similar measures. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants car makers and other manufacturers to build medical equipment including ventilators. Thailand postponed its New Year holiday due in April. Kazakhstan barred entry to foreigners in a 30-day state of emergency.Old foes | The decades-long enmity between two of Malaysia's political giants looks set to continue. Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad told Bloomberg Television's Haslinda Amin that opposition stalwart Anwar Ibrahim had been pushing him to resign before he abruptly did so last month. Blaming the collapse of his administration on Anwar and saying some comments from his camp were "quite violent," the 94-year-old said the opposition may lack the support it needs to replace the current government.Biden's vow | Joe Biden promised to choose a woman as his vice president should he win the Democratic presidential nomination. He made the pledge on stage last night with rival Bernie Sanders in the first debate held without a live audience because of concerns over the coronavirus. Sanders said he would also likely choose a woman.Read more here on Biden's rise to front-runner status before tomorrow's primaries in four states. Lockdown vote | French voters braved the country's virtual closure in first-round municipal elections that gave President Emmanuel Macron's party a taste of the challenge it faces. His candidate for mayor of Paris trailed in exit polls after a record-low number of ballots were cast in Europe's biggest public election since the continent became the focus of the virus pandemic.Netanyahu's nemesis | Benjamin Netanyahu's rival will be given first crack at forming Israel's new government today. Former military chief Benny Gantz has no clear path to forming a majority government, and his Blue and White bloc is balking at Netanyahu's offer to team up in an emergency coalition. The proposed tie-up would ostensibly be formed to confront the virus but would be led, at least initially, by the prime minister, who's battling graft charges.What to WatchItaly's government will meet today to pass a new package of measures including increased spending for its stricken health-care sector and moves to cover extraordinary layoffs caused by the coronavirus. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Macron will hold a meeting to discuss the situation in Syria via a teleconference tomorrow.Thanks to all who responded to our pop quiz Friday and congratulations to reader, Douglas Tengdin who was the first to name Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as the leader in the Middle East who arrested members of his own family in a bid to consolidate power. Tell us how we're doing or what we're missing at balancepower@bloomberg.net.And finally ... The populist leaders of two Latin American nations are drawing fire for ignoring warnings over Covid-19. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who tested negative for the disease last week, traded fist bumps and took selfies with a crowd at a pro-government demonstration in Brasilia. He applauded similar rallies in other cities, three days after suggesting they would be canceled. In Mexico, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador tweeted a clip of himself hugging people and kissing a child in a throng of supporters in Guerrero state and is set to speak at gathering of hundreds of bankers in the beach town of Acapulco tomorrow. \--With assistance from Anthony Halpin, Ruth Pollard and Amy Teibel.To contact the author of this story: Rosalind Mathieson in London at rmathieson3@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Karl Maier at kmaier2@bloomberg.net, Michael WinfreyFor 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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| Virus toll in Iran climbs as lockdowns deepen across Mideast Posted: 15 Mar 2020 11:55 PM PDT  Iran reported another 129 fatalities from the new coronavirus on Monday, the largest one-day rise in deaths since it began battling the Middle East's worst outbreak, which has claimed more than 850 lives and infected a number of senior officials in the country. Businesses in Iran's capital remained open, however, even as other countries in the region grounded planes, sealed their borders and moved toward full lockdowns. The divergent approaches adopted by local authorities reflect continued uncertainty over how to slow the spread of a virus that has infected around 180,000 people worldwide and caused more than 700 deaths.
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| 'There is nothing now': Syrians in Idlib fear end nearing Posted: 15 Mar 2020 11:11 PM PDT  It was a far cry from the house, the farm, and the job that he, his wife and three children left behind two months ago, fleeing their hometown just 15 kilometers (9 miles) down the road as it was overwhelmed by Syrian government troops in furious fighting. Now they were moving into an apartment in a district full of buildings shattered by government bombardment. The city of Idlib is the last urban area still under opposition control in Syria, located in a shrinking rebel enclave in the northwestern province of the same name.
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| Peace Corps evacuating volunteers worldwide amid outbreak Posted: 15 Mar 2020 10:13 PM PDT  The Peace Corps is telling its volunteers around the world that it is suspending all operations globally and evacuating all volunteers in light of the spread of the new coronavirus. In an open letter to volunteers posted Sunday on its website, the federal agency's director, Jody Olsen, says the decision follows recent evacuations in China and Mongolia due to the outbreak. Olsen says that with evacuations now underway at other posts and travel becoming more challenging by the day, the agency decided to expand the suspension and evacuations.
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| Tuesday's primaries offer chance for Biden to reach Latinos Posted: 15 Mar 2020 09:54 PM PDT  In Joe Biden's pursuit of the Democratic presidential nomination, he's run repeatedly into a wall in the West, where Bernie Sanders' strength among Latinos propelled his campaign even as he struggled with other groups. Tuesday's primaries in Arizona and Florida offer Biden a chance to show he can make up ground with Latinos, a crucial group of voters he'll need in his corner to defeat President Donald Trump. Biden is playing catch-up when it comes to engaging Latino voters and is weighed down by anger over the high rate of deportations during the Obama administration, which left scars for many immigrants and their families.
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| US tells older people to stay home, all ages to avoid crowds Posted: 15 Mar 2020 09:47 PM PDT  Racing to stall an expected surge of coronavirus cases, the White House on Monday released a series of sweeping guidelines that for the next 15 days will temporarily rewrite the norms of American society. President Donald Trump, employing a newly somber tone about the crisis enveloping the globe, urged all older Americans to stay home and everyone to avoid crowds and eating out at restaurants. The president for the first time acknowledged that the pandemic may send the economy into a recession and suggested that the nation may be dealing with the virus until "July or August."
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| Analysis: Biden's pragmatism shines in virus-centered debate Posted: 15 Mar 2020 08:39 PM PDT  As he campaigns for president, Joe Biden's moderate approach to governing often fails to excite his party's most passionate voters. The former two-term vice president and longtime senator, who has spent the last four decades as a Washington insider, faced off Sunday night against Sen. Bernie Sanders and his call for a political revolution in the first one-on-one debate of the Democratic Party's 2020 primary season. It was Biden's first chance to show how he might be seen in a faceoff with President Donald Trump.
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| Sanders' attacks on Biden are too little, too late Posted: 15 Mar 2020 08:25 PM PDT  On Sunday night in front of what one imagines was a large sports-starved television audience on CNN (and exactly zero in-person spectators), Bernie Sanders gave his best debate performance of the 2020 presidential campaign. For the first time since these exchanges began last June, the Vermont senator got angry. He also got specific. On issue after issue, from immigration to health care to student debt to foreign policy, he challenged Joe Biden's record. The former vice president rolled his eyes, quibbled, and at times simply denied his own past votes. But despite the best efforts of the moderators — I lost track of the number of times Sanders was cut off — Biden sounded like a bad impersonation of himself in his famous 2012 debate with Paul Ryan: petulant, dismissive, spewing outright nonsense as confidently as possible. (It didn't help that he himself referred to this historic exchange multiple times on Sunday, though he appeared to be under the impression that it had taken place in 2008.)Unfortunately, it is hard not to come away with the impression that for Sanders all of this was too little, too late. The delegate math already makes his chances of winning the Democratic nomination statistically insignificant (compared with Biden's 99 percent odds). Coronavirus, to which a significant portion of the evening was understandably, if pointlessly devoted, is not going to help him in Ohio on Tuesday, his last chance at proving that he can attract a broad base of support in the Upper Midwest. Meanwhile, Georgia and Louisiana have delayed their contests until May and June, while Wyoming has suspended in-person voting. These are not exactly ideal circumstances for undertaking what would be not only the greatest comeback in the history of American presidential primaries but one of the most astonishing results ever seen in a democracy.Besides, not all of Sanders' blows actually landed. This was not always his fault. If you have ever argued with someone who cannot remember what either of you said 30 seconds earlier, and would be willing to lie about it anyway even if he did, you will understand the frustration Sanders experienced when Biden time after time criticized the Vermont senator for a remark he had not made or disrupted his cogent reasoning with taunts. He did himself no favors by responding to Biden's attempts to paint him as America's leading Xi Jinping fan by politely raising his hand, like the treasurer of the eighth grade student council asking for a point of order. He should have interrupted with one of any number of four-letter words. Most viewers came away with the sense that Bernie was at his wits' end. They were not wrong, but it was not because Biden was winning the argument.This does not exhaust the faults with Sanders' debate performance. As usual, he gave the impression that he does not actually understand why single-payer health care is necessary — that is, because it effectively rations care on a basis other than one's ability to pay, not because it allows people to go to the doctor whenever they want for any reason or none. "If you feel sick, go to the doctor" is actually terrible advice, especially during a public health crisis. And it certainly does not reflect the reality of what life is like under a single-payer system anywhere in the world (nor does his insistence that the government should also be totally responsible for vision and dental care). This is to say nothing of his naive assumption that a single-payer system would be free even for non-citizens, something that would surprise any of us who have ever purchased a short-term emergency insurance policy before traveling abroad.Sanders' best and last pitch was his most effective, one that he should have been making explicitly for the last nine months, namely, that Biden's campaign will not inspire the country. He will have the support of the Democratic establishment and many of the party's most reliable voters. He will also likely enjoy the support of some traditional Republican voters in wealthy suburbs across the United States. But that will not necessarily translate into the only thing that really matters: taking back Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, all three of which will likely be necessary for Democrats to win in November. At this stage in the campaign, this is not an argument for Biden voters to embrace his candidacy. It is a message excusing his own supporters for staying home.Want more essential commentary and analysis like this delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for The Week's "Today's best articles" newsletter here.More stories from theweek.com Coronavirus is exposing America's shameful selfish streak Hotels and casinos along the Las Vegas Strip are closing their doors due to coronavirus Global airlines likely to be bankrupt by end of May, aviation consultant warns
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