| US death toll rises to 19, New York declares state of emergency Posted: 07 Mar 2020 05:34 PM PST  At least 3,559 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University. South Korea, Italy and Iran have the highest national totals of confirmed cases behind China. Tune into ABC News Live at noon ET every weekday for the latest news, context and analysis on the novel coronavirus, with the full ABC News team where we will try to answer your questions about the virus.
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| Trump and Bolsonaro to Discuss Venezuela Over Mar-a-Lago Dinner Posted: 07 Mar 2020 04:54 PM PST |
| Argentina announces first coronavirus death in Latin America Posted: 07 Mar 2020 04:07 PM PST  A 64-year-old man died in Argentina as a result of the new coronavirus, the first such death in Latin America, health authorities announced Saturday. The Ministry of Health said the patient lived in Buenos Aires and had been confirmed with COVID-19 after coming down with a cough, fever and sore throat following a recent trip to Europe. The patient, who suffered kidney failure, had a history of diabetes, hypertension and bronchitis before being infected with the virus, a statement said.
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| U.S. Deaths Climb, Cruise Lines Will Develop Tests: Virus Update Posted: 07 Mar 2020 02:47 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- U.S. cruise-line operators will work with the Trump administration to deal with the new coronavirus as and federal health officials sought to explain difficulties making a diagnostic tool to stem the disease.Italy will limit movement in the region near Milan to fight the spreading virus as deaths reached 233, the most after China. New fatalities at a Seattle nursing home pushed the U.S. total to 19.New cases rose in New York City and its suburbs and U.S. pro sports leagues discussed plans to limit locker room access. Key Developments:Cases surpass 105,000 worldwide; deaths exceed 3,500Pence urges some senior citizens to avoid cruises U.S. tests fewer than 6,000 samplesHungary scraps main national holiday eventSaudi Arabia closes schools in Qatif provinceItaly reports 233 virus deaths, 5,883 infectionsEgypt confirmed another 33 cases from Nile cruiseKuwait suspends parliament for two weeksClick VRUS on the terminal for news and data on the coronavirus and here for maps and charts. For analysis of the impact from Bloomberg Economics, click here.Pence Offers Cruise Advice for Seniors (5:20 p.m. NY)Elderly individuals with serious underlying health issues should avoid certain activities such as taking a cruise, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said after meeting with the cruise-line industry as the coronavirus outbreak raises concerns for ship operators."If you have a family member or are yourself, a senior citizen with a serious underlying health condition, this would be a good time to practice common sense and to avoid activities, including traveling on a cruise line, that might unnecessarily expose one to the coronavirus," Pence said in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.Pence said the industry agreed to work on plans to quarantine passengers on land, rather than aboard ships that can turn into transmission vehicles for the virus.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Coast Guard have been directed to work with cruise industry over next 72 hours on a plan, Pence said.U.S. Tests 6,000 Virus Samples (4 p.m. NY)The U.S. has tested fewer than 6,000 samples of suspected coronavirus cases, the top drug regulator acknowledged, as health officials struggled to explain the government's difficulty creating a diagnostic tool to contain the disease.Food and Drug Commissioner Stephen Hahn said the government doesn't know how many people have been tested. The number is less than the 5,861 specimens checked, because each patient needs from two and 20 tests to confirm a diagnosis, he told reporters at the White House on Saturday.The U.S. response is set to ramp up substantially, Hahn and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said, as deaths nationwide reached 19. About 1.1 million tests have been shipped in the past week and another 1 million are being prepared, Hahn said, allowing for more than 851,000 patients to be screened for the virus.A U.S.-developed test was plagued for weeks, and has put health workers on the back foot in efforts at containing known clusters of infections. Hahn said 48 states now have labs able to test for the new coronavirus, including New York and California, which he said have "everything they've asked for in terms of diagnostics."4 Seattle Home Residents Die (3:45 p.m. NY)Washington state confirmed the number of coronavirus cases jumped to 102 on Saturday, and deaths reached 16. King County, home to Seattle and its suburbs, added 13 cases and four more deaths to its tally.Public health officials in King County, which includes Seattle, said the new fatalities included a man in his 70s and three women, two in their 80s and one in her 70s. All lived at the Life Care nursing home, which has the most deaths in the nation. Seattle accounts for 15 of the 19 U.S. deaths.Lockdown Planned for Milan, North (3 p.m. NY)Italy is set to ban entry and exit in the Milan region and several other northern areas to fight Europe's worst coronavirus outbreak, according to a draft decree seen by Bloomberg.The measures, in force until April 3, include shutting schools and suspending skiing and public events, and closing museums, swimming pools and theaters, according to the draft. Bars and restaurants will need to maintain a distance of at least a meter between people or must close. Work meetings have to be suspended.More measures will apply across Italy, with nightclubs closed as well as pubs and betting halls, and bans on parties and public events. Newspaper Corriere della Sera reported earlier on the draft, which could be approved by the government late Saturday or on Sunday.U.S. Sports Leagues Mull Steps (2:20 p.m. NY)Major U.S. pro sports leagues are considering a ban on media and other non-necessary personnel from team locker rooms, according to people familiar with the matter.The leagues are discussing adopting the proposal as a unified front, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations aren't public.The move stops short of some of the more extreme measures that some leagues worldwide have imposed, such as canceling games or holding competitions with no spectators.Most big U.S. sporting events are still going ahead as planned. The NCAA reaffirmed Friday that games shouldn't be canceled, and Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia said this week the Masters tournament will be played next month.France Virus Infections Near 1,000 (1:45 p.m. NY)France's coronavirus cases jumped by 233, bringing the total to 949, Jerome Salomon, director general of health said Saturday during a Paris news conference. The number of deaths linked to the virus rose to 16 from 11, he said.Saudis Close Schools in Eastern Region: SPA (1:40 p.m. NY)Saudi Arabia will shut all schools and higher education institutions in Qatif province in the eastern region for two weeks to avoid the spread of Covid-19, state-run SPA reports. Saudi education authorities will activate a remote education initiative, the news agency said.Italian Cases Top Iran, Deaths Climb (1 p.m. NY)Italy's total fatalities from the new coronavirus climbed to 233, with total cases increasing to 5,883, the third-highest in the world after China and South Korea.Civil protection chief Angelo Borrelli on Saturday said the biggest one-day jump in infections included more than 300 cases from a Lombardy region laboratory in the town of Brescia that had not been counted previously.Deaths in Italy rank second in the world, behind more than 3,000 in China, where the virus emerged more than two months ago.N.Y. Cases Rise to 76: Cuomo (12:20 p.m. NY)New York state reported a 38% jump in new coronavirus infections on Saturday, to 76, with most cases concentrated in the Westchester County suburbs north of New York City. The governor declared an emergency in the state.Governor Andrew Cuomo said 57 infections are reported in Westchester. New York City has 11 total cases, he said. All the cases are in or near New York City, except for two infections in Saratoga County, near the capital in Albany. Cuomo reported 21 new cases.Cuomo also criticized the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, calling the federal agency a "bottleneck" slowing down state efforts to find infected individuals.In answer to a question, the governor advised elderly residents to avoid attending gatherings with large numbers of people.Hungary's National Day Rally Canceled (11:10 a.m. NY)Hungary's government canceled a rally planned for the March 15 national holiday in central Budapest. Prime Minister Viktor Orban usually speaks to the crowd at the event in front of thousands.The number of confirmed coronavirus patients in Hungary has increased to five since the first infections were announced on Wednesday.\--With assistance from Ryan Beene, Marton Eder, David Scheer, Arsalan Shahla, Golnar Motevalli, John Follain and Scott Soshnick.To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Steve Geimann in Washington at sgeimann@bloomberg.net;Angelina Rascouet in London at arascouet1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: James Ludden at jludden@bloomberg.netFor 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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| UN chief: Gender inequality biggest human rights challenge Posted: 07 Mar 2020 01:30 PM PST  Calling himself "a proud feminist," U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres lashed out at men who abuse power and declared before Sunday's observances of International Women's Day that the fight for gender equality is "the biggest human rights challenge we face." Twenty-five years after 189 countries adopted a 150-page road map for achieving equality for women, a new report by UN Women says the reality is that millions of women still face poverty, discrimination and violence. It notes over 70% of lawmakers and parliamentarians and managers are men and nearly 500,000 women and girls over the age of 15 are illiterate.
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| Israeli PM vows to press forth even after election shortfall Posted: 07 Mar 2020 10:56 AM PST  A defiant Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday he was "not going anywhere" even after he again fell short of a parliamentary majority with his hard-line allies in his country's third election in less than a year. Convening what he called an "emergency conference," Netanyahu accused his opponents of trying to "steal the elections" by aligning with Arab-led parties he said were hostile to the state. The embattled Netanyahu had been looking for a decisive victory in Monday's vote, and initial exit polls had indicated his Likud party and smaller religious and nationalist allies had captured 60 seats, just one short of a majority required to form a new government.
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| First lady pushes back against critics of her tennis tweet Posted: 07 Mar 2020 09:36 AM PST  Melania Trump pushed back Saturday after photos she tweeted of herself overseeing a White House construction project generated an online backlash. "I encourage everyone who chooses to be negative & question my work at the @WhiteHouse to take time and contribute something good & productive in their own communities," the first lady said in a new tweet. The White House has said no public funds will be used for the project.
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| Suburbanites are voting and that's good news for Joe Biden Posted: 07 Mar 2020 09:09 AM PST  Nearly two years after suburbanites helped drive a Democratic surge, there are clear signs these voters are engaged and primed to vote Democratic again. Turnout in the Democratic presidential primary has been strong across suburban counties, from northern Virginia to Southern California, that fueled the 2018 wave. In some cases, it has bested the party's recent high water marks reached during the 2008 primary battle between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
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| Sanders, Biden up attacks as head-to-head race takes shape Posted: 07 Mar 2020 08:08 AM PST  Former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders are spending their first weekend as their party's last top White House contenders increasingly taking aim at one another. Each wants to show he's the best choice before six more states — Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota and Washington — vote on Tuesday. An increasingly bitter matchup could endure for months as Biden and Sanders compete for the right to face President Donald Trump in November.
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| Iran coronavirus death toll jumps to 145, govt lashes out at US Posted: 07 Mar 2020 07:57 AM PST  Iran's official death toll from the new coronavirus rose by 21 Saturday, with a lawmaker among the latest fatalities, while the government accused Washington of hampering Tehran's response to the virus. Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said that the 21 deaths took the country's total death toll to 145, while 1,076 additional cases had been confirmed in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 5,823. Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif later said American sanctions -- reimposed from 2018, after Washington pulled out of a multilateral nuclear deal -- were undermining Iran's battle against coronavirus.
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| As virus outbreaks multiply, UN declines to declare pandemic Posted: 07 Mar 2020 07:35 AM PST  As cases of the coronavirus surge in Italy, Iran, South Korea, the U.S. and elsewhere, many scientists say it's plain that the world is in the grips of a pandemic — a serious global outbreak. The World Health Organization has so far resisted describing the crisis as such, saying the word "pandemic" might spook the world further and lead some countries to lose hope of containing the virus. "Unless we're convinced it's uncontrollable, why (would) we call it a pandemic?" WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said this week.
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| 'The Only Choice Is to Wait for Death' Posted: 07 Mar 2020 07:22 AM PST  IDLIB, Syria -- Before the war in Syria, Idlib city, with its tree-lined avenues and white-stone buildings, was known for its calm, provincial air.Today it overflows with families who fled the war in other parts of Syria, swelling the population to nearly 1 million people.Some shelter in bombed-out buildings. Those who can't find shelter are camped in the soccer stadium, and more line up outside for food handouts.Residents are so used to the shelling that no one even flinches at the sound of an explosion.But for Syria's last rebel-held city the worst is yet to come.To the north, nearly 1 million people are living along roadsides and in olive groves in what is already one of the worst humanitarian disasters of Syria's brutal nine-year war.To the south and east, Syrian government forces backed by Russian warplanes are closing in, now just 5 miles away. When they reach Idlib city, its million residents are likely to flee, doubling the number of displaced people in the north.Dr. Hikmat al-Khatib, an orthopedic surgeon, urged his parents to move to a town to the north. But when it was bombed his mother decided to stay put."Her words shocked me," al-Khatib said. "The only choice is to wait for death."I made a rare visit into Idlib with a photographer and interpreter on Wednesday, crossing the border from Turkey. We were accompanied by relief workers of a Syrian charity and members of a jihadist rebel group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which controls the province.We found 100 families camped in the stadium, which has been converted into an emergency shelter.Amina Sahloul was sitting on the floor around a stove in a large underground room for women and children. She had arrived hours earlier, after fleeing her village in the dead of night, clinging with her five grandchildren behind her son on a single motorcycle."We came away because of the airstrikes," she said. "They started dropping cluster bombs. It was like fire raining in the sky."There has been no letup for the people of Idlib province as the forces of President Bashar Assad of Syria, backed by Russian air power, have smashed their way forward, demolishing towns and villages in the south and east of the province with punishing airstrikes.A cease-fire declared Thursday by Turkey, which backs Syrian opposition forces, and Russia, which backs the Syrian government, seemed to be holding on Friday but few believe it will last. Assad has insisted he will continue his offensive to retake Idlib province, and rebel groups have vowed to resist.At the soccer stadium, as word came across the radio that Russian planes were near, tension rose as people nervously scanned the skies.Earlier that day, when an artillery shell slammed into a nearby neighborhood, few people even looked up. The Syrian government fires rockets all the time.But when Russian planes begin a concerted assault, they use overwhelming force, laying down lines of repressive fire that force people to run for their lives with only minutes to get away."Whenever I hear planes I start running like crazy, I lose my mind," Hassan Yousufi said as he paced angrily around the men's shelter in the stadium. "I lived beside the highway for 45 years. I memorized the Quran and was just biding my own life. My brother was killed. The Russians bombed us."Outside of the stadium, life is on a war footing. The streets are busy with cars and motorcycles and women walk together in the main shopping street, but the city has only two hours of electricity a day and boys sell gasoline in plastic jerrycans on street corners.Idlib province has been free from government control for the length of the war and today is largely controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the rebel group. But there were few armed fighters in sight in Idlib city, the provincial capital, on Wednesday.Police officers loyal to the opposition stand guard outside the governor's office and the police station which still bear the scars of fighting from the first days of the revolution.Billboards around the city bear glossy posters of uniformed rebel fighters, calling on people to join the fight."It is your turn to heed the call," reads one. "There is no honor without jihad," urges another, beside a military checkpoint.Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, has been designated a terrorist group by the United Nations but recently allowed Western journalists into Idlib in cooperation with Turkey, which has wanted to build international pressure against Russia and Syria.On the front lines to the south and east, the rebels, by their own account, have taken a pounding."In the last one-and-a-half months we had a collapse," said Abu Ahmed Muhammad, an HTS spokesman. But he added that the Syrian government had lost many more soldiers than the opposition had, and had to bring in Iranian-backed fighters to retake the strategic town of Saraqib, which has changed hands several times in the last two weeks.Hours before Russia and Turkey agreed to the cease-fire, he warned that nothing would come of it."Both sides will escalate," he said "We in the HTS factions will never accept to de-escalate because the Russians are on top and they may not agree to a peace settlement."But most of the province's three million people are civilians, and they are desperate for an end to the violence. They cling to the hope that Turkey's growing deployment of troops into the province will stop the onslaught."Anything that makes us feel secure or takes the regime away from us is a very good thing," said Abdul Razzaq, the head of the emergency relief for the Syrian charity, Violet. His teams were still helping people flee villages on the front line and preparing in case of a mass evacuation of the city. "But Idlib city is huge and where to take them?" he said.An hour's drive north of the city, blue and white tents pockmark the rocky hillsides and olive groves of the border area. Camps for thousands of displaced families sprouted up from the early days of the war and over the years have turned into settlements of concrete-block housing, built with foreign assistance.Hundreds of thousands more people have joined them in the last six weeks, pitching tents beside the roads and among the rocky limestone outcrops in a densely crowded strip along the Turkish border. Families are sheltering in mosques and schools, empty stores and factories.Even those are not safe. A woman who gave her name as Umm Abdul fled her village three months ago and took refuge with her family in an old brick factory outside the town of Maaret Misrin. On Monday, she was out picking herbs with two of her children when she heard a sound like birds and looked up to see two missiles tumbling out of the sky toward her."I lay the kids on the ground and covered them with my body," she said. "They say if you lie down you don't get hit by shrapnel."She was knocked unconscious and her 18-month-old daughter was wounded but all three survived.At an emergency shelter near the Turkish border, Alia Abras, 37, pushed forward to speak. "Do you know the meaning of displacement?" she asked. "You are like stray dogs."Rescuers took two-and-a-half hours to dig her and her three children out of the rubble of their home in the town of Ariha a month ago, she said. It was the middle of the night but they were left on the street beside their ruined home because there were others still to be rescued. The whole neighborhood around the main hospital had been hit."We spent two days sitting in the street," she said until Violet's rescue team found them and brought them to the shelter, which houses 45 families in a shopping center in the town of Sarmada."I wish I had died under the ruins and my children with me," she said. "We lost everything my husband and I spent our lives building up. We are at zero."In a camp called Al Nasr, new arrivals have pitched tents just yards from the concrete wall topped with rolls of barbed wire that marks the Turkish border. Some are already building breeze-block houses on a hill facing Turkey.Four families were squeezed into one tent set up on top of the camp sewer. They had no other option, they said. Behind the tent, sewage drained down the hill into a fetid pool."No one else would take it," said Hannah al-Mijan, a farmworker and mother of seven. "We do not have money to build."The family had been displaced twice and without work they had fallen into debt. "We are below zero," she said. Her husband, Muhammad, shushed her, telling her not to shame them.This time they chose to live within 100 yards of the border wall. Were they not scared that this place would also be bombed?Al-Mijan shook her head, and gestured at the hill opposite. "That's Turkey," she said.This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
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| How to Quarantine Yourself Posted: 07 Mar 2020 07:20 AM PST  Stay home unless you must see a doctor. No work, school or shopping. If you must come out of your room, wear a mask. And don't share towels.If you are among the thousands of Americans now self-quarantined because of possible infection with the coronavirus, these are a few of the new house rules, courtesy of your local health officials and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Among people told to self-quarantine, isolate themselves or stay home are people returning from parts of China and Iran, those who developed symptoms after spending time in other countries with sustained community transmission, and those with no known exposure who are sick.But many individuals who don't fit neatly into any of these categories and weren't asked to stay home are choosing to seclude themselves anyway because they don't want to put others at risk. California has more than 5,500 people in self-quarantine. More than 2,700 are in seclusion in New York City alone.It may sound like a vacation from reality, an ideal time to binge on Netflix and catch up on sleep. In fact, it's not easy to lock yourself away from family and friends. There are practical and logistical challenges and yawning gaps in the official advice that make it even harder.The terms of home isolation can be onerous and may last for two weeks, which is the presumed incubation period for the virus. It is especially challenging if you have young children or elderly relatives to care for, or live in cramped quarters with a lot of roommates.THE BASICSIsolationIf you are infected or have been exposed to the coronavirus, you must seclude yourself from your partner, your housemates, your children, your elderly aunt. You shouldn't even pet your dog. And definitely no snuggling with your pet (no licking).If you don't have your own room, one should be designated for your exclusive use. You should use a separate bathroom, if you have one.No visitors and no staff, unless it's absolutely essential. Don't take the bus or subway, not even a taxi.MasksIf you must be around other people -- in your home, or in a car because you're on your way to see a doctor, and only after you called first -- you should wear a mask, and everyone else should, too.But first, you or one of your friends or family members have to find masks, which are sold out almost everywhere.HygieneIf you cough or sneeze, you should cover your mouth and nose with a tissue and discard the used tissue in a lined trash can. Then you must immediately wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.You can use sanitizer, if you can find it, but soap and water are preferred.Even if you haven't coughed or sneezed, you should wash your hands frequently and avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth if you haven't just washed them.DisinfectDon't share dishes, drinking glasses, cups, eating utensils, towels or bedding with anyone (including your pets). Wash these items after you use them.Countertops, tabletops, doorknobs, bathrooms fixtures, toilets, phones, keyboards, tablets and bedside tables are considered "high-touch surfaces"; wipe them often with a household cleanser.Frequently wipe down surfaces that may be contaminated by bodily fluids, including blood and stool.MonitoringKeep an eye on your health and call a doctor if your symptoms are getting worse. Make sure to tell the medical staff you are being monitored for the coronavirus.Household MembersFamily members and other occupants should monitor the patient's symptoms and call a health provider if they see a turn for the worse.Housemates can go to work or school, but it's going to be their job to stock up on groceries, pick up prescriptions, take care of the quarantined and keep the place clean. They'll be wiping down doorknobs and countertops, doing loads of laundry and washing their hands -- a lot.When around the patient, household members must wear a face mask, and both mask and gloves if they have contact with the patient's bodily fluids. These should be thrown away immediately, never reused.Elderly members of the household and those with chronic medical conditions are at particular risk if they are infected. Contact with the secluded individual should be minimized.Other occupants of the home should wash their hands frequently and avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands. They should stay in a room separate from that of the exposed or sick individual. If feasible, other members of the household should not share a bathroom with the secluded person.They should monitor their own health, too, and call a doctor if they develop a cough, fever or shortness of breath.Unanswered QuestionsNo one pays you for self-quarantine. There is no reimbursement for products you may need, no government-paid nurse to stop by the home and help out. Self-quarantine is a hardship for both those who have families and those who live alone.Not everyone can work remotely. A two-week absence from work can take an enormous financial toll on hourly wage workers who have to clock in and show up to get paid or who are part of the gig economy with no single employer.Many Americans, maybe most, live paycheck to paycheck."We have to have social interventions to incentivize and support isolation, or we are doomed," said Arthur Caplan, professor of bioethics at the New York University Langone Medical Center.People with no health insurance, inadequate insurance or no regular doctor will be reluctant to seek care if they have symptoms, fearing steep medical bills, he noted. Individuals living in the country illegally, fearful of being discovered and deported, may avoid diagnosis and care."I don't see the state or federal government preparing for this in any way," Caplan added.Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., have introduced legislation that would require all employers to let workers accrue seven days of sick leave, while providing another 14 days for immediate use during a public health emergency.Washington state's website says the health department can help with groceries for those unable to leave their homes and even intervene with employers on their behalf if necessary.Providing for people who make sacrifices for the greater good is crucial, said Lawrence Gostin, a law professor at Georgetown University and director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law."We ought to have a social compact: If you're sick, whether you've got COVID-19 or not, you should separate yourself from society," Gostin said. "That's your part of the bargain; you're doing it for your neighbors, your family and your community."In exchange," he said, "we as a nation owe you the right to a humane period of separation, where we meet your essential needs like medicine, health care, food and sick pay."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
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| Barr Increasingly Appears Focused on Undermining Mueller Inquiry Posted: 07 Mar 2020 07:13 AM PST  WASHINGTON -- Attorney General William Barr testified before Congress last spring that "it's time for everybody to move on" from the special counsel investigation into whether Donald Trump associates conspired with Russia's 2016 election interference.Nearly a year later, however, it is clear that Barr has not moved on from the investigation at all. Rather, he increasingly appears to be chiseling away at it.The attorney general's handling of the results of the Russia inquiry came under fire when a federal judge questioned this week whether Barr had sought to create a "one-sided narrative" clearing Trump of misconduct. The judge said Barr displayed a "lack of candor" in remarks that helped shape the public view of the special counsel's report before it was released in April.In fact, Barr's comments then were but the first in a series of actions in which he cast doubt not just on the findings of the inquiry by the special counsel, Robert Mueller, and some of the resulting prosecutions, but on its very premise. In the process, Barr demoralized some of the department's rank and file and lent credence to Republican politicians who seek to elevate the Mueller investigation into an election-year political issue -- including Trump."I'm deeply troubled by what I've been seeing with Barr's stewardship of the Justice Department," said Nancy Baker, a scholar of attorneys general who studied Barr's first stint in the post under President George H.W. Bush in the early 1990s. At the very least, she said, he has created the appearance that he does not "respect the long-standing norms of departmental independence."Some of Barr's defenders insist that he is suffering from a situation beyond his control: namely, a president whose running commentary on criminal cases he has an interest in has sowed suspicion about the attorney general's motives. In a ruling Thursday in a Freedom of Information Act case over the Mueller report, Judge Reggie Walton of the U.S. District for the District of Columbia questioned whether Barr had redacted portions of the Mueller report in order to protect the president.The department's spokeswoman, Kerri Kupec, said Friday that "the court's assertions were contrary to the facts" and that Mueller's team helped the attorney general decide what information should be kept out of public view.Nonetheless, the judge's criticism reinforced the impression that Barr has been on a mission to undercut the Mueller inquiry. In ever stronger terms, Barr has implied that Mueller was appointed in 2017 only because FBI officials rushed without reason to escalate their suspicions about the Trump campaign into a full-blown investigation.The Justice Department's own inspector general rejected that premise late last year, finding that the bureau's decision was justified by the facts. But Barr has assigned a federal prosecutor to investigate the matter further and has suggested that the inquiry might conclude that the FBI acted in bad faith. Investigators are also said to be examining the intelligence agencies' assessment that President Vladimir Putin of Russia interfered in the American presidential race on behalf of Trump.Last month, Barr appointed another outside prosecutor to review a case that Mueller brought against the president's former national security adviser Michael Flynn for lying to the FBI. And in a second case that the Mueller team brought against Roger Stone, Trump's longtime friend, the attorney general overruled career prosecutors to seek a more lenient prison sentence, triggering a chain of events that the federal judge overseeing the case called "unprecedented."In those and other instances, Barr has never mentioned Mueller by name. But he has increasingly sided with the view of Trump and his allies that the special counsel's inquiry was baseless. As Barr put it succinctly in a December interview with NBC News, "Our nation was turned on its head for three years, I think, based on a completely bogus narrative."He has implicitly criticized both John Brennan, the CIA director under President Barack Obama, and James Comey, who Trump fired as FBI director in 2017, for actions related to the Russia inquiry. Noting that Brennan twice warned the Russian government not to interfere in the 2016 election, Barr said it was "inexplicable" no one warned the Trump campaign that the Russians had targeted it.He also said Comey refused to take the necessary security clearance steps that would have enabled him to cooperate fully with Michael Horowitz, the department's inspector general, in his review of aspects of the Russia investigation. But he noted that John Durham, the U.S. attorney for Connecticut who is separately investigating the origins of the Russia inquiry, has the power to compel testimony. "A decision has to be made about motivations," he said.The president's allies are eager to draw Barr more publicly to their side. At an expected upcoming oversight hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who chairs the panel, is likely to question Barr about whether he believes the Mueller inquiry was necessary or justified.Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., another staunch defender of the president, has promised to ask the Justice Department to open a criminal inquiry into whether the special counsel's office mishandled the prosecution of George Papadopoulos, a former Trump campaign adviser who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.Both Barr's critics and defenders are carefully watching the Flynn case for signs that Barr is backing away from what had been an aggressive prosecution initiated by Mueller and inherited by the U.S. attorney's office in Washington. More than two years after he pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with the government, Flynn reversed himself and asked to withdraw his plea. He claimed prosecutors had deceived him -- accusations that the judge overseeing the case has firmly rejected.Once Flynn recanted, prosecutors stiffened their sentencing recommendation, saying Flynn deserved up to six months in prison. But in January, they seemed to soften that stance, saying that probation was also "reasonable."Outside prosecutors have now been assigned to review the Flynn prosecution, along with other politically sensitive national security cases -- a level of second-guessing that has disturbed federal prosecutors in the Washington office and elsewhere.Even some of Barr's defenders acknowledge that the sentencing of Stone, a former campaign adviser to Trump, turned into a debacle for the department. Barr overruled the sentencing recommendation of four career prosecutors after Trump wrote on Twitter that Stone was being treated too harshly.The prosecutors withdrew from the case in protest. Faced with a backlash in his department, Barr asked the president on national television to quit commenting on the department's criminal cases, and associates suggested he was on the verge of resigning. But when Trump ignored him, Barr stayed put.While Barr insisted he made his decision about Stone's proper punishment based on the merits of the case, sentencing data show the move was extraordinary.A jury convicted Stone, 67, of obstructing a congressional inquiry, tampering with a witness and lying to congressional investigators. The government requested that Stone be granted leniency despite the fact that he had refused to plead guilty.That was the case in less than 2% of the nearly 75,000 criminal defendants who were sentenced in federal courts in the fiscal year that ended in September, according to data from the U.S. Sentencing Commission. The Stone case also stands out because the government ended up seeking a lighter punishment than the federal probation office had recommended, although that recommendation was likely guided by information provided by the prosecutors who Barr overruled.Prosecutor rarely ask for leniency after a trial because it undercuts their ability to negotiate guilty pleas with other defendants, according to Douglas Berman, a professor at Ohio State University's Moritz College of Law who specializes in sentencing issues. "They want to be able to say, and to have a defense attorney repeat to a client, that they are willing to cut a deal, but they are never going to offer this again," he said.In fact, a review by The New York Times of more than 60 federal cases in which a defendant faced at least one similar charge to Stone's turned up no instances in which the government recommended leniency after a trial. The Times reviewed cases in which defendants were sentenced after January 2017 and that were handled by two of the biggest U.S. attorneys offices: in Washington and in the central district of California.In at least nine cases, the government asked for leniency, technically called a variance from sentencing guidelines. Prosecutors typically cited other mitigating factors, including advanced age or illness, on top of a speedy guilty plea.This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
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| Iranian Lawmaker Dies of Coronavirus as Infections Spread Posted: 07 Mar 2020 07:10 AM PST |
| Cyprus police pepper spray protesters at shut crossing point Posted: 07 Mar 2020 06:43 AM PST  Cyprus riot police used pepper spray on Saturday to thwart Turkish Cypriot protesters trying to shove their way through a barricaded crossing point in the heart of the ethnically divided island nation's capital. Several dozen protesters tried to push their way through a cordon of riot police on the Greek Cypriot side of the east Mediterranean island nation, but were held back.
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| Coming out as gay doesn't absolve you of your anti-LGBTQ+ history Posted: 07 Mar 2020 06:00 AM PST  Former congressman Aaron Schock came out this week, with no acknowledgement of the harm he caused gay AmericansSign up for the Week in Patriarchy, a newsletter on feminism and sexism sent every Saturday. Ex-congressman makes shocking Downton Abbey confessionYou're never going to believe this, but it appears that a former Republican politician is a massive hypocrite.Aaron Schock, a four-term Illinois congressman, was once a GOP wunderkind. He was the first member of the US Congress born in the 1980s but had the values of someone born in the 1890s, consistently voting against LGBTQ+ rights. On Thursday, however, the 38-year-old came out as gay in a 2,000 word post.Schock's sexuality, as he himself notes, isn't a huge surprise to many. Rumours followed him throughout his political career – which came to an ignominious end in 2015 when he resigned amid allegations that he'd misappropriated taxpayer funds. (He was later indicted but charges were dropped last year). Schock was widely known as the Downton Abbey Guy because of his lavish Capitol Hill office which was renovated in the style of a dining room from the British period drama.Schock is apparently still seething about the Downton digs which he describes as a "dog-whistle". "I'd never even heard of, and still haven't seen, Downton Abbey," he stresses in his coming-out essay.After clarifying that urgent matter, Schock expresses remorse for being against marriage equality in 2008, but notes that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama also held that position at the time. "[I]f I were in Congress today, I would support LGBTQ rights in every way I could," he wrote. Nothing says "brave" like supporting something once it becomes mainstream!While Schock half-apologizes for being against marriage equality, he conveniently ignores the rest of his hugely homophobic record. This man wasn't just a coward, he was a crusader. He scored a zero on the Human Rights Campaign's congressional scorecard. He voted against the Matthew Shepard Act, which expanded federal hate crime laws to include attacks motivated by gender identity or sexuality. He voted against the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell. He boasted about having one of the "most conservative voting records in the state house"."Everyone deserves to come out as their authentic self on their own terms," Glaad, an LGBTQ advocacy group, tweeted in response to the former politician's declaration. "However, Aaron Schock's statement fails to acknowledge the years of hurt that his votes … caused LGBTQ Americans."I have some sympathy for Schock. He notes that he comes from a religious family who have reacted to his sexuality with disappointment, bible verses and recommendations that he seek conversion therapy. Coming out can't have been easy.Nevertheless, coming out isn't some sort of "get out of jail free" card. It doesn't absolve you of your history. It doesn't wipe your slate clean like Schock seems to think it does. As Glaad notes, the ex-politician doesn't acknowledge the hurt he caused. He doesn't take real responsibility and he doesn't even properly apologize.Instead of asking for forgiveness, Schock seems to demand applause: LGBTQ+ people who don't welcome him with open arms, he suggests, are "vicious". His self-indulgent essay paints himself as both tragic victim and courageous hero. "I … hope that in sharing my story it might help shine a light for young people," he writes. What exactly is the moral of that story, one wonders? It is absolutely fine to spend years screwing over your community for personal gain as long as you come out afterwards? As far as I'm concerned, Schock can shine his light elsewhere. Dubai ruler organized daughters' abduction says UK courtSheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum is responsible for the abduction of two of his children, a British judge has ruled. Princess Shamsa was kidnapped from the streets of Cambridge, England in 2000, when she was 19; she hasn't been seen in public since. Princess Latifa was seized by commandos in the Indian Ocean when fleeing Dubai in 2018 and forced to return home. The judge, Sir Andrew McFarlane, also found that the Sheikh had waged a campaign of intimidation against his former wife, Princess Haya. Just a quick reminder: the Sheikh recently hosted Ivanka Trump at the Global Women's Forum in Dubai. Ivanka praised UAE leadership for their reforms on women's rights. Sounds about right. Elizabeth Warren drops out of presidential raceWhen asked what role gender played in her campaign, Warren said "that is the trap question for women" running for public office. "If you say, yeah there was sexism in this race, everyone says, whiner," she said. "And if you say no there was no sexism about a bazillion women think, what planet do you live on?" Almost 90% of people globally are biased against womenThat's according to a shocking new United Nations gender social norm index which analyzed data from 75 countries housing 80% of the global population. The index found 91% of men and 86% of women hold at least one bias against women. Almost a third of people thought it was acceptable for a man to beat his wife. Almost 50% thought men are better political leaders. Top architecture prize goes to womenYvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara have won this year's prestigious Pritzker Prize. The Irish pair are only the fourth and fifth women to have been awarded architecture's highest honour in the prize's 41-year history. Free rail travel for domestic abuse victimsA new "rail to refuge" initiative offers free train travel in parts of England and Wales to women fleeing abusive relationships. The tragedy of the 'isle of women'This beautiful piece in the Guardian about Europe's last matriarchy is well worth your time. 8 March is International Women's DayThe day is being marked by enormous protests around the world. It's also being marked by a lot of advertising campaign, with brands cynically using it as a PR opportunity and turning it into a "corporate Valentine's Day". Bill Clinton says the Monica Lewinsky affair was a way to 'manage his anxiety'He offers this astounding excuse in the new "Hillary" documentary. Seriously? He might want to try CBD next time.
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| Germany Ready to Boost Loan Help to Ease Virus Cash Squeeze Posted: 07 Mar 2020 05:55 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Germany will expand government loans and guarantees if demand and supply disruptions intensify because of the spread of the coronavirus.While offerings such as bridge loans and credit guarantees are currently sufficient, the authorities are prepared to make more funds available and expand programs if factory closures become more widespread, the economy ministry said on Saturday, a day before the ruling coalition meets to discuss a response to the outbreak."We can respond appropriately in any situation," Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said in an emailed statement. "We are able to increase our support and initiate further measures if necessary."The economy ministry proposed a three-step plan to support German companies experiencing financial issues because of the epidemic.The first step relies on existing financial support, including short-time work programs, to help affected companies. The next phase would involve investment incentives and additional funds.In the third step, the government could add additional support by resorting to measures approved during the 2008 financial crisis and the 2013 floods, the ministry said, without specifying the plans.The measures will likely fall short of the sweeping stimulus package craved by many economists and investors.Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union argues that a surge in public spending wouldn't address the fear factor among consumers and investors and would do little to kick-start demand and investment, people familiar with the discussion have said.On Sunday evening in Berlin, Merkel will host a meeting with leaders of her CDU, its Bavarian sister party and the Social Democrats to map out a strategy as Europe's largest economy confronts the potential economic fallout from the virus.CDU General Secretary Paul Ziemiak cautioned against broad spending plans and reaffirmed the importance of the government's balanced-budget policy."I don't recommend linking the effects of the corona epidemic directly to stimulus or structural programs," Ziemiak told the Handelsblatt newspaper. "It's important that the grand coalition takes targeted and deliberate measures."(Updates with comments from CDU general secretary in last paragraph)To contact the reporters on this story: Chris Reiter in Berlin at creiter2@bloomberg.net;Patrick Donahue in Berlin at pdonahue1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net, Christopher Sell, Nick RigilloFor 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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| Report: Iran Revolutionary Guard commander killed in Syria Posted: 07 Mar 2020 05:41 AM PST |
| Now this: Tornado clobbers African American North Nashville Posted: 07 Mar 2020 05:20 AM PST  On a frigid Friday morning in North Nashville, Ishvicka Howell stood in her driveway and peered down the street at several utility trucks. "When I saw those blinking lights, it was like Christmas," she said. The tornado that struck Nashville wrecked several neighborhoods as it hopped across the city, smashing in trendy Germantown and Five Points, where two people died.
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| Biden Shows His Mettle, Italy’s Deadly Bridges: Weekend Reads Posted: 07 Mar 2020 05:01 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Joe Biden did more than breathe new life into his campaign to secure the Democratic presidential nomination. He romped home in the Super Tuesday primaries and showed he may have what it takes to mount a serious challenge to Donald Trump in November. In Italy, no one knows what to do about the nation's crumbling infrastructure, while in Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's plans to flex his nation's diplomatic and military muscle are running into trouble.We hope you enjoy these and more of our best stories from the past seven days in this edition of Weekend Reads.Joe Biden Looks for His Own Joe Biden in Running MateBiden has said that in picking a running mate he would want to recreate the dynamic he shared with Barack Obama — a working partner who shares his policy vision and complements his skills. But, as Ryan Teague Beckwith and Jennifer Epstein report, there's so much more at stake in 2020.Bot or Not? Online Tools Seek to Cut Through Disinformation FogA collection of private companies, advocacy organizations and universities, such as Indiana University Bloomington's Observatory on Social Media, have stepped up efforts to fight disinformation and developed their own tools to track it, some of which are available to the public. Alyza Sebenius explains.A Democrat as President Could Do Lots to Stop Climate ChangeBarack Obama wrote the playbook for U.S. presidents using executive authority to curb climate change. Jennifer A Dlouhy explains how an incoming Democratic administration might use it. China's Belt and Road Plan Is Getting Lashed by Coronavirus Xi Jinping's Belt and Road Initiative has been seen as a way to project China's influence around the world. Iain Marlow, Karlis Salna, Anusha Ondaatjie and Dandan Li report that now, the coronavirus is showing how the trade and infrastructure program can also help export the country's troubles.Larry Kudlow Says 'We're Not Going to Panic' Over the EconomyWhite House economic adviser Larry Kudlow remains defiantly optimistic and resistant to the idea that the unfolding health crisis demands a greater economic response. Shawn Donnan explains.Senior Saudi Arabian Princes Detained and Accused of TreasonSaudi Arabian authorities detained a brother and a nephew of Saudi King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on accusations of treason. Glen Carey and Vivian Nereim report on another of a series of crackdowns on royal relatives by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the heir to the throne.Erdogan's Ottoman Dreams Lie Broken on the Syrian BattlefieldThe Turkish president has tried to re-establish Ankara's sway in nations of the former Ottoman Empire amid a growing power vacuum as the U.S. disengages, Marc Champion reports. Facing Russia-backed forces in Syria's Idlib, however, Erdogan may have pushed to the limit his country's ability to carve a sphere of influence.Deadly Bridges Expose Italy's Toxic Red Tape and Self InterestItaly's crumbling infrastructure is putting lives at risk. To find out what's going wrong, Marco Bertacche and Alberto Brambilla spoke to Placido Migliorino, a 60-year-old engineer whose year-long investigation into the state of the nation's highway bridges took him on a Kafkaesque journey exposing bureaucracy, self-interest and political paralysis.How a $7 Billion Dispute Helped Topple Mahathir's 'New Malaysia'Mahathir Mohamad wanted to accelerate action to reduce living costs, a key part of the "New Malaysia" agenda that had propelled the bloc's surprise win in 2018. But as Anisah Shukry, Elffie Chew and Yantoultra Ngui write, his proposals only spurred more bickering that caused the collapse of his unwieldy coalition of four parties with racial and religious differences.Deadly Riots in Delhi Have Investors Rethinking India's FutureThrough its worst slowdown in more than a decade, India has had a constant positive to show investors: political stability. But as Archana Chaudhary, Selcuk Gokoluk and Ronojoy Mazumdar report, a riot that killed more than 46 in the capital, New Delhi, during Trump's state visit show that is no longer true. And finally … The weakest productivity since the Industrial Revolution is something Boris Johnson's government must contend with just as the U.K. enters a critical juncture. As Lucy Meakin and David Goodman explain, it may be the biggest challenge to an administration aiming to make Britain a powerhouse outside the European Union. To contact the author of this story: Karl Maier in Rome at kmaier2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Kathleen Hunter at khunter9@bloomberg.netFor 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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| Previous coronavirus daily briefing updates, March 5 Posted: 07 Mar 2020 04:20 AM PST  China CDC released a report online on Feb. 17 that overall found 2.3% of confirmed cases died. However, the fatality rate was 14.8% in people 80 or older, likely reflecting the presence of other diseases, a weaker immune system, or simply worse overall health. By contrast, the fatality rate was 1.3% in people in their 50s, 0.4% in people in their 40s, and 0.2% in people 10 to 39.Masked tourists visit the Louvre Museum in Paris, Thursday, March 5, 2020. With the COVID-19 virus taking firmer hold in Europe, the continent is facing the same complications seen in Asia weeks ago. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)Here are the latest updated numbers on COVID-19, according to statistics provided by researchers at Johns Hopkins University:• Total confirmed cases: 98,041 • Total deaths: 3,349 • Total recovered: 53,827Governor Larry Hogan announced that the first three cases of coronavirus were confirmed in Maryland on Thursday, The Baltimore Sun reports.The cases were confirmed to be a married couple in their 70s and an additional person in their 50s, all in Montgomery County, according to The Washington Post."The patients, who contracted the virus while traveling overseas, are in good condition," Hogan said in a statement. "We have been actively preparing for this situation over the last several weeks across all levels of government. I encourage all Marylanders not to panic, but to take this seriously and to stay informed as we continue to provide updates."With Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival five weeks away and a state of emergency just recently declared in California, Riverside County's public health officer Dr. Cameron Kaiser has not yet instructed the cancellation of music festivals due to the coronavirus, The Desert Sun reports.Kaiser said risk is higher with international travelers, and advised event organizers keep their audience in mind when determining whether to cancel their event. The Desert Sun reports that Coachella attracts "tens of thousands" of people each spring for the festival.As a safety measure, Kaiser said in a press briefing, "If they're going to be screening at the door, they shouldn't have the event."Colorado Gov. Jared Polis announced the first presumptive positive case of COVID-19 has been discovered in the state. The governor will be holding a press conference on the update, which will be streaming over Facebook.Officials in Santa Clara County, California, have also announced six more cases of COVID-19. Officials have said that large events may need to be canceled where attendees are within arm's length of each other, such as San Jose Sharks games.Here are the latest updated numbers on COVID-19, according to statistics provided by researchers at Johns Hopkins University:• Total confirmed cases: 97,885 • Total deaths: 3,348 • Total recovered: 53,786An employee of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire attended a mixer event at a crowded venue after being told to avoid contact with others due to possible coronavirus signs, according to the New York Times. He was later confirmed as the first case in the state.A second case was confirmed shortly after with a person who was a "close-contact" to the first case. The New York Times reports that the incident has raised concerns over suspected patients who disregard instructions to self-quarantine.The employee has since been ordered by the New Hampshire Health Commissioner to isolate himself in his home and is "complying now," according to Jake Leon, communications director for the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services.The Associated Press reports that there are now 17 times more new cases of the coronavirus outside of China than inside it. This means the spread in China has slowed down, while the remainder of the world is watching the spread of the virus speed up.The World Health Organization is issuing warnings to the rest of the world."This is not a drill. ... This is a time for pulling out all the stops," a World Health Organization top official said. "Countries have been planning for scenarios like this for decades. Now is the time to act on those plans."A day after a state of emergency was declared in Los Angeles County as six cases of coronavirus were discovered, four additional cases have been confirmed in the county, according to a report released by the L.A. Department of Public Health Thursday.Here are the latest updated numbers on COVID-19, according to statistics provided by researchers at Johns Hopkins University:• Total confirmed cases: 97,879 • Total deaths: 3,347 • Total recovered: 53,786As coronavirus concerns grow, many universities across the United States have announced the cancellation of some or all university-sponsored or course-related international travel for spring break and the remainder of the semester.Some universities that have made cancellations or ended study abroad trips include University of Southern California, University of Massachusetts, Penn State University, Ohio State University and Northwestern University. However, many more universities have canceled international trips, and students should check with their own university for updates.In addition, some high schools, including Milton High School in Milton, Massachusetts, have had international spring break trips canceled. Milton High School families received a travel voucher for a future trip through EF Educational Tours instead of a refund, according to Boston 25 News.March Madness starts in exactly two weeks and there's been talk of games being played in empty arenas, The Associated Press reported. The NCAA has formed a coronavirus advisory panel consisting of leading medical, public health and epidemiology experts.Mar 20, 2019; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; General overall view of the March Madness logo at center court before the first round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament at Vivint Smart Home Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports"The NCAA is committed to conducting its championships and events in a safe and responsible manner," said Donald Remy, NCAA chief operating officer. "Today we are planning to conduct our championships as planned, however, we are evaluating the COVID-19 situation daily and will make decisions accordingly. NCAA Chief Medical Officer Dr. Brian Hainline said the organization was in daily contact with the CDC.The National College Players Association urged the NCAA in a statement on Feb. 29 that its colleges should take precautions to protect college athletes. This includes potentially holding the upcoming men's and women's basketball tournaments without fans in the arenas. "In regard to the NCAA's March Madness Tournament and other athletic events, there should be a serious discussion about holding competitions without an audience present," the NCPA said. Total coronavirus cases in the U.S. climbed to 177 on Thursday.All primary schools were ordered to be closed in the Indian capital of New Delhi. Manish Sisodia, the deputy chief minister of Delhi, made the announcement on Twitter Thursday and said it was a "precautionary measure."In Iran, which has the fourth-highest amount of confirmed COVID-19 cases, schools and universities were also closed, according to The New York Times, citing Iranian state media. Concerts, sporting events and other large gatherings have been canceled. The first confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Tennessee and Nevada. Tennessee health commissioner Dr. Lisa Piercey said results from tests conducted Wednesday came back positive and have been sent to the CDC. The patient is an adult male from middle Tennessee with a recent history of out-of-state travel. He is isolated at home with mild symptoms.Piercey said the man resides in Williamson County, which encompasses an area just south of Nashville.Nevada had previously listed 14 cases where test results came back negative for the virus. According to the Nevada Independent, details about the patient's condition were expected to be released during a press conference Thursday morning,Companies around Seattle started to close, send people home, or make changes to policies for the first time after employees started to test positive for COVID-19. * Facebook told employees in Seattle to work from home for the rest of the month after a contractor tested positive at their Stadium East office. * Amazon ordered all employees in Seattle to do the same after an employee tested positive. * Microsoft told employees in Washington and Bay Area to work from home until March 25. * Starbucks announced it would stop accepting personal coffee cups in all U.S. and Canada stores. * Weather in Seattle lately has been chilly and rainy, with highs ranging from the upper 40s to mid-50s.The first case of COVID-19 has been reported in South Africa. According to Dr. Zweli Mkhize, the country's health minister, the patient is a 38-year-old man who recently traveled to Italy with his wife. The man reportedly had symptoms of fever, headache and sore throat and has remained in isolation since March 3.New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday that there are two new cases of COVID-19 in the city. One patient is a man in his 40s, and the other new patient is a woman in her 80s. Both are hospitalized in intensive care. Neither patient has traveled recently indicating that these two cases were the latest signs that the virus was spreading in the community."We are going to see more cases like this as community transmission becomes more common. We want New Yorkers to be prepared and vigilant, not alarmed," de Blasio said. The total number of cases in New York state is now 13.As concerns mount about COVID-19, along with confirmed cases in the U.S. (now 159), there's a sharper focus on whether or not to cancel events that draw large crowds. According to a report by The Miami Herald, the annual Ultra Music Festival scheduled for March 20-22 will be canceled this year after city officials urged organizers to call off the event. The festival is a large dance music event that draws fans from around the world. According to AccuWeather's long-range forecast, the weather for that weekend looks to be pleasant, with partly sunny skies and high temperatures in the upper 70s.A cruise ship is being held offshore near San Francisco due to COVID-19 fears. The Grand Princess is the same ship that carried an elderly passenger on a voyage last month who has since died of COVID-19. The Coast Guard is set to fly testing kits out to the ship on Thursday and the boat won't be allowed to dock until testing is complete, ABC News reported. Several passengers on board have been complaining of flu-like symptoms.Here are the latest updated numbers on COVID-19, according to statistics provided by researchers at Johns Hopkins University:• Total confirmed cases: 95,748 (up from 93,455 on Wednesday) • Total deaths: 3,286 (up from 3,198 on Wednesday) • Total recovered: 53,423 (up from 50,743 on Wednesday)Click here for previous briefings on the coronavirus from March 2-4.Click here for previous briefings on the coronavirus from Feb. 27 to March 1Additional reporting by Lauren Fox and Maria Antonieta Valery GilKeep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
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| Greek villagers enlisted to catch migrants at Turkey border Posted: 07 Mar 2020 03:16 AM PST  Over the years, villagers who live near Greece's border with Turkey got used to seeing small groups of people enter their country illegally. When Turkey started channeling thousands of people to Greece, insisting that its ancient regional rival and NATO ally receive them as refugees, the Greek government sealed the border and rushed police and military reinforcements to help hold back the flood. Greeks in the border region rallied behind the expanding border force, collecting provisions and offering any possible contribution to what is seen as a national effort to stop a Turkish-spurred incursion.
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| China’s Dystopian Coronavirus ‘Back to Work’ Campaign Posted: 07 Mar 2020 02:21 AM PST  HONG KONG—People in today's China are only too aware that algorithms crawl over all social media posts, and that multiple cameras are aimed at all street corners. But the coronavirus epidemic and its fallout have heightened the sense of dystopian menace as never before. The Coronavirus Epidemic Is Xi Jinping's Epic FailEvery phone and its user is trackable, no matter how careful you may be with your digital footprints, and new tools built by Tencent and Alibaba, two of China's biggest tech companies, have made painfully obvious the tight surveillance experienced by people all over the country.There's a contradiction unfolding throughout China with an inconsistent message coming down from the top: Maybe you should remain in quarantine, but really you should get back to work, and then go spend your money. President Xi Jinping wants people back at their places of employment immediately, but doesn't want the virus to explode again. Top political leaders declared this week that consumption, which "has been suppressed or frozen" must be "unleashed." Ever since the onset of the coronavirus outbreak in December, Xi has emphasized the need to maintain China's status as a global economic powerhouse, a sentiment echoed repeatedly by cadres under his direction. On Feb. 11, Cong Liang, the secretary general of China's National Development and Reform Commission, an agency that manages the country's economy, articulated a paradox hard to resolve. "If we do not get back to work," he said, "epidemic control won't be sustainable." For many CCP officials, falling in line with Xi's order is of paramount importance, logic be damned. Putting hundreds of millions of people back to work in factories and offices is fundamentally at odds with efforts to contain the spread of a rapidly transmissible disease. But it's easy to make sweeping declarations while viewing the situation from Beijing. Big tech is supposed to square this circle, helping to reboot the economy without rebooting the disease, steering people back to their workplaces, for better or worse, under the cold stare of all-pervasive algorithms. COLOR-CODED QUARANTINETencent is implementing a QR code system that tracks people who use public transportation. Anyone boarding a bus, taxi, or subway car needs to scan the code, linking their identities with that vehicle. And if they later turn out to be a patient with COVID-19, everyone who has shared a ride with them is notified.It's an imperfect system, one that backtracks to issue warnings rather than actively preventing the dissemination of the disease, but it has a precedent. Alibaba, employing its Alipay electronic wallet, which has 900 million users in China, has been assigning colors to people—green meaning clear for passage in public areas, yellow demanding seven days of quarantine, and red for 14 days of isolation. So, whether you can leave a city, or even your apartment complex, depends on Alibaba's algorithm.But your color code is not determined by trained medical personnel. Often enough, the system flags people who aren't exhibiting any symptoms and seem to be in perfect health.In physical space, other (sometimes faulty) instruments are being used to carry out Beijing's directives.The police have adopted new tools to fortify their arsenal. On the streets of Shanghai, they wear headsets with thermal camera attachments to locate people who may be running fevers. In other parts of the country, they have dispatched drones to monitor public areas, broadcasting messages to steer people indoors. A video publicizing the presence of these eyes in the sky is meant to be cute and folksy, but it is just about as creepy as it could be. "The world should thank China"Some officials who need to execute Xi's diktats are cautious about his push.Last week, Feng Huiqiang, an official with the Guangdong Health Commission in the southeastern quadrant of China, said that migrant workers, who staff factories that export goods to all corners of the globe, "should not rush to return to Guangdong." But Xi won't have any of that. For the past two weeks, he has been making calls to world leaders, repeating one talking point over and over again: "The fundamentals of the economy [in China] will remain strong in the long run."That may ultimately be the case. But for now, people in China are cautious, precisely because trust in the government has deteriorated as rapidly as COVID-19 has spread among the population. While some parts of the country, like Hubei province, where the virus that causes COVID-19 likely originated, are on forced lockdown, people elsewhere in China are choosing to stay at home and limit their time in public places. They're doing so because they believe this will mitigate opportunities for the coronavirus to propagate—at home and abroad.Despite the ruling party's reassurances and the tech companies' dystopian tools, there is widespread confusion about the immediate future. Several people I have spoken to, all of whom have been working from home in the past weeks, have said that they're not even sure what conditions need to be in place for them to feel safe about commuting and traveling again.The Russian Models Instagramming From China's Coronavirus CapitalAnother part of Beijing's solution for this uncertain future is self-congratulation combined with a transparently cynical effort to rewrite the past. On Wednesday, state-run media outlet Xinhua ran an article titled "Rightfully, the world should thank China," along with a photograph of U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and others praying in the vice president's office in the White House. China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Zhao Lijian, claimed on the same day that the coronavirus' origin may not be China at all. Meanwhile China Daily called Wuhan's Huanan Seafood Market the place that was "once believed to be the origin of the novel coronavirus," thus paving over the fact that about two-thirds of the first batch of COVID-19 patients were linked to this location.The revisionist bureaucrats of the Chinese state even make veiled accusations that the U.S. is the source of COVID-19—or a new epicenter in the making, with science skeptic Pence in charge of the outbreak's containment. Meanwhile, they continue to refine surveillance structures using the preservation of public health as cover. Once new systems are in place, it is unlikely that they will be taken offline—an accidental boon for China's major tech companies and the Chinese Community Party, who are now that much closer to knowing everything about everyone in the country.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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| Tear gas sprayed across migrants at Turkey-Greece border Posted: 07 Mar 2020 12:05 AM PST  A group of migrants on Saturday tried to bring down a fence in a desperate attempt to bust through the border into Greece while others hurled rocks at Greek police. Greek authorities responded, firing volleys of tear gas at the youths. At least two migrants were injured in the latest clash between Greek police and migrants gathered on the Turkish side of a border crossing near the Greek village of Kastanies.
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| Coronavirus: thousands stranded on cruise ship off California after 21 cases confirmed Posted: 06 Mar 2020 11:10 PM PST  Crew and passengers from more than 50 countries stuck on ship moored off San Francisco, as global infections pass 100,000 mark * Coronavirus – live updatesThe state of Florida has reported two deaths from coronavirus, the first US fatalities outside the west coast, as thousands remain quarantined on a cruise ship moored off the coast of California, near San Francisco. Health officials said the deaths in Florida involved two people in their 70s who had travelled overseas, one in Santa Rosa County and the other near Fort Myers. The US death toll is now 17, with 333 confirmed cases in the Covid-19 novel coronavirus outbreak.And on the Grand Princess cruise ship moored outside San Francisco, nearly half of the 46 people tested for coronavirus onboard have returned a positive result, vice president Mike Pence said. The fate of its more than 3,500 passengers and crew from more than 50 countries remains unclear.Pence said 21 positive results had been recorded – 19 crew members and two passengers – and that "those that will need to be quarantined will be quarantined. Those who will require medical help will receive it." He urged elderly Americans to consider carefully taking future cruises during the crisis.There is little detail as to where quarantined and sick passengers will be taken. Previously, military sites have been used to quarantine holidaymakers from the Diamond Princess, moored off Yokohama. On the Grand Princess, some passengers have already complained about the handling of the situation, saying they learned of the coronavirus cases from media reports, and there are concerns for one passenger who has stage 4 cancer.There are 2,422 guests and 1,111 crew on the vessel, with more than 140 Britons and four Australians among them.Globally, the virus has now killed nearly 3,500 people and infected more than 100,000 across 92 nations and territories. Italy and Iran have become the latest hotspots with sharp rises in confirmed cases, recording 4,636 and 4,747 respectively.In China, 99 new cases were confirmed, and 29 deaths as of midnight Friday. In official data released on Saturday, China's exports fell 17.2%, the biggest drop since February 2019 during the trade war with the US, and imports dropped 4%.The US government plans to take the Grand Princess to a "non-commercial port" where all the passengers and crew would be tested, however, President Donald Trump said on Friday he would prefer not to allow the passengers onto American soil."I like the numbers being where they are," said Trump, who appeared to be explicitly acknowledging his political concerns about the outbreak: "I don't need to have the numbers double because of one ship that wasn't our fault."Closer to the epicentre of the global outbreak, Hong Kong further sealed itself off from the outside world, with authorities advising Hongkongers against all non-essential travel abroad, and making all arrivals complete a health declaration form.Previously, the measure, which will come into force from Sunday, was required only for mainland Chinese passengers. The city has reported 106 cases and two deaths in the past six weeks, according to its health officials.In Australia, authorities are working to trace about 70 patients of a doctor who continued to see patients despite falling ill with coronavirus-like symptoms. He fell ill in the US during a flight from Denver to San Francisco on 27 February before flying back to Melbourne and working throughout the following week. He was later confirmed to have the virus and Toorak clinic, where he works, has since been closed.Victoria's health minister, Jenny Mikakos, said: "I have to say I am flabbergasted that a doctor that has flu-like symptoms has presented to work," Mikakos said.Equally astonished were police in Sydney, who appealed for calm after a brawl broke out between three women in a supermarket over toilet paper amid continued panic buying. "We just ask that people don't panic like this when they go out shopping," said acting inspector Andrew New from New South Wales police. "There is no need for it. It isn't the Thunderdome, it isn't Mad Max, we don't need to do that."There is no need for people to go out and panic buy at supermarkets, paracetamol and canned food or toilet paper."In the meantime, passengers aboard the Grand Princess remained holed up in their rooms as they awaited word about the fate of the ship. Some said ship officials only informed them of the confirmed coronavirus cases after they first learned about it from news reports.Passenger Kari Kolstoe, a retiree from North Dakota has stage-4 cancer and is particularly concerned. Kolstoe, 60, said she and her husband, Paul, 61, had looked forward to the cruise to Hawaii as a brief, badly needed respite from the grind of medical intervention she has endured for the past 18 months.Now facing the prospect of a two-week quarantine far from home in Grand Forks, she worried their getaway cruise will end up causing a fateful delay in her next round of chemotherapy, scheduled to begin early next week."It's very unsettling," she said in a telephpone interview from the ship on Friday. "It's still a worry that I'm going to not get back."Besides the implications for cancer treatment is the fear of falling ill from exposure to a respiratory virus especially dangerous to older people with chronic health conditions and suppressed immunity. "I'm very at risk for this," said Kolstoe, whose rare form of neuroendocrine cancer has spread throughout her body. "Me staying on here for a lot of reasons isn't good."Steven Smith and his wife, Michele, of Paradise, California, went on the cruise to celebrate their wedding anniversary. They said they were a bit worried but felt safe in their room, which they had left just once since Thursday to video chat with their children. Crew members wearing masks and gloves delivered trays with their food in covered plates and left them outside their door.To pass the time they have been watching television, reading and looking out the window, they said. "Thank God, we have a window!" Steven said.An epidemiologist who studies the spread of virus particles said the recirculated air from a cruise ship's ventilation system, plus the close quarters and communal settings, made passengers and crew vulnerable to infectious diseases. "They're not designed as quarantine facilities, to put it mildly," said Don Milton of the University of Maryland. "You're going to amplify the infection by keeping people on the boat."Another Princess ship, the Diamond Princess, was quarantined for two weeks in Yokohama, Japan, last month because of the virus. Ultimately, about 700 of the 3,700 people aboard became infected in what experts pronounced a public-health failure, with the vessel essentially becoming a floating germ factory.In the US, officials in Austin cancelled this year's SXSW festival, a major tech and music conference, amid coronavirus concerns. SXSW, which draws 400,000 visitors, was scheduled for 13 to 22 March.Austin's mayor, Steve Adler, said: "I've gone ahead and declared a local disaster in the city and associated with that, have issued an order that effectively cancels SXSW."
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| To Understand the World Today, Read Thucydides Posted: 06 Mar 2020 11:00 PM PST |
| To Understand the World Today, Read Thucydides Posted: 06 Mar 2020 11:00 PM PST |
| Heavy police raids leave east Jerusalem neighborhood on edge Posted: 06 Mar 2020 10:00 PM PST  Murad Mahmoud's 14-year-old son has been detained by Israeli police in his east Jerusalem neighborhood three times in the last two years. Nearly every day for the last nine months Israeli police have stormed into the Palestinian neighborhood of Issawiya in east Jerusalem in a campaign they say is needed to maintain law and order. Rights groups say that in addition to searching houses and issuing fines, they have detained hundreds of people — some as young as 10 — on suspicion of stone-throwing.
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| Egypt says cruise ship quarantined over new virus cluster Posted: 06 Mar 2020 09:31 PM PST  A cruise ship on Egypt's Nile River with over 150 tourists and local crew was in quarantine Saturday in the southern city of Luxor, as 45 people on board tested positive for the new coronavirus, authorities said. A Taiwanese-American tourist who had previously been on the same ship tested positive when she returned to Taiwan, the World Health Organization informed Egyptian authorities, who then tested everyone on the ship. Health authorities first found that a dozen of the ship's Egyptian crew members had contracted the fast-spreading virus, and said they did not show symptoms, according to a joint statement from Egypt's Health Ministry and the WHO on Friday.
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| Frustration mounts over virus-stalled ship in California Posted: 06 Mar 2020 09:22 PM PST  Cruise officials and passengers confined to their rooms on a ship circling international waters off the San Francisco Bay voiced mounting frustration as the weekend wore on with no direction from authorities on where to go after 21 people on board tested positive for the new coronavirus. The Grand Princess was forbidden to dock in San Francisco amid evidence that the vessel was the breeding ground for a cluster of about 20 cases that resulted in at least one death after its previous voyage. Jan Swartz, group president of Princess Cruises and Carnival Australia, told reporters Saturday that cruise officials want guests and crew off the ship as soon as possible, but the decision-making is out of their hands.
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| Clyburn's kingmaker moment changes landscape of 2020 race Posted: 06 Mar 2020 09:08 PM PST  At a funeral service last month, Jannie Jones locked eyes with Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn across the church sanctuary and crooked a finger, beckoning him to come over to the pew where she sat. The House majority whip bent down so the 76-year-old Jones could whisper in his ear: "I need to know who you're going to vote for," she asked. Giving Clyburn a thumbs up, Jones wondered if he'd endorse the former vice president publicly.
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| Trump's challenge: keeping his act fresh in reelection year Posted: 06 Mar 2020 09:06 PM PST  The Donald Trump show has a consistent script. "It's easy to be presidential but only have about three people in front of me," Trump said at a recent rally, before breaking into a monotone imitation of a droning politician.
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| The Path to Power in Post-Merkel Germany Is Getting Greener Posted: 06 Mar 2020 09:00 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- In a Berlin pizza parlor, a secretive group of politicians is drawing up a plan to put climate policy at the center of the next German government.The network, half-jokingly known as the Pizza Connection, has spent years honing proposals for an unprecedented coalition between Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats and Germany's increasingly powerful Greens. With the chancellor due to step down in little over a year, the group senses that their time may be arriving."There is no alternative to a Green government," said Juergen Falter, professor of politics at the University of Mainz.As politicians across Europe wrestle with the decline of traditional parties and the challenges of climate change, Green movements are emerging as serious contenders for government across the continent. They've formed a coalition in Austria, are reshaping European Union policies and are poised to define Europe's biggest economy in the post-Merkel era.The Greens are second only to her CDU-led bloc in national polls and underscored their growing influence by doubling support in Hamburg elections late last month. Across the rest of Europe too, officials are preparing to work with the German Greens.In a back room at the Munich Security Conference last month, French President Emmanuel Macron met with Green party leaders Robert Habeck and Annalena Baerbock for three hours, an unusually long audience for a pair of opposition lawmakers.The French leader spent much of his time with the two Greens pressing them for their views on strategic challenges to Europe like the western Balkans and Syria, according to a person briefed on the conversation. It seemed like the French leader was testing the duo, said the party official asking not to be identified because of the sensitive nature of the talks.For the Greens, the Macron meeting was part of a strategy to raise their profile beyond Germany's borders and to show their environment-focused approach can address the full range of political challenges.Before Munich, Habeck -- a stubble-cheeked writer -- was in Washington talking about the need for companies and politicians to protect the planet and about how a new global economy can emerge around climate-friendly policies. In January, he made his first visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland."We have this cliche that the Greens, because they are the Greens, they are for the trees and the weather," Habeck told Bloomberg News in Davos. "That's not true anymore."With Merkel's party in the midst of a power struggle following the resignation of her chosen successor, the Greens are presented with a historic opportunity. Building on the Pizza Connection, they're in position to form a coalition with the conservatives, cementing ties that have been decades in the making.Some 25 years ago, a small group of Greens began to meet with their Christian Democratic counterparts in an Italian restaurant in Germany's then-capital Bonn. The meetings have taken place periodically ever since, building a rapport between the groups and quietly establishing common ground for a possible alliance.Secret RosterThere are now 15 members from each party involved, and while the roster of attendees is secret, high-ranking CDU members have taken part, including Economy Minister Peter Altmaier, Health Minister Jens Spahn and General Secretary Paul Ziemiak, according to people familiar with the gatherings."What we discuss inside the room stays inside the room," said Silvia Breher, a CDU lawmaker who has participated in the meetings.When the Pizza Connection started, the idea that the Greens and the CDU could one day form a government was unthinkable for the general public and conservative bigwigs. The Christian Democrats were the venerable party that had led Germany throughout much of its post-war reconstruction and reunited East and West.The Greens arose from the anti-nuclear movement and the left-wing fringe. Joschka Fischer -- foreign minister under Gerhard Schroeder, the one and only time the Greens played a role in national government -- admitted to beating a policeman during militant protests in the 1970s.Since Merkel came to power in 2005, the Greens have steadily moved closer to the CDU, shifting more to the center as environmental concerns become mainstream. By 2013, the idea of a coalition started to take hold among the leadership and base of both parties, and the frequency of Pizza Connection meetings was stepped up.Close CallThings were almost ready after the 2017 election, when Merkel sought to form a three-way alliance with the Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats. But the talks collapsed after the FDP pulled out, and Merkel was forced to revive the unpopular "grand" coalition with the Social Democrats.Still, the aborted negotiations demonstrated to Christian Democratic leaders that they could work with the Greens when it counted, anchoring the idea in Berlin power circles that the two would be natural partners after the next election.The ties have held in day-to-day politics since. In a vote on Brexit in February, the Greens backed the ruling coalition, while the FDP opposed. Such gestures of support have been well-received by conservative lawmakers as a sign that the party can suspend ideological dogma."The Greens backing of our Brexit motion and other steps show that they are acting more and more responsibly and getting ready to take on government responsibility" under the CDU, said Juergen Hardt, a high-ranking Christian Democratic lawmaker who is a supporter of the Pizza Connection. "The coalition talks in 2017 have proven that there is common ground."To be sure, a workable governing coalition is a far cry from chatting over pizza and pasta, and the recent surge in Green support risks collapsing if climate change disappears from the headlines. But in Berlin, the question for now is less about whether the Greens will be in government, and more about whether they'll be governing with the CDU.While Merkel's party is struggling to hold on to supporters, the Greens are gaining under Baerbock and Habeck -- one of the country's most popular politicians. That means the environmental group could even nip in and take the chancellery for themselves in a coalition with the Social Democrats and the anti-capitalist Left party."They don't want to sit on the opposition benches anymore," said Falter, the politics professor from Mainz. "The Greens are ready to govern."\--With assistance from Patrick Donahue.To contact the reporters on this story: Birgit Jennen in Berlin at bjennen1@bloomberg.net;Brian Parkin in Berlin at bparkin@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Chad Thomas at cthomas16@bloomberg.net, ;Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net, Chris Reiter, Raymond ColittFor 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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| U.S. raises travel alert levels for Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan over coronavirus Posted: 06 Mar 2020 06:47 PM PST |
| Florida: 2 dead in the state who tested positive for virus Posted: 06 Mar 2020 04:57 PM PST  Two people who tested positive for the new coronavirus have died in Florida, marking the first deaths on the East Coast attributed to the outbreak in the U.S., health officials said Friday. Helen Aguirre Ferre, a spokeswoman for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, confirmed the deaths on Twitter, writing the individuals were in their 70s and had traveled overseas. The announcement raises the U.S. death toll from the novel coronavirus strain to 16, including 13 in the state of Washington and one in California.
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