| China’s Virus-Hit Cities Remain World’s Biggest Ghost Towns Posted: 10 Feb 2020 05:31 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Shanghai joined Beijing back at work Monday, but the megacities that govern the world's second-largest economy remained eerily quiet as many logged on from home to avoid worsening the coronavirus outbreak.Commuters who did go in traversed deserted streets to arrive at empty offices as local government decrees extending the Lunar New Year break to 17 days expired. In Shanghai, like Beijing a week earlier, many workers stayed at home to avoid contracting the disease, leaving vast infrastructure networks mostly idle.Malls around Shanghai's Nanjing West Road shopping district were open, but saw few shoppers and the normally bustling Lujiazui financial district sat almost empty. The front desks of some apartment buildings were piled high with groceries and food orders, as many of the city's more than 20 million residents ordered deliveries instead of venturing out into a community that has almost 300 confirmed cases of the deadly new virus.Some orders for securities were also slowed down, with few people on site to handle them."Everything is good, except you can't place any orders when working from home," said He Qi, a portfolio manager with Huatai-PineBridge Fund Management Co. "We have a few portfolio managers taking turns to work from the office. It's alright if you don't plan to make any big adjustments to your portfolio in the near term, but if you do then it's time to trouble the PMs on duty."The situation remained largely the same in Beijing, where the holiday had ended a week earlier. The usually crowded shopping area of Sanlitun was so empty Monday morning that a father and son kicked a soccer ball around the outdoor Taikoo Li mall. They were wearing masks, like just about everyone else out.Chinese companies are participating in one of the largest-ever work-from-home experiments, as the country tries keep its economy moving even as virus cases continue to mount. More than 1,000 people have died from the strain first discovered in humans in December in the central Chinese province of Hubei, with more than 40,000 cases confirmed around the world.Hubei -- an industrial powerhouse with an economy the size of Sweden -- remained shut for a third week, underscoring the outbreak's threat to nationwide growth. The new coronavirus might have infected at least 500,000 people in provincial capital of Wuhan, according to preliminary mathematical modeling by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, which suggested the outbreak could peak later this month.Chinese President Xi Jinping also turned up on Beijing's streets, visiting the capital's Chaoyang district to inspect virus-control efforts. The Communist Party leader wore a mask and had his temperature checked.Like many places across the country, representatives for local neighborhood committees in the capital were going door to door, asking residents to report daily on their temperatures by scanning QR codes that directs them to WeChat groups. Propaganda posters promise to mobilize the power of the "masses" to overcome the outbreak. Bars have been largely shuttered or empty in the evenings.On Sunday, the capital region's new 80 billion yuan ($11.5 billion) Beijing Daxing International Airport, was largely empty, its luggage belts ready to receive just one incoming overseas flight. The parking lot was vacant, and so was the toll road station leading to its entrance.Incoming passengers had their temperatures checked by groups of health inspectors wearing masks, goggles and hair nets. Travelers were instructed not to walk around without masks.Still, some aspects of life normal life continued in Beijing, which has confirmed almost 340 coronavirus cases. Food and grocery deliveries were running.Houhai, a lake and popular tourist spot in central Beijing, saw few of its usual visitors Sunday. Some local residents were out, doing push-ups, taking afternoon walks and swimming in unfrozen patches of water.The Shanghai municipal government said Monday that about 80% of local software and information-service companies resumed operations Monday, although 70% of their employees were working from home. More than 80% of manufacturers in the city were willing to restart production, Shanghai official Zhang Ying told a briefing, citing data from the survey.Hui Qu, 63, went to work at Shanghai Tobacco Group on Monday with what she said was just 1% of her colleagues. For the few who showed up, it was business as usual."I commuted by bicycle to avoid public transport, and people on the street are about a third of the normal level," Hui said. "It's a bit tiring to work on the first day, but I am not nervous at all."(Updates virus death toll in seventh paragraph)\--With assistance from Sharon Chen, Charlie Zhu, Allen Wan and Jessica Zhou.To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Amanda Wang in Shanghai at twang234@bloomberg.net;Peter Martin in Beijing at pmartin138@bloomberg.net;Philip Glamann in Shanghai at pglamann@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Karen LeighFor 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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| Senate to Vote This Week on Limiting Trump’s Iran Options Posted: 10 Feb 2020 05:18 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- The Senate will take up a resolution this week intended to rein in President Donald Trump's ability to attack Iran without congressional authorization, as Democrats and a small group of Republican senators push back following the killing in January of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani."This is not about bucking the president," Senator Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, said Monday. "This about making sure the process works as the Constitution requires."Lee is one of four Republican senators co-sponsoring the measure with Senator Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat, that would order the president to cease any hostilities against Iran, its government or its military without express authorization from Congress.The GOP support will provide the 51 votes needed for the Senate to pass the resolution. The House passed a similar measure in January but would need to pass Kaine's resolution for the legislation to go to Trump's desk. The president is likely to veto it, and the Senate lacks the votes for an override."We're likely to start the debate on Wednesday afternoon," Kaine said. "We'll probably have it done by Thursday."Trump ordered a drone strike on Jan. 3 that killed Soleimani in Baghdad. Some lawmakers, especially Democrats, have said the White House repeatedly shifted its justification for the strike.Classified BriefingThe Senate measure, S.J.Res. 68, includes changes sought by Republicans who were frustrated by a classified briefing in January by Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and other administration officials. Lee said it was the worst briefing he'd ever received on military matters.Republicans Rand Paul of Kentucky, Todd Young of Indiana and Susan Collins of Maine are also co-sponsoring the Senate measure.With four Democratic senators -- Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Michael Bennet of Colorado -- in New Hampshire for the presidential primary Tuesday, holding the vote late Wednesday or Thursday would give them time to return to Washington.The House resolution similar to Kaine's is sponsored by Representative Elissa Slotkin, a Michigan Democrat and a former CIA analyst.The House also has passed other bills related to the Soleimani operation, including two in January from Representatives Ro Khanna and Barbara Lee, both of California, that would defund military action against Iran not authorized by Congress. It also would repeal a 2002 authorization for the use of military force that the administration has cited as part of its justification for the strike on Soleimani.To contact the reporter on this story: Daniel Flatley in Washington at dflatley1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Laurie Asséo, John HarneyFor 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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| Pentagon: 109 troops suffer brain injuries from Iran strike Posted: 10 Feb 2020 03:34 PM PST  The number of U.S. service members diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries has shot up to more than 100, the Pentagon said Monday, as more troops suffer the aftereffects of the Iranian ballistic missile attack early last month in Iraq. The department said the latest total is 109 military members who have been treated for mild TBI, a significant increase over the 64 reported a little over a week ago. The number of injuries has been steadily increasing since the Pentagon began releasing data on the injuries about a week after the Jan. 8 attack at al-Asad Air Base in Iraq.
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| China virus toll passes 1,000 as Xi visits frontline hospital Posted: 10 Feb 2020 03:29 PM PST  The toll from China's deadly coronavirus outbreak passed 1,000 on Tuesday after President Xi Jinping called for more "decisive" measures to tackle the outbreak in a rare visit to a frontline hospital. The Chinese president donned a face mask and had his temperature checked while visiting medical workers and patients affected by the deadly coronavirus that has killed at least 1,011 people. The fatalities soared after hardest-hit Hubei province -- the epicentre of the outbreak -- reported another 103 deaths on Tuesday, the highest single-day toll since the virus emerged.
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| Over 100 US troops suffered brain injury in Iran attack: Pentagon Posted: 10 Feb 2020 03:02 PM PST  More than 100 US troops sustained "mild" traumatic brain injury, far more than originally announced, when Iran launched missiles at their base in Iraq last month, the Department of Defense said Monday. "As of today, 109 US service members have been diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injury, or mTBI, an increase of 45 since the previous report," the Pentagon said in a statement. President Donald Trump had initially said that no Americans were injured in the strike on the Ain al-Asad base in western Iraq on the night of January 7-8, although authorities later reported that 11 troops were injured.
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| Iran's missile attack reportedly left more than 100 troops with traumatic brain injury Posted: 10 Feb 2020 02:48 PM PST  The aftermath of Iran's January missile strike is looking more and more serious by the day.The U.S. military will soon announce more than 100 troops suffered traumatic brain injuries after Iran attacked an Iraqi military base where they were stationed last month, a U.S. official tells Reuters. That's an increase from the 64 diagnosed troops the government originally acknowledged, and comes after Trump dismissed the injuries as "headaches."Iran launched the Jan. 8 attack after the U.S. government assassinated Gen. Qassem Soleimani on Jan. 3. The U.S. military was reported to have advance notice of the strike, and Trump said the next day that "no Americans were harmed." Trump later repeatedly characterized any injuries sustained as "not very serious," and that he'd heard the troops had suffered only "headaches."A Pentagon spokesperson later confirmed those headaches were actually traumatic brain injuries, and the count of those affected was upped to 64. Monday's report would add another 30-plus injured troops on top of that, per Reuters. CNN later confirmed Reuters' story via a U.S. official.A later statement from Pentagon Press Secretary Alyssa Farah revealed that "nearly 70 percent of those diagnosed" have since been able "to return to duty." "This is a snapshot in time and numbers can change," Farah acknowledged.More stories from theweek.com Trump floats death penalty for drug dealers — a big twist from his criminal justice push For better pasta sauce, throw away your garlic Trump claims EU was formed so member states could treat U.S. 'badly'
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| Xi Jinping made a rare public appearance amid coronavirus outbreak Posted: 10 Feb 2020 02:26 PM PST  China's President Xi Jinping was out and about in Beijing on Monday as part of an effort to show he's taking active role in the country's response to the coronavirus outbreak.Xi doesn't often mingle with the public, per The New York Times, but his absence during the virus' spread has been particularly noticeable. So on Monday, he was seen making stops at various spots in the capital, including a community center, hospital, and center for disease control. The president was wearing a surgical mask and had his temperature taken. He also spoke with medical workers in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, via video conferencing.Wu Qiang, an independent political analyst in Beijing, said the virus has put "pressure" on Xi to show both the public and Chinese Communist Party insiders that he was at the heart of the government's response. "It has become a matter of political security," Wu said. "Political security does not mean in the sense of popular resistance but rather that the epidemic may spread to Beijing and Shanghai, endangering the political operations of the so-called capital areas." Read more at The New York Times.More stories from theweek.com Trump floats death penalty for drug dealers — a big twist from his criminal justice push Iran's missile attack reportedly left more than 100 troops with traumatic brain injury For better pasta sauce, throw away your garlic
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| Over 100 US troops have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries after Iran's missile attack on US forces in Iraq Posted: 10 Feb 2020 02:03 PM PST  Iran hammered US forces in Iraq with over a dozen missiles. Since then, more than 100 US troops have reportedly been diagnosed with brain injuries.
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| Michael Flynn's prosecutors are trying to get his former defense team to testify against him Posted: 10 Feb 2020 01:26 PM PST  If you were getting excited about former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn's sentencing later this month, it's time to temper your expectations, because it might be a while.District Judge Emmet Sullivan on Monday canceled the Feb. 27 sentencing indefinitely, per CNN, after Justice Department prosecutors wrote in a court filing they believe Flynn's old defense team from the Washington, D.C., law firm Covington & Burling would be willing to share information about Flynn if Sullivan allows it.Sullivan now wants to allow some time for everyone to make their arguments and for the prosecution to negotiate with Flynn's new defense over the use of his old team in the proceedings.Flynn initially pleaded guilty in December 2018 to lying during former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into 2016 Russian election interference and was expected to be sentenced at the end of 2019, but he requested to change his plea to not guilty after alleging Covington withheld information from him while pressuring him to take a plea deal.The Justice Department now wants to let Covington counter those close claims, which could potentially even lead to a perjury charge for Flynn. Covington declined to comment on the latest court filings. Read more at CNN.More stories from theweek.com Trump floats death penalty for drug dealers — a big twist from his criminal justice push Iran's missile attack reportedly left more than 100 troops with traumatic brain injury For better pasta sauce, throw away your garlic
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| Trump looks to 'shake up the Dems' with New Hampshire rally Posted: 10 Feb 2020 01:12 PM PST  Eager to put on a show of force in a general election battleground state, President Donald Trump tried to rattle Democrats on Monday with a rally in New Hampshire on the eve of the state's first-in-the-nation primaries. "Our good Republicans in the United States Senate voted to reject the outrageous partisan impeachment hoax and to issue a full, complete and absolute total acquittal," Trump told a crowd that roared and cheered throughout his speech. Trump's rally comes a day before New Hampshire Democrats head to the polls following the disastrous Iowa caucuses that failed to produce a clear-cut winner to take Trump on in November.
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| A Deadly Coronavirus Is Spreading In China, But What Exactly Is It? Posted: 10 Feb 2020 12:49 PM PST  On February 7, the first American died of coronavirus in Wuhan, China, sparking heightened concern of the illness that's already taken hundreds of lives. According to a New York Times report, the person was around 60-years-old. In the same week, Royal Caribbean cruises barred all passengers with passports from China or Macau to board any of their ships in an attempt to relegate the outbreak. But, all of this news comes just a mere weeks after Chinese government officials confirmed human-to-human transmission of a new coronavirus on January 20, raising the likelihood that it could spread quickly and widely ahead of the Lunar New Year. Authorities in China announced a considerable increase in the number of confirmed cases of the fatal respiratory virus ahead of the highest traffic travel season in the country. Now, the number of infected patients, as well as the death toll, are continuing to rise at a rapid speed.As of February, more than 900 people have died of coronavirus, surpassing the deadly toll of the SARS outbreak in 2002. Thailand, Japan, Britain, and Spain are among countries that have cases linked to recent travel from China. More than 40,000 people have reportedly been infected world-wide, with over 90 deaths in the past day alone.Coronavirus was identified in China last month and monitored closely, despite the widespread outbreak. On December 31, 2019, the World Health Organization office in China was informed of cases of pneumonia with an unknown cause in Wuhan. Then, on January 7, Chinese authorities identified a novel coronavirus and WHO published interim medical guidance to prepare countries for the virus. This included best practices for monitoring patients, treatment, and controlling the outbreak by educating the public."The recent outbreak of novel coronavirus pneumonia in Wuhan and other places must be taken seriously," President Xi Jinping said in a public statement. "Party committees, governments and relevant departments at all levels should put people's lives and health first." The World Health Organization previously announced an emergency committee meeting to determine whether the outbreak is to be considered a global health crisis warranting an internationally coordinated response, and they did act in accordance with the severity of it. In the past, declarations of this kind have been used for epidemics of severe illness threatening to become pandemics as they cross international borders.As the virus continues to spread, many are wondering the exact nature of coronavirus, what it entails, and where it all started. We've outlined those answers below. What is coronavirus?Coronavirus is a catch-all term for viral types of pneumonia and respiratory viruses ranging from iterations of the common cold to MERS and SARS. They are common among animals; however, on rare occasions, they become zoonotic, meaning that they can be transmitted from animals to humans. The World Health Organization says symptoms of this virus include fever, cough, and shortness of breath. In serious cases, certain strains of coronavirus can lead to pneumonia, kidney failure, and death. According to the Center for Disease Control, there are currently no vaccines to prevent people from contracting a coronavirus. There is also no treatment. Most people with common human coronaviruses will recover on their own. More dangerous strains such as SARS and MERS have 11% and 35% fatality rates, respectively.But, hundreds of people came into close contact with diagnosed patients and did not get sick leading China's municipal health commission to believe that while the virus is contagious, it is not easily transmitted between humans. Where did coronavirus in China start spreading?According to the Associated Press, the outbreak was traced back to people connected to a seafood market in Wuhan — a city in central China — late last month. Experts are concerned that the virus will spread more rapidly as people around the country travel for the Lunar New Year which begins January 25 with celebrations continuing through February 8. Annually, Lunar New Year amounts to one of the largest movements of people in the world and travel advisories are now recommended throughout China as a result. Has coronavirus ever spread in the past?Previous severe outbreaks of a deadly strain of coronavirus include Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2002 and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in 2013. Currently, the new coronavirus appears to be less severe than either of these outbreaks, reports Healthline. The WHO and CDC are working together to manage the outbreak of this coronavirus. The CDC developed a test to diagnose the virus and is in the process of sharing this test internationally. Travel advisories and screenings at airports have also been issued. Is coronavirus in the U.S.?On Friday Jan. 24, a Chicago woman became the second person in U.S. confirmed with coronavirus. This comes shortly after the the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's confirmation of the first U.S. case of coronavirus in Everett, Washington. Officials compiled lists of people both have been in contact with. In the last week of January, Chinese officials have took measures like shutting down public transportation options to prevent the spread of coronavirus across the nation.Related Content:Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?What The Color Of Your Mucus Really MeansThe Most Common STIs Of 2019 & How To Treat ThemWhat To Know About The Coachella Herpes Outbreaks
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| Yemen talks about prisoner exchange underway in Jordan Posted: 10 Feb 2020 12:29 PM PST  Yemen's warring sides quietly began U.N.-backed talks about a prisoner swap on Monday, according to the United Nations. U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said a third round of negotiations aimed at implementing an ambitious Yemeni prisoner exchange was underway in the Jordanian capital of Amman. The prisoner swap deal was seen as a breakthrough during 2018 peace talks in Sweden, where Yemen's Shiite Houthi rebels and the internationally recognized government agreed to several such confidence-building measures, including a cease-fire in the strategic port city of Hodeida.
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| British traveler with the new virus may have exposed dozens Posted: 10 Feb 2020 12:20 PM PST  A middle-aged businessman from England who vacationed in the Alps has illustrated how the ease of international travel is complicating global efforts to track and contain the new coronavirus that emerged in China. From the Singapore hotel where he is believed to have picked up the virus during a conference, to a ski resort in the French Alps and a pub in his hometown of Hove on the southern coast of England, as well as the flights he took on his way back to Britain, the man came in contact with dozens of other people, potentially infecting them before he was diagnosed and hospitalized. Health officials are now hunting for them.
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| Filmmaker who wouldn't sign Georgia's Israel oath sues state Posted: 10 Feb 2020 12:17 PM PST |
| Trump floats death penalty for drug dealers — a big twist from his criminal justice push Posted: 10 Feb 2020 12:09 PM PST  President Trump's latest comments about China would be ironic if they weren't so disturbing.Trump hosted governors from around the country on Monday and gave a wide-ranging speech where he complained about the European Union's apparent bullying and then totally reversed his stance on criminal justice reform. While Trump touted clemency for drug offenders as recently as in his Super Bowl ad, he complimented China's "maximum penalty" for "drug dealers" and how it's led to the country having "very little drug problem."Trump first complimented what's going on in the authoritarian government of China, and then praised some of the governors in front of him. "States with a very powerful death penalty on drug dealers don't have a drug problem," Trump said, though he added "I don't know if our country is ready for that."> Trump suggests he'd like to model American criminal law on drug dealing on authoritarian systems like China, where dealers are executed: "Countries with a powerful death penalty, with a fair but quick trial, they have very little if any drug problem. That includes China." pic.twitter.com/9WprysjJAX> > — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 10, 2020In contrast, Trump's Super Bowl ad featured Alice Marie Johnson thanking the president for granting her clemency after she'd been in prison for more than 20 years on drug-related charges. The ad was reportedly Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner's way of appealing to black voters.More stories from theweek.com Iran's missile attack reportedly left more than 100 troops with traumatic brain injury For better pasta sauce, throw away your garlic Trump claims EU was formed so member states could treat U.S. 'badly'
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| Palestinian leader to address UN on Trump plan, but no vote Posted: 10 Feb 2020 11:53 AM PST  Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will reiterate his rejection of the Trump administration's Mideast plan in an address to the U.N. Security Council Tuesday, but members will not be voting on a draft resolution opposing the U.S. proposal. President Donald Trump unveiled the U.S. initiative for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on Jan. 28. It envisions a disjointed Palestinian state that turns over key parts of the West Bank to Israel, siding with Israel on key contentious issues including borders and the status of Jerusalem and Jewish settlements.
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| Bloomberg creeps into 3rd place in new national poll Posted: 10 Feb 2020 11:43 AM PST  Quinnipiac University released a new national poll Monday and it's a doozy.Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) took his first lead among Democratic presidential candidates in the poll, grabbing 25 percent support from those surveyed, while the usual frontrunner, former Vice President Joe Biden, dropped nine points. He's still in second place, but billionaire and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg looks like he's encroaching on Biden's turf, jumping up eight points which puts him in third place and just two behind the vice president. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) comes right behind Bloomberg.> New Quinnipiac poll of Dems nationally shows Sanders overtaking Biden big time:> > Sanders 25 > Biden 17 > Bloomberg 15 (!) > Warren 14 > Buttigieg 10 > Klobuchar 4https://t.co/gltmlDDstw> > — Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) February 10, 2020One of the keys to Bloomberg's rise and Biden's dip appears to be their standing among those surveyed who identify as a moderate or conservative Democrat. Biden generally held a wide lead in the category, per Quinnipiac, but Bloomberg trails him by just 1 percentage point now, 22 to 21.In other news, Quinnipiac has Sanders, Biden, Bloomberg, Warren, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg all leading President Trump head to head, despite only Klobuchar and Buttigieg carrying favorable ratings.Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,519 registered voters, including 665 Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, across the United States over the phone between Feb. 5-9. The margin of error is 2.5 percentage points overall and 3.8 percentage points among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents. Check out the full poll here.More stories from theweek.com Trump floats death penalty for drug dealers — a big twist from his criminal justice push Iran's missile attack reportedly left more than 100 troops with traumatic brain injury For better pasta sauce, throw away your garlic
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| 'Let's Not Shake Hands': Xi Jinping Tours Beijing Amid Coronavirus Crisis Posted: 10 Feb 2020 11:42 AM PST  BEIJING -- When he stepped inside the municipal office 5 miles north of the Forbidden City, China's most powerful leader in decades pulled up the sleeve of his black overcoat and held out his wrist. A woman in a mask and surgical gloves then checked to see if he had a fever.It was Xi Jinping's first public appearance since meeting the Cambodian prime minister last week and one of only a handful since the epidemic exploded into a crisis last month. It showed him on what state media declared the "front line" of China's efforts to combat the coronavirus epidemic -- even if the actual center of the outbreak lies 600 miles south in the city of Wuhan.Xi's appearance kicked off an unusual, unannounced blitz around Beijing on the day the city was supposed to return to work after a prolonged holiday break but did not.He visited a neighborhood community center, a hospital and a center for disease control in Chaoyang, one of the capital's largest districts. And for the first time, he also spoke directly -- via video conferencing -- to those most directly fighting the outbreak: medical workers in Wuhan who stood in rapt formation on the other end of the line.Xi, wearing a powder blue surgical mask, declared Wuhan "a city of heroes," according to a commentator on CCTV's flagship nightly news program. He also called the outbreak a "people's war.""We must have confidence that we will win," he said in one of the video calls.The Chinese leader's retreat from center stage has raised speculation about his role and the internal dynamics of the Communist Party leadership at a time it is facing its gravest public health challenge since the SARS epidemic 17 years ago.Xi's tour Monday appeared intended to put such questions to rest.State television portrayed his meetings as a demonstration of his central role in directing the government's response. It also seemed designed as a display of empathy for ordinary people whose lives have been upturned by the outbreak and the government-imposed measures to stop it.The temperature checks that Xi had to endure -- at the community center and again at the hospital -- have become a recurring experience for millions of Chinese entering practically any public space, from the subway to shopping centers. Anyone with signs of a fever can be denied entry and sent home or, in worse cases, sent directly to hospitals for testing and possible quarantine.Wu Qiang, an independent political analyst in Beijing, said that the worsening epidemic had created "pressure from the public and inside the party" for Xi to show that he was, as often reported, "personally directing" the government's response. He said it also reflected the political concerns about the outbreak's effects on China's most important cities."It has become a matter of political security," Wu said. "Political security does not mean in the sense of popular resistance but rather that the epidemic may spread to Beijing and Shanghai, endangering the political operations of the so-called capital areas."Xi rarely mingles with the public. In a video released Monday on the website of Beijing's municipal government, he appeared on a sidewalk outside the municipal office in the Anhuali neighborhood in Beijing, where he looked up and waved at people gathered at apartment windows to watch the spectacle unfolding below.He also chatted briefly with a handful of residents, including two carrying grocery bags. Everyone, per orders issued by the government, wore masks."Let's not shake hands in this special time," Xi said, prompting laughter from those around him. Then he asked, "How much do the vegetables cost?"Xi was accompanied during his appearances by senior officials, including the Communist Party secretary-general for Beijing, Cai Qi, and the city's mayor, Chen Jining.Xi also visited Ditan Hospital, located nearby the municipal office. He donned a white doctor's coat, although television reports did not show him meeting with any patients. According to the government's latest count, there have been 337 confirmed coronavirus cases in Beijing and two deaths, the most recent Friday.Xi has yet to visit Wuhan. That task fell to Premier Li Keqiang, the country's No. 2 official, and Vice Premier Sun Chunlan, who has led the response there in recent days. But at the hospital and later at the disease control office in Chaoyang, Xi greeted workers and officials there via video links.They included a government meeting in Wuhan conducted by Sun, now the senior official on the ground in Hubei, as well as calls with doctors and nurses in several hospitals, including one built in a matter of days after the city of 11 million was locked down."Here, on behalf of the Central Party Committee," Xi told them, "I extend my high respect and heartfelt thanks to you and to the medical workers in the fight against the epidemic throughout the country."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
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| Voter registration error risks deportation for immigrants Posted: 10 Feb 2020 11:36 AM PST  The day Margarita Del Pilar Fitzpatrick applied for an Illinois driver's license upended her life. A decade and a half later, she struggles to find work at 52, is nearly homeless and hasn't seen two of her three American citizen daughters in years because of a secretary of state's office mishap. A handful of other immigrants could face a similar fate, or criminal charges, after a mistake in Illinois' automatic voter registration system allowed of hundreds of people who identified themselves as non-U.S. citizens to register.
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| Trump's impossible budget Posted: 10 Feb 2020 11:15 AM PST  President Trump released his latest proposed budget for the U.S. government on Monday. No sooner was the news announced than reminders that these annual proposals are "political documents," not actual governing policy began proliferating. And while that is of course true, Trump's budgets are especially striking: Not just for the gap between the proposals and what is realistically achievable, but for the gap between the proposals and what Trump himself seems to actually give a flip about.The first thing to grasp about Trump's budget proposal is how absolutely insane its priorities are. The problem here is pretty straightforward: The Republican Party has long been obsessed with eliminating America's federal deficit — the shortfall between how much annual tax revenue it brings in and how much it spends. But Trump and his party want to protect military spending, and Trump himself has repeatedly promised to hold Social Security and Medicare harmless. Those three commitments rule out reductions to almost two-thirds of annual spending.Throw in the fact that Republicans are hell-bent against raising taxes — Trump's budget would make permanent the massive tax cuts they passed in 2017 — and their only remaining option is to cut the remaining third of the budget: Medicaid, other welfare state programs like food stamps, plus basically everything the federal government does that isn't either military or social insurance for old people. And to meet Trump's goal of balancing the federal budget in 15 years, these cuts have to be massive.If Trump's budget were enacted, the Departments of Agriculture, Education, and Energy would be cut by 8 percent a piece. The Small Business Administration and the Labor Department would get cut 11 percent, Transportation and Interior would be slashed by 13 percent. The Environmental Protection Agency, the State Department, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Commerce Department would get some of the biggest axes — at 27 percent, 21 percent, 22 percent, and 37 percent, respectively.These are comparable cuts to what Trump's White House has proposed in previous years, but that doesn't make them any less insane. These would be catastrophic reductions; they would absolutely gut American society's ability to function. They would never ever pass Congress. And it's pretty clear that Trump himself, and probably all but the most diehard members of the Republican Party, don't really mean them.In his time in office, Trump has signed two major budget deals — negotiated between the Democrats in the House and the Republicans in the Senate — that increased spending on both the military and on all those other domestic functions. To give a very concrete example: around this time last year, President Trump promised at a rally to protect full funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, even though the budget his White House had just released called for a 90 percent reduction to the program.No less morally monstrous, but at least somewhat closer to the realm of reality, are Trump's proposals to limit spending on welfare programs like food stamps and Medicaid by imposing work requirements on them. If Republicans still held both houses of Congress, it's at least conceivable such a thing could pass, though it's worth noting that more moderate Republicans ultimately balked at slashing Medicaid spending when Trump and the GOP tried to undo Obamacare in 2017. Ultimately, the pain such reductions would've caused to their constituents was too much for the less ideologically extreme members of Trump's party to stomach. In the meantime, the White House can and already is trying to implement those work requirements through executive actions that bypass Congress. This strategy, however, relies on the cooperation of state governments, and many of them, even if controlled by Republicans, may be unwilling to ultimately bite the bullet.There are some other interesting bits in the new budget. In particular, it includes proposed efforts to bargain down drug prices — an unusual instance in which Trump would help out average Americans while forcing powerful pharmaceutical companies to eat the cost of the budget savings. But for the most part, the basic math of the budget emerges from the Republicans' determination to protect their constituencies and primary ideological commitments — i.e. older voters, the wealthy, and the Pentagon — while foisting the costs of their extraordinarily ambitious deficit-reduction goals on everyone else.Admittedly, this is not exactly new terrain for the Republicans. The impossibility of fitting these different goals together has dogged the party at least since Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan held sway during Obama's tenure. Even President George W. Bush basically defaulted to cutting taxes, upping military spending, adding to Medicare, and just accepting the big deficit increases that resulted.But two things stand out about life under Trump: The first is that the Republicans' ostensible ideological commitments — and the utter impossibility of making them fit together — are finally getting expressed in the actual annual White House budgets. The second is how obviously Trump himself simply does not care.The president seems to grasp at some instinctive level that even his own right-wing base does not want to see major entitlement programs cut. And he obviously loves tax cuts and military spending. Beyond that, he doesn't really seem to have any hard opinions — as already noted, his actual behavior certainly gives no evidence that he is at all committed to the goals laid forth in his own budget. Trump will occasionally make noise about how he will reduce the deficit or cut back on big programs like Social Security. But it seems obvious these are products of the president's intrinsic flightiness: He grasps that certain people want to hear him say that in the moment, but it's a passing and commitmentless thing.For the most part, the annual White House budgets under Trump seem to be the product of the hard-right ideologues in the administration, particularly Office of Management and Budget director Mick Mulvaney. There are rumors that Mulvaney may be on the outs with Trump for unrelated reasons, but thus far he remains in place. And for the time being, the president appears happy to let Mulvaney and his ideological co-travelers use the platform of his administration to indulge their budget fantasies, while also more or less ignoring them in practice.One wonders what the point of the whole charade is, beyond throwing a few purely symbolic crumbs to certain parts of the GOP coalition.Want more essential commentary and analysis like this delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for The Week's "Today's best articles" newsletter here.More stories from theweek.com Trump floats death penalty for drug dealers — a big twist from his criminal justice push Iran's missile attack reportedly left more than 100 troops with traumatic brain injury For better pasta sauce, throw away your garlic
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| Coronavirus Keeps Killing and Americans Keep Getting Infected Posted: 10 Feb 2020 11:04 AM PST  The 2019 novel coronavirus claimed more lives in China on Sunday than in any 24-hour period since the outbreak began late last year, and the danger to Americans seemed only to be increasing.Ninety-seven people died of the infection over that timespan in China, bringing the death toll in that country to 909, according to officials with the World Health Organization.A 60-year-old who died Thursday in the port city of Wuhan, where the disease originated in December, became the first U.S. citizen to succumb to the illness, the American embassy in Beijing announced Saturday. The number of patients killed by the virus has officially surpassed the toll—774—of those who died during a SARS epidemic, which also originated in China in 2002. Even so, the coronavirus death toll outside mainland China has held steady for some time at two, with one each in Hong Kong and the Philippines. In recent weeks, hundreds of Americans have been evacuated from China and placed in isolation on U.S. military bases for symptom-monitoring. The State Department has said dozens more are still waiting on help from the federal government in evacuating from Hubei province, where the rate of infection soared over the weekend, leaving experts fearing that the worst of the outbreak might be still to come. The WHO said 40,235 people had been infected in China as of Monday morning, but public health officials have repeatedly cautioned that these numbers are likely too low due to a severe strain on testing facilities.North Korea's Secret Coronavirus Crisis is Crazy ScaryIn his first public appearance in two weeks, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday said authorities have confidence they will triumph over the "grim" outbreak, which has demonstrated both "the strength and many shortcomings" of his nation's public health system, the South China Morning Post reported.While the number of people infected inside the United States has been steady at 12 since last week, 23 Americans have contracted the virus since the outbreak hit a now-quarantined cruise ship in Yokohama, Japan. A total of 135 people on board had been diagnosed, the ship's captain told passengers on the Diamond Princess on Monday. The outbreak on the 3,700-person ship, which is carrying more than 400 people from the United States, is now the largest outside China. The passengers and crew members have been quarantined on the ship since Feb. 3, and Japanese officials have reportedly said they cannot test everyone on board.At last count, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said there had been 398 people under investigation for infection in 37 states and territories, of which 318 came back negative. Sixty-eight of those possible cases were still pending as of Monday morning. Twelve cases have previously been confirmed in Arizona, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Washington, and Wisconsin.Two of those 12 cases were spread through person-to-person transmission, and all others were patients who had recently traveled to China. There is no vaccine yet for the virus, but experts have emphasized that the risk to the average American remains low, even as they expect to confirm more cases in the coming days and weeks. The CDC said last week that it had shipped hundreds of diagnostic test kits to labs across the country, enabling states to begin their own testing instead of shipping all samples to federal facilities in Atlanta.For his part, President Donald Trump waded into the issue on Monday, telling pool reporters that viruses "typically" subside in April "with the heat, as the heat comes in." "We're in great shape, though. We have 12 cases," said Trump. "Many of them are in good shape now."From Lobsters and Steak to Coronavirus: One Couple's Surreal Cruise NightmareOutside China, including the U.S., there were 319 confirmed cases in 24 countries on Monday, according to Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization. Speaking from Geneva, Switzerland, Tedros referred to the "concerning" case of "onward transmission" that reportedly infected five British nationals, including a child, at a French mountain resort. The group were said to have had contact with another British man who contracted the virus in Singapore."The detection of this small number of cases could be the spark that becomes a bigger fire," Tedros said."For now, it's only a spark," he continued. "Our objective remains containment. We call on all countries to use the window of opportunity we have to prevent a bigger fire."Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| U.K.’s Gove Warns Industry to Brace for Strict Border Policy Posted: 10 Feb 2020 10:38 AM PST |
| Is Donald Trump Done Talking to North Korea? Posted: 10 Feb 2020 10:33 AM PST  If 2019 was the year when U.S.-North Korea diplomacy went off the rails, 2020 may turn out to be the year when everybody stops pretending diplomacy is still going on.
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| Bernie Sanders dominates CNN's last New Hampshire poll Posted: 10 Feb 2020 10:32 AM PST  New Hampshire might just be an Iowa repeat — in terms of the results, not that whole app disaster.CNN has released its final poll before Tuesday's primary in New Hampshire, and it puts Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) firmly on top of the pack with 29 percent support among the state's likely primary voters. The only candidate who comes close to touching that total is former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg with 22 percent support.The poll, conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, also forecasts a similarly disappointing result for former Vice President Joe Biden come Tuesday. He got just 11 percent support in the CNN poll, with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) narrowly behind at 10 percent. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) earned seven percent support, and no other candidate polled over five percent.Just about half of respondents said they were committed to their candidate of choice when they took the survey Feb. 6-9, meaning things could completely turn upside down by Tuesday. Sanders was far and away the candidate with the most dedicated backers, with 42 percent of his supporters saying they'd definitely vote for him Tuesday. Just 18 percent of Buttigieg's voters said the same.The University of New Hampshire Survey Center interviewed 365 likely Democratic primary voters via landline and cell phone from Feb. 6–9, and the poll had a margin of error of 5.1 percent.More stories from theweek.com Trump floats death penalty for drug dealers — a big twist from his criminal justice push Iran's missile attack reportedly left more than 100 troops with traumatic brain injury For better pasta sauce, throw away your garlic
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| Trump claims EU was formed so member states could treat U.S. 'badly' Posted: 10 Feb 2020 10:23 AM PST  While addressing the nation's governors at the White House on Monday, President Trump took a shot at the European Union and NATO.NATO, he said, was "going down like a rocket ship" before he came in and saved the day by convincing other member states to contribute more money. But he seemed generally pleased with the direction things are going. That's not the case for the EU, which Trump claimed is treating the United States "very badly."> TRUMP: "The European Union was really formed so they could treat us badly." > > He then claims NATO "was going down like a rocket ship" before he took office. pic.twitter.com/KMHe0aY2LL> > — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 10, 2020Trump even argued one of the "primary reasons" the EU was formed was so its member states could pick on the U.S, which is a claim that doesn't really have much going for it historically. The EU is the final stage of a progression of a continent-wide economic community that was first implemented in the aftermath of World War II. Seeking to avoid a third conflict on such a scale, European leaders at the time sought to create a cooperative system in which countries could trade with little hindrance. Eventually, that morphed into the current EU, which has expanded beyond just economic unity.The supranational organization obviously hasn't always seen eye to eye with the U.S. on all matters, but it's a reach to say those disagreements were the reason it was formed in the first place.More stories from theweek.com Trump floats death penalty for drug dealers — a big twist from his criminal justice push Iran's missile attack reportedly left more than 100 troops with traumatic brain injury For better pasta sauce, throw away your garlic
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| Tunisia to shelve plan for UN vote on Trump's Middle East plan Posted: 10 Feb 2020 10:14 AM PST  Security council vote was seen as test of support for deal and of Britain's relations with USArab plans for a UN security council vote on Tuesday designed to show international opposition to Donald Trump's Middle East peace plan are expected to be shelved after the US and the UK raised separate objections to the draft text.In what was being seen as a key test of the diplomatic support for Trump's "ultimate deal", Tunisia, with Arab League and Palestinian support, had tabled a resolution saying it breached basic undertakings to the Palestinian people.The episode was also seen as a key test of whether post-Brexit Britain would stick to its longstanding positions on the Middle East peace process or instead seek to avoid a clash with the Trump administration by abstaining on the Tunisian text.In an effort to find a compromise the UK on Monday called for changes to the draft text, including the insertion of a call for both Israel and the Palestinians to return to negotiations. The formula would allow the British not to endorse the Trump plan but to portray it as a possible basis for negotiations.The US set out an array of objections to the Tunisian text and indicated it would veto the resolution if it was not rewritten. Tunisia may now shelve Tuesday's vote to allow time for consultations.Palestinian sources confirmed that they were not likely to get the support they had once expected for the resolution. The outcome is likely to be seen as a rare diplomatic success for the US at the UN on the Middle East issue.Washington has been putting pressure on UN security council delegations for days in an attempt to ensure it would not be isolated in Tuesday's planned vote. Such has been the pressure that last week the new Tunisian government felt forced to recall its highly experienced and respected UN ambassador, Moncef Baati. Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and the architect of the plan, met key diplomats on Thursday in New York to seek support and seems to have faced resistance from European countries including France which asked why the Palestinians had not been consulted.Josep Borrell, the EU's foreign policy chief, caused a stir when he condemned the US plan, saying future Israeli annexations of West Bank settlements could not pass unchallenged, and reiterated the EU's commitment to a viable two-state solution.Last month in the House of Commons, Boris Johnson said the Trump plan had its merits though "no peace plan is perfect". The UK foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, described the plan as "clearly a serious proposal, reflecting extensive time and effort".Neither remark represented an endorsement, and British diplomats have been working to test the degree of flexibility the administration is willing to show about the plan. One western diplomat said different parts of the administration showed different degrees of flexibility."It may be the Americans view this as similar to a real estate deal. You bid low and expect the other side to come back high," one said.Britain has in the past broken with the US on the issue, including when Johnson was foreign secretary and the UK rejected a US proposal to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
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| UK plans to introduce border controls on EU goods after post-Brexit transition Posted: 10 Feb 2020 10:04 AM PST |
| Klobuchar Enjoys New Hampshire Moment Before Tackling Rocky Path Posted: 10 Feb 2020 10:02 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Amy Klobuchar is enjoying a moment.But what her enthusiastic staff has dubbed "Klomentum," could be, in fact, just a moment.The day before the New Hampshire primary, the Minnesota senator had risen to third place in state tracking polls taken after Friday's debate. She was the fifth choice of New Hampshire Democrats in a poll conducted for UMass Lowell Center for Public Opinion that ended Friday."They thought I wasn't going to make it to the debate and was I at the debate," an exultant Klobuchar told her growing crowds on Sunday to cheers. "Every step of the way we have defied expectations."Her campaign said Sunday it had raised $3 million since the debate.A third place finish in New Hampshire would be a win of sorts for Klobuchar, who came in fifth in Iowa, despite campaigning in each of the state's 99 counties and representing neighboring Minnesota in the U.S. Senate. Finishing just behind the front-runners Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg and surging ahead of Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren could cause voters and donors across the country to take notice."If she has a third-place finish, they walk away with an opportunity to get voters to take a second look," said Wayne Lesperance, professor of political science at New England College in New Hampshire. "But it's certainly a long road ahead for her. Generally, not having developed a national name recognition the way other candidates have signals she does have some challenges."In the last few days, she has sprinted through the state attracting at least one crowd of 1,000 people, the most she's had in New Hampshire. Yet that is half the size of the crowds Sanders is gathering, along with indie rock bands and in other states, political rock stars like congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, or Ilhan Omar.Klobuchar has no celebrity surrogates, no musical acts. She has pitched herself as a Midwestern pragmatist who has worked with Republicans in the Senate to pass legislation and has won Republican districts in her home state.She will have to prove that she is a more experienced, more electable candidate than either Buttigieg, the 38-year-old ex-mayor of a small city who is centrist voters' current favorite, or Biden, the vice president to Barack Obama who entered the race last April with an aura of inevitability but has not captured voters' passion."I am someone who can bring people with me, that doesn't shut them up, that is what I have done in the U.S. Senate, that is how I have gotten a lot of stuff done," Klobuchar said in Manchester on Sunday. Her stump speech includes references to carpenters in Pennsylvania, dairy farmers in Wisconsin and dock workers in Michigan, all states Democrats lost to President Donald Trump in 2016 and that the party needs to win in 2020.That won't be easy in the state contests that follow New Hampshire. The Democrats face caucuses in Nevada on Feb. 22, a state where 29% of the population is Latino, and a primary in South Carolina on Feb. 29. Four days later, on March 3, is Super Tuesday, when California, Texas and 12 other states and territories -- including her home state of Minnesota -- hold contests. That day could be decisive, or it could leave the field smaller but still a mixed bag.She places seventh behind her rivals in Nevada, according to her RealClearPolitics average. In South Carolina, where a majority of the Democratic primary electorate is black, Klobuchar is in eighth place, polling at 2%.The national picture isn't much brighter. Her average polling in surveys that cover the U.S. is 4%, behind Biden, Sanders, Warren, Michael Bloomberg and Buttigieg.(Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.)On the trail, she largely refrained from engaging in any direct criticism of her rivals, betting on her message of unity, even as Biden, Buttigieg and Sanders turned on one another with insults about age and experience and a savage attack ad from Biden that compared his work on the Iran nuclear deal with Buttigieg's work to put "decorative" lights under a bridge in South Bend."When we reach out to voters we need to keep remembering that what unites us is bigger than what divides us," Klobuchar said Sunday. "We better not screw this up. I cannot think of a better state that gets this than New Hampshire, with your big tradition of Independent voters."To contact the reporter on this story: Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou in Manchester at megkolfopoul@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Max BerleyFor 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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| Barr confirms Justice Department is reviewing Giuliani's Ukraine info Posted: 10 Feb 2020 09:55 AM PST  The dirt President Trump's personal lawyer is digging up in Ukraine is making its way to the Justice Department, Attorney General William Barr confirmed Monday.Rudy Giuliani's operation, which has targeted Trump's domestic political rivals like former Vice President Joe Biden, was at the center of the impeachment saga, and it doesn't sound like it's going anywhere. Barr said Giuliani, or anyone else for that matter, is free to provide the department with relevant information, and he and his staff have "an obligation" to leave the door open.That said, the attorney general appears to be looking at the info skeptically. "There are a lot of agendas in Ukraine, there are a lot of cross currents, and we can't take anything we receive from Ukraine at face value," Barr said, per CNN. "For that reason we had established an intake process in the field so that any information coming in about Ukraine could be carefully scrutinized by the department and its intelligence community partners."There have been past reports that the department has tried to distance itself from Giuliani since he became the subject of a separate investigation, but that seemingly hasn't held up in this case. > In the past, Justice officials have sought to distance the department and Barr from Giuliani since it became clear in recent months that the former mayor is the subject of an investigation by Manhattan federal prosecutors. https://t.co/kKrDu45jNy> > -- Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) February 10, 2020More stories from theweek.com Trump floats death penalty for drug dealers — a big twist from his criminal justice push Iran's missile attack reportedly left more than 100 troops with traumatic brain injury For better pasta sauce, throw away your garlic
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| Greta Thunberg’s New TV Show Plans To Change The World, One Screen At A Time Posted: 10 Feb 2020 09:53 AM PST  At only 17-years-old, environmental activist Greta Thunberg has a beyond impressive resume to her name: globally applauded speaker, TIME's youngest ever Person of the Year, Twitter clapback queen, and now, television star.BBC Studios' Science Unit announced on Monday that Thunberg would be getting her own TV show that highlights her journey to bring awareness to the world on climate change's multiple effects on Earth. The series will follow Thunberg as she travels to around the world, speaking with scientists and climate change experts to discuss the impacts of climate's global decline and what humans can do to reverse climate change in its current form. Thunberg will also speak with politicians and business leaders about their present and future roles regarding climate change. The as-of-yet untitled show will follow Thunberg as she navigates the waters of young adulthood, too. Viewers will get a behind-the-scenes look at Thunberg's life as a teenager dealing with living in both a scrutinizing and celebrated spotlight and how she handles it all. While the Nobel Peace Prize nominee hasn't made her own statement on the show, she did retweet the BBC's announcement of the series:> BBC Studios' Science Unit announces series with Greta Thunberg.@bbcstudios' award winning Science Unit announces a brand new series with Swedish environmental activist @GretaThunberg at Showcase 2020 event.https://t.co/9Xgx3bs8Kw pic.twitter.com/vK9KnQh03Z> > — BBC Studios Press Office (@BBCStudiosPress) February 10, 2020"To be able to do this with Greta is an extraordinary privilege, getting an inside view on what it's like being a global icon and one of the most famous faces on the planet," BBC Studios executive producer Rob Lidell, who will work as a producer on the show, stated regarding the show.During Monday's announcement at the BBC Showcase trade show in Liverpool, the company highlighted Thunberg's "worldwide renown" over the past several years. Her increasing visibility at global protests and sit-ins, online, and at public events like the United Nations' climate summit in 2019 has been a driving force behind the show's production. But, Thunberg's activism and passion has been applauded just as often as they've been criticized, so the forthcoming series will turn the lens on her and her process.2020 has been off to a good start for Thunberg with the news of her upcoming series. The activist has just been nominated for this year's Nobel Peace Prize, making her a two-time nominee of the honor. If she wins, she would be the 18th woman to ever receive the award in history.Related Content:Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?Greta Thunberg Gets Nobel Prize Nomination AgainGreta Thunberg Says We Aren't Doing EnoughListen To An Excerpt From Greta Thunberg's Book
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| US speeds cases of translators, others blocked by travel ban Posted: 10 Feb 2020 09:43 AM PST  President Donald Trump's administration has agreed to speed up the cases of some former interpreters for the U.S. military in Iraq and hundreds of other refugees whose efforts to move to the United States have been in limbo since he announced his travel bans three years ago. Some of those affected are close relatives of refugees who are already in the U.S., while others are from 11 countries, including Egypt, Iran and Somalia, that Trump singled out, citing security reasons. "The government tried to keep refugee families apart under the pretense of national security," said Lisa Nowlin, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, which sued along with several other organizations.
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| Why Amy Klobuchar would win by subtraction Posted: 10 Feb 2020 09:23 AM PST  Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) has been waiting for her moment for nearly a year. On paper, she has always looked like a winner: a middle class daughter of the heartland who has won every election in which she competed, and who consistently ran ahead of her party in a crucial Midwestern swing state. But she never caught fire. Vice President Joe Biden dominated the moderate "lane" for most of the campaign, while other candidates — Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg — generated more personal enthusiasm. Eventually, she came to be seen as the scold of the campaign, patiently explaining to the voters why they can't have nice things.That's finally changing — perhaps too late, but just possibly not. Biden's and Warren's campaigns are stumbling, and Buttigieg is getting a closer and more skeptical look. Klobuchar's closing argument in the New Hampshire debate clearly touched a chord, and the polls have moved significantly her way: both the Suffolk University and Emerson College polls — the only ones that sampled voters immediately before and after the debates — both have Klobuchar surging to 14 percent and third place, ahead of both Warren and Biden and nipping at Buttigieg's heels.Could she ride a surprisingly strong New Hampshire finish into real contention for the nomination? It would require everything to break her way. Along with other, more tangible matters like money and support from crucial constituencies, it would require a real change in the logic that has governed the campaign to date.A much-noted article in Politico about political forecaster Rachel Bitecofer explains that logic. According to Bitcofer's thesis, there are far fewer true swing voters than people believe. Most independents actually lean strongly to one party or the other, and most of the remainder simply vote against the status quo. Very few voters truly swing between the two parties.So how could a state like Iowa, say, have swung so strongly from Obama (who won the state by over 9 percent in 2008 and nearly 6 percent in 2012) to Trump (who won the state by nearly 9 percent)? The answer is that the electorates weren't the same. Eighteen percent of Iowa voters didn't shift from Obama's camp to Trump's over eight years. Rather, a significant number of Obama voters dropped out of the electorate (or went third party), while a significant number of non-voters came out of the woodwork for Trump.In Bitecofer's understanding, an election is a two-step process. First, the contours of the electorate are defined. Well before the voting starts, the shape of the electorate — the demographic and geographic characteristics of the two party coalitions — will be clear. Once that shape is set, the battle will be for each side to turn out their voters. And as Bitecofer sees it, since November 2016, the shape of the electorate has been defined by Donald Trump's residency in the White House. So the job of the Democrats is to mobilize those voters who find that fact intolerable.Following that logic, it's easy to conclude that what the Democrats need to do is nominate someone who maximally energizes the various components of their coalition, from suburban professional women to young urban African Americans to rural Hispanic voters. There's still a legitimate debate about whether a more moderate or a more left-wing candidate would do a better job of exciting the Democratic base, because that base includes both left-wing and more moderate voters — and in their different ways, that's the debate we've been having between Biden and Buttigieg on one side and Sanders and Warren on the other. But in either case, the question is really who gets Democrats to the polls, not who swings the middle to their side. (And, frankly, if Bitecofer is right, then the savvy deployment of marketing dollars and GOTV efforts will matter much more than who the candidate is.)But that way of parsing the question misses something crucial: negative partisanship is a two-way street. It doesn't just matter how well you energize your own coalition. It matters how well you energize your opponent's coalition — whether your candidate is someone the other side is scared of enough to mobilize their people against.The case for Klobuchar is, fundamentally, that she's the candidate Republicans would have the hardest time mobilizing against, because she's just not that scary to them.This would be true even if the campaign had proceeded differently until this point. Klobuchar's biography and legislative history make her a relatively difficult target for Republican demonization. They'll surely come up with something, but the trivial attack lines against her competition — that she's doddering, that she's an extremist, that she's a "deep-state" insider, that she's a neophyte, that she's an out-of-touch elitist — won't apply. But it's especially true given that, were she to actually win the nomination, she would have done so precisely as the candidate of realism, and the candidate against revolution, because that has been her brand the whole campaign. Plus she would have done it without the personal resources of a billionaire like Mike Bloomberg.Klobuchar flips on its head the logic of all the other campaigns. From their perspective, Trump's voters are a given: He's got the passionate support of white evangelical Christians, rural voters, men without college degrees, and partisan Republicans of all stripes. Democrats need to run up the margin in the cities and suburbs, and among women and minorities, to overwhelm their numbers. That's what happened in 2018, when the Democrats and Republicans both achieved high turnout, and the Democrats were able to take the House.But in that same wave election, the Democrats lost ground in the Senate. Strong Democratic turnout wasn't enough to overcome the partisan Republican advantage in states like Indiana, North Dakota, Missouri, or Texas, or even in Florida. And a major reason was that the Kavanaugh hearings energized the Republican electorate to come out in force.Now imagine that Trump's vote isn't a given. There's clearly a segment of the electorate who are reluctant Trump voters. They aren't going to vote for a Democrat, but they might stay home rather than give Trump four more years — provided they aren't too worried about who the Democratic president would be. Who are these voters? Perhaps they are single white women without college degrees who thought Hillary Clinton looked down on them. Perhaps they are Chamber of Commerce types who enthusiastically supported Romney. They may well live in states like Iowa, Maine, and North Carolina where Trump's approval rating is under water in spite of the inroads he made in 2016 — and which are crucial to the Democrats' Senate hopes in 2020. Which nominee is best positioned to convince those voters to stay home, and thereby not only defeat Trump but deprive him of Senate coattails?That's the case for Klobuchar from a progressive perspective. It's not just a question of who would more aggressively push a progressive agenda as president, or even which nominee would be more likely to win the presidency in the first place. Without the Senate, even a President Sanders would have a hard time passing most of his agenda. And the Democrats are unlikely to take the Senate simply by running up their own vote. They need to depress the other side — and do it in states where Trump will be competitive or even favored to win.While turning to a moderate would seem to be a sign of fear, in a sense a Klobuchar nomination would be an expression of confidence. The Democrats would be saying: We know our people are going to turn out, because they are mobilized by Trump. And we know whoever we nominate is going to share, broadly, a similar vision for the country. It's the other side that needs a bogeyman to run against, someone they can paint as scarier than Trump to voters who only ever picked Trump as the lesser of two evils. So we're not going to give it to them.Is that confidence warranted? That's the real question. If not, the Democrats have to hope their nominee is someone who can excite the kind of passion that only rare candidates can, and that it doesn't generate a more effective counter-mobilization by Republicans of their coalition. If so, then it might just be Klobberin' Time.Want more essential commentary and analysis like this delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for The Week's "Today's best articles" newsletter here.More stories from theweek.com Trump floats death penalty for drug dealers — a big twist from his criminal justice push Iran's missile attack reportedly left more than 100 troops with traumatic brain injury For better pasta sauce, throw away your garlic
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| How crucial is New Hampshire win? It depends on whom you ask Posted: 10 Feb 2020 09:18 AM PST |
| Merkel Will Take an Active Role in Choosing Her Next Successor Posted: 10 Feb 2020 09:06 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Angela Merkel inserted herself into the selection of her Christian Democratic party's next chancellor candidate after her former protege unexpectedly threw in the towel, leaving the race to lead Europe's largest economy wide open.The long-time German leader said she will "cooperate very well" with Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who stepped down as party chief on Monday after a series of gaffes capped by her inability to reel in a rogue state chapter. With the party divided and rudderless, Merkel made clear that she intended to play a direct role in choosing her potential successor."I acknowledged this decision today with the greatest amount of respect, but I want to say that I regret it," Merkel told reporters in Berlin. "I can well imagine that this was not an easy decision for Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, and I thank her that she's prepared to accompany the process for choosing a candidate for the chancellorship as party chairwoman."Kramp-Karrenbauer, widely known by her initials AKK, was hand-picked by Merkel to safeguard her legacy. The former state leader from Saarland held off a challenger from a more conservative faction within the CDU who wanted more support for business and less emphasis on the environment and social issues.While those demands are likely to return, Merkel is in position to steer the process toward more centrist candidates as the leadership race heats up before she plans to step down next year at the latest.AKK was unable to stamp her authority on the party since taking charge of the CDU in December 2018 and was humiliated last week when a local chapter in eastern Germany defied her orders and threw its lot in with the far-right Alternative for Germany.Hanging over the process is the dilemma of how the CDU should handle the return of far-right politics in the former communist east. Many voters there have turned to the AfD because they feel left behind during years of economic growth and resent Berlin's perceived largess toward refugees. The party's official stance is that there can be no cooperation with the AfD at any level, but local officials have been questioning whether that remains practical.AKK's downfall was ultimately triggered when the CDU in Thuringia voted alongside the AfD to elect a state premier last week. Local leader Mike Mohring has been forced to back track, but other CDU officials in the east have signaled sympathy for his move as he tries to maintain support for the party.The CDU's flirtation with the AfD is "very worrisome," said Norbert Walter-Borjans, the co-leader of the Social Democrats, Merkel's junior coalition partner, which is also searching for a candidate to lead its next national election campaign. "Her manoeuvring gave the right-wing forces within the party the space to trigger the acute crisis in the CDU."AKK told party colleagues at a meeting in Berlin that one reason for her decision is the unclear relationship between parts of the CDU and the far-right AfD and the anti-capitalist Left party. At a press conference in Berlin, she underscored her stand that the CDU needs to be strictly opposed to any cooperation with the two fringe parties.Leadership ContestThe outgoing CDU leader said that she believes her successor should also be the candidate for chancellor in 2021. She plans to organize the selection process by the summer and then step down once a decision has been made. The new direction should be sealed at a party convention in December."We must be stronger, stronger than today," Kramp-Karrenbauer said in a brief press conference in Berlin. "By refraining from running for chancellor, I can be much more free in shaping the process," she said, adding that her decision would not impact the stability of the coalition.AKK's departure was welcomed by the party's right. Olav Gutting, a lawmaker who has been critical of Merkel's moderate course, said mistakes had "piled up" under AKK and her departure spares the CDU a "destructive test.""Regardless of personal sympathy, one has to see that the base had growing doubts about AKK's capabilities for the chancellorship," Gutting told Bloomberg News. He declined to speculate on her successor, which he expected to be in place in the second half of the year.Merkel asked AKK, who is her defense minister, to stay on in her position in the cabinet, an official said. She took the cabinet post in July when it was vacated by Ursula von der Leyen, who had been appointed as European Commission president.Ill-at-ease, isolated, and struggling for relevance, the CDU leader failed to unite the party behind her. She made a series of gaffes that irritated insiders and made her widely unpopular with voters. Officials at CDU headquarters in Berlin had become increasingly worried that their leader won't be a viable candidate.Thuringia was her final debacle. Even as she sought to clear up the mess, she was unable to convince local officials to support new elections in the region as a way to clear the slate in a five-hour meeting that lasted until early Friday.Her retreat opens the way for others to press forward to lead Germany's strongest party. Potential contenders are deputy chairman Armin Laschet, a well connected state leader from North Rhine-Westphalia; up-and-coming Health Minister Jens Spahn; former Merkel nemesis Friedrich Merz; and Markus Soeder, the leader of the Bavarian CSU sister party.With Merkel pulling the strings, the process could favor Laschet, who is more centrist than the other top contenders.(Adds SPD leader comment)To contact the reporters on this story: Arne Delfs in Berlin at adelfs@bloomberg.net;Patrick Donahue in Berlin at pdonahue1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Chad Thomas at cthomas16@bloomberg.net, Ben Sills, Chris ReiterFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Brexit Bulletin: EU Talks Tough Posted: 10 Feb 2020 08:37 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Sign up here to get the Brexit Bulletin in your inbox every weekday.What's Happening? European Union members are ratcheting up their negotiating demands.The U.K. should be subject to strict conditions on unfair competition, fishing and human rights after the 11-month post-Brexit transition period expires, according to a draft European Union negotiating mandate drawn up by member states and seen by Bloomberg News.Controversially, the governments also want to force the U.K. to continue to abide by EU rules in areas such as state aid—even if the bloc changes them in the future. The plans are tougher than those set out last week by the European Commission and risk inflaming tensions with Downing Street ahead of contentious talks about the bloc's post-Brexit relationship with the U.K. Read More: EU Toughens Negotiating Demands Before Brexit Trade Talks Start"We are not prepared to conclude a deal at any price," Michel Barnier, the EU's chief negotiator, told reporters in Luxembourg on Monday. "We will defend the interests of the EU." The bloc's negotiating mandate could be revised again before the EU-27 are scheduled to sign it off in Brussels on Feb. 25. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has already rejected several of the other side's demands, saying he wants to break free from the EU's rule book after Brexit. His government plans to negotiate multiple free trade agreements at the same time as discussing future ties with Europe.The scale of that task was driven home by White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow, who said in an interview that the U.K. and U.S. are in the "preliminary stages of preliminary talks" for a trade deal. "We are all interested in doing something. But there's no structure to it yet," he added.Beyond BrexitAngela Merkel had a plan for who follows her as German chancellor. It's now in tatters. As Asia panics, one country is winning praise for its approach to managing the coronavirus. Catastrophic fires released billions of tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere in 2019.Brexit in BriefFriction | The logistics industry should prepare for strict border controls between Britain and the EU after Brexit, cabinet minister Michael Gove said. Industry representatives heard him say that U.K.-EU trade won't get preferential treatment after the 11-month post-Brexit transition period expires on Dec. 31, Bloomberg's Joe Mayes reports.Not Bluffing | Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon vowed to maintain pressure on the U.K. for another referendum on independence. "The prime minister ultimately cannot deny democracy," she told Bloomberg Television. "You cannot stand in the way of the right of the people of any country to choose their own future."Ballot Box Breakthrough | Sinn Fein's historic performance in the Irish election thrust the left-wing nationalists into the coalition picture and was dubbed a "revolution" by party leader Mary Lou McDonald. The Sinn Fein surge left prime ministerial frontrunner Micheal Martin with a dilemma over whether to bring the party into government.However | Ireland's shift to populism is very different to the forces that have shaken neighboring Britain recently, writes Bloomberg Opinion's Lionel Laurent.Growth Opportunity | U.K. economic growth is likely to move back towards its quarterly trend rate of 0.4% as the effects of lower uncertainty, a more stable global backdrop and fiscal stimulus bolster demand, though risks remain that could see the eventual figure come in lower, according to Dan Hanson, senior U.K. economist at Bloomberg Economics.Generation Rent | A generation of Britons priced out of the U.K. housing market face the prospect of renting homes into their old age, according to new analysis published Monday.Want to keep up with Brexit?You can follow us @Brexit on Twitter, and listen to Bloomberg Westminster every weekday. It's live at midday on Bloomberg Radio and is available as a podcast too. Share the Brexit Bulletin: Colleagues, friends and family can sign up here. For full EU coverage, try the Brussels Edition.For even more: Subscribe to Bloomberg All Access for our unmatched global news coverage and two in-depth daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close.\--With assistance from Jenny Leonard and Shawn Donnan.To contact the author of this story: Ian Wishart in Brussels at iwishart@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Adam Blenford at ablenford@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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| Joe Biden comes out swinging in New Hampshire – but is it too late? Posted: 10 Feb 2020 08:27 AM PST  The former vice-president is campaigning with newfound fire after a brutal wake-up call in Iowa There was a moment about five minutes into Joe Biden's rally in Manchester, New Hampshire, that jolted members of the crowd up in their seats.The former vice-president and Democratic presidential candidate, who has spent the past few months turning in soporific performances both on the debate stage and at his campaign events, became animated.Donald Trump was ruining America, Biden shouted into the microphone at the event on Saturday. He criticized the Vermont senator Bernie Sanders and former mayor Pete Buttigieg, who both claimed victory in Iowa and are running far ahead of him in the New Hampshire polls. This, at last, was the Biden his campaign talks about; the great campaigner, the king of the soapbox, coming out swinging.It didn't last long – moments later, Biden was struggling to remember the name of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal that he had touted as a key achievement of his time in office with Barack Obama – but at least it gave his supporters something to cling to.They needed it, because bright spots have been few and far between for Biden of late. After the catastrophic performance in Iowa, where he finished a distant fourth, Biden is polling fifth in New Hampshire, too, unthinkable for someone who spent most of 2019 in the lead.Perhaps it has, at last, jolted Biden into action. On Saturday, once he moved past the nuclear deal – the proper title is the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – the former vice-president was back in his stride. After railing against Trump, he invoked his personal story."You know, I've lost a lot in my lifetime, like many of you have," Biden told the crowd."A car accident took away my wife and daughter. Lost my son, Beau, like many of you have done. But I'll be damned if I'm going to stand by and lose my country, too."The last line was delivered with a growl, and brought a roar of applause. This is a new part of Biden's patter, and it went down so well that he used it again – and tweeted it – later that day.For all the criticism of Biden personally, his lackluster performances don't stand in isolation. There are things about his campaign, too, that just don't quite work.His slogan here, "Biden: works for New Hampshire", scans as a shrug-of-the-shoulders acceptance, while on Biden's yard signs the New Hampshire outline has been rendered in such a way that it looks like a raised middle finger. At events his staff display cardboard cutouts of Ray Ban-style sunglasses, in blue and red, a fun reference to Biden's penchant for summer spectacles, but one that really had its day as a popular source of amusement back in 2014.While the optics are awkward, there are signs, too, that the campaign has been guilty of resting on its laurels. In Iowa, where Biden struggled to turn out large crowds to his rallies, a campaign surrogate reassured the Washington Post ahead of the caucuses that people know Biden – they don't need to come to events.The primaries and caucuses are a series of contests, in all 50 US states plus Washington DC and outlying territories, by which each party selects its presidential nominee. The goal for presidential candidates is to amass a majority of delegates, whose job it is to choose the nominee at the party's national convention later in the year. In some states, delegates are awarded on a winner-take-all basis; other states split their delegates proportionally among top winners.That analysis was wrong, clearly, and illustrated a gap in excitement between Biden's supporters and those of his rivals – a gap which was on display on Saturday night, when Biden appeared with eight of the other candidates at the McIntyre-Shaheen 100 Club dinner in downtown Manchester.The dinner is a litmus rest of enthusiasm in the Democratic party, and thousands of people had packed into the arena. Candidates' supporters are assigned different sections of the arena, and Buttigieg's crowd was the most visible, hundreds of yellow-clad acolytes sprawled across the far end of the arena, waving handed-out clackers and chanting: "President Pete."The Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren's supporters, wearing light green, waving glowsticks and dancing to the Village People's YMCA, occupied a broad swathe behind the speaker's podium, next to a smaller but vocal mass of Sanders advocates, many waving neon pink "Bernie" signs.Biden, by contrast, had lured out a tiny sliver of support. About 100 Bidenites were sitting in a little slice of the arena, boxed in on either side by Warren fans. Some of them had T-shirts, and several of them were holding signs that collectively spelt out "Biden 2020", but as Biden, blood pumping with newfound vigor, jogged on to the stage, he would have struggled to pick them out."We're being led by a president, a president, who actually has no empathy, no sympathy, who mocks people, who makes fun of people with disabilities, who does everything he can to demean. He doesn't have a shred of decency in him," Biden said."I'll be damned if I'm gonna stand by and lose this election to this man."Biden's performance wasn't perfect – it might have been a good idea for him to take his hand out of his pocket, for one thing – but for those supporters who showed up it will have proved a nice fillip.Most states hold primary elections, in which voters go to a polling place, mail in their ballots or otherwise vote remotely for a presidential nominee. These are much simpler than caucuses, which are hours-long meetings with multiple rounds of balloting. The first caucuses took place in Iowa on 3 February. Donald Trump won the Republican contest by a landslide, but the Democratic vote ended in chaos, with Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg both emerging as winners in a contest that was too close to call. New Hampshire traditionally hosts the first primaries of the election year and has done so since 1920. All eyes will be on the competitive Democratic primary to see which candidate comes out on top. There will also be a Republican primary, though as Trump faces no serious competition, he is expected to win that contest by a huge margin.The next morning, however, as Biden returned to action at a plush hotel in the seaside town of Hampton there were signs that he is still getting used to his new tub-thumping role. Biden spent the first 10 minutes wandering slowly about the stage, reminiscing about interactions he had with political figures in the 1970s, before new Biden took over, raising his voice and laying into Trump.The change was marked enough that it caught out Biden's sound man, and the microphone began popping."I understand the criticism, because we are a really almost like a visual audience these days," said Paula Kougeas, 67. She was wearing a Biden T-shirt that she had purchased on the day he announced he was running for president."But you know, what we have is a really fast-talking, TV-ready slick guy in the White House right now, and that's exactly what we don't need in a president."When Biden announced his third presidential campaign, in April 2019, some wondered if he had left it too late in life. He first ran for president in 1987, and at 77 years old, after five decades in public office, he has visibly slowed.While Iowa traditionally holds the first caucuses in the presidential election, New Hampshire has held the first primary since 1920. The goal for presidential candidates is to win early-voting states and create name recognition and a sense of momentum, as well to pick up their first delegates, who will eventually choose the nominee in summer.Sometimes a clear favorite for the nomination emerges quickly, but the last two major Democratic primary contests, pitting Barack Obama against Hillary Clinton and then Bernie Sanders against Clinton, have lasted from the Iowa caucuses in January through to late spring.There is a video on C-Span, the non-profit which televises the process of US government, of Biden campaigning in 1987, during his run for president. His hairline – improbably – and bright smile are the same, but as a public speaker he is unrecognisable. The younger Biden speaks clearly and confidently, with a quicker cadence. He seems to be enjoying himself.This is the Biden people think of when they talk about him as a great campaigner, and this week, in New Hampshire, crowds have seen a version of Biden that feels far closer to the 87 version than what his supporters witnessed in Iowa.Perhaps Biden, after his months of stagnation, and brutal Iowa wake-up call, has finally been shaken into life. He might be able to keep up his newfound fire, recapture some of his late-1980s vigor, and turn things around in New Hampshire, and beyond.Or, maybe, Biden has left it too late in more ways than one.
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| France Condemns New Iranian Ballistic Missile, Space Launcher Posted: 10 Feb 2020 08:21 AM PST |
| Ban on treatments for transgender kids fails in South Dakota Posted: 10 Feb 2020 08:07 AM PST  Legislation aimed at stopping South Dakota physicians from providing puberty blockers and gender confirmation surgery to transgender children under 16 failed to get enough support Monday in a Senate committee. A Republican-dominated Senate committee voted 5-2 to kill the proposal, likely ensuring the issue won't be considered by the Legislature again this year. Proponents already had amended the bill to get rid of criminal charges for doctors who provide gender confirmation treatments, including puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgery.
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| Vindman dismissal spurs Chuck Schumer to request all 74 inspectors general look into potential whistleblower retaliation Posted: 10 Feb 2020 08:03 AM PST  Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) wants to have a word with all 74 of the United States' 74 inspectors general.In a letter sent Monday, Schumer requested the inspectors general "take immediate action to investigate any and all instances of retaliation against anyone who has made, or in the future makes, protected disclosures of presidential misconduct to Congress or inspectors general."Schumer's call for investigations was inspired by Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman's dismissal from his post at the National Security Council last week, months after he provided damaging testimony against President Trump during the House's impeachment inquiry. Schumer clearly sees Vindman's firing as an act of revenge by the White House, and said he wants to make sure witnesses and whistleblowers, whose rights are protected by law, don't face professional or personal consequences for disclosing information about the president."Regrettably, these rights are now being challenged like never before, creating a chilling effect among those who, in previous administrations, may have come forward to expose abuses of power," Schumer wrote. "If this chilling effect persists, it will inhibit our ability to hold public officials and institutions accountable and it will irreparably harm the ability of Congress to fulfill its constitutional oversight responsibilities." > Here's the letter: pic.twitter.com/35jC4rMW3U> > -- Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 10, 2020More stories from theweek.com Trump floats death penalty for drug dealers — a big twist from his criminal justice push Iran's missile attack reportedly left more than 100 troops with traumatic brain injury For better pasta sauce, throw away your garlic
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| Ireland Brings New Twist to Populism Posted: 10 Feb 2020 08:02 AM PST  (Bloomberg Opinion) -- Sinn Fein's electoral smash in Ireland is a historic moment for a party that has long had difficulty shaking off its past ties to the sectarian violence of the Troubles. It's clear that the party's new leader and a policy platform based around fixing the country's housing crisis and improving public services have struck a chord with the public. That was especially true with the under-35s, for whom peace in Ireland has been the norm rather than the exception.It's less clear what winning the popular vote will really mean for Sinn Fein in a country where the two dominant establishment parties, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, still command a sizable chunk of the vote and have more middle-of-the-road policy ideas. If this is the moment populism breaks the two-party grip on the Irish government, it will be very different to the forces that have shaken neighboring Britain, be it the euroskepticism of the Brexit vote or the sweeping hard-left economic changes espoused by Jeremy Corbyn before he was defeated in December.It must be said that Sinn Fein's victory did not come out of the blue. The party's process of "normalization" has been going on for years as it gradually built up support at successive elections — in fits and starts, as seen elsewhere when armed rebel groups become unarmed political parties. Between 1997 and 2005 Sinn Fein's share of the vote went from 16.9% to 23.3%, according to Birmingham University's Matthew Whiting; grabbing a quarter of the first-round preference vote this weekend was a big improvement on its 14% share in 2016.This latest jump in popularity reflects a policy platform and new leader able to connect with voters exercised about inequality, but it also reflects public frustration with the status quo. Prime Minister Leo Varadkar's Fine Gael party and center-right rival Fianna Fail are often described as "Tweedledum and Tweedledee," given their similarity on big issues like Ireland's low-tax economic model, Brexit and pensions.The popularity of Sinn Fein has understandably prompted investors to scan the party's manifesto pledges of taxing the rich and squeezing the banking sector and to sell Irish stocks as a precaution. But the reality of coalition-building means both that the party cannot be ignored and that it cannot avoid compromising on its pledges. Ireland's ranked-choice system, and a broadly split vote between Sinn Fein, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, makes partnership a necessity in forming a government.That's why the focus is now on Fianna Fail — which is on track to win the most seats in parliament — and its dilemma over whether or not to begin talks with Sinn Fein. Fianna Fail's deputy leader appeared to walk a fine line on the topic, as Bloomberg News reports. Giving Sinn Fein a taste of power might actually take some wind out of its sails: It would still put one of the Tweedledums in the driving seat, and curb the more extreme parts of the populists' platform while still making them accountable to taxpayers and voters. It wouldn't be a free ride.Europe has little reason to worry about Ireland tipping into a destabilizing political crisis just yet. The U.K.'s former Europe Minister, Denis MacShane, tells me that all three top Irish parties look pro-European, though in different ways. While Sinn Fein's demands for a border poll on Irish reunification should be taken seriously, a poll is unlikely to happen for several years, and there's no guarantee that the U.K. would accept it.And despite Sinn Fein's history of criticizing European integration, it's taking a more mixed tone of late — in fact, it even supports Brussels' decision to fine Apple Inc. over 14 billion euros ($15.3 billion) in unpaid, illegally-avoided taxes in Ireland. And for all of the similarities with Corbyn's hard-left agenda that was recently rejected by Brits at the polls, Sinn Fein's platform doesn't call for a change to Ireland's 12.5% rate of corporate tax that's a linchpin of the country's low-tax model.Varadkar said during the election campaign that Sinn Fein was not a "normal political party." It's a proposition that's worth testing. Ireland looks set to pursue a different populist path to Brexit and Corbyn.To contact the author of this story: Lionel Laurent at llaurent2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Melissa Pozsgay at mpozsgay@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.Lionel Laurent is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Brussels. He previously worked at Reuters and Forbes.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Ireland Brings New Twist to Populism Posted: 10 Feb 2020 08:02 AM PST  (Bloomberg Opinion) -- Sinn Fein's electoral smash in Ireland is a historic moment for a party that has long had difficulty shaking off its past ties to the sectarian violence of the Troubles. It's clear that the party's new leader and a policy platform based around fixing the country's housing crisis and improving public services have struck a chord with the public. That was especially true with the under-35s, for whom peace in Ireland has been the norm rather than the exception.It's less clear what winning the popular vote will really mean for Sinn Fein in a country where the two dominant establishment parties, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, still command a sizable chunk of the vote and have more middle-of-the-road policy ideas. If this is the moment populism breaks the two-party grip on the Irish government, it will be very different to the forces that have shaken neighboring Britain, be it the euroskepticism of the Brexit vote or the sweeping hard-left economic changes espoused by Jeremy Corbyn before he was defeated in December.It must be said that Sinn Fein's victory did not come out of the blue. The party's process of "normalization" has been going on for years as it gradually built up support at successive elections — in fits and starts, as seen elsewhere when armed rebel groups become unarmed political parties. Between 1997 and 2005 Sinn Fein's share of the vote went from 16.9% to 23.3%, according to Birmingham University's Matthew Whiting; grabbing a quarter of the first-round preference vote this weekend was a big improvement on its 14% share in 2016.This latest jump in popularity reflects a policy platform and new leader able to connect with voters exercised about inequality, but it also reflects public frustration with the status quo. Prime Minister Leo Varadkar's Fine Gael party and center-right rival Fianna Fail are often described as "Tweedledum and Tweedledee," given their similarity on big issues like Ireland's low-tax economic model, Brexit and pensions.The popularity of Sinn Fein has understandably prompted investors to scan the party's manifesto pledges of taxing the rich and squeezing the banking sector and to sell Irish stocks as a precaution. But the reality of coalition-building means both that the party cannot be ignored and that it cannot avoid compromising on its pledges. Ireland's ranked-choice system, and a broadly split vote between Sinn Fein, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, makes partnership a necessity in forming a government.That's why the focus is now on Fianna Fail — which is on track to win the most seats in parliament — and its dilemma over whether or not to begin talks with Sinn Fein. Fianna Fail's deputy leader appeared to walk a fine line on the topic, as Bloomberg News reports. Giving Sinn Fein a taste of power might actually take some wind out of its sails: It would still put one of the Tweedledums in the driving seat, and curb the more extreme parts of the populists' platform while still making them accountable to taxpayers and voters. It wouldn't be a free ride.Europe has little reason to worry about Ireland tipping into a destabilizing political crisis just yet. The U.K.'s former Europe Minister, Denis MacShane, tells me that all three top Irish parties look pro-European, though in different ways. While Sinn Fein's demands for a border poll on Irish reunification should be taken seriously, a poll is unlikely to happen for several years, and there's no guarantee that the U.K. would accept it.And despite Sinn Fein's history of criticizing European integration, it's taking a more mixed tone of late — in fact, it even supports Brussels' decision to fine Apple Inc. over 14 billion euros ($15.3 billion) in unpaid, illegally-avoided taxes in Ireland. And for all of the similarities with Corbyn's hard-left agenda that was recently rejected by Brits at the polls, Sinn Fein's platform doesn't call for a change to Ireland's 12.5% rate of corporate tax that's a linchpin of the country's low-tax model.Varadkar said during the election campaign that Sinn Fein was not a "normal political party." It's a proposition that's worth testing. Ireland looks set to pursue a different populist path to Brexit and Corbyn.To contact the author of this story: Lionel Laurent at llaurent2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Melissa Pozsgay at mpozsgay@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.Lionel Laurent is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Brussels. He previously worked at Reuters and Forbes.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| U.S. charges 4 Chinese military members in Equifax hack Posted: 10 Feb 2020 08:02 AM PST  The Department of Justice has charged four members of the Chinese military in its investigation of the massive Equifax data breach.The four members of the People's Liberation Army of China were charged Monday with hacking into the networks of credit reporting agency Equifax and stealing the personal information of about 145 million Americans. They were also charged with taking Equifax's trade secrets in what Attorney General William Barr called "a deliberate and sweeping intrusion into the private information of the American people."Essentially half of America's population and many other people worldwide had their personal data breached in the Equifax hack, first exposed in 2017. That data included names and Social Security numbers, giving the breach a reputation as one of the largest of all time, both in terms of scale and what data was released. Equifax's CEO Richard Smith was forced into resignation after the incident, which also spurred congressional hearings and eventually a settlement of around $650 million.The Justice Department similarly charged PLA members with hacking other American corporations back in 2014. With Monday's charge, "we remind the Chinese government that we have the capability to remove the Internet's cloak of anonymity and find the hackers that nation repeatedly deploys against us," Barr said in a press conference.More stories from theweek.com Trump floats death penalty for drug dealers — a big twist from his criminal justice push Iran's missile attack reportedly left more than 100 troops with traumatic brain injury For better pasta sauce, throw away your garlic
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| America needs to stop its natural gas pipeline mania Posted: 10 Feb 2020 07:53 AM PST  In April 2012, President Obama boasted that under his administration, "We've added enough new oil and gas pipeline to circle the Earth and then some." He wasn't wrong — indeed, under his watch, American production of oil and natural gas exploded, driving the United States to become today the largest producer of oil and gas in the world, surpassing even Russia and Saudi Arabia.That is the context for yet another natural gas pipeline under development, the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a 600-mile-long, 42-inch-wide affair stretching from West Virginia to the Virginia coast, which began construction in late 2017 but has since stalled. This one is being pushed by a coalition of companies led by Virginia's Dominion Energy (and its powerful CEO, Tom Farrell), and another main partner, North Carolina's Duke Energy. Southern Company of Georgia has a much smaller stake.But despite the gusher of Big Carbon profits, like all natural gas infrastructure proposed or under construction, the ACP is a risky project both financially and in its direct effect on the landscapes and communities through which it will run. Worse, it is doubling down on a losing hand — locking in huge investments in assets which will very likely be worthless long before they are exhausted. Far from being a relatively clean "transition fuel," natural gas is a climate disaster that might even be worse than coal. The ACP and all other expansions of gas infrastructure should be stopped permanently.Let's start with the most attention-grabbing risks — noise, pollution, and explosions. Pipelines are underground for most of their distance, but they still require huge compressor stations at regular intervals to keep the gas moving. The Atlantic Coast Pipeline will have three — one at the start in Lewis County, West Virginia, one in the middle in Buckingham County, Virginia, and one near the end in Northampton County, North Carolina.Each compressor station is basically a big factory operating 24 hours a day. Like pipelines in general, they pollute. They typically have either diesel or natural gas-fueled compressors, which make a deafening racket and emit all manner of toxins in a concentrated area. In cases of gas flow mismanagement, or an emergency, or a need for maintenance, it can be necessary to conduct a "blowdown" to release the gas — sometimes "flaring" or burning it, but sometimes venting it directly into the atmosphere. Natural gas is toxic to breathe, and since it is under so much pressure, it comes out at high (sometimes supersonic) velocity, making an ear-splitting noise akin to a large jet engine.The ACP's 54,000-horsepower middle compressor station is proposed for Union Hill, Virginia, a lower-income rural community whose African-American roots stretch back to the Reconstruction period of the 1870s. Some locals have mobilized furiously to keep the compressor station out. The station would be 100 yards from the property of Richard Walker, whose family bought part of his land for $15 in 1887, he told The Week in an interview. It is a "huge industrial facility" that poses a clear threat to his family and livelihood, he said. "It should be stopped." (A federal appeals court recently threw out Dominion's permit for the Union Hill station, but Dominion can still apply again.)In addition to the routine pollution, if pipelines or compressor stations leak, they can create dangerous pockets of flammable gas — which take just a spark to explode. Multiple pipeline explosions near Midland, Texas, in August 2018 "sent five people to hospital with critical burn injuries." A pipeline in Kentucky exploded in August 2019, killing one person and hospitalizing five others, and sending flames shooting 300 feet into the air. Another blew up in April 2016 in Salem, Pennsylvania, obliterating one man's home and causing a half-mile radius of land to be evacuated. The Fractracker Alliance compiled federal data (self-reported by the gas industry), and found 1,069 incidents involving gas transmission or gathering between January 2000 and November 2018 which caused 99 injuries, 24 fatalities, and $1.1 billion in damages.Leslie and Jason Harris, homeowners in Churchville, Virginia who have been forced through eminent domain to accept the pipeline crossing near their home, worry the ACP will destroy their wealth and endanger their family. If you were shopping for a home, and there was even a 0.001 percent chance that a nearby 42-inch gas pipeline might spring a leak and poison you in your sleep, or catch fire and blow you and the house to smithereens, would you buy that house?That may seem paranoid. But consider that because Dominion and its partners began construction of the ACP before obtaining all necessary approval, and then ran into legal roadblocks, the actual pipe for the project has been stacked up outdoors for years. The pipe is coated with an epoxy compound to protect it from corrosion (which itself contains carcinogenic solvents). But the coating is designed to sit underground, not outside in weather and direct sunlight. As Amy Mall at the Natural Resources Defense Council notes, the National Association of Pipe Coating Applicators recommends that coated pipe not be allowed to sit outside for more than six months without protection from sunlight. Not exactly the kind of thing you want to be trusting to contain extremely flammable gas at high pressure.Finally, the pipeline would create a permanent gash across the landscape, as the vegetation around it will have to be kept down so workers can perform maintenance and repairs. That is one reason why a federal court recently ruled that the U.S. Forest Service's approval for the ACP to cross the Appalachian Trail was improper. (The Supreme Court will hear the case on February 24.)So if the Atlantic Coast Pipeline is such a physically risky and noxious project, let's examine the other side of the ledger. What sort of benefits will these pipelines provide?There are almost none, at least not for the American people. The ostensible point of a natural gas pipeline is to provide just that — fuel for American consumers. "The pipelines serving our region are fully tapped and unable to keep up with consumer demand," claims the ACP website. But this is hard to credit — on the contrary, the American gas market is saturated. The post-2008 fracking revolution created a flood of new gas supply, driving the price per BTU of gas at the Henry Hub (a huge gas terminal in Louisiana that is commonly used as a market indicator for the whole country) from $13.40 in 2008 to $1.79 at time of writing. This in turn has driven a major expansion of natural gas electricity production, but not enough to soak up all the supply — especially given that renewables are quickly achieving cost-competitiveness even with gas in some regions. "Persistent oversupply" is a common refrain in business coverage of the gas industry.Now, the whole country is not perfectly wired up into the gas pipeline system, particularly in the thinly-populated Mountain West. California also has somewhat indirect access to the biggest supplier states, which are Texas and Pennsylvania. But the eastern half the country is criss-crossed with a rat's nest of gas pipelines, which already serve the gas needs of the population perfectly adequately. Indeed, because of the way pipelines are financed (more on this below), ACP gas could easily be more expensive than what is currently available. Lorne Stockman and Kelly Trout studied several proposed pipelines in a report for Oil Change International (an environmentalist think tank), and using government data estimated that ACP gas would be 3.5 times more expensive than that from the existing Transco pipeline for Dominion's gas power plants in southern Virginia, and 28 percent more expensive for ordinary delivered gas. Indeed, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which must approve any new pipeline project, "does not look at need" when considering an application, said Joan Walker (who works for the Sierra Club's Beyond Fuels Campaign) in an interview with The Week.A Dominion Energy representative argued in an email to The Week that "The pipelines currently serving Virginia and North Carolina are extremely congested, and they're operating at full capacity," pointing to a report that local Navy bases were forced to accept reduced gas supply for three days back in 2015, and a letter from the bipartisan Hampton Roads caucus in the Virginia legislature arguing more capacity is needed. It may be the case that some or all of the vast ACP capacity could be put to use soon. But if so, that is in large part thanks to demand that Dominion has itself created by building several large gas plants in the area over the last few years, including a 1,588 megawatt facility that began operation on December 8. Dominion claims they are "all-in" on renewable energy, yet another big gas plant is in the works in Chesterfield, Virginia. Furthermore, a report from S&P Global (a market research firm) found that Dominion "has consistently over-forecast electricity demand to justify building new capacity, primarily natural gas plants with dubious economics that will ultimately be paid for by ratepayers." (It's also worth noting that six Republican members of the Hampton Roads caucus have large personal investments in Dominion stock.)All this is characteristic of a gas industry which is clearly moving to increase both production and consumption of natural gas by any means necessary. It's not about current energy needs so much as ensuring that as much energy production as possible is gas-based.For aside from domestic power, the gas industry has drastically increased its export capacity, and is planning to increase it further. As recently as 2015, the U.S. had no terminals to export liquid natural gas (LNG), and could only export through pipelines to Canada and Mexico. But energy companies have built six major export terminals for LNG since 2016 (one of them a Dominion facility in Maryland). Together with steadily increasing production, this enabled an enormous surge of gas export, which more than doubled between 2013 and 2018 (through both pipelines and terminals). Yet even that has not been enough to absorb all gas production, which increased by a whopping 12 percent in 2018 — the largest percentage increase on record, from an already-high base. Production continued to increase in 2019. Domestic storage ended up with the balance, by October nearly reaching record levels set in 2016. That is surely why energy companies have eight more export terminals under construction, 13 more approved but not yet being built, and a further nine in the application process.(Courtesy U.S. Energy Information Administration)Now, the ACP will apparently not have a direct export terminal connected, but it will be hooked up into the rest of the pipeline system that does. Canada, Mexico, France, Spain, South Korea, and Japan already use lots of U.S. natural gas — and the general European supply has been disrupted by the ongoing dispute with Russia over Ukraine. Financial analysts have already written about how best to profit from Dominion's previous Cove Point export terminal in Maryland, and predicted that additional export capacity will keep the domestic price at or above $2.50 per BTU. Incidentally, this implies that more pipelines might actually increase the domestic gas price by tapping overseas demand and reducing domestic supply.But it might be an even worse deal than that for consumers. Surprisingly, gas demand of any kind is largely irrelevant for financing actual pipeline construction. The ACP will be financed not by gas sales, but by utility ratepayers (or customers, whose bills are controlled by state regulation). As Stockman and Trout explain, when a pipeline is approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the owner is allowed a rate of return on investment of up to 14 percent — which usually comes out of the pockets of regulated utility customers regardless of how, or even if, the gas is used. (This 14 percent figure was set in 1997 when prevailing interest rates were about twice the current figure.)Now, this 14 percent return is subject to local regulatory approval, but Dominion is famously influential over both state regulators and legislatures. Democratic Virginia Delegate Sam Rasoul of Roanake (part of a new caucus of anti-monopoly Democrats who refuse to accept Dominion campaign donations) described a 2015 utility bill pushed by Dominion as "corrupt" in a speech on the floor of the Virginia legislature. A 2018 report from the Virginia energy regulator found Dominion had overcharged its customers to the tune of $277 million.It's not hard to miss how this applies to the ACP. For instance, the companies that will distribute the gas are themselves associated with the pipeline owners themselves. As Cathy Kunkel shows for the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, six companies, all of whom are affiliates of Dominion, Duke, or Southern, have contracted for 96 percent of ACP capacity. So long as local regulators approve, they can then pass on the pipeline cost (including that 14 percent profit) to their captive ratepayers through a surcharge, no matter how much gas actually passes through it. Heads the energy companies win, tails the ratepayers lose.Ultimately, the only people who will really benefit from the ACP are Dominion, Duke, and Southern investors and executives, and perhaps foreign countries that might see a small drop in their gas bills.Any profits enjoyed by a tiny minority of already-wealthy American oligarchs, or slight reductions in energy costs in other nations, however, are far outweighed by the climate effects of any natural gas pipeline. Climate change is overwhelmingly the most important aspect of the ACP project, and it should be a conclusive blow against any possible argument for it or any other natural gas investment. Natural gas is a climate disaster, and it should be extirpated as a fuel at the earliest practicable moment. It should have been done decades ago.The gullible centrist line on natural gas for years has been that it is a "bridge fuel," because it is less carbon-intensive than coal when burned. But this assumption fails to account for leaks (that is, when the gas escapes at some point instead of being burned), especially given the fact that methane (the primary ingredient of natural gas) itself is an enormously powerful greenhouse gas, some 86 times as powerful as carbon dioxide over a 20-year timespan. A mere 2.7 percent leak rate will completely cancel out any climate benefit from gas-fired electricity relative to coal, and more than that makes it worse. Sure enough, scientists have taken measurements around the wellheads, the collector pipelines, the processing refineries, the compressor stations, and the distribution networks, and found significant leaking at every point in natural gas production. A recent meta-analysis published in the journal Science found an overall leak rate of between 2 and 2.7 percent — and that is probably an underestimate, since they had few studies to include on distribution and end use, and both city pipe systems and gas-fired appliances are often old and prone to leaks. (A Dominion spokesman argued that their infrastructure does not leak this much, pointing to a company report finding only 0.102 percent loss of gas. But this is internal Dominion data, not a peer-reviewed external study.)In other words, the supposed climate benefits of natural gas, even as a temporary measure, are a mirage.So far, the multinational Big Carbon industries have largely succeeded in stymieing any global attack on climate change and are continuing to build out investments to enable consumption of even more fossil fuels. But this is driving an increasingly desperate mobilization among the trapped citizenry of countries across the globe — witness the worldwide mass demonstrations inspired by Greta Thunberg, who became one of the world's most famous people virtually overnight on the strength of her climate protests. The gap between what governments must do to head off climate apocalypse — the threat of which is ever more apparent in increasingly extreme fires, flooding, drought, heat waves, and storms — and their backing of Big Carbon projects will only build and build. Every frontrunner in the Democratic Party supports plans for a crash decarbonization program.It is highly likely that at some point in the next decade the stranglehold Big Carbon oligarchs have over global climate policy will snap, and there will be an all-out assault on United States fossil fuel infrastructure. Towards the top of the agenda will be cutting consumption of natural gas, as electricity generation is shifted to green power, and home heating is shifted to heat pumps and other methods. With the United States leading the way (instead of sabotaging things), Europe, East Asian democracies, and Mexico will likely step up their climate policy efforts.There is every chance expensive pipelines like the ACP will become worthless "stranded assets" — meaning either Dominion and Duke Energy will absorb a crushing financial blow (possibly requiring a taxpayer bailout) or regulated ratepayers will continue paying for pointless, idle pipelines for the next several decades. Either way it would be a huge waste of money and resources.Natural gas is a bridge to nowhere. The Atlantic Coast Pipeline and all its brethren should be halted immediately.Want more essential commentary and analysis like this delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for The Week's "Today's best articles" newsletter here.More stories from theweek.com Trump floats death penalty for drug dealers — a big twist from his criminal justice push Iran's missile attack reportedly left more than 100 troops with traumatic brain injury For better pasta sauce, throw away your garlic
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| How One Kenyan Woman Is Fighting Female Genital Mutilation Posted: 10 Feb 2020 07:42 AM PST  "All the cows in the world are gray, white, brown, or black, but have you ever seen a purple cow?" asks Kenyan activist Hellen Nkuraiya. You might picture a colorful farm animal from a children's storybook, but Nkuraiya has something else in mind entirely: a school painted purple, named Enkiteng Lepa, which in English translates to "Our Cow School." "In the Maasai community, cows are everything," Nkuraiya tells Refinery29. "We don't put money in the bank. When you have money, you put it in livestock." Nkuraiya founded the school for children who are at risk of female genital mutilation. The school's motto is, "Don't Exchange Girls For Cows, Give Them Education." Among the Maasai (the ethnic group that Nkuraiya belongs to), girls undergo FGM to mark the transition from childhood to womanhood, at which point they can be married in exchange for a dowry of cows. When this happens, most are taken out of school. As a result, while 48 out of 100 Maasai girls in Kenya will enroll in primary school, just five will graduate and go to secondary school, and less than one will complete secondary school, according to the nonprofit Maasai Girls' Education Fund. That's exactly what happened to Nkuraiya. She underwent FGM as a child, and was subsequently married off and pulled out of school. "I wanted to give my community everlasting cows," Nkuraiya says. "In the school, the children milk knowledge, unlike the real cow that will die one day of disease or drought."DashDividers_1_500x100I met Nkuraiya on a press trip with Intrepid Travel, as the small group adventure company launched a new women-only expedition in Kenya. Along with game drives in Kenya's national parks and a day spent in the capital city of Nairobi, the trip offers the chance to visit women's only-spaces throughout the country. These include meeting with a single mothers' group in Samburu, speaking with female wildlife rangers at Mount Kenya National Park, and visiting a ceramic bead-making workshop in Nairobi. One of the highlights of the expedition is an afternoon in the Maasai village where Nkuraiya lives, meeting her and learning about her work. Female genital mutilation — the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia — has many short- and long-term effects on health. That includes chronic pain, chronic infection, obstructed menstruation, childbirth complications, an increased risk of contracting HIV, pain during sex, anorgasmia, post-traumatic stress disorder, and, of course, death, reports the World Health Organization. The practice is widely seen as a human rights violation.FGM is on the decline in Kenya after a 2011 law made it completely illegal, but the practice is more common among certain ethnic groups. Although UNICEF reports that 21% of Kenyan girls and women aged 15 to 49 have undergone FGM, 77.9% of Maasai women in the country were subjected to the practice in 2014, according to the Kenya Bureau of Statistics. FGM is an international issue. The practice is even more common in some of Kenya's neighboring countries. In Ethiopia, 74% of girls and women have undergone FGM; in Somalia, the figure is 98%, according to the United Nations Population Fund. Worldwide, around 200 million girls and women have undergone FGM, including around 500,000 in the United States. Although many organizations are working to fight FGM, activists say external pressures won't prompt real change; that has to come from within the community. In 2019, over a thousand Maasai people in the Loita Hills region of Kenya gathered to watch elders publicly announce the end of FGM — the first declaration from a community of this size in the country. "In the beginning, we did not think this was possible. But we joined hands together with cultural leaders, with the community, with girls, with their parents," Sarah Tenoi, a Maasai woman and anti-FGM activist who works with the nonprofit SAFE Maa, told The Christian Science Monitor. "We cannot go alone. We must have someone to hold hands with and move together," she added.DashDividers_1_500x100When Nkuraiya herself was around eight or nine years old — the Maasai don't keep track of ages — she survived FGM. After around a year of healing, her father gave her to a 70-year-old man to be his fifth wife, in exchange for a dowry of three cows. When she was married, Nkuraiya was forced out of school. She ran away twice. She was rescued by nuns, who funded her education. A county scholarship then took her through Teacher Training College.After completing her training, Nkuraiya wanted to work to fight the challenges affecting Maasai women and girls, including the threat of FGM and early marriage, and a profound lack of girls' education, widows' rights, and economic empowerment. As she began working — first as a teacher, then as a principal — she encountered girls who were at risk of FGM. No matter the consequences, she always did whatever she could to stop it. She was beaten and driven out of town, but she did the same thing at the next school she taught at; and the next. In 2009, she decided to stay put and, with the help of well-wishers, founded a school of her own. "I said, If they kill me fighting for the rights of the girls, I will die with dignity," she says. Through her work, she has saved over 80 girls from FGM.Although Nkuraiya is not popular, she draws students by offering a trade with her neighbors. With the help of donors, Nkuraiya gathers water in a borehole, a small-diameter well. She allows others' livestock to drink the water from her troughs — if they enroll their children in her schools. Although her focus is on girls, she happily educates young boys as well at a school for children of both genders, called Tepesua School.Nkuraiya is clear that she is proud to be Maasai, and she wants her students to feel the same way. "I want the girls to grow up holding culture in one hand and education in the other," she says. "Look at me: I have been to school, I have traveled to many places, but I am still Hellen, I am still Maasai, I am still Kenyan. That will never change." Nkuraiya honors her culture's traditions in a new way. She's even developed a new rite of passage ceremony that mimics FGM. Instead of cutting girls' genitals, she symbolically paints their thighs with red ochre. "Red is our holy color. You cannot perform any ceremony without red ochre," she says. Although she still faces pushback, her compassionate approach has won over some, including the woman who used to cut the girls. She gave her tools to Nkuraiya when Nkuraiya offered her the chance to sell beadwork instead. "She was cutting the girls to have money so she could have food to survive," she says. "Some people do some things because they don't have options. I gave her options." Intrepid Travel provided the press trip the writer of this story attended. However, Intrepid Travel did not approve or review this story. Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?An FGM Survivor & Activist Speaks OutWhat Life Is Like For An FGM SurvivorA Somali FGM Survivor Is Speaking Out
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| Merkel party in crisis after 'heir' quits over far right row Posted: 10 Feb 2020 07:37 AM PST  German Chancellor Angela Merkel's party and her plans to stay on until 2021 were plunged into disarray Monday after her heir-apparent gave up her leadership ambitions in a deepening crisis over ties between the centre and far right. Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the leader of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), opted out after barely a year in the post -- a period marked by internal battles over whether to cooperate with the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD). "This is an unusually serious situation for the CDU," said close Merkel ally and Economy Minister Peter Altmaier.
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| Deluge in Australia drenches fires and eases 3-year drought Posted: 10 Feb 2020 07:32 AM PST  Drought, wildfires and now flooding have given Australia's weather an almost Biblical feel this year. Quentin Grafton, an economics professor and water expert at Australian National University in Canberra, said the rain had broken the drought in some towns but had not fallen evenly across all the affected areas. "At this stage, it's very good news, and certainly much more than people could have wished for or expected," he said of the rainfall.
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| GOP official calls Democratic infighting a 'dream scenario' for Trump's campaign Posted: 10 Feb 2020 07:16 AM PST  Democratic presidential candidates are tearing each other apart, and President Trump's re-election team is loving it.Billionaire philanthropist Tom Steyer used Friday's debate to tear up former Vice President Joe Biden over a campaign attack. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) spent the debate criticizing former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's attempts to "buy [his] way into a nomination." And pretty much everyone was united in going after former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg for his lack of experience.All of that, a GOP operative tells Politico, means the Trump campaign "doesn't have to do anything but step back and watch the Democrats demolish themselves." "If you had asked me at the beginning of all of this which Democrats would be the weakest to run against from the moderate and the progressive lanes," this operative said he'd have cited Buttigieg and Sanders. That's exactly who's leading the pack coming out of the Iowa caucuses, leading to a "dream scenario" for Trump, the operative added.Meanwhile, Biden, a candidate Trump once feared enough to try and get damaging information about from Ukraine, isn't even getting mentioned in the Trump camp anymore, Politico reports. Biden's name "is now hardly mentioned in conversations with the president's aides ... unless they're mocking him," Politico writes. And after his dismal fourth-place Iowa finish, well, "it looks like he's competing against himself," a top Trump aide said.Read more about how the Trump campaign is viewing the Democratic melee at Politico.More stories from theweek.com Trump floats death penalty for drug dealers — a big twist from his criminal justice push Iran's missile attack reportedly left more than 100 troops with traumatic brain injury For better pasta sauce, throw away your garlic
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| UK officials mull Scotland-N.Ireland 'Boris bridge' Posted: 10 Feb 2020 07:15 AM PST  Prime Minister Boris Johnson has ordered officials to look into building a bridge between mainland Britain and Northern Ireland, his spokesman said Monday. The idea of a bridge from Scotland to the province of Northern Ireland has been around for years but has gained new impetus under Johnson's leadership. It has support from some pro-British politicians in Northern Ireland as a way of boosting connections with the mainland, which are being strained by Brexit.
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| Germany's Merkel regrets protegee's decision to step down Posted: 10 Feb 2020 07:05 AM PST |
| Faulty app exposes millions of Israeli voters' data Posted: 10 Feb 2020 06:55 AM PST |
