| After his epic crash, Sanders has to decide whether to fight on Posted: 10 Mar 2020 08:29 PM PDT  Sanders no longer has a viable path to the nomination. He has hinted that he may not battle Biden to the bitter end.
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| Pakistan fighter jet crashes in capital during parade rehearsal Posted: 11 Mar 2020 04:31 AM PDT  A Pakistani F-16 fighter jet crashed in Islamabad Wednesday, killing the pilot, during a rehearsal for a national day military parade, officials said. Footage on social media showed a plume of smoke billowing into the sky after the plane hit the ground having apparently attempted a loop. A Pakistani Air Force spokesman said the pilot, Wing Commander Nauman Akram, died in the crash.
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| Police: Remains identified as missing Tennessee girl Posted: 11 Mar 2020 04:55 PM PDT  Remains found last week in Tennessee were positively identified as those of a 15-month-old girl missing for weeks, police said Wednesday. The remains found Friday are those of Evelyn Mae Boswell, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Leslie Earhart said in a video message posted on Twitter. The remains were found in Sullivan County on property belonging to a family member, the bureau had said earlier.
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| Norwegian F-35 stealth fighters sent out for the first time to intercept Russian sub hunter aircraft Posted: 10 Mar 2020 10:38 AM PDT  Norway scrambled F-35 stealth fighters over the weekend to intercept a pair of Russian Tu-142 anti-submarine warfare aircraft off its coast.
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| Intercepted Russian reconnaissance aircraft were watching US submarines during ICEX Posted: 11 Mar 2020 02:40 PM PDT  O'Shaughnessy said the Russian aircraft loitered about 2,500 feet above a camp that was established for the submarine exercise. He said the Russian aircraft "loitered" with an F-22 and and F-18 on their wing.
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| House Speaker Pelosi to unveil coronavirus aid package for workers Posted: 11 Mar 2020 01:32 PM PDT  Speaker Nancy Pelosi is moving swiftly toward House passage of a coronavirus aid package possibly this week as Congress rebuffs President Trump's proposed payroll tax break and focuses instead on sick pay and other resources to more immediately help workers hit by the crisis.
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| Get the Look of Dakota Johnson's Cozy L.A. Home Posted: 11 Mar 2020 05:00 AM PDT |
| Why Did the USS Thresher Sink? Finally, the Navy Is Being Forced to Tell Us Posted: 10 Mar 2020 01:35 PM PDT  The submarine mysteriously went down in 1963, killing everyone on board. Thanks to a lawsuit, we're about to learn why.
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| Full coverage: Biden wins big on Super Tuesday II Posted: 10 Mar 2020 03:50 PM PDT  Former Vice President Joe Biden is projected to win primaries in Michigan, Mississippi and Missouri, solidifying his lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders in the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.
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| Trump snubs Jeff Sessions, backs Tommy Tuberville in Alabama Senate runoff Posted: 10 Mar 2020 07:47 PM PDT  The president endorsed the former Auburn head coach over his onetime attorney general in the runoff election set for the end of the month.
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| US border officer charged with smuggling 17 kilos of cocaine Posted: 10 Mar 2020 01:03 PM PDT |
| Coronavirus in Washington: "If you do the math, it gets very disturbing" Posted: 11 Mar 2020 05:56 AM PDT  Public health officials said at least 10 long-term care facilities in the Seattle area have reported cases.
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| 'DC sniper' Lee Boyd Malvo marries while serving life in prison Posted: 11 Mar 2020 10:43 AM PDT  Lee Boyd Malvo's attorney and his friend said the man convicted in the D.C. sniper attacks when he was a teen married earlier this month in prison.
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| US fighter jets escort Russian aircraft away from Alaskan coastline Posted: 11 Mar 2020 10:31 AM PDT  Two Russian jets that flew over the sea near the Alaska coastline were intercepted by US and Canadian aircraft, military officials said on Tuesday.The two planes were escorted by F-22 and CF-18 aircraft according to the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) after they flew as close as 50 nautical miles to the Alaska coast.
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| China slams US for warship sail-by in disputed waters Posted: 11 Mar 2020 03:43 AM PDT  Beijing on Wednesday accused the United States of a "provocative" act by sending a warship into disputed territorial waters in the South China Sea. The Paracel Islands are a chain of disputed islands and reefs in the South China Sea, claimed by China, Taiwan and Vietnam. "Under the guise of 'freedom of navigation', the US has repeatedly flexed its muscles, been provocative and stirred up trouble in the South China Sea," PLA Southern Theatre Command spokesman Colonel Li Huamin said.
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| MSNBC Contributor Dr. Jason Johnson Out at The Root After Misogynistic Anti-Bernie Screed Posted: 10 Mar 2020 03:34 PM PDT  Weeks after being benched by MSNBC after making misogynistic comments about Bernie Sanders supporters, Dr. Jason Johnson is out at digital outlet The Root, The Daily Beast has confirmed.The political commentator appears to have removed the affiliation from his Twitter bio, and his contact information no longer appears on The Root's authors page. Sources at The Root confirmed that he is no longer employed by the site.Johnson, who served as politics editor of the influential African-American-focused news and culture website owned by G/O Media, drew widespread outrage last month after claiming "racist white liberals" support Sanders, who has done "nothing for intersectionality." "I don't care how many people from the island of misfit black girls you throw out there to defend you," he added in the Feb. 21 appearance on SiriusXM's The Karen Hunter Show.His comments, particularly those about black women who support Sanders, resulted in calls for his firing as a paid contributor for MSNBC, where he had become a fixture of Democratic primary analysis. "I hope we can have political disputes without engaging in open racism and sexism," Sanders' national press secretary Briahna Joy Gray tweeted about Johnson. "This misogynoir is disappointing, but not surprising from [him]."In a statement on Twitter, the political commentator apologized, saying his comments were "harmful and unnecessary."Several days later, The Daily Beast reported that MSNBC had quietly benched Johnson. After making nearly 40 on-air appearances in the first two months of 2020, including post-game coverage of the several Democratic primary debates and votes, the Morgan State University professor was nowhere to be found during MSNBC's coverage of the Nevada caucuses. He has yet to return to MSNBC's air.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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| GOP senator drops subpoena of ex-Ukrainian official in Biden probe Posted: 11 Mar 2020 02:43 PM PDT  The Senate Homeland Security chairman told committee members that "out of an abundance of caution" he would seek more briefings before moving ahead.
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| Gunfire, burning vehicles in Mexican city; officials deny gang leader held Posted: 10 Mar 2020 09:27 PM PDT  Gunmen blocked roads with burning vehicles and exchanged fire with security forces in a central Mexican city on Tuesday, while security officials denied that a wanted gang leader had been captured. The brazen skirmishes in the city of Celaya in Guanajuato state sparked rumors on social media that security forces had closed in on Jose "El Marro" Yepez, the head of the Santa Rosa de Lima criminal cartel, and possibly arrested him. The cartel is believed to be behind the massive theft of gasoline from illegal taps on pipelines belonging to national oil company Pemex, a criminal racket that had grown significantly in recent years.
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| Former Bloomberg campaign staffers are reportedly being offered the chance to keep their work iPhones and laptops as a type of severance — but they'll have to pay taxes on them if they do Posted: 10 Mar 2020 08:12 AM PDT  The devices are reportedly worth $1,400 to $1,700, and the former staffers will have to pay taxes if they keep them.
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| News agency: Iran VP, 2 Cabinet members have new virus Posted: 11 Mar 2020 03:59 AM PDT  Iran's senior vice president and two other Cabinet members have contracted the new coronavirus, a semiofficial news agency reported Wednesday as the death toll in the Islamic Republic from the outbreak rose by 62 to 354. The report by the Fars news agency, believed to be close to Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, comes as President Hassan Rouhani took control of the country's much-criticized response to the virus and the COVID-19 illness it causes. Authorities announced that there were some 9,000 confirmed cases of the virus across Iran.
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| India suspends tourist visas over coronavirus Posted: 11 Mar 2020 12:11 PM PDT  India on Wednesday suspended all tourist visas until April 15 and said it would quarantine travellers arriving from seven virus-hit countries in an attempt to contain the spread of the new coronavirus, the government said in a statement. The visa suspension begins March 13 at 1200 GMT at the port of departure, the statement read. Diplomatic visas and visas for international organizations, employment and projects however are exempt.
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| Turkey says U.S. offering Patriot missiles if Russia's S-400 not operated Posted: 10 Mar 2020 03:06 PM PDT  The United States has offered to sell Turkey its Patriot missile defense system if Ankara promises not to operate a rival Russian system, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, in what he called a significant softening in Washington's position.
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| Analyst who predicted 2008 global financial crash warns another one is on the way — and not just because of coronavirus Posted: 10 Mar 2020 04:11 PM PDT  An analyst who predicted the 2008 global financial crisis has warned that another crash is on the way, and this time it will be much worse.Jesse Colombo, an economic forecaster and columnist who identified a housing and credit bubble in the US prior to the 2008 crash, says a number of new bubbles in markets around the world are set to burst.
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| Russia reaches out to OPEC as Riyadh opens oil taps Posted: 10 Mar 2020 08:16 AM PDT  Russia said Tuesday it was open to renewing cooperation with the OPEC oil cartel even as kingpin Saudi Arabia escalated a price war with Moscow by announcing it would flood markets with new supplies. The oil price conflict broke out after OPEC and a group of non-member countries dominated by Russia -- the world's second largest oil producer -- on Friday failed to agree on production cuts.
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| Texas GOP Rep. Louie Gohmert, exposed to the coronavirus, is back in Congress, leading public tours Posted: 09 Mar 2020 08:53 PM PDT  Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), like several of his colleagues, was informed he was exposed to the novel coronavirus at the Conservative Political Action Conference in late February. Unlike his colleagues, Gohmert declined to self-quarantine, saying Monday that a doctor from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cleared him to return to Washington. So he did.> >@replouiegohmert, who interacted with COVID positive person at CPAC last week, is leading this large group of schoolkids around the Capitol right now pic.twitter.com/zTzd7IOQIq> > — Mike DeBonis (@mikedebonis) March 10, 2020> This is an enormous group, well over 100 kids pic.twitter.com/BxQx944Rhu> > — Mike DeBonis (@mikedebonis) March 10, 2020Gohmert did not say which CDC doctor called him on Sunday, but on Monday, the CDC advised Americans that "the novel coronavirus is capable of spreading easily and sustainably from person to person," and as it spreads to throughout the country, "it's likely many will become sick but most people likely will have mild illness."> As the outbreak continues, many people in the United States will at some point in time, either this year or next, be exposed to COVID19; it's likely many will become sick but most people likely will have mild illness. https://t.co/SlDrVXXfCz> > — CDC (@CDCgov) March 9, 2020President Trump, who may also have been exposed to the virus, has not indicated any curtailing of his public engagements.More stories from theweek.com Trump's former pandemic adviser: 'We are 10 days from our hospitals getting creamed' Biden is still riding support from older and African American voters to victory, exit polls show Andrew Yang says Bernie Sanders was his 'inspiration,' but 'the math' has him endorsing Joe Biden
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| Pro-gun worker who Biden said was 'full of ****' speaks out on Fox News Posted: 11 Mar 2020 12:28 PM PDT  "I thought I was pretty articulate and respectful. I didn't try to raise any feathers. And he kind of just went off the deep end," Wayne said.
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| U.S. arrests more than 250 tied to Mexican drug cartel Posted: 11 Mar 2020 12:36 PM PDT |
| Trump Is Seething Over Having to Work With Pelosi on a Coronavirus Response Posted: 11 Mar 2020 11:13 AM PDT  All of official Washington has come to an agreement that swift, bold action is needed to counteract the dramatic economic impact of the coronavirus' spread. But negotiations around such a package have been complicated by the fact that President Donald Trump can't stand the idea of negotiating one-on-one with his chief counterpart, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Indeed, he suspects that she would use the moment to try to humiliate him.Two senior Trump administration officials described a president who, out of an intense bitterness toward the House Speaker, has shuddered at the prospect of being in the same room with her during the ongoing public-health crisis and economic reverberations.Instead, Trump has deputized some of his more prominent lieutenants to handle the delicate negotiations. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, in particular, has emerged as one of the administration's top envoys to Capitol Hill, as Team Trump and lawmakers attempt to cobble together some form of economic stimulus in the wake of a now-declared global pandemic."At this time, the president does not see it as productive to [personally] negotiate directly with Nancy Pelosi," said one of the senior administration officials. "For now, it's best for her to deal directly with Sec. Mnuchin and others in the administration." The official recalled how Trump bristled at Pelosi for, in the president's estimation, "immediately" leaving recent private meetings the two had to leak its contents and try to, in the source's characterization, "make the president look bad and score political points." "When you're in the middle of a public health crisis, you don't need that kind of theater," this official added. Fears of that happening have animated the president as he has charted out a response to the growing coronavirus threat. During one recent meeting, the president mentioned that he didn't want to "waste my time" right now "with Nancy" and Democratic leaders given how "horrible" Pelosi has been lately, according to a person with knowledge of the meeting. At the same meeting, the president made sure to specifically reference Pelosi tearing up a physical copy of his "beautiful" State of the Union speech, as a reason for him believing discussions with her would be fruitless.Accordingly, while Mnuchin and Pelosi have spoken several times this week—including at an in-person meeting in the Speaker's office on Tuesday—the president and the Speaker have not spoken at all in recent days, according to her office. The president has also not spoken to Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), according to his office. At a moment when federal officials are attempting to swiftly address an growing biomedical crisis, the inability of the legislative and executive branches to communicate at the highest levels would seem suboptimal. Whether that lingering animus between Pelosi and Trump will ultimately doom a legislative response to coronavirus seems unlikely, however. House Democrats are planning to unveil a package on Wednesday that targets their specific coronavirus relief priorities: expanding paid sick leave and unemployment insurance, beefing up federal labor protections for health care workers, and broadening access to food stamps and free school lunches.The refrain from Democrats on both sides of the Capitol has been that the most effective way to mitigate the economic effects of the virus is to implement measures that help to slow its spread—like sick leave, which would make it easier for people to stay home. Trump has reportedly been willing to consider backing Democratic-endorsed measures. But his own approach—at least publicly—looks quite different. The administration has floated targeted relief to industries economically harmed by the virus' spread, such as the hotel, airline and cruise ship businesses. And it has embraced the idea of a lengthy, if not permanent, payroll tax cut to get more money directly to employers and employees. Congressional Republicans have sounded squeamish about the price tag for a stimulus measure like the one Trump may be envisioning, and on Wednesday several said that they would be open to quickly passing a House Democratic-drawn bill. After Trump visited them for lunch on Tuesday, Senate Republicans sounded uncertain as to when the White House would roll out a specific set of proposals. But they were certain the president wanted swift action."The president sort of pitched a number of ideas that his team has looked at and recommended them for consideration," said Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO). "What was clear was that he certainly urges action and thinks action should be taken soon. I think he would prefer sooner rather than later."In that vacuum, Pelosi is making her play. By moving quickly—with a vote possibly as soon as this week—Democrats have an opportunity to set the legislative framework for the debate on how to respond to coronavirus, possibly boxing in the White House and Senate Republicans. Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) said Democrats should work with Republicans on areas of common concern, but "if the Senate is unwilling to engage in a serious way on that, then my hope would be that we would move forward on what we think is right and then press them to adopt what the House does."But most on the Hill, in either party, recognize that whatever agreement does take shape is going to have to go through Pelosi and Trump—no matter how abysmal their relationship may be."We need a two-way agreement between the House and the President," said Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), a top-ranking House Democrat. "And if we reach that agreement, I'm confident that we'll be able to move a bill through the Senate… We did that on criminal justice reform, we did that on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement… We'll have to do it in this particular instance as well."'Pandumbic': 'Daily Show' Gives Trump the Disaster Movie TreatmentRead more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan's charity wants to 'quadruple' the Bay Area's COVID-19 testing capacity in under a week by buying diagnostic machines Posted: 10 Mar 2020 04:03 PM PDT  The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is buying up testing machines and working with local research labs to speed up the region's response to the outbreak.
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| A plane made an unscheduled landing after one person's sneeze caused a major disruption on board Posted: 11 Mar 2020 10:31 AM PDT  As coronavirus fears run high, a United flight was diverted when passengers became disruptive when another person sneezed.
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| Two US troops, 1 coalition member killed, as more than 15 rockets slam Iraqi base Posted: 11 Mar 2020 04:12 PM PDT  OIR has confirmed whether there were any casualties or wounded as a result of the rocket attack.
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| Don’t Let the Chinese Government Escape Blame for Coronavirus’s Initial Spread Posted: 10 Mar 2020 03:30 AM PDT  From almost the very beginning of the COVID-19/coronavirus crisis in January and early February, it's often been asked whether it might be the "Chinese Chernobyl." Could the crisis expose the weakness of the mix of oppression, information control, and social disgust that underpin the Chinese Communist regime and trigger its collapse? Others have suggested that it might instead be "president Xi Jinping's Tiananmen," meaning he will use all the tools at his disposal to tighten down and prevent, well . . . a Chinese Chernobyl.It is too soon to know what may happen. But it's not too soon for attempts to whitewash the timeline and Chinese-government actions in the earliest moments of the crisis. Indeed, even now, the level of public anxiety about both the virus and what the Chinese government is doing and saying about it remain high.It is helpful to review the current status and the timeline that got us here. On Monday, February 24, the World Health Organization determined that reported cases of COVID-19/coronavirus had peaked. At the time, there were about 76,000 reported cases in China, and about 1,800 cases elsewhere in the world. In the United States, there were 14 reported cases. As of March 7, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and state and local public health reporting suggest the number is more than 300 cases, a twenty-fold increase. Globally, there are more than 100,000 cases, with more than 350 deaths in Italy alone.The world has barely begun to reckon with what the Chinese government claims to have gotten under control. It's true that forced quarantining and other extreme measures in China played a critical role. The World Health Organization report of its February mission to China praises the PRC for its response: "The response structures in China were rapidly put in place according to existing emergency plans and aligned from the top to the bottom. This was replicated at the four levels of government (national, provincial, prefecture and county/district)." The leader of the World Health Organization mission to China in February, Canadian epidemiologist Dr. Bruce Aylward, encouraged the world to "access the expertise of China," adding that "if I had COVID-19, I'd want to be treated in China."But the WHO report and subsequent reporting about what the world can learn from China represents a real-time cleansing of the actual record, a record that includes intentional obfuscation and failure to respond in the early stages of the crisis. This includes the government's early attempts to stifle communication about the virus, the censorship of doctors and others on social media as cases were being observed in late December, and the continuing suppression of information on social media across the country about how the government, from President Xi Jinping to local administrators, continues to mislead the public and the rest of the world.On March 3, researchers at the University of Toronto Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy published "Censured Contagion," a report that meticulously documents a timeline and body of facts that paint quite a different picture than the WHO report, and placing WHO's accolades for China's "response structures" that were "rapidly put in place" in doubt. The WHO report concludes that the beginning of the epidemic was December 30, 2019, with the collection of samples from a pneumonia patient in Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital. Data provided in graphics in the report show essentially zero cases before that date.Yet the Munk School researchers found that censorship of certain keywords in social media had already begun by then. They highlight social-media reports during the prior week by doctors reporting an unknown pathogen, linking it to the Wuhan seafood market. By December 31, social-media channels, including WeChat, were already censoring the terms "Wuhan seafood market" and "unknown Wuhan pneumonia."As careful as the recent Munk School report is, its essential elements were available to WHO researchers before they made their February 16-24 trip and wrote their report praising the PRC response. On February 1, the Washington Post published a story excoriating Beijing's early handling of the outbreak. The story includes anecdotes consistent with the Munk School analysis, such as how the Wuhan Public Security Bureau on New Year's Day had begun detaining people for "spreading 'rumours' about Wuhan hospitals receiving SARS-like cases." The government-controlled Xinhua News Agency, the Post reported, called on those online to "jointly build a harmonious, clear and bright cyberspace."WHO and its director-general, the Ethiopian politician Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, have received criticism for their own response to the crisis. Michael Collins at the Council on Foreign Relations labeled it a joint "dereliction of duty" in a searing blog post in late February. Collins correctly concludes that WHO "laundered" the PRC record, damaging its own credibility by doing so.The most galling result of that image-burnishing is the ubiquity of coverage -- and repetition by third parties who don't care to find out the truth -- to the effect that the world should actually thank the PRC for its strong reaction, because it bought the world the necessary time to prepare for the challenge. Science magazine online, the publication of the American Academy for the Advancement of Science, posed the question this week: "Can China's COVID-19 strategy work elsewhere?" This is just one example.This reflects what we already know about the Chinese government. It is developing into a modern state, one whose public-health system has significantly advanced from its ordeal with the SARS epidemic just 20 years ago. Per capita wealth is up more than 300 percent, and the Chinese share of the global GDP has more than doubled, from about 7 percent to more than 16 percent over the same period.Alongside that growth and progress, though, China under President Xi is ever more repressive. It uses some of the most sophisticated technology in the world simply to control its population. That includes Internet censorship, social-media monitoring and tracking of ordinary citizens, and the mass detention of Muslims and other minorities.But Chinese government face-saving is not stopping at the Chinese border. It is also attempting to control the narrative through state-controlled media, and through their willing partners in the West, including WHO. Government propagandists published a compendium of state-news agency articles, official government statements, and other documents in a book called A Battle Against Epidemic: China Combatting COVID-19 in 2020. The publication faced immediate scorn in social media within the country.Fortunately, despite the well-documented censorship of social media, citizen journalism continues. A popular meme shows Dr. Li Wenliang, the Wuhan ophthalmologist whose social media questioned the "Wuhan pneumonia" in late December and who eventually died from the virus, with barbed wire where his facemask should be. Several citizen journalists have gone missing, including in Shandong province, where there have been reports including in the Epoch Times that significant underreporting of COVID-19 by official statistics continues despite the WHO declaration that the caseload has peaked.In times of duress, the most innate qualities of countries tend to predominate. That's what we've seen with the PRC. We can recognize the intensity of China's public-health response. But we should acknowledge and condemn the methods by which the world was kept in the dark for too long, and the means by which Beijing continues to interrupt the flow of information. We should not be thanking Beijing for its actions. Instead, we need honesty and the pursuit of the truth to defeat this challenge. And we must acknowledge that the Chinese government's actions early on almost certainly led to the global crisis we're facing.
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| A coronavirus recession may be coming: Here's what to do with your money Posted: 10 Mar 2020 10:38 AM PDT  Global markets are crashing, the price of oil is plummeting and even entire countries are in lockdown. The odds of a recession due to the new coronavirus outbreak are rising every day. A question I'm often asked as a finance professor and a CFA charterholder is what should people do with their money when the economy is slowing or in a recession, which typically causes riskier assets like stocks to decline. Fear causes many people to run for the hills. But the short answer, for most investors, is the exact opposite: Stick to your long-term plan and ignore day-to-day market fluctuations, however frightening they may be. Don't take my word for it. The tried and true approach of passive investing is backed up by a lot of evidence. Most of us have money at riskWhile we usually associate investing with hotshot Wall Street investors and hedge funds, the truth is most of us have a stake in financial markets and their ups and downs. About half of American families own stocks either directly or through institutional investment vehicles like mutual funds. Most of the invested wealth average Americans hold is managed by professional investors who look after it for us. But the continued growth of defined contribution plans like 401(k)s – which require people to make choices about where to put their money – means their financial security increasingly depends on their own investment decisions.Unfortunately, most people are not good investors. Individual investors who trade stocks underperform the market – and passive investors – by a wide margin. The more they trade, the worse they do. One reason is that the pain of losses is about twice as strong as the pleasure of gains, which leads people to act in counterproductive ways. When faced with a threatening situation, our instinctive response is often to run or fight. But, like trying to outrun a bear, exiting the market after suffering losses is not a good idea. It often results in selling at low prices and buying higher later, once the market stress eases.The good news is you don't need a Ph.D. in finance to achieve your investment goals. All you need to do is follow some simple guidelines, backed by evidence and hard-earned market wisdom. Investing checklistFirst of all, don't make any rash moves because of the growing chatter about recession or any wild gyrations on Wall Street. If you have a solid investment plan in place, stick to it and ignore the noise. For everyone else, it's worth going through the following checklist to help ensure you're ready for any storm on the horizon. 1. Define clear, measurable and achievable investment goals. For example, your goal might be to retire in 20 years at your current standard of living for the rest of your life. Without clear goals, people often approach the path to getting there piecemeal and end up with a motley collection of investments that don't serve their actual needs. As baseball legend Yogi Berra once said, "If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up someplace else." 2. Assess how much risk you can take on. This will depend on your investment horizon, job security and attitude toward risk. A good rule of thumb is if you're nearing retirement, you should have a smaller share of risky assets in your portfolio. If you just entered the job market as a 20-something, you can take on more risk because you have time to recover from market downturns. 3. Diversify your portfolio. In general, riskier assets like stocks compensate for that risk by offering higher expected returns. At the same time, safer assets such as bonds tend to go up when things are bad, but offer much lower gains. If you invest a big part of your savings in a single stock, however, you are not being compensated for the risk that the company will go bust. To eliminate these uncompensated risks, diversify your portfolio to include a wide range of asset classes, such as foreign stocks and bonds, and you'll be in a better position to endure a downturn. 4. Don't try to pick individual stocks, identify the best-performing actively managed funds or time the market. Instead, stick to a diversified portfolio of passively managed stock and bond funds. Funds that have done well in the recent past may not continue to do so in the future. 5. Look for low fees. Future returns are uncertain, but investment costs will certainly take a bite out of your portfolio. To keep costs down, invest in index funds whenever possible. These funds track broad market indices like the Standard & Poor's 500 and tend to have very low fees yet produce higher returns than the majority of actively managed funds. 6. Continue to make regular contributions to your investments, even during a recession. Try to set aside as much as you can afford. Many employers even match all or some of your personal retirement contributions. Unfortunately, most Americans are not saving enough for retirement. One in four Americans enrolled in employer-sponsored defined contribution plans does not save enough to get the employer's full match. That's like letting your employer keep part of your salary. 7. There's one exception to my advice about standing pat. Let's suppose your long-term plan calls for a portfolio with 50% in U.S. stocks, 25% in international stocks and 25% in bonds. After U.S. stocks have a good run, their weight in the portfolio may increase a lot. This changes the risk of your portfolio. So about once a year, rebalance your portfolio to match your long-term allocation targets. Doing so can make a big difference in performance.Always keep in mind your overall investment plan and focus on the long-term goals of your portfolio. Many market declines that were scary in real time look like small blips on a long-term chart. Turbulence aheadIn the long run, this approach is likely to produce better results than trying to beat the market – which even pros tend to have a hard time doing.Billionaire investor Warren Buffett demonstrated this by easily winning a bet that a simple S&P 500 index fund could beat a portfolio of hedge funds – supposedly the savviest investors out there, at least judging by the high fees they charge.In the words of legendary investor Benjamin Graham: "The investor's chief problem and even his worst enemy is likely to be himself." Graham, who mentored Buffett, meant that instead of making rational decisions, many investors let their emotions run wild. They buy and sell when their gut – rather than their head – tells them to. Trying to outsmart the market is akin to gambling and it doesn't work any better than playing a lottery. Passive investing is admittedly boring but is a much better bet long-term. But if you follow these guidelines and fasten your seat belt, you'll be able to ride out the current turbulence. This is an update of an article originally published on Aug. 21, 2019.[Expertise in your inbox. Sign up for The Conversation's newsletter and get a digest of academic takes on today's news, every day.]This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.Read more: * Coronavirus market chaos: if central bankers fail to shore up confidence, then what? * 7 science-based strategies to cope with coronavirus anxietyAlexander Kurov does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
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| Late night hosts are increasingly convinced Trump is part of the coronavirus problem Posted: 10 Mar 2020 01:56 AM PDT  "There are now over 600 cases of coronavirus in the United States," Stephen Colbert said on Monday's Late Show. Italy has shut down entirely, and "Wall Street S&Peed its pants." with the Dow suffering its "largest single point drop in history.""This is the first crisis of Trump's presidency that he did not cause himself, and he is shanking it," Colbert said. "Trump spent the weekend golfing" and continues to post callous tweets, "but when he hunkers down focuses on the problem, that's when he really sucks." He recapped Trump's trip Friday to the CDC, shaking his head at Trump's assertion he surprises doctors with his deep understanding of the virus, crediting his "natural ability" to his "super genius" Uncle John. "Epidemiology is not genetic!" Colbert said. "Knowledge does not get passed down in the family -- that's why, no matter how much we all know it now, future generations are going to have to learn for themselves that you're an idiot."Yeah, "I'm not sure that Trump has 'a natural ability' for science, especially considering he thinks scientific knowledge can be passed down through his uncle," Trevor Noah marveled at The Daily Show. And really, "Trump can't afford to be uninformed about corona -- not just because he's president, but because as an older man who's not in great shape and spends his time touching strangers, he's definitely at risk.""The president publicly seems determined to keep shaking hands," but reportedly, he's "privately terrified about getting the virus" and "thinks journalists will purposefully contract coronavirus to give it to him on Air Force One," Jimmy Kimmel said on Kimmel Live. "That doesn't seem paranoid at all." People are canceling major events, "selling off stocks, and buying up toilet paper," and freakily, "Costco is pulling their free samples," he said. "Trump needs to send Mike Pence to Costco to figure this out, right now!""We are now seeing what it's like when a lifelong scam artist is in charge of responding to a public health crisis," Seth Meyers said at Late Night. Trump told CDC experts he's getting his coronavirus information from Fox News, "public health officials are worried about making him angry by telling the truth," and "Trump appointees keep going out of their way to compliment him."Conan O'Brien had a a PSA about fighting misinformation.At The Late Show, the coronavirus took a victory lap. More stories from theweek.com Trump's former pandemic adviser: 'We are 10 days from our hospitals getting creamed' After finding piles of portraits in an abandoned studio, man finds a way to get them to rightful families A Seattle lab uncovered Washington's coronavirus outbreak only after defying federal regulators
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| Biden, accused of trying to end 2nd Amendment: "You're full of sh**" Posted: 11 Mar 2020 04:43 AM PDT  Biden was campaigning in Michigan at a Fiat Chrysler assembly plant that's being built in Detroit.
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| US cracks down on Mexico 'New Generation' cartel Posted: 11 Mar 2020 02:07 PM PDT  US authorities announced Wednesday that they had arrested 750 people involved with the powerful Mexican methamphetamine cartel Jalisco New Generation, denting one of the world's "most dangerous" trafficking organizations. The Drug Enforcement Administration said 250 were arrested around the United States early Wednesday, taking the total to 750 during the crackdown. The Justice Department also unveiled fresh indictments of the cartel's head Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as El Mencho, and his son and daughter, who are both already in US custody.
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| At least 18 Americans who've come down with the coronavirus are linked to an Egyptian cruise ship quarantined in the Nile River Posted: 11 Mar 2020 03:32 PM PDT  "It's still unclear how many people came in contact with the group in the infected ship," a local police officer told the Associated Press.
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| U.S. likely to advise Americans against travel to Europe: sources Posted: 11 Mar 2020 09:41 AM PDT  The Trump administration is likely to discourage Americans from taking trips to Europe with a new advisory as soon as Wednesday that would warn against non-essential travel to the region over coronavirus concerns, sources said. The White House is set to discuss the advisories as well as potential new travel restrictions on travelers from Europe entering the United States at a meeting on Wednesday, sources familiar with the discussions said. The U.S. State Department is likely to raise the travel advisory for potentially all of Europe to "Level 3: Reconsider Travel," airline and U.S. officials said.
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| Russian lawmakers move to keep Putin in power past 2024 Posted: 11 Mar 2020 01:54 AM PDT  Russian lawmakers on Wednesday rapidly rubber-stamped sweeping constitutional changes that could keep President Vladimir Putin in power until 2036. If Putin won and completed two more terms as president, it would make him the ruler of Russia for 36 years — longer than any other leader in its modern history. The measure must still be approved by the country's Constitutional Court and by a nationwide vote next month before they come into force.
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| New York's solution to hand sanitizer shortage: Prison labor, hourly wages below $1 Posted: 10 Mar 2020 09:05 AM PDT  How does New York keep its hand sanitizer costs down? By having its prisoners make it.
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| An Australian family accidentally ordered $3,264 worth of toilet paper when they bought 48 boxes instead of 48 rolls Posted: 10 Mar 2020 12:07 PM PDT  Haidee Janetzki of Australia, decided to resell the 2,304 rolls of toilet paper as people panic buy the product during the coronavirus outbreak.
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| Erdogan Wants Istanbul Summit to Reboot Refugee Deal With EU Posted: 10 Mar 2020 05:22 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he expects to host the leaders of Germany and France next week for talks on how to reboot a deal that stemmed the flow of migrants to the European Union, after a meeting in Brussels ended in deadlock.After the breakdown in discussions, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu accused European Union nations of not sticking by earlier promises to provide funds to help look after millions of migrants on Turkish soil and allow visa-free travel to the EU for Turks."If the EU delivers on its promises made to us, then we will of course respond in kind," Erdogan said late Monday as he returned to Turkey. "We've been asking for a fair share of the burden. Unfortunately, they are not lifting visas for a country like Turkey but doing that for Latin American countries, the Balkans and Ukraine."Tensions between the sides flared as fierce fighting in northwestern Syria killed Turkish soldiers and threatened to send a new wave of refugees over the country's southern frontier. Erdogan's government publicly told millions of migrants and asylum seekers on its soil that it won't stand in the way if they want to head for Europe. That threatened a repeat of the mass movements in 2015 that helped fuel populism and anti-EU sentiment across the bloc.Istanbul SummitNeither side seemed happy with the result of a near two-hour meeting on Monday. Erdogan left without speaking to the media and senior EU officials warned there was a lot still to discuss, as they demanded Turkey continue to implement their 2016 migrant deal.Erdogan said the further talks on March 17 in Istanbul could also be attended by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.European Council President Charles Michel said Turkey and the EU have "different opinions on different things and that is why it is important to have a frank and open dialog." Officials from both sides will now work "to be certain we are on the same page," he said.Cavusoglu though issued a veiled ultimatum, telling state-run Anadolu news agency that the "time is up for stalling Turkey." He said the EU should try and find a solution that can be discussed by country leaders when they meet on March 26, adding that Turkey also expects the bloc to help repatriate Syrian refugees and update customs relations with Turkey.As thousands flocked toward the Greek border last week clashes erupted with security forces seeking to hold them back and competing narratives faced off on social media. Greece refused a Turkish demand that it open its border gates.In 2016, the EU struck a financial arrangement with Turkey that prevented displaced Syrians from entering the EU via Greece. It helped stop Europe's biggest refugee influx since World War II.The EU pledged 6 billion euros ($6.8 billion) to help alleviate Turkey's fiscal burden from hosting millions of Syrians.Turkey has so far received less than 3 billion euros, Cavusoglu said Tuesday, adding the government wants the EU to uphold all its promises."We may start a new process with the EU," Erdogan told Turkish media. "We've taken many steps and we will continue to do so. It would be possible to record progress if the EU shows the same determination and political vision."(Upates with comments from Turkish President Erdogan.)\--With assistance from Selcan Hacaoglu.To contact the reporters on this story: Ian Wishart in Brussels at iwishart@bloomberg.net;Firat Kozok in Ankara at fkozok@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net, Mark Williams, Onur AntFor 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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| Biden tells pro-gun worker he’s ‘full of s***’ Posted: 10 Mar 2020 09:32 AM PDT  Former Vice President Joe Biden told a pro-gun worker he was "full of s***" during a testy exchange after speaking at an auto plant in Detroit.
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| Harvey Weinstein jailed for 23 years in rape trial Posted: 11 Mar 2020 05:29 PM PDT  The sentence finalises a dramatic fall from grace for one of Hollywood's most powerful figures.
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| US bill forcing women to see baby on ultrasound before having abortion passes – despite walkout protest by female senators Posted: 11 Mar 2020 12:43 PM PDT  The entire female body of the Utah Senate staged a walkout in protest of an abortion bill mandating women to be shown the foetus on an ultrasound before being allowed to have the procedure.All six female members of the Senate refused to vote on the bill and left the room, leaving only male peers to vote on Wednesday.
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| The US's top infectious-diseases expert said 'it would be nice' if Trump hadn't scrapped the NSC's global-health unit Posted: 11 Mar 2020 01:00 PM PDT  Dr. Anthony Fauci said that the bottom line for the coronavirus outbreak in the US is that "it's going to get worse."
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