| Trump claims he always took coronavirus seriously, but the record says otherwise Posted: 18 Mar 2020 07:01 AM PDT  The president said he "felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic," but the record shows he downplayed it for weeks.
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| Detained US veteran released on medical furlough in Iran: Pompeo Posted: 19 Mar 2020 09:37 AM PDT  A US military veteran imprisoned in Iran was freed Thursday for medical reasons on condition that he stay in the country, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said. Michael White has been transferred for medical examinations to the Swiss embassy, which represents US interests in Tehran in the absence of diplomatic relations, Pompeo said. "The United States will continue to work for Michael's full release as well as the release of all wrongfully detained Americans in Iran," he added.
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| China says admonishing doctor and coronavirus whistleblower Li Wenliang was 'improper,' calls for punishing local officials Posted: 19 Mar 2020 10:29 AM PDT  An investigation into the death of the doctor found that local authorities mishandled the case and followed "improper" law-enforcement procedures.
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| Is spring break over? Local Florida officials close beaches after gov refuses to. Posted: 19 Mar 2020 10:24 AM PDT  At the height of the spring break rush, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday he would not order the beaches closed.
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| McConnell Drops Phase-Three Coronavirus Relief Plan, Includes Cash Payments for Americans Posted: 19 Mar 2020 03:32 PM PDT  Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) and Senate Republicans released the text for their massive phase-three coronavirus relief package Thursday, outlining a trillion-dollar plan that includes direct payments of $1,200 per person and $2,400 for couples to help offset economic losses amid the growing pandemic.McConnell said the "Coronavirus Aid, Relief, & Economic Security Act" is focused on "four urgent priorities": directly assisting Americans, providing relief for small businesses, stabilizing the economy, and supporting America's healthcare professionals and patients during the outbreak."The Senate is not going anywhere until we act. Senate Republicans are here and ready to work with our Democratic colleagues and the Administration to get results as soon as possible. Let's get this done for the country," McConnell tweeted to announce the bill.> The Senate is not going anywhere until we act. Senate Republicans are here and ready to work with our Democratic colleagues and the Administration to get results as soon as possible.> > Let's get this done for the country. https://t.co/E8ZSyDrISN> > -- Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) March 19, 2020Earlier Thursday, he said in a speech on the Senate floor that "Senate Republicans want to put cash in the hands of the American people.McConnell and the White House warmed to the idea of cash payments after proposals from Senator Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) — who called for monthly payments to working families below a certain income bracket — and Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) and Mitt Romney (R., Utah), who both proposed direct cash payments of a fixed amount."Americans need cash now and the president wants to get cash now," Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, who recently has been involved heavily in negotiations on the Hill, said at a White House press conference on Tuesday."We're going to get out of this quickly," Mnuchin told FOX Business' Maria Bartiromo on Thursday. He revealed the goal was to get the money out in three weeks, with another round of checks coming in six weeks if the crisis is still ongoing.Senator Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) had been opposed to the measure, but told reporters he could support "a check as a gap-filler."The bill reveals that the size of the checks, which will be based on 2018 tax returns, gradually diminishes for those earning more than $75,000, and phase out completely for those earning over $99,000.Individuals with no federal income tax liability, would see smaller benefits of a minimum of $600 for individuals and $1,200 for married couples, which the Senate Finance Committee said "ensures relief gets to low-income seniors and disabled veterans."McConnell's plan also creates $208 billion in loans and loan guarantees to at-risk industries, including $50 billion for commercial airlines and $8 billion for air cargo carriers, as well as $150 billion for other eligible businesses.
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| In Mexico, a cartel is taking over: Jalisco New Generation Posted: 17 Mar 2020 10:02 PM PDT  Mexico's fastest-rising cartel, the Jalisco New Generation gang, has a reputation for ruthlessness and violence unlike any since the fall of the old Zetas cartel. In parts of the country it is fighting medieval-style battles, complete with fortified redoubts, to expand nationwide, from the outskirts of Mexico City, into the tourist resorts around Cancun, and along the northern border. It is a promise that cartels in Mexico have long made, and always broken.
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| LGBTQ community may be 'particularly vulnerable' to coronavirus pandemic. Here's why. Posted: 18 Mar 2020 12:04 PM PDT  National health organizations are warning that some members of the LGBTQ community may be "particularly vulnerable" to the effects of the virus.
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| Chicago area's top prosecutor wins the Democratic nomination Posted: 18 Mar 2020 09:06 AM PDT  Kim Foxx, the Chicago area's top prosecutor, won the Democratic nomination Tuesday against three challengers who zeroed in on her handling of the Jussie Smollett criminal case.
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| Spring breakers vacationing in Miami are taking the coronavirus outbreak lightly, saying they won't let it 'stop me from partying' Posted: 19 Mar 2020 02:12 PM PDT  "If I get corona, I get corona. At the end of the day, I'm not going to let it stop me from partying," one partier said in a widely viewed video.
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| 'Well-connected' go first on coronavirus tests, Trump acknowledges: 'That's been the story of life' Posted: 18 Mar 2020 12:02 PM PDT  Amid a federal shortage of tests for the coronavirus, President Trump acknowledged the apparent unfairness in who had been able to receive them so far, saying, "That's been the story of life."
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| First virus death in Sub-Saharan Africa as WHO warns 'prepare for worst' Posted: 18 Mar 2020 08:10 PM PDT  Sub-Saharan Africa has recorded its first COVID-19 death, a high-ranking politician in Burkina Faso, as the head of the World Health Organisation urged the continent to "prepare for the worst". "Africa should wake up," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference in Geneva on Wednesday, pointing out that "in other countries, we have seen how the virus actually accelerates after a certain tipping point". Africa has lagged behind the global curve for coronavirus infections and deaths, but in the past few days has seen a significant rise in cases.
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| In images: effects of COVID-19 on landmarks around the world Posted: 19 Mar 2020 03:04 AM PDT |
| California governor tells the state's National Guard to prepare as coronavirus cases in the state hit 740 Posted: 18 Mar 2020 08:10 AM PDT  The action is not a mobilization order but instead directs troops to prepare in case of activation into local communities.
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| Joe Biden, nominee-in-waiting. And waiting. And waiting. Posted: 19 Mar 2020 01:33 PM PDT  In the three weeks since his blowout win in the South Carolina primary, Joe Biden has emerged as the Democratic presidential nominee-in-waiting. Biden holds an essentially insurmountable delegate lead over his last remaining rival, Bernie Sanders, yet the Vermont senator remains in the race. "Three weeks ago, we were on the verge of collapse as a campaign, so this is a very recent phenomenon," said Biden senior adviser Anita Dunn, insisting that the 77-year-old candidate remains focused on playing a productive role in the coronavirus response and sewing up a nominating fight that he doesn't see as finished.
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| Woman who flew from U.S. to China for coronavirus test faces criminal charges Posted: 18 Mar 2020 10:49 PM PDT  A woman identified by her surname, Li, 37, is under police investigation for allegedly concealing her coronavirus symptoms when she boarded a flight from Los Angeles to Beijing. She could be imprisoned for up to 7 years.
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| Coronavirus: Bangladesh mass prayer event prompts alarm Posted: 19 Mar 2020 05:20 PM PDT  The religious leader who organised the event said it would offer people protection from the virus.
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| A toilet paper shortage and increased cleaning might have caused a spike in raw sewage spills in California. Other regions are bracing for the same. Posted: 19 Mar 2020 01:57 PM PDT  The coronavirus pandemic has prompted some to panic buy toilet paper, leaving stores sold out. Flushing wipes and other items can cause sewage spills.
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| Hannity, With a Straight Face, Claims He Has ‘Always Taken the Coronavirus Seriously’ Posted: 18 Mar 2020 07:41 PM PDT  After spending weeks downplaying and minimizing the threat of the new coronavirus that has now resulted in a worldwide pandemic, Fox News host Sean Hannity declared on Wednesday night that he has "always taken the coronavirus seriously" and never referred to it as a "hoax."Hannity, who recently changed his tune on the viral outbreak once President Donald Trump began exhibiting a sense of urgency about the crisis, complained about the amount of criticism the media has thrown at him and Fox News over their earlier COVID-19 coverage. Taking aim at his critics, the pro-Trump host insisted they were "politicizing" the pandemic with their "hysteria" and "neverending" lies about the president.After playing a montage of cable news rivals blasting Fox News and Trump, with one commentator stating that Fox has "been getting people killed for years," Hannity mockingly retorted: "We've been getting people killed for years, I had no idea I was doing that.""You know what, if it wasn't so serious, it was pretty sick and you could probably laugh at it but nothing to laugh at here," he continued. "By the way, this program has always taken the coronavirus seriously and we have never called the virus a hoax."Hannity went on to say that "we call what they're doing—trying to bludgeon the president—out," apparently addressing comments he made nine days prior on his show. While hosting Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) on March 9, who had at that time self-quarantined after coming in contact with an infected individual, Hannity groused about fears of the virus being overblown."We gotta be very real with the American people, I don't like how we're scaring people unnecessarily," he said. "And that is that unless you have an immune system that is compromised, and you are older, and you have other underlying health issues you're not going to die 99% from this virus, correct?""I mean they're scaring the living hell out of people," Hannity added. "And I see them again as like oh, okay, let's bludgeon Trump with this new hoax."Last week, amid mass cancellations and tanking stock markets but before the president shifted his tone on COVID-19, Hannity cited a far-right QAnon conspiracist to suggest that perhaps the "deep state" was using the virus to hurt the economy and push "mandated medicines." The Fox host also spent weeks comparing coronavirus to the seasonal flu. That is until top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci schooled him on the dangers of COVID-19 and said Hannity had to "make sure" his audience knew the mortality rate for coronavirus was at least 10 times greater than the flu. Kellyanne Conway Spars With Reporters Over 'Kung-Flu' Coronavirus SlurRead 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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| Virus whistleblower doctor punished 'inappropriately': Chinese probe Posted: 19 Mar 2020 01:07 PM PDT  Police in China's virus epicentre Wuhan acted "inappropriately" by punishing a doctor who blew the whistle on the outbreak that has now killed more than 9,000 worldwide, a Chinese government investigation found Thursday. Li Wenliang, one of a group of doctors in Wuhan who shared posts on social media warning of a SARS-like virus spreading in the city in December, was reprimanded by police for sharing the information and made to sign a statement agreeing not to commit any more "law-breaking actions." Li's death from the virus in February prompted a national outpouring of grief as well as anger at the government's handling of the crisis, and bold demands for freedom of speech.
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| Sharp increase in Moscow pneumonia cases fuels fears over coronavirus statistics Posted: 19 Mar 2020 09:18 AM PDT |
| The Inevitable Shoe Drops: DOJ Dismisses Mueller’s Charges against Russian Businesses Posted: 19 Mar 2020 03:30 AM PDT  More than an investigation, the Mueller probe was the wellspring of a political narrative. That becomes clearer as time goes by and more information ekes out . . . such as new confirmation that, months before Mueller was appointed in May 2017, it was already well understood in Justice Department circles that there was no case of criminal "collusion" between the Trump campaign and Russia.Never was that made more obvious than by the Justice Department's quiet announcement late Monday, under the five-alarm noise of the coronavirus scare, that it has dropped the special counsel's indictment of Russian companies -- an outcome I predicted here at National Review nearly two years ago.A little refresher is in order.As detailed here many times, one of the biggest problems confronting those weaving the collusion tale was the inability to prove that Russia hacked the Democratic email accounts. As Ball of Collusion outlines, that's not the only fundamental problem. There is also the fact that the Democratic emails, in which Hillary Clinton was not an active correspondent, did not actually hurt her campaign at all -- certainly not the way her own email scandal did (a scandal for which there was no way to blame Moscow). There is also the dearth of evidence that the Trump campaign was even aware of, much less complicit in, Kremlin intelligence operations. Still, very basically, it would be impossible to prove that Trump had conspired in Russia's hacking unless prosecutors could first establish that Russia had done the hacking.Let me repeat something else I said several times: This is not to say that Russia is innocent. Again, I accept the intelligence agencies' conclusion on this point (though a number of others, including some former U.S. intelligence officials, do not). But the point is that Mueller could never have proved it beyond a reasonable doubt under courtroom due-process standards. Any competent defense lawyer would have had a field day with the Obama Justice Department's failure to have the FBI take possession and conduct its own forensic examination of the servers that were hacked. And what fun defense counsel would have had with DOJ's delegation of that rudimentary investigative task to a DNC contractor with close ties to the Clinton campaign. (Yes, the forensic conclusions blaming Russia were paid for by the same folks who brought you the famously dodgy Steele dossier.)Speaking of dodgy, recall that Team Mueller and the Justice Department dodged every case that would have called for proving Russia's cyber theft. Even when they indicted WikiLeaks chief Julian Assange, the very Ground Zero of "collusion," they resisted charging him with the Russian hacking scheme. Given that prosecutors and the FBI spent years investigating the president of the United States for this crime of the century, it should seem astonishing that they passed on charging the guy they've told us is the central conspirator with this crime. But you weren't astonished if you were reading National Review . . . because you knew they were not going to charge any crime that called for proving Russia's culpability in court. Their evidence is shaky and, if there were ever an acquittal, the Trump-Russia political narrative would be kaput, while the Putin regime celebrated a huge propaganda coup.So why did Team Mueller publicly file an indictment against Russians?Because they figured it was a freebie. The prosecutors assumed that they would never have to . . . you know . . . prove the case. The Russian defendants were in Russia. There was no way Putin would ever extradite them for an American criminal trial. The prosecutors knew that. What they wrote was not meant to be a real indictment. It was meant to be a press release. It was meant to be what Team Mueller was best at: the spinning of a narrative. I explained it this way at the time:> When prosecutors are serious about nabbing law-breakers who are at large, they do not file an indictment publicly. That would just induce the offenders to flee to or remain in their safe havens. Instead, prosecutors file their indictment under seal, ask the court to issue arrest warrants, and quietly go about the business of locating and apprehending the defendants charged. In the Russia case, however, the indictment was filed publicly even though the defendants are at large. That is because the Justice Department and the special counsel know the Russians will stay safely in Russia. Mueller's allegations will never be tested in court. That makes his indictment more a political statement than a charging instrument. To the extent there are questions about whether Russia truly meddled in the election, the special counsel wants to end that discussion.It all seemed so well choreographed. The indictment was, of course, reported as gospel-truth by the anti-Trump media -- the same folks who tell you, whenever a Democrat is charged with a crime, that an indictment is merely an allegation, that nothing is proven until it's proven in court.Alas, Team Mueller made a mistake. A reckless bet, the kind made by people under the misimpression that they are playing with the house's money. To quote from my column nearly two years ago:> [Team Mueller] charged not only Russian individuals but three Russian businesses. A business doesn't have the same risks as a person. A business can't be thrown in jail. And while members of Mueller's prosecutorial stable have a history of putting real businesses out of business, a business that is run by a Putin crony and serves as a front for Kremlin operations is not too worried about that either.Since they had no concerns about being imprisoned or bankrupted by prosecution and fines, there was nothing to discourage these businesses from doing what Team Mueller blithely assumed no Russian defendant would ever do: retaining lawyers to show up in federal court, demanding the trial to which American law entitled the companies, and demanding all the discovery to which American due process guaranteed them access.It was a debacle.First, the prosecutors tried to get the case and all pretrial discovery postponed on the ground that the businesses in question, Concord Management and Concord Consulting (each controlled by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a food-supply oligarch said to be a Putin crony), had not been properly served with the indictment. This was absurd. Service of process is the way you get a business to come to court; these businesses were already in court, demanding to proceed with the prosecution that Team Mueller had chosen to start.The businesses then pressed the government to provide them with all the evidence and other discovery the law requires prosecutors to disclose. Team Mueller countered that they couldn't do that because it would harm national security. That's ridiculous. Imagine if I were prosecuting a mafia hitman and refused to make discovery, reasoning that the mafia might find out what's in my files. The judge would hold me in contempt, or dismiss the case -- or both. As a prosecutor, if you're worried that the security implications of disclosure are too great a risk, you don't charge the case. But if you file charges, there is no getting around disclosure obligations.Being forced to make disclosure did not go well for Team Mueller and his Justice Department successors. As they had to concede, there was no evidence that the Russians who carried out the troll farm scheme were directed by the Russian government. Stopping short of such an allegation, the indictment claimed the defendants were backed by Prigozhin -- which was quite the comedown from the Justice Department's drum-beating about Russia's "information warfare."Moreover, as the trial judge groused, the troll-farm indictment was "difficult to follow." Team Mueller's evidence was not even strong enough to allege that the defendants were actual Russian agents. Prosecutors thus crafted, shall we say, a creative theory: The defendants had "defrauded the United States" by failing to disclose their Russian identities and affiliations, which purportedly undermined the ability of U.S. bureaucracies to maintain a registry of foreign agents and enforce the campaign-finance laws. Except . . . it was unclear that the defendants had a legal duty to report information in the first place. How do you establish the criminality of concealment if there is no requirement to disclose?Finally, despite all the huffing and puffing about Russia's purportedly massive effort to influence the election through social-media ads, the grudgingly surrendered discovery indicated that many of the ads violated no American laws and cost pennies. Assuming for argument's sake that at least some of the candidate ads and rallies fell under Federal Election Commission reporting requirements, the defense contended that total expenditures for such activities amounted to less than $5,000.With the judge trying to push the case to trial this spring, the possibility of humiliation loomed. This past Monday, when no one was watching, the Justice Department finally -- inevitably -- pulled the plug. The cases against the companies were dropped. The sympathetic New York Times reported the prosecutors' fig leaf: The defense was "weaponizing" the case "to gain access to delicate information." It's the kind of claim the Times would ridicule were the paper not so invested in the Trump-Russia narrative. In point of fact, the defendants were demanding the legal right to discovery that Mueller's prosecutors automatically (if unwittingly) triggered when they decided to file an indictment.Not to say, "I told you so" (of course not!), this is exactly what these columns said would happen. From nearly two years ago:> The surest way to put an end to this unwelcome turn of events would be to dismiss the indictment — or at least drop the charges against the three businesses so Prigozhin and the Kremlin can't use them to force Mueller's hand [i.e., to compel discovery]. Of course, that would be very embarrassing. But as all prosecutors are taught from their first day on the job: Never indict a case unless you are prepared to try the case.There is no exception for "indictments" that are really meant to be political theater.
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| Iran furloughs imprisoned US Navy vet amid virus concerns Posted: 19 Mar 2020 04:20 PM PDT  Iran has granted a medical furlough to a U.S. Navy veteran who has been imprisoned in for more than a year, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Thursday. Michael White of Imperial Beach, California, is now in the custody of the Swiss Embassy and must remain in Iran as a condition of his furlough, which was granted as the Islamic republic works to curb the spread of coronavirus. The U.S. government will seek his full release, Pompeo said, as he called on Iran to free other Americans who remain jailed there.
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| 25 Best Cleaning Products and Supplies to Keep Your Home Clean As Can Be Posted: 19 Mar 2020 03:00 PM PDT |
| Some children develop severe infections from coronavirus, and the youngest ones have the highest risk, study says Posted: 18 Mar 2020 12:38 PM PDT  A peer-reviewed study on 2,000 children who had COVID-19 in China found 6% developed severe or critical infections. The risk was highest for infants.
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| For the 1st time since coronavirus outbreak began, China reports no new local infections Posted: 18 Mar 2020 08:01 PM PDT  On Thursday, China announced that there were no local COVID-19 coronavirus infections reported in the country on Wednesday, for the first time since the outbreak started late last year.There were 34 infections diagnosed, but all involved people who came to China from other countries, China's National Health Commission said. Of those infections, 21 cases were in Beijing.After originally mismanaging the outbreak — residents complained of food shortages and a lack of hospital beds and test kits — and even punishing doctors who tried to spread the word, China enforced quarantines, shut down factories, and kept people out of cities they didn't live in. There are 80,928 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in mainland China, with the death toll at 3,245.More stories from theweek.com Lindsey Graham is reportedly trying to talk Trump out of coronavirus relief checks for Americans 7 funny cartoons about coronavirus hoarding Senate GOP prioritizes business tax cuts in coronavirus stimulus package
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| Sanders Supporters Have No Plans to Relent on Biden as Nominee Posted: 19 Mar 2020 01:00 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Progressive activists say they have no intention of easing pressure on Joe Biden to adopt their left-of-center causes as he shifts to the general election, despite fears among Democrats that their efforts could damage Biden's ability to beat President Donald Trump.In all but defeating Senator Bernie Sanders for the nomination, Biden has been cool to the most progressive ideas at the heart of Sanders's campaign, including Medicare for All and the Green New Deal to fight climate change. Biden won a string of recent primaries by drawing an explicit contrast with Sanders, saying voters "don't want a revolution, they want results."Now, Biden needs those predominantly younger and more liberal Sanders supporters if he's going to win in November -- and the leaders of some progressive groups say Biden must do more to earn their full backing.Sanders said he would support Biden if he were the nominee, repeatedly assuring Democrats that his chief goal is defeating Trump. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, one of Sanders's top surrogates, has also vowed to support Biden and said she is worried "by some folks that say if Bernie's the nominee, they won't support him and the other way around."A few prominent progressives have gone further, expressing reservations about voting for Biden in the general election, and hashtags like NeverBiden, WriteinBernie and DemExit2020 have trended on social media since he won the Michigan primary on March 10."We will push him before he's the nominee. We will push him after he's the nominee, but we are also going to make sure we defeat Donald Trump," said Waleed Shahid, a spokesman for Justice Democrats, a progressive group.Despite having almost no realistic path to the nomination, Sanders's campaign said Wednesday that he was staying in the race, in part so he could continue to speak out about the government's response to the coronavirus pandemic.His approach to confronting the crisis is largely centered around enacting Medicare for All and Democrats fear that the split-screen messaging between him and Biden, who has called for a full and robust government response, will hurt efforts to unite the party around the common goal of defeating Trump.Some Democrats blame Sanders's prolonged 2016 primary campaign for delaying efforts to bring the party together and ultimately contributing to Hillary Clinton's defeat."I think the conversation is going to quickly turn to how and when does Bernie Sanders unite the Democratic Party," former Claire McCaskill, a former senator from Missouri, said Tuesday on MSNBC after Biden swept Arizona, Florida and Illinois. "I do think the pressure is going to mount, especially at this time of crisis in this country, for the Democrats to unite behind clearly the voters' preference."Sanders's supporters say his 2016 campaign was effective in pushing the party to the left and changing Democratic National Committee rules to reduce the role of establishment players like super-delegates as evidence of that.But while Clinton supporters say Sanders's attacks weakened her at a crucial time, and left hard feelings on both sides, Biden supporters point out that he's a different candidate. Unlike Clinton, who never won the wide support of young progressives or white working class voters, Biden has started to court progressive voters, keenly aware of the need to broaden his coalition from older, centrist and traditional Democrats.Biden adopted the bankruptcy proposal of a former rival, Senator Elizabeth Warren, which in part allows student-loan debt to be eliminated in bankruptcy, and last weekend, his campaign announced he supports making public colleges and universities tuition-free for students whose family income is below $125,000 a year, a version of a Sanders plan.But progressive activists say policy isn't enough; Biden must surround himself with key people from the left flank of the party."I think lots of voters are also concerned that they aren't that many progressive voices surrounding him and that would also go a long way," Shahid said. "I think the unity goes both ways, and I think Biden should continue to bridge that trust gap because it is wide."Biden explicitly reached out to Sanders's supporters in his victory speech on Tuesday, urging them to join his campaign."To the young voters who have been inspired by Senator Sanders, I hear you, I know what's at stake, I know what we have to do," Biden said. "Our goal as a campaign and my goal as a candidate for president is to unify this party and then to unify the nation."Tad Devine, who worked on Sanders's 2016 campaign, said Biden would fare better than Clinton in attracting Sanders' supporters because Biden already has goodwill with the white working class voters, who comprised a large part of Sanders' base in 2016. Devine recalled being struck by Biden's progressive ideas when he announced at the White House in 2015 that he was not running for president.In that speech, Biden railed against the influence of unidentified contributions on elections and outlined a litany of progressive policy goals including free public college, tripling the child care tax credit and immigration reform."Anyone who saw Biden's statement in the Rose Garden, a lot of what he talked about was very similar to what Bernie was saying," Devine said. "Jeff Weaver and I were watching it together and said, 'He's got our whole platform,'" he added, referring to Sanders's longtime adviser.But Devine said Biden must welcome Sanders and his supporters to his campaign, something made easier by their genuine affection for each other. Clinton and Sanders, he said, had a much icier relationship."I think Biden on that very human level is in a much better position to connect with Bernie, and I hope that they do," he said.Sunrise AgendaStill, even if Sanders campaigns for Biden, the former vice president will face pressure from progressive groups who want to see his platform tack left.The Sunrise Movement, which is focused on fighting climate change and endorsed Sanders in January, has consistently protested against Biden for not supporting the Green New Deal. Sunrise leaders say demonstrations will not stop if he does not embrace their ambitious proposals intended to remake the economy to stem the effects of climate change."For Biden to defeat Trump he needs young voters behind him and public demonstrations in support of the Green New Deal is one of the ways we can bring people into the movement and Joe Biden would be wise to follow the lead of people demanding the Green New Deal," said Sofie Karasek, a spokesperson for Sunrise.Karasek said whether it hurts Biden in the general election is up to him."The best way for him to avoid that scenario is for him to embrace the Green New Deal and the concerns of young voters," she said. "It's politically strategic for him to do that."For 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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| Behind the urge to stockpile: First masks, then toilet paper, now cash? Posted: 19 Mar 2020 09:07 AM PDT  Experts say your savings should be in an insured, well-secured bank vault, not under a mattress.
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| Cigarette Butt Leads Cops to Killer in 1985 Slaying of Young Mom: Police Posted: 19 Mar 2020 11:29 AM PDT  For 35 years, the family of Tonya Ethridge McKinley anxiously waited for authorities to track down the man who murdered the gregarious 23-year-old, dumping her body on the side of a Florida highway.On Wednesday evening, that day finally arrived with the arrest of Daniel Leonard Wells, 57, who was tied to the young woman's 1985 slaying thanks to DNA recovered from the butt of his cigarette. His arrest marks the beginning of the end of the oldest cold case in Pensacola history."She was the best sister a girl could ask for," her older sister, Renee Ethridge, told The Daily Beast. "God is good. I can't believe this day has finally arrived."Wells was charged Wednesday evening with first-degree murder and first-degree sexual battery for the January 1, 1985, murder of McKinley, according to the Pensacola Police Department. He is currently being held without bond at Escambia County Jail. Police Arrest Two Louisiana Men in 39-Year-Old Cold Case Murder of TeenMcKinley was last seen alive celebrating New Year's Eve around 1:30 a.m. at Darryl's Bar & Grille in Pensacola, while her 18-month-old son was waiting for her at home. Four hours later, a family taking their dog to the vet found her body in an empty lot a block from a highway. The 23-year-old, who was found only partially clothed, had been strangled and sexually assaulted, police said. Investigators collected physical evidence at the scene and on McKinley's body—including semen and hair—but they were never able to identify a suspect or make any arrests in the case. They also failed to match DNA found at the scene with samples from a national database."Despite having a good bit of physical evidence and dozens of interviews, over time, the trail went cold," the Pensacola Police Department said in an emotional statement posted on Facebook Thursday. "In the meantime, a baby boy grew up without a mother, parents buried their daughter without knowing justice, and a killer was walking around free."Her case went cold, but Pensacola police remained committed to catching McKinley's killer, and her case was passed around to several detectives over the last 30 years.Police May Have Solved the 1999 Cold-Case Murder of Kassie Federer. And the Suspect Is Already on Death Row."It seems that every couple of years a new lead would pop up and we would drop everything to run it down. We did this time and time again," the department said in their statement. "When detectives retired, Tonya's case was passed along to the next generation again and again. As technology advanced, the case was brought back to the forefront. Detectives laid fresh eyes on all of the evidence, new theories were presented, and hopes of catching Tonya's killer were renewed."Over the last couple of years, police have been comparing DNA profiles left behind at old murder scenes with open-source genealogy databases that have become popular among families hoping to find long-lost relatives. Using a database, Pensacola authorities were able to match DNA evidence found near McKinley's body with several different people believed to be Wells' distant cousins. After the hit, authorities constructed a family tree, starting with the distant relatives to determine possible offenders. Eventually, authorities said, the tree led them to identify Wells as a suspect. The Pensacola Police Department said they followed Wells and were ultimately able to match DNA from a cigarette butt he'd discarded to the evidence they'd collected 35 years ago. 5-Year-Old A.J. Freund Died From Repeated Blows to the Head in Fatal Beating, Coroner Says"Today, the evil that took Tonya from her friends and family was arrested for her brutal murder," the department said. "The reasons why this happened, how evil crossed Tonya's path, may never be answered and in the end may not be important. What is important is that no one forgot Tonya."According to court records obtained by the Pensacola News Journal, Wells has had previous run-ins with Pensacola authorities, including a 1987 arrest for alleged battery and witness tampering. He pleaded no contest to the first charge, and the second was eventually dropped. A year later, Wells was arrested for alleged solicitation of prostitution, but it's unclear how the case ended.Timothy Davidson Jr., McKinley's 35-year-old son, told The Daily Beast that while he is grateful for the arrest, he will only feel "complete when there is a conviction and justice has been served.""It's still kind of unbelievable—like I'm dreaming," Davidson Jr. said, adding that his mother "can finally Rest in Peace."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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| 2 cruise ships not allowed to disembark in Honolulu Posted: 18 Mar 2020 12:00 PM PDT  Two cruise ships won't be allowed to disembark in Honolulu after being turned away by other ports, even with no positive cases of coronavirus on either vessel, officials said Wednesday. State and cruise line officials previously said passengers would disembark at Honolulu Harbor.
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| US jails begin releasing prisoners to stem Covid-19 infections Posted: 19 Mar 2020 12:43 PM PDT  High profile inmates like ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen are among those who have asked for early release.
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| Lindsey Graham is reportedly trying to talk Trump out of coronavirus relief checks for Americans Posted: 19 Mar 2020 01:31 PM PDT  The freedom dividend's resurgence may be over before it even began.During a Senate GOP lunch on Thursday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-N.C.) told his colleagues he was trying to talk President Trump out of supporting individual coronavirus relief checks for Americans, Politico reports. White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows was also trying to get Trump on Graham's side, per Politico.Mandatory quarantines in the face of the COVID-19 outbreak have already left many Americans without jobs, at least until the businesses they work for reopen. And the economic effects of the new coronavirus' spread may leave some people more permanently unemployed. That's led to bipartisan lawmakers proposing issuing individual checks to all Americans; some proposals have limited them by income bracket, but others are universal. Even Trump has said he'd support individual payments, but Graham has publicly come out against issuing them to every American indiscriminately.Still, just after the meeting, Graham tweeted a clip of his Thursday appearance on Fox News, during which he said the phase three package would provide people "income to get through this." He'd support supplementing traditional unemployment payments by providing "75 percent of people's income up to $80,000."Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) was among the first congressmembers to propose issuing $1,000 checks to every American to support them during the COVID-19-induced economic turmoil — an idea that looked an awful lot like former 2020 candidate Andrew Yang's signature policy proposal.More stories from theweek.com 7 funny cartoons about coronavirus hoarding Senate GOP prioritizes business tax cuts in coronavirus stimulus package Trump briefing notes show he replaced 'coronavirus' with 'Chinese virus' in Sharpie
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| A New York neurosurgeon has coronavirus. This is what he wants people to know. Posted: 19 Mar 2020 09:34 AM PDT  Ezriel Kornel, a neurosurgeon in New York, doesn't know where he got coronavirus from, but he knows what it feels like in the early stages.
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| Russian opposition leader urges constitution vote boycott Posted: 19 Mar 2020 09:44 AM PDT  Top Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny on Thursday urged Russians to boycott a vote on constitutional changes backed by President Vladimir Putin, slamming plans to hold it during the pandemic. Putin, who has been in power for 20 years, has backed amendments that would allow him to get around a limit on presidential terms and potentially stay in office until 2036. The amendments will be put to a national vote on April 22, although this may be postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, authorities say.
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| Greek anti-terrorism squad finds artillery, secret tunnel Posted: 19 Mar 2020 06:07 AM PDT |
| Two cruise ships turned away in Honolulu despite no positive coronavirus cases onboard Posted: 19 Mar 2020 07:58 AM PDT  Two cruise ships won't be allowed to disembark in Honolulu after being turned away by other ports, even with no positive cases of coronavirus on either vessel, officials said Wednesday.
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| What's Happening: Hope in Wuhan, unequal access to US tests Posted: 19 Mar 2020 05:34 AM PDT  The Chinese city of Wuhan, the original epicenter of the new coronavirus, reported no new homegrown infections on Thursday, in what was a sign of hope for the world and a lesson in the strict measures needed to halt its spread. The two milestones were a dramatic illustration of how much the global outbreak has pivoted toward Europe and the United States. Factories in China, struggling to reopen after the coronavirus shut down the economy, face a new threat from U.S. anti-disease controls that might disrupt the flow of microchips and other components they need.
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| The No. 1 way to prevent coronavirus isn't wearing a face mask Posted: 18 Mar 2020 02:17 AM PDT  Coronavirus masks are expensive, they only last a few hours — and they may not even help.
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| Italy reports 475 coronavirus deaths, the highest single-day death toll for any country since the outbreak began Posted: 18 Mar 2020 10:42 AM PDT  At the peak of its outbreak, China's highest single-day death toll was 150. Iran and Spain, both hit badly, have not recorded more than 200 in a day.
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| Teen Cowgirl Found Dead After Disappearing With Mystery Man Posted: 19 Mar 2020 11:04 AM PDT  Britney Ujlaky picked flowers for friends if they'd had a bad day. She loved listening to any music she could dance to, and dreamed of becoming a makeup artist. In her rural Nevada community, the 16-year-old volunteered at the 2U Ranch, riding and grooming horses, and helping with cattle drives."She had the personality you can't really forget—she was so goofy and fun," said one close friend, Cheyenne Fry, 18. "You would be having the worst day of your life, but her laugh would put you in a good mood." Britney often talked about wanting to someday win the title of local Rodeo Queen, Fry said."She was always helping people out," Fry told The Daily Beast. "If it was house-sitting, babysitting, grooming their horses. Everyone knew her and loved her so much."But on the afternoon of Sunday, March 8, Britney disappeared and the nightmare began. That evening, her mother shared a desperate plea on Facebook: "My daughter is missing!!!!!!! Police have been notified. Please please share!!!!!!!!"America's 'Most Beautiful Small Town' Is Murder, U.S.A.Britney was last seen hopping into a green Ford F-150 pickup truck in front of Spring Creek High School. According to one Facebook group sanctioned by Britney's family, that truck was driven by a young man in a cowboy hat whose identity is unknown. Three days after Britney vanished, she was discovered dead near the Burner Basin area of Spring Creek, about 6.5 miles north of the high school. On Monday, police announced the identification of Britney's body and provided the number for a tip line for their investigation."At this time, Britney's death is being investigated as a homicide," the Elko County Sheriff's Office stated. "While investigators have been working around the clock following up on leads and tips, a suspect has not been identified.""Currently there has been no information to indicate danger to the public," the agency added, before requesting that "citizens refrain from posting rumors and tips on social media sites." (The sheriff did not return messages left on Tuesday.)The loss has devastated Britney's family, who are seeking answers on what might have happened to the high-schooler. They say they're certain of one thing, however: Britney was not trying to run away from home. "She adored her family and friends and blended so well with others," said Leslie Tolhurst-Grayson, a cousin who was very close to Britney and her mom, Alisha. "When she went missing, it was looked at as a runaway but we all knew she would never run away from her family."On Tuesday, in the hours before a candlelight vigil, Britney's family shared her obituary. "She loved to ride and did so as often as possible," the memorial read. "Britney was most happy when participating in some sort of cowgirl work." At the 2U Ranch, "she was always the first one saddled and ready to go."Britney was born Gabrielle Lynn Ujlaky, but when her parents took her home, they felt she was more of a Britney. Tolhurst-Grayson said everyone had a nickname for her: Brit, Brit Brit, Goose, or Woman Bear.Police have released little information on Britney's last movements. In her mother's social media post seeking help, she indicated Britney's phone last pinged at 5:30 p.m. on Boyd-Kennedy Road near the high school.A missing person flyer shared online by relatives and supporters said the F-150 truck Britney got into was an older model from the early 2000s. The driver was described as a "white male wearing a cowboy hat in his late teens [or] early twenties."Another flyer said, "He went by JT," and added, "She was found deceased and alone. We need to find this JT. He could be anywhere."It's unclear who this man was, or how Britney knew him."One never thinks something so tragic could happen to your family," Tolhurst-Grayson told The Daily Beast. "It's something you only see in movies."Fry said she last spoke to Britney hours before she went missing. The friends spoke to each other every day on the Facetime app, and they'd go to the gym together on Sundays. "She called me and asked if I wanted to go to the gym," Fry recalled. "I told her to give me an hour." That call, Fry says, came around 1 p.m. after she'd gotten out of church.At the time of the call, Fry says, Britney was hanging out with a mutual friend. Within a few hours, that mutual friend dropped Britney off at the high school. "She said her dad was picking her up," Fry told The Daily Beast."I wish she would have said something to me about this guy," Fry said of the mystery driver. "She said this was one of her new friends. I wish I had more answers but I don't."Another friend, Brin Wilson, said she texted Britney around 4:37 p.m. on the day she vanished, asking if she wanted to come over for pizza. Brin never heard back and knew something was amiss later when the phone went straight to voicemail. "She would never let her phone die or be without it," Wilson said.Wilson often went horseback riding with Britney. They'd cover miles with no destination and "joke about all the crazy stuff we did." Wilson said, "She was the kindest soul I knew. She looked up to me. Every day she would always check up on me."Fry said Britney often put others before herself. "She wasn't afraid to go do things, to talk to someone. She had no fear," Fry added. "She was the most fearless girl I ever met." Despite her loving demeanor, Britney was also dealing with online bullies, whom she eventually had to block on Snapchat, Fry said."She got bullied. Every teenager goes through that. That's what made our friendship so strong. We were always there standing up for each other," Fry said.Mourners planned a candlelight vigil to honor Britney on Tuesday evening. RL Dakin, an administrator for the "JUSTICE FOR BRITNEY UJLAKY" Facebook group, said the event would be livestreamed because of COVID-19 fears.Dakin, who is based in Canada, has set up more than 50 Facebook groups for families with missing persons. "Typically, in any group, we are looking for the missing person along with any vehicles associated with their disappearance but in Britney's heartbreaking circumstance, she had been found—we didn't need to look for Britney anymore," she said. "So, we focused on the vehicle that she was believed to have gotten into." Dakin's group has pushed for people in the area to review security footage, dashcam video, or trail and wildlife cameras for clues."My heart aches for Britney and her family," Dakin added. "Her group will transition over to her family and friends when they are ready to take that on. Hopefully, it will remain in place to support this family through the criminal investigation, possibly a trial—all the nightmares that still await them."Fry said she hopes justice is served sooner than later."You just want to ask yourself why. Why did it have to be her?" Fry told The Daily Beast. "Why now? Why so young? And you won't get those answers because no one really knows. For me, it's been hard. I still haven't fully accepted it—that my best friend is gone."Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| GOP Sen. Richard Burr privately warned donors of coronavirus danger weeks ago — but downplayed it publicly Posted: 19 Mar 2020 10:09 AM PDT  Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) seemingly knew this pandemic was coming.In a secret, weeks-old recording obtained by NPR, Burr, the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, can be heard describing COVID-19's "aggressive transmission" as "akin to the 1918 pandemic." But Burr changed his tune in an op-ed and a statement previewing America's COVID-19 response — and President Trump ended up parroting and exaggerating that dangerously positive rhetoric.The new coronavirus "is much more aggressive in its transmission than anything that we have seen in recent history," Burr told some of his biggest donors at a Feb. 27 luncheon. "It is probably more akin to the 1918 pandemic," he continued. Burr warned these companies that they may have to "alter their travel," and that schools would close and people would be told to stay home — something that didn't happen for another few weeks.Yet Burr did "did not warn the public of the government actions he thought might become necessary" to combat coronavirus like he did in private, NPR writes. That same day, Trump declared that the coronavirus would "disappear ... like a miracle." And in a March 5 statement, Burr said the U.S. has "a framework in place that has put us in a better position than any other country to respond to a public health threat, like the coronavirus."As of Thursday, Trump is now claiming he always knew the new coronavirus would turn into a pandemic. And as for why the U.S. didn't prepare for a pandemic, well, Trump instead said the "only thing we weren't prepared for was the media."More stories from theweek.com Lindsey Graham is reportedly trying to talk Trump out of coronavirus relief checks for Americans 7 funny cartoons about coronavirus hoarding Senate GOP prioritizes business tax cuts in coronavirus stimulus package
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| The First U.S. Company Has Announced an Upcoming Home COVID-19 Test Posted: 18 Mar 2020 05:58 PM PDT  Direct-to-consumer testing company Everlywell will make its COVID-19 test available on Mar 23
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| Senate Republicans Eye 2008 as Model for Household Checks Posted: 19 Mar 2020 07:49 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Senate Republicans are looking to a 2008 tax rebate program as the template to deliver direct payments to individuals intended to boost consumer spending as economic activity contracts as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.The Senate is looking to quickly draft and pass legislation that could provide swift relief to businesses and individuals struggling as a result of businesses closing, schools shuttering and travel grinding to a halt. White House officials have said direct payments to Americans should be part of the next round of fiscal stimulus that could cost as much as $1.3 trillion."Some of the ideas we are working on are things that there's sort of a formula or template for," Senator John Thune, the No. 2 Senate Republican, said Wednesday. "With the checks, we have the 2008 experience. And so there are sort of tried-and-true ways to do this."Thune reiterated that Thursday morning on Fox & Friends, saying he wanted to get the money "out quickly in the form of individual checks."President Donald Trump, as well as many Republicans and Democrats, have publicly backed some form of quickly sending payments to every household in the form of checks or a direct deposit.The Trump administration wants to send $1,000 checks to every adult and $500 to children within three weeks of Congress passing a bill, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday on Fox Business. That could be followed by a second round if the national emergency continues, he said.Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell asked his members to present proposals as soon as Thursday for the next virus-response bill. The provision for the direct payments to households will likely be modeled after Congress's post-financial crisis law to provide a direct tax rebate to individuals who filed taxes in either 2007 or 2008.A similar rebate program was also used in 2001 as part of an economic response to the September 11 terrorist attacks.Some Republicans, including Senator Lindsey Graham, have expressed reservations about direct payments to households, saying they would prefer a payroll tax cut. Trump has also said he likes the idea of a payroll levy reduction, but that his advisers have said checks get money to people more quickly."Your check plus $1,000 doesn't get you anywhere because there's no place to spend that," Graham said.Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer released a plan Tuesday that called for Congress to beef up existing benefits to the jobless and provide state and local aid, among other things. He also said he might consider direct payments similar to those that Republicans are considering."We may also need to consider ways to provide robust stimulus, potentially, like of direct payments to help individuals and families as well as the broader U.S. economy recover," according to a document from Schumer's office outlining his plan.Senator Mitt Romney, one of the the first Republicans this week to publicly support direct payments to households, said lawmakers should couple these payments with higher benefits for the jobless."The combination of benefits should be able to keep people whole, or near whole, if they do become unemployed," Romney told reporters.For 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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| 'There are no funerals:' Death in quarantine leaves nowhere to grieve Posted: 19 Mar 2020 05:07 AM PDT  Like most of the old man's family - like most of Italy - she was confined to her home. Everywhere the coronavirus has struck, regardless of culture or religion, ancient rituals to honor the dead and comfort the bereaved have been cut short or abandoned for fear of spreading it further. In Ireland, the health authority is advising mortuary workers to put face masks on dead bodies to reduce even the minor risk of infection.
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| Massive Bangladesh coronavirus prayer gathering sparks outcry Posted: 18 Mar 2020 05:07 PM PDT  A massive coronavirus prayer session with tens of thousands of devotees sparked an outcry in Bangladesh Wednesday as the South Asian nation reported its first death from the global pandemic. Local police chief Tota Miah said some 10,000 Muslims gathered in an open field in Raipur town in southern Bangladesh to pray "healing verses" from the Koran to rid the country of the deadly virus.
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