| Nearly two-thirds of voters expect Trump to win reelection in November, poll finds Posted: 23 Feb 2020 10:51 AM PST  Opinions on the race appear to be firmly set for most voters, with 63% saying they know how they will vote no matter who is the Democratic nominee.
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| Missing 6-month-old boy found dead in cemetery after mom's arrest Posted: 22 Feb 2020 09:59 AM PST  The body of Chi-Liam Cody Brown-Erickson was found hours after his mother was arrested and an Amber Alert was issued on his disappearance.
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| Here Comes 1984: China's Regime Is An Existential Threat to the World Posted: 22 Feb 2020 02:33 PM PST  One expert tells you why.
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| Haiti police exchange fire with troops near national palace Posted: 23 Feb 2020 11:37 AM PST  PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haitian police officers exchanged gunfire for hours Sunday with soldiers of the newly reconstituted army outside the national palace, in a dangerous escalation of protests over police pay and working conditions. At least three police officers were wounded, fellow officers told The Associated Press. Haiti's raucous three-day Carnival celebration was to have started Sunday afternoon in Port-au-Prince and other major cities but the government announced Sunday night that Carnival was cancelled in the capital "to avoid a bloodbath." Police protesters and their backers had burned dozens of Carnival floats and stands at recent protests, saying they did not believe the country should be celebrating during a crisis.
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| Grave of slain Iraq commander, a new anti-US magnet Posted: 22 Feb 2020 07:44 PM PST  Clad in black, they joined wailing women and men beating their chests in grief at Wadi al-Salam (valley of peace), an ever expanding cemetery. All eyes were on the grave of Iraqi paramilitary commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. Killed alongside top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in a US drone strike in Baghdad on January 3, Muhandis is now revered as a martyred icon of anti-American resistance.
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| Coronavirus challenges $45 billion cruise industry Posted: 23 Feb 2020 09:37 AM PST  'Business is soft, people are scared to travel,' said Frank Del Rio, CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line.
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| N.Y. Gov. Cuomo compares the 'virus of hate' to the coronavirus after bomb threats were emailed to 19 Jewish community centers in one single morning Posted: 23 Feb 2020 12:43 PM PST  "People are worried about the Coronavirus, which we're watching in this state – there's also a virus of hate, and it's spreading," Cuomo said.
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| Greyhound will stop allowing immigration checks on buses Posted: 23 Feb 2020 10:54 AM PST  Greyhound, the U.S.'s largest bus company, said on Friday that it will stop allowing Border Patrol agents without a warrant to board its buses to conduct routine immigration checks.
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| Bernie Sanders' Nevada win is a breakout moment. The others are toast Posted: 22 Feb 2020 06:45 PM PST  The Vermont Senator will soon be going toe to toe with Donald Trump There are no second prizes in presidential contests. No silver medals. No participation trophies.There are, however, endless numbers of delusional candidates and campaigns who insist that they will sweep the later states, or take their delegates to the convention, or contest the legitimacy of the nomination process.This was the position of one Bernie Sanders four years ago, not to mention his die-hard fans.Today, after his resounding win in Nevada on Saturday, America's favorite socialist can look forward to trashing the arguments of the also-rans, just like the Clinton campaign trashed his protracted case of the race in 2016.Because there are no second prizes for Joe Biden, even if he pulls off a win in South Carolina, where the next primary takes place next Saturday. And there are no second prizes for Mike Bloomberg, even if he performs respectably on Super Tuesday, just three days later. And for Warren and Buttigieg, beating expectations is not the same as beating the opposition.Nevada is the breakthrough moment for Bernie, after squeaking out a win in New Hampshire, and squeaking out something like a tie in whatever happened in Iowa.You can easily dismiss Nevada's bizarre connection to reality in the tourist version of Las Vegas. You can happily downplay the small number of caucus voters, or the weirdness of the caucus process itself.But Nevada shares some similarities with two key neighboring states: California and Arizona. Unlike the early voters in Iowa and New Hampshire, California's Democrats are not obsessed with politics.They are what the consultants call low-information voters: they have day jobs, like the union workers in Las Vegas. But those union voters defied their bosses, at least among the Culinary Union, and voted heavily for Sanders at the caucus sites in the big hotel-casinos.So Sanders' poll lead in California – somewhere between 8 and 18 points in recent polls – looks big enough to give him a delegate advantage that nobody will overturn after early March. In Texas, the other big Super Tuesday state, Biden was leading as recently as a month ago, but recent polls suggest a narrow Sanders lead. Texas is unlikely to help the rest of the pack catch up to Bernie.This leads us to the first and last argument that Sanders faces, which is the single most important factor for Democratic voters in every poll in this cycle: who is best placed to beat Donald Trump?The remainder of this primary contest will revolve around a never-ending, unresolvable discussion about Bernie's prospects against Trumpian and Russian disinformation, targeted most obviously at the massive government spending he proposes.Yet the polls for all the Democratic candidates show a marginal difference between them in the notional head-to-head contests against Donald Trump. For now, a Biden or Bloomberg is a slightly better bet than a Sanders. But Sanders still beats Trump in Michigan, Pennsylvania and even Ohio.If Trump keeps hold of one of the swing states he surprisingly took in 2016, like Wisconsin, then Democrats will need to take back another state to have a couple of paths to victory in November. That's where Arizona comes in: a state Trump won by 3.5 points last time around.Arizona and Nevada have similar percentages of Latino population: around 30% in both states. Among the Nevada caucus goers, Sanders swept Latino Democrats, taking 54% of their support – a full 40 points ahead of Joe Biden, according to CNN's entrance poll.Those voters cannot be dismissed lightly. They are a good reason why Arizona is now a finely balanced state where Sanders holds a nominal one-point lead over Trump, and Biden was tied with Trump in the most recent head-to-head.The non-Bernie candidates have almost run out of runway. But you wouldn't know it by listening to them.According to Joe Biden, his crushing defeat in Nevada was some kind of comeback victory. "Well you all did it for me," he told a crowd of over-excited supporters in Las Vegas. "Now we're going on to South Carolina and we're going to take this back."One of his louder fans screamed out the inevitable: "The comeback kid!""Well you're sending me back," said the former vice-president, before smacking the media for declaring him dead. "We're alive and we're coming back and we're going to win."At that point, the voting count placed Biden some 25 points behind Sanders. Which only counts as alive in the sense that zombies can walk the streets at night..Biden wasn't the only one engaging in this kind of Trumpian projection of braggadocious fantasy over the cold hard reality of math, facts and truth"As usual I think we have exceeded expectations," said Amy Klobuchar, who spoke before the final results were known, at a point where she was rock bottom among the candidates on the debate stage this week. To exceed expectations with a single digit percentage of the vote suggests you have the kind of expectations that doesn't exactly inspire confidence.At that point the Minnesota senator started fondly recalling her announcement speech in a snowstorm, before she talked about traveling to South Carolina. Since she was talking from Minneapolis, the theme and logistics made more sense than the political strategy.The only candidate who made any strategic sense on Saturday was Sanders, who held his victory rally in San Antonio, Texas. If the Sanders campaign is going to end the hopes and dreams of its rivals early, they will do so in Texas."Don't tell anybody. I don't want to get them nervous," Sanders said as soon as he got on stage. "We're going to win the Democratic primary in Texas. And, you know, this is also important. The president gets very, very upset easily. So don't tell him we're going to beat him in Texas."Can Sanders come close in Texas? Possibly but not probably. Recent polls suggest he is only trailing Trump by a couple of points, marginally ahead of the other Democratic candidates."No campaign has a grassroots movement like we do," Sanders said on Saturday.No campaign except the Trump campaign, that is. It won't be long before Bernie's grassroots go toe-to-toe with Donald's."Looks like Crazy Bernie is doing well in the Great State of Nevada," tweeted the craziest president in recorded history. "Congratulations Bernie, & don't let them take it away from you!Judging from Nevada's results, he won't.
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| Coronavirus Spread by a Second Coming ‘Cult’ Has Put South Korea on ‘Maximum Alert’ Posted: 22 Feb 2020 10:35 AM PST  This article was updated on February 23, 2020, at 11:55 p.m. local time in South Korea.SEOUL—A South Korean church whose founder says, rather mysteriously, that he represents the second coming of Christ on Earth and has unique insights into God's revelations is getting much of the blame for a major surge in the spread of the deadly coronavirus here.Coronavirus Now a 'Tremendous Public Health Threat': CDCFear of the disease now known as COVID-19 actually had been on the decline in South Korea until a fresh outbreak was traced to a 61-year-old woman who belonged to the Shincheonji Church in Daegu, a city of 2.4 million about 170 miles southeast of Seoul. Soon it was clear that more than half the known cases were connected to Shincheonji parishioners.As the number of infections started climbing with disconcerting speed on Sunday, the government here put the country on the highest possible alert, opening the way for it to lock down whole cities if deemed necessary. All told, as of this writing late Sunday night local time, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 602 cases, including six people who have died. Of the total number diagnosed, 329 were members of Shincheonji or had had contact with members.A former member of the church told South Korea's Yonhap news agency that Shincheonji's practices during worship may heighten the risk of coronavirus contagion, since participants kneel close together and sing songs with their arms on each others' shoulders during services. There are also concerns about its presence outside South Korea, possibly including Hubei province in China, the epicenter of the growing epidemic. Lee Man-hee, the 88-year-old founder and leader of the church, has called the disease the "devil's deed" and a test of faith meant to stop the growth of Shincheonji, according to Yonhap.Leaders of more traditional churches have been quick to denounce Shincheonji, which means "New Heaven and Earth." And the spread of COVID-19 from one of the 74 Shincheonji "sanctuaries" strengthens the view among the mainstream that Shincheonji is a dangerous cult that keeps many of its 200,000 members in secret compounds while pressuring them to absorb its teachings and recruit other followers.Christian critics for years have denounced Lee Man-hee as "a heretic" who has exploited thousands of adherents since opening his first congregation 36 years ago. He calls himself "the promised pastor.""They are not real Christians," says a member of Korea's Presbyterian church, the country's largest Christian organization. "They are fake."* * *SEWING UP SEOUL* * *Park Won-soon, the mayor of Seoul, has picked up on the hostile sentiment, warning against the evil the church poses in the metropolitan region of the Korean capital. "Shincheonji sect, also known as 'Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony' in Daegu, has become a hotbed of the infections in local communities," he warned in a lengthy media briefing as the extent of the outbreak became known, calling for measures to stop the disease from spreading.Already, he said, confirmed cases elsewhere were "related to the church in Daegu" and "another confirmed patient in Seoul attended the chapel in that church." It was "to proactively prevent the further spread of the virus," he said, that "the Shincheonji churches in Seoul will be closed."That crackdown was not the only severe measure ordered by Park. He also banned street demonstrations, notably by conservatives hostile to his own municipal government and the national government.Park, a left-leaning politician who has long advocated dialogue with North Korea, insisted he had in mind the health of old people who join in such protests waving American and Korean flags. "The symptoms and prognosis of the confirmed cases could be fatal to people with underlying conditions, and the elderly in particular," he said, ordering the closure of welfare facilities, senior citizen centers and an historic park in central Seoul where old men frequently gather.Conservatives, hoping to defeat ruling party legislators in national assembly elections in April, denounced the ban as "politics" and promised to turn out in defiance of rows of policemen massed on the main avenue running by city hall.* * *MESSIANIC TENDENCIES* * *The role of Shincheonji in spreading the disease, however, seems far more important than political protests in a country where religious groupings often fight one another. About a third of South Korea's 51 million people identify as Christians, but there are deep divisions among them, and these movements like Shincheonji draw adherents despite social and cultural barriers to proselytizing and preaching. Cults and cult-like groupings have proliferated, seeming to fill some sort of spiritual void in this fast-moving fast-growing country always under threat from its neighbor to the north. If the COVID-19 epidemic is striking down members of Shincheonji its critics "will say God has struck heretics," says Michael Breen, author of books on Korean culture and a former member of the Unification Church of the late Rev. Moon Sun-myung. "A lot of people will be thinking, they kind of deserve this."In fact, in the years since Lee Man-hee first mesmerized young Koreans with his claim to embody Jesus Christ, the Shincheonji Church has proven about as controversial as the "Moonie" Unification Church. Lee may not call himself "the messiah" or "true parent" of mankind as did Moon, but he preaches an extremist view of Christianity whose message is essentially that he came to know the meaning of Christ on Earth through the Bible's Book of Revelation."More people are upset with Lee than with Moon," says Breen. "They will go after him. They are very dogmatic and judgmental."The secrecy of the church adds to the build-up of emotions against its activities. "Health authorities are having difficulties as they could not reach or contact more than 400 followers of the church," reported Dong A Ilbo, a leading newspaper in Seoul. It was only through GPS tracking, the paper said, that the church member who was first diagnosed was discovered to have visited Cheongdo, where an outbreak was reported in a hospital and the first person in Korea died of the disease."Since the entire nation is experiencing a national crisis, Shincheonji religious followers should voluntarily report symptoms and self-quarantine at home while fully cooperating with the authorities in quarantine efforts," the paper editorialized. At the same time, Dong A called on citizens not to attack patients "even for the sake of ensuring the success of quarantine efforts."Kukmin Ilbo, a Christian newspaper with strong ties to South Korea's largest congregation, the evangelical Full Gospel Church in Seoul, suggested Shincheonji members are reluctant to cooperate with authorities tracing the course of the disease.North Korea's Secret Coronavirus Crisis is Crazy Scary"It seems to be the tendency to act in a closed manner without showing much of its beliefs," said the paper, describing Shincheonji as "a pseudo-religion or cult." It claimed that "there were even allegations that Shincheonji sent an internal notice to the congregation telling them to say, 'I didn't go to church that day' and 'I worshipped somewhere other than there.'"Shincheonji says such claims are concocted by its mortal enemies. "There is no such thing as an internal notice," a church official responded. More to the point, Mayor Park said, "Anyone who attended the chapels of the Shincheonji Church in Daegu must report to an emergency telephone number." Seoul will quickly get the list of names, he said. "This is an inevitable measure to ensure and protect the health, safety and life of citizens." Seoul, he promised, "will exert all its administrative effort."Shin Hyun-wook, a pastor who specializes in deprogramming Shincheonji members, says they are told not to let their families know they belong to the church. "They believe in eternal life," he says, dying only from "lack of faith."* * *UPDATES* * *The warning "EMERGENCY ALERT" in capital letters, preceded by loud beeping sounds, flashed simultaneously on the screens of the mobile phones of millions of South Koreans late Sunday as the government elevated the fast-spreading coronavirus, now known as COVID-19, to the highest level.President Moon Jae-in, who several days earlier had tried to calm fears and warn against panic, came on South Korean TV networks announcing "the COVID-19 incident has been confronted by a grave watershed.""A few days from now is a very important moment," he said.Moon did not say what he believed had to happen in that short time span to stem the crisis other than to call for "unprecedented, powerful measures," but never before had the government gone to such extremes as to warn Korea's 51 million citizens of the danger to health and safety.Armed with the authority to stop public gatherings, including political protests, the government postponed the opening of schools from next Monday, March 2, until the following Monday.Seeking to get on top of a situation about which he had been criticized for acting too slowly, Moon said his government now would "perceive the crisis" in the southeastern city of Daegu and the surrounding province as "a national one." Henceforth, he said, the government would focus on "riding out the difficulty without sparing any support."Earlier, the health and welfare minister, Park Neung-hoo, assured the country the virus was "limited within a specific region and group"—a reference to the members of Shincheonji. Four of the six victims of the virus died in the same hospital in Cheongdo, near Daegu. "The nation's health authorities are concerned that more virus cases will be identified at the hospital as most patients have underlying illnesses," according to the Yonhap news service. "Transmissions taking place in hospitals and clinics are also of grave concern because of the risk of exposing sick people, who are more vulnerable to infections, to the virus."A sign of concern about the spread of the virus was that Shinsegae, an historic department store featuring luscious displays and popular food courts, shut down the restaurants in a major branch in one of Seoul's most upscale high-rise office and apartment districts. A customer, the store announced, was reported to have come down with the virus after attending a Shincheonji gathering in Daegu.Moon pointedly urged the cooperation of Shincheonji members, noted for standing close together in mass meetings closed to outside observers and refusing to answer questions about what they are doing. "Trust and cooperation are the way to win the fight against the virus," he said.He coupled that remark with a demand that Koreans in general refrain from mass meetings—a remark that his political foes interpreted as an effort to suppress large-scale mass protests against his policy of reconciliation with North Korea. The protests were expected to climax next Sunday, the anniversary of a short-lived revolt on March 1, 1919, against Japanese rule.The urgency of the need to halt the COVID-19 before it got out of the Daegu region and spread all over the country provided another week of vacation for Korean students of all ages and education levels.Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae postponed the opening of schools from March 2 to March 9 "to prevent the spread of infection and for the safety of students and school faculty."The frankness with which South Korea announced the numbers of those who had suffered from the disease, including deaths, contrasted with the secrecy imposed by North Korea, which continues to tighten controls but denied any victims.Most recently, North Korea announced a quarantine on all imports, most of which come from China, many in violation of United Nations sanctions. The North's leading newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, said the quarantine for 10 days was needed since "materials being brought from another country could be used as a carrier to spread the virus."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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| 10,000 mourn victims of racist shooting rampage in Germany Posted: 23 Feb 2020 11:00 AM PST  Around 10,000 protesters marched through the central German town of Hanau on Sunday to mourn the nine people who were killed by an immigrant-hating gunman four days ago. "These days and hours are the blackest and darkest our town has ever experienced during peace times," Hanau mayor Claus Kaminsky told the somber crowds, according to the German news agency dpa. Five of the victims were reported to be Turkish citizens.
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| Police at checkpoints, events scrapped as virus fears hit Italy Posted: 23 Feb 2020 11:48 AM PST  Police patrolled perimeters of virus-stricken town in northern Italy Sunday as tens of thousands of people were placed under lockdown and public events cancelled to stem Europe's worst outbreak of the new coronavirus. "Virus -- Northern Italy under Siege," read Sunday's headline in the Il Fatto Quotidiano daily, as television stations delivered a steady stream of images of masked locals and hospital workers in protective suits. "Virus Paralysis," read La Repubblica.
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| Why the Boy Scouts bankruptcy is good news for victims — and for America Posted: 22 Feb 2020 01:04 PM PST  We believe that if the BSA sees this moment as a wake-up call, the organization can continue its century-long tradition of positively influencing millions of lives.
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| How China Is Humiliating Pakistan Posted: 22 Feb 2020 04:30 PM PST  Pakistan sees itself as a major regional power but recent events show that Beijing considers Pakistan little more than a subordinate colony to be exploited but not heard.
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| U.S. judge rejects Roger Stone's request she be kicked off his case Posted: 23 Feb 2020 04:31 PM PST |
| Entrance polls show Sanders winning nearly every demographic in Nevada Posted: 22 Feb 2020 03:41 PM PST  What do union households, non-union households, men, women, and just about every other demographic in Nevada have in common?They're all caucusing for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), entrance polls for Saturday's Democratic caucuses in Nevada show. Not only did Sanders have a sizable lead when it came to early caucus results on Saturday, but these polls indicated his message has proved universal.According to entrance polls taken Saturday for The Washington Post and other news outlets, former Vice President Joe Biden is leading the Democratic field in attracting black caucusgoers and those age 65 and older, by nine and eight percentage points, respectively. Sanders is meanwhile leading the field in voters age 17–29 by 56 percentage points, in Hispanic voters by 37 percentage points; and among independents by 36 percentage points.> On initial preference in the Nevada caucuses, Bernie Sanders is currently winning independents by a large margin — 49%, according to CBS News entrance polls https://t.co/4xhlHorGDS pic.twitter.com/1nLDH4e4GI> > — CBS News (@CBSNews) February 22, 2020Sanders is also winning voters age 30–44 and 45–64; white voters; somewhat liberal and very liberal voters; and both college graduates and those without a college degree — along with every other identifiable group. Those results, combined with the fact that Sanders had more than twice the votes of nearest competitor Biden with 10 percent of precincts reporting on Saturday, indicate Sanders may end up with a blowout win in the most diverse state that's had its say on the Democratic nomination so far.More stories from theweek.com CNN analyst: Republicans 'may regret' hoping Sanders wins nomination The stunning Southern Baptist controversy over Donald Trump and Russell Moore, explained White House officials are reportedly hoping to scale back surveillance powers
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| Wrong-way crash on Interstate 95 in Georgia kills 6 people, including Virginia parents and their 3 children Posted: 23 Feb 2020 04:35 PM PST  Six people, including three children, were killed early Sunday in a head-on crash on Interstate 95, according to the Georgia State Patrol.
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| South Korea Signals Unprecedented Steps to Contain Outbreak Posted: 23 Feb 2020 05:55 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in raised the country's infectious-disease alert level to the highest and signaled the potential for unprecedented steps to contain a coronavirus outbreak that has killed six and infected hundreds.The government ordered that schools delay resuming lessons after a holiday break as more than 600 people were confirmed to have been infected, a 20-fold surge in reported cases over five days. More than half are linked to members of Shincheonji Church of Jesus, an opaque religious sect, while almost an entire hospital psychiatric ward of over 110 patients and staff tested positive for the virus.The worsening outbreak may add further pressure on South Korean assets. The won recorded its biggest five-day drop in more than four years last week when the number of infections jumped. Government bonds could extend gains as the economic fallout from the outbreak bolsters the case for the central bank to ease policy again.The quick spread in South Korea has triggered travel advisories around the world. Israel is closing its borders to foreign nationals who live in or have visited South Korea in the past two weeks, while the U.S. and the U.K. also raised their alert levels for travel in the Asian country.South Korea was last on red alert in 2009, during the H1N1 virus outbreak that resulted in 250 deaths in the country. At the red level, the government has the power to stop military personnel from going on vacation leave, control the activities of aircraft, suspend public schools from restarting, as well as impose stricter measures to bar foreigners from entering the country, the DongA Ilbo newspaper reported, citing an official.A day after the prime minister asked citizens to stop mass religious activities for safety reasons, President Moon said the government could take "powerful measures like never before without being tied to regulations" to contain the outbreak. He emphasized that shutting down Shincheonji facilities was a safety measure, not a suppression of religion.Daegu, the southeast Korean city where the Shincheonji group is located, has deployed some 600 police officers to track down members who have been unreachable, according to the Maeil Business newspaper. There are about 670 people who have been uncontactable, the paper said.Health officials in that city have a list of residents who are members of the sect, and are getting in touch to explain self-quarantine measures. Authorities have stationed a total of about 500 military personnel at two hospitals in Daegu to implement stricter measures for patients who are confirmed to be infected.Daegu is one of two cities, along with nearby Cheongdo, subject to a U.K. travel advisory on Saturday. Britain's Foreign Office advised against "all but essential travel" to the two locations. The U.S. separately raised its guidance to Level 2 -- "exercise increased caution" -- for the country as a whole. That level warns of sustained community transmission and calls for "precautions for high-risk travelers," such as those with chronic medical conditions.Israel took sterner measures after from a group of Catholics from South Korea who went on a Holy Land Pilgrimage of religious sites was confirmed to have the virus.South Korea's CDC said 18 people out of the 39 who went on the tour in Israel were confirmed to have the virus. Authorities are conducting further tests on the remaining 21. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Andong has halted all masses and assemblies until March, the CDC said in the statement.(Updates with markets in third paragraph)\--With assistance from Liau Y-Sing.To contact the reporter on this story: Jihye Lee in Seoul at jlee2352@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Shamim Adam at sadam2@bloomberg.net, Christopher AnsteyFor 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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| Hero in Hanukkah attack declining $20K reward over Zionism Posted: 22 Feb 2020 05:21 PM PST |
| Italy has quarantined a dozen cities over coronavirus Posted: 23 Feb 2020 03:15 AM PST  The lockdown followed a confirmed 79 cases of coronavirus in Italy along with two deaths, and affects some 50,000 Italian citizens.
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| The Vegas way: Buttigieg backer pulls winning card to break tie at Nevada caucus Posted: 22 Feb 2020 03:28 PM PST  That's how Democrats settle matters in the state that's home to the nation's most famous gaming mecca.
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| Hawaii holds woman over missing children amid suspicious deaths Posted: 22 Feb 2020 01:42 PM PST  A 46-year-old American woman with reported links to a doomsday cult and to at least three people whose deaths are being investigated has been arrested in Hawaii over the disappearance of her two children. Lori Vallow was arrested Thursday on the island of Kauai and charged with felony desertion of the children, 7-year-old Joshua Vallow, who is autistic, and 17-year-old Tylee Ryan, police said in a statement. According to US media reports, the children, who have different fathers, were last seen on September 23, 2019.
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| Indian authorities scramble to give Trump mega-rally Posted: 23 Feb 2020 07:50 AM PST  The city of Ahmedabad in India was jostling with activity on Sunday as workers cleaned roads, planted flowers and hoisted billboards featuring President Trump, a day ahead of his maiden two-day visit to India after Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised him a lively public reception.
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| Iran announces low poll turnout, blames coronavirus 'propaganda' Posted: 23 Feb 2020 01:36 AM PST  Iran on Sunday announced a 42% turnout in its parliamentary election, the lowest rate since the 1979 Islamic revolution, while its top leader said Tehran's enemies played up the new coronavirus threat to dissuade people from voting. With Iran facing growing isolation and threats of conflict over its nuclear standoff with the United States, and increasing discontent at home, the turnout is seen as a referendum on the popularity of the Islamic republic's rulers. The final results, announced by the Interior Ministry, showed big gains by hardline loyalists close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the last say on all state matters.
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| Roger Stone moves to disqualify judge in last-ditch bid to avoid prison Posted: 21 Feb 2020 08:31 PM PST  Stone was convicted last year on multiple counts of lying to congressional investigators, as well as a count of witness intimidation.
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| Ira Hayes raised the flag on Iwo Jima. 75 years later, he still inspires this Indian community. Posted: 23 Feb 2020 04:33 PM PST  75 years ago, Ira Hayes was one of the six Marines captured in the historic photograph raising the American flag on Iwo Jima.
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| For Virginia Tech parents, new gun laws a long struggle Posted: 23 Feb 2020 06:29 AM PST  When Virginia lawmakers pass sweeping new gun control laws in the coming days, it will mark the culmination of nearly 13 years of often thankless work for two parents whose children were shot in one of the country's worst mass shootings. Lori Haas and Andrew Goddard started pressing lawmakers to enact new gun laws shortly after a gunman killed 32 people and wounded more than a dozen others at Virginia Tech in 2007. Haas and Goddard have been Virginia's most visible gun-control lobbyists for years, but until recently had little to show for their work.
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| MSNBC host urged to quit after comparing Bernie Sanders win in Nevada to Nazi invasion Posted: 23 Feb 2020 07:12 AM PST  MSNBC's Chris Matthews is under fire after comparing Bernie Sanders' victory in the Nevada caucuses to the Nazi invasion of France in 1940.The 'Hardball' host is now under pressure to resign after invoking the historical comparison during an on-air conversation with Brian Williams.
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| Vietnamese dissident monk who was a Nobel Prize nominee dies at 93 Posted: 22 Feb 2020 09:50 PM PST  Thich Quang Do, a dissident Buddhist monk who has effectively been under house arrest since 2003 and was nominated multiple times for the Nobel Peace Prize, has died aged 93. Head of the banned Unified Buddist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), the vocal patriarch was born on November 27, 1928 in northern Thai Binh province and spent most of his life advocating for religious freedom and human rights in communist-run Vietnam.
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| DNC announces qualifications for South Carolina debate Posted: 22 Feb 2020 10:17 PM PST  Candidates seeking to participate will need to meet either a polling or delegate threshold to take part in the event.
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| Trump departs for quick trip to India to see big crowds Posted: 23 Feb 2020 06:43 AM PST |
| White House reportedly to ask Congress for coronavirus funds but the amount may not be enough Posted: 23 Feb 2020 04:41 AM PST  The White House is about to turn to Congress and request emergency funds in an attempt to curb the coronavirus outbreak, four people with knowledge of the request told Politico.So far, the vast majority of cases of the respiratory virus are in China where it originated, but it has been spreading across the globe, and over 30 people are infected in the United States. Because scientists know so little about the virus, including its incubation time, they're worried an outbreak could eventually hit the U.S.But it looks like the amount the White House plans to ask for — $1 billion — might be lower than some public health officials consider necessary, per Politico. If that's all there is, it could reportedly be exhausted swiftly by vaccine development, lab tests, and other investments. For comparison, the Obama administration requested $6 billion to fight Ebola in 2014 and received $5.4 billion.One White House official told Politico the amount is still subject to change, however. Read more at Politico.More stories from theweek.com CNN analyst: Republicans 'may regret' hoping Sanders wins nomination The stunning Southern Baptist controversy over Donald Trump and Russell Moore, explained White House officials are reportedly hoping to scale back surveillance powers
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| Couple who disappeared during California getaway found alive Posted: 22 Feb 2020 03:14 PM PST  A couple who vanished during a getaway in the woods of Northern California was found Saturday by search-and-rescue workers who spent almost a week looking for them.
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| Outcry after MSNBC host compares Sanders’ Nevada win to Nazi invasion Posted: 23 Feb 2020 06:51 AM PST  * Calls for firing of Chris Matthews after widespread anger * Sanders, a self-proclaimed democratic socialist is JewishMSNBC host Chris Matthews compared Bernie Sanders' victory in the Nevada caucuses on Saturday to the Nazi invasion of France, spurring calls for his firing."I was reading last night about the fall of France in the summer of 1940 and the general, Reynaud, calls up Churchill and says, 'It's over,'" Matthews said on air on Saturday night."And Churchill says, 'How can that be? You've got the greatest army in Europe. How can it be over?' He said, 'It's over.'""So I had that suppressed feeling," Matthews also said.Sanders, a senator from Vermont and self-proclaimed democratic socialist, is Jewish.He won the Nevada caucuses easily, helping solidify his status as the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination in a primary split between moderates and progressives. Sanders' win came in the wake of a strong showing in Iowa and victory in New Hampshire.> MSNBC's Chris Matthews likens Sanders victory in Nevada to Nazi Germany overrunning France in 1940: "It's too late to stop him … it's over" pic.twitter.com/6GJetLoDkq> > — Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) February 22, 2020Matthews' words prompted widespread anger."Bernie is Jewish and his family was killed by the Nazis," tweeted David Sirota, a Sanders speechwriter and former Guardian contributor. "None of this is OK.""This is absolutely disgusting on [Matthews'] part," tweeted Parker Molloy, editor-at-large at Media Matters for America. "Retire, get fired, whatever. Bottom line is that Matthews needs to be out of a job."On air, Matthews said Republicans would disclose opposition research on Sanders that would "kill him" in the general election against Donald Trump."It looks like Bernie Sanders is hard to beat," Matthews said of the primary, adding: "I think it's a little late to stop him, and I think that's the problem."MSNBC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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| Coronavirus updates: Italian towns locked down as almost 150 test positive Posted: 23 Feb 2020 03:57 AM PST  As Italy experiences a surge in coronavirus cases, here is the latest for Sunday, Feb. 23.
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| Three Weinstein Accusers Could Send Producer to Prison for Life Posted: 23 Feb 2020 11:59 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- As the jurors in Harvey Weinstein's sexual assault trial wrestle with a pair of charges that could send the fallen movie mogul to prison for life, the testimony of three women who don't even appear in his indictment could help seal his fate.They're known as Molineux witnesses in New York, where Weinstein is being tried, and they testified to their own encounters with him as prosecutors sought to persuade the jury that the two women he is charged with attacking never gave their consent to sex. Such witnesses testified in the retrial of Bill Cosby in Pennsylvania, which ended in his conviction.On Friday the jury sent a note to the judge referring to two counts of predatory sexual assault -- counts one and three on the verdict sheet it's working from -- and suggesting it might be deadlocked."We the jury request to understand if we can be hung on one and/or three and unanimous on the other charges. Thank you," the jurors told the judge. He told them to keep trying.The other charges are a criminal sexual act and rape. Weinstein is accused of forcing oral sex on "Project Runway" assistant Miriam Haley in his SoHo loft in 2006 and raping aspiring actor Jessica Mann in a midtown Manhattan hotel in 2013.In a category by herself is the actor Annabella Sciorra, who told the jury that Weinstein raped her in the early 1990s. Her allegations are a linchpin for the two predatory sexual assault counts, the gravest charges facing the former Hollywood power broker.Predatory sexual assault requires a serious attack on at least two people. To find Weinstein guilty on count one, the jury would need to be persuaded by the evidence for the alleged attacks on both Haley and Sciorra. To convict him on count three, it would need to find that he assaulted both Mann and Sciorra.Read More: Weinstein Jury Stuck on Most Serious Charges, Told to Keep at ItThe testimony of the Molineux witnesses may come into play as well. Weinstein's lawyers argue that any encounters their client had were consensual. If the jury finds the allegations of assault from these three women credible, it may decide Haley and Mann never gave Weinstein their consent either, and convict him of rape and a criminal sexual act.And if the jurors believe Sciorra, too, that will meet the requirements of predatory sexual assault -- the two counts they seem to be stuck on -- and Weinstein, 67, could spend the rest of his life behind bars.Weinstein's lawyers have told the jury that the women had consensual, and even transactional, sex with their client, and that they "re-labeled" the encounters as assaults years after the fact in the wake of the MeToo movement.The first of the three witnesses, Dawn Dunning, testified that in 2004, when she was an aspiring actor waiting tables, Weinstein lured her to a business meeting in a hotel room and digitally penetrated her. The second, Tarale Wulff, told the court that minutes after meeting the producer in 2005, when she was working as a cocktail waitress, he dragged her up a secluded stairwell and masturbated, and later raped her in his SoHo apartment. The third, Lauren Young, said she was a model trying to make it as a screenwriter in 2013 when Weinstein trapped her in his hotel suite's bathroom, where he stripped off the top of her dress and groped her.Such testimony about uncharged crimes is typically considered too prejudicial to allow, but it's permitted under limited circumstances. While it can't be used to suggest a defendant has a propensity to commit a crime, it can explore the defendant's intent or a common theme. In New York it dates back to a landmark 1901 decision involving a chemist named Roland Molineux who was accused in a fatal cyanide poisoning.Read More: Weinstein's 'Trial of the Century' Gets Its Own PodcastNew York State Supreme Court Justice James Burke ruled in December, over the objections of the defense, that the three accusers could be called to rebut Weinstein's argument that the encounters were consensual and to show his "intent to use forcible compulsion" on Haley and Mann. The decision was unsealed on Feb. 7, revealing that prosecutors sought to call a total of five such witnesses, the same number as at the Cosby trial.In the end, Burke allowed three."The consistent theme is that the defendant used his business stature in the movie industry to lure women to believe that he would connect them to careers in the entertainment industry," Burke wrote, adding that the testimony could help the jury of seven men and five women understand why Haley and Mann feared reprisals if they went to the police.He said it could help the jurors decide whether Weinstein "created an engineered situation where he could be alone" with Mann and Haley "and then sexually assault them."Weinstein's lawyers have cited Burke's Molineux ruling, as well as other decisions that went against them, in calling for a mistrial. Burke has denied the requests.The case is People v. Weinstein, 450293/2018, New York State Supreme Court (Manhattan).Read MoreJurors Focus on Predatory Assault, Most Serious ChargeSciorra Describes Gift of Popcorn, Then RapeWeinstein Was Jekyll and Hyde, Witness Testifies'I Think I Was Raped': Jury Hears Rosie Perez Back Up SciorraJessica Mann Is Grilled on Contact After Alleged Assault Accuser Called Weinstein a 'Soul Mate,' Friend TestifiesWeinstein's Dream Jury Is Conservative, Traditional, SkepticalA MeToo Moment Two Years in the MakingTo contact the reporter on this story: Patricia Hurtado in Federal Court in Manhattan at pathurtado@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Peter JeffreyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| U.S. takes steps to prepare for pandemic as global coronavirus cases rise Posted: 21 Feb 2020 06:16 PM PST  In the U.S., the number of confirmed cases rose to at least 34.
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| AQAP confirms death of leader, appoints successor: SITE Posted: 23 Feb 2020 10:52 AM PST  Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula on Sunday confirmed the death of its leader Qassim al-Rimi and appointed a successor, weeks after the US said it had "eliminated" the Islamist militant chief, SITE Intelligence group said. The announcement came in an audio speech delivered by AQAP religious official Hamid bin Hamoud al-Tamimi, said the group which monitors jihadist networks worldwide. "In his speech, Tamimi spoke at length about Rimi and his jihadi journey, and stated that Khalid bin Umar Batarfi is the new leader of AQAP," it said.
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| Doctor, parents face trial in Egypt for girl's death after genital cutting Posted: 23 Feb 2020 11:14 AM PST |
