| As mayor, Bernie Sanders condemned American interventionism but also defended undemocratic governments abroad Posted: 14 Mar 2020 01:00 PM PDT  Archives of Bernie Sanders's mayoral papers shed light on the foreign policy views he held at the start of his political career.
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| Hospitals prepare for the worst on coronavirus, and it's not a pretty picture Posted: 13 Mar 2020 06:16 PM PDT  Medical facilities are taking precautions to protect their staff while preparing for a spike in patients that has overwhelmed the health care systems of other countries.
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| When will there be a coronavirus vaccine — and who will get it first? Posted: 14 Mar 2020 09:59 AM PDT  One of the central questions for resolving the COVID-19 crisis is how long it will take to develop a vaccine.
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| Will coronavirus go away in the spring? Maybe — but it also might come back in fall. Posted: 14 Mar 2020 08:07 AM PDT  Flu viruses generally subside in warm weather, for reasons that aren't totally clear. Coronavirus may follow that pattern — or not.
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| White House will extend Europe travel ban to Ireland, U.K., considering domestic restrictions Posted: 14 Mar 2020 10:13 AM PDT  President Trump on Saturday said during a press briefing that he's considering barring travel from certain places within the United States.The president didn't go into much detail about what places might be affected, but he said the White House is "working with states" to determine the best path forward. Regardless, he advised Americans not to travel if they "don't have to" because "we want this thing to end."> JUST IN: Pres. Trump says he is considering domestic travel restrictions "specifically from certain areas," after Pentagon restricted service members' domestic travel.> > "If you don't have to travel I wouldn't do it... we want this thing to end." https://t.co/zyG4ankfGn pic.twitter.com/dYT5QCPAvn> > — ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) March 14, 2020Vice President Mike Pence added that the current travel ban from Europe will be extended to Ireland and the United Kingdom, effective midnight Monday. As is the case elsewhere in Europe, U.S. citizens and legal residents from those countries will still be able to return to the United States. Read more at The New York Times.More stories from theweek.com Coronavirus and the end of the conservative temperament 7 scathingly funny cartoons about the Democratic presidential race Mnuchin says coronavirus economic downturn 'isn't like the financial crisis,' predicts 'big rebound'
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| N.J. city announces night curfew, restricts service in bars, restaurants due to virus Posted: 15 Mar 2020 08:01 AM PDT  The city of Hoboken, N.J., on Saturday announced a night curfew starting March 16 and ordered all bars and restaurants to conduct only delivery services amid the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.
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| Puerto Rico imposes curfew, early closings to contain coronavirus spread Posted: 15 Mar 2020 10:43 AM PDT  Puerto Rico has confirmed five cases of coronavirus, but there are at least 17 other suspected cases.
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| More than 3,800 passengers on a cruise ship disembarked in Miami without screening for COVID-19, despite a previous traveler testing positive days earlier Posted: 15 Mar 2020 01:31 PM PDT  "If we have it, it's going to spread throughout the country," one passenger told the Miami Herald on Sunday.
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| American Airlines cutting international flights by 75% amid demand collapse Posted: 14 Mar 2020 09:21 PM PDT  WASHINGTON/CHICAGO (Reuters) - American Airlines Inc said Saturday it plans to cut 75% of its international flights through May 6 and ground nearly all its widebody fleet, as airlines respond to the global collapse in travel demand due to the coronavirus pandemic. The dramatic announcement by the largest U.S. airline came hours after the White House said the United States would widen new travel restrictions on Europeans to include travelers in the United Kingdom and Ireland, starting Monday night. The Trump administration also signaled Saturday it wanted Congress to quickly back financial support for troubled U.S. airlines.
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| Iraq officials: Rocket attack hits base housing US troops Posted: 14 Mar 2020 01:13 AM PDT  A barrage of rockets hit a base housing U.S. and other coalition troops north of Baghdad on Saturday, Iraqi security officials said, just days after a similar attack killed three servicemen, including two Americans. The U.S.-led coalition said at least 25 107mm rockets struck Camp Taji just before 11 a.m. Some struck the area where coalition forces are based, while others fell on air defense units, the Iraqi military statement said. Jonathan Hoffman, chief Pentagon spokesman, said later that three U.S. service members were wounded in the Camp Taji attack.
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| Life under lockdown in Italy: A look at what might be coming to the U.S. Posted: 14 Mar 2020 08:46 AM PDT  An American living in Italy reports on what it is like during the country's stringent quarantine regulations.
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| Iran urges people to stay home as virus claims 113 more lives Posted: 15 Mar 2020 11:27 AM PDT  Iran on Sunday urged its citizens to stick to guidelines and stay at home to stop the new coronavirus spreading, as it announced another 113 deaths from the outbreak. People "should cancel all travel and stay at home so that we may see the situation improving in the coming days," ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said in a televised news conference. Jahanpour also reported 1,209 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of confirmed infections to 13,938.
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| Trump, reversing position, says he got tested for coronavirus after all Posted: 14 Mar 2020 06:48 AM PDT  President Trump had more contact than previously known with people who have tested positive for coronavirus, but the White House said he won't be tested.
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| ISPs Raise Speeds and Suspend Data Caps in Response to the Coronavirus Pandemic Posted: 14 Mar 2020 01:19 PM PDT  As more people across the country work from home to help stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, some internet service providers (ISPs) are pledging to raise broadband speeds, suspend data caps...
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| Federal Reserve cuts rates to near zero in emergency action Posted: 15 Mar 2020 02:38 PM PDT  Dow futures immediately plunged by 1,000 points as traders worried that the crisis response would still fall short.
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| Customs officers seized 6 bags full of fake coronavirus testing kits at LAX Posted: 14 Mar 2020 06:18 PM PDT  The bags were filled with small vials labeled "Corona Virus 2019nconv (COVID-19)" and "Virus1 Test Kit."
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| Saudi Arabia restricts movement, other Gulf states limit entry as coronavirus spreads Posted: 15 Mar 2020 03:43 AM PDT  RIYADH/DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia closed public spaces on Sunday and announced a pause in most government operations while Qatar and Oman imposed entry restrictions as Gulf Arab states broadened efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus and support their economies. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar reported new cases, raising the total number in the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to 963, with no deaths reported.
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| Coronavirus: Royal Caribbean pauses operations globally, major cruise lines suspend US ships Posted: 14 Mar 2020 08:44 AM PDT  Royal Caribbean will suspend operations globally as of midnight Saturday amid the coronavirus pandemic. And it's not the only line taking action.
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| No to ‘FISA Reform’ Posted: 14 Mar 2020 03:30 AM PDT  Thanks to Senators Rand Paul (R., Ken.) and Mike Lee (R., Utah), as well as an amen chorus of Trump loyalists in the House, the president seems poised to fulfill one of the fondest dreams of Clinton and Obama Democrats: Government policy that regards international terrorism as a mere crime, a law-enforcement issue to be managed by federal judges rather than a national-security threat from which the officials Americans elect must safeguard our country.I doubt the president realizes these ramifications of declining to reauthorize three PATRIOT Act security measures that are set to expire. Successfully camouflaging themselves as "FISA reformers," Senators Paul and Lee have steered the president toward exploiting the imminent expiration as a way of holding the FBI accountable for FISA abuse.In truth, the senators' agenda predates the Trump era, and it would do nothing to fix what's actually wrong with FISA. Their aim is to dismantle the post-9/11 intelligence-based approach to counterterrorism, a strategy prudently adopted by President Bush, who recognized that when our most immediate threat is jihadist mass-murder attacks, prevention should take precedence over prosecution. "FISA reform" is a shrewd way for them to accomplish this objective because it appeals to the president's vanity — his most destructive blind spot.See, the libertarian senators have always opposed intelligence-based counterterrorism on philosophical grounds that they root in the Constitution. They are wrong, though their sincerity is not to be doubted. As I've related over the years (see, e.g., here and here), the distortion of the Fourth Amendment Paul has long championed (and to which Lee seems adherent) bears little resemblance to the Fourth Amendment as written and originally understood. If adopted, it would be a boon to both foreign terrorists and domestic criminals.Washington's reluctance to court this potentially catastrophic outcome has long frustrated libertarians, as have the facts that jurisprudence and the terrorist threat have lined up against them. But in recent years, things have started swinging in their favor.For one thing, Paul, Lee, and their ilk have forged an alliance with progressives, who regard jihadism (er, I mean, "violent extremism") as a global law-enforcement issue, fit for management by internationally coordinated judicial processes, and who favor an extension of American constitutional protections to foreign operatives — including anti-American terrorists. In the Obama years, these strange bedfellows found an administration equally disposed against the Bush-era counterterrorism approach.Then, there was the post-9/11 record of intelligence-agency envelope-pushing and deceit that eroded public trust — e.g., the Bush administration's controversial warrantless-wiretap and forcible-interrogation programs; the Obama CIA's hacking into the Senate Intelligence Committee's computers (and falsely denying it had done so); Obama's director of national intelligence's lying to Congress about the massive collection of Americans' telephone metadata; and the blatant politicization of intelligence after the Benghazi massacre.Finally, there was the Supreme Court's 2018 Carpenter ruling, which pivoted away from seemingly settled jurisprudence that a person does not have a constitutionally cognizable privacy interest in business records that are the property of a third-party service provider. The Court's 5–4 decision in Carpenter (written by Chief Justice John Roberts, joined by the four-justice liberal bloc) held that the government needs a probable-cause judicial warrant to obtain "cell-site location information" — phone-company records that reveal a person's physical movements over a given period of time.This concatenation has already yielded results for Paul and Lee. For example, the government's telephone-metadata program, the need for which was never compellingly justified, has been mothballed. Further, many foreign-intelligence operations in which the judiciary should have no involvement have nonetheless been brought under the FISA court's supervision.Now, "FISA reform" has offered Lee and Paul the chance to accelerate their agenda's implementation. What it lacks as a means of keeping America safe, it makes up for in legerdemain.See, the president and his most ardent supporters do not actually want to overhaul the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, which created the FISA court. What they want is accountability for the FISA abuses committed by American intelligence agencies in connection with the 2016 presidential election. For President Trump, all politics is personal, and this matter is the most personal of all: the FBI's exploitation of FISA powers to spy on his campaign, hamstring his administration, and fuel the Mueller investigation, all of which led to his impeachment.To describe President Trump as angry that no official involved in those 2016 hijinks has been prosecuted understates the matter. He is apoplectic, as are his most ardent supporters. Grasping this, his allies in Congress and on the airwaves grouse that "no one has been held accountable." In truth, the officials who ran the Carter Page FISA surveillance — and who deployed informants in a futile effort to ensnare Trump operatives — have been both purged and subjected to duly humiliating inspector-general reports. Yet that is not enough for the Trump camp, which wants criminal prosecutions just like the ones to which Trump-campaign officials were subjected. The president is dismayed that none have been forthcoming, despite the fact that his Justice Department has been conducting a criminal investigation for about a year.Senators Paul and Lee may be wrong about counterterrorism, but they're not dumb. They realized that if they could persuade the president that "FISA reform" was really about holding the FBI accountable for the Trump–Russia collusion shenanigans, they could achieve a major roll-back of post-9/11 counterterrorism policy — the project they were working on long before Donald Trump sought the presidency. So that's what they've done, and they've swept the president's supporters along for the ride. In their rhetoric, which has seeped into the press reporting on the matter, "FISA reform" has become a rally cry for holding the rogue FBI accountable.But here's the thing: The FBI and its intelligence-bureaucracy collaborators executed their plan by misleading the FISA court in violation of the existing FISA rules. There is no "reform" of the statutory scheme that can prevent such a thing. There is no "reform" of the statutory scheme that can hold a rogue accountable. If your objection is that being fired is not enough, and that prosecution is necessary for accountability, only an indictment can accomplish that, not a change in the law.That becomes very clear if we focus on the actual targets of what is absurdly being called "FISA reform." Notice that the "reformers" avoid talking about the three provisions that are scheduled to expire if not reauthorized by Monday (March 15). That's because they are utterly unrelated to the abuse of FISA surveillance authority that occurred in the Trump–Russia scenario — viz., the incumbent government's misrepresentations to the FISA court, which duped the judges into authorizing electronic surveillance of the opposition party's political campaign despite the lack of probable cause to believe that campaign surrogates were clandestine agents of Russia.It is important to grasp this: Real FISA reform is not on the table. Over the last several days, as negotiations in Congress have broken down, one has heard Trump supporters say, "Let FISA die," because they've been fooled into thinking that if the president signs what's inaccurately called "an extension of FISA," there will never be accountability for FBI officials who abused their authority.It is not true. Not even close.FISA surveillance (the kind to which the Trump campaign was subjected) will not die if the three provisions lapse. A failure to reauthorize them will not prevent Americans, such as Carter Page, from being falsely framed as foreign agents. The only things that will die are investigative tools that help our government monitor actual clandestine operatives, such as alien jihadists plotting against our country.As I have previously detailed, the three tools at issue are: (a) roving wiretaps, which allow agents to continue monitoring, say, a terrorist who uses burner phones to try to defeat surveillance; (b) "lone wolf" authority, which allows agents to monitor a foreigner who appears to be involved in terrorism without evidence tying him to a known terrorist organization; and (c) the court-authorized collection of business records — a power long unremarkably exercised by criminal investigators (and which, if reauthorized, would no longer permit intelligence agents to engage in the controversial bulk-collection of telephone metadata).As should be obvious, these three tools have nothing to do with FBI accountability. They have nothing to do with the bureau's infamous "Crossfire Hurricane" probe. Indeed, they have very little to do with FISA — and nothing to do with the Russia-related malfeasance that comes to mind when Paul, Lee, and Trump supporters rail about "FISA reform." These are PATRIOT Act provisions. Though they are being threatened under the pretext of "fixing" FISA, they were enacted nearly a quarter-century after the FISA statute. They are labeled "FISA" only because Congress happened to insert them into the FISA sections of the United States Code.These three provisions were enacted with "sunset clauses," meaning they must be periodically reauthorized by Congress. Congress has reauthorized them, repeatedly, because they help protect us from terrorist attacks. Their value is so plain to see that they should not be subject to sunset clauses at all — the clauses should have been removed, with the proviso that Congress could always amend them (as lawmakers have done with the business records provision) or even repeal them if truly egregious abuses occurred.Nevertheless, they are subject to sunset clauses, and will lapse Monday if Congress fails to act. Consequently, the political left and the Paul–Lee libertarians opportunistically seized on that deadline as a chance to demand more "reform" that would further erode intelligence-based counterterrorism — increasing the extent to which foreign counterintelligence efforts are subject to court control and made to resemble judicial proceedings.President Trump came into office promising to be tough on terrorism in a way President Obama was not. Most of his supporters are instinctively against the Obama-era counterterrorism approach, which shied away from even the word terrorism, and which mulishly denied Islamist terrorism's ideological underpinnings. Most Trump supporters do not actually think of counterterrorism as a law-enforcement issue to be managed by the same judiciary that reverses Trump's border-security and immigration-enforcement measures at every turn.So why are they backing FISA "reform"? Because they've been hoodwinked into thinking it is a way to hold the FBI accountable for the Trump–Russia caper. But it is not. Again, the only thing "letting FISA die" on Monday would accomplish is the loss of counterterrorism tools that promote national security — exactly the kind of thing Trump supporters would have sworn their candidate would never permit if elected president.The FISA reform that Senators Paul and Lee want, and that their progressive allies support, is the opposite of real FISA reform. The fundamental problem with FISA is the FISA-court system. As I've recently noted in National Review's print edition, that system transfers control of national security against foreign threats to the judicial branch, which is insulated from political accountability; the Constitution, to the contrary, assigned this duty to the political branches, which answer to the American people whose lives are at stake.The "reformers" aim further to solidify judicial authority over intelligence collection. They tell you their goal is to protect Americans from being abused the way Carter Page was; but their reforms always end up extending protections to aliens, including those who are outside the United States and should thus be considered outside the FISA court's jurisdiction. What's more, if you're worried about FBI abuses, the FISA court makes them more likely. As we saw with Page, the FBI deceived the FISA court to get its warrants; when called on the carpet, it then told everyone its surveillance must have been proper because it was green-lighted by federal judges. The bureau used the veneer of court approval as license to claim that Page — and by extension, the Trump campaign — was part of a Russian influence operation.If we really wanted to reform FISA, we would be wise get the courts out of foreign-intelligence collection and find a better way of overseeing the activities of the intelligence agencies — beefed up congressional oversight, not a secret court. And while I maintain that no act of Congress can hold rogue officials accountable (see, e.g., the Constitution's prohibition against bills of attainder), I have proposed a reform that would actually address the FBI's FISA abuse: Congress could take the foreign-counterintelligence mission away from the FBI, have the bureau stick to crime-fighting, and create a new agency to handle domestic security against foreign threats — an agency that would be subject to Justice Department supervision and congressional oversight.If we tried it my way, the nation would continue to get the security benefit of counterintelligence measures. If we try Paul's and Lee's way, we will lose that benefit and exacerbate the basic problem of judicial involvement in counterintelligence operations, all for the promise of "accountability" that these self-proclaimed "reformers" can't actually deliver.
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| Philippines closes off capital to fight virus Posted: 15 Mar 2020 01:15 AM PDT  Police began closing off access to the Philippines' sprawling and densely populated capital Manila on Sunday, imposing a quarantine that officials hope will curb the nation's rising number of coronavirus cases. Officers in military fatigues and armed with rifles blocked off main roads into the city of some 12 million as domestic flights to and from Manila were halted early Sunday for a month-long isolation of the capital. Mass gatherings and school at all levels have also been called off, but delays and exceptions have led public health experts to question how effective President Rodrigo Duterte's measures will be.
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| 3 human traffickers sentenced to 125 years in death of Syrian boy Posted: 14 Mar 2020 02:36 AM PDT  The lifeless body of three-year-old Aylan on a beach in Turkey was captured in a photograph that symbolized the 2015 Syrian refugee crisis.
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| White House physician said Trump actually doesn't need to get tested for the coronavirus Posted: 14 Mar 2020 04:45 AM PDT  The flip flopping continues.Despite President Trump saying Friday he planned to get tested for the novel COVID-19 coronavirus, White House physician Sean Conley hours later said the action isn't necessary.Trump, within the last week, had two interactions with individuals who tested positive for the virus — he shook hands with Fabio Wajngarten, an aide to Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, and he also shared a table with another person at his Mar-a-Lago resort. But Conley said both instances were "low risk" because neither person was exhibiting symptoms at the time. He added that because Trump himself is without symptoms, testing or quarantine are not recommended.Other doctors and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, however, have urged those who have close contact with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 to get tested, and Sens. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) announced earlier this week they would self-quarantine because of potential contact with Wajngarten. Read more at NBC News and The New York Times.More stories from theweek.com Coronavirus and the end of the conservative temperament 7 scathingly funny cartoons about the Democratic presidential race Mnuchin says coronavirus economic downturn 'isn't like the financial crisis,' predicts 'big rebound'
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| Coronavirus: Can you stop people panic buying? Posted: 15 Mar 2020 07:03 AM PDT  As the virus continues to spread, some consumers are hoarding certain products. But is it necessary?
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| Pope goes on Roman walkabout, prays for end to pandemic Posted: 15 Mar 2020 07:14 AM PDT  Pope Francis left the Vatican to make a surprise visit Sunday to two churches in Rome to pray for the end of the coronavirus pandemic — a move that came even as Italian health authorities insisted people stay home as much as possible to limit contagion in the heart of Europe's outbreak. Francis who recently had a cold, headed first to a Rome basilica, St. Mary Major, where he often stops to give thanks after returning from trips abroad. There he prayed before an icon of the Virgin Mary dedicated to the "salvation of the Roman people."
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| I flew on a JetBlue flight a day after one of its passengers tested positive for coronavirus — and I never felt safer on a plane Posted: 14 Mar 2020 04:51 AM PDT  Despite the coronavirus outbreak, the flight was stress-free, thanks to the overly cautious passengers and relaxed flight crew.
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| Greece bans all transport links with Albania, North Macedonia, Spain flights Posted: 15 Mar 2020 05:21 AM PDT  Greece said it would ban road and sea routes, as well as flights, to Albania and North Macedonia on Sunday, as well as banning flights to and from Spain to stem the spread of coronavirus. Only cargo and citizens who live in Greece will be allowed to travel to and from Albania and North Macedonia, authorities said. Athens also extended travel restrictions to Italy, saying it was banning passenger ship routes to and from the neighboring country, while no cruise ships will be allowed to dock at Greek ports.
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| British cruise ship in limbo near Bahamas: 5 people test positive for coronavirus, 40 more have symptoms Posted: 15 Mar 2020 11:43 AM PDT  One passenger and four crew members on a British cruise ship have coronavirus; 40 more have symptoms. The Braemar remains in limbo off the Bahamas.
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| White House says Trump won’t be tested for virus after all Posted: 14 Mar 2020 07:51 AM PDT  The White House on Friday night said President Trump will not be tested for coronavirus, even as it disclosed that another person he hosted at his Mar-a-Lago resort last weekend has since tested positive for the virus.
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| Putin signs Russia's constitutional reform law Posted: 14 Mar 2020 10:00 AM PDT  Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday signed the package of constitutional reforms he had proposed, including a clause giving him an option to run for two more terms. The Kremlin has published the 68-page law spelling out the constitutional reforms on the official website. Putin's signature triggers a special procedure for the package, which differs from the way laws usually go into effect.
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| Accused baby killer says police illegally lifted her DNA from her trash Posted: 14 Mar 2020 02:34 AM PDT  Theresa Bentaas is fighting a murder charge by saying police should not have taken DNA from her garbage without a warrant.
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| President Trump Tells Americans to Buy Fewer Groceries Posted: 15 Mar 2020 02:48 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump said Americans should buy fewer groceries as retailers struggle to keep food and other products in stock because of concern over the spread of coronavirus."There's no need for anybody in the country to hoard essential food supplies," Trump told reporters Sunday at the White House. "You don't have to buy the quantities because it's hard to refill the stores."Trump added: "Relax. We're doing great. It all will pass."The comments came after Trump spoke on a conference call earlier Sunday with executives of grocery store chains and food producers. He said the executives told him people are buying three to five times as much as they normally do.Companies on the call included Walmart Inc., Whole Foods Market Inc., Target Corp. and General Mills Inc., among others.Americans have raided grocery store shelves and depleted supplies of toilet paper, paper towels and hand sanitizer as the number of U.S. coronavirus cases has grown to more than 3,000.Trump received a commitment that stores will stay open through the outbreak, though hours may be reduced, Vice President Mike Pence said.To contact the reporter on this story: Justin Sink in Washington at jsink1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Justin Blum, Kevin WhitelawFor 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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| Coronavirus: PM urges industry to help make NHS ventilators Posted: 15 Mar 2020 05:04 PM PDT  Boris Johnson is to ask engineering firms to shift production lines to build the life-saving equipment.
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| Fed may take boldest steps in a decade to ease virus impact Posted: 15 Mar 2020 10:45 AM PDT  The Federal Reserve is all but sure to take its most drastic steps Wednesday since the depths of the 2008 financial crisis to try to counter the coronavirus' growing damage to the U.S. economy and the financial markets. With the virus' spread causing a broad shutdown of economic activity in the United States, the Fed faces a daunting task. Some economists say the policymakers, led by Chair Jerome Powell, could cut their already low benchmark interest rate by up to a full percentage point.
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| Medical workers in Wuhan reveal smiles behind their masks after the city closes its last temporary hospital that was panic-built to accommodate overflow coronavirus patients Posted: 13 Mar 2020 10:37 PM PDT  The viral video, which has been viewed more than three million times, showed workers with smiles after the worst of the disease had seemingly passed.
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| Malaysia virus tally hits highest in Southeast Asia due to mosque event Posted: 15 Mar 2020 02:21 AM PDT  Malaysia reported 190 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, with most linked to a religious event at a mosque that was attended by 16,000 people from several countries. The new cases bring the total number of infections in the country to 428, the health ministry said, making it the worst affected in Southeast Asia. A total of 243 cases have been linked to the mosque gathering with 9 cases critically ill in intensive care, the ministry said, adding that all event participants and their close contacts will be placed under mandatory quarantine for 14 days.
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| Coronavirus closed this school. The kids have special needs: 'You can't Netflix them all day.' Posted: 15 Mar 2020 05:31 PM PDT  Special-needs students in Chicago are under quarantine after an aide contracted the virus. Their experience shows how hard school closings will be.
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| An 82-year-old woman is the first coronavirus death in New York state Posted: 14 Mar 2020 09:05 AM PDT  New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the news Saturday, writing on Twitter: "I extend my condolences to her family during this challenging time."
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| How Bernie Sanders went from frontrunner to the last-chance saloon Posted: 15 Mar 2020 12:00 AM PDT  The Vermont senator seems to have failed to convince primary voters he was the best candidate to take on Trump – but the self-described socialist has still reshaped the ideology of the Democratic partyBernie Sanders had just dominated the Nevada caucuses, after strong showings in Iowa and New Hampshire, when the Vermont senator thundered on stage at the Cowboy Dance Hall in San Antonio to declare victory before a crowd of thousands.His speech that night was hardly different from the hundreds of speeches he had made before – and all the speeches he would make after. But he looked different. Famously irascible, Sanders smiled deeply and laughed easily. The future of his political revolution was as bright and clear as the big Texas sky."Don't tell anybody. I don't wanna get them nervous," the 78-year-old democratic socialist boasted, dropping his voice as if sharing a secret. "We are gonna win the Democratic primary in Texas."But the next 10 days would wipe away every trace of that optimism. Sanders not only lost Texas but a string of other contests that stripped him of his briefly held status as frontrunner, returning him to a more familiar role: long-shot insurgent chasing the establishment favorite.In frank but defiant remarks on Wednesday, Sanders acknowledged that he was "losing" to Joe Biden after a stunning reversal of fortune. Biden, snatched only days before from the jaws of defeat, had just racked up four more victories, including in Michigan, a state that revived Sanders' presidential bid four years ago and where he had pinned his hopes of a comeback.Later that evening, Sanders folded himself into an armchair on the set of NBC's The Tonight Show in New York City."How you feeling?" host Jimmy Fallon asked gingerly."I'm feeling good," Sanders sighed. "Could feel better."***Bernie Sanders had promised to build an unprecedented "multi-generational, multi-racial coalition" of young people and working-class voters that would "sweep this country" and transform American politics."You cannot beat Trump with the same old same old kind of politics," he told supporters at a Super Tuesday rally in Vermont, where he had expected a celebration.But that night, voters in 10 of the 14 states holding primary contests disagreed, choosing instead a candidate who represents a return to the pre-Trump years. It was Biden, not Sanders, who expanded the Democratic electorate, bringing in non-voters and suburban voters while boosting turnout among African Americans.Sanders' commanding support among Latinos helped him notch two consequential victories in Nevada and California. But his appeal among young people, liberals and politically independent voters was not enough to realize the revolution he envisioned."Bernie Sanders' challenge always in the race was to expand his support," said Mark Longabaugh, a lead strategist on Sanders' 2016 team who split with the campaign early last year. "And he just never found a way electorally to attract voters outside of his coalition."In the criticaldays between his victory in Nevada and Super Tuesday, Sanders continued to rail against old foes – the Democratic establishment and the "corporate media" – instead of reaching out to the members of the party he hoped to lead.In a 60 Minutes interview the day after the caucuses, Sanders told host Anderson Cooper that he didn't have an estimate for the total cost of his sweeping economic agenda. In the same interview, he reiterated past remarks that were complimentary of certain aspects of Fidel Castro's communist government, sparking backlash among Democrats in the battleground state of Florida."One of Bernie's strengths is his consistency – he's been delivering the same message to some degree since the 70s," Longabaugh said. "But it also inhibited him in the sense that it limited his potential for growth."Sanders' ascent set off panic among party officials and leaders. Swing-district Democrats warned Sanders would hurt their chances of re-election, while members of the Democratic National Committee plotted to stop him if he arrived at the convention shy of the delegates needed to win the nomination outright."From the beginning, we knew this was going to be the fight of our lives," said Jennifer Epps-Addison, president of the Center for Popular Democracy, which endorsed Sanders. "We're taking on not only the corporate elite of this party but the billionaire class, the pharmaceutical industry, the prison industrial complex, Wall Street, the insurance companies."Even so, the rapid alignment behind Biden, first by his former rivals and then by millions of voters, caught the campaign off guard. In a matter of days, the field shrank from seven top contenders to just two.Moderates, once paralyzed over which candidate to support, suddenly rallied behind the former vice president. On the eve of Super Tuesday, Biden won the endorsements of three former opponents and more followed in a dramatic show of force that his team compared to the Avengers assembling. Notably, Elizabeth Warren, Sanders' closest ideological ally, has not yet backed anyone."In candor, the consolidation of candidates behind Biden happened sooner than anyone expected " said congressman Ro Khanna, one of Sanders' national co-chairs. "There was simply not enough time to build more broadly."***Bernie Sanders entered the primary with more built-in advantages than any of his rivals. His name recognition was sky high, he had an enviable list of small-dollar donors, an unshakable base of support and the experience of having just run a presidential campaign. Little changed from 2016, not the message nor the mission, not even the "Bernie" logo. It would be a "class-conscious" campaign for people who felt left out of the political process."He represents the people who have been written off for much of their lives," Khanna said. "For the people who feel they haven't been heard, who feel marginalized, who feel the system hasn't been working for them, he is their voice."A heart attack in October nearly derailed his presidential bid. With Warren on the march and Sanders slumping, his candidacy appeared to be in freefall. But his loyal troops rallied to his side. A strong debate performance and a coveted endorsement from congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez paved the way for a remarkable comeback.It proved to be a clarifying moment for the campaign. Sanders used the experience to connect more deeply with his supporters. At intimate town halls and on social media, his team elevated the economic struggles of people who couldn't afford medical treatment or prescription drugs. It was the foundation of the campaign ethos, "Not me, us."But political reality set in after voting began. Despite his successes in the first three contests, Sanders struggled in a fractured field to retain the support he garnered four years ago. After the centrist vote coalesced behind Biden, he lost state he had won in 2016, when he was far less of a political force than he is today.Democrats' overriding priority in 2020 was to defeat Trump. And on that front, Sanders was losing to Biden."I cannot tell you how many people our campaign has spoken to who have said – and I quote – 'I like what your campaign stands for," Sanders said soberly from his hometown of Burlington last week. "'I agree with what your campaign stands for. But I'm going to vote for Joe Biden because I think Joe is the best candidate to defeat Donald Trump."***Black voters have decided the Democratic nominee in every primary election since 1992. And this year, as in 2016, African Americans overwhelmingly chose Sanders' opponent. In South Carolina, black voters propelled Biden's triumph and set in motion a turnaround that greatly narrowed the senator's path to the nomination.Supporters believe that Sanders' effort to make inroads with black voters over the past four years was obscured by Biden's longstanding ties to African American communities and his eight years as Barack Obama's loyal lieutenant. After being walloped in the south on Super Tuesday, Sanders' campaign released an ad that featured Obama praising the senator and saying emphatically "Feel the Bern!" But it did not yield the results he hoped."There's a fundamental disconnect if folks still don't feel like he's the one who they can put their faith in after four years," said Cliff Albright, a co-founder of Black Voters Matter Fund.Ahead of the Michigan primary, Sanders earned the endorsement of the Rev Jesse Jackson, in what those close to him said was a deeply meaningful moment. In 1988, Jackson became the first black presidential candidate to win millions of votes on a similar platform of universal healthcare, a federal jobs guarantee and taxing the rich. Sanders, then the mayor of Burlington, was one of the few white public officials to endorse him."The ideas resonate with black folks," Albright said. "Medicare for All, free college, debt forgiveness, criminal justice reform, on those issues black folks are far closer to Bernie than to Biden. So it's not the ideas. It's this issue of electability."***Sanders now faces a legacy-defining decision: does he stay in a race that has become increasingly difficult for him to win or does he bow out now to begin the delicate process of unifying the party?Many supporters are not ready to see Sanders exit. Larry Cohen, a longtime Sanders confidant and chairman of his political non-profit, Our Revolution, acknowledged the senator faces long odds but urged him to keep competing. Every delegate Sanders accumulates in the primary, he argued, will be "critical to negotiations over the rules and party platform" at the convention in Milwaukee this summer."If he drops out now, those ideas are left with the delegates that he's won," Cohen said. "They're the voice for these issues."Further complicating the course ahead is a new challenge: running for president in midst of a global health emergency. The coronavirus outbreak has forced Sanders to abandon the stadium-size rallies that are a feature of his campaign."This coronavirus has obviously impacted our ability to communicate with people in the traditional way and that's hurting us," he told reporters during a brief press conference in Burlington, where he has spent his time since cancelling an election night rally in Cleveland last week amid concerns about the virus.Yet the senator has signaled in recent days that he is unlikely to battle Biden to the bitter end. But he also made clear that there are issues on which he still intends to confront his opponent – and on which has the leverage to do so.On Sunday Sanders will appear at the next presidential debate, a long-sought one-on-one with Biden. At a press conference, he previewed a litany of policy questions that he planned to press Biden on: "Joe, what are you gonna do?" he intends to ask on issues from income inequality to student loan debt.When Sanders launched his campaign in February 2019, he was asked what would be different this time. "We're gonna win," Sanders replied, with the blunt assurance that thrills so many of his supporters.By his own admission, he is falling short of that goal. As Sanders fights for the future of his candidacy, there is also the sense that he has already accomplished more than he could have imagined in his nearly 50-year political career.Michael Kazin, a historian and co-editor of Dissent magazine, said Sanders has already achieved what many nominees and presidents never do: he has fundamentally shifted the ideology of the Democratic party on everything from healthcare and climate change to raising the minimum wage and taxing the rich. Sanders, Kazin said, was likely the "most leftwing candidate" to make it this far in American political history.That a 78-year-old democratic socialist has come within striking distance of the nomination is an "astounding success" in its own right, marveled Bill Press, a progressive talkshow host who helped launch Sanders 2016 campaign from the living room of his Washington home."In a very real sense," he said, "Bernie has already won the primary."
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| Spain imposes near total lockdown to fight virus Posted: 14 Mar 2020 03:14 PM PDT  Spain on Saturday followed Italy and imposed a near total nationwide lockdown to fight the spread of coronavirus by banning people from leaving home except to go to work, get medical care or buy food. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced the restrictions on movement following a huge spike in the number of infections in this nation of some 46 million people. Spain confirmed more than 1,500 new cases of coronavirus since Friday evening, raising its total to 5,753 cases, the second-highest number in Europe after Italy.
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| Venezuela to Cancel More Flights, Announce Quarantine on Sunday Posted: 14 Mar 2020 06:15 PM PDT |
| Rate cuts: US goes to almost zero and launches huge stimulus programme Posted: 15 Mar 2020 05:39 PM PDT  The move to combat the impact of coronavirus is a co-ordinated action with Europe, Japan and Canada.
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| Trump tests negative for virus; White House begins screening Posted: 14 Mar 2020 08:51 AM PDT  After days of resisting screening for the coronavirus, President Donald Trump tested negative for the virus, officials said Saturday night. Meanwhile, the White House began checking the temperature of anyone coming into close contact with the president and other officials. Prior to his testing, Trump said his personal physician told him he didn't show symptoms and didn't need to take the test.
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| Saudi Arabia is starting a reckless oil war with Russia — but the US is also a target Posted: 14 Mar 2020 06:30 AM PDT  Opinion: The US has shown a lot of deference to Saudi Arabia. That should change, argues Defense Priorities senior fellow Enea Gjoza.
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| South Korea designates regions hit hardest by coronavirus as disaster zones Posted: 14 Mar 2020 06:18 PM PDT  South Korea on Sunday reported 76 new coronavirus cases and three deaths, marking the first time in over three weeks that new cases have dropped to double-digits, as President Moon Jae-in declared the hardest hit provinces "special disaster zones". It is the first time South Korea has declared a region a disaster zone from an infectious disease and under the status the government can subsidize up to 50% of restoration expenses and exempt residents from taxes and utility payments. South Korea, which has the highest number of cases in Asia after China, now has a total to 8,162 confirmed infections and 75 deaths, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said (KCDC).
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| 'We're not being quarantined. We're being detained.' Americans stuck in Cambodia amid pandemic Posted: 15 Mar 2020 02:53 PM PDT  When Ryan Knapp and his wife booked a cruise along the Mekong Delta, they thought it would be a dream trip. But it has turned into a nightmare.
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| Biden leads Sanders by 2-to-1 among Democratic primary voters Posted: 15 Mar 2020 06:04 AM PDT  The former vice president also holds a 9-point edge in a one-on-one contest with Trump, according to a new NBC News/WSJ survey.
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| The Worst of Times for Airlines Could End up Being the Best of Times for Passengers Posted: 15 Mar 2020 01:59 AM PDT  Warren Buffet once quipped that the airline business was such a lousy investment that somebody should have shot down the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk to save the world a lot of money.For years "the sage of Omaha" followed his own advice and held off from investing in airlines. And then, in 2016, he changed his mind.By the end of last year, his investment vehicle, Berkshire Hathaway, owned more than 8 percent of each of the four main U.S. airlines, Delta, United, American, and Southwest.As late as last month Buffet bought another $45 million in Delta stock after the price fell 20 percent as a result of the novel coronavirus—he obviously misjudged how bad it was going to get.On Friday Delta cut 40 percent of its flights, ending all flights to Europe for the next month and parking 300 airplanes. The Delta CEO, Ed Bastion, waiving his own salary for six months, said, "The speed of the demand fall-off is unlike anything we've seen—and we've seen a lot in our business."Now Buffet's airline holdings have lost more than a third in value, falling to around $6.3 billionThe stress test hitting the world's airlines has no precedent in its severity.So here are two things to look for:Who is going to take the worst hits and what will the eventual outcome look like?In the short term it's wise to look at what Alan Joyce, the head of the Australian airline Qantas, said: "It's survival of the fittest."In fact, Buffet's change of heart about airlines is a clue to how some of the fittest got that way. Behind their strength is a single tool: yield management.The whole art of running an airline is matching the capacity—the number of seats available on a route over 24 hours—with the demand. Over the last decade smart algorithms have enabled managers to keep jiggling prices on each seat according to demand to maximize profits almost right up to boarding time.Given that degree of precision, and the consolidation of the U.S. airline market, where the four major carriers that Buffet invested in control 80 percent of the flights, the fittest and therefore likeliest to survive are right here in America.The weakest are mostly in Asia. One of the worst hit is Cathay Pacific, based in Hong Kong. They suffered the effect of a double-whammy: months of anti-government street protests and then the virus. The airline has just cut its capacity by 65 percent and expects a huge loss in the first half of 2020.In Europe there has already been one failure, the British short-haul airline Flybe, which the British government refused to bail out, and—as previously reported in The Daily Beast—Norwegian, Europe's third largest budget airline, needs another large cash injection to stay flying. The two top budget airlines, Ryanair and easyJet, are in a far stronger position.But in Europe the elephant in the room is British Airways. Its CEO, Alex Cruz, sent out a message to his employees starkly headed "The Survival of British Airways." He said that they faced "a crisis of global proportions like no other we have known."The truth is that British Airways has a problem that none of the big American airlines face—and it's one that the Americans deliberately avoided.Although British Airways is a worldwide premium brand it is actually part of a conglomerate, the International Airline Group, that combines Iberia, the Spanish national airline; Vueling, a budget airline based in Barcelona; Aer Lingus, the Irish airline; and LEVEL, a low-cost transatlantic carrier based in Paris.This is a mixture of business models that the American airline chiefs have deliberately stayed away from. It combines the legacy name, British Airways, a business with traditionally high profit margins, with others with far less brand value that are in intensely competitive markets where profits are elusive. Vueling, for example, swung from a loss of 11 million Euros in 2017 to a profit of five million Euros in 2018. Aer Lingus has had a similarly erratic record.As a result, automated capacity management, the magic sauce that transformed the profits of American airlines and gives them a vital resilience now, doesn't work when a legacy international market is locked in company with more precarious markets that become even more precarious in a crisis like this one. The weak drain away the profits of the strong.And this is where, for American travelers, the outcome beyond the crisis gets really interesting.By far the most profitable route for British Airways is across the pond, between London and New York. It's known as the billion dollar route because it is the only one of the airline's routes to produce as much as $1.15 billion in annual profits. And nearly a third of the seats are in business and first, by far the most lucrative. With the new ban on flights from Britain to the U.S. this gusher is now shut down.All the airlines flying the Atlantic, from Europe and the U.S., make good money because the fares reflect what is, in essence, a fixed market—fixed not by a cartel but by limited airport capacity. Throughout the main European hubs—London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam's Schiphol, and Paris—there is a shortage of gates so acute that the market in gates has become a kind of casino for high rollers.So it's a fair bet that, given the extreme effects of the current meltdown of airline finances, that once the coronavirus pandemic is over, the airlines will be so keen to duke it out to get their transatlantic routes back to profit—particularly to win back business travelers who have had to learn teleconferencing—that there will, for a while at least, be a bonanza of bargains for passengers.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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