Friday, January 31, 2020

DNC overhauls debate requirements, opening door for Bloomberg

The committee is eliminating the donor threshold, which had functionally barred Bloomberg from the stage. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/3aZdC8...

In Egypt, 12-year-old girl dies after genital mutilation

A 12-year-old girl died this week in southern Egypt after her parents brought her to a doctor who performed female genital mutilation, a criminal practice that remains widespread in the region, according to a judicial statement. The girl's death in the province of Assiut prompted Egypt's public prosecutor to order the arrests of her parents and the physician who preformed...

How $98 trillion of household wealth in America is distributed

If a pie represented the wealth in the United States, nine pieces, or 90% of the pie, would go to the wealthiest 20% in the country. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2GD0MP...

Former GOP senator warns if witnesses are 'suppressed,' it could cause 'lasting damage to the Senate'

Former Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) is encouraging Republican senators to vote in favor of calling witnesses in President Trump's impeachment trial.Warner, 92, served in the Senate for 30 years. He said in a statement Thursday night he is "mindful of the difficult responsibilities those currently serving now shoulder. I believe, as I am sure you do, that not only is the president...

Putin Frees Israeli Backpacker, Helping Embattled Netanyahu

(Bloomberg) -- President Vladimir Putin’s pardon of an Israeli woman imprisoned in Russia on drug-smuggling charges gave a much-needed electoral gift to visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Naama Issachar, 26, was released Thursday from a prison outside of Moscow, according to Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service. She was arrested in April and sentenced in October...

Colombia rejects Venezuelan proposal to resume diplomatic relations

Colombia rejected Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's proposal that the two countries resume diplomatic relations on Thursday, amid a dispute over a fugitive former Colombian congresswoman who was captured in Venezuela. Maduro abruptly cut diplomatic relations with neighboring Colombia last February after Colombian President Ivan Duque helped Venezuelan opposition politicians...

Lori Vallow didn't meet the Thursday deadline to turn her kids over to the state. Their grandma believes the 'monster' will face consequences.

Vallow had until Thursday to turn her children over to the state of Idaho. She missed it and is believed to still be in Hawaii. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/38V69W...

Thai holiday over, Chinese visitors fly home to Wuhan

The holiday was over for almost 80 Chinese visitors to Thailand. Wuhan has been under tight lockdown as Chinese authorities seek to contain further spread of the virus. The virus outbreak has attached a measure of fear and loathing to the city's name, as was demonstrated Friday when another group of Chinese tourists at the airport was asked whether they were the ones waiting...

Remain in Mexico: 80% of migrants in Trump policy are victims of violence

Asylum seekers sent to Mexico to wait US court hearings under Trump scheme routinely targeted for abduction, survey findsA staggering 80% of asylum seekers sent to Mexico to await US court hearings report being victims of violence, according a survey by Doctors Without Borders (MSF).In one month – October – three-quarters of asylum seekers seen by MSF physicians in Nuevo Laredo...

What’s Impeachable? Nothing, Republicans Seem to Say

(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Get Jonathan Bernstein’s newsletter every morning in your inbox. Click here to subscribe.The impeachment trial of President Donald Trump moved to questions from senators on Wednesday. It wasn’t an encouraging day.The president’s lawyers moved closer than ever to simply embracing the idea that the president can do whatever he wants. Alan Dershowitz...

U.S. declares coronavirus public health emergency after imposing quarantines

The Trump administration, while insisting the risk to Americans from coronavirus is low, nevertheless declared a public health emergency on Friday and announced the extraordinary step of barring entry to the United States of foreign nationals who have traveled to China. In addition, starting on Sunday U.S. citizens who have traveled within the past two weeks to China's Hubei...

7,000 People Trapped on Mediterranean Cruise in Italy Over Suspected Coronavirus Case

ROME—More than 7,000 people were quarantined on an Italian cruise ship in the Mediterranean port of Civitavecchia outside of Rome after a Chinese woman from Hong Kong came down with a fever and symptoms that mimic the coronavirus. Initial tests seemed to exclude the deadly virus, according to Italian media, but passengers were expected to be kept onboard overnight as a precaution....

North Korea says it has intensified efforts to block virus

North Korea is intensifying efforts to prevent the spread of a new virus from China into the isolated country by blocking tourists, reducing flights and mobilizing more screening efforts, a health official said Thursday. It has sickened thousands, most of them China, but South Korea has reported six cases. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2U...

American trapped in Wuhan: Despite coronavirus, I won't evacuate without my wife and son

Because of the coronavirus outbreak, my newborn son can't get his citizenship paperwork. The U.S. government's response disappoints expats like me. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2uM58R...

American Airlines agent said Orthodox Jews only bathe once a week, lawsuit claims

A Michigan couple say they’ve been defamed by American Airlines’ continued statements that they were removed from a flight because of their smell. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/37J0t1...

Trump impeachment: John Bolton defends officials who testified against president in inquiry

A former top Trump official has defended leading witnesses who have testified against the US president in his impeachment inquiry, according to local media.John Bolton reportedly said the ex-members of the Trump administration “acted in the best interest of the country as they saw it” as Democrats push to hear his own testimony. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines...

U.S. envoy warns Palestinians against raising opposition to U.S. peace plan at U.N.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will speak in the U.N. Security Council in the next two weeks about the plan, Palestinian U.N. envoy Riyad Mansour said on Wednesday, adding that he hoped the 15-member council would also vote on a draft resolution on the issue. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/37O502...

Japan Issues Warrants for Taylor, Others Aiding Ghosn Flight

(Bloomberg) -- Prosecutors in Tokyo issued a fresh warrant on Thursday for the arrest of ex-Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn, who jumped bail and fled the country last month to escape trial for alleged financial crimes.The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office issued the warrant on Ghosn for illegally departing Japan, where the former auto executive was charged with...

Pakistan: No immediate plans to evacuate citizens from China

A top Pakistani health official said Thursday that Islamabad had no immediate plan to evacuate any of some 30,000 nationals living in China to study and work, despite the new coronavirus that surfaced there. Zafar Mirza, who advises Prime Minister Imran Khan on health issues, told a news conference that so far only four Pakistani students in China have been diagnosed with...

Photos of stores in Wuhan show what life is like under the coronavirus lockdown

The quarantine and fears of coronavirus have made Wuhan a ghost city. Residents only occasionally go out to stock up on supplies. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2S7kPL...

Mayor Pete’s South Bend Awarded No Major Contracts to Black-Owned Firms for Three Years

DES MOINES, Iowa—Of the many pledges that Pete Buttigieg has made in his as-yet unfruitful quest to earn the support of black voters, his guarantee that a quarter out of every federal contracting dollar will be awarded to minority- and women-owned businesses is one of his most ambitious. “Look at what it would be like if we were co-investing in promising businesses led...

Texas teen who won't cut locks receives $20K for college from Ellen DeGeneres

A black Texas teenager who was told that his dreadlocks violate his high school's dress code is gaining the support of some celebrities, plus $20,000 for college. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/3bahkf...

Hungary to build more prisons to tackle overcrowding, halt inmates' lawsuits

Hungary will begin an ambitious prison-building program in an attempt to stem a tide of costly lawsuits by inmates complaining of overcrowding and inhumane conditions, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday. Orban accused "business-savvy lawyers" of exploiting the conditions to launch 12,000 lawsuits against the Hungarian state for breaking EU prison standards, leading...

Thursday, January 30, 2020

Remain in Mexico: 80% of migrants in Trump policy are victims of violence

Asylum seekers sent to Mexico to wait US court hearings under Trump scheme routinely targeted for abduction, survey findsA staggering 80% of asylum seekers sent to Mexico to await US court hearings report being victims of violence, according a survey by Doctors Without Borders (MSF).In one month – October – three-quarters of asylum seekers seen by MSF physicians in Nuevo Laredo...

EU Parliament Backs Brexit Deal, Clearing Way for U.K. Departure

(Bloomberg) -- The European Parliament approved Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal, clearing the way for the U.K. to leave the EU on Jan. 31 with an agreement that, for the time being, will avoid a chaotic rupture.Officials on both sides say the fight over the divorce deal was the easy part. Over the next 11 months, the U.K. and the European Union will argue over the...

Donald Trump is ‘just wrong’ about the economy, says Nobel Prize-winner Joseph Stiglitz

In a newly released interview, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz disagreed with Trump's contention that the economy has lifted up working-class Americans. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2U2AXA...

Iranian factory makes U.S. and Israeli flags to burn

Business is booming at Iran's largest flag factory which makes U.S., British and Israeli flags for Iranian protesters to burn. The factory produces about 2,000 U.S. and Israeli flags a month in its busiest periods, and more than 1.5 million square feet of flags a year. Tensions between the United States and Iran have reached the highest level in decades after top Iranian military...

Chief Justice Roberts succinctly steamrolls Rand Paul's impeachment question — again

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has been foiled again.To ask questions in the Senate's impeachment trial of President Trump, senators have to write them down and submit them to Chief Justice John Roberts for him to read. That proved a problem for Paul on Wednesday when he asked a question naming an alleged whistleblower who sparked Trump's impeachment; Roberts refused to read it. So...

Biden, Sanders lead field in new poll ahead of Monday's Iowa caucuses

Former Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders are leading a crowded field of candidates days before Monday's Iowa caucuses, the first contest in the process of picking a Democratic presidential candidate, according to a poll released on Wednesday. Biden was the choice of 23 percent of likely caucus-goers, the Monmouth University poll shows, slightly...

The Latest: Russia closing its land border with China

Russia is closing its land border with China, similar to steps taken by Mongolia and North Korea, to guard against a new viral outbreak. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin issued the decree Thursday, ordering the 2,600-mile land border with China closed starting Friday. Some countries have reduced flights and airlines have halted them because of the new virus that has...

‘You know your client is guilty’: Trump impeachment lawyer’s defence accused of being ‘descent into madness’

Senator Adam Schiff, lead impeachment manager in the Senate trial of Donald Trump, has called arguments made by the president’s defence team a “descent into constitutional madness”.Mr Schiff’s indignation with the president’s defence came in response to comments made by Mr Trump’s lawyer, Alan Dershowitz, who argued his client couldn’t be impeached for an action he thought...

Movin' on up: Bloomberg glides past Warren to No.3 in Democratic race - Reuters/Ipsos

After steadily rising in popularity over the last several weeks, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg appears to have surpassed U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren among registered voters for the 2020 Democratic nomination, according to a Reuters/Ipsos national public opinion poll released on Thursday. The Jan. 29-30 poll found that 12% of registered Democrats and independents...

Fox News Breaking News Alert

Fox News Breaking News Alert PROGRAMMING ALERT: Sen. Rand Paul talks impeachment fight on 'The Story,' 7 pm ET 01/30/20 3:52 ...

Trump, trying to head off testimony, says Bolton would have started 'World War Six'

As pressure mounts on senators to allow John Bolton’s testimony in President Trump’s impeachment trial, the president used Twitter to trash his former national security adviser. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/36Cnx0...

'It's utter bulls--t': Navy SEAL was promoted despite allegations he choked a Green Beret to death

The Navy SEAL has been charged in the death. His defense attorneys previously said the incident was merely a "prank" that "went bad." from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/313bMP...

A Costco sample-stand worker turned away a kid wearing a face mask because she thought he was from China and could give her the coronavirus

"One thing that is in the back of my mind is that someone Asian is being judged in public right now," Cabanilla said. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2GAtHD...

Return of the Imperial Presidency? Why the Impeachment Fight Is About More Than Donald Trump

As the Senate considers whether to remove Donald Trump from office, there's more at stake in his trial than one man's political fate. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/38ZfEU...

WHO declares China virus outbreak an international emergency

The World Health Organization declared on Thursday that the coronavirus epidemic in China now constitutes a public health emergency of international concern. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, announced the decision after a meeting of its Emergency Committee, an independent panel of experts, amid mounting evidence of the virus spreading to some 18 countries....

Bernie Sanders is starting to get slammed on how he would finance Medicare for All

The attacks on Medicare for All echo what Sen. Elizabeth Warren faced last year as she surged ahead in national polls. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/37Cz54...

UAE confirms 4 Chinese tourists have virus, first in Mideast

A family of four Chinese tourists in the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday became the first cases in the Mideast of a new Chinese virus that causes flu-like symptoms, with an Emirati doctor saying the first to fall ill only showed symptoms after over a week on vacation. Dr. Hussein al-Rand, an assistant undersecretary at the UAE's Ministry of Health and Prevention, told The...

Roberts reportedly blocked Rand Paul's questions mentioning alleged whistleblower's name

Chief Justice John Roberts on Wednesday thwarted several attempts by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) to submit a question naming the alleged whistleblower whose complaint about President Trump's interactions with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spurred the impeachment inquiry, three people familiar with the matter told The Washington Post. Senators were given the opportunity...

Remain in Mexico: 80% of migrants in Trump policy are victims of violence

Asylum seekers sent to Mexico to wait US court hearings under Trump scheme routinely targeted for abduction, survey findsA staggering 80% of asylum seekers sent to Mexico to await US court hearings report being victims of violence, according a survey by Doctors Without Borders (MSF).In one month – October – three-quarters of asylum seekers seen by MSF physicians in Nuevo Laredo...

It’s D-Day for Doomsday Mom Lori Vallow to Produce Missing Kids

In the six weeks since Idaho police announced that Tylee and J.J. Vallow were missing, the investigation into the siblings’ disappearance has taken more turns than one of their stepfather’s Mormon apocalypse novels.And there’s likely to be another one Thursday—the court-ordered deadline for their mother, Lori Vallow, to produce them or face a contempt of court charge and possible...

Iraq says joint operations with US-led coalition resume

Joint military operations with the U.S.-led coalition to counter the Islamic State group have resumed after a nearly three-week pause, an Iraqi military statement said Thursday. Meanwhile, anti-government protesters called for 1 million Iraqis to take to the streets Friday in what they said was a “last chance” for the protest movement to build on momentum gained after followers...

U.S. Farm Chief Presses EU to Throw Doors Open to American Foods

(Bloomberg) -- Terms of Trade is a daily newsletter that untangles a world embroiled in trade wars. Sign up here. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue signaled that a renewed transatlantic trade truce will require more ambitious European Union efforts to ease imports of American foods.Perdue criticized an idea being pursued by the bloc of a piecemeal accord that would...

Pelosi suggests Trump's acquittal will be invalid if witnesses aren't called

As it appears less likely that new witnesses will be called in President Trump's impeachment trial, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is suggesting his acquittal will, therefore, not be valid. "He will not be acquitted," Pelosi said in a news conference Thursday, The New York Times reports. "You cannot be acquitted if you don't have a trial, and you don't have a trial...

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Kobe Bryant helicopter video emerges showing ill-fated flight minutes before crash

A video that appears to show Kobe Bryant’s helicopter circling over California roughly 15 minutes before the fatal crash has been posted online, illustrating the foggy conditions faced by the chopper on its last flight.In the video, which was posted by a user on Twitter who said they live in the Los Angeles suburb of Glendale — where Bryant’s flight circled for roughly 10...

This Picture Is North Korea, China, Iran and Russia's Worst Military Nightmare

Imagine 52 F-35s coming at you. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2RYz84...

Former Zelensky Aide Says Trump Admin. Request for Investigations ‘Rattled’ Ukrainian President

Ukraine’s former national security council chairman said that he left the Volodymyr Zelensky administration after becoming  “uncomfortable” with American efforts to coerce the opening of politically advantageous investigations.Oleksandr Danylyuk, speaking with The Daily Beast in his first on-the-record interview since President Trump’s impeachment began, directly contradicted...

McConnell Tells Caucus They Lack the Votes to Block Impeachment Witnesses

Senator Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) on Tuesday said he doesn't have the votes to block a resolution to allow witnesses in the Senate impeachment trial, according to multiple reports.McConnell made the admission in talks with Senate Republicans after President Trump's defense team concluded its arguments.If the Senate votes to summon witnesses, Democrats will likely attempt to...