- PoliticsYahoo News
Senators blast Trump administration for coronavirus response
Top officials in the Trump administration struggled on Tuesday morning to justify their response to the growing threat of the coronavirus, which has sickened at least 80,423 people around the world and killed at least 2,712. Although there have been no recorded fatalities in the United States yet, skeptical members of the U.S. Senate made clear to administration officials that they did not have confidence in their response. At one point during their back-and-forth, which promptly went viral on social media, Kennedy insisted that Wolf tell him the number of coronavirus cases that the United States could expect.
- U.S.TODAY
Tennessee mom and grandmother of missing 15-month-old both arrested, in same jail
The search for a missing Tennessee toddler has shifted to the northwest corner of North Carolina as authorities grow increasingly frustrated in their desperate bid to find the little girl, officials said Wednesday. The mother and grandmother of 15-month-old Evelyn Mae Boswell have both been arrested — and put in the same jail — as deputies in two states continue looking for her, Tennessee's Sullivan County Sheriff Jeff Cassidy said. "They are actively looking in an area in Wilkes County North Carolina" for the girl, Sullivan told reporters.
- WorldNational Review
Iran’s Incompetent Response to Coronavirus Threatens the Middle East and the World
The Iranian government has covered up an outbreak of coronavirus that now threatens the Middle East and has led to border closures and hospitalizations in five countries. Over the weekend of February 21, president Hassan Rouhani and other Iranian officials downplayed the growing crises as Iran's death toll from the virus climbed. The coronavirus has likely traveled from China to Iran's city of Qom along the same route that pilgrims and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps uses to travel, illustrating the regime's disregard for its own citizens and neighbors.
- U.S.Time
A Wrongfully Convicted Kansas Man Who Spent 23 Years in Prison Is Awarded $1.5 Million
A Kansas man who spent over two decades in prison for a double murder he didn't commit will be awarded $1.5 million for his wrongful conviction, according to the Kansas State Attorney General's office. Lamonte McIntyre was convicted and sentenced to two terms of life in prison for the murders of Donald Ewing and Doniel Quinn back in 1994. According to the Associated Press, documents made public during the 8-year fight to free McIntyre allege that the prosecutor in the case intimidated witnesses who told her that McIntyre did not look like the shooter after they saw him in person.
- PoliticsThe Daily Beast
MSNBC Benches Contributor Who Smeared Bernie Sanders Staffers
Following MSNBC contributor Dr. Jason Johnson's inflammatory remarks about supporters and campaign staffers of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), the academic has been temporarily benched by the network, sources confirmed to The Daily Beast. In recent months, Johnson—a fixture of the network's Democratic primary analysis—has drawn considerable heat for his relentlessly anti-Sanders commentary on MSNBC, which has also come under fire from the left for its skeptical and largely negative coverage of the democratic-socialist senator. The MSNBC contributor then took aim at the women of color who work for Sanders.
- PoliticsBloomberg
Roger Stone Judge Scolds Trump, Allies Over Claims of Jury Bias
Three of the jurors who convicted Republican operative Roger Stone for lying to Congress and witness tampering testified that political bias played no role in their decision, pushing back against Stone's contention that he deserves a new trial. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson did not issue a ruling at the end of a Tuesday hearing on Stone's request. But the judge said a juror's social media posts criticizing President Donald Trump did not necessarily mean she was biased against Stone, who was convicted in November and sentenced last week to three years and four months in prison.
- WorldThe National Interest
Boom: The Army Just Invented a Newer, Deadlier Artillery Round
Washington, D.C.) The Army Research Laboratory is now engineering new rocket, missile and artillery rounds able to destroy groups of mobile enemy fighters, incinerate armored vehicles and eliminate structures with a single munition -- at all much longer ranges than currently deployed weapons can fire. The ARL is currently immersed in cutting edge research, using 3D printing, to develop new metal alloys, weapons casings and design geometries to increase range and lethality for the Army's emerging Long Range Precision Fires program; “Additive manufacturing (3D printing) can take weight out of certain components, create complex geometries inside things and create complex fragmentation patterns,...
U.S.Yahoo News VideoU.S. Supreme Court dismisses 'D.C. Sniper' Malvo case after change in Va. law
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday formally dismissed a case in which Lee Boyd Malvo, who was 17 when he took part in the deadly 2002 "D.C. Sniper" shooting spree in the Washington area, was challenging his life without parole sentence.
- PoliticsBusiness Insider
Pete Buttigieg called Mike Bloomberg's stop-and-frisk record 'racist' before admitting he had a 'lot of issues' with policing in South Bend
Pete Buttigieg called Mike Bloomberg's record of stop-and-frisk policing "racist" at Tuesday night's Democratic presidential debate in South Carolina before reflecting on his own record as mayor. "We let it get out of control," Bloomberg said. "I come to this with some humility because I'm conscious of the fact that there are seven white people on this stage talking about racial justice," Buttigieg said.
- U.S.Associated Press
Court closes courthouse door on slain Mexican teen's family
The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Tuesday to close the courthouse door on the parents of a Mexican teenager who was shot dead over the border by an American agent. The court's five conservative justices held that the parents could not use American courts to sue Border Patrol Agent Jesus Mesa Jr., who killed their unarmed 15-year-old son in 2010. Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the court that the case is tragic, but that strong border security and international relations issues led to the ruling against the parents of Sergio Adrian Hernandez Guereca.
- WorldReuters
Philippines imposes travel ban on South Korea's coronavirus-impacted province
The Philippines on Wednesday barred travellers from South Korea's coronavirus-impacted North Gyeongsang province from entering the country in an effort to contain the spread of the pathogen. Philippine presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo told a media briefing the government will also conduct a risk assessment within 48 hours to determine if the travel ban needs to be expanded to other parts of South Korea. South Korea reported 169 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, pushing to total tally to more than 1,000, with the numbers expected to rise as the government widens its testing.
- WorldNational Review
Iran to Sentence Citizens Who “Spreads Rumors” about Coronavirus to Flogging, Three Years in Prison
An Iranian parliament spokesman on Wednesday announced that anyone found to be “spreading rumors” about the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak will be sentenced to one-to-three years in prison and flogging, Iran state news agency IRNA reported. Norouzi said the prison sentence and flogging is based on “on the Islamic penal code,” and 24 people have been arrested already on suspicion of “spreading rumors” about the illness. Iran has reported 139 cases of coronavirus infections throughout the country, with an epicenter in the city of Qom, a destination for Shi'ite Muslim religious pilgrims.
- U.S.USA TODAY
Coronavirus: New York Mayor Bill De Blasio says self-quarantine of travelers is working
Voluntary quarantine protocols have been applied to about 700 people who returned to New York after traveling to areas affected by the coronavirus outbreak in China since Feb. 3, authorities said. The vast majority of the travelers were deemed at medium risk for the new coronavirus, called COVID-19, because of recent travel to mainland China, New York State Health Department officials told the USA TODAY Network New York late Tuesday. The newly reported tally reflected travelers reviewed for potential voluntary quarantine outside New York City.
WorldAFP'Never before': Shock, fear as India's capital reels from deadly riots
In front of him was a stick-wielding mob of up to 500 men, cheering loudly and throwing flaming tyres into his shop as deadly sectarian violence swept India's capital. The market in Gokulpuri was just one of many poor, congested neighbourhoods in northeast Delhi ransacked by rampaging mobs on Monday and Tuesday as battles broke out between Hindus and Muslims. The clashes followed renewed protests on Sunday against a contentious citizenship law brought in by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu-nationalist government that critics say is anti-Muslim.
- PoliticsThe Week
HHS Secretary Alex Azar reportedly blindsided by Trump putting Pence in charge of coronavirus response
After spending weeks leading the government's coronavirus task force, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar found out he was being pushed aside just minutes before President Trump made the announcement during a Wednesday evening press conference, five people with knowledge of the situation told The Washington Post. Trump revealed that Vice President Mike Pence will now head the task force, and everyone involved will report to him. Azar was asked Wednesday morning about the possibility of the administration appointing a czar to guide the government's response, and responded that he "didn't anticipate" this happening, as things were "working extremely well." At the end of Trump's press conference, Azar made sure to tell reporters he was still chairman of the task force, and was "delighted" to have Pence on board.
- U.S.Associated Press
Mom of missing kids waives extradition; bail stays at $5M
Bail will remain at $5 million for a mother arrested in Hawaii over the disappearance of her two Idaho children, a judge ruled Wednesday. Lori Vallow wore an orange jumpsuit in court on the Hawaiian island of Kauai for a hearing on her request to reduce bail. After the judge denied the request, her defense attorney, Craig De Costa, said she is waiving an extradition hearing, which had been scheduled for March 2.
- WorldBloomberg
Gambia Admits ‘Shortcomings’ After Lifting Ban on Media Outlets
Gambia's government reopened two shut-down radio stations and dropped charges against four journalists for their coverage of last month's violent protests against President Adama Barrow, saying that its response against the demonstrations wasn't “perfect. Protests on Jan. 26 saw the most severe crackdown on dissent since Barrow took office three years ago, with demonstrators calling on the 55-year-old to step down in line with an agreement he made with coalitions partners in 2016. Police arrested 137 activists and banned the 'Three Years is Enough' movement, which the government labeled as “subversive, violent and illegal.
- WorldNBC News
Map: Confirmed coronavirus cases, worldwide
Health officials worldwide are working to contain cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus that originated in China. This map will be updated when more information is available. As of Feb. 26, COVID-19 cases were confirmed in China and more than 35 other countries.
- U.S.The Independent
Teacher who allegedly washed out student’s mouth with hand sanitiser receives 10-day suspension
A Florida middle school teacher has reportedly been suspended for putting hand sanitizer in a student's mouth after he wouldn't stop chatting during class. NBC News said Guyette Duhart, a science teacher at Polo Park Middle School in Wellington, allegedly admitted holding the bottle to the child's mouth after he kept talking in class, but she denied pumping the sanitiser, NBC News reported. NBC News also reported that Ms Duhart allegedly said: “You need to have your mouth washed with soap," according to an executive summary submitted to the Palm Beach County School Board.
- WorldBusiness Insider
The coronavirus has now hit every continent except Antarctica after a man in Brazil tested positive
Salvatore Laporta/KONTROLAB/LightRocket via Getty Images The coronavirus has now infected every continent except Antarctica after Brazil confirmed a case on Tuesday. A 61-year-old man who had just returned home from a 12-day trip to Lombardy, Italy, tested positive in São Paulo. Italy is the worst-hit nation in Europe.
- WorldReuters
China to Russia: End discriminatory coronavirus measures against Chinese
China's embassy in Russia has demanded authorities in Moscow end what it said are discriminatory anti-coronavirus measures against Chinese nationals, saying they are damaging relations and alarming Chinese residents of the Russian capital. The complaint, detailed in an embassy letter to the city's authorities and published by Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta late on Tuesday, deplored what it called "ubiquitous monitoring" of Chinese nationals, including on public transport in Moscow. Russia, which enjoys strong political and military ties with Beijing, does not currently have any confirmed cases of coronavirus, but has temporarily barred many categories of Chinese nationals from entering the country.
- U.S.National Review
Court Rules Trump Admin Can Withhold Federal Grants to NYC, Seven States over Sanctuary Policies
A federal court on Wednesday ruled that the Trump administration could withhold grants to New York City, as well as seven states, due to their refusal to cooperate with the federal immigration enforcement efforts. The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan ruled that the federal government could withhold funds from New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Washington, Massachusetts, Virginia and Rhode Island, over the states' “sanctuary” laws. The states currently contain a number of cities, including New York City, with laws preventing local authorities from notifying Immigration and Customs Enforcement when an illegal immigrant is about to be released from jail.
WorldUSA TODAYCoronavirus: Disney World tells workers who traveled to Italy to stay home amid virus fears
The Most Magical Place on Earth is exercising an "abundance of caution" amid the the continued spread of the coronavirus worldwide. Walt Disney World has instructed cast members who recently returned from Italy to stay home following the rampant surge of the deadly COVID-19 coronavirus in the European country, park officials confirmed to USA TODAY Wednesday. Although there are "no confirmed or suspected cases of coronavirus" at Florida's Walt Disney World, officials said they made the decision "out of an abundance of caution."
- WorldThe Week
Israel is the first country to warn its citizens not to travel abroad over coronavirus fears
Israel on Wednesday became the first country to officially warn its citizens to avoid any international travel amid fears over the coronavirus outbreak. Several airlines have canceled flights to China, where the respiratory virus originated, and governments have issued warnings about travel to certain countries, but no country has actively urged their citizens avoid traveling abroad at large until now. "If you don't genuinely have to fly — don't do so," Israel's health ministry said in a statement.
- U.S.Associated Press
Louisiana governor: Judge should resign after racial slurs
Gov. John Bel Edwards called Wednesday on a Louisiana judge to step down after she admitted to using racial slurs in angry text messages. LeBlanc, who is white, now admits sending the text messages after previously denying she sent them.
