Americans stranded at Pakistan airport after cruise ship was denied entry to multiple countries over coronavirus fears

A plane full of Americans and Canadians was stranded on a tarmac at an airport in Karachi, Pakistan, for several hours on Thursday after it was turned away from multiple countries due to fears of the coronavirus, according to a family member of two of the passengers. Kelly Chrjapin, whose parents were among those on the flight, said the plane contained more than 250 people, all of whom were American and Canadian nationals who had been traveling on the cruise ship MS Westerdam. One passenger from that boat tested positive for the coronavirus earlier this month.

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  Coronavirus: US flew infected Americans home against CDC instructions, report says

  The Independent
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  Two Australian evacuees from Japan ship have coronavirus

  AFP

Mother of missing Idaho children told police her friend had her son. The friend said she was asked to lie.

Lori Vallow, the Idaho mother of two missing children who has been charged with desertion, told police when they were looking for her son that he was staying with a friend of hers out of state. That friend told police she had been asked to lie and tell investigators that she had the boy, even though he hadn't been there for months. Police in Rexburg, Idaho, also said in a probable cause affidavit filed against Vallow that she has not been seen with her two children for months and essentially erased them from her life before moving to Hawaii with her new and fifth husband.

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  Mother of 2 children missing since September appears in court; bail set at $5 million

  USA TODAY
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  2 Idaho Kids Have Been Missing Since September. Their Mom Was Just Arrested in Hawaii

  Meredith Videos

The Latest: Sanders defiant about Democratic establishment

Sen. Amy Klobuchar capped a day of campaigning across Nevada telling a crowd in Reno she's the best candidate for those who are tired of extremes and want someone with proven experience who can bring people together. The Minnesota Democrat started Friday morning in Las Vegas and traveled to rural Elko before making one final plea for support in Reno before Saturday's first-in-the West presidential caucuses. Klobuchar says she has a track record of being able to work not just with Democrats but also Republicans and independents to find common ground.

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  Health care is the top concern for Nevada's Culinary Workers Union

  CBS News
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  Nevada 2020: How the state uses 'strip caucuses' and decks of cards to pick candidates

  Yahoo Finance Video

Coronavirus Now a ‘Tremendous Public Health Threat’: CDC

Federal officials announced Friday that their tally of 2019 novel coronavirus cases in the United States had increased to 34, with more infections expected sooner than later, even as questions lingered about how efforts at containing the deadly illness had fallen short so far. The jump came after the State Department repatriated 18 infected U.S. citizens from aboard a cruise ship docked in Yokohama, Japan. “This new virus represents a tremendous public health threat,” Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said on a call with reporters.

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  Coronavirus: Evacuation flight carrying Britons from quarantined cruise ship takes off from Japan

  The Independent
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  US warns against cruise ship travel in Asia over coronavirus

  AFP

Watch Out! U.S. Army Tanks Could Collapse Polish Bridges On Their Way to Battle Russia

The U.S. Army and its closest allies have a problem. To deter Russia from attacking Poland and the Baltic States, the Army and its NATO allies should deploy heavy armored forces such as M-1 tanks, armored fighting vehicles and self-propelled artillery. RAND, a California think-tank with close ties to the U.S. military, in a February 2020 report underscored the importance of heavy ground forces.

Democrat Warren, worried campaign will run out of cash, taps $3 million loan

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren raised more money than most of her Democratic presidential rivals in the weeks before the Iowa caucuses, but spent so heavily that her campaign took out a $3 million loan fearing she would run out of cash. Warren raised $10.4 million in contributions in January -- more than former Vice President Joe Biden's $9 million and former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg's $6 million -- but ended the month with only $2.3 million in cash, according to disclosures filed on Thursday. All of the presidential hopefuls were required to submit financial disclosures on Thursday, public documents that offer insights into how they are managing their multi-million campaign operations.

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  Elizabeth Warren Comes Back Swinging — At Bloomberg

  Refinery29
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  Meghan McCain slams media for ignoring Elizabeth Warren's debate performance

  Yahoo Entertainment

More than 100 wild animals in China died from poisoning in a mass die-off seemingly triggered by coronavirus disinfectant

STR/AFP via Getty Images More than 100 wild animals were found dead in a Chinese megacity and tests show that they were poisoned by the disinfectant that's being used to combat the coronavirus. At least 17 species of animals, including wild boar, weasels, and blackbirds, were affected by the mass die-off. Nanchong Stray Animal Rescue claims that authorities are killing domesticated animals outright amid fears that they can spread the coronavirus.

'American voters should decide American elections - not Putin': Trump accused of threatening democracy after fresh warnings over Russian interference

US intelligence officials warned Congress that Russia plans to interfere in 2020 Democratic elections and challenges in November, but officials in Moscow are dismissing the allegations as "paranoid" while Washington leaders condemn Donald Trump's reported efforts to dismiss the threat. Following a 13 February briefing to the House Intelligence Committee, the president reportedly berated the national intelligence director for allowing the hearing to take place, which allowed his Democratic impeachment foes to hear testimony about foreign interference similar to the Russian efforts at the centre of an investigation in 2016. According to the New York Times, the president's allies defended Mr Trump at the hearing as acting intelligence director Joseph Maguire laid out Russian plans to sow chaos and undermine US elections through social media and cyber attacks, among other tools, intended to disrupt the electoral process and stir division among voters preparing to elect the next president and other seats across the US.

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  Intelligence officials say Russia boosting President Trump's reelection bid

  WLS – Chicago
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  Bernie Sanders briefed by US officials that Russia is attempting to help his campaign

  USA TODAY

Quadruple murderer executed in Tennessee

A quadruple murderer was put to death in Tennessee on Thursday despite lawyers asking the US Supreme Court for a stay of execution. Nicholas Sutton, 58, was found guilty of stabbing a fellow inmate to death in 1985. Sutton's lawyers in January asked the state's Republican governor, Bill Lee, to grant clemency, citing expressions of support for Sutton from prison officials.

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  Tennessee executes man convicted in four killings

  USA TODAY
• Tennessee executes convicted killer by electric chair

  Reuters

California Pension Fund Does Not Deny CIO’s Involvement in China’s ‘Thousand Talents Program’

The CEO of California's public pension fund said Representative Jim Banks (R., Ind. had made “baseless accusations” about the fund's chief investment officer being involved in Chinese espionage — but did not deny that Yu Ben Meng had been recruited to the “Thousand Talents Program. Marcie Frost, the head of California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS), also admitted that her organization — the largest public pension fund in the country with “approximately $400 billion in global assets — had increased its Chinese investments in 2019 after shifts in “well-established indexes.

8 Statement-Making Cabinets to Make Any Room

Looking to make a statement? It's an open-and-shut case. Today's new collectible cabinets delight and surprise Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest

Family of man killed by trooper seeking more than $10M

Relatives of a black Connecticut man killed by a state trooper are seeking more than $10 million in wrongful death damages from state and local police, according to legal notices filed Thursday. Lawyers for the family of Mubarak Soulemane, 19, asked the state claims commissioner for permission to sue the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection and top state police officials including Public Safety Commissioner James Rovella for $10 million. They also filed notice with the town of West Haven that they intend to sue the town and local police officials for an undisclosed amount of money.

A 15-month-old last seen in December was reported missing only this week

A Tennessee sheriff said Friday he believes a 15-month-old girl — last seen in December but only reported missing this week — is still alive. Law enforcement agencies across the state were on the lookout for the toddler and a gray 2007 BMW, with Tennessee stickers, because "individuals traveling" in that vehicle "have information regarding Evelyn Boswell's whereabouts," the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said. The little girl's name was added to the state's database of missing children on Tuesday with a notation: "Evelyn was entered as a missing child on Tuesday February 18, 2020 but was reportedly last seen on December 26, 2019."

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  Why did it take months to issue an Amber Alert for missing Tennessee toddler Evelyn Boswell?

  USA TODAY
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  County sheriff says the mom of missing Tennessee toddler Evelyn Boswell hasn't been truthful with police

  INSIDER

Racist German Shooter Exposes the Global Network of Hate

Late Wednesday night in the central German city Hanau, a gunman that police have identified as 43-year-old Tobias Rathjen opened fire at two shisha bars. They're the kind of places favored by people who enjoy a laid-back atmosphere as they puff tobacco bubbling through water-filled hookahs, and on any given evening, many of those folks may be from Turkish, Kurdish, or North African backgrounds. They're quiet places for conversation and minding your own business.

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  Germany mass shooting: Gunman was eugenicist, manifesto shows

  The Independent
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  Eye Opener at 8: Gunman kills 9 in Germany shooting

  CBS News Videos

Former national security adviser denounces the House's impeachment proceedings as 'grossly partisan'

Former national security adviser John Bolton on Wednesday denounced the House's impeachment proceedings against President Trump as ”grossly partisan” and said his testimony would not have changed Trump's acquittal in the Senate, as he continued to stay quiet on the details of a yet-to-be-released book.

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  Post impeachment, Ukraine wants back on Trump's radar

  CBS News
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  Susan Rice shamed John Bolton for sitting on his impeachment testimony. Bolton said it wouldn't have mattered.

  The Week

South Korea accepted that its efforts to stop the coronavirus from infecting the country failed and says it's pivoting to containment

Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images With coronavirus cases soaring, the government in South Korea said on Friday that it had failed to keep the virus out of the country and must now focus on containment. South Korea is now the country with the most coronavirus infections outside China, with a total of 433 confirmed cases. The government has urged the 2.5 million people in Daegu to stay in their homes and has banned some public gatherings.

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  Virus spreads in South Korean city as thousands are screened

  Associated Press
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  South Korea Begins Locking Down City With Coronavirus Outbreak Linked to Church

  Meredith Videos

Trump 'eats burned steak' and 'cheats at golf', new Bloomberg-funded billboard says

Presidential hopeful Mike Bloomberg is moving offline for his latest attacks against President Donald Trump. The former New York City mayor's campaign has begun hanging billboards in Phoenix and Las Vegas lampooning Mr Trump, according to CBS News. The billboards are located in high traffic areas near one of Mr Trump's hotel properties on the Vegas Strip and also along potential presidential motorcade routes.

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  Nevada: Trump backers rally as Dem caucus ahead

  USA TODAY
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  'High cheekbones' and wild insults: Memorable quotes from Trump's Vegas rally

  The Independent

CDC is preparing for the 'likely' spread of coronavirus in the US, officials say

Health experts sounded the alarm Friday over the worldwide threat of the coronavirus, with officials warning of its "likely" community spread in the United States and the World Health Organization cautioning that "the window of opportunity is narrowing" for containing the outbreak worldwide. The COVID-19 coronavirus, which erupted in China in December, has killed 2,360 people and sickened 77,659 worldwide, the majority of cases in mainland China. Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, told reporters Friday that U.S. health officials are preparing for the coronavirus to become a pandemic.

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  Chances of coronavirus spreading in U.S. ‘very possible: CDC

  ABC News Videos
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  New virus cases soar in S.Korea and Chinese prisons, more die in Iran

  AFP

Coronavirus widens Hong Kong anger at government, China

Pro-democracy protesters have all but vanished from the streets of Hong Kong over the past month as residents avoid the new coronavirus, but the outbreak has broadened discontent with the city's leadership and China's influence on the financial hub. Some business leaders and pro-Beijing politicians have joined pro-democracy and union figures in attacking Carrie Lam's administration for what they see as an uncoordinated response to the virus and its refusal to seal the border with mainland China, which might have prevented infections. "Regardless of political opinions, people in Hong Kong have already lost confidence in the government of Carrie Lam," said Mike Lam, chief executive of the AbouThai department store chain.

A recurring Biden campaign story about being arrested in South Africa is full of inconsistencies

Former Vice President Joe Biden has a pretty good tale to share — but it may be a little tall. Biden, who is running for president, has been spicing up his recent campaign stump speeches with a story of how he was arrested while in South Africa trying to see Nelson Mandela, The New York Times reports. During recent campaign speeches, Biden says he "had the great honor" of meeting Mandela and "of being arrested with our U.N. ambassador on the streets of Soweto." As Miami Herald reporter Alex Daugherty points out, Soweto is a ways away from Robben Island, where Mandela's maximum security prison was located.

Execution for a Facebook post? Why blasphemy is a capital offense in some Muslim countries

Junaid Hafeez, a university lecturer in Pakistan, had been imprisoned for six years when he was sentenced to death in December 2019. Pakistan has the world's second strictest blasphemy laws after Iran, according to U.S. Commision on International Religious Freedom. Hafeez, whose death sentence is under appeal, is one of about 1,500 Pakistanis charged with blasphemy, or sacrilegious speech, over the last three decades.

Airport worker with no license takes plane for spin near D.C., almost crashes, feds say

A Virginia man piloted at least one plane without a license in 2018, in a dangerous journey that ended with a "bounced" landing, federal authorities said. Ryan Guy Parker "knowingly and willfully" flew above suburban Washington D.C., posing a "significant risk of injury and death" to himself and the public, according to an affidavit by U.S. Department of Transportation Special Agent Bret Stolle. In a Sept. 27, 2018 trip out of Shannon Airport in Fredericksburg, Parker nearly crashed on touch down, Stolle wrote.

Inmate says in letter that he killed 2 molesters in prison

A California inmate serving a life sentence for murder confessed in a letter that he beat to death two child molesterswith another inmate's cane hours after a prison counselor ignored his urgent warning that he might become violent. In a letter to the Bay Area News Group, Jonathan Watson, 41, said he clubbed both men in the head on Jan. 16 at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison in the small central California city of Corcoran. The first attack occurred after Watson became enraged that one of the sex offenders was watching a children's television show,the East Bay Times reported Thursday.

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  'I figured I'd just do everybody a favor': CA inmate confesses killing 2 child molesters in letter to newspaper

  KTRK – Houston
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  AP: California inmate confesses to killing 2 child molesters

  Yahoo News Video

This Fighter Jet Is The Biggest Threat To Russia's Su-57 Stealth Fighter (Not the F-35)

Key point: The Su-35S was intended as an interim solution; as a modernized air superiority fighter to sustain the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) through the 2010's until the Su-57 fifth-generation stealth fighter enters serial production. “A unique machine, a deadly aerial fist,” is how the official television channel of the Russian Ministry of Defense introduced the Su-35S superiority fighter earlier this week. TV Zvezda's three-minute clip of a recent Su-35S training sortie over Syria provides close-up shots of the fighter jet being prepped for flight, taking off, cruising over the Syrian coast, and firing flares.

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  Can China's Military Really Track F-22 Stealth Fighters?

  The National Interest
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  This Stealth F-22 Fighter Flew Right Under Iran's Top Fighter (Undetected)

  The National Interest

A crowd in Ukraine threw bricks at buses carrying coronavirus evacuees from Wuhan to quarantine

REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko A crowd of Ukrainian protesters on Thursday attacked buses ferrying evacuees from Wuhan, China, to a quarantine hospital. The buses were transporting 45 Ukrainians and 27 foreign nationals through Novi Sanzhary in central Ukraine. Nobody on board has been confirmed to have the novel coronavirus.

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  With selfie, Ukrainian health minister joins coronavirus evacuees in quarantine

  Reuters
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  Coronavirus evacuees cause clashes in Ukraine

  Reuters Videos