Trump complains his impeachment defense has a lousy time slot

If there is one thing Donald Trump fears, it's lousy ratings. Since being elected president, in fact, Trump has tweeted about “ratings” exactly 100 times, according to the Trump Twitter Archive, the most recent coming Friday, on the eve of his defense team's opening testimony in his impeachment trial. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell gave in to pressure from members of his own party to adjust the trial's timetable to give House Democrats three days to make their case for removing Trump from office, pushing the opening arguments by the president's lawyers to the weekend.

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  Senate impeachment trial: Trump’s legal team mounts his defense

  Good Morning America
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  Trump complains Democrats pushed his impeachment defense to Saturday. Republicans are actually responsible.

  The Week

Transit going in and out of Wuhan, China is being shut down to contain coronavirus

Since Thursday, Chinese authorities have shut down transit going in and out of Wuhan to contain the coronavirus outbreak. Other than emergencies, people cannot leave Wuhan using its buses, subways, or ferries. Chinese authorities are shutting down almost all transit going in and out of Wuhan to contain the coronavirus and keep it from spreading further.

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  China builds a hospital in six days in epicentre to deal with patients

  Reuters Videos
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  Checkpoints and long queues as Wuhan goes into lockdown

  Reuters Videos

China virus death toll rises to 56, total cases near 2,000

The death toll from a virus in China has risen to 56 and the number of people infected across the country is nearing 2,000, authorities said Sunday. Fifteen more people have died and at least 688 new cases of the coronavirus have now been confirmed, according to the National Health Commission. Among the new deaths, 13 were in Hubei, the province at the heart of the outbreak, while Shanghai reported its first death.

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  Xi Jinping warned of the 'grave situation' created by the 'accelerating' spread of coronavirus

  Business Insider
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  A 62-year-old Chinese doctor in Wuhan 'at the front line' of the coronavirus outbreak has died after treating patients

  INSIDER

Inmate charged with murder of 'Britain's worst pedophile'

A prison inmate has been charged with the murder of “Britain's worst pedophile, police have confirmed.

Damaged By Drone Strike: Suleimani's Sainthood Is Now Being Questioned

In the wake of Washington's assassination of former Quds Force commander Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, Arab Shi'a desires and interests across the Middle East are under a microscope. Have they shifted their protest slogans from opposing Iran to denouncing the United States? Americans should not assume that wide-angle television images of Shi'a protests in Iran calling for the downfall of the Great Satan reflect Shi'a sentiment across Arab societies.

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  Poll: Many in US support Trump decision to kill Iran general

  Associated Press
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  This Is How Iran Has Threatened Israel With Destruction

  The National Interest

Canada ‘Will Not Stop’ Until It Has Answers on Iran Crash

Justin Trudeau's second in command, speaking in an interview with Bloomberg TV in Davos, Switzerland, said Canada wants a “real, independent” analysis of the airplane's black box, along with transparency on what exactly happened. “I am confident we will get those answers because Canada is relentlessly focused on getting them and we will not stop until we get them,” Freeland said. Iran is under intense international pressure to provide full accountability over the circumstances that caused the crash of the Ukrainian International Airlines plane on Jan. 8.

2 elephants escaped a circus in Russia and rolled around in the snow before being recaptured

Reuters/YVES HERMAN Two circus elephants in Russia made a run for it on Thursday. The circus troupe was in the process of loading the animals into a truck when they walked away. The female elephant, Karla, rolled around in the snow in the city of Yekaterinburg.

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  Elephants play in snowy Russian streets after bid to say goodbye to the circus

  PA Media: World News
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  Elephants run away from circus to play in snow

  The Independent

Chinese University of Minnesota Student Jailed for Anti-Xi Tweets Has Been Released to Wuhan

A Chinese student of the University of Minnesota sentenced to six months in prison for posting tweets critical of president Xi Jinping has been released to his hometown of Wuhan, which is coincidentally under quarantine due to the recent coronavirus outbreak, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported on Friday. The Tribune received a message from student Luo Daiqing's university email address saying he had been released. University of Minnesota spokesman Jake Ricker told the paper that while Luo had attended for the 2018-2019 academic year, the student was not currently enrolled at the University.

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  Coronavirus: Second patient confirmed in US as outbreak raises alarms

  The Independent
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  Virus Expert on the Wuhan Coronavirus Outbreak: 'Don’t Be Complacent. We Must Treat It Extremely Seriously'

  Meredith Videos

'Kids are taking the streets': climate activists plan avalanche of events as 2020 election looms

Organizers in the youth climate movement plan an avalanche of activities beginning next week, determined to make the future of the climate the major issue of the 2020 election. Capitalizing on turnout in the September climate strikes, when 6 million people worldwide turned out to demand urgent action to address the escalating ecological emergency, young US organizers are making the leap from mobilization to demands. “The headline message of the strikes in 2020 is: the kids are taking to the streets to strike for climate and they're asking you to vote,” said Katie Eder, the executive director of Future Coalition, a communications and training hub for youth climate groups.

Schiff lobbies Chief Justice Roberts to rule on questions of executive privilege

Rep. Adam Schiff, the lead House prosecutor, called on Chief Justice John Roberts to expedite rulings on any disputes between Congress and President Trump over witness testimony and documents, if the Senate votes to allow them. “We have a very capable justice sitting in that Senate chamber empowered by the Senate rules to decide issues of evidence and privilege,” Schiff, the Democratic congressman from California leading the case for impeachment, told reporters prior to the last day of opening arguments for the House impeachment managers. Republicans have said over the past day or so that one reason to vote against subpoenas for documents and witnesses in the trial is that it would drag out the process too long, because Trump would claim executive privilege and the matter would get bogged down in the courts.

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  Dems double down on call for evidence, witnesses

  Associated Press Videos
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  Trump Takes a Break from Impeachment to Make History Speaking at Large Anti-Abortion Rally

  People

Someone paid protesters to show up at the Huawei CFO's extradition hearing and pretend they support her

CBC/Twitter Two women say they were duped into protesting in favor of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou at an extradition hearing in Vancouver, Canada. They said they were offered between 100 and 150 Canadian dollars to show up and hold signs, along with around 20 others. Both said they didn't realize what they were being asked to do, and regret it.

Chinese Uighurs in Saudi face impossible choice

His eyes brimming with tears, a Uighur student in Saudi Arabia holds out his Chinese passport -- long past its expiry date and condemning him to an uncertain fate as the kingdom grows closer to Beijing. The Chinese mission in Saudi Arabia stopped renewing passports for the ethnic Muslim minority more than two years ago, in what campaigners call a pressure tactic exercised in many countries to force the Uighur diaspora to return home. Half a dozen Uighur families in Saudi Arabia who showed AFP their passports -- a few already expired and some approaching the date -- said they dread going back to China, where over a million Uighurs are believed to be held in internment camps.

This Is What Skiing in Africa Looks Like

From the sand dunes of Namibia to South Africa's world-class Tiffindell resort, this is what makes skiing in Africa like no place on the planet Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest

China is Expanding into the Indian Ocean—Here Are Five Things the Indian Navy Can Do About It

For decades, the Indian Navy has been the dominant regional power in the Indian Ocean, and has even boasted a carrier aviation capability that was nearly unique in Asia. But as outlined in a report by the Center for New American Security (CNAS), the growth of Chinese military power in the last two decades has dramatically eclipsed India's own attempts to modernize and expand its forces—particularly in the maritime domain. This is problematic due to New Delhi's tense relations with Beijing since a 1962 border war.

Female prisoner dies after guards ‘did not stop her being beaten with soap bars’

A female prisoner died after guards did not intervene while she was being beaten with a sock filled with bars of soap, it is claimed in a lawsuit set to be heard in the US. Nicole Rathmann was attacked by another inmate as she lay on her bunk at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility. But prison wardens allegedly allowed the beating to happen without intervening.

Racist threats rattle students, faculty at university

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — Three months after a set of anonymous, threatening, racist, antisemitic and homophobic emails sent a wave of fear through the sociology department at Wake Forest University, the department chairman says he's still waiting for university leaders to announce a meaningful response. Alarmed by what he deemed white supremacist terrorism, chairman Joseph Soares canceled sociology classes for a week. When they resumed, Wake Forest police officers were stationed outside classrooms and the building itself.

Warren responds after angry dad confronts her on student loans

Warren's student loan comments begin at the 6-min. mark in video above After being confronted by a man questioning her student loan forgiveness plan, Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren dismissed his argument. "We don't build an America by saddling our kids with debt," she said on "CBS This Morning" Friday.

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  Elizabeth Warren Is Ready To Move Past The Early States

  HuffPost
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  Warren vows her organization will win primary, beat Trump

  Associated Press

Photos from the Lunar New Year show how coronavirus turned China's biggest party into a washout

Crowds gather in Ditan Park in Beijing, China. Thomas Peter/Reuters2020: Ditan Park is eerily empty as workers took down the lantern decorations after the Lunar New Year celebration was cancelled. Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters2019: Signs with the Chinese character "Fu," which means "Good luck," hang in the Forbidden City.

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  The Lunar New Year Is Fashion’s Favorite Holiday

  Refinery29
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  Lunar New Year 2020: Five things you may not know about the Spring Festival

  The Independent

How Joe Biden went from slumping to surging in Democratic presidential race in Iowa

Iowa resident Carolyn Miller had long harbored doubts about Joe Biden's candidacy, believing the former vice president was too old and too fumbling to beat President Donald Trump in November's election. Then she saw Biden, 77, speak at a community college in Fort Dodge this week. With less than two weeks before Iowa kicks off the Democratic nominating contest on Feb. 3, voters like Miller might explain Biden's recent surge to the top of opinion polls there.

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  Despite apparent preference for 'moderate' candidate, Iowans back Sanders in latest poll

  The Week
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  Warren camp warns of 'breathless media narratives' out of Iowa

  Politico

Why are California's mayors lining up to endorse Mike Bloomberg?

Bloomberg announced on Thursday that London Breed, San Francisco's first black female mayor, would serve as his campaign's chair of African Americans. “Voters re-elected London Breed by a wide margin because she is taking on the biggest and toughest issues – and she puts progress over politics,” the former New York mayor said in a statement. Breed, who previously supported the California Senator Kamala Harris in the Democratic race for the presidential nomination, said on Facebook that she is backing Bloomberg because he “is the only candidate for president with a real plan for African Americans”, touting his Greenwood Initiative to increase black home ownership and the number of black-owned businesses.

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  Kamala Harris reportedly mulling Biden endorsement amid vice president speculation

  The Independent
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  Report: Kamala Harris is considering endorsing Joe Biden

  The Week

'No one ever makes a billion dollars. You take a billion dollars': Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez slams billionaires for exploiting workers

Stephen Maturen/Getty Images People only become billionaires by exploiting workers and preying on vulnerable and less privileged people, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez argued this week. "No one ever makes a billion dollars. You take a billion dollars," the freshman congresswoman, who goes by "AOC," told author Ta-Nehisi Coates.

General Says U.S. Troops Deployed to Middle East by Trump Admin. May Be There for ‘Quite a While’

Marine General Frank McKenzie, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, warned troops deployed as part of a recent surge that he was “not sure how long you're going to stay” in the region. “You're here because I requested that you come,” McKenzie said to sailors and Marines aboard the USS Bataan amphibious assault ship, according to the Associated Press. McKenzie was addressing a small contingent of the 20,000 troops who have been deployed to the Middle East in the last eight months due to escalating tensions with Iran.

Why This 1 Missile Problem Is Creating Headaches for Iran's F-14A Tomcats

Key point: Tehran cherishes its American-made F-14 Tomcats, but those fighters are getting very old. Among the many problems facing Iran's F-14s are a lack of missiles. Iran's F-14A Tomcats are an anomaly in the region.

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  Can the U.S. Military Survive in the Missile Era?

  The National Interest
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  Iran Cannot Defeat American Stealth Planes, but They Could Cause Real Damage

  The National Interest

Mexico seeks US extradition of drug lord's son for reporter murder

Mexico is seeking the extradition from the United States of the son of a Sinaloa cartel drug lord over the 2017 murder of acclaimed journalist Javier Valdez, the attorney general's office said Thursday. Damaso Lopez Serrano, the son of former top "El Chapo" lieutenant Damaso Lopez Nunez "El Licenciado", is accused of being the mastermind behind the killing of Valdez. An arrest warrant for Lopez Serrano was approved Thursday afternoon after prosecutors interviewed members of the Sinaloa cartel who testified against him, the attorney general's office said in a statement.

• Mexico issues arrest warrant in killing of journalist Valdéz

  Associated Press
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  Mexico seeks U.S. extradition of drug lord's son over killing of reporter

  Yahoo News Video

Belarus' leader blasts Russia for pushing merger of 2 states

The president of Belarus on Friday accused Moscow of pressuring his country to merge with Russia and vowed not to let it happen. Talking to workers of a paper plant in eastern Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko lambasted Russia, the country's main provider of cheap oil and gas, for halting oil supplies in order "to dissolve Belarus ... in the brotherly Russia.