- WorldYahoo News
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.
- U.S.Associated Press
Police: Couple forced boys off road, angered by Trump flags
A northwestern Indiana couple allegedly used a car to force two teenage boys off a road, angered that the twin brothers were riding bicycles adorned with flags supporting President Donald Trump, before ripping one of the sibling's flag from his bike, police said Friday. Hobart police said Snapchat videos helped officers secure charges against Kyren Gregory Perry-Jones, 23, and Cailyn Marie Smith, 18, in connection with a July 22 incident. Police Capt. James Gonzales said the Hobart couple are accused of driving in their car, running the 14-year-old boys off of the road, and making threats toward them.
- WorldBusiness Insider
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 346 confirmed cases. The government has urged the 2.5 million people in Daegu to stay in their homes and has banned some public gatherings.
- PoliticsUSA TODAY
Poll: Bernie Sanders surging ahead of the pack among California voters
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders is pulling ahead of the pack in California, according to a new poll which shows roughly 24% of likely voters support him in the delegate-rich state. The new Monmouth University Poll, released Thursday, has Joe Biden in second with 17%, followed by Mike Bloomberg with 10%. With just two weeks until the March 3 primary, 13% of likely voters are still undecided on their pick to challenge President Donald Trump for the White House in November.
U.S.AFPQuadruple 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.
- WorldThe National Interest
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.
- LifestyleArchitectural Digest
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
PoliticsYahoo News VideoFormer 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.
- WorldThe Week
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.
- U.S.NBC News
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."
- U.S.Associated Press
AP Exclusive: DEA agent accused of conspiring with cartel
A once-standout U.S. federal narcotics agent known for spending lavishly on luxury cars and Tiffany jewelry has been arrested on charges of conspiring to launder money with the same Colombian drug cartel he was supposed to be fighting. Jose Irizarry and his wife were arrested Friday at their home near San Juan, Puerto Rico, as part of a 19-count federal indictment that accused the 46-year-old Irizarry of “secretly using his position and his special access to information” to divert millions in drug proceeds from control of the Drug Enforcement Administration. “It's a black eye for the DEA to have one of its own engaged in such a high level of corruption," said Mike Vigil, the DEA's former Chief of International Operations.
- WorldBusiness Insider
At least 5 people in China have disappeared, gotten arrested, or been silenced after speaking out about the coronavirus — here's what we know about them
Whistleblowers and citizen journalists in China are speaking out against the Chinese Communist Party and President Xi Jinping's handling of the coronavirus outbreak that originated in Wuhan. Wuhan doctor Li Wenliang contracted the coronavirus after being silenced by local police. Other citizen journalists and critics in China have been censored or arrested after sharing information about the outbreak.
- PoliticsThe Daily Beast
Fox’s Chris Wallace: Trump Has ‘Good Reason’ to Be ‘Paranoid’ About Pelosi, Schiff
Fox News anchor Chris Wallace said on Friday that it wasn't unreasonable for President Donald Trump to consider House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) “as an enemy,” adding the president has “good reason” to be a “little paranoid” that Schiff and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would weaponize intelligence about Russian interference against him. Multiple outlets, including The Daily Beast, reported Thursday that intelligence officials briefed House lawmakers earlier this month that Russia was interfering in the 2020 election to assist Trump once again.
- PoliticsThe Independent
Ilhan Omar accuses Meghan McCain of hypocrisy towards 'Bernie bros' over online attacks
Representative Ilhan Omar has accused The View's Meghan McCain of hypocrisy for her opinions about Bernie Sanders supporters and their online attacks given her own social media behaviour. "The same people who chastise the progressive movement regularly traffic in anti-Muslim smears and hate speech against me and those I represent," the freshman representative wrote in a tweet Thursday. "It's almost as if they don't genuinely care about online harassment," she added.
- PoliticsThe National Interest
Kill Shot: Did Elizabeth Warren Just Knock Michael Bloomberg Out of the Presidential Race?
Last night former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg made his first appearance on the 2020 Democratic debate stage to optically disastrous results (others disagree, see this). As predicted, Elizabeth Warren was on the offensive throughout the debate, launching direct verbal attacks on her opponents in an attempt to resuscitate her dwindling campaign ahead of Super Tuesday. “Democrats are not going to win if we have a nominee who has a history of hiding his tax returns, of harassing women, and of supporting racist policies like redlining and stop and frisk.” She followed this statement by assuring viewers she would still support Bloomberg if he was the Democratic nominee.
- WorldReuters
World must act fast to contain coronavirus: WHO's Tedros
GENEVA/LONDON (Reuters) - The window of opportunity to contain wider international spread of the epidemic of the new coronavirus disease is closing, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Friday, after cases were reported in Iran and Lebanon. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, asked whether the outbreak is at a "tipping point" after new cases and deaths in Iran from COVID-19, and cases in Lebanon and Canada, said that he still believed the virus spread could be stopped. "Although the window of opportunity is narrowing to contain the outbreak, we still have a chance to contain it," he said.
- WorldThe Conversation
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.
- U.S.USA TODAY
Man tied to former Rep. Katie Hill's campaign arrested for hacking website of opponent in 2018
Federal agents arrested a man in California on Friday on a charge of computer hacking for attacks that disrupted the website of a California Democratic congressional candidate in 2018. The man, Arthur Dam, is married to a former fundraiser for the campaign of former Rep. Katie Hill, who won the race for California's 25th District, according to a criminal complaint. Hill later resigned from office after nude photos of her were published on a conservative blog and allegations surfaced of an inappropriate relationship with staffers.
- U.S.NBC News
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.
- U.S.Associated Press
Housing crisis: Berkeley law would put renters first
The mayor of Berkeley, California, proposed a new housing policy Thursday aimed at giving renters first dibs when a property goes up for sale, as the state battles a severe housing shortage and homelessness that Gov. Gavin Newsom has declared his top priority. Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin announced a proposed ordinance to give renters "the first refusal and right to purchase" when their apartment buildings or rented homes are put on the market. Berkeley's city council will vote on the idea later this month.
- WorldBusiness Insider
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.
- WorldThe Daily Beast
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.
- PoliticsThe Week
Trump's intelligence shakeup is reportedly tied to his loathing for Adam Schiff, bond with Devin Nunes
President Trump berated outgoing acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire on Valentine's Day because he was upset over an election security intelligence briefing for the House Intelligence Committee on Feb. 13, several major newspapers reported late Thursday. Trump was reportedly angry that Shelby Pierson, the election threat czar at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, had briefed lawmakers without his knowledge, and also that she had told them Russia is currently interfering in the 2020 election with the goal of helping Trump win re-election. Specifically, Trump was furious that Pierson had briefed House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), The Washington Post reports.
- WorldThe National Interest
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.
- PoliticsReuters
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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