- PoliticsYahoo News
There are only three viable presidential candidates, according to Mike Bloomberg's campaign
Only three candidates out of the more than half dozen vying for the White House have a viable path to the nomination, a senior official for the Mike Bloomberg campaign told reporters Tuesday. Bloomberg states director Dan Kanninen said that “we are really down to a race where there are three people left who could really be considered viable to be sworn into office next year, and that's Bernie Sanders, Mike Bloomberg and Donald Trump,” he said in a conference call with reporters. The blunt statement provides a window into how the campaign views the other established frontrunners, including former Vice President Joe Biden and former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg.
- U.S.Associated Press
US judge sides with migrants in case against Border Patrol
A U.S. judge in Arizona sided Wednesday with migrants who have long-complained about inhumane and unsanitary conditions in some U.S. Border Patrol facilities in the state. The ruling came weeks after the conclusion of a seven-day trial in which attorneys for migrants who sued in 2015 argued that the agency holds immigrants in extremely cold, overcrowded, unsanitary and inhumane conditions. The order makes permanent a preliminary injunction that U.S. District Court Judge David C. Bury issued in 2016 requiring the Tucson Sector to provide clean mats and thin blankets to migrants held for longer than 12 hours and to allow them to clean themselves.
WorldAFPMalaysia suspected MH370 downed in murder-suicide: Aussie ex-PM
Former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott has claimed "very top" level Malaysian officials believed vanished Flight MH370 was deliberately downed by the captain in a mass murder-suicide. No sign of the plane was found in a 120,000-square kilometre (46,000-square mile) Indian Ocean search zone and the Australian-led search, the largest in aviation history, was suspended in January 2017. The disappearance of the plane has long been the subject of a host of theories -- ranging from the credible to outlandish -- including that veteran pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah had gone rogue.
- U.S.USA TODAY
Hate crimes go unchecked at Syracuse University, students say
A student activist group that took over a Syracuse University administration building to protest long-simmering charges of racism and bias on campus rejected an attempt by the school to end its three-day sit-in, the school said in a statement Wednesday. The black-led movement #NotAgainSU launched the sit-in at Crouse-Hinds Hall with more than 20 students Monday to protest the administration's handling of racial incidents at the university. The university's Department of Public Safety sealed off the building and hasn't allowed in food or medicine since Tuesday, according to The Daily Orange, the university's independent newspaper.
- EntertainmentArchitectural Digest
9 Rural Farms of the 21st Century Featuring Stunning Modern Design
From Italy to Tasmania, a new book covers those farms with an eye on both sustainability and beautiful design Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
- U.S.NBC News
Body of missing college student found in Georgia, boyfriend arrested
Police found the body of a missing college student in Georgia and the young woman's boyfriend has been arrested on other charges, authorities said Wednesday. Anitra Lashay Gunn, a senior studying agriculture at Fort Valley State University, was found Tuesday afternoon in a wooded area off Greer Road in Crawford County near the border of Peach County, according to a Georgia Bureau of Investigation statement. "The body was partially covered," appearing that someone had tried to hide it, Peach County Sheriff Terry Deese told reporters at the scene on Tuesday.
- WorldBusiness Insider
China kicked out 3 Wall Street Journal reporters after it published an op-ed using a term that invokes the biggest humiliation in Chinese history
Reuters/Pool China is expelling three Wall Street Journal reporters, accusing the newspaper of publishing a racist headline about the country's battle with coronavirus. On February 3, the Journal had published an op-ed by a foreign-affairs academic titled "China Is the Real Sick Man of Asia." The "sick man of Asia" is a 19th-century term that referred to a time when China was internally divided and exploited by foreign powers — a period that still deeply humiliates the country's leadership.
- U.S.INSIDER
ICE says it plans to destroy a trove of detention records, including numbers on detainee deaths and sexual assaults
Customs & Border Protection Agency/Reuters The National Archives and Records Administration approved ICE's request to destroy years of detention records last year. The records included in the trove contain information related to deaths of detainees and allegations of sexual assault and abuse of detainees in December. On Tuesday, the ACLU filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to retrieve the documents before they are erased.
- U.S.AccuWeather
Pilots aboard Hurricane Hunter plane chasing a winter storm experience strange phenomenon
An experienced hurricane hunting crew chasing a winter storm came across a far different discovery this past weekend. In what is know as St. Elmo's fire, footage of the forking electric discharge was captured on Saturday by pilots as the spectacle flashed throughout the cockpit. The video, captured by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Aircraft Operations Center (AOC), was taken as pilots flew across the Atlantic Ocean amid thunderstorms.
- U.S.Yahoo News
Trump declares himself 'chief law enforcement officer' as he issues numerous pardons
President Trump on Tuesday exercised his pardon power, granting clemency to or commuting the sentences of nearly a dozen people convicted of crimes, including former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and junk bond pioneer Michael Milken. Trump also referred to himself as the nation's “chief law enforcement officer,” a title typically reserved for the attorney general. On Tuesday morning, the White House announced Trump's pardoning of former San Francisco 49ers owner Edward DeBartolo Jr. for his involvement in a 1998 corruption case against former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards.
- PoliticsThe Independent
Bloomberg referred to trans women as 'some guy in a dress' in second resurfaced video
In a video recorded last year, presidential hopeful Mike Bloomberg refers to transgender women as “some guy in a dress.” This is the second time Mr Bloomberg has been recorded making such statements in recent years. The March 2019 video also has Mr Bloomberg referring to transgender people as “he, she or it” in comments aimed at warning 2020 Democratic candidates against emphasising transgender issues, arguing that they would not play well in parts of America. Mr Bloomberg joins the other Democrat candidates on stage tonight in his first debate of the primaries — the ninth for the other contenders.
- WorldAssociated Press
Maduro accused of "disappearing" US oilmen as trial delayed
Family members of six American oil executives jailed in Venezuela are accusing Nicolas Maduro's government of “forced disappearance” after the men were inexplicably missing for the scheduled start of their trial on Wednesday. Veronica Vadell said that lawyers for her father, Tomeu Vadell, and the five other executives from Houston-based Citgo had been waiting at a Caracas courthouse for more than six hours for the men to be transferred by the nation's intelligence police. The arrest took place the same day opposition leader Juan Guaidó met with President Donald Trump at the White House, fueling speculation the detention was politically motivated.
WorldAFPRussia raises eyebrows with blanket ban on Chinese visitors
Moscow is to impose a blanket ban on Chinese visitors over coronavirus fears in a move that will hit its tourism industry as experts question the need for such "draconian" measures. Moscow will ban all Chinese citizens from entering its territory from Thursday. It has already halted visa-free tourism for Chinese nationals and stopped issuing them with work visas and suspended rail links and restricted air travel.
- PoliticsNational Review
Hunter Biden Served on Board of Trade Group That Lobbied Obama Admin for Increased Ukraine Aid: Report
Hunter Biden, son of former vice president Joe Biden, was on the board of a trade group that lobbied the Obama administration for increased U.S. aid to Ukraine, according to a report Tuesday. From 2012 through 2018, the younger Biden served as a director for the Center for U.S. Global Leadership and was connected as well with its affiliate, the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, The Daily Caller reported. The two groups, which include about 400 larger corporations and non-government organizations, lobbied for increased spending abroad by the State Department's International Affairs Budget, including a special focus on Ukraine.
- U.S.NBC News
Missing 6-year-old South Carolina girl's death ruled homicide by asphyxiation
A child's polka dot boot and a soup ladle with fresh dirt on it led police to the body of a 6-year-old kidnapping and homicide victim, South Carolina police said Tuesday. First grader Faye Marie Swetlik, who was found last week near her home in Cayce, a suburb of Columbia, died by asphyxiation at the hands of a neighbor, officials revealed. "Faye Swetlik's death did not occur at the location where her body was discovered," Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher told reporters.
- WorldBusiness Insider
A Japanese disease expert who inspected the Diamond Princess said he was 'so scared' of catching the coronavirus because hygiene on the cruise ship was so bad
NHK/YouTube/Kentato Iwata An infectious-diseases expert who inspected the Diamond Princess in Japan said in a video on Tuesday that hygiene on the quarantined cruise ship was so bad that he was "so scared" of contracting the novel coronavirus on board. Kentaro Iwata, who was on the ground during the Ebola and SARS outbreaks, said he "never had fear" of getting those diseases but was terrified of getting the coronavirus on the Diamond Princess. People on the ship have been quarantined in Yokohama Bay since February 3, though some governments evacuated their citizens this week.
- PoliticsPolitico
Loathing in Las Vegas: Amy and Pete’s resentment boils over
Amy Klobuchar made sure there would be no post-debate handshake with Pete Buttigieg. After a series of cutting exchanges during Wednesday's presidential debate, Klobuchar cut around Buttigieg without a glance in his direction as they stepped away from their neighboring podiums following Wednesday's Democratic showdown. Klobuchar and Buttigieg have fought before over their experience and their political records in past debates — but the feud took a deeply personal turn.
WorldYahoo News VideoFormer Australian PM suspected pilot of mass-murder mission in MH370 tragedy
Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has said the “top levels” of the Malaysian government long suspected that the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 almost six years ago was a mass murder-suicide by the pilot.
- PoliticsThe Guardian
Group of more than 1,000 judges calls emergency meeting amid Trump concerns
A national association of federal judges has called an emergency meeting to address growing concerns about the intervention of Donald Trump and justice department officials in politically sensitive cases, according to US media reports. Cynthia Rufe, a Philadelphia US district judge who heads the independent Federal Judges Association, which has more than 1,100 members, told USA Today the group “could not wait” until its spring conference to discuss the matter. The meeting comes after more than 2,000 former US justice department officials, including some of the top government lawyers in the country, called on the attorney general, William Barr, to resign in the wake of the Roger Stone scandal.
- PoliticsThe Week
Elizabeth Warren came out swinging against 'arrogant billionaire' Mike Bloomberg
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) skipped the pleasantries during Wednesday night's Democratic debate in Nevada. Just three minutes into the debate, after former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has no chance of beating President Trump in November due to his Medicare-for-all policy, Warren quickly interjected and brought up allegations that Bloomberg has a long history of making sexist comments. "I'd like to talk about who we're running against — a billionaire who calls women 'fat broads' and 'horse-faced lesbians,'" she said.
- WorldAssociated Press
Pope tenderly kissed on forehead by man in front-row seat
Well-wishers at Pope Francis' weekly audience have thrust soccer T-shirts, flowers and many a wailing baby into his arms. On Wednesday, Francis seemed to thoroughly enjoy a surprise expression of affection: a long, tender kiss planted on his forehead by a man in one of the front-row seats reserved for ailing or disabled people at the end of his audience. Francis appeared to be smiling when the man, who stood up when the pontiff approached to greet him and others in the front row, pulled the pope's head toward him and gave a kiss lasting several seconds, pressing his nose against Francis' forehead in the process.
- WorldThe Independent
Coronavirus: Self-quarantined family shunned as neighbour calls 911 on them
A California family in self-quarantine over the coronavirus after a visit to China have found themselves shunned, and even had the police called on them. Amy Deng and her eight-year-old daughter, Daisy, have no symptoms, but following a trip to visit family in Guangzhou over Chinese New Year, they are in self-quarantine monitored by local officials in Santa Rosa, The East Bay Times reports. Ms Deng has closed up her acupuncture and herbal medicine practice with a neighbouring tenant not even allowing her through the shared lobby to pick up client records for fear of the virus.
PoliticsYahoo News VideoReport: Obama reportedly expects he'll have to play a 'prominent role' in uniting Democrats this summer
The New York Magazine reports former president Barack Obama's radio silence on the 2020 Democratic primary is part of a "choreographed strategy" on the part of Obama, who is "increasingly sure he will need to play a prominent role in bringing the party back together and calming its tensions later this summer."
WorldAFPFormer South Korean president jailed after losing appeal
Former South Korean president Lee Myung-bak was taken to prison Wednesday to begin a 17-year term for bribery and embezzlement after losing an appeal against a lighter sentence. Lee, in office from 2008 to 2013, was briefly jailed in 2018 after being sentenced to 15 years and fined 13 billion won ($11 million), but was granted bail while he appealed. He was found guilty of creating slush funds of tens of millions of dollars and accepting bribes from Samsung Electronics in return for a presidential pardon for its chairman, Lee Kun-hee, who was jailed for tax evasion.
- U.S.Business Insider
2 socialites have reportedly died after their Mercedes fell off a ferry leaving the most expensive ZIP code in the United States
Fisher Island, a private, man-made island off the coast of Miami, is known for being the richest ZIP code in the US, where the average income of residents is $2.2 million and the median home value is roughly $2.9 million. Police recovered and identified the bodies as socialites Emma Afra and Viviane Brahms, according to The Miami Herald. A blue Mercedes-Benz inexplicably rolled off the Fisher Island Ferry on Tuesday at around 5 p.m., killing the two women sitting in the car, according to The Miami Herald.
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