How South Korea’s Coronavirus Outbreak Got so Quickly out of Control

Buses and subways in Seoul, the normally crowded South Korean capital, were unusually quiet on Monday, and social media was filled with posts with the hashtag “work from home.” South Koreans work some of the longest hours in the world, and companies tend to frown on allowing employees to telecommute. This drastic departure from the conventions of corporate culture are a sign of how the country is scrambling to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. The country's public health authorities have for the past several days reported drastic increases in the number of cases here, with 231 new cases on Monday, bringing the total number to 833, with more than 11,600 people undergoing diagnostic testing.

• 
  South Korea becomes biggest coronavirus centre outside China

  AFP Relax News
• 
  Xi says China facing 'big test' with virus, global impact spreads

  AFP

Roger Stone Will Push for New Trial at Tuesday Hearing

Roger Stone, the Republican operative who was sentenced last week to three years and four months in prison for lying to Congress and tampering with a witness, will make his argument for a new trial at a hearing in Washington. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson scheduled a Tuesday afternoon hearing on Stone's sealed motion for a new trial, according to court records. The hearing is currently closed to the public, but Jackson said she'll also consider Stone's request to make it public.

• 
  Judge Amy Berman Jackson rejects Roger Stone's bid to disqualify her from the case

  USA TODAY
• 
  'Truth still matters': Judge sentences Roger Stone to 3 years in prison for obstructing Congress' Russia investigation

  USA TODAY

A California man drove his Jeep off the roof of a six-level parking garage and crashed into a McDonald's, police say

Police in California are investigating after a man drove his Jeep off the roof of a six-level parking garage and into a McDonald's across the street. Police responded just after midnight Sunday and found a newer-model Jeep against a building, the Santa Monica Police Department said in a press release. The Santa Monica Fire Department reported it received information that the Jeep had been driven off the top of a parking garage.

Chinese court jails Hong Kong bookseller for 10 years, Sweden objects

A Chinese court sentenced Chinese-born Swedish citizen Gui Minhai to 10 years in jail for illegally providing intelligence overseas on Monday, the Ningbo Intermediate People's Court said in a statement on its website. Gui, a bookseller previously based in Hong Kong who sold books critical of China's political leadership, was detained by mainland police in 2018. He was seized by plainclothes police while with Swedish diplomats.

• 
  China sentences Swedish bookseller to 10 years in prison

  Associated Press
• 
  Four years after his disappearance, China sentenced a Hong Kong bookseller to 10 years in prison

  Quartz

Nine of the World’s Most Beautiful Outdoor Saunas

From Seattle to Oslo, these outdoor saunas take relaxation and high-design to the next level Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest

China said it would relax its lockdown of Wuhan's 11 million residents, only to immediately reintroduce it

Wuhan announced on Monday that some people who are deemed healthy will be allowed to leave the city, whose transport links have been severed since January 23. China's decision to lock down Wuhan and nearby cities is the largest quarantine in human history, with the World Health Organization calling it an unprecedented step that's it's not sure will work. The Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the deadly coronavirus outbreak, relaxed the unprecedented quarantine restrictions on its 11 million citizens on Monday, only to almost immediately reverse that decision and reimpose the lockdown of the city.

• 
  Wuhan’s easing of coronavirus lockdown measures lasted all of three hours

  Quartz
• 
  Kashmiri evacuees from Wuhan face a different lockdown after fleeing the coronavirus

  Quartz

Trump Admin. Considers Booting Chinese Reporters in Response to ‘Egregious’ Expulsion of WSJ Journalists: Report

The Trump administration is considering whether to expel Chinese journalists in response to China's own expulsion of three Wall Street Journal reporters, Bloomberg News reported on Monday. A meeting will be held at the White House on Monday to discuss the administration's options. The meeting will be led by deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger, who himself was a Journal reporter based in Beijing.

Tom Steyer has paid more than $40,000 to rent a property owned by Jim Clyburn's daughter

Billionaire Tom Steyer is facing some criticism over his spending in South Carolina, a state where his Democratic presidential campaign is making some legitimate headway. Some people have even accused him of trying to buy votes from the state's African-American voters, which Steyer and many others have adamantly denied, The New York Times reports. One thing that's been particularly scrutinized is the Steyer campaign's rental agreement with a company owned by Jennifer Clyburn Reed, the daughter of Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), the highest-ranking African American in Congress whose endorsement is considered key in South Carolina.

• 
  Clyburn thinks Sanders may make it tougher for Democrats to keep House majority

  The Week
• 
  South Carolina Kingmaker Representative Clyburn to Endorse Biden in Bid to Slow Sanders

  National Review

Probe into abuse at America's oldest deaf school finds 'appalling truths'

An investigation into inappropriate conduct at America's oldest school for deaf people corroborated multiple allegations of sexual and physical abuse that stretched decades, school officials said. In a report, officials at the American School for the Deaf, in West Hartford, Connecticut, said Friday that the allegations involved former dorm supervisors, a maintenance worker, a dean and the school's longtime executive director. "The results of this investigation reveal startling and appalling truths," Executive Director Jeffrey S. Bravin and Catherine Burns, president of the board of directors, said in the report.

Iran official running anti-coronavirus task force has virus

The head of Iran's counter-coronavirus task force has tested positive for the virus himself, authorities announced Tuesday, showing the challenges facing the Islamic Republic amid concerns the outbreak may be far wider than officially acknowledged. The announcement regarding Iraj Harirchi came after he gave a news conference with journalists in Tehran about the virus just one day prior, seeking to minimize the danger posed by the outbreak. The United Arab Emirates on Tuesday meanwhile banned all flights to and from Iran over the outbreak of the new coronavirus, just a day after its spread from the Islamic Republic was announced across multiple Mideast nations.

• 
  Iran neighbours impose travel bans as coronavirus toll rises

  AFP
• 
  Virus pushes beyond Asia, taking aim at Europe, Mideast

  Associated Press

President Trump, first lady visit Taj Mahal in India

President Trump, who once owned the former Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, N.J., took in breathtaking views of the real Taj Mahal Monday in India. As Trump walked from the iconic 17th century mausoleum, he told reporters that it is s an “incredible place.

• 
  Trump In India: Cricket, Vegetarian Food, Fun With Pronunciation

  CBSTV Videos
• 
  Trump kicked off his India visit with roaring crowds, a stop at Gandhi's home, and a massive rally

  INSIDER

Did New Spy Chief Richard Grenell Advise George Clooney?

Before becoming President Donald Trump's ambassador to Germany and acting director of national intelligence, Richard “Ric” Grenell had a bare-knuckled career in public relations. The Republican operative served as spokesman at the United Nations during the George W. Bush administration and then moved to Capitol Media Partners, a firm that represented a host of clients. Grenell's work in private practice for foreign clients has drawn scrutiny, particularly work for a Moldovan oligarch and a nonprofit funded largely by a far-right Hungarian political party.

Trial to begin of former French PM Fillon over fake jobs scandal

Former French prime minister Francois Fillon and his wife Penelope go on trial on Monday over a fake jobs scandal that wrecked his 2017 run for president and opened the Elysee Palace door for Emmanuel Macron. Fillon's bid for the presidency unraveled after allegations he paid his wife hundreds of thousands of euros for doing little, if any, work as his parliamentary assistant. A consummate political insider who was prime minister under Nicolas Sarkozy's presidency, Fillon was the comfortable frontrunner in the election race when the allegations surfaced.

• 
  Former French prime minister and wife go on trial for fraud

  Associated Press
• 
  French court delays fraud trial for ex-premier Fillon

  AFP

China Is Trying to Compare the Flu to Coronavirus. That Sounds Like Fake News.

Early on in the outset of the coronavirus pandemic, the receptionist at the hotel I was staying at in China asked me if it was true that the United States was experiencing an epidemic of influenza that killed 61,000 people last year. In skimming the Chinese news, I had seen some mentions of the flu “epidemic” in the U.S. I classified it as typical misdirection, the kind of subtle criticism of the U.S. that China's state-owned media engages in from time to time when they are embarrassed, frustrated, or trying to advance a foreign policy goal. Turns out the 61,000 death toll estimate comes from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, making it all the more fun for China to cite in order to boost their trolling credibility.

North Korea has yet to officially report any coronavirus cases. But it just quarantined 380 foreigners.

Kyodo News via Getty Images Three-hundred eighty foreigners in Pyongyang, North Korea, have been placed in medical quarantine, state media reported Monday. The isolated, secretive country has yet to announce any cases of the novel coronavirus. On February 19, the World Health Organization announced it had "no indications" North Korea was facing an outbreak.

• 
  Feds backtrack on transfer of quarantined coronavirus patients to Alabama

  ABC News
• 
  World is on the brink of a coronavirus pandemic, warn virologists, as four more cases emerge in Britain

  The Telegraph

Senate FISA Abuse Investigation to Focus on Mystery Source Who Contradicted Steele Dossier

Senator Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) on Sunday told Fox News the Senate's investigation into FBI abuse of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act will focus on interviews the agency conducted with a Russian source who contradicted much of the information in the Steele dossier. The first thing I want to do is call the people who heard from Russian sub-source that this dossier is a bunch of bar talk and hearsay,” Graham said on Fox's Sunday Morning Futures. I want to find out when did [former FBI director James] Comey and [former FBI deputy director Andrew] McCabe understand it was not reliable and start from there.

14 products dermatologists recommend for soothing redness and rosacea

To help you tackle red, irritated skin, we consulted top dermatologists for their favorite products. "This cleanser is very gentle on reactive or sensitive skin, which most patients with rosacea have. It also contains feverfew, an ingredient known to decrease redness and help with irritation," said Noelani González, MD, director of cosmetic dermatology at Mount Sinai West in New York City.

German Carnival floats take aim at racism in wake of attack

Biting commentary on racism in Germany featured prominently Monday among Carnival floats in western cities, hastily put together in the aftermath of a deadly far-right attack last week near Frankfurt. The floats for parades in Cologne, Duesseldorf, Mainz and elsewhere are notorious for their no-holds-barred satire, and also took aim at Brexit, the potential candidates to take over leadership of Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU party, and U.S. President Donald Trump. Last Wednesday, a 43-year-old German man who had posted a racist screed online advocating genocide gunned down nine people of foreign background in the Frankfurt suburb of Hanau, before apparently killing himself and his mother.

• 
  Several injured as car hits crowd at German carnival

  PA Media: World News
• 
  Dozens including children, injured after a man intentionally drove his Mercedes Benz into a crowded carnival parade in Germany

  INSIDER

MSNBC host urged to quit after comparing Bernie Sanders win in Nevada to Nazi invasion

MSNBC's Chris Matthews is under fire after comparing Bernie Sanders' victory in the Nevada caucuses to the Nazi invasion of France in 1940. The 'Hardball' host is now under pressure to resign after invoking the historical comparison during an on-air conversation with Brian Williams. In the widely shared clip, he analyses the vote tally of Mr Sanders and compares his strong early performance to the lacklustre voting numbers of Joe Biden and other moderates.

• 
  Nevada caucus results delayed for hours, Buttigieg camp claims 'irregularities'

  NBC News
• 
  Time for Pete Buttigieg to Quit

  The National Interest

Erdogan Falters in Efforts to Bring Europeans Into Syria Talks

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's effort to co-opt European leaders to try to defuse a potential new refugee crisis in Syria has faltered, with Russia ruling out a four-way meeting at this time with the heads of Germany and France. Erdogan on Tuesday offered to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss fighting in northwest Syria that could touch off that crisis and send hundreds of thousands of refugees spilling into Turkey and from there into Europe.

• 
  Turkey-backed rebels say they've seized town in Syria's Idlib in first advance

  Reuters
• 
  Syrian troops press ahead with campaign as strike kills 3

  Associated Press

Supreme court denies Rodney Reed appeal

The United States Supreme Court on Monday denied an appeal from Texas death row inmate Rodney Reed. But while the petition for a review of his case was denied, Justice Sonia Sotomayor left the door open for further appeals pending the outcome of upcoming hearings. "There is no escaping the pall of uncertainty over Reed's conviction," Sotomayor wrote.

Republicans raise U.S. drug supply concerns after coronavirus outbreak

Republicans raised concerns this week about the security of the U.S. drug supply chain in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in China, where a significant portion of the ingredients used to make prescription drugs is manufactured. The outbreak highlights "severe, longstanding, and unresolved vulnerabilities in our capacity to produce life-saving pharmaceutical drugs and medical devices for our own citizens," Missouri Senator Josh Hawley wrote in a letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Around 88 percent of the active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) used in drugs for the U.S. market were manufactured overseas in 2018, according to the FDA https://www.fda.gov/media/131130/download.

Fake News or Reality? Did F-35s from Israel Fly Over Iran?

Key point: An Israeli strike in Iran would be risky even with F-35s, given distance to the target and Iranian air defenses... Israel's F-35 stealth fighters are positively supernatural: here, there and everywhere. In 2018, the Israeli Air Force claimed its new F-35s had attacked Iranian targets in Syria.