- PoliticsYahoo News
Pompeo savaged by Democrats on Capitol Hill over coronavirus, Iran
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo faced intense criticism Friday from Democrats on Capitol Hill, who questioned him on the Trump administration's response to the growing coronavirus threat, as well as the persistent threat from foes like Iran. “I don't think you're telling us the truth,” said Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, speaking specifically of last month's killing of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, which the administration has struggled to justify. Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Fla., made a similar point about the administration's coronavirus response, wondering how Americans could trust a president who has a long history of saying things that are demonstrably untrue.
- PoliticsYahoo News
New Yahoo News/YouGov poll: Who is strongest against Trump? Must-win states and swing voters show Biden holds edge over Sanders
A new Yahoo News/YouGov poll suggests that Sanders could be a riskier nominee than his supporters are willing to admit. In a national trial heat with Trump, Sanders led 48 percent to 42 percent among registered voters. Yet when the playing field was narrowed to the 10 states that were closest in the 2016 presidential election and that will likely decide 2020 — Michigan, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Florida, Minnesota, Nevada, Maine, North Carolina and Arizona — Sanders's lead over Trump was slashed in half (48 percent to 45 percent).
- U.S.USA TODAY
More than 30,000 pounds of yogurt spilled on New York highway after accident
A tractor trailer carrying more than 30,000 pounds of yogurt in western New York jackknifed on a highway Thursday afternoon, causing the packs of yogurt to spill onto the roadway. The incident occurred as the truck was heading westbound on I-86 in the town of Ellery, Chautauqua County, near the Pennsylvania border. A second tractor-trailer struck the disabled first truck and then hit the guiderail, State Police said.
- ScienceNBC News
Spooky 'blood snow' invades Antarctic island
It's summer in Antarctica, which means record-high temperatures, jarring glacial melt and — in a very metal symbol of our changing climate — a bit of blood-red snow spattered across the Antarctic Peninsula. Over the past several weeks, the ice around Ukraine's Vernadsky Research Base (located on Galindez Island, off the coast of Antarctica's northernmost peninsula) has been coated in what researchers are calling "raspberry snow." A Facebook post by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine shows the scene in full detail: streaks of red and pink slashing across the edges of glaciers and puddling on the frosty plains.
- U.S.The Independent
Man whose son was found encased in cement sentenced to 72 years in prison
A Colorado man whose seven-year-old son was repeatedly abused before being found encased in concrete in a Denver storage unit has been sentenced to 72 years in prison for the death. Leland Pankey received the sentence on Friday, with one count of child abuse landing him 48 years in prison and 24 years for tampering with the body. The man's wife, Elisha Pankey, is awaiting sentencing in April after pleading guilty to similar charges, according to the Denver Post.
- U.S.The Week
There are now 4 coronavirus cases of unknown origin in the U.S.
There are now four presumptive cases of the coronavirus with no known origin in the United States — one in Oregon, one in Washington state, and two in Northern California — and the Centers for Disease Control said in a state Friday that "unprecedented efforts have been taken to contain the spread." The patients tested positive locally, though they are still awaiting confirmation from the CDC. Most of the 67 confirmed cases in the United States so far have been traced to travel to Asia (the disease originated in Wuhan, China), but the four cases mentioned have occurred without any related travel history.
- LifestyleArchitectural Digest
25 Glass Coffee Tables for Any and Every Living Room
Could we be any clearer? Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
- WorldAssociated Press
Serbia passes law in response to missing babies scandal
Serbian lawmakers on Saturday approved a long-awaited law that aims to shed light on the fate of hundreds of children whose parents fear might have been stolen from birth clinics throughout the Balkan country. Two lawmakers abstained. The high number of absent lawmakers was unrelated to the bill, but an ongoing boycott of parliament sessions by opposition parties and other reasons.
- U.S.The Guardian
UC Santa Cruz fires 54 graduate students participating in months-long strike
The University of California, Santa Cruz, issued termination letters on Friday to 54 graduate students who have been waging a months-long strike for a cost-of-living-adjustment amid soaring rents. The firings came as graduate students at the University of California, Davis, and University of California, Santa Barbara, began their own cost-of-living strikes in solidarity. One of their demands is that all UC Santa Cruz graduate workers who participated in strike activities be restored to full employment status.
- U.S.Yahoo News
New coronavirus cases in Northern California raise alarm
A second case of coronavirus spread by community transmission was reported in Northern California on Friday, and a student at the University of California, Davis, was being tested for infection with the virus. A 65-year-old resident of Santa Clara County, which encompasses most of Silicon Valley, was diagnosed with the virus. The patient has not traveled recently to countries experiencing outbreaks, meaning the infection was contracted locally, implying that the virus is spreading domestically.
- PoliticsUSA TODAY Opinion
Biden's South Carolina win gives me hope that Democrats will reject Sanders and beat Trump
Heading for the lifeboats just days ago Presidential campaigns area like small boats in high seas, buffeted by massive waves of political momentum. A candidacy that looks dead in the water in December, like John Kerry's in the 2004 cycle, can be cruising to the nomination in March. And a smooth sailing front-runner, like Hillary Clinton in 2008, can be capsized by reality when voters start trudging to caucuses in the Iowa winter.
- WorldYahoo News Video
According to the U.S. Navy, Chinese ship fired laser at American aircraft
A Chinese Navy ship fired a laser at a U.S. surveillance aircraft flying over the Philippine Sea west of Guam, the Navy said Thursday, acknowledging the incident more than a week after it happened.
- PoliticsBusiness Insider
40% of Americans don't think the US government is prepared to handle coronavirus
40% of Americans said they do not feel the US government is sufficiently prepared to handle coronavirus cases, according to a new Insider poll. Only 7% said the feel the US government is "extremely prepared." Public health experts have said that President Donald Trump has a major credibility problem as the US braces for the virus, which the CDC warned could cause "severe" disruptions to daily life.
- WorldThe National Interest
Shocking: China and the CIA Both Helped Saudi Arabia Get Their Own Ballistic Missiles
Key point: Saudi Arabia wanted long-range missiles and it got them. You would be hard pressed to find two more determined foes of Iran other than Saudi Arabia and Israel. The latter country has long been perturbed by bellicose anti-Israeli rhetoric from Tehran, and has unleashed hundreds of air strikes and artillery bombardments targeting Iran's efforts to arm Hezbollah forces in Lebanon and Syria.
- WorldUSA TODAY
'Do not travel': Americans urged to avoid Italy, South Korea amid coronavirus outbreak
The Trump administration is urging Americans to avoid travel to parts of Italy and South Korea amid growing concern about the spread of coronavirus. In a press conference Saturday, Vice President Mike Pence announced that the U.S. has raised the travel warning to level 4 – its most severe warning – regarding travel to affected areas of Italy and South Korea. The "president has also directed the State Department to work with our allies in Italy and in South Korea to coordinate a screening, a medical screening, in their countries of any individuals that are coming in to the United States of America," Pence said.
- U.S.NBC News
White supremacist was out of prison 86 days when stabbed man to death
A white supremacist gang member in California who had been out of prison just three months when he stabbed a 22-year-old man to death was sentenced Friday to 56 years to life. Craig Matthew Tanber stabbed Shayan Mazroei through the heart and in the shoulder following a confrontation at a bar in Laguna Niguel in September 2015. Tanber was at the bar with his girlfriend, Elizabeth Thornburg, when Thornburg "exchanged words" with Mazroei while they were standing outside, the Orange County District Attorney's Office said in a press release.
- WorldReuters
Greece pushes back migrants after Turkish border 'onslaught'
Greek police fired teargas to push back hundreds of stone-throwing migrants trying to cross the border from Turkey on Saturday, as a crisis over Syria shifted onto the European Union's doorstep. Greece, which has tense relations with Turkey, accused Ankara of sending the migrants to the border post in an organized "onslaught" and said it would keep them out. Turkey said on Thursday it would stop keeping hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers in its territory after an air strike on Idlib in neighboring Syria killed 33 Turkish soldiers.
- WorldThe Daily Beast
Amid Syrian Carnage, Everybody’s Back is to the Wall
The recapture of Saraqib represented the first significant victory for Turkey and it's FSA proxies since August last year when Russian-backed pro-Assad forces launched a campaign that has since succeeded in taking control of more than one third of former rebel held territory in Idlib province. The temporary momentum created by the liberation of Saraqib and other towns in Idlib has since created breathing room for Turkey and it's proxies as Ankara continues to solicit aid abroad for its campaign to hold off Russian-backed aggression. But such aid may not be forthcoming, and, following an initial lull in pro-Assad attacks amid a renewed wave of talks, the Russian-led advance will likely resume.
- U.S.Bloomberg
Trump Team Testing ‘Off-the-Shelf’ Drugs to Cure Coronavirus
A national lab in Tennessee recently made “an important discovery” involving existing drugs, Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette said at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland. “The scientists at our Oak Ridge National Laboratory were able to look at the protein strains and determine -- perhaps, it's still early -- that we can find some off-the-shelf drugs that can help us not only cure the disease but stop the spread of the infection,” Brouillette said. Brouillette was responding to a question about what his agency is doing to help combat the virus, which has caused markets to plunge and killed nearly 3,000 people across the globe.
- PoliticsAssociated Press
Biden wins South Carolina, aims for Super Tuesday momentum
Joe Biden scored a thundering victory Saturday in South Carolina's Democratic primary on the strength of African American support, a decisive win that could force moderate rivals out of the race and blunt the rise of progressive leader Bernie Sanders. Biden's win came at a perilous moment in his 2020 bid as he needed an emphatic rebound after underwhelming performances this month in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada. The race now pivots to the 14 states from Maine to California that vote on Tuesday in what effect will be a national primary.
- U.S.AccuWeather
Portion of I-80 closed after crash amid regional snow squalls
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) issued a warning to motorists at 11:41 a.m. EST on Feb. 29, that I-80 eastbound was closed between Penfield and Clearfield exit around mile marker 111. The closure came after an incident with at least one jackknifed tractor trailer.
- WorldYahoo News Video
Dozens of Turkish soldiers killed in airstrike in Syria
At least 33 Turkish military personnel have been killed in an airstrike in Syria's Idlib province, in a dramatic escalation in the battle for control of the country's last opposition stronghold.
- PoliticsYahoo News
Donald Trump Jr. accuses Democrats of hoping coronavirus 'kills millions of people'
Amid growing fears of a coronavirus outbreak in the United States, Donald Trump Jr. accused Democrats on Friday of hoping that the disease kills millions of Americans to thwart his father's chances of reelection. “Anything that they can use to try to hurt Trump, they will,” Trump Jr. said on “Fox & Friends.” Congressional Democrats and some Republicans have criticized the Trump administration — which slashed spending for epidemic preparedness in its first budget — for lack of preparedness for the coronavirus outbreak, but there are no reports of Democrats rooting for people to die from it.
- BusinessBusiness Insider
Google employee tests positive for the coronavirus as the company further restricts employee travel
A Google employee who was in the company's Zurich office has tested positive for the coronavirus. The tech firm is restricting employee travel to Italy, Iran, Japan, and South Korea. A Google employee has tested positive for the coronavirus, and the company is further restricting its employee travel as concerns around the outbreak grow.
- WorldNBC News
Why is Iran's reported mortality rate for coronavirus higher than in other countries?
Iran has the highest reported number of deaths from the coronavirus outside China, raising questions about how the government is handling the public health crisis and whether the often secretive regime has been fully transparent about the extent of the outbreak. Iran's health ministry spokesman said on Friday that 34 Iranians have died out of a total of 388 positive cases. Iran has now suspended parliament indefinitely due to the outbreak.
“There may be some really big pardons coming soon and this may, if you will, soften the public for what’s coming.”
“It was the latest extraordinary example of untamed executive power that suggests the President is feeling invincible now.”
“More than anything else, the pardons aim to discredit the idea of federal anti-corruption prosecution itself.”
“The fact that Blagojevich was a Democrat makes it all the better...Trump wants to convince you that everyone is dirty.”
“The pardons were entirely personal in origin, and so the granting of them was exclusively an exercise of Trump’s own power.”
