- PoliticsYahoo News
Donald Trump is suddenly scared of Mike Bloomberg — as he should be
The president is projecting his own personality onto Bloomberg because he doesn't want the former New York City mayor, who is roughly 17 times as rich Trump, to “spend money helping whoever the Democrat nominee is” — and hurting Trump's own reelection chances. In other words, Trump is afraid. His fear is justified.
- PoliticsPolitico
Dems soften tone after Nadler dust-up
As Rep. Zoe Lofgren approached the Senate lectern late Thursday with her trial presentation in hand, she paused and did something surprising. “Thank you so much for the attention that you have given to our presentation throughout this day,” the House impeachment manager said to the visibly weary group as they were entering the ninth hour of the trial that day. Lofgren's appreciative tone was in stark contrast to early Wednesday morning when Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) lectured senators, telling them they would be taking a “treacherous vote” and engaging in a “coverup” if they chose not to allow more witnesses.
- BusinessBusiness Insider
Face masks aren't a very effective way to prevent the spread of coronavirus, experts say, despite spiking sales
AP Photo/Kin Cheung Of the many preventative measures you can take to protect yourself from the growing Wuhan coronavirus outbreak, wearing a face mask is one of the most visible. But health experts aren't convinced it'll help much. "There's little harm in it," Eric Toner, a scientist at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said of donning a mask.
- U.S.Associated Press
Militant sentenced to 19 years for role in Benghazi attacks
A federal judge on Thursday sentenced a Libyan militant to more than 19 years in prison for his role in the 2012 Benghazi attacks that killed four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador. A jury convicted Mustafa al-Imam last year of conspiring to support the extremist militia that launched the fiery assaults on the U.S. compounds but deadlocked on 15 other counts. The attacks, aimed at killing American personnel, prompted a political fracas in which Republicans accused the Obama administration of a bungled response.
- WorldThe Daily Beast
Grim Scenes at Chinese Hospitals as Doctors Rush to Treat Deadly Coronavirus
As a coronavirus outbreak unfolds in China, Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping convened a meeting with top officials on Saturday to issue orders that he hopes will contain and reverse the epidemic. Wuhan, where people who worked at a meat and poultry market were the first to become hosts of the coronavirus, has been hit the hardest. As of a little past midnight on Sunday, 42 people in China have died after being infected with the coronavirus; 38 of them were in Wuhan, the outbreak's epicenter.
- WorldINSIDER
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.
- PoliticsUSA TODAY
Pompeo says NPR host 'lied' and mistook Bangladesh for Ukraine but doesn't dispute he cursed at her
WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday accused an NPR reporter of lying to him after he made news Friday for allegedly shouting at her after an interview about Ukraine. Pompeo suggested she could not point out Ukraine on a map, contrary to her account of the testy conversation. But he did not dispute Kelly's most explosive allegation: that he shouted and swore at her and suggested Americans don't care about Ukraine.
- WorldThe National Interest
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.
- WorldBloomberg
Bulgaria Takes Harder Line on Russia Before U.S. Energy Talks
Bulgaria said it may expel two Russian diplomats it accuses of espionage, demonstrating an unusually tough stance toward the Kremlin in the run-up to talks with the U.S. over energy and security. A European Union and NATO member, the Balkan country is trying to balance the priorities of its Western allies with religious, historical and cultural ties to neighboring Russia, which is also its main energy supplier. The pair -- a first secretary in the Russian embassy's consular department in Sofia and a diplomat in Russia's commercial representation office -- will “most likely” be declared persona non grata, Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva told reporters.
PoliticsYahoo News VideoTrump reverses stance on Medicare, Social Security cuts, and Dems pounce
While much of the nation was focused on President Trump's impeachment trial in the Senate, he gave an interview in Davos, Switzerland, that undercut one of his key pledges from the 2016 campaign, declaring his intention to “take a look” at cutting benefits to entitlement programs, such as Social Security and Medicare.
- U.S.National Review
Parishioner Who Stopped Texas Church Shooter Criticizes Bloomberg on Gun-Control Efforts
The armed parishioner who took down a shooter at a Texas church in December criticized former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg's gun control efforts on Wednesday. “Mr. Bloomberg, had we operated by his standards or his wishes, the carnage would have been significantly greater because the individual still, after the shooting, still had seven live rounds in his gun and three more in his pocket,” Jack Wilson said in an interview on Fox News. Wilson, a member of West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, Texas, fired a single round at an armed intruder on December 29, killing the assailant.
- SciencePopular Mechanics
New Moon Photos! Get Your New Moon Photos Here!
Piping hot and fresh from China's Chang'e 4 mission. From Popular Mechanics
- PoliticsThe Week
The 'increasing expectation' in the Senate is reportedly that vote to call new impeachment witnesses will fail
President Trump's impeachment trial may not last much longer. As Democrats' opening impeachment argument continues into its final day Friday, The New York Times reports the "increasing expectation in the Senate" is that a vote next week to call new witnesses like Democrats have advocated for will "fall short, moving the trial into its end game." Axios is out with a similar report, writing that although Democrats need to sway four Republicans to vote for calling new witnesses assuming every Democrat votes in favor, "the prevailing view emerging among Republican Senate aides was that Democrats ...
- U.S.Associated Press
Pete Stark, congressman who reshaped health care, dies at 88
Former California Rep. Fortney “Pete” Stark, Jr., an influential Democrat whose legislative work helped reshape America's health care system, has died. He was 88. Stark's family said he died Friday at his home in Maryland.
- U.S.The Independent
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. The 33-year-old mother-of-one was only rushed to hospital after guards later found her “unresponsive” in her cell, the document states.
- U.S.USA TODAY
Smugglers tried to bring 3,700 invasive crabs through the Port of Cincinnati
CINCINNATI – U.S. Customs and Border Protection says its agriculture specialists at the Port of Cincinnati have stopped 51 shipments of invasive mitten crabs from being smuggled into the country over the past four months. The shipments containing 3,700 of the live crabs weighed about 3,400 pounds, originated in China and Hong Kong and were destined for businesses and homes in multiple states – mostly New York, a CBP press release said. Nationwide, CBP agriculture specialists and others have refused entry to more than 15,000 mitten crabs since September.
- WorldThe National Interest
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.
- BusinessBloomberg
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.
- PoliticsReuters
Biden picks up another high profile endorsement in Iowa as voting nears
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden picked up another high profile endorsement on Saturday in Iowa, where the party's nominating contest kicks off in nine days, after U.S. congresswoman Cindy Axne said she was backing the former vice president. Axne, a freshman U.S. lawmaker and moderate, is the latest in a slew of big-name endorsements for Biden in Iowa which could have an impact on undecided voters as caucus day nears on Feb. 3. Two former Iowa Democratic governors, Tom Vilsack and Chet Culver, have backed Biden, as has another U.S. House member, congresswoman Abby Finkenauer.
- LifestyleArchitectural Digest
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
- WorldPopular Mechanics
China Is Building a Hospital for Coronavirus Patients in Just Six Days. How?
Authorities in Wuhan, China have begun construction on a new temporary hospital in the region, designed to isolate and treat patients of the coronavirus. This isn't the first time China has pulled off such an enormous feat; During the SARS outbreak in 2003, Beijing built a similar medical facility in just under seven days. Wuhan, China is the epicenter of a new type of coronavirus that has infected more than 830 people and killed as many as 26 throughout China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Taiwan, and the United States.
- PoliticsThe Daily Beast
Trump’s ‘Ridiculous’ Impeachment Defense Could Crumble
Republicans couldn't have created a more twisted trial of the president if they'd named Kafka to the defense team. To fight back against White House lawyers' main objection to the House's articles of impeachment—that the officials in the room where the impeachable acts happened did not testify—Democrats have to plead for those witnesses to testify now. While Republicans insist that there's no case without witnesses and that it's too late to call them, they neglect to mention that it's Republicans who demanded and got witnesses in Clinton's impeachment, including the president himself.
- WorldAssociated Press
At least 18 dead, hundreds hurt as quake hits eastern Turkey
A 6.8-magnitude earthquake rocked a sparsely-populated part of eastern Turkey on Friday, killing at least 18 people, injuring more than 500 and leaving some 30 trapped in the wreckage of toppled buildings, Turkish officials said. Rescue teams from neighboring provinces were dispatched to the affected areas, working in the dark with floodlights in the freezing cold, and Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said troops were on standby to help. TV footage showed rescuers pull out one injured person from the rubble of a collapsed building in the district of Gezin, in the eastern Elazig province.
- WorldBusiness Insider
The FBI reportedly stopped a Saudi plot to kidnap a YouTuber on US soil after he criticized Mohammed bin Salman for Jamal Khashoggi's killing
Saudi agents tried to kidnap a social-media star and regime critic on US soil, The Daily Beast reported. The plot was only foiled when the FBI caught them just as their plane arrived into LAX, the Beast said. The critic, 27-year-old Abdulrahman Almutairi, used social media to criticize Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the brutal murder of the Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
- U.S.USA TODAY
Two pedestrians killed by snowplow in Kansas
Two pedestrians were killed early Friday morning after they were struck by a snowplow in Kansas, authorities said. The victims were identified as Anthony Stephen Toler, 22, and Jayden J. Rosa, 20, both of Manhattan. The driver of the Riley County snowplow, Lawrence J. Gassman, 65, of Manhattan, was reported uninjured.
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PHOTOS: Ukraine International Airlines plane crashes in Iran killing all on board
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