- PoliticsBusiness Insider
Trump's acting Homeland Security chief was excoriated by a GOP senator as he stumbled over basic questions on coronavirus preparation
Acting Homeland Security chief Chad Wolf on Tuesday stumbled over questioning from GOP Sen. John Kennedy about the Trump administration's coronavirus response. Wolf struggled to offer Kennedy clear numbers on the expected spread of the virus, among other topics. Chad Wolf, the acting head of the Department of Homeland Security, on Tuesday morning stumbled over basic questions from GOP Sen. John Kennedy on how the Trump administration is responding to coronavirus.
- PoliticsThe Week
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.
- U.S.Associated Press
Mississippi man convicted in shooting deaths of 8 people
A Mississippi jury on Tuesday convicted a man in the 2017 shooting deaths of eight people, including some of his own relatives and a deputy sheriff who responded to a domestic disturbance call. Willie Cory Godbolt, 37, was found guilty on all charges against him after jurors heard nine days of testimony and a partial day of closing arguments, WLBT-TV reported. The trial enters a second phase Wednesday, with jurors deciding whether to impose the death penalty for four capital murder convictions.
- WorldReuters
Don't give China excuse to attack Taiwan during virus outbreak, ministry advisers say
Taiwan should continue to show goodwill to China during the outbreak of the new coronavirus and not give Beijing an excuse to attack the island as a way of relieving "internal pressure", advisers to Taiwan's China-policy making body said. Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has repeatedly lambasted Beijing over the virus, worsening already poor ties, even as President Tsai Ing-wen and other officials have offered to help China fight the outbreak. Much of the anger has been focused on China blocking Taiwan's participation at the World Health Organization, with the island accusing China of passing on wrong information to the body about the numbers of infected in Taiwan and of not allowing the island to get the most up to date details on the virus.
- WorldThe National Interest
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.
- LifestyleArchitectural Digest
30 of the Best Stainless Steel Kitchen Faucets
An easy upgrade for your kitchen sink Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
- U.S.USA TODAY
A rare, 'cryptic' rainbow snake was spotted in a Florida forest for the first time since 1969
In a state constantly dealing with animals it wants gone — like pythons and green iguanas — someone found something rare. A Florida hiker discovered a rainbow snake (Farancia erytrogramma) last week in Ocala National Forest, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Wildlife Research Institute. It's the first time a rainbow snake has been spotted in Florida's Marion County since 1969, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History.
- PoliticsThe Independent
Pete Buttigieg appears to mimic Barack Obama almost exactly in campaign speech video comparison
Presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg has been accused of plagiarising Barack Obama in several campaign speeches. In a compilation video featuring side-by-side comparisons of the two men's speeches, Mr Buttigieg is shown using almost the exact same words as Mr Obama on multiple occasions. The embarrassing video comes as Mr Buttigieg faces mockery for a tweet in which he seemed to borrow from one of the speeches in question.
- ScienceNBC News
NASA space telescope spots a double star system with an alter ego
A volatile double star system appears to change its behavior rapidly and unpredictably like a cosmic story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The pair consists of a neutron star — an extremely dense remnant of a supernova explosion — and a smaller, sunlike star. Using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the National Science Foundation's Karl F. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), astronomers found that this binary star system switches between two alter egos every few years.
- PoliticsBusiness Insider
Here are the winners and losers of the South Carolina Democratic debate
Business Insider (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) Seven Democratic presidential candidates took the stage in Charleston, South Carolina, on Tuesday night for the 10th debate of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary — and the final debate before Super Tuesday. The contentious debate was characterized by lots of raised voices, cross talk, and pointed attacks. Notably, the CBS News debate moderators were widely panned for failing to keep the candidates in line, for disjointed questioning, and for failing to ask about the novel coronavirus until more than an hour into the debate.
- PoliticsThe Week
Acting DHS secretary falsely claims flu is just as deadly as the coronavirus
During Senate testimony Tuesday, Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf was grilled by Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) about the United States' preparedness for a potential coronavirus outbreak. At one point Kennedy asked Wolf about the virus' fatality rate, which Wolf said was likely somewhere between 1.5 and 2 percent.
- PoliticsINSIDER
Rush Limbaugh is under fire for claiming the coronavirus is a 'common cold' being 'weaponized' to bring down Trump
The novel coronavirus has swept across the globe, infecting more than 80,000 people with COVID-19 and taking 2,600 lives. While China remains the center of the outbreak, the epidemic is on the verge of breaking into a full-blown pandemic. As the World Health Organization tells countries to prepare for infections, the popular conservative host Rush Limbaugh on Monday revealed to listeners what he claimed to be the "truth" about the "overhyped" coronavirus.
- U.S.Reuters
'D.C. Sniper' Malvo can seek parole after change in Virginia law
Lee Boyd Malvo, who was 17 when he took part in the deadly 2002 "D.C. Sniper" shooting spree in the Washington area, will get a chance to seek parole in Virginia following a change in state law enacted on Monday, preempting a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the matter. The change, signed by Democratic Governor Ralph Northam, allows people like Malvo, now 35, who were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for offenses committed before age 18 to ask for release after 20 years. Malvo, who is incarcerated in a supermax state prison in Virginia's Wise County, and an older accomplice, John Allen Muhammad, were convicted in the shootings in which 10 people were killed.
- U.S.Time
A Wrongfully Convicted Kansas Man Who Spent 23 Years in Prison Is Awarded $1.5 Million
A Kansas man who spent over two decades in prison for a double murder he didn't commit will be awarded $1.5 million for his wrongful conviction, according to the Kansas State Attorney General's office. Lamonte McIntyre was convicted and sentenced to two terms of life in prison for the murders of Donald Ewing and Doniel Quinn back in 1994. According to the Associated Press, documents made public during the 8-year fight to free McIntyre allege that the prosecutor in the case intimidated witnesses who told her that McIntyre did not look like the shooter after they saw him in person.
U.S.Yahoo News VideoCrackdown on immigrants using public benefits takes effect
With new rules taking effect on Monday that disqualify more people from green cards if they use government benefits, droves of immigrants, including citizens and legal residents, have dropped social services they or their children may be entitled to out of fear they will be kicked out of the United States.
WorldAFPHong Kong to give big cash handouts as economy reels from virus
Hong Kong's government said Wednesday it will give a HK$10,000 ($1,280) handout to every permanent resident in a bid to jump-start an economy in recession after months of protests and hit further by the coronavirus outbreak. Financial Secretary Paul Chan unveiled the cash gift in the annual budget, committing a colossal HK$120 billion to help alleviate the worst economic downturn the international financial hub has faced in a decade. Hong Kong boasts significant fiscal reserves of more than HK$1 trillion built up over the boom years, a stockpile that the government is now tapping into.
- PoliticsAssociated Press
Dems thwart Senate Republicans on 2 abortion-related bills
Senate Democrats on Tuesday blocked a pair of Republican bills that would ban most late-term abortions and threaten prison for doctors who don't try saving the life of infants born alive during abortions. The measures have been defeated multiple times in recent years, but Senate Republicans pushed for renewed votes to allow GOP lawmakers to make an election-year appeal to conservative voters. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell accused Democrats of bowing to “the radical demands of the far left" to “drown out common sense” and the views of millions of Americans.
- WorldThe National Interest
A British Tank Army Expected to Last Just a Few Days Against the Russians
The British Army in late February 2020 handed over, to German authorities, its last remaining headquarters in Germany. The handover of the headquarters at Bielefeld in northwest Germany signalled the final dismantling of what once was a powerful ground force. "Today I think, not only for me but for the British forces as a whole, means the end of an era,” Lt. Col. Tony Maw, commander of the British Army's Germany Enabling Office, said in an official statement.
- WorldBusiness Insider
France has recorded its first death from the coronavirus, as infections spread further across Europe
A 60-year-old French citizen died of the coronavirus in a Paris hospital on Tuesday night, the country's health minister said. There have been 17 infections recorded there. COVID-19 is rapidly spreading across Europe, with Italy recording a dramatic uptick in cases earlier this week.
- PoliticsThe Week
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says it was 'horrifying' the debate didn't have any climate change questions. Bernie Sanders agrees.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) watched Tuesday night's Democratic debate, and one thing stood out to her. "Not a single climate change question," she tweeted. "Horrifying." One of the participants, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), agreed, responding, "A disgrace." The Democratic candidates don't shy away from talking about climate change on the campaign trail; billionaire investor and environmentalist Tom Steyer told voters in South Carolina on Tuesday that climate change is his "No. 1 priority," and if elected, he will declare a climate emergency on his first day in office. Poll after poll has shown that climate change is a key issue for voters; last week, the Pew Research Center released a survey showing that for the first time in two decades, a majority of Americans believe that tackling climate change should be a main priority for the president and Congress.
- WorldNBC News
U.S. soldier in South Korea tests positive as coronavirus pandemic fears grow
More than 78,000 confirmed cases in China, death toll reaches 2,715 • U.S. soldier stationed in South Korea tests positive for COVID-19 • Iran's Deputy Health Minister tests positive for virus • WHO: Coronavirus not a pandemic yet • White House seeks $2.5 billion for coronavirus • Italy hardest hit in Europe with 283 cases U.S. soldier in South Korea tests positive for COVID-19 A U.S. service member stationed in South Korea has tested positive for the coronavirus illness COVID-19, United States Forces Korea said in a statement. The 23-year-old soldier stationed at Camp Carroll, which is northwest of Daegu, is the first U.S. service member to test positive.
- U.S.USA TODAY
Missing Tennessee toddler's grandmother and her boyfriend extradited after arrest
Previously: Two fugitives arrested in connection with missing Tennessee toddler Evelyn Boswell The girl, who has been the focus of an Amber Alert issued Wednesday night, was not with her grandmother and McCloud when they were captured. "I'd like to get back there and get this situation with my granddaughter resolved," Boswell told Wilkes County District Court Judge David Byrd. McCloud, 33, of Bristol, Tennessee, claimed the BMW was a gift from Evelyn's mother, Megan "Maggie" Boswell.
- PoliticsThe Independent
Michael Bloomberg called Goldman Sachs bankers his ‘peeps’ and promised to defend them, leaked tape reveals
Presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg is being criticised for telling bankers he would have defended them as president in a leaked audio from a private Goldman Sachs event in 2016. But, he added, “you know how well that's gonna go down in this country”. Mr Bloomberg then defended the banks more seriously: “Somebody's gotta stand up and do what we need.
- WorldReuters
Coronavirus pandemic inevitable, U.S. warns as disease spreads across globe
SHANGHAI/SEOUL (Reuters) - Asia reported hundreds of new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, including the first U.S. soldier to be infected, as the United States warned of an inevitable pandemic, and outbreaks in Italy and Iran spread to more countries. Asian shares fell on Wednesday as the U.S. warning to Americans to prepare for a likely coronavirus pandemic jolted Wall Street again and pushed yields on safe-haven Treasuries to record lows. The disease is believed to have originated in a market selling wildlife in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year and has infected about 80,000 people and killed more than 2,700, the vast majority in China.
WorldAFPEgypt executes eight men over church bombings: sources
Egypt has executed eight men sentenced to death over deadly attacks claimed by the Islamic State group on churches and a police checkpoint, judicial and medical sources said Tuesday. The convicts, whose final appeal against the death penalty was denied in May last year, were put to death at dawn on Monday, the sources said. They were among 17 defendants who were sentenced to death by a military court in October 2018 for their roles in the attacks on churches in Alexandria, Cairo and Tanta and a police checkpoint in southwestern Egypt, a judicial source told AFP.
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