- U.S.The Guardian
NSA whistleblower who leaked Russian hacking report petitions for clemency
Supporters of Reality Winner, a National Security Agency whistleblower who leaked classified information about Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election, petitioned Donald Trump on Monday for her early release from prison. Alison Grinter, an attorney representing the former US air force intelligence specialist, announced at a press conference in Dallas that she had submitted 4,500 letters of support to the federal office of the pardon attorney, the division of the Department of Justice that advises the US president on executive clemency decisions.
- PoliticsTime
Michael Bloomberg Makes it to the Debate Stage. He May Regret It
And other candidates will not forget to mention how he has used his vast personal wealth to enter the primary race on Super Tuesday — after voters in four states will have already weighed in. Bloomberg's entry into a race he once said he would skip shifted the campaign's axis. He has already spent hundreds of millions of dollars introducing himself to the nation and launching his bid with a coast-to-coast play before 14 states weigh in on March 3's Super Tuesday.
- WorldThe National Interest
REVEALED: China's Secret Reasons for Imprisoning Uyghurs
The Chinese government imprisoned Muslims for basic religious activity, such as going to a mosque, praying or having a long beard, a database obtained by The Associated Press shows. The newly released database shows that the Chinese government targeted Muslims based both on their religious beliefs and on their ties to family members, according to the AP. The database offers the most complete view yet as to how and why Chinese officials chose to detain people and imprison them in detention camps, examining the internment of 311 people who have relatives abroad and listing information on over 2,000 of their family, friends and relatives.
- WorldCBS News
Man arrested after allegedly tracking U.S. source for Russia
A Mexican man residing in Singapore was arrested in the U.S. on Tuesday, after he allegedly tracked a U.S. government source for Russia in order to obtain the source's license plate number. Hector Alejandro Cabrera Fuentes has been charged with acting in the U.S. on behalf of a foreign government without notifying the attorney general, and conspiracy to do the same. Court documents allege that a Russian government official recruited Fuentes in 2019 and tasked him with renting a specific property in Miami-Dade County, Florida, according to a press release from the Department of Justice.
- PoliticsNBC News
Warren: Sanders 'has a lot of questions to answer' about supporters' attacks
Bernie Sanders "has a lot of questions to answer" about how his supporters attacked members of a union online after they criticized his "Medicare for All" health care plan, Elizabeth Warren said Monday. "I've said before that we are all responsible for what our supporters do, and I think Bernie has a lot of questions to answer here," Warren, a Democratic senator from Massachusetts, said in an interview in which she offered rare criticism of her fellow progressive Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont. Members of Culinary Workers Union Local 226, which represents 60,000 workers in Nevada's gaming and hospitality industries, said this week that Sanders' supporters had "viciously attacked" its members after leadership warned about the risk to their negotiated health plans under a "Medicare for All" system.
PoliticsYahoo News VideoBloomberg campaign: There are only three viable presidential candidates
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.
- U.S.Associated Press
LA adopts new 'war room' strategy for tackling homelessness
Los Angeles city and county officials on Tuesday announced a new strategy to speed the process of getting homeless people into permanent housing that is modeled on the federal government's response to natural disasters. The creation of a “Housing Central Command” marks an overhaul of how agencies work together in addressing the growing number of people living on the street, according to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. Previously the system was slowed by red tape and gaps in information showing what housing units were available and who is eligible to move into them, officials said.
- WorldThe Daily Beast
‘It Failed’: Cruise Ship Coronavirus Snafus Stoke Fears of Global Pandemic
Matthew Smith was feeling very good Monday about rejecting the U.S. government's offer to be evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in Japan. Smith and his wife will remain in quarantine on the ship until the Japanese government agrees they can leave—likely this week. All the evacuees, meanwhile, will be in quarantine for at least two weeks at Air Force bases in Texas and California—many no doubt wondering whether they, too, might suddenly fall ill.
- Coronavirus news – live: Boris Johnson told to ‘get the Brits back’ from stranded cruise ship as nearly half of Chinese citizens living under travel restrictionsThe Independent
- 14 Americans who got the coronavirus from the quarantined cruise ship in Japan were flown home in an 'isolation box' at the back of the planeBusiness Insider
- 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.The Independent
Why Oregon conservatives want to redrew the state and join Idaho
A group of Oregon conservatives has petitioned to redraw their state lines and join Idaho in an attempt to avoid liberal policies. Greater Idaho, the group leading the movement, secured approval from two counties in Oregon and is now working to gather enough signatures to put the proposal on local ballots come November, USA Today reports. If they succeed then voters in southeast Oregon may see a question on their election ballots asking if they would like to become a part of Idaho, thus redrawing the boundary lines of the state.
- U.S.USA TODAY
Skydiving instructor, former Army Ranger dies after skydiving accident in Florida
Christian Stevens, 49, of Canton, Georgia, was transported to Sebastian River Medical Center just after 10 a.m., according to Police Department spokesman Timothy Wood. Professional jumping group Team Fastrax, which was training at Skydive Sebastian, decided to jump at the same time as Monday's scheduled SpaceX launch, according to an announcement of Stevens' death on the team's Facebook page Monday evening. Stevens named the jump "Falcon9" in honor of the launch.
- WorldThe National Interest
The Turkish Trap: How Erdogan Made New Enemies and Enraged the Arab Community
As the Syrian military backed by the Russian air force takes another strategic town in Idlib, thereby inching closer towards the Turkish border, the endgame for Turkey in Syria has begun. The Syrian government has also taken the key highway that links Damascus to Aleppo and secured Aleppo from the incoming Turkish backed rebel artillery. Diplomatically the first acknowledged meeting between the Turkish and Syrian intelligence chiefs in Moscow just over a week ago heralded the final act in Erdogan's quest to knock over President Bashar al-Assad.
- BusinessReuters
Foreign pilots at Chinese airlines return home on unpaid leave as demand plummets
BEIJING/SYDNEY Feb 19 (Reuters) - Foreign pilots at some Chinese airlines have returned to their home countries and are considering other jobs after being placed on unpaid leave as demand falls because of the coronavirus, affected flight crew told Reuters. Meanwhile, Chinese pilots with greater job security said their income has been sharply reduced because most of their pay is based on flying hours. Data firm OAG estimates about 80% of scheduled airline capacity to, from and within China has been cut this week because of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that has killed more than 2,000 people.
- U.S.NBC News
'Gun Girl' Kaitlin Bennett's appearance on Ohio University campus sparks protests
Conservative activist Kaitlin Bennett, also known as "Gun Girl," incited large-scale student protests Monday when she appeared on Ohio University's Athens campus to film a video. Bennett had arrived on campus to film a President's Day trivia video for the Liberty Hangout, which bills itself as a libertarian media outlet, according to both her and the site. Bennett has been a divisive figure since gaining notoriety in 2018 for posting controversial graduation photos of herself with an AR-10 rifle at Kent State University.
- PoliticsCBS News
Judge in Roger Stone case says sentencing will move forward
The judge overseeing the case of longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone said his sentencing hearing will move forward as planned on Thursday, amid intense scrutiny of the Justice Department's handling of the case. In a 12-minute conference call with the defense and prosecution teams on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said she will still hand down Stone's sentence at Thursday's hearing, but indicated she plans to defer the execution of the sentence until the court addresses Stone's request for a new trial. "I'm willing to make sure that there are no consequences that flow from the announcement of what the sentencing will be," Jackson said on the call, which was broadcast in the courtroom.
- U.S.Associated Press
Tennessee inmate moved to death watch; attorneys seek stay
Tennessee inmate Nicholas Sutton was placed on a death watch early Tuesday ahead of his scheduled execution later this week for the decades-old killing of a fellow inmate. Meanwhile, Sutton's attorneys made two last ditch appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court. Inmates on death watch are kept under 24-hour surveillance in a cell beside the execution chamber, the Tennessee Department of Correction said.
- BusinessBusiness Insider
The coronavirus is slamming the US travel industry, with experts predicting it will wipe out more than $10 billion in spending from Chinese visitors
While the vast majority of coronavirus cases have been found in China and Asia, the US travel industry is also steeling itself to be ravaged by the rogue virus. A new report from consulting firm Tourism Economics has put some estimated numbers to that ravaging, saying it expects the US to lose about 1.6 million visitors from mainland China as a result of the coronavirus, translating to a 28% drop for 2020. The report tallied expected losses from Chinese visitor spending at $10.3 billion — more than half of which are expected occur this year.
- PoliticsThe Week
Mike Bloomberg takes 2nd place in new Democratic primary poll, qualifies for Wednesday's debate
A few days before the Nevada caucuses, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has taken a 12 percentage point lead in the Democratic presidential contest, according to an NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll released Tuesday morning. Sanders has the support of 31 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, up 9 points from the last Marist poll in December, but coming in at No. 2 is former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, at 19 percent. This poll qualifies Bloomberg to participate in Wednesday's Democratic debate, though Bloomberg won't be on the ballot in Saturday's caucuses.
- WorldINSIDER
A staggering 542 passengers have been diagnosed with COVID-19 on the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship
Five-hundred forty-two people on the Diamond Princess have tested positive for COVID-19, the novel coronavirus. The vessel is the largest site of coronavirus cases outside mainland China. Nearly two weeks ago, the vessel began a 14-day quarantine in the port of Yokohama, Japan, near Tokyo.
- WorldThe Guardian
Kidnappers prey with ‘total impunity’ on migrants waiting for hearings in Mexico
The people waiting to board the van have already crossed into the USA, but have been sent back under the Trump administration's so-called Migrant Protection Protocols - known as “Remain in Mexico” – whereby would be asylum seekers must await their appointed hearing south of the border. MPP was rolled out in January last year, since when an estimated 57,000 people now wait south of the border for their asylum hearing date. Tens of thousands more are waiting just for the initial application for asylum.
- WorldThe National Interest
Russia Hate This: Why the Astute-Class Submarine Is the Pride of the Royal Navy
Key Point: London's Astute class submarines are powerful and very well-built. Since the commissioning of HMS Dreadnought in 1963, the Royal Navy has maintained a formidable force of nuclear attack submarines. The latest nuclear attack subs, the Astute class, have become a critical component of the future of the Royal Navy—but, given Russia's resurgence, are they enough?
WorldAFP'Tiger widows' shunned as bad luck in rural Bangladesh
Abandoned by her sons, shunned by her neighbours and branded a witch. Women like her are ostracised in many rural villages in Bangladesh, where they are viewed as the cause of their partner's misfortune. "My sons have told me that I am an unlucky witch," she told AFP in her flimsy plank home, in the honey-hunters' village of Gabura at the edge of the Sundarbans -- a 10,000-square-kilometre (3,860-square-mile) mangrove forest that straddles Bangladesh and India.
- CelebrityNBC News
New Mexico woman who was pregnant with third child still missing three years later
“Holidays will never be the same,” Jennifer told Dateline. Liz, as she is known by her family and friends, was four months pregnant with her third child. “She got in his truck and that's the last time I ever heard from her,” Amber said.
- PoliticsUSA TODAY
DOJ: Two federal prosecutors are coordinating Ukraine-related matters, including information supplied by Rudy Giuliani
WASHINGTON–Two federal prosecutors have been tapped to manage open investigations and other yet-to-be-substantiated allegations of wrongdoing involving Ukraine, the Justice Department told lawmakers Tuesday. Responding to recent inquiries from House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd defended the moves, including the appointment of a Pennsylvania prosecutor to review information supplied by President Donald Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani has sought to tar Trump rival Joe Biden by attempting to link him to unsupported corruption claims.
U.S.Yahoo News VideoVirginia lawmakers reject assault weapons ban
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam's push to ban the sale of assault weapons failed on Monday after some of his fellow Democrats balked at the proposal.
What to Read Next
PHOTOS: Ukraine International Airlines plane crashes in Iran killing all on board
Yahoo News Photo Staff