| 2 cruise ships have been quarantined over the coronavirus: 1 released its passengers, the other is seeing more people get sick Posted: 09 Feb 2020 11:01 AM PST  The World Dream allowed passengers to disembark on Sunday, while the Diamond Princess saw its number of infected passengers rise.
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| Iran unveils ballistic missile, 'new generation' engines Posted: 08 Feb 2020 04:02 PM PST  Iran's Revolutionary Guards unveiled Sunday a short-range ballistic missile that they said can be powered by a "new generation" of engines designed to put satellites into orbit. The Guards' Sepahnews website said the Raad-500 missile was equipped with new Zoheir engines made of composite materials lighter than on earlier steel models. It also unveiled Salman engines made of the same materials but with a "movable nozzle" for the delivery of satellites into space.
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| Turkish Jets and Howitzers Blasted Syrian Army in Retaliation for Deadly Rocket Barrage Posted: 08 Feb 2020 05:00 AM PST  What is going on in the Middle East now?
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| Florida man charged with driving into GOP voter sign-up tent Posted: 09 Feb 2020 06:02 AM PST  A man in Florida is under arrest after he deliberately drove a van into a tent where voters were being registered by local Republicans, authorities in Jacksonville said Sunday. The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said via social media that 27-year-old Gregory William Loel Timm has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault on a person 65 years old or older, one count of criminal mischief and driving with a suspended license. The Republican party of Duval County said it had set up the tent on Saturday in order to register voters.
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| Soldier kills 29 people in Thailand before being shot Posted: 08 Feb 2020 02:54 PM PST  A soldier angry over a property deal gone sour killed at least 29 people and wounded 57 in a rampage that spanned four locations in and around the northeastern Thai city of Nakhon Ratchasima before he was shot dead early Sunday. Most of the victims were at the city's Terminal 21 shopping center, where the shooter held out against an overnight siege with an assault rifle and ammunition stolen from his army base. Police named him as 32-year-old soldier Jakrapanth Thomma.
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| U.S. official: Americans killed in Afghan military mission Posted: 08 Feb 2020 03:24 PM PST  A U.S. military spokesman said in a statement that both Afghan and U.S. personnel were "engaged by direct firing."
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| Death of American Fuels Concern Over China's Approach to Coronavirus Posted: 08 Feb 2020 07:29 AM PST  SHANGHAI -- A U.S. citizen died from the coronavirus in Wuhan, China, American officials said on Saturday. It was the first known American death from the illness, and was likely to add to diplomatic frictions over Beijing's response to the epidemic.Relations between Washington and Beijing have been tense for years on a number of issues, including trade, technology and human rights. And while Chinese officials have publicly touted the importance of international cooperation to combat the virus, doubts have arisen in recent days about China's willingness to accept a helping hand -- particularly from the United States.Few details about the American, who died on Thursday, were immediately available. According to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, the person was 60 years old and died at Jinyintan Hospital in Wuhan, the inland metropolis at the center of the epidemic. Two people familiar with the matter said the person was a woman and had underlying health conditions.The U.S. government has been evacuating many of its diplomats and other citizens from Wuhan, which Chinese authorities have locked down in an effort to contain the spread of the virus. It could not immediately be learned whether the American who died had tried to leave the city on any of the flights organized by the State Department."We offer our sincerest condolences to the family on their loss," said a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. "Out of respect for the family's privacy, we have no further comment."Word of the death came out as frustrations about Beijing's handling of the epidemic, which has already provoked outrage and criticism within China, were beginning to emerge at the diplomatic level as well. The virus has killed at least 700 people in China, sickened thousands more and spread across the globe.For more than a month, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been offering to send a team of experts to China to observe the outbreak and help if possible. But no invitation has come.The World Health Organization, which made a similar offer about two weeks ago, appeared to be facing the same cold shoulder, though a spokeswoman said it was just "sorting out arrangements."Current and former health officials and diplomats said they believed the reluctance came from China's top leaders, who do not want the world to think they need outside help.Within China, public discontent about the government's response to the crisis reached an extraordinary new peak on Friday after the death of Dr. Li Wenliang, who had warned his colleagues early on about the new virus but was reprimanded for spreading rumors.After Li's death, grieving internet users posted messages expressing anger about the way he had been treated and even demanding freedom of speech -- unheard-of in China's authoritarian political system.Communist Party officials said on Friday that they would send a team from the powerful anti-corruption committee to investigate the circumstances surrounding Li's death. Chinese state news media also reported on Saturday that the government was sending two senior officials to Wuhan to reinforce efforts to bring the outbreak under control.It was not immediately clear if the appointments on Saturday amounted to a reshuffling of the local leadership or were simply an effort to reinforce officials on the front line. Still, it appeared to be an acknowledgment that authorities in Wuhan had been overwhelmed.Japan also said on Saturday that one of its citizens had died in a Wuhan hospital from a suspected case of the coronavirus. But the Japanese Foreign Ministry said that based on information it received from Chinese authorities, it could not confirm whether the man, who was in his 60s, had been infected with the new virus. The ministry called the cause of death viral pneumonia.China's Foreign Ministry said this past week that as of noon on Thursday, 19 foreign nationals in the country had been confirmed to be infected with the coronavirus. Two of them had recovered and were discharged from the hospital. The other 17 were still receiving treatment.As the virus spreads, China is confronting a growing sense of isolation -- a stark reversal for the country after decades of economic and diplomatic integration with the rest of the world. Many countries, including the United States, have placed entry restrictions on travelers from China. Airlines have canceled flights. Fears of the virus have fueled anti-Chinese racism in some parts of the world.Chinese officials have criticized the United States both for evacuating Americans from China and for imposing travel curbs, saying that such moves could spread panic. On Friday, President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo each appeared to be trying to ease tensions.Pompeo said that the United States was prepared to spend up to $100 million in existing funds to help China and other countries fight the epidemic. Pompeo also said that the State Department had helped transport about 18 tons of donated medical supplies, including masks, gowns and gauze, to the people of China in the past week.Trump praised China's handling of the crisis on a phone call with China's top leader, Xi Jinping, on Friday. And in a pair of Twitter posts, Trump said Xi was leading "what will be a very successful operation."But other American officials have quietly voiced concerns about China's response to the epidemic. And the confirmation on Friday that repeated offers of help to China had been ignored only deepened the sense of worry.Alex Azar, the U.S. secretary of health and human services, said at a news briefing on Friday that he had recently reiterated the CDC offer to his Chinese counterpart, Dr. Ma Xiaowei.Asked about the holdup, Azar said: "It's up to the Chinese. We continue to expect fully that President Xi will accept our offer. We're ready and willing and able to go."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
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| Sanders leads polls ahead of New Hampshire primary, while Buttigieg climbs and Biden nosedives Posted: 09 Feb 2020 02:39 PM PST  Pete Buttigieg has come under fire from both Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Biden as he has climbs in the polls.
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| A man was arrested at the White House after he told a Secret Service agent he planned to kill Trump Posted: 09 Feb 2020 10:33 AM PST  The 25-year-old man was taken into custody and brought to a hospital for a mental health evaluation in the Secret Service's latest security incident.
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| Four rare mountain gorillas 'killed by lightning' in Uganda Posted: 08 Feb 2020 07:21 PM PST  Four endangered mountain gorillas, including three adult females, have been killed by an apparent lightning strike in a Ugandan national park, a conservation group has said. A post-mortem examination has been performed on the four, including a male infant, who died on February 3 in Mgahinga National Park in southwest Uganda. "Based on the gross lesions from the post-mortem... the tentative cause of death for all four individuals is likely to be electrocution by lightning," the Greater Virunga Transboundary Collaboration (GVTC) said in a statement Saturday, although laboratory confirmation will take two to three weeks.
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| A parking space in a garage in San Francisco is selling for $100,000 Posted: 09 Feb 2020 06:14 AM PST  The parking spot is currently leased out for $300 a month, and the realtor is promoting it as an investment to "park your money" in.
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| New Philadelphia police chief starts amid surge in homicides Posted: 09 Feb 2020 06:36 AM PST |
| Masked white nationalists march in Washington with police escort Posted: 08 Feb 2020 05:43 PM PST  Police escorted masked members of a white nationalist group on a march through Washington's National Mall on Saturday that Metropolitan Police said occurred without incident or arrests. More than 100 members of the Patriot Front, dressed in khaki pants and caps, blue jackets and white face masks, shouted "Reclaim America!" and "Life, liberty, victory!" video of the march showed. The Southern Poverty Law Center describes the Patriot Front as a white nationalist group that broke off from a similar organization, Vanguard America, in the aftermath of the deadly "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017.
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| Chinese diplomat pushes back against coronavirus 'rumors' from GOP senator Posted: 09 Feb 2020 10:43 AM PST  Ambassador Cui Tiankai slammed comments from Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton.
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| Biden faces competition for black vote in his SC 'firewall' Posted: 09 Feb 2020 08:42 AM PST  Joe Biden is facing increasingly formidable competition in South Carolina, a state his campaign has long assumed was safely in his column and one he's repeatedly described as a "firewall" in his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and billionaire activist Tom Steyer are challenging the former vice president's standing in South Carolina. Sanders has generated enthusiasm from younger black voters in South Carolina.
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| Sacred Native American site in Arizona blasted for border wall construction Posted: 09 Feb 2020 11:42 AM PST  The contractor installing President Donald Trump's border wall at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is blasting a hill sacred to the O'Odham people.
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| Death of whistleblower ignites calls for political reform in China Posted: 09 Feb 2020 12:47 AM PST  The death of a whistleblowing doctor who was reprimanded for warning about the new coronavirus has sparked rare calls for political reform and free speech in China. Li Wenliang, an ophthalmologist in Wuhan -- ground zero of China's virus epidemic which has killed more than 800 -- succumbed to the disease Friday over a month after he first raised alarm about the SARS-like virus. At least two open letters demanding free speech have circulated on social media since the 34-year-old's death -- one signed by 10 professors in Wuhan.
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| Here are the winners and losers of Friday's combative Democratic debate in New Hampshire Posted: 08 Feb 2020 10:59 AM PST  Seven Democratic presidential candidates took the stage at St. Anselm's College in Manchester, New Hampshire, just days before the state's primary.
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| America Sent Dozens of Salvadorans to Death By Sending Them Home Posted: 09 Feb 2020 03:30 AM PST  Street gangs that operate with impunity make El Salvador one of the world's most violent countries. Few murders are ever solved.
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| The global spread of the coronavirus: Where is it? Posted: 09 Feb 2020 10:28 AM PST  The new coronavirus that emerged in central China at the end of last year has killed more than 800 people and spread around the world.
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| Taiwan scrambles jets as Chinese air force flies round island Posted: 09 Feb 2020 01:55 AM PST  Taiwan's air force scrambled on Sunday to intercept Chinese jets that flew around the island claimed by Beijing as its own, in a move denounced by Taiwan's Defence Ministry as a threat to regional peace and stability. China has been flying what it calls "island encirclement" drills on-off since 2016 when Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen first took office. Beijing believes Tsai, who won re-election last month, wishes to push the island's formal independence.
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| Feds seek delay in Michael Flynn case Posted: 09 Feb 2020 09:28 AM PST  The new filings say the former national security adviser's claims that he received ineffective legal assistance will require more information.
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| 'We are floating around the ocean': Cruise ship with no coronavirus shut out of ports Posted: 09 Feb 2020 01:31 PM PST  There are no cases of the coronavirus aboard Holland America's MS Westerdam, but after a stop in Hong Kong, it can't find a port to dock.
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| Iran again fails to put satellite into orbit amid US worries Posted: 09 Feb 2020 10:26 AM PST  An Iranian rocket failed to put a satellite into orbit on Sunday, state television reported, the latest setback for a program the U.S. claims helps Tehran advance its ballistic missile program. "Stage-1 and stage-2 motors of the carrier functioned properly and the satellite was successfully detached from its carrier, but at the end of its path it did not reach the required speed for being put in the orbit," Defense Ministry space program spokesman Ahmad Hosseini told state TV.
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| Wuhan journalist has gone missing, and his family says he's been forcibly quarantined Posted: 09 Feb 2020 10:49 AM PST  A Chinese lawyer and citizen journalist has gone missing after his video reports from Wuhan about coronavirus went viral on platforms like Twitter and YouTube.
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| Michael Bloomberg didn't make the New Hampshire debate, but he still came up Posted: 07 Feb 2020 07:23 PM PST  Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg might have not qualified for the Democratic debates yet, but he still had a cameo on Friday.George Stephanopoulos during Friday's New Hampshire debate asked a question all about Bloomberg submitted via Apple News, asking the candidates why they're "better positioned" to take on President Trump than he is. The Democrats on the stage, naturally, didn't pass up the opportunity to get in some attacks on a candidate who wasn't actually there to respond."I don't think anyone ought to be able to buy their way into a nomination or to be president of the United States," Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said.Sanders joined in as well, saying, "It's a funny thing. There are millions of people who can desire to run for office, but I guess if you're worth $60 billion and you can spend several hundred million dollars on commercials, you have a slight advantage. That is nonsense."These attacks may end up serving as solid practice for an upcoming debate, as a recent rule change leaves the door open for Bloomberg to soon join the fun himself. > Sen. Sanders on Michael Bloomberg: "I guess if you're worth $60 billion and you can spend several hundred million dollars on commercials you have a slight advantage. That is nonsense." https://t.co/0GxKJz7e8Y DemDebate pic.twitter.com/6p6YtLnEjF> > -- ABC News (@ABC) February 8, 2020More stories from theweek.com 5 scathingly funny cartoons about Trump's impeachment acquittal For better pasta sauce, throw away your garlic Vanguard is an anomaly in the investment world. Can it stay that way?
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| Pete Buttigieg is an elitist. He should embrace it. Posted: 08 Feb 2020 05:07 AM PST  The more former Mayor Pete Buttigieg tries to prove that he is not an elitist, the more obvious it is to everyone that he is. Just embrace it.
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| Key member of Pakistani Taliban killed in Afghanistan: insurgents Posted: 08 Feb 2020 07:01 AM PST  The Pakistani Taliban has confirmed that one of its key leaders and another member of the group were killed in a clash with security forces in Afghanistan. In a statement published by the SITE monitoring group Friday, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) said Sheikh Khalid Haqqani, who served on the group's consultative council and had been a deputy leader, had been killed January 31. "Haqqani embraced martyrdom while fighting with slaves of the United States", the TTP said.
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| Coronavirus turns busy Chinese cities into ghost towns Posted: 08 Feb 2020 05:28 PM PST  After making sure everyone's face mask is on and sanitizer is to hand, the Qiao family heads out to Jingshan Park, a former royal sanctuary beside the Forbidden City in China's capital Beijing. Shanghai, China's financial hub, and other cities in the world's most populous nation have turned into ghost towns after the government extended a holiday and asked residents not to go out because of the coronavirus. The epidemic has killed 722 people and infected nearly 32,000 in China as of Feb 8.
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| Only 54% of Americans Knew Puerto Ricans Were Citizens Posted: 09 Feb 2020 07:36 AM PST  More than a century after the United States acquired Puerto Rico, a 2017 Morning Consult poll conducted after the devastation of Hurricane Maria revealed that only 54% of Americans knew Puerto Ricans were citizens. Today, being born in Puerto Rico is tantamount to being born in the United States. But it wasn't always that way, and a lot of ambiguity still remains.
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| Soldier kills 26 in bloodiest mass shooting in Thailand Posted: 09 Feb 2020 03:44 AM PST  A soldier with a grudge gunned down 26 people and wounded 57 in Thailand's worst mass shooting before he was fatally shot inside a mall in the country's northeast on Sunday, officials said. Authorities said Sgt. Maj. Jakrapanth Thomma was behind the attack in Nakhon Ratchasima, a hub for Thailand's relatively poorer and rural northeastern region. Much of the shooting took place at Terminal 21 Korat, an airport-themed mall filled with colorful Lego sculptures, a merry-go-round and huge replicas of landmarks from around the world.
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| Snow to bring slick travel, delays for Monday morning commute in Northeast Posted: 08 Feb 2020 12:20 PM PST  A storm system racing through the northern U.S. the beginning of the week will bring a quick accumulation of snow to parts of the Northeast, before the Monday morning commute.The same quick-hitting storm that spread accumulating snow to parts of the Upper Midwest on Sunday approached the Northeast Sunday night. On Sunday night, road conditions began to worsen in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and the National Weather Service placed most of the state under a winter weather advisory until Monday morning.Up to around 15 inches of snow had been reported across Minnesota with the highest of the reports from Lake Crystal at 15.5 inches.The fast-moving nature of the storm, and marginal temperatures, will limit the duration, amount and coverage of wintry travel in the Northeast. Still, a significant part of the snow is likely to fall Sunday night into early Monday over northern and western New York state and northern and central New England, when road surface temperatures will be lower.Most areas can expect a blanket of 1-3 inches of snow, but 3-6 inches are forecast over the higher elevations of upstate New York and New England.An AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 8 inches is most likely in the highest elevations of the Adirondacks and western Maine. Precipitation will likely start as snow from Ohio to northern Pennsylvania where cold air will hold on at the start of the storm, but a changeover to rain is expected throughout Monday.Some areas could see an accumulation of snow to start, before things become slushy as warmer air is ushered into the region.CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APPThe storm is likely to bring rain along the I-95 corridor of the Northeast from Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia, New York City and Boston with temperatures reaching the 40s and 50s.Forecasters warn that motorists venturing through the I-80, I-81, I-87, I-89, I-90, I-91 and I-93 corridors, where temperatures will be within a few degrees of freezing, should be prepared for areas of snow, slush and slippery conditions from Sunday night to early Monday.As people head to the polls for the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday, some wintry weather weather could return to the area.A storm system moving into the mid-Atlantic to start the week could bring precipitation back into the area, especially to southern parts of the state. Cold air on the northern side of the storm could cause precipitation to fall as snow.However, conditions could remain dry but chilly across the state if the storm fails to push far enough north.Other weak systems could follow suit and deliver snow to the northern tier of the U.S. into the middle of February.Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
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| Trump’s $4.8 Trillion Budget Would Increase Debt, Cut Safety Net Posted: 09 Feb 2020 04:02 PM PST ![Trump's $4.8 Trillion Budget Would Increase Debt, Cut Safety Net]( "Trump's $4.8 Trillion Budget Would Increase Debt, Cut Safety Net") (Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump's $4.8 trillion budget for the upcoming fiscal year proposes billions more in funding for defense and a U.S. mission to Mars, but would bring steep cuts to social programs despite almost $1 trillion in deficit spending.The proposal, scheduled to be unveiled on Monday, is an election-year embodiment of many of the policy priorities Trump has championed over his first three years in office. He proposes continuing his effort to "rebuild" the U.S. military by investing heavily in defense spending -- $740.5 billion in the next fiscal year -- including the creation of Space Force.But the president also calls for deep cuts to government programs he believes are unpopular with his base, slashing discretionary spending by 5% -- down to $590 billion -- in the coming year. That includes major reductions in foreign aid and environmental protection programs, along with stringent new work requirements on welfare programs such as food stamps and housing assistance.The annual budget produced by the White House reflects the policy aspirations of the incumbent administration but has no binding power, since federal spending is appropriated by Congress. Lawmakers aren't expected to finish work on 2021 spending levels until after the November election. And the White House move to change two-year budget cap levels negotiated with Democrats last summer could make an eventual spending deal more difficult.Read More: Pentagon's $705 Billion Budget Boosts Nuclear Weapons FundingTrump's budget shows the president drifting further away from his campaign pledge to eliminate the U.S. national debt by the time he leaves office.U.S. debt has already risen $3 trillion to the debt during Trump's first three years in office, and his plan calls for adding to the debt until 2035. Most Republican presidents have released budgets they say would balance the budget within a decade, though this is the third consecutive plan released by the White House that fails to reach that goal. Only once a budget is in surplus can the underlying debt be paid down.The deficit would decline to $966 billion next year, according to a senior administrative official, who discussed the contents of the proposal on condition of anonymity. That's below the $1 trillion projected by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office under current policies. Total debt held by the public is approaching $18 trillion and the CBO estimates it would reach $31 trillion by 2031 under current law."He now leaves it to future Presidents and Congresses to achieve fiscal sanity," said Bill Hoagland, a former Senate budget aide now with the Bipartisan Policy Center.'Who the Hell Cares?' Trump has shown little of the traditional GOP concern about deficit spending. He dismissed concerns voiced by some fiscal conservatives at a fundraiser in January in Florida."Who the hell cares about the budget?" Trump said in a recording of the closed-door remarks obtained by the Washington Post. "We're going to have a country."Still, the president's plan does anticipate significant savings through a series of cuts and changes to programs designed to assist the nation's most vulnerable citizens.Those include $135 billion in drug pricing reform, $292 billion from adding a work requirement to welfare programs, $170 billion from changing student loan laws, $70 billion from reforming disability programs, and $266 billion from "site neutrality" rules that would see the government pay the same amount for medical services whether they were performed in a hospital or at a doctor's office.'Thoughtful Reforms' "A lot of these are smart, thoughtful reforms. Many are bipartisan, and versions appeared in Obama budgets," said Marc Goldwein, senior policy director at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a watchdog group. "A number of them would actually reduce costs or improve the situation for beneficiaries of the programs, as well the budget." The proposals are already garnering criticism from Democrats, who said the president is looking to kick needy people off government assistance programs."These deep cuts send a clear message to the American people about the Trump administration's warped values and misplaced priorities," said Representative Nita Lowey of New York, chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee. "I look forward to working with my colleagues to reject this proposal and instead invest in America's working families." Perennial Targets Each chapter of the budget released on Monday will include an outline of programs and projects the administration has deemed wasteful. And the proposal targets many of the same areas Trump has sought to cut in years past: foreign aid, the Environmental Protection Agency, and public broadcasting.The Commerce Department will see one of the largest reductions, after a one-year surge to pay for this year's decennial census. Trump has also zeroed-out funding for examining the creation of a permanent nuclear waste site at Nevada's Yucca Mountain. Trump announced his plan to abandon the project in a tweet last week, in what was interpreted as a bid to court Nevada voters ahead of the 2020 election.The administration isn't proposing a special allocation of funds to combat the novel coronavirus, the official said. The virus has led to more than 800 deaths worldwide and sparked quarantines of travelers coming from China, where the outbreak started. Proposed funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will be cut 10%, but the budget leaves untouched the $4 billion allocated for its work on infectious diseases.Some agencies get a boost under the president's proposal, including NASA, which would see its spending rise 12% in the coming year. That additional funding would be targeted toward the president's goal of returning to the Moon by 2024, with the aim of later attempting a lunar launch of a manned spacecraft bound for Mars.Another of the president's major priorities -- the border wall with Mexico -- would receive $2 billion in funding next year. That's down from $8.6 billion requested a year ago, but the senior administration official said that with funding for 1,000 miles of wall already secured, the administration needed less in the upcoming year.And the budget again includes $1 trillion for infrastructure spending, modeled on combining legislation proposed by GOP Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming with a $200 billion fund for "nationally significant projects." The remainder of the funding would be secured through public-private partnerships and state and local spending, the official said. The White House would replenish the depleted Highway Trust Fund through cost savings in other areas of the budget.Rosy ProjectionsTrump's budget also assumes that the economy will continue to get stronger. The outline projects the economy will grow 3.1% in the fourth quarter of 2020 compared with a year earlier, and then expand at a pace of 3% for the coming years, only cooling toward the end of the decade.The estimates are far more optimistic than those of most economists, and the administration failed to hit its own projections this year, despite surging stock markets. A recent Bloomberg News survey of 71 analysts anticipated U.S. GDP growth at 1.8% in 2020 and 1.9% in 2021. The senior administration official said the U.S. fell short of projections in 2019 because of Boeing Co.'s issues with the 737 MAX jet, the GM autoworkers strike, flooding in the Midwest, and investor uncertainty about trade deals with China, Mexico and Canada.The budget outline also forecasts the 10-year Treasury yield will average 2% in 2020 and grow more slowly than previously projected over the next decade, reducing the costs of interest payments. The administration official said the predictions were in line with outside analysts'.The budget also assumes that lawmakers will extend the president's tax cuts, which are set to expire in 2025, and that Trump will continue negotiating trade deals on better terms for the U.S. economy.Long OddsPresidential budget requests are typically treated as "dead on arrival" by Congress. But Trump's willingness to circumvent Congress on budget matters -- including holding up foreign aid and diverting military construction funds to build his wall -- arguably make the blueprint more relevant.Still, many of the president's proposed changes face long odds on Capitol Hill, where Democrats control the House and are unlikely to accept his cuts to social welfare programs. They're also likely to insist on adhering to an existing spending agreement that sets defense spending for the coming year at $741 billion and non-defense spending at $635 billion."Just six short months ago, the President signed a bipartisan two-year budget deal into law but now, the President is apparently going back on his word. Instead, he is proposing deep cuts to critical programs that help American families and protect our economic and national security," said House Budget Committee Chairman John Yarmuth, a Kentucky Democrat. "Congress will stand firm against this President's broken promises and his disregard for the human cost of his destructive policies."The fact that the White House proposal tears up the two-year budget caps deal inked by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin last summer as part of a debt ceiling deal could presage an ugly showdown after the November elections.Congress isn't expected to complete spending bills for fiscal 2021 which starts Oct. 1 until after the November election since Democrats have incentives to wait and see if they can unseat Trump. If Trump wins re-election, however, he'd have greater leverage to try to force House Democrats to accept his new proposed spending levels.To contact the reporters on this story: Justin Sink in Washington at jsink1@bloomberg.net;Erik Wasson in Washington at ewasson@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Joshua Gallu, Ros KrasnyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| 10 Wuhan professors signed an open letter demanding free speech protections after a doctor who was punished for warning others about coronavirus died from it Posted: 08 Feb 2020 10:42 AM PST  One petition was signed by Wuhan professors, and another was signed by academics from around China calling for a national holiday in Li's honor.
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| Pompeo urges U.S. state governors to be cautious in business with China Posted: 08 Feb 2020 12:37 PM PST  U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged governors of U.S. states and territories on Saturday to adopt a "cautious mindset" when engaging in business with China, saying Beijing was seeking to use U.S. openness to undermine the United States. Pompeo, in his latest warning of what he sees as Beijing's intentions, emphasized that competition with China was not just a federal issue.
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| Surrendered Pakistani Taliban spokesman escapes custody: official Posted: 09 Feb 2020 05:05 AM PST  A leading member of the Pakistan Taliban has escaped custody more than two years after surrendering to authorities, a senior security official said Sunday. The confirmation comes days after Ehsanullah Ehsan -- the former spokesman for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) -- released an audio message claiming he had escaped detention and was now in Turkey. A senior security source told AFP Ehsan was "one of our major assets in identifying and later tracking down militants".
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| Two Special Force soldiers killed, 6 wounded during apparent insider attack in Afghanistan Posted: 09 Feb 2020 12:58 PM PST  A U.S. official in Afghanistan said troops came under fire during an operation in Nangarhar Province.
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| Israel Isn't Happy With Iran's New Guided-Rocket System Posted: 08 Feb 2020 03:30 PM PST  That the Israelis are worried is no surprise.
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| Trump reacts to viral photos: ‘This was photoshopped, obviously’ Posted: 09 Feb 2020 08:45 AM PST  President Trump described photographs revealing a pale ring around the edge of his face as "more fake news" after particularly unflattering images went viral over the weekend.
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| Oregon flooding abates; authorities report body found Posted: 09 Feb 2020 09:33 AM PST  Waters covering roads in flood-hit northeastern Oregon were starting to recede, allowing residents to return and assess the damage from weather that appears to have left one person dead. A woman who had been missing, Janet Tobkin Conley, 62, lived in one of the areas hit by floods and her body was found Sunday by searchers and neighbors, authorities said. An approximately 10-mile (16-kilometer) stretch of Interstate 84 south of Hermiston, Oregon, remained closed Sunday due to flood damage and authorities say it could be a week before it reopens.
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| Exclusive: Trump proposes 21% cut in U.S. foreign aid in budget proposal - officials Posted: 09 Feb 2020 11:45 AM PST  President Donald Trump will propose cutting billions of dollars in U.S. foreign aid in his fiscal 2021 budget while seeking an increase in funds to counter developing economic threats from China and Russia, senior administration officials told Reuters. Trump, a Republican, sought in his budget proposal last year to slash foreign aid but faced steep resistance from Congress and did not prevail. Trump will seek to make a 21% cut in foreign aid in the proposal, which seeks $44.1 billion in the upcoming fiscal year compared with $55.7 billion enacted in fiscal year 2020, an administration official said.
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| Everything we know about the pangolin — the scaly mammal that may have spread the coronavirus to humans Posted: 09 Feb 2020 01:57 PM PST  Pangolins are nocturnal mammals than are often poached for their scales. Their meat is also considered a delicacy in China and Vietnam.
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