| Pompeo appeared to coordinate with Giuliani on Ukraine, new documents show Posted: 24 Feb 2020 11:28 AM PST  While the impeachment proceedings are now over, ongoing lawsuits and upcoming books are expected to reveal still more details about the campaign to have Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pursue the investigations Trump wanted.
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| ‘Senator Sanders, I’m Sorry’: Chris Matthews Apologizes for Nazi Analogy Posted: 24 Feb 2020 04:36 PM PST  Facing outrage over comparing Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders' Nevada Democratic caucus victory to France falling to the Nazis in World War II, Chris Matthews addressed the controversy at the top of his Monday night broadcast."As I watched one-sided results of the caucus in Nevada, I reached for a historical analogy and used a bad one," the veteran MSNBC personality said. "I was wrong to refer to an event from the last days, or actually the first days, of World War II.""Senator Sanders, I'm sorry for comparing anything from that tragic era in which so many suffered, especially the Jewish people, to an elected result in which you were a well-deserved winner," Matthews continued. "This is going to be a hard-fought, heated campaign of ideas."The Hardball host concluded his apology by saying he would "strive to do a better job" of "elevating the political discussion" in the coming weeks and months before congratulating the Democratic presidential hopeful on his "tremendous win down in Nevada."Matthews then welcomed on New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who recently endorsed Sanders, to make the case for the Vermont senator's candidacy.MSNBC has come under fire for its increasingly negative and critical coverage of the Democratic socialist lawmaker as the primary has heated up. Even before Matthews made his unfortunate analogy, the longtime host had been blasted over his unhinged reactions to Sanders' rise.Prior to Monday's mea culpa, Matthews received criticism from his own colleagues for his remarks, with MSNBC analyst Anand Giridharadas slamming Matthews on Sunday for likening Sanders' win to a Nazi invasion, noting that Sanders had relatives "murdered in the Holocaust."Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Trump Admin. Considers Booting Chinese Reporters in Response to ‘Egregious’ Expulsion of WSJ Journalists: Report Posted: 24 Feb 2020 01:09 PM PST  The Trump administration is considering whether to expel Chinese journalists in response to China's own expulsion of three Wall Street Journal reporters, Bloomberg News reported on Monday.A meeting will be held at the White House on Monday to discuss the administration's options. The meeting will be led by deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger, who himself was a Journal reporter based in Beijing.According to Bloomberg, administration officials are debating whether to expel up to hundreds of Chinese journalists in its response, or whether such a move would even be legal, seeming to contradict American values regarding freedom of the press."This expulsion is yet another attempt to control the press, and prevent the world's readers as well as investors from reading important stories about China," said John Ullyot, a spokesman for the National Security Council, in comments on the situation on Friday. Ullyot called China's expulsion of the Journal reporters an "egregious act."China expelled the three reporters after the Journal refused to apologize for a headline China deemed "racist." The headline, "China is the Real Sick Man of Asia," was chosen for a column by Bard College professor Walter Russell Mead on China's difficulty in coping with the Wuhan coronavirus and the shaky financial foundations of its economy.The phrase "sick man of Asia" was used in the late 1800's to describe a China that had lost a string of wars and feared conquering by the western colonial powers. Dozens of reporters from the paper's China bureau have called on the Journal's publisher to change the headline.
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| Ginni Thomas: SCOTUS justice's wife leading right-wing effort to purge officials 'disloyal' to Trump Posted: 24 Feb 2020 11:28 AM PST  A group of pro-Trump activists led by Ginni Thomas has reportedly compiled lists of "disloyal" government officials it wants sacked.
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| World is on the brink of a coronavirus pandemic, warn virologists, as four more cases emerge in Britain Posted: 23 Feb 2020 12:19 PM PST  Four new cases of coronavirus were confirmed in the UK on Sunday, as experts warned of an impending pandemic with parts of Italy in lockdown after a massive rise in the number of new infections there. The new British patients had all been passengers on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship and were in quarantine in The Wirral when they fell ill, having returned from Japan on Saturday. It emerged on Sunday that the patients had been tested while in Japan, but the results were not received until Sunday morning, by which point they were back in the UK. They have now been transferred to specialist NHS infection centres. Of the four people who tested positive for coronavirus, two patients are in the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield, one is in the Royal Liverpool University Hospital and a fourth was taken to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, NHS England said. Professor Keith Willett, NHS strategic incident director for coronavirus, said: "These specialist centres are well prepared to deal with cases and earlier this year, the Newcastle unit successfully treated and discharged two patients who had contracted the virus." It brings the total number of UK cases to 13, and comes as the European threat from coronavirus dramatically increased, with four deaths in northern Italy following the diagnosis of more than 152 cases.
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| Trump administration backs off sending coronavirus patients to Alabama -governor Posted: 23 Feb 2020 05:34 PM PST  The news came as worry grew over the spread outside China of the sometimes fatal virus, with a spike in the number of cases found in South Korea, Iran and Italy. Alabama Governor Kay Ivey tweeted that she had thanked Trump during a separate phone call.
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| Nine of the World’s Most Beautiful Outdoor Saunas Posted: 24 Feb 2020 08:25 AM PST |
| Probe into abuse at America's oldest deaf school finds 'appalling truths' Posted: 23 Feb 2020 08:21 PM PST  Officials apologized for the "inexcusable actions" of staff and faculty members and the "fact that the school did not prevent or stop them."
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| ‘I have never seen him eat a vegetable’: With steak off the menu, officials scramble to feed fussy eater Trump in India Posted: 24 Feb 2020 07:24 AM PST  Donald Trump has embarked on his first presidential visit to India, the world's largest democracy – and home to the world's largest population of vegetarians. Since Mr Trump is a noted beef-eater, in particular a lover of steak and burgers, gastronomically speaking, the visit will prove one of his most challenging.It's not all bad news for Mr Trump. India's reputation for overwhelming vegetarianism is overstated, and it's thought that more families eat beef at home than generally admit it.
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| Donald, Melania, Ivanka, and Jared Visited the Taj Mahal. Their Poses Spoke Volumes. Posted: 24 Feb 2020 10:14 AM PST  Melania Trump stood in front of the Taj Mahal, built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as a symbol of devotion to his wife, Mumtaz, and watched her open-mouthed husband bellow to photographers.Her high-necked, ivory jumpsuit matched the exterior of the famed marble mausoleum (CNN's Kate Bennett identified the one piece as made by Trump's stylist, Hervé Pierre). It came with a moss green sash made of "vintage Indian textile" that slightly clashed with her husband's canary yellow tie. Still, the First Lady—known for looking absolutely miserable when out with her husband—appeared happy, or at least flashed a few more step-and-repeat smiles than normal. One tabloid described the pair as "loved-up," which is as big of a stretch as the notion that burger-loving Trump enjoyed his meatless Monday in India. Still, the Trumps were able to hold hands for a while, and they stood close while watching a flock of birds fly away, like two characters from a gothic poem. Trump Taj Mahal Slashed Security. Then the Murders Started.Ivanka, too, arrived with Jared Kushner in tow, though she kicked her husband out of her own picture. In a poppy-patterned turquoise dress, which matched the reflection pool she stood in front of, Ivanka mugged with her vacant-eyed but determined smile.If you have any doubts about any future political aspirations for this "presidential adviser," then (take a deep breath and) look at her Taj Mahal photo op. Despite all those "Unwanted Ivanka" detractors, just like the building itself, she endures. In Ivanka's words, such resilience is "awe inspiring." Others might call her seemingly ceaseless, free vacations (thinly) disguised as diplomacy, a horror scenario. The Taj Mahal was completed after ten years of construction in 1653, outlasting threats from the Japanese Air Force in World War II and Pakistan's bomber pilots in the late '60s. But the historic site, frequently referenced as a Wonder of the World, has succumbed to one thing: the rich and powerful using it as a backdrop to make coded statements to the world. The tradition began in earnest with the 1992 image of Princess Diana on a marble bench, her body a lithe strip in a cherry red blazer, nearly dwarfed compared to the gargantuan building behind her. She went to the site alone, without her husband Prince Charles, implying a fissure in their not-so-storybook romance. But Diana was not the first celebrity photo op at the Taj Mahal. In 1962, Jackie Kennedy took a solo trip to India and Pakistan, at a time when First Ladies did not often dabble in foreign diplomacy. For her pilgrimage to the spot, she wore a preppy blue and green sheath, projecting the Camelot-era's sunny confidence. Four years later, George Harrison snapped a selfie in front of the site, looking very anti-Kennedy in his counterculture duds: an unbuttoned cotton shirt and dark sunglasses. Since then, plenty of other young and famous men have come to the mausoleum in search of themselves, or at least a performative version of it.In 2015, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said the Taj Mahal was an example of "what people can build—and what love can motivate us to build," using the elegant language of a good copywriter to plug his company after paying respects. That same year, Leonardo DiCaprio visited too, while in the country working on a climate change documentary. It was a "secret trip;" DiCaprio asked tourists not to take pictures, because he was working. In 1995, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton also sat on one of the Taj Mahal's benches for photographers, sitting close and smiling, visual code for girl power. Five years after that, the first daughter would return with her father, Bill. In wide-angle snapshots of Donald and Melania strolling in front of the Taj Mahal, the yuge building's scope leaves the pair looking tiny, nearly as tall as the shrubs which line the monument's grassy aisles. Trump, who's got a thing for screaming about his own bigness, might not appreciate how tiny he looks. But for a man who views the presidency as just another prize to show off that he's won, the Taj Mahal visit was a success. The man whose legacy was once a knockoff-named casino now has got his photo in front of the real thing, joining the star-studded ranks of those who came before him. And as we've seen from this optics-obsessed administration so many times before, the facade is all that matters. Samantha Bee Explains How Ivanka Trump Made Her Grow UpRead more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| China said it would relax its lockdown of Wuhan's 11 million residents, only to immediately reintroduce it Posted: 24 Feb 2020 03:25 AM PST  Wuhan announced that some people could leave the locked-down city, only to reverse the announcement hours later as the coronavirus spreads.
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| Iran Prepares to Suffer the Wrath of the Coronavirus Posted: 24 Feb 2020 01:01 PM PST  Iran has sought to deny that the coronavirus is spreading within its borders. Now, the Middle East is facing a new type of crisis—one that could further exacerbate tension in the region.
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| 'It's my guilty pleasure': Sen. Chuck Schumer confirms spending $8,600 on Junior's cheesecake Posted: 24 Feb 2020 02:29 PM PST  Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer admitted he has dropped almost $9,000 on his favorite cheesecake over the years. "Guilty as charged," he said.
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| New Virginia sentencing law ends high court's DC sniper case Posted: 24 Feb 2020 12:21 PM PST  Lee Boyd Malvo, the Washington, D.C., area sniper, and Virginia agreed Monday to dismiss a pending Supreme Court case after the state changed criminal sentencing law for juveniles. Under the new law, signed by Gov. Ralph Northam earlier in the day, people serving life terms for crimes they committed before they turned 18 can be considered for parole after serving at least 20 years. The two sides agreed that Malvo's life term would remain in effect, though he will have a chance at parole early in 2024.
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| Biden campaign runs South Carolina ad accusing Sanders of trying to undermine Obama's re-election Posted: 24 Feb 2020 02:25 PM PST  Former Vice President Joe Biden's campaign team is going after Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) for reportedly once going after Biden's old boss.The Biden campaign unveiled a new digital ad Monday that's tied to a story published The Atlantic last week that reported Sanders seriously considered launching a primary challenge against former President Barack Obama in 2012. When word got around to the Oval Office, it reportedly sent Obama's re-election campaign team into a panic.Sanders' camp quickly denied the senator ever contemplated trying to unseat Obama, but regardless, the Biden team is unleashing the story against the new national frontrunner in a state where the former vice president is still considered the favorite. In the ad, they accuse Sanders of trying to undermine Obama's re-election, and argue he "can't be trusted" to build upon the president's legacy. Watch the full ad below and read more at Politico. > I think Barack Obama was one hell of a President. I was proud to stand alongside him every step of the way -- and fought like hell to make sure he was re-elected.> > Bernie Sanders can't say the same. pic.twitter.com/7wM4PFUXDZ> > -- Joe Biden (Text Join to 30330) (@JoeBiden) February 24, 2020More stories from theweek.com The coronavirus recession? The real third way in 2020 Top member of Trump's coronavirus task force asks Twitter for help accessing map of virus
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| US economy faces long-lasting damage from trade war: Fed official Posted: 24 Feb 2020 12:43 PM PST  The trade conflict of the past two years likely left a mark on the US economy, even with the recent agreement to defuse the situation, a Federal Reserve official said Monday. The outbreak of the new coronavirus in China adds another risk factor to the outlook, which otherwise seemed poised to provide steady growth, said Loretta Mester, president of the Federal Reserve's regional bank in Cleveland. With the partial agreement signed with China to call a truce in the dispute with Beijing -- despite leaving many tariffs in place -- as well as a new continental free trade pact with Canada and Mexico, Mester said the trade picture is "somewhat better" heading into 2020.
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| NASA space telescope spots a double star system with an alter ego Posted: 24 Feb 2020 07:53 AM PST  It's like a cosmic story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
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| Susan Collins Breaks With Trump on Director of National Intelligence Pick Posted: 24 Feb 2020 04:13 PM PST  Republican Senator Susan Collins, a senior member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, on Monday rejected President Trump's pick to lead the intelligence community, saying Richard Grenell does not have the experience to serve as director of national intelligence."I would have much preferred that the president nominate the acting director Maguire for the post," Collins said, referring to the former director of national intelligence, Joseph Maguire."As one of the four authors of the law that created the DNI back in 2004, I care deeply about that position and believe the person needs experience in the intelligence community, which regrettably Ambassador Grenell does not have," Collins continued.The Maine Republican, who is up for reelection this year, is the first in Trump's party to raise concerns about his pick. Collins helped draft the 2004 law that established the office of director of national intelligence.Maguire was forced out on Thursday, his sudden departure causing consternation among the Intelligence Community, and replaced with Grenell, formerly the U.S. Ambassador to Germany.His departure came after Trump was reportedly irked about a classified briefing last Thursday during which Shelby Pierson, the intelligence community election threats executive, warned lawmakers that Russia is again interfering in the 2020 campaign and attempting to get Trump reelected.The president was said to be "out of joint with Maguire" on that process after hearing about the intelligence conclusion from a House Republican rather than from the intelligence community itself.Trump later pushed back on the narrative that he is the favorite candidate of Russia, calling it "another misinformation campaign" that was "launched by Democrats."
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| 30 of the Best Stainless Steel Kitchen Faucets Posted: 24 Feb 2020 03:28 PM PST |
| China's Xi calls for action on economy amid virus outbreak Posted: 23 Feb 2020 09:54 AM PST  Warning that China's virus epidemic is "still grim and complex," President Xi Jinping called on Sunday for more efforts to stop the outbreak, revive industry and prevent the disease from derailing the spring planting of crops.
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| Iran is closing schools, scrambling for hospital places, and spraying disinfectant in the subway as coronavirus deaths and cases spike Posted: 24 Feb 2020 08:25 AM PST  The government said 12 people had died of the novel coronavirus as of Monday, though one official said the number is actually much higher.
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| Two 13-year-old boys charged with murder in California library fire Posted: 24 Feb 2020 09:11 AM PST  Charges have been filed against two 13-year-old boys linked to a library fire at California's Porterville City Library that killed two firefighters.
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| Markets tank on concern about virus impact on world economy Posted: 23 Feb 2020 09:52 PM PST  Shares skidded, oil prices sank and the price of gold surged on Monday as the number of people infected or killed by the viral outbreak that began in China surged, heaping more uncertainty on the economic outlook. The decline promises a sharp drop on Wall Street when it opens and comes after finance chiefs of the Group of 20 major economies warned the outbreak that began in China is threatening to derail world growth. The FTSE MIB in Italy, which has seen a surge in new cases that lead to the lockdown of towns and businesses, dropped 4.6% to 23,620.
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| MSNBC host urged to quit after comparing Bernie Sanders win in Nevada to Nazi invasion Posted: 23 Feb 2020 07:12 AM PST  MSNBC's Chris Matthews is under fire after comparing Bernie Sanders' victory in the Nevada caucuses to the Nazi invasion of France in 1940.The 'Hardball' host is now under pressure to resign after invoking the historical comparison during an on-air conversation with Brian Williams.
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| UN calls for 'two state' solution to be respected in Middle East Posted: 24 Feb 2020 12:02 PM PST  The UN Security Council made a rare show of unity Monday when it called on all parties to maintain their support for a two state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. "Council Members reiterated their support for a negotiated two state solution ... where two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, live side by side in peace within secure and recognized borders," said a statement released by Belgium, which holds the rotating presidency, and supported by all 14 other members, including the United States. "All parties should refrain from undermining the viability of the two states solution in order to maintain the prospects for a just, comprehensive and lasting peace," the statement added, an allusion to Israel's recent threat to build thousands more homes in East Jerusalem, in an area claimed by the Palestinians.
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| 14 products dermatologists recommend for soothing redness and rosacea Posted: 24 Feb 2020 01:59 PM PST  These products help soothe skin, minimize redness and prevent flare-ups of rosacea.
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| Senate FISA Abuse Investigation to Focus on Mystery Source Who Contradicted Steele Dossier Posted: 24 Feb 2020 06:04 AM PST  Senator Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) on Sunday told Fox News the Senate's investigation into FBI abuse of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act will focus on interviews the agency conducted with a Russian source who contradicted much of the information in the Steele dossier."The first thing I want to do is call the people who heard from Russian sub-source that this dossier is a bunch of bar talk and hearsay," Graham said on Fox's Sunday Morning Futures. "I want to find out when did [former FBI director James] Comey and [former FBI deputy director Andrew] McCabe understand it was not reliable and start from there."The source, known in the Justice Department Inspector General's report as "Primary Sub-Source," was former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele's only direct contact in Russia for the allegations contained in the dossier. However, the IG report states that the primary sub-source told the FBI and Justice Department that Steele's allegations were false or misleading, including the assertion of Page's involvement in what the dossier terms a "well-developed conspiracy of cooperation" between the Trump campaign and Russian government."The Primary Sub-source made statements during his/her January 2017 FBI interview that were inconsistent with multiple sections of the Steele reports, including some that were relied upon in the FISA applications," the IG report states.Following the publication of the IG report, prominent Republicans called for an overhaul of the FISA system to prevent future abuses. On Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported the Trump administration is considering doing just that before FISA legislation is set to expire in March.
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| Harvard scientist predicts coronavirus will infect up to 70 percent of humanity Posted: 24 Feb 2020 11:58 AM PST  Harvard University epidemiologist Marc Lipsitch is predicting the coronavirus "will ultimately not be containable" and, within a year, will infect somewhere between 40 and 70 percent of humanity, The Atlantic reports. But don't be too alarmed. Many of those people, Lipsitch clarifies, won't have severe illnesses or even show symptoms at all, which is already the case for many people who have tested positive for the virus.That's precisely why he doesn't think the virus can be stopped. Viruses like SARS, MERS, and the avian flu were eventually contained in part because they were more intense and had a higher fatality rate. In other words, if you were infected by the virus that caused SARS, chances were you weren't out and about. But because the current coronavirus, known as COVID-19, can be asymptomatic, or at least very mild, there's a better chance people will likely go about their day as normal. The down side, though, is that it becomes harder to trace and prevent. In that sense it's similar to the flu, which can also be deadly, but often passes without the infected person seeking medical care.The Atlantic reports Lipsitch is definitely not alone in his prediction. There's an emerging consensus that the outbreak will eventually morph into a new seasonal disease, which, per The Atlantic, could one day turn "cold and flu season" into "cold and flu and COVID-19 season." Read more at The Atlantic.More stories from theweek.com The coronavirus recession? The real third way in 2020 Top member of Trump's coronavirus task force asks Twitter for help accessing map of virus
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| Putin Sent Her Activist Boyfriend to the Arctic Circle. Now She Wants to Go, Too. Posted: 24 Feb 2020 02:11 AM PST  MOSCOW—Few people are familiar with Novaya Zemlya, a very obscure archipelago above the Arctic Circle that is controlled by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), the successor to the infamous Soviet spy agency, the KGB. Even fewer people hope to travel to those thinly populated and thoroughly militarized islands, where the Russian army tests its Arctic missile systems, and where polar bears suffering the effects of climate change dig through garbage pits at impoverished settlements. Alexei Navalny on Standing Up to Putin and His Murderous MinionsIt sounds like hell frozen over, in fact—and it figures in what looks like a new tactic by President Vladimir Putin (a former KGB operative) to intimidate his most vocal critics. But Kira Yarmysh has a special reason to go there. She is desperate to see her partner, who became the first victim of such an operation last December."The FSB abducted my boyfriend, Ruslan Shaveddinov, and isolated him in Novaya Zemlya," Yarmysh told The Daily Beast. "The most outrageous truth is that several divisions of the state system, including military authorities, aviation, and secret services, are helping to hide Ruslan from us." This was hardly a random act. Yarmysh is a news presenter and spokesperson for Russia's top opposition leader, Aleksei Navalny, and his Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK). Shaveddinov is one of the group's star reporters and presenters as well.Russia still has a military draft, and 12 months of service are mandatory for all male citizens age 18 to 33. Shaveddinov, known as "Shav," has been famous for presenting vivid, well-documented corruption investigations on YouTube. But at 23 years old, he was vulnerable, and authorities claimed he was draft-dodging.The news agency TASS quotes Moscow's military commissar, Col. Maksim Loktev, claiming the conscription of Shaveddinov was perfectly ordinary: "He departed to the place of his military service on the draft." But the young activist's colleagues aren't buying it. It's not just the matter of conscription; it's the deployment that's suspicious."This is a unique example of how the FSB begins to use military service as a prison for politically active young men," Navalny told The Daily Beast. "I think the order was to isolate Shav."Viewers all over Russia recognize Yarmysh and Shaveddinov from YouTube, which is the main outlet for Navalny's reports. More than three million viewed their presentation last summer (while Navalny was in jail) about Moscow Deputy Mayor Natalia Sergunina. They reported she was making millions of dollars off property deals in the Russian capital for companies controlled by her relatives, an allegation that she has denied. There are frequent police raids on FBK offices, along with confiscations of computers, cellphones, and video cameras. On July 27, members of an armed special unit raided Yarmysh's home at dawn, woke the couple up, put Ruslan on the floor, and confiscated all of the digital equipment. After a tough 2019, Kira and Ruslan looked forward to celebrating the New Year's holiday together, without any people around. But on Dec. 23, Kira's boyfriend vanished and his cellphone was not answered. His friends found the door to his apartment broken. Nearly 24 hours later, Yarmysh discovered that her partner was more than 3,000 kilometers (some 2,000 miles) away, in a unit of what's called the 33rd Guards Rocket Army based in Rogachevo village on the Southern Island of Novaya Zemlya. Yarmysh had never heard much about the rules of the archipelago and the news came as a shock: there was an old nuclear testing ground near Ruslan's base; she could not visit his island without a special FSB permit. Then Ruslan called her, and what she heard broke her heart, she says."There were two army captains with him listening in our conversation, so every time I asked him how he was, he said, 'Let's talk about you," Yarmysh remembered. "He told me he was banned from using his cellphone, which is a violation—every Russian soldier can call home once a week! So I decided to sue his commander."Yarmysh wanted to be present during the court hearing last week, and, of course, to see Ruslan. She requested an FSB permit earlier this month, but days passed and there was no word back. The court hearing was scheduled for last Wednesday, but a Moscow judge on the case was not able to get to Novaya Zemlya, Yarmysh said—the flight got canceled due to harsh weather conditions. (This is not unusual given the brutal Arctic weather.) "They regularly cancel flights during the winter, so I am surprised that the army managed to transport Ruslan there so easily in December," Yarmysh said. "It is obvious that the weather is not an issue, if there is an order to bring the guy."Finally a hearing was held at the end of the week, and a lawyer from the Navalny team was able to make it there, but there was no satisfaction to be had and communications were spotty. At midday on Saturday, Yarmysh tweeted that she still had heard nothing about her boyfriend's fated. (A troll responded with pictures of polar bears eating a bloody corpse: "Found him. But no need to thank me.")The lawyer finally got in touch late Saturday, but only briefly. He reported that, officially, the court said Shaveddinov had no unusual restrictions. But in practical terms that was no consolation, and Yarmysh said she couldn't be sure what happened until the attorney made it back to Moscow. As of Monday, however, he was till stuck above the Arctic Circle because of the weather."Prisoners have more rights than Ruslan," Yarmysh told The Daily Beast. "He doesn't have any right to call, or even to send letters."Yarmysh grew up in Rostov-on-Don, a provincial southern town on the border with Ukraine's Donbas region. Her single mother brought her up dreaming that one day Kira would win The Clever Heads, a televised competition for high-schoolers that awards the winners with a chance to enroll in Russia's most prestigious university for future diplomats, the MGIMO, or Moscow State Institute of International Relations. And, yes, Yarmysh won.While studying at MGIMO, she thought she would one day get a diplomat's position in Africa, far from the Russian political scene. But anti-Putin street protests in 2011-2012 changed her life, and she wound up on the front line of the opposition's constant fight with corrupt bureaucrats. Her mother has always been an Aleksey Navalny fan, Yarmysh said, so when she got her job at the FBK six years ago, her family supported her. "Kira Yarmysh is one of the brightest stars in Navalny's team. She is emerging to be even bigger but still stay in Navalny's shadow," Echo of Moscow Deputy Chief Editor Olga Bychkova told The Daily Beast. Yarmysh says that if she has to she will wait for her boyfriend for 12 months, as do millions of other Russian girls all over the country. "I hope this is going to be just one year," she says. For two months, Yarmysh has been worried, feeling "hurt," she says, wondering why out of all Russia's vast military bases, her boyfriend was isolated in the Arctic. "The authorities might think that Ruslan and I, if we come out to a street protest, might lead masses of people," Yarmysh said, then added: "I personally have no fear. If they raid our homes, if they detain us, I tell myself, we must be doing everything right." But for the moment that is, at best, cold comfort.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Trump says the stock market is 'starting to look very good' after the Dow plunged over 1,000 points amid coronavirus fears Posted: 24 Feb 2020 03:23 PM PST  The comments come as the Trump administration prepares to request an emergency funding package from Congress to combat the coronavirus.
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| Missing Tennessee toddler's grandmother and her boyfriend extradited after arrest Posted: 24 Feb 2020 11:11 AM PST  Evelyn Boswell, a Tennessee toddler who is 15 months old, was last seen in December. An Amber Alert was issued for her on Wednesday.
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| Trump's 'Big' China Trade Deal Has Some Really Big Problems Posted: 23 Feb 2020 09:30 AM PST  The remaining issues, such as cyber theft, cyber security, and standardization, are untouched by the Agreement and could be the source of tension in the future.
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| Virus 'peaked' in China but could trigger global pandemic: WHO Posted: 24 Feb 2020 12:18 PM PST  The World Health Organization on Monday said the new coronavirus epidemic had "peaked" in China but warned that a surge in cases elsewhere was "deeply concerning" and all countries should prepare for a "potential pandemic". WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the peak in China occurred between January 23 and February 2 and the number of new cases there "has been declining steadily since then". "This virus can be contained," he told reporters in Geneva, praising China for helping to prevent an even bigger spread of the disease through unprecedented lockdowns and quarantines in or near the outbreak's epicentre.
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| U.S. Supreme Court leans toward $7.5 billion pipeline in trail dispute Posted: 24 Feb 2020 08:16 AM PST |
| Daredevil 'Mad' Mike Hughes dies in homemade rocket launch Posted: 22 Feb 2020 09:10 PM PST  He was working on a TV show, "Homemade Astronauts," when his craft crashed in the California desert.
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| German far-right party laments isolation by rivals, media Posted: 24 Feb 2020 12:48 PM PST  The far-right Alternative for Germany called Monday for rivals to scale back their criticism of the party, saying the blackballing it is being subjected to could harm democracy in the country. The party, known by its German acronym AfD, almost failed to clear the 5% threshold in Sunday's regional election in Hamburg after coming under sustained fire from mainstream parties and the media in recent weeks. AfD has been accused of stoking the kind of anti-migrant sentiment that drove a 43-year-old German to shoot dead nine people in the city of Hanau last week — a charge the party rejects.
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| Photos show what Italy is like under lockdown as the country becomes Europe's epicenter of the coronavirus with more than 200 cases reported in 3 days Posted: 24 Feb 2020 10:22 AM PST  Authorities have closed down 12 Italian towns as they try to stop the virus from spreading. Photos show what it looks like on the ground.
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| US Air Force’s top officer talks about the budget and why he won’t drop the 386 squadron goal Posted: 24 Feb 2020 03:00 AM PST  In an exclusive interview with Defense News, Gen. Dave Goldfein breaks down the Air Force's strategy for getting Congress on board a controversial budget.
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| The Dow is on pace for its biggest 1-day drop in 3 years Posted: 24 Feb 2020 07:17 AM PST  Coronavirus fears have led to a stock plunge.The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 979 points, or 3.4 percent, lower at Monday's opening, putting it on pace for its biggest one-day point drop in three years, per CNBC. The record currently belongs to a 1,175-point decline in February 2018. At the moment, the drop is the third-highest in that timeframe, and the Dow has erased its gains for the year, per Bloomberg.> S&P 500 registers its biggest drop since August, Dow Jones erased its gains for the year. BQMarketNow> > Read more: https://t.co/VSYdnuxalD pic.twitter.com/7B4Ysxdp6S> > -- BloombergQuint (@BloombergQuint) February 24, 2020The other major indexes, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite, fell 3.2 percent and 4 percent, respectively, and several major industries, especially those that rely heavily on Chinese consumers, have also taken hits as a result of the virus' global spread, which now has countries like Italy, Iran, and South Korea undertaking significant measures to contain it. > More stats on the coronavirus's impact on global business:> > -$29 billion loss in airline revenue > -China auto sales down 92% > -387 Procter & Gamble suppliers in China interrupted > -Adidas sales in China down 85%https://t.co/P86EPreRrg> > -- Jeff Giesea (@jeffgiesea) February 22, 2020More stories from theweek.com The coronavirus recession? The real third way in 2020 Top member of Trump's coronavirus task force asks Twitter for help accessing map of virus
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| Indian women protest new citizenship laws, joining a global 'fourth wave' feminist movement Posted: 24 Feb 2020 05:47 AM PST  Women are among the strongest opponents of two new laws in India that threaten the citizenship rights of vulnerable groups like Muslims, poor women, oppressed castes and LGBTQ people.The Citizenship Amendment Act, passed in December 2019, fast-tracks Indian citizenship for undocumented refugees from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan – but only those who are non-Muslim. Another law - the National Register of Citizens – will require all residents in India to furnish extensive legal documentation to prove their citizenship as soon as 2021. Critics see the two laws as part of the government's efforts to redefine the meaning of belonging in India and make this constitutionally secular country a Hindu nation. Since Dec. 4, 2019, Indians of all ages, ethnicities and religions have been protesting the new citizenship initiatives in scattered but complementary nationwide demonstrations. The uprisings have persisted through weeks of arrests, beatings and even killings across India by the police.But the most enduring pocket of resistance is an around-the-clock sit-in of mostly hijab-wearing women in a working-class Delhi neighborhood called Shaheen Bagh. Women take chargeSince Dec. 15, 2019, women of all ages – from students to 90-year-old grandmothers – have abandoned their daily duties and braved near-freezing temperatures to block a major highway in the Indian capital. This is a striking act of resistance in a patriarchal country where women – but particularly Muslim women – have historically had their rights denied.The Shaheen Bagh protests are as novel in their methods as they are in their makeup. Protesters are using artwork, book readings, lectures, poetry recitals, songs, interfaith prayers and communal cooking to explain their resistance to citizenship laws that, they say, will discriminate against not just Muslims but also women, who usually don't have state or property papers in their own names. On Jan. 11, women in the Indian city of Kolkata performed a Bengali-language version of a Chilean feminist anthem called "The Rapist is You." This choreographed public flash dance, first staged in Santiago, Chile in November 2019, calls out the police, judiciary and government for violating women's human rights. A dangerous place for womenIndia is the world's most dangerous country for women, according to the Thompson Reuters Foundation. One-third of married women are physically abused. Two-thirds of rapes go unpunished. Gender discrimination is so pervasive that around 1 million female fetuses are aborted each year. In some parts of India, there are 126 men for every 100 women.Indian women have come together in protest before, to speak out against these and other issues. But most prior women's protests were limited in scope and geography. The 2012 brutal gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old Delhi woman – which sparked nationwide protests – was a watershed moment. All at once, the country witnessed the power of women's rage. The current women-led anti-citizenship law demonstrations are even greater in number and power. Beyond Shaheen Bagh, Indian women across caste, religion and ethnicity are putting their bodies and reputations on the line. Female students are intervening to shield fellow students from police violence at campus protests. Actresses from Bollywood, India's film industry, are speaking out against gender violence, too. Women's secular agendaWith their non-violent tactics and inclusive strategy, the Shaheen Bagh women are proving to be effective critics of the government's Hindu-centric agenda. Their leaderless epicenter of resistance raises up national symbols like the Indian flag, the national anthem and the Indian Constitution as reminders that India is secular and plural – a place where people can be both Muslim and Indian. The Shaheen Bagh movement's novel and enduring strategy has triggered activism elsewhere in the country. Thousands of women in the northern Indian city of Lucknow started their own sit-in in late January. Similar "Shaheen Baghs" have sprung up since, in the cities of Patna and even Chennai, which is located 1,500 miles from Delhi. Global women's springIndia's Shaheen Bagh protests form part of a broader global trend in women's movements. Worldwide, female activists are combining attention to women's issues with a wider call for social justice across gender, class and geographic borders. In January 2019 alone, women in nearly 90 countries took to the streets demanding equal pay, reproductive rights and the end of violence. Young women were also at the forefront of the 2019 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, Lebanon, Sudan, Brazil and Colombia.As I write in my 2017 book, such inclusive activism is the defining characteristic of what's called "fourth wave feminism." There isn't a common definition of the first three feminist waves. In the United States, they generally refer to the early 20th century suffragette movement, the radical women's movement of the 1960s and 1970s and the more mainstream feminism of the 1990s and early 2000s. Fourth wave feminism appears to be more universal. Today's activists fully embrace the idea that women's freedom means little if other groups are still oppressed. With its economic critique, disavowal of caste oppression and solidarity across religious divides, India's Shaheen Bagh sit-in shares attributes with the women's uprisings in Chile, Lebanon, Hong Kong and beyond. The last time women came together in such numbers worldwide was the MeToo movement, a campaign against sexual harassment which emerged on social media in the United States in 2017 and quickly spread across the globe. Shaheen Bagh and similarly far-reaching women's uprisings underway in other countries take MeToo to the next level, moving from a purely feminist agenda to a wider call for social justice. Women protesters want rights – not just for themselves, but human rights for all.[Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend. Sign up for our weekly newsletter.]This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.Read more: * India's plan to identify 'illegal immigrants' could get some Muslims declared 'foreign' * India has a sexual assault problem that only women can fixAlka Kurian has been awarded the 2020-2021 Fulbright U.S. Scholar award. She volunteers for Tasveer, a South Asian non-profit dedicated to social change through thought-provoking South Asian films, art and storytelling.
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| Samos villagers up in arms over new refugee camp plan Posted: 24 Feb 2020 06:34 AM PST  For many of those who live on the Greek Aegean island of Samos it is absolutely clear -- they want no more refugees, no new camps and to be left alone as they were before the migrant crisis broke in 2015. "We, the people who live here, we oppose this idea of a camp," says an angry Nikos Ftinogiannis. Just a stone's throw from his village of Mitilinii in the arid Zervou area, more than a hundred containers have already been positioned in an enclosure marked out with barbed fences to serve as a new, closed camp.
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| Bernie Sanders, the Teflon Candidate, Faces Sudden New Tests Posted: 23 Feb 2020 08:50 AM PST  In the early years, there was his commentary on gender relations featuring a rape fantasy, his support for the Sandinistas and his honeymoon in the Soviet Union.Once he entered Congress, there were votes to shield gun manufacturers, a commitment to remaining uncommitted to the Democratic Party, and secret plans to mount a 2012 primary challenge against President Barack Obama.And more recently: the FBI investigation into his family, the heart attack and the resistance to detailing the costs of his signature policy proposal, "Medicare for All."Sen. Bernie Sanders has the kind of vulnerabilities that make political opponents salivate. Yet throughout his congressional campaigns, the 2016 primaries and now his second White House bid, one rule has defined the senator's political rise: Nothing sticks.Now that durability is about to be tested in ways that Sanders has never experienced in his 50-year electoral career. The disclosure Friday that intelligence officials believe Russia has been interfering in the 2020 race to help his candidacy may distract from his campaign message and force him to contend with questions, worries and disinformation about the Russian efforts.He is also no longer a quixotic junior senator from the idiosyncratic state of Vermont. He is now the Democratic presidential front-runner, and if he captures the nomination, he can expect to face a tidal wave of negative advertising. President Donald Trump and the Republican Party would likely spend millions branding him as a socialist.Sanders has long seen himself as an underestimated figure and a political revolutionary, allies said, and he has confidence in his extraordinary ability to shrug off attacks. His 2020 rivals -- a former vice president, multiple fellow senators, two brainy former mayors and billionaire businessmen -- have failed to halt his momentum, or never fully tried in the first place, after concluding that attacks only fan the passions of his liberal base.If Sanders' rivals have been giving him a pass in debates and over policy issues, it is because they see no clear way to dent his Trump-like Teflon image. It is too early to know if the Russia news or any burgeoning anti-Sanders effort among Democrats will change that. And like Trump, it may soon be too late for opponents to stop Sanders if he is the big winner in the delegate-rich Super Tuesday primaries March 3."Any attempt to derail Bernie that I've ever seen has always blown up in the face of the derailer," said Howard Dean, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, who clashed with Sanders occasionally during Dean's time as governor of Vermont. "It's an amazing phenomenon. I do not know what the magic is, but there is some."While Sanders claimed another victory in the Nevada caucuses Saturday, some Democrats are frantically searching for a piece of kryptonite.A Democratic group aimed at promoting moderates began airing digital ads this past week that attack the costs of Sanders' proposals. The group's efforts follow a similar advertising campaign, bankrolled by a different Democratic organization, that questions whether Sanders can beat Trump in November.In recent days, Michael Bloomberg's team has shifted its strategy from largely ignoring Sanders in favor of focusing on Trump to targeting their primary rival more aggressively than anyone else in the field. At Wednesday night's debate in Las Vegas, rivals hit him harder than ever before on his policies, the vitriolic tone of some of his supporters, his defense of socialism, and his health. There's also some speculation among Democratic officials about stopping Sanders at the party convention in July.For a party obsessed with learning from the mistakes of 2016, when the sheer improbability of Trump's winning the White House dominated the discourse, the disbelief in the potential of Sanders to win the nomination and the reluctance of candidates to challenge him mystifies some Democrats -- even those working for him. And the revelation that Russia may be trying to help him, four years after it helped Trump, only confuses matters more because it is far from clear how that foreign interference will affect the race.For months, top Sanders aides feared that a rival, perhaps Bloomberg, would start an anti-Sanders super political action committee. That kind of broad, well-funded effort has not materialized. And of all the candidates, only Tom Steyer has released an ad attacking Sanders, targeting his failure to put a price tag on his Medicare for All plan."A lot of it is the same thing you saw happening in the Republican establishment four years ago," said Matt Bennett, a founder of the moderate think tank Third Way and a vocal critic of Sanders. "Suddenly in April they woke up and realized that Donald Trump could actually win."Throughout the primary race, as soon as someone has risen to the top of the pack, attacks have piled on. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts faced a barrage of questions about her Medicare for All plan after a summer surge in the polls. Former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, was the subject of attacks after his poll numbers rose in Iowa.The same has not happened for Sanders.It's not as if he has neutralized his vulnerabilities. He has recanted his 1972 article about male and female sexual fantasies, which briefly imagined women fantasizing about rape, but such a piece of writing would still usually damage a candidate. His history of making supportive comments about communist regimes and visiting Nicaragua and the Soviet Union in 1980s could reinforce the socialist labeling. And federal investigators examined a college real estate deal that involved Sanders' wife, Jane Sanders; the couple was not interviewed, indicating a lack of significant evidence of a crime, but some opponents talk it up privately as a possible issue.Yet other candidates have been more likely to face attacks. At Wednesday's debate, Bloomberg, the billionaire former mayor of New York City, faced a tough assault, with the pile-on serving to keep the focus away from the higher-polling Sanders.Jonathan Kott, head of the Big Tent Project, which began airing the digital ads Tuesday, said that part of the reason Sanders had escaped serious attacks from his rivals until the most recent debate was disbelief that Democratic voters would support him. An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Tuesday found that the most unpopular qualities for a candidate were being a socialist, having a heart attack in the last year and being older than 75.The same poll also showed Sanders opening up a double-digit national lead in the race."He has not faced the same vetting and scrutiny that other front-runners have faced," Kott said. "A lot of that may have to do with the fact that nobody thought a socialist with these radical views would be the front-runner."Aides to Sanders said he is able to evade attacks because voters trust him, arguing that his proposals for a single-payer health care system, free public college and a Green New Deal are backed by a wide majority of Democratic voters."We felt strongly from the beginning that the primary would be decided on two questions: Who do voters trust to carry out the change they want, and who do they believe can beat Donald Trump?" said Faiz Shakir, Sanders' campaign manager. "Bernie's consistent record of standing with the working class is the strongest answer."Analysis of Sanders' turnout in Iowa and New Hampshire gives scant indication that he has expanded his base, despite his argument that he is building a movement that will motivate working-class voters and young people -- both groups that typically do not vote in large numbers.Yet with the moderate wing of the party unable to coalesce around a single candidate, Sanders could win a near-majority of delegates with less than one-third of the vote. That could give him a delegate lead that would be difficult -- if not impossible -- for his rivals to overcome.Some Democratic strategists see real risks in going after Sanders over policy, personal issues or matters beyond his control, like the Russian interference, fearing it could alienate some of his supporters -- largely, younger voters and staunch liberals who will be central to any Democratic nominee's ability to win the White House. Others working on rival campaigns argue that such attacks only backfire and are quickly weaponized into fundraising appeals that flood the Sanders campaign with donations.Days before the Iowa caucuses, Democratic Majority for Israel released an ad attacking Sanders, the first time a Democratic group had run a negative campaign spot targeting Sanders by name in his two primary bids.In about a day, the Sanders campaign raised $1.3 million off the spot."He's been like the quarterback in the football scrimmage who wears the jersey and no one is allowed to tackle," said David Axelrod, a former top strategist for Obama. "There was a reluctance to take on Trump because there was a fear of antagonizing his base, and I think Bernie has benefited from that within the Democratic Party."Some backers of Warren argue that Sanders has also benefited from less media scrutiny, despite his campaign's frequent broadsides against the agenda of "corporate media."While Warren has been pushed, repeatedly, to unveil the costs of her Medicare for All plan, Sanders has brushed off questions about his own similar proposal, saying the costs are "impossible to predict."When Warren accused Sanders of lying about whether he had told her a woman could not defeat Trump, perhaps the toughest moment he's faced in the race so far, his supporters attacked her online and referred to her with snake emojis."It is hard to say why she's been treated much more harshly," said Adam Jentleson, a Democratic strategist who is close to the Warren team. "At a certain point you're only left with gender as an explanation."Voters said they appreciate Sanders' consistent message, arguing that they know who he is and what he represents. Many of those who backed Sanders in 2016 said the past four years have only strengthened their support."He has the most progressive agenda," said Paul Wetzonis, 29, of Nashua, New Hampshire, who voted for Sanders in both of his primary bids. "Everybody else is basically a modern corporatist Democrat."Unlike Trump, who took over his party by sheer force, Sanders has spent the past four years working to make his liberal brand more mainstream, both by changing the Democratic Party and by casting himself as a loyal soldier of it.Less than a year after a primary race in which his team accused the Democratic National Committee of "rigging" the election, Sanders flew around the country with the party's chairman, Tom Perez, for an eight-state "come together, fight back" tour in 2017. Through the pro-Sanders political nonprofit Our Revolution, supporters of the senator packed the obscure party meetings that select state leaders, putting loyalists into key party posts.And Sanders promised, again and again, to be a good Democrat, pushing back on a narrative of the 2016 race that he was not a "true" member of the party. In March, Sanders signed the Democratic National Committee's loyalty pledge. In an ad that ran in Iowa, Sanders placed himself in a line of Democratic icons, splicing his words with images of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson and John F. Kennedy.Even some Democrats who don't agree with Sanders said they appreciate his voice in the race.As she waited to hear former Vice President Joe Biden address a crowd in Marshalltown, Iowa, Carrie Barr said she wasn't considering supporting Sanders but appreciated his policies."He's too extreme. He's a socialist, and he's not been a supporter of Democratic politics," said Barr, 64, a retired teacher. "But everyone loves his ideas. I love his ideas."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
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| Feds' plan to relocate coronavirus patients puts region at risk, California city says Posted: 22 Feb 2020 07:31 PM PST  Officials in Costa Mesa, California, and Anniston, Alabama, said they were kept in the dark about plans to transfer patients to their communities.
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| US appeals court upholds Trump rules involving abortions Posted: 24 Feb 2020 10:42 AM PST  In a victory for the Trump administration, a U.S. appeals court on Monday upheld rules that bar taxpayer-funded family-planning clinics from referring women for abortions. The 7-4 ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned decisions issued by judges in Washington, Oregon and California. Beginning March 4, the rules will also prohibit clinics that receive federal money from sharing office space with abortion providers, which critics said would force many Title X providers to find new locations, undergo expensive remodels or shut down — further reducing access to the program.
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| North Korea has yet to officially report any coronavirus cases. But it just quarantined 380 foreigners. Posted: 24 Feb 2020 08:23 AM PST  The majority of the quarantined individuals in the secretive, isolated country are diplomats. The nationalities of the quarantined individuals have not been identified.
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| Nazi Killer: This Was the Battle That Made Patton a Legend Posted: 22 Feb 2020 09:00 PM PST  But the cost of victory, like so many times during World War II, was high.
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| President Trump, first lady visit Taj Mahal in India Posted: 24 Feb 2020 06:47 AM PST  President Trump, who once owned the former Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, N.J., took in breathtaking views of the real Taj Mahal Monday in India. As Trump walked from the iconic 17th century mausoleum, he told reporters that it is s an "incredible place."
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| Climate change could be a 'catastrophic' national security threat, report warns Posted: 24 Feb 2020 09:04 AM PST  "Even at scenarios of low warming, each region of the world will face severe risks to national and global security in the next three decades," according to a report by the Center for Climate and Security.
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