Trump got the number of US coronavirus patients wrong in a tweet about how he's on top of the outbreak

Trump described himself as a 'germaphobe' but called in the small number of cases in the U.S. a "very little problem," the AP reported.

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Tom Cotton Claims Coronavirus Epidemic ‘Much Worse’ than China Admits

Senator Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) claimed on Thursday that the coronavirus epidemic spreading across China is worse than the country is willing to admit."There was a 28% increase in coronavirus cases overnight in China," Cotton wrote in a Twitter post. "Make no mistake, though: these aren’t 'new' cases. Just what China is willing to admit. It’s much worse."By Thursday morning over 7,700 cases of the virus were confirmed worldwide, mostly in mainland China, while 68 cases were recorded in other locations around the world. 170 people have died from the virus so far.Cotton has repeatedly pushed for a travel ban to China due to concerns over the spread of the virus. On Tuesday Cotton sent a letter to members of President Trump's cabinet, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, urging the administration to enact a travel ban."As of [Tuesday] morning, China has reported that the Wuhan coronavirus has infected more than 4,500 people and killed more than 100," Cotton wrote in the letter. "But the real number is likely far higher — perhaps in the hundreds of thousands — given the Chinese Communist Party's long history of covering up and minimizing these crises."On Friday Senator Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) himself called for a ban on U.S.-China travel as the epidemic spread.The World Health Organization will meet on Thursday to determine whether to announce a global-health emergency. W.H.O. director general Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has praised China's response to the outbreak."I was struck by the determination of Chinese leadership & it’s people to end the new coronavirus outbreak," Dr. Tedros wrote on Twitter.

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U.S. coronavirus evacuee from China placed under quarantine order after trying to flee base

One of 195 Americans evacuated from Wuhan, China, to a U.S. air base in California to begin 72 hours of voluntary observation for signs of coronavirus infection was placed under mandatory quarantine after trying to leave the facility, public health officials said on Thursday. The individual, whose identity was not disclosed, was presented the quarantine order on Wednesday night, hours after arriving at March Air Reserve Base near Los Angeles on a government-chartered flight from Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, officials from the Riverside County Public Health Department said.

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Brexit finally arrives Friday: A momentous yet quiet moment

A few Union Jack flags will be lowered from European Union buildings in Brussels, more will be waved in jubilation by Brexiteers in London at the moment of Britain's departure — at 11 p.m. in the U.K., midnight in much of the EU (2300 GMT). Britain and the bloc fought tooth and nail for the best part of four years — with insults flying across the English Channel — over the terms of their divorce. Now, on the eve of one of the most significant events in European Union history, the political eruptions have ceased and an uneasy quiet reigns: the calm before the next storm.

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Carter Page is Suing the DNC For the Steele Dossier

How much responsibility should they have?

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Britain Is Finally Leaving the European Union Today. Here's What Will Change

It's Brexit day on Jan. 31

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Hangings of Delhi bus gang-rapists postponed

The hanging of four men scheduled for Saturday for a notorious gang-rape and murder on a Delhi bus in 2012 has been postponed "until further orders," a court ruled Friday. The brutal attack on Jyoti Singh sparked weeks of demonstrations and shone a spotlight on the alarming rates of sexual violence and the plight of women in India. Four men were convicted in 2013 and were due to be hanged simultaneously on Saturday at 6:00 am in India's first execution since 2015.

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Bernie Sanders is starting to get slammed on how he would finance Medicare for All

The attacks on Medicare for All echo what Sen. Elizabeth Warren faced last year as she surged ahead in national polls.

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Parents charged after Chicago boy shot in struggle over gun

The parents of a 1-year-old boy who was shot in the head as his parents struggled over a gun inside a Chicago home were each ordered held on Thursday in lieu of $10,000 bond. Travis McCoy, 26, is charged with felony false alarm to 911 and misdemeanor child endangerment. Adriana Smith, 28, is charged with felony obstruction of justice and misdemeanor child endangerment.

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U.S. envoy warns Palestinians against raising opposition to U.S. peace plan at U.N.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will speak in the U.N. Security Council in the next two weeks about the plan, Palestinian U.N. envoy Riyad Mansour said on Wednesday, adding that he hoped the 15-member council would also vote on a draft resolution on the issue.

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U.S. Declares Public Health Emergency Over Coronavirus Fears

Federal officials declared a public health emergency and will be restricting entry into the United States in light of the 2019 novel coronavirus that has killed at least 200 people and infected nearly 10,000 more worldwide. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told reporters Friday that President Trump would sign a proclamation temporarily suspending entry to foreign nationals deemed to pose a transmission risk.Azar also said any U.S. citizen who traveled to China's Hubei province within the past 14 days before arriving home would be subjected two weeks of mandatory quarantine. And citizens who traveled to any other regions in China would undergo a “proactive entry health screen” and 14 days of monitored self-quarantine.“The risk for infections for Americans remains low,” Azar said, adding that these steps were “measured” reactions that would help officials deal with “unknowns” surrounding the virus.Earlier Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said they were putting 195 people who recently returned from China under quarantine for two weeks, dubbing it an “unprecedented” step that was now warranted.“We are preparing as this is the next pandemic, but hopeful this is not and will not be the case,” Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said on a call with reporters. “We would rather be remembered for overreacting to under-reacting.”The move came after one of those recently-returned travelers reportedly attempted to leave the March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, California, after arriving from Wuhan, China. The CDC declined to provide more information on the individual. There are currently over 9,800 cases of coronavirus in China, while the number of confirmed cases in the United States remained steady at six. Only one, the husband of a woman who recently traveled abroad, had been spread in-country, the CDC said previously. No one had died as a result of infection in the United States by the CDC's latest count.But Messonnier pointed to the most recent number of cases in China, which she said represented a 26 percent increase over Thursday's numbers, as a cause for growing vigilance. She also mentioned an increasing number of reports of person-to-person spread, including growing evidence that the 2019 novel coronavirus can be spread by people who have not yet experienced symptoms. The New England Journal of Medicine on Thursday released a study describing a case in Germany that appeared to show the spread of the virus from a person who traveled to China to several others.“The current scenario is a cause for concern,” Messonnier said.WHO Calls Coronavirus ‘Emergency’ as Person-to-Person Spread Confirmed in U.S.When asked if the coronavirus were more dangerous than the flu, Messonnier said there appeared to be “significant mortality related with this disease” based on cases coming out of China. However, she still didn't recommend face masks for the general public and urged people to stay calm.“Please do not let fear guide your actions,” she said, adding that the public shouldn't assume Asian Americans have the virus amid reports of surging xenophobia against people of Chinese descent worldwide. “There are about 4 million Chinese-Americans in this country.”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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How $98 trillion of household wealth in America is distributed

If a pie represented the wealth in the United States, nine pieces, or 90% of the pie, would go to the wealthiest 20% in the country.

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Alibaba billionaire Jack Ma, China's richest man, pledged $14.5 million to fight the coronavirus

The money will be donated through Ma's charitable foundation, which will use it to help medical research efforts and disease prevention.

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Biden Claims Trump’s Trial is ‘Not a Partisan Impeachment’ While Clinton’s Was

Former vice president Joe Biden argued Friday that President Trump was not subject to “a partisan impeachment” even if no Republicans vote to remove him from office, while simultaneously defending his resistance to “a partisan impeachment” during Bill Clinton’s 1998 trial.Biden, speaking from Iowa, was challenged in an interview with ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos over comments he had made in Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial. “No president should be removed from office, merely because one party enjoys a commanding lead in either house of Congress,” Biden said at the time.Stephanopoulos then asked the former vice president why a partisan impeachment was no longer wrong, to which Biden replied “it’s not partisan impeachment.” After Stephanopoulos pushed back and pointed out that no Republicans in the House had voted to impeach the president, Biden insisted that the Constitution had been violated, and that those voting against impeachment were denying the facts.“That’s the issue — was the Constitution violated? Period,” Biden stated. “Even if it’s a party-line vote, it just reflects on those who know, in fact, in their heart and in their head, that it’s in fact a violation of the Constitution to do what he did, and in fact vote no.”> Joe Biden on doing a 180 on opposing “a partisan impeachment”: “This is not a partisan impeachment” pic.twitter.com/iaSRDloVWu> > -- Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) January 31, 2020Biden then attempted to clarify why a party-line vote in impeachment did not count as partisan.“That’s a party-line vote, but that doesn’t make it right,” Biden said of lack of Republican support for Trump’s impeachment. “A party-line vote that is based upon something that doesn’t relate to a Constitutional violation is a different thing.”Several key Republican Senators announced their intentions on the vote for further witnesses and documents late Thursday night, with Senator Lamar Alexander (R., Tenn.) saying that Trump’s actions were “inappropriate,” but that “the Constitution does not give the Senate the power to remove the president from office and ban him from this year’s ballot simply for actions that are inappropriate.”

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Chinese planes to bring overseas Wuhan citizens back to virus-hit city

China sent two planes to Malaysia and Thailand on Friday to bring "stranded" Hubei province residents back to the virus-stricken city of Wuhan, authorities said. The Xiamen Airlines flights will pick up the Chinese nationals from Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia and the Thai capital Bangkok, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

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Firefights, blocked roads in Mexican city after senior cartel leader detained

Armed men blocked roads, burned cars and there were reports of shootouts in the city of Uruapan in western Mexico after a senior leader of the Los Viagras cartel was detained, local media and a source from the prosecutor's office said. Luis Felipe, also known as "El Vocho", was captured earlier in the day in the western state of Michoacan, which has long been convulsed by turf wars between drug gangs and where unrest is not uncommon after the detention of senior cartel figures. Michoacan's state security services, without giving names, said on Twitter that three people have been detained.

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7,000 People Trapped on Mediterranean Cruise in Italy Over Suspected Coronavirus Case

ROME—More than 7,000 people were quarantined on an Italian cruise ship in the Mediterranean port of Civitavecchia outside of Rome after a Chinese woman from Hong Kong came down with a fever and symptoms that mimic the coronavirus. Initial tests seemed to exclude the deadly virus, according to Italian media, but passengers were expected to be kept onboard overnight as a precaution. A second round of tests late Thursday completely excluded contagion, and Italy’s health authorities gave the green light for passengers to disembark. But as of Thursday evening, the mayor of Civitavecchia refused to authorize any passengers to get off the ship. Tourism operators, suddenly confronted with a new nightmare scenario tied to the virus, scrambled to address fears of an outbreak on a cruise ship. “We have no information, the internet inside the ship isn’t working, and we can’t get news. But above all we take meals together in the common areas, and we don’t know if someone is infected,” Liborio Iervolino, a cruise passenger from Puglia said. ‘There are no disposable dishes and in the rooms, the televisions only broadcast advertisements. We would like to see the news and understand what is happening.”The Costa Smerelda, the fifth-largest cruise ship in the world and the flagship of an Italian company best known for the 2011 crash of the Costa Concordia on Tuscan island of Giglio, departed from Savona, Italy, on Jan. 25 with 6,000 passengers and 1,000 crew onboard. The massive, 19-deck vessel made stops in Marseilles, Barcelona, and Palma de Mallorca before docking in Civitavecchia on Thursday. It was scheduled to return to Savona for the Feb. 1 end of the cruise. But passengers who had lined up for a Rome excursion or to disembark at its penultimate stop were told to stay on the ship after medics in full hazmat suits boarded the vessel Thursday morning to check on a female Chinese patient in her fifties who was in the ship’s hospital. The woman, along with her asymptomatic husband and the medical team who treated her during the voyage, are being held in isolation on the ship. Samples from the woman were sent to the Lazzaro Spallanzani infectious disease hospital in Rome to be tested. Citizens of the port town of Civitavecchia have gone to the port to protest the disembarkation of 1,143 passengers whose voyage was scheduled to end in their town. “All the protocols are being followed and we will keep the case constantly monitored,” Civitavecchia’s mayor, Ernesto Tedesco, told worried citizens as he threatened to sue the cruise company if they disembarked before the full test results were back.The Costa company confirmed to The Daily Beast that the couple were among more than 750 Chinese or Hong Kong passengers on the voyage. Of those, 351 embarked on Jan. 25 in Savona along with the sick passenger, while others got on at the ship’s various ports of call in Spain and France. The couple arrived in Italy for the Jan. 25 embarkation on a flight from Hong Kong to Milan’s Malpensa airport, which means if the woman is confirmed to have the virus, health officials will then begin tracing anyone who flew with her, since the virus can be contagious even before symptoms show. A Costa representative would not confirm when the woman first reported being sick.“The situation is under control and at the moment there are no reasons for concern on board,” Italian Coast Guard Commander Vincenzo Leone said in a statement Thursday.Passengers reached by The Daily Beast via social media say they were not told directly that the woman was suspected of carrying the virus, but were told to alert crew members if they were sick with fever or respiratory conditions. Several passengers have tweeted that they should have been told earlier in the voyage that they might be at risk. Many complained that they were not given face masks or rubber gloves to prevent infection.Teens Are Now Claiming They Have Coronavirus for Tik Tok CloutRead more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet 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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Coronavirus: US declares emergency and issues new entry rules

Foreign nationals who recently visited China will be barred and some US citizens will be quarantined.

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Hillary Clinton Slams Bernie Sanders for Not Working to Unite Democrats in 2016

By BY SHANE GOLDMACHER from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2RM2iF6

Plans for Alabama’s Deadly Prisons ‘Won’t Fix the Horrors’

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Brexit Has Arrived. But Boris Johnson’s Reign Is Just Beginning.

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Senators say they’ve settled on a schedule that would end the trial on Wednesday.

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Battle Lines Quickly Form Over Radical Property Tax Proposal

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American Airlines sued over coronavirus by pilot union seeking to cancel US-China flights - Fox News

1. American Airlines sued over coronavirus by pilot union seeking to cancel US-China flights  Fox News
2. American Airlines pilots sue to halt US-China flights amid coronavirus epidemic  CNN International
3. Coronavirus: death toll reaches 212 after WHO declares global emergency – live news  The Guardian
4. Airlines remove hot food, blankets, magazines and more amid coronavirus outbreak  Fox News
5. Here are the 20 U.S. airports where health officials are screening for coronavirus  The Washington Post
6. View full coverage on Google News

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You can now reserve your spot to pay for a Samsung Galaxy S20 - The Verge

1. You can now reserve your spot to pay for a Samsung Galaxy S20  The Verge
2. It's Time to Reserve Your Galaxy S20, S20+, or S20 Ultra  Droid Life
3. UK Daily Deals: Register Your Interest for the Galaxy S20 and Get £50 Cashback - IGN  IGN
4. The Galaxy S20 will be released on March 6th, reservations now live on Samsung's site  Android Police
5. Samsung's crazy light Galaxy S book is finally available for pre-order  Mashable
6. View full coverage on Google News

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I Love That Respawn Is Willing To Take Risks With Apex Legends' Storytelling - GameSpot

1. I Love That Respawn Is Willing To Take Risks With Apex Legends' Storytelling  GameSpot
2. The next 'Apex Legends' character is a cyborg assassin named Revenant  Engadget
3. Apex Legends: Season 4 - Official Revenant Cinematic Trailer  IGN
4. Is Forge really dead? Apex Legends dev responds  Dexerto
5. Apex Legends Season 4 Starts Tuesday: New Character, Weapon, More Detailed  PlayStation.Blog
6. View full coverage on Google News

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Taylor Swift Finally Invites You Into Her Narrative on Miss Americana - Vulture

1. Taylor Swift Finally Invites You Into Her Narrative on Miss Americana  Vulture
2. Is Taylor Swift Engaged?  Yahoo Lifestyle
3. Taylor Swift: ‘Miss Americana’ Director Talks Trauma, Courage and Her All-Female Crew  Rolling Stone
4. Taylor Swift Can’t Escape the Pop-Star Bubble in Her Netflix Documentary Miss Americana  Pitchfork
5. Taylor Swift Talks About Eating Disorders in New Netflix Doc  Healthline
6. View full coverage on Google News

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The Super Bowl Is Only Good for Appliance Sales - Lifehacker

1. The Super Bowl Is Only Good for Appliance Sales  Lifehacker
2. Super Bowl LIV Prop Bet Guide: MVP, Puppy Bowl Odds, and Bernie Sanders  The Ringer
3. A running list of must-watch Super Bowl 2020 commercials  Boston.com
4. Those two signs on Super Bowl stadium’s roof are illegal — and county officials know it | Opinion  Miami Herald
5. Fans react to Super Bowl LIV without the Patriots  WWLP-22News
6. View full coverage on Google News

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NBA changes All-Star Game format, adds Kobe Bryant tribute - ESPN

1. NBA changes All-Star Game format, adds Kobe Bryant tribute  ESPN
2. NBA pays tribute to Kobe Bryant with All-Star Game changes  YESNetwork
3. NBA changing All-Star Game format, adding a Kobe tribute  The Associated Press
4. NBA All-Star Game Format Changes To Honor Kobe Bryant  NESN
5. The 2020 NBA All-Star Reserves Include Jimmy Butler And Damian Lillard  UPROXX
6. View full coverage on Google News

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Navy SEAL Promoted After Choking Green Beret to Death

The U.S. Navy promoted Chief Petty Officer Tony DeDolph four months after he admitted to choking a Green Beret to death. DeDolph—who will be back in court Thursday for a preliminary hearing—was formally charged in November 2018 with felony murder, conspiracy, obstruction of justice, burglary, hazing, and involuntary manslaughter in the strangulation death of Army Staff Sgt. Logan Melgar, a Special Forces soldier assigned to the 3rd Special Forces Group.Melgar was nearing the end of his deployment when he was killed in the West African nation of Mali in June 2017. He was part of an intelligence operation in Mali supporting counterterrorism efforts against al Qaeda’s local affiliate, known as al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.Days after Melgar was strangled, DeDolph, at the time a petty officer first class, was sent back to his base in Virginia Beach under suspicion of murder. Despite that, DeDolph found himself on the promotion list for chief petty officer in August 2017; he was “frocked”—meaning he began wearing the insignia of the higher rank—on Sept. 15, 2017, according to defense officials. He didn’t start drawing chief’s pay until December.Slain Green Beret’s Widow Speaks: ‘I Knew They Were Lying’Three days before DeDolph’s promotion, the medical examiner’s report was signed. It concluded, based on a June 8, 2017, autopsy at Dover Air Force Base, that Melgar’s cause of death was asphyxiation and the manner of death was homicide, according to documents reviewed by The Daily Beast.A defense official familiar with the case said Naval Special Warfare Development Group, commonly known as Seal Team 6, didn’t flag DeDolph because he was not formally charged or a person of interest in an ongoing investigation. He was a participant in the investigation but no charges were filed until November 2018.Retired Brig. Gen. Donald Bolduc, the former commander of Special Operations Command-Africa, told The Daily Beast this week that he authorized an investigation after he learned of Melgar’s death. Bolduc alerted Army Criminal Investigation Command and told commanders in Mali to preserve evidence. He didn’t understand why DeDolph was promoted when he returned to his unit in Virginia Beach.“It is another failure of leadership,” Bolduc said. “I mean senior leadership. It’s unfortunate. He should have never been promoted. The investigation was started right away. They whisked them out of there as fast as they could.”When asked if he was surprised by the news, Bolduc said no.“I’m disappointed,” he said. “But not surprised. It’s utter bullshit.”Navy prosecutor Lt. Cmdr. Benjamin Garcia declined to comment on the promotion because DeDolph is part of an ongoing investigation.“DeDolph has remained a member of Naval Special Warfare throughout this process,” said Navy Capt. Tamara Lawrence, a spokeswoman for Naval Special Warfare. “It is paramount that the rights of the service member are protected, thus any additional information regarding this case will not be discussed.”Phil Stackhouse, DeDolph's civilian attorney, did not return calls or text messages seeking comment. Melgar’s widow, Michelle, declined to comment on the story.DeDolph’s case is just one of several high-profile incidents that have exposed issues in the SEAL culture. Members of SEAL Team 7 were expelled from Iraq in 2019 after allegations of drinking and sexual assault. Six SEALs tested positive for cocaine last year. Then there’s the case of Chief Special Warfare Operator Edward Gallagher, a former member of SEAL Team 7, who faced a court martial for war crimes charges including murder, but was convicted of posing for a picture with a dead body and granted clemency by President Trump in November 2019. Trump Tells Allies He Wants Absolved War Criminals to Campaign for HimSome of the same issues were present in Mali, where there was widespread alcohol use, partying, and prostitutes at the safehouse, according to sources familiar with the investigation. “It was like a frat house,” one source said, when asked to describe what the safe house in Bamako was like. In response to the recent incidents, Rear Adm. Collin Green, head of Naval Special Warfare Command, sent a memo last year to his subordinate units declaring the whole SEAL community has a problem.“Some of our subordinate formations have failed to maintain good order and discipline and as a result and for good reason, our NSW culture is being questioned,” Green wrote in the July 2019 memo. “I don’t know yet if we have a culture problem, I do know that we have a good order and discipline problem that must be addressed immediately.”Gen. Richard Clarke, the head of Special Operations Command, ordered an ethics review last August following several high-profile incidents. He acknowledged in a memo to service members on Tuesday that “unacceptable conduct” had been allowed to occur as a result of “lack of leadership, discipline and accountability.” The 71-page report summing up the ethics review warned of what Clarke described as an emphasis on “force employment and mission accomplishment over the routine activities that ensure leadership, accountability, and discipline.”Chief Petty Officer Adam C. Matthews, who was in Mali doing an assessment of the mission there, testified in August he felt it was his duty to haze Melgar—on DeDolph’s recommendation—to teach him a lesson after Melgar “ditched” the team in Mali’s capital city of Bamako on his way to a party at the French embassy. Investigator of Green Beret’s Murder Had Romantic Relationship With Witness, Lawyer SaysDeDolph, Matthews and two Marine Raiders—Gunnery Sgt. Mario Madera-Rodriguez and Staff Sgt. Kevin Maxwell—spent the rest of the night plotting to choke Melgar into unconsciousness, pull his pants down and videotape the incident and then show it to him later to embarrass him. When Melgar became unresponsive, Matthews and DeDolph tried to resuscitate Melgar with CPR and opened a hole in his throat. The SEALS with Sergeant First Class James Morris, Melgar’s supervisor, then rushed Melgar to a French medical facility, where he was pronounced dead. At the clinic, DeDolph admitted to an embassy official he choked Melgar, according to NBC News and subsequent reports.Maxwell and Matthews have already pleaded guilty in exchange for plea agreements with prosecutors. Matthews, 33, pleaded guilty to hazing and assault charges and attempts to cover up what happened to Melgar. He was sentenced in May 2019 to one year in military prison. Maxwell, 29, was sentenced to four years of confinement after pleading guilty in connection with Melgar’s death in June 2019.DeDolph and Madera-Rodriguez are the last of the four men who carried out the attack to stand trial. Both men are expected to face courts martial this spring. An exact date has not been selected, according to Navy officials.Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet 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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Biden Says He's Getting Old—So His VP Should Be 'Capable of Immediately Being a President'

'I'm an old guy,' Biden admitted.

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Trial Date Set for Jeffrey Epstein Jail Guards

Two Manhattan jail guards charged with falsifying records after Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his cell will face trial in June, a federal judge ruled Thursday.Tova Noel, 31, and Michael Thomas, 41, who worked inside Metropolitan Correctional Center’s (MCC) Special Housing Unit, are accused of failing to conduct mandated checks on inmates in the hours before the multi-millionaire sex-offender killed himself in August 2019. Both corrections officers have pleaded not guilty.In Manhattan federal court on Thursday, defense lawyers asked to delay the trial until October—a request U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres promptly denied. Torres set a trial date for June 22, despite the protestations of Noel’s lawyer, Jason Foy, who said the schedule would interfere with his family vacation. The defense attorneys also requested a later date because of what they described as “voluminous” discovery materials, including some they said they hadn’t received. “It’s necessary,” Foy told the court. “This isn’t about us laying back and taking our time.”Thomas’ attorney, Montell Figgins, added, “It took the federal government 90 days to investigate … it’s going to take us more than 90 days to do the same amount of work.”Indictment Against Jail Guards Reveals News Details From Jeffrey Epstein’s Final HoursFiggins also told Judge Torres he’d likely file a motion to dismiss the indictment due to selective prosecution, and that he needed to obtain a report from the Department of Justice’s Inspector General which, along with the FBI and Bureau of Prisons, was tasked with investigating Epstein’s death in a federal facility.Prosecutors had argued against delaying the trial—previously slated for April—which they said will last a week. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Lonergan said the facts in the criminal case only relate to a 14-hour period of time. “This is a very focused, single-incident indictment,” Lonergan said, adding that broader working conditions at MCC were “just not relevant.”Foy disagreed, saying MCC’s environs and alleged failures in security measures “are directly related” to his client’s case. (Both guards were working overtime shifts, and the union representing the officers told The Daily Beast that MCC is constantly understaffed, forcing some guards to work “mandatory overtime” shifts totaling 16 to 18 hours.)After Thursday’s court appearance, Figgins told reporters that the feds “want to put my client in jail for the same conduct that’s happening with other officers on a daily basis.” He said Thomas is on leave without pay pending an administrative hearing.He said his selective prosecution defense will center around the fact that other corrections officers within the Bureau of Prisons system, outside of the Epstein case, have also fallen short with required checks but without criminal consequences.The Bureau of Prisons allowed guards to work nearly 24 hours straight, creating a system where guards could fall asleep on the job, Figgins claimed; guards might end a shift only to be told they couldn’t go home for another eight hours because of staff shortages. “How can they allow that type of work to go on and not expect something like that [Epstein’s death] to happen?” he said.“Now when a billionaire dies, they want to make [Noel and Thomas] a scapegoat,” Figgins continued. He pointed out Noel and Thomas weren’t the only officers working the night before Epstein died; a lieutenant had to sign off on paperwork for their rounds, and a control room held other guards, too. “Why are these the only people charged?” Figgins asked.Last November, federal prosecutors charged Noel and Thomas each with one count of conspiring to defraud the United States. Noel is also charged with five counts of making false records, while Thomas was slapped with three counts of making false records. According to prosecutors, the corrections officers face five years in prison for each count of the charges.Prosecutors say the guards never conducted their mandated checks on inmates, including Epstein, on the night he hanged himself. “Instead, for substantial portions of their shifts, Noel and Thomas sat at their desk, browsed the internet, and moved around the common area of the SHU [Special Housing Unit],” the indictment alleged. “To conceal their failure to perform their duties, Noel and Thomas repeatedly signed false certifications attesting to having conducted multiple counts of inmates when, in truth and in fact, they never conducted such counts.”Epstein was found dead in his cell around 6:30 a.m. on Aug. 10—one month after he was arrested for trafficking minor girls. He’d previously attempted to hang himself on July 23, officials said, but was taken off suicide watch after 24 hours. He was under psychological observation until July 30.  Later in August, Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd said a jail psychologist removed Epstein from suicide watch. In a letter to the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, Boyd said “a doctoral-level psychologist” had “determined that a suicide watch was no longer warranted.”According to the indictment, no SHU guards conducted counts from about 10:30 p.m. on Aug. 9 until Epstein’s body was discovered the next morning. Both Noel and Thomas had been working overtime shifts the day Epstein died. A cellmate of the multi-millionaire had been transferred out of MCC on Aug. 9, and “despite the MCC’s psychological staff’s direction that Epstein have a cellmate, no new cellmate was assigned to Epstein's cell,” the indictment stated.Noel worked a shift from 4 p.m. on Aug. 9 to 8 a.m. on Aug. 10, while Thomas started his shift at 12 a.m. on Aug. 10. They were the only corrections officers on duty in the Special Housing Unit from 12 a.m. to 8 a.m. on Aug. 10, prosecutors say.The guards were collectively responsible for two prisoner checks on Aug. 9, at 4 p.m. and 10 p.m., as well as three checks on Aug. 10, at 12 a.m., 3 a.m. and 5 a.m.When a supervisor who’d just gotten to work responded to an alarm that went off in MCC at 6:33 a.m. on Aug. 10, Noel allegedly announced, “Epstein hung himself.” Noel was said to admit later, “We did not complete the 3 a.m. nor the 5 a.m. rounds.”“We messed up,” Thomas allegedly told a supervisor. “I messed up, she’s not to blame, we didn’t do any rounds.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet 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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US hits Iran with new sanctions, keeps some waivers in place

The Trump administration said Thursday that it will continue — at least for now — its policy of not sanctioning foreign companies that work with Iran's civilian nuclear program. Brian Hook, U.S. envoy to Iran, said the U.S. would renew for 60 days sanctions waivers that permit Russian, European and Chinese companies to continue to work on Iran's civilian nuclear facilities without running afoul of U.S. sanctions.

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Trump, trying to head off testimony, says Bolton would have started 'World War Six'

As pressure mounts on senators to allow John Bolton’s testimony in President Trump’s impeachment trial, the president used Twitter to trash his former national security adviser.

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So Long, Spitzer, You Were a Good Telescope and Friend

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Get us out of here, plead foreign students at China virus epicenter

Foreign students stuck in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of a coronavurus outbreak, are launching social media campaigns, making phone calls and writing letters urging their governments to get them out as soon as possible. Governments globally are grappling with the challenge of how to get their citizens out of China's Hubei province, where 60 million residents now live under virtual lockdown. Pakistan said that quarantine regulations prevented it from flying out the more than 500 Pakistani students and their families from Wuhan.

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Biden's campaign is reportedly seeking 'election-night alliances' with candidates who may not survive Iowa

Former Vice President Joe Biden's campaign might be a little worried about Iowa.The first caucuses of the 2020 primary season are coming up in just four days, but Biden by no means has a lock on Iowa. So Biden's campaign is reaching out to lower-polling candidates in hopes of striking "election night alliances" to pick up their supporters if they don't make it past the first caucus ballots, Politico reports.Tom Steyer, the billionaire who's sitting at an average of 3.6 percent in the polls, was reportedly one of the targets of Biden's campaign. An aide to Steyer confirmed his campaign was approached by "multiple candidates," per Politico. Biden's team similarly talked with entrepreneur Andrew Yang's staffers, sources said. And three Biden staffers also "tentatively floated" a deal with a strategist for Sen. Amy Klobuchar's (D-Minn.) campaign, The New York Times reported earlier this week. All the campaigns told Politico they'd "rebuffed advances" from other candidates.Biden's second-tier strategy isn't unusual for the Iowa caucuses. The state's system allows people who've supported candidates "who fail to reach 15 percent support in a precinct on the first ballot" to chose someone else for the next ballot, which eventually chooses the state's delegates, Politico writes. Yet it also makes it clear that Biden's campaign knows the Iowa race is far from settled. Read more at Politico.More stories from theweek.com Mitch McConnell's rare blunder John Bolton just vindicated Nancy Pelosi 7 witheringly funny cartoons about the GOP's John Bolton problem

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Amazon Christmas sales soar as rivals struggle

Sales were up 20% over the festive season in sharp contrast to weakness at other retailers.

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Everyone Wants a Piece

By BY LISA LERER from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2OgG4ZQ

¿Hará el papa Francisco un milagro con la deuda de Argentina?

By BY MARCELO J. GARCÍA from NYT en Español https://ift.tt/2RIDCgw

Alexander asks about the differences in bipartisanship under Nixon and Trump.

By BY EMILY COCHRANE from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2uKxHPa

Day 9 of Trump’s Trial: Tedium and Tea-Leaf Reading

By BY MICHELLE COTTLE from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/36N2iJq

Fred Silverman, 82, Is Dead; a TV Force When Three Networks Ruled

By BY NEIL GENZLINGER from NYT Arts https://ift.tt/3aT23zv

Fotis Dulos, Accused of Killing Jennifer Dulos, Is Dead

By BY MICHAEL GOLD from NYT New York https://ift.tt/2S7xWM8

Senators break for dinner.

By BY NICHOLAS FANDOS from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2UerWE3

Fox News Breaking News Alert

Fox News Breaking News Alert

PROGRAMMING ALERT: Sen. Rand Paul talks impeachment fight on 'The Story,' 7 pm ET

01/30/20 3:52 PM

Day 8 of Trump’s Trial: Ask Me Anything

By BY MICHELLE COTTLE from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/2GxahiL

Lev Parnas arrives on the Hill to listen to Senate impeachment trial - CNN

1. Lev Parnas arrives on the Hill to listen to Senate impeachment trial  CNN
2. Lev Parnas makes a scene at impeachment trial, telling senators: 'Call me'  Fox News
3. LIVE: Trump Impeachment Trial & Hearings (Day 8) | NBC News  NBC News
4. Lev Parnas, ex-Giuliani associate, swarmed by media at impeachment trial  New York Post
5. Lev Parnas' plan to show up at Trump's Senate impeachment trial prompts even more confusion  Fox News
6. View full coverage on Google News

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WATCH LIVE | Impeachment trial of President Trump continues in Senate - Washington Post

1. WATCH LIVE | Impeachment trial of President Trump continues in Senate  Washington Post
2. John Roberts will not be silent Wednesday. But the questions he asks will not be his.  CNN
3. Senate and John Roberts face possibility of epic tie on witnesses  POLITICO
4. John Roberts faces test of history with minimal history to guide him | TheHill  The Hill
5. GOP predicts Roberts won't cast tie-breaking vote on witnesses | TheHill  The Hill
6. View full coverage on Google News

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LIVE: Facebook stock drops 7.5% as its growth slows - Business Insider - Business Insider

1. LIVE: Facebook stock drops 7.5% as its growth slows - Business Insider  Business Insider
2. Facebook hits 2.5B users in Q4 but shares sink from slow profits  TechCrunch
3. Here’s what to expect from Facebook’s Q4 2019 earnings report  Yahoo Finance
4. Facebook Earnings, Revenue Beat Estimates But Stock Falls  Investor's Business Daily
5. Major analysts predict for Facebook's earnings report  CNBC
6. View full coverage on Google News

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New “Off-Facebook Activity” portal lets you know where you’re being followed - Ars Technica

New “Off-Facebook Activity” portal lets you know where you’re being followed  Ars Technica

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Galaxy Note9 update with One UI 2.0 and Android 10 rolling out (Update: US) - Android Police

1. Galaxy Note9 update with One UI 2.0 and Android 10 rolling out (Update: US)  Android Police
2. Massive Leak Reveals Pretty Much Everything About Samsung's Next Foldable Phone  Gizmodo
3. The 64MP tele camera of the Galaxy S20 is for 8K video, not 4-in-1 binning - GSMArena.com news  GSMArena.com
4. What's up with the Pocophone's new name? | ICYMI #259  SoyaCincau
5. Buy a Galaxy Watch Active, get a $50 gift card  Tom's Guide
6. View full coverage on Google News

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Nikki Bella Showing Off Her Baby Bump After Pregnancy Reveal - TMZ

1. Nikki Bella Showing Off Her Baby Bump After Pregnancy Reveal  TMZ
2. The Bella Twins Expecting! Nikki & Brie Bella Open Up About Their Shocking Pregnancies | PeopleTV  PeopleTV
3. WWE News: Nikki Bella Shares Baby Sonogram Photo, Big Show Appears on Super Bowl Live With Special Olympics Athlete, Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins' Journey to WrestleMania  411mania.com
4. Brie and Nikki Bella Are BOTH PREGNANT!  Entertainment Tonight
5. Brie and Nikki Bella Are Both Pregnant — and Due Less Than 2 Weeks Apart: 'It's Crazy!'  PEOPLE.com
6. View full coverage on Google News

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Popeyes launched a clothing line that looks a whole lot like Beyonce's Ivy Park - CNN

1. Popeyes launched a clothing line that looks a whole lot like Beyonce's Ivy Park  CNN
2. Kim Kardashian Speaks On Beyonce 'Shade' & Popeyes Mocks Ivy Park Fashion Line  HollywoodLife
3. Popeyes Unveils Fashion Line That Looks Just Like Beyonce's Ivy Park Line  TMZ
4. Popeye's Chicken the latest to adopt that Hokies look.  The Key Play
5. Kim Kardashian Swears She Didn't Mail Herself a Giant Orange Ivy Park Gift Box  Jezebel
6. View full coverage on Google News

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US military's Special Operations Command says its newest recruits may have an 'unhealthy sense of entitlement'

"It didn't happen during our period," a former Delta Force commander told Business Insider. "We really were severe about policing ourselves."

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McConnell: Republicans don't have the votes to block witnesses in impeachment trial, reports say

Mitch McConnell told Republicans that the GOP does not have the votes to block additional witnesses, according to multiple media reports.

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Americans from China virus zone evaluated at military base

The 195 Americans evacuated from the Chinese city at the center of the new virus outbreak are undergoing three days of testing and monitoring at a California military base to ensure they do not show signs of the illness, officials said Wednesday. The people flown out of China on a plane chartered by the U.S. government have not been quarantined, Dr. Chris Braden of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told reporters after the plane landed at March Air Reserve Base. Authorities said those evacuated, including U.S. consular employees based in the Chinese city of Wuhan and families with children, are technically not required to stay on the base.

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China virus evacuations begin as death toll rises at outbreak epicenter

The health commission for Hubei said on Thursday that deaths in the province from the new coronavirus had risen by 37 to 162, while a further 1,032 cases had been detected. Although the majority of cases have been in Hubei, cases have been detected elsewhere in China and in at least 15 other countries. The World Health Organization's (WHO) Emergency Committee is set to reconvene behind closed doors in Geneva later on Thursday to decide whether the rapid spread of the virus now constitutes a global emergency.

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Syrian troops enter key rebel-held town amid airstrikes

Syrian government forces Tuesday entered a key rebel-held town in the country's northwest after surrounding it on three sides, sending thousands of people fleeing to safety in areas farther north, opposition activists and pro-government media said. The push into the town of Maaret al-Numan in Idlib province came as Syrian forces were also advancing against insurgent positions west of the city of Aleppo, according to state media and opposition activists. The town of Maaret al-Numan, which has been in rebel hands since 2012, sits on the highway linking Damascus with Aleppo.

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Bolton, who may hold impeachment bombshell, has a history of settling scores

John Bolton has many times before been at the center of a maelstrom that is in good part of his own making. And each time, he has somehow emerged eager for more. 

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Lev Parnas’ Lawyer Set To Attend Senate Impeachment Trial

Lev Parnas’ attorney Joseph Bondy is set to attend the Senate impeachment trial tomorrow during the first day of the question-answer period. His co-counsel Stephanie Schuman is also expected to appear, The Daily Beast has learned.“Like many other New York constituents, Mr. Bondy reached out and asked for gallery tickets, and we said yes,” said Justin Goodman, a spokesperson for Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the Senate Minority Leader.Bondy told The Daily Beast Tuesday that his client was also trying to attend tomorrow’s proceedings in the Senate trial but would be unlikely to be able to enter the chamber because he wears an ankle monitor. Senate rules bar individuals from bringing any electronics into the chamber during the trial. Tuesday evening, U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken indeed modified Parnas' pretrial release to allow him to travel to Washington, but denied the removal of his monitor.Lev Parnas Dishes on Kushner, Maduro, and SorosParnas, a Florida businessman, worked with Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani to investigate a company linked to former Vice President Joe Biden. He was charged with election-related crimes in October and has pleaded not guilty. Parnas’ work with Giuliani is a core part of Democrats’ arguments to remove the president for abuse of power.Parnas has provided materials, including phone records, to House investigators over the last several weeks. Bondy has publicly lobbied for lawmakers to bring his client in for questioning on his interactions with Giuliani, President Donald Trump, and others caught up in the U.S.-Ukraine scandal. Bondy’s appearance tomorrow comes as senators debate whether to allow former National Security Adviser John Bolton into the chamber for questioning or whether to allow lawmakers to view his manuscript in a classified setting.Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet 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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Mexican president after Trump's border wall comments: 'We don't want to fight' with U.S.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said on Wednesday, “We don’t want to fight,” responding to reports that President Trump on Tuesday repeated his claim that Mexico is paying for a border wall.

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GOP Rep. Doug Collins calls statement from his own party 'fake news'

Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) is using President Trump's top insult against his own party.Collins, the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee who's seen a heightened profile during Trump's impeachment process, confirmed Wednesday he'll be running to oust Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) later this year. But when his own party attacked him for "put[ting] two Senate seats, multiple House seats, and Georgia's 16 electoral votes in play," well, Collins decided to say that's all "fake news."The National Republican Senatorial Committee, which fundraises for GOP Senate candidates, issued a statement Wednesday saying it would support Loeffler in 2020's special election. In response, Collins tweeted that the NRSC is simply a "Washington-based group" whose head is beholden to bylaws that "require him to support all incumbents, even unelected ones."> Don't be ridiculous, this is FAKE NEWS coming from the head of a Washington-based group whose bylaws require him to support all incumbents, even unelected ones. https://t.co/azpS3PzaCJ> > — Doug Collins (@CollinsforGA) January 29, 2020Loeffler was appointed to fill retiring Sen. Johnny Isakson (R) late last year, putting the seat in play again later this year. Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) is also up for re-election this fall.More stories from theweek.com Did John Bolton actually do Trump a favor? It's 2020 and women are exhausted The 3 kinds of Republicans that Bolton's testimony would reveal

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Roman Polanski 'French Oscar' nomination sparks outrage

The 86-year-old has been wanted in the US for decades over the statutory rape of a 13-year-old.

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A frantic campaign schedule catches up with one senator.

By BY ALICIA PARLAPIANO from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2uKxnzM

Biden Plans a Counterattack at Trump as Impeachment Tensions Rise

By BY THOMAS KAPLAN AND KATIE GLUECK from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2vxYxuk

Legal Pads, Photographs and a Podcast: How Senators Are Documenting Impeachment

By BY EMILY COCHRANE from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2O6h7jy