Trump's expanded travel ban targets Nigeria, five other countries

U.S. President Donald Trump will issue an expanded version of his travel ban on Friday that targets prospective immigrants from Nigeria and five other countries, U.S. officials said, a move that could affect thousands of people and reignite debate over whether the policy is discriminatory.

from Reuters: World News https://ift.tt/2GEnIh8
via IFTTT

Trump impeachment: Failed witnesses vote paves way for acquittal

Bid to call witnesses in the Trump impeachment trial fails, setting up a likely acquittal next week.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/36Hff7f
via IFTTT

The Papers: 'Make leave not war' and 'what next?'

Saturday's newspapers mark a "moment of history" as Britain leaves the European Union after 47 years.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2OgfGiI
via IFTTT

I'm the pro-life Democrat who confronted Pete Buttigieg. He's pushing out valuable voters.

I support all the major Democratic causes of our day. But my party won't tolerate any dissent on abortion, and it is driving away voters like me.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2OdaA6R
via IFTTT

'Unbelievable': Giant sinkhole threatens to swallow two homes in Florida

Anwar El Khouri's Tallahassee mobile home hangs off the edge of the crater, which also swallowed a pine tree.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2RBl8yA
via IFTTT

Crude oil tanker in the Persian Gulf caught fire Wednesday night

A crude oil tanker in the Persian Gulf caught fire Wednesday night, prompting a warning from British naval officials to “exercise extreme caution.”

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2SaO5Am
via IFTTT

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.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2tdSYQZ
via IFTTT

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.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/38NN9so
via IFTTT

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.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2tb6xR1
via IFTTT

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.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/31blGP4
via IFTTT

Carter Page is Suing the DNC For the Steele Dossier

How much responsibility should they have?

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/38Us6EM
via IFTTT

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.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2vwLfOy
via IFTTT

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.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/37Cz54W
via IFTTT

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.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/37O502j
via IFTTT

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.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2S79niv
via IFTTT

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

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/37GjeCn
via IFTTT

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.”

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/37LVgWy
via IFTTT

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).

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2S30qa4
via IFTTT

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.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2vxLEjM
via IFTTT

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.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/38RzwZq
via IFTTT

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.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/31e8atJ
via IFTTT

Kobe Bryant helicopter firm was not allowed to fly in fog

Island Express Helicopters was restricted to flying in clear conditions, officials say.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/2vFDiqy
via IFTTT

Could you handle the most remote campsite on earth?

Take a look inside an Antarctic campsite and find out how they survive.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/3b5OOMf
via IFTTT

WHO declares global emergency as China virus death toll reaches 170

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday it was declaring the coronavirus outbreak that has killed 170 people in China a global emergency, as cases spread to at least 18 countries.

from Reuters: World News https://ift.tt/3aSu4aF
via IFTTT

Pilots, flight attendants demand flights to China stop as virus fear mount worldwide

Pilots and flight attendants are demanding airlines stop flights to China as health officials declare a global emergency over the rapidly spreading coronavirus, with American Airlines' pilots filing a lawsuit seeking an immediate halt.

from Reuters: World News https://ift.tt/38WzLCG
via IFTTT

Singapore Airlines to reduce capacity to mainland China in February due to virus

Singapore Airlines Ltd said on Friday it would reduce capacity on some of its routes to mainland China in February due to the growing scale of the coronavirus epidemic.

from Reuters: World News https://ift.tt/2RWGJjS
via IFTTT

Trump vows to reverse course on deportations of Iraqi Christians

U.S. President Donald Trump promised on Thursday during a speech in Michigan to reverse course on some deportations of Iraqi Christians whom his administration sought to remove earlier in his term, but gave no specifics.

from Reuters: World News https://ift.tt/2O9B6hi
via IFTTT

Charter flight carrying South Koreans from Wuhan arrives home

A charter flight carrying 367 South Koreans from Wuhan, the epicenter of a virus outbreak in China, landed at the Gimpo International Airport on Friday, South Korea's foreign ministry said.

from Reuters: World News https://ift.tt/2GEmdzm
via IFTTT

China has confidence and capability to win the war against coronavirus: foreign ministry

China has confidence and capability to win the war against the new coronavirus, said the country's foreign ministry spokeswoman in responding to the World Health Organization (WHO)'s decision to declare the virus outbreak in China as a global emergency.

from Reuters: World News https://ift.tt/36BUWIs
via IFTTT

China’s U.N. envoy says Beijing assessing WHO coronavirus declaration

China's U.N. ambassador, Zhang Jun, said on Thursday Beijing was assessing the World Health Organization's declaration that the coronavirus outbreak was a global emergency.

from Reuters: World News https://ift.tt/2RFMaEV
via IFTTT

HS2: Government review 'advises against cancelling' project

The review, seen by the BBC, advises against cancelling the high speed rail scheme.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/36J70aM
via IFTTT

Nicaragua: Six indigenous people reportedly killed in attack

The Mayagna group has been involved in disputes with new settlers searching for land and resources.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2tbeNjZ
via IFTTT

The Papers: Will Brexit hail a 'new dawn' or a 'small island'?

The papers mark the day the UK leaves the EU - "Brexit day" - with a mixture of optimism and regret.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2UaqUck
via IFTTT

Iowa caucuses: Nine unusual things about the Democratic race

Democrats are deciding who they want to take on Trump - and it can be a noisy, chaotic process.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2ObnxxK
via IFTTT

Quiz of the week: What made Demi Lovato tear up?

Have you been paying attention to what's been going on during the past seven days?

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2Uhwids
via IFTTT

Classicist Mary Beard on the 'nude' in the post #MeToo era

Classicist Mary Beard explains one of her favourite paintings, Titian's Tarquin and Lucretia.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/36Lbxtf
via IFTTT

British officials: Tanker on fire in Gulf off Sharjah in UAE

The United Kingdom’s Maritime Trade Operations said the fire struck the vessel northwest of Sharjah, an Emirati sheikhdom. Emirati officials said they were working to put out the blaze some 21 miles (34 kilometers) off the coast of Sharjah. The blaze comes amid heightened tensions in the region after the U.S. killed Iranian Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike in Baghdad and Iran fired ballistic missiles at Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/36DUBFg
via IFTTT