Coronavirus Epidemic Keeps Growing, but Spread in China Slows

By BY VIVIAN WANG from NYT World https://ift.tt/2HzutRL

Zoe Caldwell, Winner of Four Tony Awards, Is Dead at 86

By BY NEIL GENZLINGER from NYT Arts https://ift.tt/3bHXc4C

Talking and Listening

By BY THE LEARNING NETWORK from NYT The Learning Network https://ift.tt/2uaGKcl

Mainland China reports 1,749 new confirmed cases of coronavirus on Feb. 18

Mainland China had 1,749 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infections on Tuesday, the country's National Health Commission said on Wednesday, down from 1,886 cases a day earlier and the lowest since Jan. 29.

from Reuters: World News https://ift.tt/2HBpb8m

No rush on bill to allow mining on Brazilian indigenous lands, speaker says

Brazil's lower house speaker, Rodrigo Maia, said on Tuesday that a bill to allow for mining on protected indigenous lands will not be given the urgency in Congress that some would like.

from Reuters: World News https://ift.tt/3275Sgr

Brazil's Bolsonaro offers credit for indigenous farmers as he pushes to open their lands

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro on Tuesday said he was pushing a bill through Congress to allow commercial mining and agriculture on protected indigenous lands, as he met with tribal leaders to announce a credit line to support indigenous farmers who have developed soy plantations on their reservations.

from Reuters: World News https://ift.tt/2vMIpFe

Trump blasts proposed U.S. restrictions on sale of jet parts to China

President Donald Trump objected on Tuesday to U.S. proposals that would prevent companies from supplying jet engines and other components to China's aviation industry and suggested he had instructed his administration not to implement them.

from Reuters: World News https://ift.tt/2SCk1iK

Coronavirus cases in China's Hubei fall for second day, Apple and markets feel impact

New coronavirus cases in the Chinese province at the epicenter of the outbreak fell for a second straight day, but deaths rose after the World Health Organization had cautioned there was not yet enough data to know if the epidemic had slowed.

from Reuters: World News https://ift.tt/2wrjnMh

South Koreans return home from quarantined ship off Japan: Yonhap

A presidential jet brought home six South Koreans and a Japanese spouse from a quarantined cruise ship docked off Japan on Wednesday, according to Yonhap news agency.

from Reuters: World News https://ift.tt/2HA8Pg7

Federal judges' association calls emergency meeting after DOJ intervenes in case of Trump ally Roger Stone

An association of federal judges has called an emergency meeting after Attorney General William Barr intervened in the case of Trump ally Roger Stone.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/3215gJq

Men linked to white supremacist group plead not guilty

Three men accused of being members of a violent white supremacist group called The Base pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges in a federal indictment in Maryland. Former Canadian Armed Forces reservist Patrik Mathews, 27; and Brian Mark Lemley Jr., 33, of Elkton, Maryland; entered their pleas during separate arraignments on charges including transporting a firearm and ammunition with the intent to commit a felony. In a court filing, Justice Department prosecutors said Lemley and Mathews discussed “the planning of violence” at a gun rights rally in Richmond, Virginia, in January.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/39Ly4s1

The Turkish Trap: How Erdogan Made New Enemies and Enraged the Arab Community

As Recep Erdogan sends Turkish troops and Syrian rebel fighters into Libya, it has become clear that the Syrian forces Turkey-backed were never meant to fight for Assad but instead do Turkey's bidding.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2V594rw

John Oliver explains the pros and cons of Medicare-for-all, goes with the pros

John Oliver kicked off his new season of Last Week Tonight on Sunday by looking at "an issue that has dominated the Democratic primary -- and I'm not talking about why Tom Steyer doesn't look richer" (though he did address that). Mostly, he tackled Medicare-for-all, comparing the "government-funded, single-payer program" proposed by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) with the current U.S. system championed by conservatives and, with various degrees of modifications, other Democratic candidates.Conservatives are right, Oliver conceded, that "America does have one of the best health care systems in the world for rich, famous people. Unfortunately, too many people are born in this country with a terrible pre-existing condition called Not Being Beyonce." For so many Americans, "our system is badly broken," he said, not just the 27.5 million with no insurance but also the nearly 44 million underinsured and at risk for bankruptcy from medical expenses.The current system is a patchwork of private insurance, government programs, and crowdsourcing gambles, Oliver said. "Any solution that might put an end to that is worth at least considering, surely, and to be honest, I personally think there is a lot to be said for Medicare-for-all. So tonight, let's take a look at it: Not the politics of whether it can pass, but what it actually is." He focused on the three main objections: Cost, wait time, and choice."I get that big change is scary -- it is human nature to prefer the devil you know over an uncertain alternative -- but the devil you know is still a devil," Oliver said. And for all the U.S. fearmongering about Britain's National health System, "I will be honest with you, I've never had a bad experience and I don't know anyone who has, but since moving to America, I don't think I have met anyone who doesn't have at least one insurance industry horror story." There is a lot of NSFW language -- so much so, it makes sense when Oliver calls the U.S. system "the Kama Sutra of health care." Watch below. More stories from theweek.com Mike Bloomberg is not the lesser of two evils The Democratic Party is weak. Mike Bloomberg could break it. Trump claims he knows anonymous administration official's identity, but 'I can't tell you'

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2SC6jMC

14 Americans who got the coronavirus from the quarantined cruise ship in Japan were flown home in an 'isolation box' at the back of the plane

Thousands were quarantined on the Diamond Princess for more than a week over coronavirus fears. Americans coming home will be quarantined again.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2wmI8ct

Judge in Roger Stone case says sentencing will move forward

Judge Amy Berman Jackson said she will still hand down Stone's sentence on Thursday, but indicated she plans to defer the execution of the sentence.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/37zxewR

Chinese police reportedly put a professor under house arrest, cut his internet, and kicked him off social media after he criticized President Xi over the coronavirus

Xu Zhangrun, a law professor at the elite Tsinghua University, had published a scathing essay on the Chinese government's handling of the coronavirus.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/3227yYJ

Bloomberg campaign: There are only three viable presidential candidates

Only three candidates out of the more than half dozen vying for the White House have a viable path to the nomination, a senior official for the Mike Bloomberg campaign told reporters Tuesday.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2wlw8Ib

Obama reportedly expects he'll have to play a 'prominent role' in uniting Democrats this summer

Expect former President Barack Obama's radio silence on the 2020 Democratic primary to continue in the coming months. After all, he's reportedly got a very specific reason for staying out of it.Obama has intentionally remained on the sidelines throughout the primary so far, not throwing his support behind any candidate, including former Vice President Joe Biden. This, New York Magazine reports, is part of a "choreographed strategy" on the part of Obama, who is "increasingly sure he will need to play a prominent role in bringing the party back together and calming its tensions later this summer."Between now and then, Obama is "committed to not allowing his personal thoughts to dribble out" into the open, the report says, since this might make it more challenging for him to serve as an "honest broker." Apparently, this effort could be going better considering this very same report features a few of Obama's personal thoughts, including that he's supposedly "unimpressed" with Biden's campaign.A Fox Business report recently suggested Obama was considering speaking out about Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) as he becomes nervous that he'll secure the Democratic nomination. But there's reportedly not much truth to that, and a source told New York Magazine, "there is no way Barack Obama is intervening, unless something very strange happens."In fact, Obama reportedly isn't paying a whole lot of attention to the "day-to-day dynamics" of the race, following it through newspaper reports but not even watching all of the Democratic debates. But Obama is reportedly "sure that he'll have to catch up" on these dynamics he's been missing out on later, meaning some binge-watching of the Democratic primary may soon be in the cards. Read the full report at New York Magazine.More stories from theweek.com Mike Bloomberg is not the lesser of two evils The Democratic Party is weak. Mike Bloomberg could break it. Trump claims he knows anonymous administration official's identity, but 'I can't tell you'

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/3bPYNWj

U.S. Coronavirus Cases Nearly Double With No End in Sight

Confirmed cases of the new, deadly coronavirus in the United States almost doubled over the holiday weekend thanks to the messy evacuation of Americans from a cruise ship in Japan, while fresh numbers from China suggested the disease might be deadlier than first believed.The U.S. government evacuated 328 American passengers from Tokyo early Monday on two chartered cargo jets, leaving dozens others behind who preferred to stay on the Diamond Princess cruise ship—despite a strong disembarkation recommendation from the federal government. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said over the weekend that it recommended repatriation so that it could take responsibility for care of the Americans and “to reduce the burden on the Japanese healthcare system.”All travelers from Japan were screened before boarding the aircraft “to prevent symptomatic travelers from departing Japan,” according to the CDC. But 14 people who ultimately proved to be infected with the disease were included in the evacuation anyway, with officials later explaining that the positive results came back as passengers were already heading to the airport.Dr. William Walters, managing director of operational medicine at the State Department, told reporters Monday that authorities evacuated passengers without knowing their test results because it was “unpredictable” when the results would come back. None of the diagnosed evacuees were showing symptoms, and they flew home in separate chambers—made of 10-feet-tall plastic sheets—from the other 314 passengers. The government planned to house all uninfected evacuees for 14 days at federal quarantine sites at Travis Air Force Base in California and Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in Texas.‘It Failed’: Cruise Ship Coronavirus Snafus Stoke Fears of Global PandemicInfected evacuees, on the other hand, were sent to hospitals in California and at the University of Nebraska for treatment. Another five passengers on the flights had reportedly been put in isolation after developing fevers, a development that was likely to add to public skepticism of the U.S. and Japanese governments’ response to the virus, even as officials insisted that the risk to the general American public was still “low.”Eiji Kusumi, a doctor specializing in infectious diseases at Navitas Clinic in Tokyo, told The New York Times that the quarantine of the cruise ship, which remained docked in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, was an “unprecedented failure” and that officials should “learn from this lesson that a quarantine on a ship is impossible.”The cruise ship has for weeks housed the largest outbreak outside of China, and Japanese health authorities said Tuesday there were a total of 542 confirmed cases on the Diamond Princess—88 new ones since last count—out of 3,700 passengers and crew members. As of Tuesday, 2,404 people on board had tested negative for the virus.The vessel-wide quarantine, which began on Feb. 3, was set to end on Wednesday, but those who bunked with passengers or crew members who tested positive were slated to remain on board for longer. Only about 500 people were expected to be released on Wednesday, while more than 100 total U.S. citizens remained either on board or in hospitals in Japan, according to the CDC.Dr. Anthony Fauci, of the National Institutes of Health, also admitted on Monday that the quarantine on the cruise ship “failed.” After weeks of debate about the subject, Japan said it would test everyone aboard the ship before allowing them to disembark.Outside of evacuees from the Diamond Princess, the CDC said there remained 15 confirmed cases in the U.S. on Tuesday out of 467 people under investigation for the coronavirus. Some 392 of those patients tested negative, while 60 remained pending on Tuesday. Several Americans who, before being released Tuesday, were stuck in federal quarantine in San Diego after returning from Wuhan earlier this month voiced concern over the effectiveness and thoroughness of the CDC’s response, some going so far as to draft a petition after the government mistakenly reintroduced an infected woman to the general population.Jacob Wilson, a 33-year-old American evacuee who works at a tech start-up in Wuhan, told The Daily Beast that he and his fellow evacuees were “swamped” by press at the airport after they were released.“Now hopefully I can get back to some normalcy,” he said.Meanwhile, as of Tuesday morning, China had reported 72,528 coronavirus cases, including 1,870 related deaths, according to Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization. Outside of China, there were 804 cases in 25 countries, he added, with 12 other countries having confirmed instances of human-to-human transmission.“At the moment, we don’t have enough data on cases outside China to make a meaningful comparison on the severity of the disease or the case fatality rate,” said Tedros.But as the Times reported, an analysis by Chinese authorities from data on 44,672 patients suggested that about 2.3 percent of cases of the disease had been fatal as of Feb. 11. Nearly 14 percent of people who tested positive for the infection had severe cases, and about 5 percent had critical illnesses, according to Chinese authorities. The data showed that 30 percent of those who died from the virus were in their 60s, 30 percent were in their 70s, and another 20 percent were 80 or older. Since then, daily figures indicated the virus’s fatality rate had only increased. 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.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2SWfXsE

The coronavirus is slamming the US travel industry, with experts predicting it will wipe out more than $10 billion in spending from Chinese visitors

Chinese travelers represented 7% of all visitors to the US in 2019 and 16% of visitor spending. The economic impact is forecast to be worse than SARS.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2SUtgtE

Missing more than a year, an abandoned 'ghost ship' washed ashore on the other side of the Atlantic

The MV Alta washed ashore in Ireland's County Cork amid Storm Dennis, but the vessel took a more than a year journey from off Bermuda to get there.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/38FbzF2

Roger Stone judge ignores Trump's taunts, leaves sentencing scheduled for Thursday

Roger Stone will be sentenced on Thursday and President Trump can do nothing about it.That's the message U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who's overseeing the criminal case against Trump's longtime adviser, sent Tuesday when she confirmed the date of Stone's sentencing hearing. Despite receiving threats from Trump to delay the sentencing for a second time, that "would not be a prudent thing to do under all the circumstances," Jackson said.Uproar surrounding Stone's upcoming sentencing arose last week when prosecutors in the case recommended a 7–9 year prison term for Stone's crimes of lying to Congress and witness tampering. Trump tweeted to complain about the suggestion, and Attorney General William Barr intervened, with the DOJ eventually recommending a lighter sentence for Stone. Trump then repeatedly attacked Jackson's handling of the case, including in Twitter threads Tuesday morning where he cited Fox & Friends to call for her to delay Stone's sentencing.> .....existence of these tweets in which you were so harshly negative about the President & the people who support him. Don’t you think we wanted to know that before we put you on this jury.’ Pretty obvious he should (get a new trial). I think almost any judge in the Country.....> > — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 18, 2020Despite the presidential controversy, "I'm willing to make sure there are no consequences that flow from the announcement of the sentence at the sentencing hearing," Jackson said in a Tuesday scheduling call.More stories from theweek.com Mike Bloomberg is not the lesser of two evils The Democratic Party is weak. Mike Bloomberg could break it. Trump claims he knows anonymous administration official's identity, but 'I can't tell you'

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/3bKNxdE

Missing Milwaukee woman, two daughters found dead in garage

Amarah Banks, 26, Zaniya Ivery, 5, and Camaria Banks, 4, were discovered after the arrest of Banks' boyfriend, Arzel J. Ivery, in Memphis, Tennessee, authorities said.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/3bNDjci