| Rohrabacher confirms he offered Trump pardon to Assange for proof Russia didn't hack DNC email Posted: 20 Feb 2020 05:14 AM PST  Former congressman Dana Rohrabacher confirmed to Yahoo News he told Julian Assange President Trump would pardon him if he turned over information proving Russians weren't the source of Democratic emails published by WikiLeaks.
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| Americans stranded at Pakistan airport after cruise ship was denied entry to multiple countries over coronavirus fears Posted: 20 Feb 2020 02:00 PM PST  A plane full of Americans and Canadians was stranded on a tarmac at an airport in Karachi, Pakistan, for several hours on Thursday after it was turned away from multiple countries due to fears of the coronavirus, according to a family member of two of the passengers.
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| A recurring Biden campaign story about being arrested in South Africa is full of inconsistencies Posted: 21 Feb 2020 02:40 PM PST  Former Vice President Joe Biden has a pretty good tale to share — but it may be a little tall.Biden, who is running for president, has been spicing up his recent campaign stump speeches with a story of how he was arrested while in South Africa trying to see Nelson Mandela, The New York Times reports. But that recollection of events has only recently come to light, and it was reportedly omitted from Biden's 2007 memoir that detailed his escapades in the country around that time.During recent campaign speeches, Biden says he "had the great honor" of meeting Mandela and "of being arrested with our U.N. ambassador on the streets of Soweto." As Miami Herald reporter Alex Daugherty points out, Soweto is a ways away from Robben Island, where Mandela's maximum security prison was located.> Adding to @katieglueck's story is Biden's quote doesn't make geographical sense. "I had the great honor of being arrested with our U.N. ambassador on the streets of Soweto trying to get to see him on Robbens Island." Soweto is almost 900 miles away from Robben Island https://t.co/WtlZMdkexq> > — Alex Daugherty (@alextdaugherty) February 21, 2020The arrest, which has seemingly only been brought up publicly by Biden in the last few weeks, was not found referenced anywhere by readily available news outlets, per the Times.The U.S. ambassador to the U.N. from 1977 to 1979 was Andrew Young. While Young reportedly acknowledged going to South Africa with Biden, he said he was never arrested in the country, and he told the Times he didn't think Biden had been arrested there either."I don't think there was ever a situation where congressmen were arrested in South Africa," Young told the Times, although he did say some people were being arrested in Washington.The story, which was seemingly nonexistent before a few weeks ago, has been told three times on the trail as Biden heads into Nevada and South Carolina, where he needs to pull in big numbers in order to counteract a lackluster showing in Iowa and New Hampshire.Word of advice: there are other ways to make yourself look tough to voters that don't include broadcasting a trip to the slammer.More stories from theweek.com Bernie Sanders' subtle warning to the Democratic Party How much will Medicare-for-all save Americans? A lot. Former CIA Director John Brennan says 'we are now in a full-blown national security crisis'
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| Police chief walked home in underwear after being fired Posted: 20 Feb 2020 08:00 AM PST  A police chief stripped down to his underwear and walked home through a snowstorm after being fired by officials in New Hampshire.
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| South Korea accepted that its efforts to stop the coronavirus from infecting the country failed and says it's pivoting to containment Posted: 21 Feb 2020 02:55 AM PST  Cases of the coronavirus in South Korea have tripled. The government says it must now take a different approach.
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| Google Manager Arrested After Wife’s Body Found on Hawaii Beach Posted: 20 Feb 2020 11:06 AM PST  On Wednesday, distraught Google product manager Sonam Saxena spoke to a local Hawaii newspaper, pleading for help in finding his missing wife.The couple from Washington state, who had two young daughters, were on their annual family vacation to Hawaii when Smriti Saxena disappeared at around 10 p.m. on Tuesday. Sonam said he'd left his wife on a secluded beach south of Anaehoomalu Bay to take a 20-minute walk back to their Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort room to retrieve Smriti's asthma inhaler. When he returned, her purse and phone were there but she was gone."She got an asthma attack right there on the beach and she was feeling weak, he told West Hawaii Today. "So, I said, 'Hey, you know what? You stay here, you have your phone with you and I'll just go to the room grab your inhaler and pump and come back.'"Sonam pleaded for Big Island residents to help find Smriti. He even tweeted a message to Hawaii's governor and shared it with his LinkedIn network. "Can you please promote this tweet so that I can tell my daughters where their mom is," he wrote.However, on Wednesday, Hawaii Island Police arrested Sonam on one count of murder in the second-degree after a female body believed to be Smriti's was found near Anaehoomalu Bay in the district of South Kohala. An autopsy is scheduled to determine the cause of death.Smriti, a 41-year-old business program manager for Microsoft, was last seen on Tuesday night at the Lava Lava Beach Club in Waikoloa, police said. Her husband, a 43-year-old who works in Google's Seattle office as the head of product for Google's Cloud Deployment Manager, said they'd taken a stroll to the beach shortly after. He told West Hawaii Today that he was "disturbed" when he came back from fetching the asthma inhaler to find his wife missing. He said he rushed back to the hotel to check if she'd returned to the room before calling 911.Hawaii Police put out a missing persons alert for Smriti at about 1:30 a.m. the following morning, and discovered her body six hours later. By that afternoon, they had arrested Sonam.The pair had been married for 17 years with two daughters, aged 13 and 8. They celebrated the older daughter's birthday in Hawaii each year, Sonam had said. According to his LinkedIn, Sonam moved to Seattle from India in 2008 and worked for SkyKick and Microsoft before joining Google.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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| A 15-month-old last seen in December was reported missing only this week Posted: 21 Feb 2020 10:21 AM PST  "This is a complicated case," the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation tweeted Thursday about the disappearance of Evelyn Mae Boswell. "Right now, our primary focus is finding Evelyn."
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| Former CIA director sounds alarm at Trump’s ‘virtual decapitation of intelligence community’ Posted: 21 Feb 2020 08:36 AM PST  Former CIA Director John Brennan has sounded the alarm about the Trump administration's alleged interference in the operations of US national security.Speaking on Friday on MSNBC's Morning Joe, Mr Brennan referred to "a virtual decapitation of the intelligence community".
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| Don't Listen to the 'Michael Bloomberg Lost the Debate' Hype Posted: 20 Feb 2020 04:45 AM PST  The conventional wisdom will likely be that former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was the loser in Wednesday night's Democratic debate, but that wisdom is wrong.
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| Family of man killed by trooper seeking more than $10M Posted: 20 Feb 2020 08:38 AM PST  Relatives of a black Connecticut man killed by a state trooper are seeking more than $10 million in wrongful death damages from state and local police, according to legal notices filed Thursday. Lawyers for the family of Mubarak Soulemane, 19, asked the state claims commissioner for permission to sue the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection and top state police officials including Public Safety Commissioner James Rovella for $10 million. West Haven's counsel, Lee Tiernan, said the town's policy is not to comment on pending litigation.
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| Democrat Warren, worried campaign will run out of cash, taps $3 million loan Posted: 20 Feb 2020 09:37 PM PST  NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren raised more money than most of her Democratic presidential rivals in the weeks before the Iowa caucuses, but spent so heavily that her campaign took out a $3 million loan fearing she would run out of cash. Warren raised $10.4 million in contributions in January -- more than former Vice President Joe Biden's $9 million and former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg's $6 million -- but ended the month with only $2.3 million in cash, according to disclosures filed on Thursday. All of the presidential hopefuls were required to submit financial disclosures on Thursday, public documents that offer insights into how they are managing their multi-million campaign operations.
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| 46,000-year-old bird found in Siberia Posted: 20 Feb 2020 07:46 PM PST  Along with the ancient bird, scientists are also studying an 18,000-year-old puppy and other extremely old specimens.
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| More than 100 wild animals in China died from poisoning in a mass die-off seemingly triggered by coronavirus disinfectant Posted: 21 Feb 2020 11:42 AM PST  Animal activists also shared distressing photos on Weibo: bloodied animals, a man hitting a dog with a stick, and an officer poking a lifeless dog.
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| Ilhan Omar’s Challenger Is Literally on the Run From the Law Posted: 21 Feb 2020 01:35 AM PST  It's not unheard-of for members of Congress to resign their seats because of serious legal trouble. Now Republican House candidate Danielle Stella is trying to achieve the inverse: getting elected to Congress while being wanted by the law. Stella, one of the five Republicans competing for the right to take on Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) in November, has been wanted for months on an arrest warrant for felony shoplifting. Even while facing arrest, though, she's managed to achieve a respectable fundraising haul—nearly $84,000 as of the end of 2019—and built up a following on social media, where, well, she's made some waves. Stella first stirred the pot in July over tweets suggesting she supports the QAnon conspiracy theory, which claims that Trump is engaged in a ceaseless secret war against high-ranking pedophile-cannibals in the halls of power. At the same time, The Guardian reported that she had been arrested twice in the Minneapolis area's Hennepin County on shoplifting charges, including an allegation that she stole $2,300 from Target. Stella insisted she didn't break the law. According to records, though, Stella failed to show up for multiple October court hearings about her alleged felony. After Stella missed another hearing, a judge issued a still-outstanding warrant for her arrest. "We can confirm that she does have an active felony theft warrant in Hennepin County," a spokesman for the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office told The Daily Beast. Stella didn't respond to requests for comment. Stella's primary rivals have watched her mounting legal woes with surprise. Lacy Johnson, an entrepreneur who has raised nearly $500,000 in his own bid for the Republican nomination, said that negative headlines about Stella could undermine whoever eventually faces Omar in the general election. The eventual Republican nominee already faces a steep challenge in the district, which heavily favors Democrats."Candidates are reflections of the party in a way, and it's not a good reflection of the party in a sense," Johnson said. "But now, being in politics, you do learn that people do have all kinds of ways of looking at things." Sheriff's deputies aren't the only ones interested in Stella's whereabouts. Questions about her location flared anew over the weekend, when a conspiracy theorist with 50,000 YouTube subscribers claimed with no evidence during a livestream that Stella was in some unspecified danger at a hotel in Osceola, Wisconsin. Callers from across the country deluged the Osceola hotel with calls, and police were called to the scene. A spokeswoman for the Osceola Police Department declined to share an incident report about the event, citing an open investigation. Stella is facing obstacles beyond the courtroom, too. In November, Twitter suspended her campaign account after she repeated a fringe allegation that Omar is an Iranian government asset and claimed that Omar "should be tried for treason and hanged" if the allegation was true. Despite all the legal attention, Stella continues to operate her campaign—at least online. In addition to raising money for her campaign, Stella has posted messages to her supporters on Facebook and Instagram, including promotional memes about QAnon. As a candidate himself, Johnson said that anyone facing an arrest warrant would no doubt face complications while running for office. How, for example, could they show up for debates in the face of police pressure? "I wouldn't even run if I was on the run from the police," Johnson said. How the Ilhan Omar Marriage Smear Went From Fever Swamp to TrumpRead 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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| Airport worker with no license takes plane for spin near D.C., almost crashes, feds say Posted: 20 Feb 2020 01:53 PM PST  Ryan Guy Parker allegedly "bounced" the landing and spun out when he touched down at the end of one harrowing flight.
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| Watch Out! U.S. Army Tanks Could Collapse Polish Bridges On Their Way to Battle Russia Posted: 20 Feb 2020 04:33 PM PST  The U.S. Army and its closest allies have a problem. The region of the world where they arguably are most likely to deploy its heaviest vehicles for high-tech combat also is peppered with flimsy old bridges that can't support the vehicles' weight.
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| Coronavirus: FBI orders $40k-worth of hand sanitiser to prepare for pandemic as number of infected in US rises to 34 Posted: 21 Feb 2020 01:05 PM PST  The FBI has ordered $40,000 of hand sanitiser and face masks "in case the coronavirus becomes a pandemic in the United States," according to documents seen by CNBC.COVID-19, as the coronavirus is officially named, was declared a public health emergency by the government in January. On Friday, the number of US cases was confirmed at 34, with more expected.
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| 59 Hong Kong police quarantined after meal with virus colleague Posted: 21 Feb 2020 02:05 AM PST  Dozens of Hong Kong police officers have been placed in quarantine after attending a banquet with a colleague who later tested positive for the new coronavirus, officials said Friday. The news prompted celebrations among some pro-democracy protesters, a vivid illustration of how deeply polarised the city has become after months of rallies and thousands of arrests last year. Health officials said four officers as well as the infected policeman's wife and mother-in-law showed symptoms of illness.
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| Trump's push to install people loyal to him in law enforcement, intelligence appears to be well underway Posted: 21 Feb 2020 03:43 AM PST  President Trump's replacement of acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire, a respected career official in a historically nonpartisan role, with U.S. Ambassador Richard Grenell, a vocal Trump loyalist with scant intelligence or management experience, raised eyebrows and some amount of alarm in Washington. Along with Maguire, acting Deputy DNI Andrew Hallman and ODNI General Counsel Jason Klitenic are heading for the exits. These aren't isolated moves."The president has been focused lately on officials who are allegedly disloyal to him, particularly at the Justice Department, the National Security Council, the Pentagon, and the State Department," The Washington Post reports, citing Trump aides. "And has heard from outside advisers that 'real MAGA people can't get jobs in the administration,' in the words of an administration official."Since Senate Republicans voted down his impeachment charges, Trump has sacked several people who testified or were otherwise linked to the impeachment inquiry — Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman and his twin brother at the National Security Council, U.S. Ambassador Gordon Sondland, Pentagon policy chief John Rood — and some he considered otherwise insufficiently loyal or pliable, like Deputy National Security Adviser Victoria Coates, U.S. Attorney Jessie Liu, and, "over fierce objections of some White House aides," Sean Doocey, the head of the White House Presidential Personnel Office, the Post reports.By ousting Doocey and replacing him with Johnny McEntee, the president's 29-year-old former "body man" with no experience in government staffing, "Trump has centralized his efforts to purge the ranks of his perceived opponents," the Post reports. "Trump has instructed McEntee, who lost his job in 2018 over concerns about his online gambling, to install more loyalists in government positions."It's important to remember what "loyalist" means here, Adam Serwer writes at The Atlantic. "Public officials swear an oath to the Constitution, not to Donald Trump. The purged officials were removed for their disloyalty to the latter, not the former." In other words, "if you don't agree with the king, you're gone," Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) told The Daily Beast. "That has a chilling effect on people being willing to tell the truth, and that makes us less safe."More stories from theweek.com Bernie Sanders' subtle warning to the Democratic Party How much will Medicare-for-all save Americans? A lot. A recurring Biden campaign story about being arrested in South Africa is full of inconsistencies
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| Inmate says in letter that he killed 2 molesters in prison Posted: 20 Feb 2020 07:08 PM PST  A California inmate serving a life sentence for murder confessed in a letter that he beat to death two child molesterswith another inmate's cane hours after a prison counselor ignored his urgent warning that he might become violent. In a letter to the Bay Area News Group, Jonathan Watson, 41, said he clubbed both men in the head on Jan. 16 at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison in the small central California city of Corcoran. The first attack occurred after Watson became enraged that one of the sex offenders was watching a children's television show,the East Bay Times reported Thursday.
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| Pete Buttigieg quips he's 'a Microsoft Word guy' during Democratic debate and attracts instant Clippy comparisons Posted: 20 Feb 2020 08:06 AM PST  Democratic presidential candidate Buttigieg has revealed an affinity for Microsoft's famous word processor.
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| Moscow says Russian official detained in Spain after U.S. request Posted: 21 Feb 2020 07:46 AM PST |
| This Fighter Jet Is The Biggest Threat To Russia's Su-57 Stealth Fighter (Not the F-35) Posted: 21 Feb 2020 05:55 AM PST  And it's not American.
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| China is offering families of doctors who died fighting the coronavirus a 'sympathy payment' of $716 Posted: 20 Feb 2020 06:47 AM PST  People on the Chinese social media site Weibo balked at the low number. "Is this missing a few zeros?" one asked.
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| Roger Stone argues he should get reduced sentence because he 'cares about animals' Posted: 20 Feb 2020 08:59 AM PST  As Judge Amy Berman Jackson prepares to sentence Roger Stone his defence team offered a unique reason for a more lenient sentence.Mr Stone cares about animals.
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| At Phoenix rally, Trump says it doesn't matter who secures the Democratic nomination: 'We're going to win' Posted: 19 Feb 2020 09:46 PM PST  President Trump held a rally in Phoenix on Wednesday night at the same time Democrats were debating in Las Vegas, and he was sure to get in several digs against the candidates.He called Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) a "phony," referred to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) as "crazy," and called former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg "Mini Mike." Trump proclaimed that it doesn't matter who the Democratic nominee is, because "we're going to win," but seemed to hint that he thinks it will be a close race in Arizona in November. While he won the state in 2016, he only beat Hillary Clinton by 3.5 percentage points. "We'll be back a lot," he said.Trump also told an oft-repeated story about a man who allegedly told Trump "my wife used to look at me like I'm a total loser," but because of how high his 401(k) is, "she loves me again. She thinks I'm a genius." The man's profession and his 401(k)'s rate of growth always changes when he tells the story, and Trump kept Wednesday's version of the man shrouded in mystery, simply referring to him as "Henry," USA Today reports.More stories from theweek.com Former CIA Director John Brennan says 'we are now in a full-blown national security crisis' Trump's intelligence shakeup is reportedly tied to his loathing for Adam Schiff, bond with Devin Nunes Mike Bloomberg is not the lesser of two evils
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| Housing crisis: Berkeley law would put renters first Posted: 20 Feb 2020 12:48 PM PST  The mayor of Berkeley, California, proposed a new housing policy Thursday aimed at giving renters first dibs when a property goes up for sale, as the state battles a severe housing shortage and homelessness that Gov. Gavin Newsom has declared his top priority. Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin announced a proposed ordinance to give renters "the first refusal and right to purchase" when their apartment buildings or rented homes are put on the market. Berkeley's city council will vote on the idea later this month.
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| Former national security adviser denounces the House's impeachment proceedings as 'grossly partisan' Posted: 20 Feb 2020 06:26 AM PST  Former national security adviser John Bolton on Wednesday denounced the House's impeachment proceedings against President Trump as "grossly partisan" and said his testimony would not have changed Trump's acquittal in the Senate, as he continued to stay quiet on the details of a yet-to-be-released book.
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| Meet Japan's Gestapo: The Kempeitai Secret Police That Americans Feared Posted: 21 Feb 2020 07:21 AM PST  The Kempeitai were the military police of the Japanese Imperial Army. Literally translated, the name means "Law Soldier Regiment." Westerners of 1930s generally called them "gendarmerie"
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| 'Enemies of the people': Coronavirus evacuees endure hostile return to Ukraine Posted: 21 Feb 2020 01:21 PM PST  Julia Volok says some of her fellow passengers expected a warm welcome on their arrival in Ukraine after finally being evacuated from the epicenter of the coronavirus epidemic in China's Hubei province this week. Instead Volok, a 26-year-old Chinese-language student, and her fellow evacuees found their buses being pelted with projectiles by protesters on Thursday as they approached the sanatorium where they have started a mandatory two-week quarantine. Despite repeated reassurances from the government that there was no danger, the protesters feared being infected by the virus.
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| Ilhan Omar accuses Meghan McCain of hypocrisy towards 'Bernie bros' over online attacks Posted: 21 Feb 2020 10:35 AM PST  Representative Ilhan Omar has accused The View's Meghan McCain of hypocrisy for her opinions about Bernie Sanders supporters and their online attacks given her own social media behaviour."The same people who chastise the progressive movement regularly traffic in anti-Muslim smears and hate speech against me and those I represent," the freshman representative wrote in a tweet Thursday.
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| 'Being gay is not enough': Buttigieg's candidacy divides LGBTQ Democrats Posted: 20 Feb 2020 04:47 AM PST  While the former mayor's policies play a part, the tensions appear centered on his "privilege" and representation.
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| Trump says he's considering loyalist Rep. Doug Collins for director of national intelligence Posted: 20 Feb 2020 09:56 PM PST  President Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Thursday night that he is considering nominating Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) as director of national intelligence.The director of national intelligence oversees the 17 agencies that make up the U.S. intelligence community. Since the resignation of Dan Coats in August, there has not been a permanent director of national intelligence; Joseph Maguire has served in an acting role since last year, but on Wednesday, Trump announced he will be replaced by U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell.This is a position that requires Senate confirmation, and Collins is known for being one of Trump's most ardent defenders, a quality that was on display during the House impeachment inquiry. Collins announced earlier this year that he is running for Senate in Georgia against Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.), who was appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp (R) to fill the seat vacated by former Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson, who resigned due to health reasons.Collins entering the race has caused infighting among Republicans, and if he is picked as director of national intelligence, he'll likely drop his Senate bid. Prior to becoming a congressman, Collins worked as a lawyer and served in the military as a chaplain.More stories from theweek.com Bernie Sanders' subtle warning to the Democratic Party How much will Medicare-for-all save Americans? A lot. A recurring Biden campaign story about being arrested in South Africa is full of inconsistencies
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| Who won the Nevada Democratic debate? Our panelists' verdict Posted: 20 Feb 2020 03:25 AM PST  The debate was so vicious at times that it resembled a circular firing squad. So who emerged as the victor? Jessa Crispin: 'Angry Elizabeth Warren is back – and that's good'So thrilled to have lived long enough to witness Mayor Bloomberg's performance on the debate stage. Oh, to revel in his deadly charisma, in his power to unify the nation and lead us into a better future. He was so magnetic I simply kept forgetting he was on the stage. He was so inarticulate, timid, easily flummoxed, and filled with an obvious contempt for the proceedings, it's no surprise so many (who may have undisclosed financial ties to the man and his company) have declared him the obvious winner.Was the audience drunk? Why am I not? Everyone's inhibitions seemed lowered, including the very vocal crowd, Amy Klobuchar seemed seconds away from throwing a binder at Mayor Pete's head, and we finally got angry Elizabeth Warren back for an evening. Angry Elizabeth Warren is the best Elizabeth Warren. Where has she been? Give her more to do, we miss her.There's no real winner here. Everyone took a lot of hits from their colleagues and no one crawled out unscathed. But I think we can easily declare a loser, and that would be the moderators. The moderators have indeed been the losers through this whole process. They ask the same questions their colleagues asked in the last 84 Democratic debates, they often don't follow up when answers are vague or misleading, they pose gotcha questions that have very low stakes. When a host for The View has more perseverance on making a squirming Amy Klobuchar answer for her problematic prosecutorial past, particularly as it involves the lack of justice in police-related shootings, maybe it is time for some soul-searching, public resignations, and replacement by journalists with spines. We have a moderator who referred to one candidate's followers as brownshirts, and he's just allowed to pretend to be an objective interlocutor? OK, cool, seems fine.The result was not as substantive as it could have (should have) been, but it made for some good TV. And at the end of the day, that's probably enough for our distinguished men and women of television media.There must be something to the idea that pressure and pain have the ability to shape one's character in transformative ways. * Jessa Crispin is the host of the Public Intellectual podcast and a Guardian US columnist Benjamin Dixon: 'Bloomberg has no chance'Mike Bloomberg demonstrated tonight that, in his life as a billionaire, he must not have had to deal with any character-building pressures in a very long time. All of the money in the world could not purchase charisma enough to make up for the dull and glum presentation he gave tonight.I will admit that, up until this point, I believed Bloomberg was an existential threat to our democracy because of his ability to purchase everything from talent to silence. But no one could look at the debate tonight and honestly believe that the former mayor would stand a chance against Donald Trump. No one could look at Bloomberg's performance and believe that this man could inspire the movement necessary to win in November.Michael Bloomberg spent more than $400m only to get on the national stage and show that he is not ready for primetime. This is what happens when you sit on the outside of the democratic process and use your money to create an image of you that is bigger than life.And it's hard to live up to that image when you lack the charisma and character that those of us in the working class earned the hard way. * Benjamin Dixon is the host of The Benjamin Dixon Show Art Cullen: 'Elizabeth Warren might have saved her campaign'Elizabeth Warren closed Wednesday's debate by describing herself as a fighter. She brought plenty of punch to the stage from the get-go by slicing and dicing billionaire Michael Bloomberg. Warren put her rivals on their heels – she said Bloomberg referred to women as "fat broads and horse-faced lesbians", said Pete Buttigieg's healthcare plans boiled down to a Power Point presentation and that Amy Klobuchar's could fit on a postage stamp. Mike Bloomberg was awful. Klobuchar was on the defensive. And the elephant in the room, Bernie Sanders, was able to point out that Medicare for All will actually save $450bn – and universal healthcare is what put him at the front of the pack in the first place. He did not appear to lose stride. Warren saw Klobuchar's breakthrough in the New Hampshire debate. She spared no one, and savaged Bloomberg. Everyone was throwing punches but nobody hit as hard as Warren. With Super Tuesday less than two weeks away, this raucous debate was a clincher, and Warren might have saved her struggling campaign with direct appeals to minority women so important in the Nevada caususes. Joe Biden, not so much. * Art Cullen is editor of The Storm Lake Times in north-west Iowa, where he won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing. He is a Guardian US columnist and author of the book Storm Lake: Change, Resilience, and Hope in America's Heartland. Arwa Mahdawi: 'Bloomberg bombed, Warren won'Looks like Michael Bloomberg just found out money can't buy you everything. The multibillionaire has spent almost $400m on ads but apparently zero time preparing for the debate stage. He had embarrassingly inadequate responses for predictable questions on stop-and-frisk and the silencing of women in his companies with NDAs. His lack of substance was matched with a complete lack of charisma. According to some in the Establishment, we should forgive Bloomberg's history of sexism and racism because he's the only person capable of beating Trump. If they still think that after this pitiful debate performance then we're in trouble.While Bloomberg bombed, Elizabeth Warren had her best debate ever. She was impeccably prepared and utterly eviscerated Bloomberg. Warren has been lagging in the polls, leading some to prematurely write her off; big mistake. Pete Buttigieg's performance was also noteworthy. The mayor may be able to read Norwegian but he can't seem to read a room. Buttigieg's constant attacks on Amy Klobuchar made him look like a mansplaining bully."Mayo Pete" has been gliding through this election but I wouldn't be surprised if more people start to find his patronizing demeanour a little hard to stomach. * Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian US columnist Lloyd Green: 'Bernie Sanders emerged as the winner'The Democrats' Game of Thrones-style debate was a two-hour extravaganza that boosted Donald Trump's chances. Obviously, that's not what the Democratic National Committee intended but it's what happened – a circular firing squad more intent on unloading on each other than at going at the president.Elizabeth Warren flayed Mike Bloomberg with a helping hand from Joe Biden. New York's ex-mayor appeared rusty and unprepared. The attacks were predictable yet he looked flatfooted. When you're defending non-disclosure agreements, you're losing. On Wednesday night, money didn't buy everything.Lest Warren get cocky, it is worth remembering that early voting in the Nevada caucuses was well under way before the Massachusetts senator took the stage. As a result, any post-debate bounce will probably be short lived.Come Saturday evening, the headlines will either be about the order of finish or how Nevada botched its caucuses. Warning: Iowa redux is a real possibility.In the end, Bernie Sanders emerged as the winner in the room. He entered as the Democrats' frontrunner and nothing altered that reality. According to the polls, Sanders is leading by double digits both in Nevada and nationally among Democrats. The question is whether his lead becomes insurmountable. We will know soon enough. * Lloyd Green was opposition research counsel to George HW Bush's 1988 campaign and served in the Department of Justice from 1990 to 1992
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| Iowa Professor Bound and Gagged Husband Before His Death: Cops Posted: 20 Feb 2020 11:09 AM PST  An Iowa professor has been charged for allegedly gagging and binding her husband to a chair with rope for hours before his death, authorities said on Wednesday evening.Gowun Park, a 41-year-old assistant economics professor at Simpson College, was charged with first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping in the death of her 41-year-old husband, Sung Nam, on Saturday, West Des Moines police told The Daily Beast. "Ms. Park's actions and in-actions were directly responsible for Mr. Nam's death. The injuries sustained by Mr. Nam were not self-inflicted," a criminal complaint obtained by the Des Moines Register says. "Ms. Park stated that the only people present during the duration of the events were her and her husband, Sung Woo Nam."California Woman Fabricated Firefighter Husband to Scam Donors: PoliceAuthorities allege Park bound her husband's hands and feet with zip ties before tying him to a chair in their West Des Moines home on Saturday between 10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. Park then allegedly stuffed "an item of clothing" into Nam's mouth to prevent him from yelling in protest before finally using duct tape to place a towel over his head to cover his eyes.Several hours later, at about 5:05 p.m., police say Nam asked to be untied in distress, but his wife refused to free him. Gun finally called West Des Moines police officers at around 6:45 p.m., at which point deputies found Nam unresponsive with ligature marks on the front of his neck and throat. His wife was "performing CPR" on him, authorities said."Ms. Park made efforts to hide and conceal the binding items prior to the arrival of emergency personnel," the criminal complaint said. Nam was transported to UnityPoint Health-Iowa Methodist Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. The next day, Park emailed her students to say she was canceling classes for the following week and postponing their midterm because of a "personnel issue," according to the Des Moines Register. Park, who was hired at the small liberal-arts college in 2017, was arrested on Wednesday after faculty members saw deputies in her office. Air Force Major Charged With Murder After Missing Wife's Remains Found"I witnessed three police officers in the faculty member's office searching through papers and drawers," Brian Steffen, professor of multimedia communications, told the school's newspaper, The Simpsonian. "I did see police officers remove a computer from her office. I don't know whether they took other materials, but I did see them take a computer away."A Simpson College spokesperson told The Daily Beast that the school has suspended Park following her arrest and is cooperating with authorities during the ongoing investigation. As of Thursday afternoon, Park's staff profile page was removed from Simpson College's website, as was any mention of the assistant economics professor.Wife Kills Husband, Admits It in a Bar Bathroom"The recent news has left me and other classmates in shock," Kody Ricken, a sophomore and one of Park's advisees, told the student newspaper. "We never would have expected her to do anything like this."Park received her master's degree in economics from New York University in 2010 before teaching there as an adjunct professor for five years, a school spokesperson confirmed. She later received her doctoral degree in economics in 2017 from the City University of New York just before joining Simpson College faculty, according to alumni records. Park is being held on a $5 million bond at Dallas County Jail. It was not immediately known whether she has a lawyer. 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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| Authorities: 3 killed in rural West Texas small plane crash Posted: 20 Feb 2020 11:20 AM PST |
| A crowd in Ukraine threw bricks at buses carrying coronavirus evacuees from Wuhan to quarantine Posted: 21 Feb 2020 02:26 AM PST  The buses were attacked in Novi Sanzhary on Thursday night. Nobody on board has tested positive for the coronavirus — the quarantine is a precaution.
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| Fuel tanker explodes causing 'catastrophic' damage on Indianapolis interstate Posted: 20 Feb 2020 05:53 PM PST  The driver was able to get out of the tanker truck on his own and was met by three good Samaritans who helped usher him to safety.
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| South Africa's lobster catchers suffer in coronavirus fallout Posted: 21 Feb 2020 03:20 AM PST  The lobster catchers of South Africa's Western Cape have become an unexpected casualty of the coronavirus after China halted imports of the West Coast rock lobster last month as part of measures to contain the outbreak. "I am stuck now because they are putting our catches aside now, the factory doesn't want to take our fish, there is no market for our fish," said Lorraine Brown, 60, as she waited for the day's catch to arrive at Witsand's slipway, used by the Ocean View fishing community, some 40 km from Cape Town. Before China halted seafood imports on Jan. 25, Brown could earn 340 rand ($22) per kg for live exported lobster.
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| Is Putin Turning the Mediterranean Into a Russian Lake? Posted: 20 Feb 2020 08:17 AM PST  He can try.
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| DNC announces qualifications for South Carolina debate Posted: 20 Feb 2020 11:07 PM PST  Candidates seeking to participate will need to meet either a polling or delegate threshold to take part in the event.
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| Trump says Roger Stone has 'very good chance of exoneration' hours after sentencing Posted: 20 Feb 2020 02:48 PM PST  The president also attacked the jury forewoman in Stone's criminal case, calling her "totally tainted."
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