welcome to martha igene blog: February 2020

Fox News Breaking News Alert

President Trump holds a rally in North Charleston, S.C., 24 hours before the polls close in the state's Democratic primary. Watc

02/28/20 4:09 PM

Walkout as Polanksi wins 'best director' at Césars

The Polish-French director is wanted in the US for the statutory rape of a 13-year-old in the 1970s.

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Latvia railway: Why I love living in an old train station

Milda Romanova's home is an old rail station, and at 88 she still loves all things trains.

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Millions of uninsured Americans like me are a coronavirus timebomb

I haven’t gone to the doctor since 2013. When you multiply my situation by 27.5 million, that’s a scary prospectLike 27.5 million other Americans, I don’t have health insurance. It’s not for a lack of trying – I make too much to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to buy a private health insurance plan on the Affordable Care Act exchanges. Since I can’t afford to see a doctor, my healthcare strategy as a 32-year-old uninsured American has been simply to sleep eight hours, eat vegetables, and get daily exercise. But now that there are confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States, the deadly virus could spread rapidly, thanks to others like me who have no feasible way to get the care we need if we start exhibiting symptoms.According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are confirmed coronavirus cases in at least 50 countries on six continents, and more than 2,800 patients have died from the virus. This certainly qualifies as a pandemic under the World Health Organization’s (WHO) definition of the term, which, under a typical presidency, should necessitate a swift response from US health officials. However, the Trump administration appears to still be prioritizing the profit margin of the healthcare industry over preventing the spread of a deadly pandemic.Earlier this week, the Department of Health and Human Services secretary, Alex Azar, (a former senior executive at pharmaceutical manufacturer Eli Lilly) refused to commit to implementing price controls on a coronavirus vaccine “because we need the private sector to invest … price controls won’t get us there”. Even the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, notably didn’t use the word “free” when referring to a coronavirus vaccine, and instead used the word “affordable”. What may be considered affordable for the third-most powerful person in the US government with an estimated net worth of $16m may not be affordable for someone who can’t afford a basic private health insurance plan that still requires a patient to pay thousands of dollars out of pocket.Given the high cost of healthcare in the US, I haven’t seen a doctor since 2013, when I visited an emergency room after being run off the road while riding my bike. After waiting for four hours, the doctor put my arm in a sling, prescribed pain medication and sent me home. That visit cost more than $4,000, and the unpaid balance eventually went to collections and still haunts my credit to this day, making it needlessly difficult to rent an apartment or buy a car. But even a low-premium bronze plan on the exchange comes with a sky-high deductible in the thousands of dollars, meaning even if I was insured, I’d have still paid for that ER visit entirely out of pocket.> When you multiply my situation by 27.5 million, you end up with a country full of people who won’t see a doctor unless they’re extremely sickThis system is exactly why a 2018 West Health Institute/NORC at the University of Chicago national poll found that 44% of Americans declined to see a doctor due to cost, and why nearly a third of Americans polled said they didn’t get their prescriptions filled due to the high cost of their medicine. This is the same system that killed 38-year-old Texas public school teacher Heather Holland, who couldn’t afford the $116 co-pay for her flu medication and later died from flu complications. It’s the same system that Guardian contributor Luke O’Neil refers to as “Go viral or die trying”, in which Americans who can’t afford life-saving healthcare procedures are forced to become their own advocate and PR agency by launching a viral GoFundMe campaign to ask strangers on the internet to save their lives.When you multiply my situation by 27.5 million, you end up with a country full of people who won’t see a doctor unless they’re extremely sick. And when you combine a for-profit healthcare system – in which only those wealthy enough to get care actually receive it – with a global pandemic, the only outcome will be unmitigated disaster. This could be somewhat remedied if the US had a single-payer, universal healthcare system, like every other industrialized nation. And as a team of Yale epidemiologists discovered in a study recently published in the Lancet, a single-payer healthcare system in the US could simultaneously save 68,000 lives and $450bn in taxpayer dollars each year.Yes, countries with single-payer systems still have coronavirus cases, Italy and Japan. But the spread of the virus in those countries would likely pale in comparison to the potential spread of coronavirus in the US, in which a significant portion of the population simply won’t go to the doctor if they’re sick. Coronavirus is a worldwide public health emergency, and massive profits for health insurers and pharmaceutical manufacturers shouldn’t come before the basic health and safety of human beings. * Carl Gibson is an independent journalist whose work has been published in CNN, the Guardian, the Washington Post, the Houston Chronicle and NPR, among others

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Central Park Five's Kevin Richardson slams Bloomberg campaign

Kevin Richardson, a member of the Central Park Five, has hit out at Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s presidential run and his blocking of a multimillion-dollar settlement over the group’s wrongful persecution.Mr Richardson, one of the five teenagers wrongfully convicted for the shocking assault of Trishia Meili in 1989, was reported to have criticised Mr Bloomberg at an event outside his campaign office in Manhattan.

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Map: Confirmed coronavirus cases, worldwide

More than 81,000 people have been sickened by a coronavirus, mostly in China. This map is updated daily.

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Police identify victims, shooter in Milwaukee brewery shooting rampage

Police in Milwaukee on Thursday identified the five brewery employees shot and killed by a co-worker who later took his own life in the latest spasm of gun violence plaguing U.S. workplaces and schools. The motive for the carnage was unclear a day after the shooting at the landmark Molson Coors Beverage Co complex shook Wisconsin's largest city. "Reasons for this are still under investigation," Milwaukee Police Chief Alfonso Morales said.

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Anti-Greta Blasts ‘Climate Alarmism’ to Conservative Gathering

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'He fought us every single step of the way': How Bloomberg embraced stop-and-frisk as mayor

"He dug in and fought us all the way to his last day in office," an activist who opposed stop-and-frisk recalled.

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Trump complains Democrats are blaming him for coronavirus

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Feb 28, 2020

How making a violin brought these two together

When Nashville musician Amanda asked violinmaker Ray to make her one, little did she know where it would lead.

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Afghanistan conflict: US-Taliban deal raises hope for peace

A long-awaited accord between the US and the Taliban is greeted cautiously by a war-weary population.

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Greta Thunberg: Who is the teenage climate change activist?

The Swedish teenager started a climate change protest that grew into a global movement of millions.

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Protecting whales from the noise people make in the ocean

Oil drilling and construction is creating a din for sealife - new tech is hoping to turn the volume down.

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Leap years and why we need them

It's a leap year which means there's an extra day in the calendar - 29 February 2020. But why do we need it?

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Klobuchar explains what she was thinking in heated debate moment captured in photo - CNN

Klobuchar explains what she was thinking in heated debate moment captured in photo CNN
Klobuchar, at Fox News town hall, comes out swinging at Trump over coronavirus outbreak Fox News
Amy Klobuchar explains what she was thinking in heated debate photo CNN
The Case for Amy Klobuchar The New York Times
The Case for Bernie Sanders The New York Times
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Bloomberg says he nearly eliminated stop-and-frisk as mayor. But he fought for it to the end. - NBC News

Bloomberg says he nearly eliminated stop-and-frisk as mayor. But he fought for it to the end. NBC News
Cooper to Bloomberg: Seems you've only had change of heart because you're running for president CNN
De Blasio blasts Bloomberg on 'Hannity': 'He's got no clue what everyday people are going through' Fox News
The Case for Mike Bloomberg The New York Times
Bloomberg is the guy Trump plays on TV New York Daily News
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At least 29 Turkish soldiers killed in an air attack by Syrian regime, Turkish governor says - CNN

At least 29 Turkish soldiers killed in an air attack by Syrian regime, Turkish governor says CNN
Airstrike Hits Turkish Forces in Syria The New York Times
Syria war: 29 Turkish troops killed in air strike in Idlib BBC News
David Adesnik: In Syria, Trump should act to save thousands of lives Fox News
Idlib is the New Face of Conflict. The World Needs to Catch Up | Opinion Newsweek
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Oil Industry Tool to Spare Polar Bears Is More Miss Than Hit - The New York Times

Oil Industry Tool to Spare Polar Bears Is More Miss Than Hit The New York Times
Arctic drilling operators can’t accurately pinpoint polar bear dens — which means they can’t avoid destroying them The Washington Post
6 Simple Ways to Protect Polar Bears from Climate Change on Polar Bear Day and All Year Round PEOPLE.com
Polar bears are being forced into CANNIBALISM by climate change and humans, scientist reveals Daily Mail
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Beyond Meat beats on Q4 earnings, founder says 'we would be crazy not to invest in growth right now' - Yahoo Finance

Beyond Meat beats on Q4 earnings, founder says 'we would be crazy not to invest in growth right now' Yahoo Finance
Beyond Meat revenue tripled, but shares fall as losses return CNBC
Beyond Meat earnings: Shares rise, then fall, on mixed results MarketWatch
Beyond Meat narrows 4Q loss as plant-based meat sales jump The Associated Press
Coronavirus won't stop Beyond Meat from entering China in 2020: CEO Ethan Brown Yahoo Finance
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Spotify's new iOS design makes it easier to navigate - The Next Web

Spotify's new iOS design makes it easier to navigate The Next Web
Spotify redesign makes it easier to play, favorite and download music Engadget
Spotify is rolling out a new look for iOS that ditches word-based buttons The Verge
Spotify tries making its app easier to use in latest update TechCrunch
Spotify refreshes its iOS app with streamlined controls and a new look PhoneArena
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Sofia Vergara Joins ‘America’s Got Talent’ As New Judge, Heidi Klum Returns To Mothership Series - Deadline

Sofia Vergara Joins ‘America’s Got Talent’ As New Judge, Heidi Klum Returns To Mothership Series Deadline
Sofia Vergara, Heidi Klum Set as ‘America’s Got Talent’ Season 15 Judges Yahoo Entertainment
Sofia Vergara Joins AGT as New Judge After Gabrielle Union and Julianne Hough's Exits PEOPLE.com
America's Got Talent: Sofia Vergara Confirmed as New Judge for Season 15; Heidi Klum Returning to the Panel TVLine
‘America’s Got Talent’ Sets Sofia Vergara as New Judge, Heidi Klum to Return Yahoo Entertainment
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NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith confident players will approve CBA - ESPN

NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith confident players will approve CBA ESPN
Rookie minimums to top $1 million by end of CBA NBCSports.com
What NFL superstars are missing when they criticize the proposed CBA The Washington Post
Aaron Rodgers -- No vote on CBA based on Packers teammates ESPN
DeMaurice Smith on negative views of proposed CBA: Democracy is messy NBCSports.com
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Coronavirus: On the front line in Wuhan

The BBC speaks to a Chinese doctor who has been on the front line of fighting Coronavirus in Wuhan.

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Burst water main leaves drivers stranded

Flooding in Houston led to cars being submerged and people having to take refuge on their roofs.

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The US Navy orders ships in the Pacific to stay at sea at least 14 days between port calls over coronavirus concerns

Ships have been instructed to remain at sea at least 14 days, the maximum incubation period for the coronavirus.

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Mom of missing Idaho kids wants $5 million bail reduced

A mother arrested in Hawaii in connection with the disappearance of her two Idaho children wants a judge to reconsider her $5 million bail.

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Doctors Inside Iran Believe Coronavirus Is More Serious Than Reported, and Getting Worse

Medical professionals inside the Islamic Republic tell TIME they believe the country is now grappling with an “epidemic”

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How to Prepare for the Coronavirus

U.S. health officials warned on Tuesday that the coronavirus is likely to spread in communities in the United States. They urged individuals to get themselves and their families ready. But what can you do?Infectious disease experts stressed that people should not panic and offered practical advice."The mantra is, "Keep calm and carry on," said Dr. Marguerite Neill, an infectious disease expert at Brown University.And use common sense, experts said."If you see someone on a bus who is coughing, move away," said Dr. Stanley Perlman, an infectious disease and coronavirus expert at the University of Iowa.Stay home from work if you are sick.Wash your hands frequently, said Dr. Trish Perl, an infectious disease specialist at UT Southwestern Medical Center. "It's not super sexy but it works," she said. With SARS, also a coronavirus, but one that is much deadlier, hand washing reduced the risk of transmission by 30-50%, she said.Of course, you should cough into your elbow and dispose of tissues in a wastebasket after you blow your nose. You should keep surfaces in your home clean. Alcohol is a good disinfectant for coronaviruses, Perl added.It would be sensible to have a good supply of food staples and necessary medications."Don't wait until the last minute to refill your prescriptions," Neill said. "You want to comfortably have at least a 30-day supply."With household supplies, she said, make sure you have essentials on hand, like laundry detergent and, if you have small children, diapers, perhaps enough for a month.She also suggested finding the website for your local health department so you will have a reliable source of news.Infectious disease specialists strongly recommended flu vaccines and, for older people, the vaccine against pneumococcal pneumonia, although, they added, neither influenza nor the bacterial pneumonia seem to affect a person's risk of getting a coronavirus infection or becoming seriously ill. But it is possible that the coronavirus, by injuring lung cells, can make it easier for pneumonia to take hold, Perl said. Avoiding the flu also means you won't take up the resources of a hospital and the time of health care workers in the event of a coronavirus outbreak.Parents might want to contact their child's school system and find out how plans for early dismissals or online instruction would be implemented, should they be necessary.And people with elderly parents or relatives should plan for a support system in case they fall ill.This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company

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Trump Pardon Won’t Erase Arpaio’s Criminal Past in Comeback Bid

(Bloomberg) -- Former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio will have to pursue his comeback with a guilty verdict on his resume.The U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Thursday refused to expunge the criminal contempt finding made against Arpaio for defying a judge’s orders related to his crackdown on undocumented immigrants.The 87-year-old lawman -- once known as “America’s toughest sheriff -- is again vying for the job that he held for 24 years in Maricopa County. He lost the 2016 election and was found guilty the following year. A month after the verdict, he became the first person to be pardoned by President Donald Trump.The three appellate judges, one who was appointed by Trump and two by George W. Bush, were unanimous that Arpaio’s guilty verdict had no legal consequence because technically he was never convicted.“Here, the issuing of a presidential pardon, and Arpaio’s acceptance of the pardon, preempted his sentencing,” the panel said. “Thus, there is no final judgment of conviction in this case.”After he was pardoned, Arpaio asked the trial judge to set aside his guilty verdict. She refused -- a ruling that was upheld by the appeals court which said it could never be used against him in a future case.Arpaio’s lawyer Jack Wilenchick declared victory, saying that has exactly the same effect as an order “vacating” the guilty finding.“The court gave us exactly what we asked for, which is a finding that the guilty verdict is legally meaningless,” Wilenchick said in a statement. “The trial judge’s final order had said just the opposite; it had indicated that the guilty verdict may, or even should, be used against Arpaio in the future in a court of law.”Arpaio made a name for himself targeting Latinos in the Phoenix area with traffic stops only on the suspicion they were undocumented immigrants. In 2017, a federal judge convicted him of criminal contempt of court for violating orders to stop.The case took an unusual turn after the U.S. Justice Department, which had started the proceedings against Arpaio under the Obama administration and secured his conviction, said it wouldn’t fight Arpaio’s appeal.That prompted groups of civil rights organizations, legal scholars and members of Congress to ask the court to appoint an independent prosecutor as well as to challenge the underlying validity of Arpaio’s pardon.A judge found the pardon was valid, but Arpaio fought on to try to get his offense expunged from court records.Read More: ‘America’s Toughest Sheriff’ Wants More From Trump PardonTo contact the reporter on this story: Edvard Pettersson in Los Angeles at epettersson@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Peter Blumberg at pblumberg1@bloomberg.net, Joe SchneiderFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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Duterte says Philippines can 'survive' without America

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday said his country’s security forces can fight insurgents and Muslim extremists without American military help, in a defense of his recent decision to terminate a U.S. security pact.

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CDC: California coronavirus case may be 1st in U.S. without link to traveling abroad

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Wednesday night that a person in California who tested positive for coronavirus may be the first case of community spread in the United States.This person did not recently travel out of the country or come into contact with anyone infected with the coronavirus, known as COVID-19. The case was "detected through the U.S. public health system," the CDC said, and "picked up by astute clinicians." The CDC said this could be an "instance of community spread of COVID-19," which means the source of infection is unknown, but also acknowledged that "the patient may have been exposed to a returned traveler who was infected."Lawrence Gostin, director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law, told the Los Angeles Times this is "the first signal that we could be having silent transmission in the community. It probably means there are many more cases out there and it probably means this individual has infected others and now it's a race to try to find out who that person has infected." There are 60 cases of COVID-19 in the United States.More stories from theweek.com What it's like to be in Venice during coronavirus lockdown Trump freaks out about all the wrong things Bloomberg campaign reportedly trying to recruit Andrew Yang

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Trump news — live: President's coronavirus response slammed as 'shameful' as he spends morning picking apart 'crazy' Democrat debate

Donald Trump’s White House is facing criticism for its “insane and depressing” decision to hire 23-year-old college James Bacon for a post in its powerful Presidential Personnel Office under new director John McEntee.The president has just returned from his two-day visit to India where he set in place a lucrative arms deal with Narendra Modi and toured the country’s beauty spots while being shielded from the outbreak of anti-Muslim riots, which left at least 20 people dead in New Dehli.

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Feb 27, 2020

Grandfather of 1-year-old who fell to her death from Royal Caribbean cruise ship to plead guilty - USA TODAY

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Trump in India: Anti-Muslim prime minister puts on a big show, bamboozles our president - Salon

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Turkey vows to drive Syrian forces back from Idlib - Al Jazeera English

Turkey vows to drive Syrian forces back from Idlib Al Jazeera English
In Syria's Idlib province, a humanitarian crisis and terror for children - The The Washington Post
Syria war: Strikes on Idlib 'target schools and hospitals' - BBC News BBC News
Syria’s carnage nears a horrific climax The Washington Post
UN: Syria's Humanitarian Crisis Hits 'Horrifying New Level' : Goats and Soda NPR
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Smart Travel Planning in the Time of Coronavirus - The Wall Street Journal

Smart Travel Planning in the Time of Coronavirus The Wall Street Journal
CDC warns coronavirus outbreak will worsen ABC News
The CDC is warning travelers about visiting 5 countries because of coronavirus AOL
Is the U.S. ready for a severe coronavirus outbreak? CBS This Morning
CDC says to avoid nonessential travel to South Korea amid coronavirus outbreak Washington Examiner
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Wall Street erases gains on fears of coronavirus spreading in U.S. - Investing.com

Wall Street erases gains on fears of coronavirus spreading in U.S. Investing.com

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Google is teaming up with Adidas and EA for a new Jacquard product - The Verge

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Inside Disney's Bold $200M Gamble on 'Mulan': "The Stakes Couldn't Be Higher" - Hollywood Reporter

Inside Disney's Bold $200M Gamble on 'Mulan': "The Stakes Couldn't Be Higher" Hollywood Reporter
Mulan Director and Star Address (and Add to) Controversy Around Film The Mary Sue
'Mulan' was set to be a blockbuster in China. But then came the coronavirus. NBC News
'Mulan' 2020 got rid of Mushu for an important cultural reason Inverse
Mulan Star Liu Yifei Comments on Coronavirus and Her Political Stance Collider.com
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Ron Rivera -- Redskins like Dwayne Haskins but will consider all options - ESPN

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ABC News suspends veteran correspondent over comments captured in undercover Project Veritas video

ABC News said it suspended veteran correspondent David Wright because his comments hurt the network's "reputation for fairness and impartiality."

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Iran’s Incompetent Response to Coronavirus Threatens the Middle East and the World

The Iranian government has covered up an outbreak of coronavirus that now threatens the Middle East and has led to border closures and hospitalizations in five countries. Over the weekend of February 21, president Hassan Rouhani and other Iranian officials downplayed the growing crises as Iran’s death toll from the virus climbed. It is now apparent that the regime, which has threatened the region with ballistic missiles, drones, naval mines, and militias over the last few years, has become a health threat as well, as it incubates a potential pandemic. The coronavirus has likely traveled from China to Iran’s city of Qom along the same route that pilgrims and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps uses to travel, illustrating the regime’s disregard for its own citizens and neighbors.It all began with Iran’s wanting to show the world it had higher turnout at recent elections. Iranian member of parliament Mahmoud Sadeghi called on officials to take the coronavirus seriously during elections, and alleged that the government was hiding the outbreak of the contagious virus last week. Instead, Iran’s regime kept the extent of the spread of the virus under wraps, keeping it off the homepages of major local media. Turkish officials also warned last week that there were 750 coronavirus cases in Iran, and that it had spread from the religious city of Qom to other regions. Yet Iran’s deputy health minister Iraj Harirchi downplayed fears on Monday, claiming rumors of 50 deaths were false. Now Haririchi and Sadeghi are both sick, and Iran’s death toll is the second-worst for the virus, after China itself.Iran’s failure to confront the health crises is not just due to the regime’s authoritarianism. China has fought the virus with authoritarian quarantining of Wuhan. Instead, it is the regime’s preexisting arrogance, conspiracy-minded behavior, and siege mentality that led to its discounting an emerging crisis and enabled Shi’ite pilgrims traveling to Qom from all over the world to continue praying together and traveling without checks, becoming incubators of the virus. People returning from Iran have spread the virus across the Gulf to Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman. They have returned to Najaf, a holy city in Iraq, where dozens are now under observation.Iran couldn’t have chosen a worse time in the Middle East to do this. Countries such as Iraq are beset by protests and uncertainty, with Iraq specifically lacking a new government and threatened by ISIS resurgence. The Gulf already has one crisis between Saudi Arabia and Qatar and is economically on edge due to serving as a transport hub linked to global trade amid all this. China’s coronavirus has spooked markets, and Iran is adding to the disaster.The Iranian regime has mocked coronavirus as similar to the flu in recent comments. And it has weaponized the tragedy to use it against U.S. sanctions by claiming that, like the sanctions, it is overrated. Iran’s government is using the Iranian people as a human shield, and their alleged lack of suffering from the virus as a propaganda tool. Yet ultimately, the virus may be more of a threat to Rouhani’s government than he realizes. With officials sick, schools closed, and the military, police, and IRGC mobilized, the regime may find that propaganda won’t cure this crisis. Iran’s regime has survived using brutality, killing protesters last year, shooting down an airline this year, and blaming others for its problems while it seeks to attack Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the U.S. But Iran was unprepared for an epidemic, and its normal arsenal won’t save it.Unfortunately for the Gulf, Iraq, and other countries, Iran’s incubation is a threat to the world now. Its airlines, such as Mahan Air, have likely spread the virus to Lebanon and brought it from China. Mahan Air and other Iranian IRGC-linked firms have transported arms and operatives throughout the region. It wouldn’t be a surprise if a similar route enabled the virus to spread unchecked. The regime’s toxic blend of religion, militancy, and authoritarianism have come together in the worst possible way at the worst time in a fragile region.

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2020 polls: Biden leading heading into South Carolina with Steyer a surprise second

Former Vice President Joe Biden has an 18 point lead over his Democratic rivals heading into Saturday's South Carolina primary according to a Clemson University poll released on Wednesday.The poll reported that 35 per cent of respondents supported Mr Biden in the upcoming primary. Entrepreneur Tom Steyer, who has focused campaign advertising on the state, is in second place at 17 per cent.

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The world's biggest iPhone maker has hired the scientist known as the 'SARS hero' to oversee its reopening as it resumes production

Apple's main manufacturing partner, Foxconn, just hired the head of China's coronavirus investigation as an adviser.

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Court OKs Texas winner-take-all presidential elector system

The winner-take-all system Texas and 47 other states use to assign Electoral College presidential votes is constitutional, a federal appeals court said Wednesday. A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans unanimously upheld a lower court's dismissal of a lawsuit challenging the Texas system. It was the latest defeat for organizations challenging such systems in Texas and three other states.

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Valet accidentally shot in the face by Boston police at Brigham and Women's Hospital

Police were responding to a call of a person with a gun. The gun was later determined to be a replica and the suspect was fatally shot.

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Gandhi's great grandson hits out at Trump for political visitors' book message

Mahatma Gandhi’s great grandson has led a chorus of indignation at the message Donald Trump left in the visitors' book at the Ashram set up by the Indian freedom fighter.Mr Trump and First Lady Melania Trump visited the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad on Monday as part of the first leg of their tour of India. They toured the site with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and watched a demonstration of the charkha wheel — the small, portable, hand-cranked spinning wheel that Gandhi used to promote his teaching. Mr Trump, along with Mr Modi, also garlanded a photo of Mahatma Gandhi.

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Beijing orders quarantine for foreign arrivals from virus-hit areas

Beijing announced Wednesday that people landing in the Chinese capital from countries hit by the new coronavirus epidemic will have to go into 14-day self-quarantine. A day earlier, more than 250 people arriving in eastern China from South Korea were placed in isolation after passengers on two flights were discovered to have fevers. Beijing had already ordered people returning to the capital to go into self-quarantine following the Lunar New Year holiday but exempted those arriving from abroad.

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Elizabeth Warren says Kamala Harris and Kirsten Gillibrand regularly check in on her

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is on good terms with some Democratic exes.While she can't claim to have raised thousands of dollars from ex-boyfriends, like Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) can, Warren has remained quite friendly with several ex-Democratic presidential candidates. In an interview with NBC News, Warren said she's texted nature photos with Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) shortly after he dropped out of the race, talked math with Andrew Yang, and kept in touch with former Housing Secretary Julián Castro, who has endorsed her run.But she says Sens. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) have particular insight into what NBC News calls the "loneliness" of the campaign trail, something Warren described as like "living in a movie that is running at high speed with everything coming so quickly.""Kamala and Kirsten, in particular, ask me am I getting rest? Am I eating? And am I having some fun out there?," said Warren of her fellow women candidates. "It's a very personal experience to run. Running for president can be thrilling but also very lonely," she said. "The candidate stands alone."Warren even got back in good graces with former Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.) after taking him down a few pegs in one of the first debates. Delaney said her call to wish him well after he dropped out was "quite lengthy and quite in-depth" and showed "she's not entirely self-absorbed. She actually listens."Read more about Warren's relationship with her ex-competitors at NBC News.More stories from theweek.com Harvard scientist predicts coronavirus will infect up to 70 percent of humanity Donald Trump tells biographer he's the same now as he was in first grade Is Bernie Sanders the Democrats' Goldwater, Reagan, or Trump?

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Beijing’s Handling of Coronavirus Has Undermined Chinese Public’s Trust in State Media

China's government is facing widespread criticism from its own citizens over its handling of the outbreak of the Wuhan coronavirus.Beijing has launched a massive propaganda campaign with stories of Chinese heroism in the struggle to contain the coronavirus, meant to unify the country's citizens behind the government. However, the government's efforts have faced scorn on Chinese social media, where citizens are openly complaining about the government's response to the crisis, New York Times reported Wednesday.The Times cited a blog post by a lawyer, Deng Xueping, excoriating the government over the coronavirus. Deng mentioned a story circulated on state media about a woman who was treated at a Wuhan hospital, but liked staying in the hospital so much that she didn't want to leave."When many patients in Wuhan were struggling to get treatment, our TV camera chose to turn to one happy outpatient," Deng wrote in the post. "By magnifying one individual’s happiness while hiding the sufferings of most people there, it’s hard to say such coverage was truthful about the epidemic."Some stories put out by state media are completely unbelievable. A newspaper in the city of Xi'an in central China was forced to retract a story detailing how a nurse's newborn twins asked their father where their mother had gone. The Times cited another Chinese newspaper which reported that another nurse's husband, who has been in a vegetative state since 2014, would smile whenever he "heard" his wife's name, "as if he knew that his wife was engaged in a great endeavor."There is also widespread anger over the government's initial condemnation of eight doctors who tried to warn others about the outbreak of the SARS-like illness in Wuhan in late December-early January, before the outbreak took hold in earnest. One of those doctors, Li Wenliang, tried to warn medical school friends of the illness.After Li was reprimanded by the local Wuhan government for spreading "rumors," he contracted the virus from a patient he did not know was infected. Li has since died.China has also changed its diagnostic criteria for the coronavirus multiple times, leading to confusion over the number of confirmed cases in the country. A health official from Hubei Provice, the epicenter of the outbreak, has accused the government of a lack of transparency and accuracy regarding its reporting of cases.

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