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Democratic U.S. presidential hopefuls seek contrast with Trump on immigration

Candidates running for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination have been uniformly critical of the immigration policies of U.S. President Donald Trump, who was elected after promising to crack down on illegal immigration and bolster enforcement along the U.S.-Mexico border. Here is a look at the immigration positions of Trump and the leading Democratic candidates looking to take him on in the November election. Since entering the White House in 2017, Trump has moved to end former President Barack Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which protects immigrants brought illegally to the United States as children from deportation.

Why The Ninth Circut Court Reluctantly Dismissed The Kids' Climate Case

This was not a problem for the courts.

Photos show the horrors of Auschwitz, 75 years after its liberation

Over 1.1 million people were murdered at Auschwitz, including nearly a million Jews. On the day of liberation 75 years ago, only 7,000 were saved.

Aging Iran airliner crash-lands on highway, injuring only 2

An aging Iranian passenger airliner carrying 144 people crash-landed on a runway and skidded onto a major highway next to an airport Monday, the latest crash in the Islamic Republic as U.S. sanctions bar it from parts or new aircraft. Authorities said two people suffered injuries in the hard landing of the McDonnell Douglas MD-83 flown by Caspian Airlines in Mahshahr, a city in Iran's oil-rich southwestern Khuzestan province. Passengers, apparently in shock, calmly exited the aircraft with their carry-on baggage out of a door near the cockpit and another over the plane's wing, video from Iran's Civil Aviation Network News showed.

Google search for 'When did Kobe Bryant die' no longer lists Jan. 26 as 'date of assassination'

The Google search for "When did Kobe Bryant die" now says "date of death" after initially saying "date of assassination" late Sunday and early Monday.

Global alarm grows as China's capital reports first virus death

China's capital on Monday recorded its first death from a deadly coronavirus as it struggles to contain a rapidly spreading disease that has sparked global alarm, with countries scrambling to evacuate their citizens from the epicentre of the epidemic. The fatality in Beijing raises the death toll from the new virus to 82, with more than 2,700 people infected across the nation. The United States urged its citizens to "reconsider" all travel to China and told them not to go to central Hubei province, where the pneumonia-like virus emerged.

'Chernobyl 2020:' Chinese people are comparing the government's delayed response to the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak to the Chernobyl disaster and the HBO series about it

Chinese people are criticizing their government's slow response to the Wuhan coronavirus online, comparing its handling of the outbreak to Chernobyl.

Sanders Leads, Klobuchar Climbs and Buttigieg Drops in Iowa

(Bloomberg) -- Senator Amy Klobuchar has broken into the top three Democratic presidential candidates in Iowa for the first time, a poll released Sunday showed. It was the third poll of the day to show her rival, Bernie Sanders as the frontrunner in an early state.An Emerson University poll showed Sanders leading in Iowa with 30% while Joe Biden followed with 21%. Klobuchar was in third with 13% ahead of Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg who had 11% and 10%, respectively. The poll was conducted from Jan. 23-26 and has a margin of error of 4.6 percentage points.Since December, Sanders has risen 8 percentage points in the Emerson poll. Conversely, Buttigieg fell 8 percentage points. Klobuchar’s rise comes on the heels of an endorsement from The New York Times.Two New Hampshire polls released Sunday morning by CNN/University of New Hampshire and NBC News/Marist both also found Sanders in first.(Disclaimer: Michael Bloomberg is also seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. He is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.)This post is part of  Campaign Update, our live coverage from the 2020 campaign trail.To contact the author of this story: Emma Kinery in Washington at ekinery@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Magan Sherzai at mcrane19@bloomberg.net, Virginia Van NattaFor 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.

GOP Senator, military veteran defends Trump's comments on soldiers' brain injuries

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), a U.S. military veteran, stood by President Trump in wake of the backlash against the commander-in-chief's comments describing brain injuries suffered by U.S. troops after an Iranian missile attack on a base in Iraq earlier this month as "headaches" and "not very serious."CBS' Margaret Brennan asked Cotton during Sunday's edition of Face the Nation if Trump should apologize to the soldiers, 34 of whom it turned out suffered traumatic brain injuries. She pointed out that Veterans of Foreign Wars, a prominent U.S. veterans advocacy group, called on Trump to apologize for his "misguided" comments about potentially dangerous injuries, while also noting Cotton likely knew several people who suffered from similar injuries during his time in the military, which included deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.Cotton, though, argued Trump wasn't "dismissing" the soldiers' injuries, but simply "describing them." > NEW: @SenTomCotton defends @realdonaldtrump 's comments about soldiers impacted by the Iran strike, says Trump wasn't "dismissing" traumatic brain injuries by calling them "headaches" pic.twitter.com/HH8daFhsIv> > -- Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) January 26, 2020More stories from theweek.com Mike Pompeo is a disgrace If Bernie wins John Bolton's quest for vengeance and book sales

A Dangerous Game: Russia and America Keep Flying Their Planes Near Each Other's Borders

Nuclear chicken anyone?

"You shall never be a bystander." How We Learn About the Holocaust When the Last Survivors Are Gone

What will we learn from movies and pop culture about the Holocaust without the survivors' testimony to remind us of their powerful truth?

Iranian general warns of retaliation if US threats continue

The chief of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard warned Monday that it will retaliate against American and Israeli commanders if the U.S. continues to threaten top Iranian generals. The U.S. killed Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who headed the expeditionary Quds force, in a drone strike outside of Baghdad's airport in Iraq on Jan. 3. Five days later, Iran retaliated by launching ballistic missiles at two bases in Iraq housing American troops, causing injuries but no fatalities among soldiers there.

Taliban says it gunned down U.S. military plane in Afghanistan, killing all personnel onboard

The Taliban said it had shot down a U.S. military plane in the central Afghan province of Ghazni on Monday, killing all personnel onboard.

Kobe Bryant's helicopter pilot was given special clearance to fly in foggy weather minutes before the deadly crash

The helicopter crashed in Calabasas, killing all nine people on board, including Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna.

CDC Split With China on Coronavirus Spread as Possible U.S. Cases Hit 110

As authorities in China scrambled to handle a coronavirus that has killed at least 81 people, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday described a surging potential crisis even as they pushed back on the latest thinking from Beijing about just how easily it spreads.Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, told reporters that the number of confirmed cases stateside had reached five—and that there had been a total of 110 “persons under investigation” for the virus in 26 states over the past week.Thirty-two of those people tested negative, and there had been no confirmed person-to-person transmissions inside the country, Messonnier said on Monday. The confirmed cases in the U.S. include patients in Orange County, California; a man in his 30s in Washington state; a woman in her 60s in Chicago; a passenger who felt ill after flying into Los Angeles International Airport; and a student at Arizona State University who does not live in university housing, the CDC said on Sunday. All of the U.S. cases appeared to involve patients who had recently traveled from Wuhan, China—the epicenter of the deadly virus. Seventy-three people were still being evaluated for the virus as of Monday.Fifth U.S. Case of Coronavirus Confirmed in Patient Who Traveled From Wuhan, China“We understand that many people in the United States are worried about this virus and how it will affect Americans,” Messonnier said, adding that “risk depends on exposure,” which for Americans remained “low” on Monday.In each U.S. case, health officials have said they will trace the patient’s contacts and identify anyone who may have had prolonged exposure, then monitor those individuals for symptoms. In the U.S., anyone who has had close contact with confirmed patients has not been quarantined unless and until they display symptoms.That policy came into question over the weekend, when China’s health minister Ma Xiaowei said “the ability of the virus to spread is getting stronger” and that authorities in that country now believe the virus can spread during the incubation period—even before infected patients become symptomatic. A study published last week in the journal Lancet appeared to bolster that contention.But Messonnier said the CDC had not seen “any clear evidence of patients being infectious before symptom onset” as of Monday, even if authorities in the U.S. “are being very aggressive and very cautious in tracking close contacts” of infected individuals.“This outbreak is unfolding rapidly, and we are rapidly looking at how that impacts our posture at the border,” said Messonnier. “I expect that in the coming days, our travel recommendations will change.”Experts said that even as statements from Chinese health officials had to be viewed through a political lens, outright dismissal of asymptomatic transmission was premature.Eric Toner, a senior scientist with the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and the University’s School of Public Health, called the question “nuanced.” “It’s hard to know why the [Chinese] minister was so sure,” said Toner. “The evidence we have seen is quite suggestive of pre-symptomatic transmission, at least in some people, but not conclusive. He may have information that we do not.”For now, officials were still screening passengers at five American airports: Los Angeles International Airport, San Francisco International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, and Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. Of course, fewer travelers are coming out of Wuhan in the wake of a travel lockdown late last week; Messonnier said the CDC had screened approximately 2,400 people in those airports so far but that “the number of people coming from Wuhan is declining.”Though Chinese authorities halted travel from Wuhan to stop the spread of the virus, the U.S. is among several countries—including France and Russia—that were given special permission to evacuate diplomats and private citizens. In addition to the 81 dead in China—76 of whom reportedly lived in Wuhan—nearly 3,000 people across the world, including a 9-month-old baby girl in Beijing, had confirmed cases of the virus as of Monday morning. Aside from the five cases in the U.S., more have been reported in Thailand, Taiwan, Australia, Macau, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, France, Canada, Vietnam, and Nepal. There had been no deaths from the virus reported outside of China as of Monday morning. But the new fatalities in that country over the weekend, including an 88-year-old man in Shanghai, stoked fears that the government had failed to contain the infection’s spread. Beijing announced Monday morning that it would push back the official end of the Lunar New Year holiday to Thursday from Sunday in order to “reduce mass gatherings” and “block the spread of the epidemic,” according to a statement from China’s cabinet.Meanwhile, Wuhan’s mayor, Zhou Xianwang, on Monday offered to step down, along with the city’s party secretary, Ma Guoqiang, in order to “appease public indignation.” He said the pair were prepared to take responsibility for the crisis after days of public outcries from citizens, on social media and elsewhere.“Our names will live in infamy, but as long as it is conducive to the control of the disease and to the people’s lives and safety, Comrade Ma Guoqiang and I will bear any responsibility,” Zhou reportedly said Monday.Dr. Adrian Hyzler, chief medical officer for Healix International, which provides medical information to travelers, told The Daily Beast the CDC will know much more about how easily the virus spreads once the incubation period—estimated at a maximum of 14 days—has passed in the five U.S. cases. “If, as the Chinese are saying, patients are contagious before symptoms develop, then it is much harder to control,” he said.Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify that the CDC cleared 32 people who tested negative for the virus out of 110 potential cases.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.

Judges rebuke Macron for criticism over case of murdered Jewish woman

French President Emmanuel Macron drew a sharp rebuke from the country's top magistrates on Monday for criticising a court ruling on the 2017 murder of a Jewish woman in Paris. Sarah Halimi, an Orthodox Jewish woman in her sixties, died after being pushed out of the window of her Paris flat by a neighbour shouting "Allahu Akbar" ("God is great" in Arabic).

Death Toll Rises in Turkey Quake as Erdogan Slams Social Media

(Bloomberg) -- A magnitude 6.8 earthquake in Turkey’s eastern Elazig province on Friday evening killed at least 31 people and injured hundreds. By Sunday, 45 people had been rescued from the rubble of collapsed buildings.A total of 76 buildings were destroyed and 645 heavily damaged, the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency, or AFAD, said in a statement. As many as 20 of the 640 aftershocks since the first temblor had a magnitude greater than 4 on the Richter scale, according to the agency.Speaking on Sunday in Istanbul, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan targeted “provocative” social media posts about the earthquake. “Some messages are terrible, depraved,” he said, according to the Anadolu Agency. “For example, some question what the government has done about earthquakes in the past two decades.”The earthquake occurred at 8:55 p.m. local time on Friday at a depth of 6.75 kilometers (4.2 miles) on the East Anatolia Fault Line. Tremors were felt in many cities across the region.Prosecutors have launched an investigation into social media posts found to be “provocative,” Anadolu reported. Two people in Gaziantep province have been detained.Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, Environment & Urbanization Minister Murat Kurum and Health Minister Fahrettin Koca were in Elazig as of early Sunday to coordinate rescue efforts.Turkey is situated in a seismically active area and is among countries, including China and Iran, that can experience catastrophic earthquakes, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. In 1999, a 7.5-magnitude quake shook the western Marmara region killing thousands of people and damaging more than 300,000 buildings. The nation’s economy contracted 3.4% that year.To contact the reporters on this story: Cagan Koc in Istanbul at ckoc2@bloomberg.net;Taylan Bilgic in Istanbul at tbilgic2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Onur Ant at oant@bloomberg.net, Lars Paulsson, Michael GunnFor 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.

Supreme Court Allows Trump Admin to Implement ‘Public Charge’ Test for Immigrants

The Supreme Court ruled on Monday to approve the Trump administration's "public charge" rule for new immigrants.The justices approved the rule by a vote of 5-4 along ideological lines.“Public charge” has in recent years been defined as a person dependent on cash assistance programs. The Trump administration updated the definition in August 2019 to include people likely to require non-cash government benefits, and sought to implement a policy limiting the number of new immigrants who would require government assistance such as food stamps or Medicaid.Lower courts have repeatedly blocked the new policy from going into effect. In early January the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals implemented a nationwide injunction against the policy, which Monday's Supreme Court decision overrules."Throughout our history, self-reliance has been a core principle in America," then-acting director of U.S. Customs and Immigration Services Ken Cuccinelli said at a 2019 press conference regarding the new policy. "The virtues of perseverance, hard work, and self-sufficiency laid the foundation of our nation and have defined generations of immigrants seeking opportunity in the United States."President Trump has made immigration reform a centerpiece of his agenda, seeking to slow legal immigration and halt illegal immigration to the U.S. In one of the latest developments, on Thursday the State Department announced new guidelines aimed at cracking down on "birth tourism."Under the Constitution, babies born in the U.S. receive citizenship even if the parents are foreign citizens visiting the country on a tourist visa. Around 10,000 babies were born to parents of foreign citizens in the U.S. as of 2017, the latest year for which data is available.Trump has also made construction of a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico a priority, diverting funds from the Pentagon to finance the project.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Needs to Learn Economics

She just doesn't get it

Philippines lowers volcano danger level

Philippine authorities also narrowed the exclusion zone around the Taal volcano, which sits in the middle of a lake about 70 km (45 miles) from Manila, to seven kms from 14 kms (4-8 miles).

Paula White, Trump's spiritual adviser, calls for 'satanic pregnancies to miscarry'

Paula White, a controversial televangelist who joined the White House in an official capacity last year, is arguing that the content of a sermon she delivered on Jan. 5, which mentioned adversaries of President Trump and soon after advocated for divine forces to cause the miscarriage of babies in “satanic wombs,” was taken out of context.

Underwater bombs damage Syria's offshore oil facilities

Bombs planted underwater off Syria's coast exploded Monday, damaging oil facilities used to pump oil into one of Syria's two petroleum refineries, state media and the oil minister said. Oil minister Ali Ghanem told state TV that the bombs were planted by divers in the facility used to pump oil to the coast. "The aim of the attack is to cease (oil) imports into Syria," Ghanem said, adding the ministry's experts are evaluating and fixing the damage.

Amazon engineer calls for Ring to be 'shut down immediately' over privacy concerns

"The privacy issues are not fixable with regulation and there is no balance that can be struck," the Amazon employee said of Ring.

Historians Unmask Fourth Soviet Spy Who Worked on the Atomic Bomb

Just what nuclear secrets did "Godsend" deliver to Russia in the 1940s?

US military jet crashes in Taliban territory in Afghanistan

A US military jet crashed in mountainous territory in eastern Afghanistan, where there is a heavy Taliban presence, the Pentagon confirmed Monday, rejecting the insurgents' suggestions that it was shot down. Afghanistan US Forces spokesman Colonel Sonny Leggett confirmed in a statement that the aircraft was a US Bombardier E-11A, a type of jet used as a military airborne communications node in the region. "While the cause of crash is under investigation, there are no indications the crash was caused by enemy fire," Leggett said.

Biden, Sanders Pull Further Ahead in ABC-WaPost National Poll

(Bloomberg) -- Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, who represent rival visions for the Democratic Party, are solidifying their status as frontrunners in the crowded presidential field, according to a Washington Post-ABC News national poll.Coming just a week before voters finally get to have their say in the Iowa caucuses, the polls show Biden with a solid 32% overall among registered voters who lean Democratic, while Sanders registered support from 23%. Both are doing slightly better than in the same poll in October.Senator Elizabeth Warren, who was once considered a front-runner and earned endorsements from the New York Times a week ago and from the Des Moines Register in Iowa on Saturday, has seen a significant drop in her support. She was at 12% in this poll, down from 23% in October.Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has spent $250 million on advertising since getting a late start in the race and will not compete in the first contests, pulled in support from 8%. Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.Businessman Andrew Yang, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Senator Amy Klobuchar, who was also endorsed by The New York Times, were all mired in single digits.National polls are less predictive of the eventual winner at this point in the race because the winners of early-voting states like Iowa and New Hampshire often ride a wave of momentum and attention to surge nationally.The Washington Post-ABC News poll was conducted by telephone Jan. 20-23. Results have an error margin of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.Separately, an NBC News/Marist poll for New Hampshire released on Sunday showed Sanders, at 22%, and Buttigieg at 17% leading in the state, with support for Biden and Warren also in the teens.  That survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points and was also taken Jan. 20-23.This post is part of Campaign Update, our live coverage from the 2020 campaign trail.To contact the editor responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Ros KrasnyFor 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.

South Carolina shooting: Two dead and four wounded after gunman opens fire in bar

Two people are dead and at least four are wounded following a shooting at a South Carolina bar on Sunday morning.The Darlington County Coroner's Office identified Dicaprio Collins, 21 and Bryan Robinson, 29 as the victims of the shooting at Mac's Lounge in Hartsville, South Carolina.

Bryant's helicopter too low for air traffic controllers to closely monitor in fog

The fog, and how the pilot and air traffic controllers reacted to it, came under scrutiny on Monday, as fans, friends and family of the NBA superstar confronted the reality that the charismatic 41-year-old and his 13-year-old daughter were among the nine people on board who died. Bryant, who won five NBA championships in his 20 years with the Los Angeles Lakers, was known since his playing days to travel frequently by helicopter to avoid the Los Angeles area's glacial traffic.

This Picture Could Start World War III: If North Korea Blasts Seoul with the 'Big Guns'

Or a massive artillery attack.

Georgia inmate who came close to execution in 2017 dies

A Georgia death row inmate whose planned execution was halted in September 2017 by the U.S. Supreme Court after his lawyers argued his death sentence was tainted by a juror's racial bias has died, according to the state Department of Corrections. Keith “Bo” Tharpe, 61, died of natural causes Friday, Georgia Department of Corrections spokeswoman Joan Heath confirmed in an email Sunday. In 1991, a jury convicted Tharpe of murder in the September 1990 slaying of his sister-in-law, Jacquelyn Freeman, and sentenced him to death.

A new report indicates that the deadly Chinese coronavirus may not actually have originated at a wet market in Wuhan

Scientists found that 13 out of 41 cases were linked to the market and that the first reported case of the virus was also not linked to the market.

Emails cast further doubt on Pompeo's claim NPR reporter lied to him

* Mike Pompeo’s claimed Mary Louise Kelly lied before interview * Opinion: Kelly’s Pompeo interview was like satire. If only Newly released emails between the office of Mike Pompeo and NPR reporter Mary Louise Kelly cast further doubt on the secretary of state’s extraordinary claim that the journalist lied to him before a contentious interview.Pompeo, who reportedly subjected Kelly to an expletive-ridden rant in his private living room after an interview during which he was asked about his role in the Ukraine scandal, issued a statement in which he accused the reporter of violating “the basic rules of journalism and decency”.Kelly maintained that her meeting with Pompeo after the recorded interview was not agreed to be off the record.NPR has stood by its reporter and emails quoted by the Washington Post show Kelly clearly expressing that Ukraine would be discussed.Donald Trump weighed in over the weekend, questioning the legitimacy of the independent nonprofit media outlet, one of America’s most trusted news sources.In a tweet on Sunday, Trump agreed with comments that labelled the station, which reaches 120 million monthly listeners, a “big-government, Democrat party propaganda operation” and asked: “Why does NPR still exist?”“A very good question!” the president responded.Pompeo was subjected to rigorous questioning on the administration’s handling of Iran and the Ukraine scandal last Friday by Kelly, a veteran foreign policy reporter. He grew audibly frustrated as the interview continued.The secretary of state, at the centre of the scandal that has engulfed Trump’s presidency and led to his impeachment, was asked why he had not expressed support for the US ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, who was ousted from her position as Trump pressed for investigations into his domestic political rivals.The email exchanges obtained by the Post, between Kelly and Pompeo press aide Katie Martin, were sent a day before the interview and clearly show Pompeo’s office was told he should expect questions on the issue.“Just wanted to touch base that we still intend to keep the interview to Iran tomorrow,” Martin stated. “Know you just got back from Tehran so we would like to stick to Iran as the topic as opposed to jumping around. Is that something we can agree to?”Kelly replied: “I am indeed just back from Tehran and plan to start there. Also Ukraine. And who knows what the news gods will serve up overnight. I never agree to take anything off the table.”

Anger mounts over government response at epidemic epicentre

Chinese officials at the epicentre of a health crisis are coming under fire for incompetence and being ridiculed for not properly wearing protective masks as anger mounts over the handling of a deadly virus. Many Chinese netizens were incensed by what they perceived as a series of errors at a televised press conference Sunday by three local officials at the heart of the new virus outbreak. Governor of central Hubei province Wang Xiaodong held the press conference without wearing a mask -- in violation of the provincial capital Wuhan's own rules mandating masks in public spaces.

Shunned by the West and China, Zimbabwe Turns to U.A.E.

(Bloomberg) -- Sign up to our Next Africa newsletter and follow Bloomberg Africa on TwitterSanctioned by the West and spurned by China, Zimbabwe has turned to the United Arab Emirates in its latest bid to find a savior that can arrest the collapse of its economy.Zimbabwe’s government has approached the U.A.E. in hopes of selling a stake in its national oil company, according to three company and government officials familiar with the plan. It also wants companies in the U.A.E. to buy more of its gold, they said.President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said U.A.E. investors will build solar plants in Zimbabwe, and U.A.E. President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan a year ago issued a decree to open an embassy in Zimbabwe. Dubai also contributed to relief efforts when Zimbabwe was hit by a cyclone last year.Zimbabwe’s economy is in free-fall: It likely contracted by more than 6% last year, according to government estimates. Half the population is in need of food aid, inflation is running at over 500% and its currency has depreciated by more than 90% against the dollar since a 1:1 peg was abolished in February last year.“They need investment desperately,” said Jee-A van der Linde, an economic analyst at NKC African Economics in Paarl, South Africa. “It’s been snowballing. I don’t know where it’s going to end up. I don’t know how that would be appealing for the U.A.E.”Oil companies in the U.A.E. said they were unaware of the interest.Belarusian BusesThe U.A.E.’s foreign ministry didn’t respond to requests for comment.The U.A.E. is not the only country Mnangagwa has targeted for potential investment. Since taking power from Robert Mugabe in a November 2017 coup, he has crisscrossed the globe and attended gatherings such as the World Economic Forum in Davos, repeating the mantra ‘Zimbabwe is open for business.’ Two trips to Russia and former Soviet republics revived interest in a platinum project and a fleet of second-hand Belarusian buses now ply the streets of the capital, Harare, and the second-biggest city, Bulawayo.By May 2019, investment pledges worth $27 billion had been announced in projects ranging from steel mills to abattoirs. There’s little evidence that they are being developed.A visit by Wang Yi, the Chinese foreign minister in January ended with only pledges of further infrastructural projects being carried out by China. There was no mention by the “all-weather-friend” as Zimbabwe likes to describe China, extending any financial bailout.Zimbabwe wants to sell a stake of as much as 25% in the National Oil Infrastructure Company of Zimbabwe, the people said, declining to be identified as the plans haven’t been disclosed.NOIC owns storage depots at the port of Beira in neighboring Mozambique as well as five locations in Zimbabwe. It also owns gas stations and the pipeline that brings oil products from Beira to Mutare for companies including Puma Energy BV, in eastern Zimbabwe.Fuel ShortagesZimbabwe is prone to frequent shortages of motor fuel and sees a relationship with the U.A.E., possibly through the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, as a way of securing supply, one of the people said. The southern African nation consumes 1.4 million liters of gasoline and 2.5 million liters of diesel daily, according to the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority.“We are working toward establishing a permanent arrangement with friendly countries and that also includes the U.A.E.,” said Fortune Chasi, Zimbabwe’s energy minister, declining to comment directly on whether Zimbabwe had approached the U.A.E.(Adds Davos in eighth paragraph)\--With assistance from Zainab Fattah and Mahmoud Habboush.To contact the reporters on this story: Antony Sguazzin in Johannesburg at asguazzin@bloomberg.net;Ray Ndlovu in Johannesburg at rndlovu1@bloomberg.net;Godfrey Marawanyika in Harare at gmarawanyika@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: John McCorry at jmccorry@bloomberg.net, Pauline Bax, Gordon BellFor 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.

Greta Thunberg slammed the Associated Press for cropping a black activist out of a photo of her at Davos

"You didn't just erase a photo. You erased a continent," Ugandan climate change activist Vanessa Nakate said in a tweet responding to the slight.

Chicago Weather: More snow forecast over next 3 days, several inches possible

Light snow will begin falling Wednesday night and will continue nearly uninterrupted through Saturday.

U.S. presidential hopefuls Sanders, Biden in tight race in early primary states

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden appear locked in a tight race for the Democratic presidential nomination, as both campaigned in Iowa on Sunday with only days left until the first contest. New polling released on Sunday showed Sanders leading in New Hampshire and tied with Biden in Iowa, the first two states to weigh in the Democratic primary. A poll of Iowa voters by CBS found Sanders and Biden statistically tied, with 26% and 25% respectively.

Postal worker dies a week after being shot while delivering mail in Mississippi

The local community rallied around Ingold by hosting prayer vigils, dressing in purple and placing purple bows along her mail route.

Lawyers ask parole board to spare condemned man's life

Donnie Cleveland Lance, 66, is scheduled to receive a lethal injection Wednesday. The board on Monday declassified a clemency application filed by Lance's lawyers. Stephanie Lance Cape and Jessie Lance, the now-adult children of Donnie and Joy Lance, have submitted a letter to the parole board and plan to ask for mercy at Tuesday's hearing.

NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will be the first to fly SpaceX's Crew Dragon spaceship. Here's how they're preparing.

The Crew Dragon is expected to launch a new era of US spaceflight. NASA will then stop relying on Russia to launch its astronauts.

What Everyone Is Getting Wrong About Precedent and Trump's Impeachment Trial

Let us explain.

‘Hanging by a Thread’: Democrats and the Abortion Case That Could Signal the Beginning of the End

The air was warmer than usual and spirits were high at Friday's March for Life in Washington, D.C., as pro-life demonstrators gathered across the National Mall to protest abortion and express support for mothers and their unborn children.The marchers, many of them teenagers and women with small children who had trekked long distances to be there, had good reason for their smiling enthusiasm. This year's 47th annual march followed a year of wins for the pro-life movement, including several court cases that suggest there may be a light at the end of the tunnel for those who hope to punt abortion access back to the states and possibly even overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court case that legalized abortion nationwide.One case in particular has sparked hope that abortion access could soon be the prerogative of individual states again. The Supreme Court in March will consider a Louisiana law requiring doctors who perform abortions to obtain admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of their clinic, a credential many abortionists do not have. According to critics of the law, it threatens to shut down all but one abortion clinic in Louisiana, which sees roughly 10,000 abortions every year.The Unsafe Abortion Protection Act was introduced by Democratic state senator Katrina Jackson, who argues her bill is "a health standard law" that is "very common sense.""It's very important for the pro-life movement and for women everywhere in Louisiana because it ensures that the standards of health care are not lower in the area of abortion," Jackson told National Review on Thursday at pro-life group Save the Storks's annual Stork Ball in Washington.Jackson, a Baptist and attorney, has served in the Louisiana House of Representatives since 2012 and was elected unopposed in October to represent a northeast Louisiana state-senate district. In recent years, she has become a standard-bearer for an increasingly rare breed, the pro-life Democrat, and she spoke at this year's March for Life."Imagine this. A woman hemorrhages during the time of her procedure. Who do you want? You want a competent doctor who has access to health care for you at that point," Jackson continued.Current Louisiana law requires doctors in outpatient surgical centers to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital so that if a procedure goes awry the same doctor who knows what went wrong can coordinate with the hospital. That standard does not apply to abortion clinics."Basically, Louisiana, unknowingly to us, had a lower standard of care for women who elected to have abortions in some places," Jackson said. "And so what we did was make sure that that standard of health care that we established in Louisiana for years also applied to abortion."She went on to add that contrary to popular belief, not all abortionists are OB-GYNs, claiming that in Louisiana, a radiologist and an optometrist were hired to perform abortions.Jackson also said she has heard "horrible stories" from women who received abortions from physicians who had no connection with the hospital. When a problem arose, the hemorrhaging patient was sent in an ambulance, there was no call ahead to the hospital, and oftentimes the woman ended up having a hysterectomy, or surgery to remove her uterus."One decision in a woman's life hinders her from ever having a child again," Jackson said."It's as simple as this. A doctor without admitting privileges cannot call in to a hospital and admit you and tell them what happened," she continued. "And so this is becoming very important. We look at competency and we look at the continuity of care."The Louisiana case will be the first major court battle over abortion since conservative justice Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed, replacing retired justice Anthony Kennedy, who represented a divided High Court's swing vote on a number of hot-button social issues. The cementing of a conservative majority has elicited a manic response from the nation's abortion-rights groups, which now routinely cast the reversal of Roe v. Wade as an immediate threat to the health of American women.“Access to abortion is hanging by a thread in this country, and this case is what could snap that thread," said Alexis McGill Johnson, acting president and CEO of Planned Parenthood.But Jackson remains hopeful that the events of the last year have opened up space for national Democrats to begin dissenting from the party's abortion orthodoxy, just as Democrats have done on the state level in her home state."We're hoping that one day, as far as the pro-life movement is concerned, D.C. will look more like Louisiana," she added. "When we see people attacking you because you're a pro-life Democrat, we're coming to your aid.""We fight for a place in the party, but what we realize is this is not a party issue," Jackson said. "And so we are never going to back down from standing up for life."Louisiana's Democratic governor, John Bel Edwards, has also broken with his party on the abortion issue, last summer signing a separate "heartbeat bill," which would ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected at about six weeks of pregnancy, before many women even know they are pregnant.Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List, expressed high hopes for the Louisiana case."There's a common sense at the core of that that the Supreme Court can't miss," Dannenfelser told National Review at the March for Life. "It'll give them an opportunity to overturn what I think was a mistake along the margins of the Hellerstedt case."That case, Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt, was decided by the Supreme Court in 2016, the majority ruling that Texas cannot require abortionists to have hospital admitting privileges or require abortion clinics to meet surgical-center standards because such requirements force an "undue burden" on women seeking abortions and thus violate the Constitution. The Louisiana case does not include the stipulation that clinics must meet surgical-center standards.Dannenfelser, formerly a fervent pro-choice proponent, also agreed with Jackson, saying she believes the Democratic party is slowly heading in a more pro-life direction and expressing hope that the party can "come back to where they used to be, which is embracing pro-life candidates and allowing conscience stands on candidates.""I think this is a story yet to be told because it hasn't unfolded completely, but I think what's happening is a crack in the base of the Democratic party on this particular issue," Dannenfelser said. "The national party does not reflect the grassroots. The closer you get to the will of the people . . . the more pro-life that group gets."In fact, over half of Democratic voters, 55 percent, support requiring doctors who perform abortions to have hospital admitting privileges, according to an NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll conducted last summer. An eye-popping 41 percent of Democrats also support prohibiting abortions after 24 weeks of pregnancy, and 32 percent would even ban abortions after heartbeat activity can be detected in the fetus at about six weeks.For women suffering from the pain of abortion, Dannenfelser encouraged them to accept the love from the pro-life movement that is behind all the court cases and campaigning."Reconciliation, conversion of heart, restoration of mind, body, spirit, is at the heart of this movement. You can't miss it when you walk around here," Dannenfelser said, gesturing to the crowd of bundled-up marchers. "So any woman who has either themselves had an abortion, come close to an abortion, helped somebody else get one, come back. Listen to your heart. Only love has grown this movement, and we embrace all."

Warren Says She’s Ready to Fight After Des Moines Register Nod

(Bloomberg) -- The Des Moines Register endorsed progressive favorite Senator Elizabeth Warren a little more than a week before the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 3, saying the Massachusetts lawmaker would “push an unequal America in the right direction.” The influential newspaper in Iowa’s largest city revealed its pick for the first-in-the-nation nominating contest on its website Saturday evening."At this moment, when the very fabric of American life is at stake, Elizabeth Warren is the president this nation needs," the Register's editorial board said.The Register said that many of Warren’s ideas “are not radical. They are right.  They would improve life in America, and they are generally shared by the other Democratic candidates, who bring their own strengths to this race.” The candidate is “tough and compassionate,” the newspaper said.   ``Thank you, @DMRegister, for your endorsement! Iowans are ready to make big, structural change—and I’m going to fight my heart out for everyone in Iowa and across the country,’’ Warren said on Twitter. Fair Markets Warren, 70, is polling at 16.3% in Iowa. She’s trailing Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, and statistically tied for third pace with Pete Buttigieg, in the RealClearPolitics polling average of the state. In a New York Times Iowa poll released on Saturday, Warren’s standing had slipped recently. The newspaper said the second-term senator is ``a capitalist” but one that ``wants fair markets, with rules and accountability. She wants a government that works for people, not one corrupted by cash.” Warren, a former Harvard Law School professor, ``believes government should actively work to prevent and respond to abusive practices that jeopardize individuals and the country’s economy,’’ the Register’s editorial said.  The newspaper wrote at length about what it described as the pluses and minuses of other Democratic candidates contesting next month’s caucus. Biden, the former vice president, was said to lack Warren's specific expertise on income inequality issues. Biden was also said to represent ``incremental improvements on the Obama years'' rather than ``the bold agenda the times demand.''  Poor Predictor The newspaper said it had doubts about whether Sanders, who is not a member of the Democratic Party, could build the consensus needed to govern. The Vermont senator has also opposed trade agreements supported by Iowa's farmers, it noted. Buttigieg was said to offer ``refreshing, common-ground approaches unburdened by the constraints of Washington insider politics." But his eight-year tenure as mayor of South Bend, Indiana, ``hardly seems adequate preparation for leading this vast, diverse, divided country,'' the editorial board said.While coveted by candidates, the Des Moines Register’s endorsement has been a poor predictor of caucus-night performance. Since the Register started making recommendations in 1988, only three of its endorsed candidates went on to win the state’s caucuses: Republicans Bob Dole in 1988 and 1996 and George W. Bush in 2000, and Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016.    (Disclaimer: Michael Bloomberg is also seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. He is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.) To contact the author of this story: Gregory Korte in Washington at gkorte@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Max Berley at mberley@bloomberg.net, Ros KrasnyFor 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.

Up Against the Coronavirus, China’s Surveillance State Has Failed

HONG KONG—The Chinese government has a famously (or infamously) sophisticated surveillance system that incorporates facial recognition, tight observations of social media networks, and phone tracking. One piece of equipment that Chinese police departments have adopted is described by its manufacturer like this: “People pass and leave a shadow. The phone passes and leaves a number. The system connects the two.”Fifth U.S. Case of Coronavirus Confirmed in Patient Who Traveled From Wuhan, ChinaBut at a time of critical need, as a medical crisis is escalating across the country and spreading to other parts of the world, threatening to become a global epidemic if quarantines cannot be enforced, the Chinese government’s vaunted ability to monitor the population has been nullified.In the days leading up to a citywide quarantine of Wuhan and lockdowns in nearby areas, where residents of the Hubei provincial capital have been barred from leaving its limits, 5 million people left the city nonetheless. In a cold winter where people are bundled up, and where many are donning face masks, face-scanning software has been rendered moot. And though every SIM card purchase requires a face scan to verify a user’s identity, tracking down millions of travelers who have left the viral outbreak’s epicenter is proving to be a Sisyphean task.To make matters worse, we now know that the coronavirus can be transmitted by carriers who exhibit no symptoms, compounding worries that body temperature checks are ineffective as screening measures. As of 8:30 p.m. on Monday in China, 81 people have been killed by the coronavirus. More than half of the confirmed infections and most of the deaths were in Hubei province, where Wuhan is the capital.So far, there are five confirmed cases of the coronavirus within American borders. They are in Washington state, California, Texas, and Chicago. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said the coronavirus’ risk to America remains low, though U.S. health officials are retracing these patients’ footsteps to identify people who they have been in close contact with.American and other stock markets took major hits on Monday amid fears that China's oil consumption, tourism and trade may all see massive declines.There is some good news. With supplies from across the country and abroad pouring in, hospitals in Wuhan are catching up to the backlog to treat people who are seeking help. Waiting rooms at most hospitals aren’t as congested, and reinforcements from other parts of China, including more than 2,000 military and civilian doctors, are providing relief for local physicians and nurses. The head of China’s National Health Commission, Ma Xiaowei, said the government has added 2,400 hospital beds in Wuhan, with 5,000 more coming in the next two days.Right now, however, hospitals are at full capacity, and new patients are still being turned away by some facilities.Local officials have been slow to react and inept. At a press conference held on Sunday, Wuhan’s mayor, Zhou Xianwang, showed up wearing his face mask upside-down, and Hubei’s governor, Wang Xiaodong, provided incorrect figures about the province’s production capacity for face masks—10.8 billion, then 1.8 billion, then finally 1.08 million after being corrected by someone who passed a note to him.WeChat, the dominant social media platform in China, has implemented a “whistleblower” function, allowing users to file reports about officials’ negligence or mismanagement when handling the coronavirus crisis.There have been other snafus and points of disorganization. Police haven’t received clear direction on how to execute the private vehicle ban on roads in Wuhan’s city center. Text messages that were supposed to indicate who can drive where and when weren’t sent out to the general population. Six thousand taxi drivers who have been commissioned to deliver medication don’t know how the system is supposed to work.A Chinese Saga of Swine, Surveillance, and SanctionsThe general rule of thumb for everyone in the city has been to remain indoors and venture out only for supply runs or emergencies.People in Wuhan—and across Hubei—are angry. Some have questioned why local officials have been so slow to respond to the outbreak, and why significant efforts were put into censoring information about the coronavirus in news reports and on social media. They’re also bored because they have been stuck at home for days, with no end of the quarantine in sight. Some people have resorted to shouting out windows to vent and communicate with their neighbors in real life, and not just through screens.Major airports worldwide are checking arriving travelers’ body temperatures, but that may be ineffective in stopping the virus from landing in new locations via global transportation hubs.The coronavirus has an incubation period of up to two weeks. During this period, hosts may not run fevers or exhibit any flu-like symptoms.On Monday, China’s National Education Examinations Authority canceled all February exams for the IELTS, TOEFL, GRE, and GMAT—all tests that Chinese students need to take before they can be enrolled in schools abroad.A Shanghai-based Reuters journalist who visited Wuhan was tracked down by government officials and placed under a 14-day self-quarantine at home. There are cases in other provinces, like southeastern China’s Guangdong, where police are actively seeking out travelers who originated from the infection zone, possibly by tracking the locations of their smartphones.  A chartered plane arranged by the U.S. State Department will evacuate 230 Americans, including diplomats and people working in Wuhan, taking them Stateside. That’s roughly one-quarter of Americans who live in the city that is the origin of the coronavirus outbreak. The Japanese and Australian governments are making similar arrangements to move their nationals back home.The American consulate in Wuhan has suspended its regular services.As the coronavirus continues to wreak havoc around China and appear in new corners around the world, infecting thousands, and efforts to manage the crisis are falling short of what’s needed, experts are already looking beyond this phase, outlining plans for a global push to fight an epidemic.Tom Inglesby, director of the Johns Hopkins SPH Center for Health Security, pointed out in a series of tweets that governments and health institutions worldwide need to plan for the possibility that the coronavirus cannot be effectively contained in China. He said this should include multiple, parallel efforts to create and manufacture vaccines, as well as plans for a global stockpile and allocation by the World Health Organization. Inglesby also underlined the importance of urgent blood serum diagnostics to figure out how severe the virus’ spread is around the globe, as well as new plans for determining potential infections in travelers beyond airport screenings.All of these measures require collaboration among nations and the relevant corporations, as well as a coordinator to manage the information flow. So far, no such cooperation is taking place.The World Health Organization’s director general is traveling to Beijing to meet with government officials and health experts in China. The WHO has been hesitant to declare a global health emergency that would demand a “coordinated international response” to the virus’ spread across borders.Chinese Communist Party premier Li Keqiang is in Wuhan coordinating the efforts to contain the coronavirus. Two hospitals designed to house a combined 2,300 beds are being constructed to treat people who have fallen sick. The first is expected to be completed by Monday, February 3, and will be staffed to handle 1,000 patients.For now, people who are stuck in Wuhan and other parts of Hubei feel paralyzed. Mixed messages about what will happen to them in the coming days are fraying nerves. Beijing has extended the Lunar New Year holiday until February 2, hoping to delay mass travel as people head back to work, but the history of the last few days suggests the deferment is far from enough to contain a virus that has spread, already, around the world.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.

How Jeff Bezos Got Hacked on WhatsApp—and How It Could Happen to You

Not even the richest man in the world is safe from a simple cyber attack.

Nigeria had no warning on potential U.S. travel ban: minister

Nigeria had no warning from Washington that it could be added to the list of countries subject to a U.S. travel ban, information minister Lai Mohammed said on Monday, adding such a move would be "hasty" and send the wrong signal to investors. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would add more countries to his travel ban list. While he gave no details, a source familiar with the proposal said the tentative list included seven nations - Nigeria, Belarus, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Sudan and Tanzania.

US Army picks 6 to work on autoloader for extended-range cannon

You won't recognize many of these companies, as the Army departs from turning to big, traditional defense contractors to solve a field artillery problem on the battlefield.