Your pictures on the theme of 'railways'

Each week, we publish a gallery of readers' pictures on a set theme. This week it is "railways"

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Biden wins South Carolina primary: Live updates

Former Vice President Joe Biden won Saturday’s Democratic primary in South Carolina, where voters delivered his struggling campaign a much-needed boost heading into Super Tuesday.

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Trump moves to calm virus fears after first death on US soil

President Donald Trump urged Americans not to panic over the novel coronavirus Saturday after the first death on US soil was confirmed, even as France ramped up its security measures by cancelling all mass gatherings. The virus has now hit 61 countries across the globe, prompting the World Health Organization to raise its risk assessment to its highest level. Its rapid spread beyond China's borders in the past week has caused stock markets to sink to their lowest levels since the 2008 global financial crisis over fears the disease could wreak havoc on the world economy.

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Joe Biden admits he wasn't actually arrested in apartheid South Africa, contradicting a story he's told for weeks

The former vice president came clean on CNN: "When I said 'arrested,' I meant I was not able, I was not able to move ... I wasn't arrested."

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Most Coronavirus Cases Are Mild. That's Good and Bad News.

HONG KONG -- As a dangerous new coronavirus has ravaged China and spread throughout the rest of the world, the outbreak's toll has sown fear and anxiety. Nearly 3,000 deaths. More than 82,000 cases. Six continents infected.But government officials and medical experts, in their warnings about the epidemic, have also sounded a note of reassurance: Although the virus can be deadly, the vast majority of those infected so far have only mild symptoms and make full recoveries.It is an important factor to understand, medical experts said, both to avoid an unnecessary global panic and to get a clear picture of the likelihood of transmission."Many people are now panicking, and some actually are exaggerating the risks," said Dr. Jin Dongyan, a virology expert at the University of Hong Kong. "For governments, for public health professionals -- they also have to deal with these, because these will also be harmful."Much about the virus remains unknown, and the danger could intensify as it travels through the rest of the world. But based on existing information, here's what experts said about the severity of the virus.More than 80% of cases are mild, one large study in China found.Of the 44,672 coronavirus cases that were confirmed in China by Feb. 11, more than 36,000 -- or 81% -- were mild, according to a study published recently by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.Cases were considered mild if they did not involve pneumonia, defined as infection of the lungs, or involved only mild pneumonia, the authors wrote in the study, which is among the largest to date of the new coronavirus.There were two other categories of cases, severe and critical. Severe cases featured shortness of breath, low blood oxygen saturation or other lung problems. Critical cases featured respiratory failure, septic shock or multiple organ dysfunction.Just under 14% of patients were severe and just under 5% critical.The overall fatality rate in China was 2.3%. But that number was inflated by the much higher fatality rate in Hubei province of 2.9%, compared with a rate of just 0.4% in the rest of the country. The seasonal flu, by comparison, has a mortality rate of about 0.1%.The true fatality rate could be even lower, given that many mild or asymptomatic cases may not have been reported to authorities.A mild case may look like the common cold.Mild cases are inherently difficult for scientists to describe because those with limited symptoms may not seek medical care. Scientists have also said that people can be infected but not show any symptoms at all.For many with mild infections, the coronavirus could be virtually indistinguishable from the common cold or seasonal flu, said Jin of the University of Hong Kong."Some of these patients, they just go unrecognized," he said. "It could be just as small as a sore throat. Then one day, two days, it's gone."Even among patients who do go see a doctor, "it could still be very mild, just like a flu," he added.As the Chinese Center for Disease Control's study showed, some mild cases may involve pneumonia. They may also include mild fatigue and low fever, according to a treatment plan released by the central Chinese government.A small study of 99 confirmed coronavirus patients in Wuhan, China, published in the medical journal The Lancet found that most of the patients had fever or cough when they were admitted to the hospital, and some had shortness of breath or muscle ache. The study did not distinguish between mild, severe and critical cases.Most people with mild infections recover.There is no doubt that the virus can be dangerous, especially for critical cases. Of those patients, 49% died, according the study by the Chinese Center for Disease Control.But critical cases made up just a tiny fraction of the total caseload in the study.By Thursday, of the 78,487 confirmed cases in China, 32,495, or 41%, had been discharged from the hospital, according to China's National Health Commission. About 8,300 of the remaining patients were in serious condition. More than 2,700 people have died in China.Many of the deaths have occurred in Hubei province, where the outbreak began and where the demand for care has overwhelmed medical staff. The high mortality rate there could have dangerous implications for developing countries. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization, has warned repeatedly of the toll the virus could exact in places with weak health systems.But for mild cases, the virus is likely "self-limiting," Jin said, meaning that symptoms will go away on their own, as with the flu and common cold.But the plethora of mild cases can make containment more difficult.The number of mild cases, though, creates its own complications for curbing the virus's spread.Those with mild or no symptoms may not know they have contracted the virus or may pass it off as a seasonal cold. They may then continue in their daily lives -- traveling, kissing, coming into close contact with others -- and spread the virus without anyone knowing."In this manner, a virus that poses a low health threat on the individual level can pose a high risk on the population level, with the potential to cause disruptions of global public health systems and economic losses," a group of five scientists wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine last week.There are, broadly speaking, two possible outcomes of the current outbreak, Jin said. The new virus could, like SARS, another well-known coronavirus, become less and less transmissible as it spreads around the world, eventually dying out.Alternatively, the new coronavirus could become well established in humans, becoming a kind of recurring seasonal nuisance like the flu, Jin said. In that situation, people would learn to live with it and sometimes would contract illnesses from it, but the virus would most likely also lose some of its dangerousness as time went on. Experts could also develop a vaccine, Jin added.Even mild cases could provide immunity from future infection.Several medical experts have said that those who have been infected with the coronavirus will not become infected again, as their bodies will produce antibodies that provide immunity."As long as the virus doesn't evolve, there is no chance of being infected again," Dr. Lu Hongzhou, a public health professor in Shanghai, said Tuesday in an interview with Beijing News.And that immunity should extend even to those who had mild or even asymptomatic infections. "Anyone recovered from the infection should have useful antibodies," Jin said.The body's natural immune response is the reason Chinese authorities have asked recovered patients to donate blood plasma, in the hopes that their antibodies could be used to treat sick patients. The government has also prescribed antiviral drugs and traditional Chinese medicine as treatment methods.This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company

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Federal appeals court rules against Trump in two major immigration cases

A court once again blocked a Trump policy that requires asylum seekers to wait in Mexico, but then it put the ruling on pause.

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40% of Americans don't think the US government is prepared to handle coronavirus

Only 7% of Americans said they felt the US government is "extremely prepared" for coronavirus, while 12% said "very prepared."

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New Yahoo News/YouGov poll: Who is strongest against Trump? Must-win states and swing voters show Biden holds edge over Sanders

A new Yahoo News/YouGov poll suggests that Sanders could be a riskier nominee than his supporters are willing to admit.

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Coronavirus news: US records first death as patient dies in Washington state

Outbreak could leave one in 10 people in the UK in hospital Virus fears threatening to spark stockpiling and panic buying FAQ: Everything you need to know about coronavirus Fake news: 10 myths and conspiracies about the virus Subscribe to The Telegraph, free for 30 days Donald Trump reassured Americans that there was "no reason to panic" after the United States reported its first death from the coronavirus. Mr Trump said the victim in King County in Washington state was a "wonderful woman" in her late 50s who was "medically high risk". The president banned anyone who had visited Iran in the last 14 days from entering the US, and also advised Americans not to travel to affected areas of Italy and South Korea. Mr Trump said he was "very strongly" considering closing the US border with Mexico. He said the US had 43 million masks ready, and he would meet with the heads of pharmaceutical companies at the White House on Monday to discuss a possible vaccine. The president said: "Additional cases are likely but healthy individuals should be able to recover." Meanwhile back in Briton three more patients have tested positive for coronavirus, bringing the total number of UK cases to 23. Follow the latest here.

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Why the Navy's New Lrasm Missile Would Be a Real Ship-Killer

A very good idea.

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Trump allies hope to ride anti-socialist rhetoric to election win

Conservative activists are enthusiastically taking up Republican President Donald Trump's re-election rallying cry that his Democratic adversaries are pursuing a radical socialist ideology that will ruin the United States. Conservative students, right-wing media personalities and pro-Trump fundraisers and fans have gathered just outside Washington this week for the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) that appears to have crystallized Republican messaging for the election. Its theme was "America vs. Socialism," taking aim at the candidates competing for the Democratic Party's nomination to challenge Trump in the Nov. 3 election, especially Senator Bernie Sanders, the current front-runner and a self-described democratic socialist.

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Man whose son was found encased in cement sentenced to 72 years in prison

A Colorado man whose seven-year-old son was repeatedly abused before being found encased in concrete in a Denver storage unit has been sentenced to 72 years in prison for the death.Leland Pankey received the sentence on Friday, with one count of child abuse landing him 48 years in prison and 24 years for tampering with the body.

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'I guess I wasn't arrested': Joe Biden reverses on claim of an arrest in South Africa

Joe Biden has previously told of being arrested in South Africa while traveling with black lawmakers. He reversed himself Friday in a CNN interview.

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Trump Team Testing ‘Off-the-Shelf’ Drugs to Cure Coronavirus

(Bloomberg) -- The Trump administration is testing existing “off-the-shelf” drugs to combat the coronavirus, a cabinet official said Saturday.A national lab in Tennessee recently made “an important discovery” involving existing drugs, Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette said at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland.“The scientists at our Oak Ridge National Laboratory were able to look at the protein strains and determine -- perhaps, it’s still early -- that we can find some off-the-shelf drugs that can help us not only cure the disease but stop the spread of the infection,” Brouillette said.Brouillette was responding to a question about what his agency is doing to help combat the virus, which has caused markets to plunge and killed nearly 3,000 people across the globe. In the U.S., where 22 cases have been reported, the virus has killed one person -- a woman from Washington state -- and more cases are likely, President Donald Trump said Saturday.In addition to the laboratory tests, Brouillette said he’s harnessing the power of his agency’s “super computers” as well as artificial intelligence capabilities to assist organizations like the Centers for Disease Control and the World Heath Organization to conduct modeling on the virus.“We want to know how far is this going to spread and at what point might it peak,” he said.To contact the reporter on this story: Ari Natter in Washington at anatter5@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Jon Morgan at jmorgan97@bloomberg.net, Matthew G. Miller, 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.

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Turkey raises migrant pressure on Europe over Syria conflict

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday threatened to let thousands of refugees cross into Europe and warned Damascus would "pay a price" after dozens of Turkish troops were killed inside Syria. Around 13,000 migrants have gathered along the Turkish-Greek border, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said as several thousand migrants were in skirmishes with Greek police firing tear gas across the frontier. The escalating tensions between Turkey and Russia, who back opposing forces in the Syria conflict, after an air strike killed the Turkish troops sparked fears of a broader war and a new migration crisis for Europe.

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South Koreans told to stay home as coronavirus infections surpass 3,100

South Korea urged citizens on Saturday to stay indoors as it warned of a "critical moment" in its battle on the coronavirus after recording the biggest daily jump in infections, as 813 new cases took the tally to 3,150. South Korea is grappling with the largest outbreak of the virus outside China, as a new death took the toll to 17, amid a record daily increase in infections since the country confirmed its first patient on Jan. 20. It was a "critical moment" in reining in the spread of the virus, he said, adding, "Please stay at home and refrain from going outside and minimize contact with other people."

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Stock markets are headed for a 40 percent plunge, says economist who predicted financial crisis

The end of a very rough week for U.S. markets brought a worrying prediction.While one expert warned fallout from the global coronavirus outbreak could be "worse than the financial crisis" of 2008, the economist who correctly predicted that very crisis is now saying the idea of a major global recession "doesn't sound too farfetched."Nouriel Roubini, a New York University business professor and market prognosticator who foretold the housing bubble burst, told Yahoo Finance on Friday to expect "severe" consequences as the coronavirus continues to rattle markets. How severe? He told Der Spiegel it could be worse than investors even believe at this point, predicting "global equities to tank by 30 to 40 percent this year."He said people "prefer to believe in miracles," (not necessarily referencing President Trump's prediction the coronavirus will "disappear ... like a miracle,") and don't realize the "simple math" tells us that realistically, a squeezed Chinese economy will mean downturns around the globe. "This crisis will spill over and result in a disaster," said Roubini.Roubini, who is often nicknamed Dr. Doom for his frequent pessimistic predictions, also saw doom and gloom for Trump's future as president as a result of any economic strife. Asked by Der Spiegel, Roubini said Trump would likely try to benefit politically from the outbreak, but "will lose the election, that's for sure." Pointing to past incumbent presidents getting ousted amid geopolitical tensions that damaged the economy, he said "The Democratic field is poor, but Trump is dead. Quote me on that!"Though the week just saw a 3,500-point drop for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Roubini warned: "It is far from being over." Read more at Der Spiegel.More stories from theweek.com Trump mocks Bloomberg's height, Biden's age in wild CPAC speech The growing viral threat A coronavirus recession would likely end Trump's presidency

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Pete Buttigieg is Not Optimistic About South Carolina. But He's Pushing On.

Saturday’s contest in South Carolina is not anticipated to be a good day for Pete Buttigieg

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Barclays bankers acquitted over fraud charges in Qatar deal

Three former Barclays bankers were cleared Friday of fraud over a 4 billion-pound ($5.2 billion) investment deal with Qatar at the height of the global financial crisis in 2008. The three men — Roger Jenkins, Thomas Kalaris and Richard Boath — were acquitted after a five-month trial at London's Old Bailey. The case was brought by Britain's Serious Fraud Office, which had accused the three men of hiding the true nature of the fundraising plan with Qatar from authorities and other shareholders.

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Tom Steyer: Billionaire Democrat dances to ‘Back That Azz Up’ on stage with rapper in embarrassing rally stunt

Presidential hopeful and billionaire hedge fund manager Tom Steyer, 62, found an eye-catching way to end his final rally before the South Carolina primary -- twerking on stage with the rapper Juvenile.In an enthusiastic display of dad-dancing, the former hedge fund manager worked up a sweat dancing to Back That Azz Up.

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South Carolina primary: Joe Biden projected to win

It comes as a major boost to the former vice-president's flagging presidential campaign.

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Berlin International Film Festival: Iranian film about executions wins top prize

Director Mohammad Rasoulof is banned from leaving Iran and filmed There Is No Evil in secret.

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Afghan conflict: What will Taliban do after signing US deal?

A sense of cautious optimism is rising, but Afghanistan's political future is yet to be decided.

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Trump 'could suck coronavirus out of 60,000 people' and he'd still be criticized – Huckabee

* Top Republican on Fox News defends Trump and Mike Pence * Vice-president leading coronavirus containment effort in US * Whistleblower: US coronavirus staff were untrained and unprotectedDonald Trump could “personally suck” the coronavirus “out of every one of the 60,000 people in the world, suck it out of their lungs, swim to the bottom of the ocean and spit it out, and he would be accused of pollution for messing up the ocean”, a top Republican has claimed.Former Republican Arkansas governor and ex-presidential candidate Mike Huckabee made the outlandish statement on Twitter on Thursday night and on Fox News’ Fox & Friends show on Friday morning.> Mike Huckabee says Trump "could personally sick the virus out of every one of the 60,000 people in the world, suck it out of their lungs, swim to the bottom of the ocean and spit it out, and he would be accused of pollution for messing up the ocean." pic.twitter.com/X7xbC5ebDz> > — Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) February 28, 2020According to the World Health Organization (WHO) more than 82,000 cases of the coronavirus have in fact been confirmed worldwide, with about 2,800 deaths. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are 60 confirmed cases in the US.In the US, Huckabee’s widely ridiculed comment followed the publication of a column for Fox News in which he took aim at criticism of Trump’s choice of Vice-President Mike Pence to lead US containment efforts.Critics have said Pence’s religious faith, plus the decisions he took as governor of Indiana on scientific and public health matters, make him a poor choice to lead efforts undermined by budget cuts and poor organization.Huckabee said Pence was “a proven leader who knows how to get people with different perspectives working together effectively” on public health matters including the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers) outbreak of 2014.“Instead of calling for bipartisan cooperation in this life-or-death effort,” he wrote, “liberals reacted with collective outrage, even going so far as to ridicule the vice-president’s Christian faith as a way of suggesting that he’s not qualified for the role.“Numerous media outlets have also published and broadcast one-sided reports trashing Pence’s handling of an HIV outbreak as governor of Indiana, but such criticisms are both inaccurate and irrelevant.”The outbreak in question happened in 2015. Pence declared a public health emergency but many said faith-driven cuts to sexual health programs made the situation worse.Huckabee, the father of the former Trump press secretary Sarah Sanders, is not the first rightwing commentator to claim Democrats and the media are using concerns over the coronavirus outbreak to attack and undermine the president.Earlier this week, the conservative shock jock and presidential medal of freedom honoree Rush Limbaugh claimed “the coronavirus is being weaponized as yet another element to bring down Donald Trump” and said “the coronavirus is the common cold”.Some experts have criticised media coverage of the outbreak as inaccurate and potentially alarmist.According to the Guardian’s guide to the coronavirus, sufferers report “coughs, fever and breathing difficulties. In severe cases there can be organ failure. As this is viral pneumonia, antibiotics are of no use … Recovery depends on the strength of the immune system. Many of those who have died were already in poor health.”The outbreak began in China. The WHO has not yet declared it a pandemic but international markets, trade, travel and sporting events have been severely affected. In the US on Friday the Dow Jones Index plunged again, at the end of the markets’ worst week since the financial crisis of 2008.In Geneva, a WHO spokesman said: “The outbreak is getting bigger. The scenario of the coronavirus reaching multiple countries, if not all countries around the world, is something we have been looking at and warning against since quite a while.”

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What travel insurance covers for coronavirus — and what it doesn't

The most important thing to remember is that standard travel insurance does not cover you if you decide not to travel because of the outbreak.

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Russian Firm Dodging U.S. Questions on ‘Putin’s Chef’ Ties

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US reports first drug shortage tied to virus outbreak

Health officials reported the first U.S. drug shortage tied to the viral outbreak that is disrupting production in China, but they declined to identify the manufacturer or the product. The Food and Drug Administration said late Thursday that the drug's maker recently contacted officials about the shortage, which it blamed on a manufacturing issue with the medicine's key ingredient. The FDA previously said it had reached out to 180 drug manufacturers and asked them to check their supply chain and report any potential disruptions.

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Super Tuesday: Professor who predicted last 9 elections says Democrats could face first brokered convention in nearly 70 years

Days out from Super Tuesday, when voters in 14 states will cast ballots in the Democratic primary, a professor who predicted the past nine elections says that the United States may well be staring down its first brokered convention in nearly 70 years.It’s a prospect that has stirred considerable consternation among Democratic Party officials and voters, many of whom have said their primary concern is beating Donald Trump in November — even as an enthusiastic debate over the future of democratic politics has raged on the campaign trail.

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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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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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The Sinister Sanders Child-Care Plan

Bernie Sanders announced a “universal child care” proposal at the end of his wide-ranging 60 Minutes interview with Anderson Cooper. The plan would guarantee “every child in America free full-day, full-week, high-quality child care from infancy through age three,” and the campaign estimates that it would cost taxpayers 1.5 trillion dollars over ten years. But aside from being prohibitively expensive and distressingly vague, the plan looks an awful lot like social engineering.Start with the price tag. After failing to explain how he would pay for his expansive agenda — “I can't rattle off to you every nickel and every dime,” Sanders told Anderson Cooper in a disastrous moment of candor — the Sanders campaign released a partial list of pay-fors the day after the interview, laying out the cost of the senator’s major proposals alongside the tax hikes a Sanders administration would pursue to finance its domestic agenda. The campaign pegged the child-care proposal at a $150 billion annual price tag, more expensive than current federal outlays on unemployment insurance and the SNAP program combined.Add the child-care initiative to the bevy of programs Sanders has already promised to enact as president, and the fiscal feasibility of a child-care proposal grows more uncertain.The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget released their analysis of Sanders’s universal child-care plan yesterday, and raised concerns that the Sanders campaign was overestimating federal receipts from its proposed “tax on extreme wealth”:> Based on the work of economists Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman, the Sanders campaign estimates this wealth tax would raise $4.35 trillion. This would be enough to finance Senator Sanders's $1.5 trillion universal child care and pre-K plan, his $2.5 trillion housing plan, and $350 billion of his Medicare for All plan (note that our analysis previously assumed he would dedicate $800 billion, not $350 billion, to Medicare for All).> > In our assessment, however, Senators Sanders’s wealth tax is likely to raise significantly less than advertised due to high levels of tax avoidance and the erosion of taxable wealth over time. We believe the wealth tax is likely to raise roughly $3.3 trillion. Assuming the proceeds are distributed evenly, that would leave the universal child care and pre-K plan nearly $400 billion short.As a point of reference, that $400 billion shortfall is larger than the sum total currently allotted to all federal welfare programs combined.While Sanders’s innumeracy was perhaps to be expected, the senator’s defense of the child-care plan on the merits was surprising. For a candidate with well-documented disdain for corporate America, it was strange to see how much of Sanders’s child-care proposal was concerned with the “career outcomes” of “mothers” who — heaven forfend — make “career sacrifices in order to care for their children.” The Sanders campaign presents female labor participation growth as one of the central selling points for its child-care scheme: “Mothers,” the campaign proclaims, “are 40 percent more likely than fathers to report a negative impact on their career outcomes due to child care considerations,” making the institution of a government-funded child-care scheme a “moral responsibility.” The campaign presents the welfare of the children whose stay-at-home parents enter the workforce as an ancillary concern.The Sanders campaign hardly seemed to consider — or, worse, seemed to have considered and proceeded to ignore — the possibility that those mothers making “career sacrifices” might want to raise their own children. As a 2015 Gallup poll found, 56 percent of mothers with children under the age of 18 said they would rather remain at home than enter the workforce, if given the choice. Instead, the socialist appears eager to incentivize more mothers to join the workforce, whereupon they will be presumably “exploited” by the “greedy” corporations the senator has spent a lifetime deriding.Most alarming is the power the senator’s plan vests in the federal government to insert itself into the child-rearing process. Sanders proposes a one-size-fits-all, government-funded child-care model, with no provision for those parents who wish to remain at home. If the Sanders campaign were simply concerned about the costs associated with raising children — both in the home and at a day-care center — it could have proposed a subsidy that also conferred benefits to stay-at-home parents or to relatives providing child care. But the social-engineering component of the plan is unmistakable, as Sanders would essentially create a scheme to augment the “career outcomes” of mothers who might otherwise raise their children at home, thereby boosting enrollment in government-funded child-care centers. Of course, all of those child-care centers will be subject to “quality standards” concocted in Washington.The implications of Sanders’s child-care agenda are clear enough. Right in the heart of the proposal, the Sanders campaign acknowledges that “ages 0 through 4 are the most important years of human life intellectually and emotionally.” Parents ought to be the ones to impart their values to their children in such a formative window, not a Sanders-administration functionary.

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Idaho targets transgender people, birth certificate changes

Idaho lawmakers moved forward Thursday with legislation banning transgender people from changing the sex listed on their birth certificates despite a federal court ruling declaring such a ban unconstitutional. Ohio and Tennessee are the only other states in the country where transgender people cannot change their birth certificates, according to a law firm that has challenged the practice in court. In Idaho, this is another effort by the conservative state to target the population as Republicans in the House a day earlier advanced legislation to keep transgender women from competition.

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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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Inside the 'horrifying' 4-star hotel in Tenerife, where hundreds of guests have been quarantined after coronavirus cases in the resort

Hundreds of tourists at the H10 Costa Adeje Palace in Tenerife are on lockdown for the next two weeks. One guest called it the "holiday from hell."

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Court won't let Trump pardon void guilty verdict against Arpaio

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Used to giving orders, Kansas abortion foes can't cut a deal

Abortion opponents who've become used to giving orders to Kansas lawmakers on the exact wording of new restrictions are stymied now that they face compromising to get a proposed anti-abortion amendment to the state constitution on the ballot. After falling short in a House vote three weeks ago, abortion opponents have pressured a dozen members who voted no, moderate Republicans and Democrats who are Catholic or who represent relatively conservative or heavily Catholic districts. Kansans for Life, the state's most influential anti-abortion group and a GOP power-broker, has for years told lawmakers what proposals to pursue and has watched them approve the group's language and echo its talking points.

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Police rescue 24 babies, pregnant teens from Nigerian 'baby factory'

Nigerian police have rescued 24 babies and four expectant mothers from an illegal maternity home in the southern oil city of Port Harcourt, a spokesman said Thursday.

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China reports rise in new coronavirus cases, warns of risk of rebound

SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) - China reported 433 new cases of coronavirus infections on Feb. 26, the National Health Commission said on Thursday, up from 406 a day earlier, with a cluster of new cases in Beijing raising concerns about the management of employees returning to work. The total number of confirmed cases on mainland China has now reached 78,497, the Commission said, though the number of new deaths on Wednesday stood at 29, the lowest daily rate since Jan. 28. The outbreak has now killed a total of 2,744 people in China.

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Why is Iran's reported mortality rate for coronavirus higher than in other countries?

Iran has now suspended parliament indefinitely due to the outbreak. Secretary of State Pompeo says the U.S. has offered to help Iran respond to the virus.

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A man convicted for killing his high school girlfriend was freed by decades-old DNA evidence. Now he's on a mission to find the real killer.

Leah Freeman's shoes were the only clue police had in her murder — and the only evidence that her high school boyfriend Nick McGuffin wasn't her killer.

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Mike Huckabee goes on bizarre rant about Trump 'sucking' coronavirus out of Americans' lungs

In Donald Trump’s America, very few national figures are as loyal to the president as Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas and father of the former White House press secretary.And, as criticism has mounted regarding Mr Trump’s reaction to the deadly coronavirus, Mr Huckabee got a chance to display that obedience once again — and took the bait, hook line and sinker, by delivering a bizarre defence of the man.

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Belarus leader says nation being forced to merge with Russia

The president of Belarus said Thursday that his country is "being forced into integration” with Russia and insisted that real integration of the two countries' economies implied “sovereignty and independence” for Belarus. “We remain committed, as always, to real integration without being forced into integration,” President Alexander Lukashenko said at a meeting with Mikhail Myasnikovich, chair of the Eurasian Economic Commission.

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Anti-Greta Blasts ‘Climate Alarmism’ to Conservative Gathering

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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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Leap Year: What it's like being born on 29 February?

People around the world tell us what it's like being born on 29 February.

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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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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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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 for at least 14 days, the maximum incubation period for the coronavirus.

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Bloomberg offered running mate spot to Andrew Yang, report claims

Michael Bloomberg is reportedly trying to convince entreprenuer and former presidential candidate Andrew Yang to join his campaign as his running mate.According to individuals with knowledge of the discussion, aides working with the former New York City mayor reportedly reached out to Mr Yang to discuss how the businessmen could join forces in Mr Bloomberg’s quest for the Democratic nomination.

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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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Fourth Diamond Princess passenger dies; MSC cruise ship awaits health inspectors in Mexico

MSC Cruises' Meraviglia has docked in Cozumel after being turned away from ports in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.

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One of Iran's vice presidents has been infected with coronavirus

Ebtekar, one of Iran's vice presidents, was the English-language spokesperson known to the media as "Mary" during the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis.

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The six largest coronavirus outbreaks outside of China

More new coronavirus cases were reported outside of China than inside the country on Wednesday — the first time since global health officials began tracking the virus.

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Pro-Trump figures spread coronavirus conspiracy after health expert revealed as sister of senior Mueller probe official

Prominent Trump supporters have claimed coronavirus is being used to undermine the president, after it was revealed that a health official who commented on the outbreak is the sister of former deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein.Dr Nancy Messonnier, a senior official at the Centre for Disease Control (CDC), said on Tuesday it was likely that an outbreak would occur in the US and warned the American public to “prepare for the expectation that this might be bad.”

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Sanders has a convenient change of heart on delegate rules. Will Democrats buy it?

There’s one big issue the Vermont senator has reversed himself on — and it could complicate his path to the nomination.

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Trump's coronavirus response includes many things he criticized President Obama for

Elements of the response outlined by Trump mirror things he specifically criticized President Barack Obama for during the ebola outbreak in 2014. Yahoo News asked Trump about this contradiction and he argued the coronavirus epidemic is “a much different problem than ebola.”

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Dem Superdelegates Signal Willingness to Pass Over Sanders in Brokered Convention

Only nine of 93 Democratic superdelegates interviewed by The New York Times said that Senator Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) should be the nominee if he does not arrive at the Democratic national convention with a majority.Superdelegates have historically aligned with the candidate who wins the most delegates in caucuses and primaries. Sanders currently leads the field in delegates, but less than three percent have been allocated so far. But if the Vermont democratic socialist ends up not securing the 1,991 delegates necessary to win the nomination on the first ballot of the convention, then all 3,979 pledged delegates and 771 superdelegates would be free to vote for any candidate they choose on the second ballot.Interviews suggested that superdelegates still have major reservations about a Sanders ticket.“We’re way, way, way past the day where party leaders can determine an outcome here, but I think there’s a vibrant conversation about whether there is anything that can be done,” Jim Himes, a Connecticut congressman and superdelegate, told the Times.“Bernie wants to redefine the rules and just say he just needs a plurality,” superdelegate and New York State Democratic Party chairman Jay Jacobs said. “I don’t think we buy that. I don’t think the mainstream of the Democratic Party buys that. If he doesn’t have a majority, it stands to reason that he may not become the nominee.”Former vice president Walter Mondale, who also serves as a superdelegate, said he doesn’t think the party “will do anything like” supporting Sanders without a majority. “They will each do what they want to do, and somehow they will work it out. God knows how,” he said, adding that he votes “for the person I think should be president.”During a closed-door meeting in the House Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that she would be comfortable with Senator Bernie Sanders as the Democratic nominee.“I think whoever our nominee is, we will enthusiastically embrace and we will win the White House, the Senate and the House,” Pelosi said.

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Man gets life for kidnapping stepdaughter, holding her captive for 19 years

Henri Michelle Piette kidnapped his victim in 1997 when she was 12 and subjected her to nearly 20 years of physical and sexual abuse before she escaped.

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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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US envoy says Russia faceoff shows Turkey its true ally

The United States called Thursday on Turkey to learn from clashes in Syria who its true friends are and drop its purchase from Russia of a major missile defense system. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday called an urgent meeting after at least nine Turkish troops were killed in an air strike in Syria's Idlib region. Russia is backing a devastating offensive by President Bashar al-Assad's regime in Idlib against rebel groups backed by Ankara.

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Critic Says Trump Is 'Ignorant' and 'Incoherent' On Coronavirus. Others Call It 'Trump' Virus.

Can President Trump keep the American people prepared but not panicked?

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