| After his epic crash, Sanders has to decide whether to fight on Posted: 10 Mar 2020 08:29 PM PDT  Sanders no longer has a viable path to the nomination. He has hinted that he may not battle Biden to the bitter end.
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| Pakistan fighter jet crashes in capital during parade rehearsal Posted: 11 Mar 2020 04:31 AM PDT  A Pakistani F-16 fighter jet crashed in Islamabad Wednesday, killing the pilot, during a rehearsal for a national day military parade, officials said. Footage on social media showed a plume of smoke billowing into the sky after the plane hit the ground having apparently attempted a loop. A Pakistani Air Force spokesman said the pilot, Wing Commander Nauman Akram, died in the crash.
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| Norwegian F-35 stealth fighters sent out for the first time to intercept Russian sub hunter aircraft Posted: 10 Mar 2020 10:38 AM PDT  Norway scrambled F-35 stealth fighters over the weekend to intercept a pair of Russian Tu-142 anti-submarine warfare aircraft off its coast.
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| House Speaker Pelosi to unveil coronavirus aid package for workers Posted: 11 Mar 2020 01:32 PM PDT  Speaker Nancy Pelosi is moving swiftly toward House passage of a coronavirus aid package possibly this week as Congress rebuffs President Trump's proposed payroll tax break and focuses instead on sick pay and other resources to more immediately help workers hit by the crisis.
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| Get the Look of Dakota Johnson's Cozy L.A. Home Posted: 11 Mar 2020 05:00 AM PDT |
| Intercepted Russian reconnaissance aircraft were watching US submarines during ICEX Posted: 11 Mar 2020 02:40 PM PDT  O'Shaughnessy said the Russian aircraft loitered about 2,500 feet above a camp that was established for the submarine exercise. He said the Russian aircraft "loitered" with an F-22 and and F-18 on their wing.
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| Why Did the USS Thresher Sink? Finally, the Navy Is Being Forced to Tell Us Posted: 10 Mar 2020 01:35 PM PDT  The submarine mysteriously went down in 1963, killing everyone on board. Thanks to a lawsuit, we're about to learn why.
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| Pro-gun worker who Biden said was 'full of ****' speaks out on Fox News Posted: 11 Mar 2020 12:28 PM PDT  "I thought I was pretty articulate and respectful. I didn't try to raise any feathers. And he kind of just went off the deep end," Wayne said.
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| MSNBC Contributor Dr. Jason Johnson Out at The Root After Misogynistic Anti-Bernie Screed Posted: 10 Mar 2020 03:34 PM PDT  Weeks after being benched by MSNBC after making misogynistic comments about Bernie Sanders supporters, Dr. Jason Johnson is out at digital outlet The Root, The Daily Beast has confirmed.The political commentator appears to have removed the affiliation from his Twitter bio, and his contact information no longer appears on The Root's authors page. Sources at The Root confirmed that he is no longer employed by the site.Johnson, who served as politics editor of the influential African-American-focused news and culture website owned by G/O Media, drew widespread outrage last month after claiming "racist white liberals" support Sanders, who has done "nothing for intersectionality." "I don't care how many people from the island of misfit black girls you throw out there to defend you," he added in the Feb. 21 appearance on SiriusXM's The Karen Hunter Show.His comments, particularly those about black women who support Sanders, resulted in calls for his firing as a paid contributor for MSNBC, where he had become a fixture of Democratic primary analysis. "I hope we can have political disputes without engaging in open racism and sexism," Sanders' national press secretary Briahna Joy Gray tweeted about Johnson. "This misogynoir is disappointing, but not surprising from [him]."In a statement on Twitter, the political commentator apologized, saying his comments were "harmful and unnecessary."Several days later, The Daily Beast reported that MSNBC had quietly benched Johnson. After making nearly 40 on-air appearances in the first two months of 2020, including post-game coverage of the several Democratic primary debates and votes, the Morgan State University professor was nowhere to be found during MSNBC's coverage of the Nevada caucuses. He has yet to return to MSNBC's air.Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Former Bloomberg campaign staffers are reportedly being offered the chance to keep their work iPhones and laptops as a type of severance — but they'll have to pay taxes on them if they do Posted: 10 Mar 2020 08:12 AM PDT  The devices are reportedly worth $1,400 to $1,700, and the former staffers will have to pay taxes if they keep them.
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| U.S. likely to advise Americans against travel to Europe: sources Posted: 11 Mar 2020 09:41 AM PDT  The Trump administration is likely to discourage Americans from taking trips to Europe with a new advisory as soon as Wednesday that would warn against non-essential travel to the region over coronavirus concerns, sources said. The White House is set to discuss the advisories as well as potential new travel restrictions on travelers from Europe entering the United States at a meeting on Wednesday, sources familiar with the discussions said. The U.S. State Department is likely to raise the travel advisory for potentially all of Europe to "Level 3: Reconsider Travel," airline and U.S. officials said.
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| India suspends tourist visas over coronavirus Posted: 11 Mar 2020 12:11 PM PDT  India on Wednesday suspended all tourist visas until April 15 and said it would quarantine travellers arriving from seven virus-hit countries in an attempt to contain the spread of the new coronavirus, the government said in a statement. The visa suspension begins March 13 at 1200 GMT at the port of departure, the statement read. Diplomatic visas and visas for international organizations, employment and projects however are exempt.
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| News agency: Iran VP, 2 Cabinet members have new virus Posted: 11 Mar 2020 03:59 AM PDT  Iran's senior vice president and two other Cabinet members have contracted the new coronavirus, a semiofficial news agency reported Wednesday as the death toll in the Islamic Republic from the outbreak rose by 62 to 354. The report by the Fars news agency, believed to be close to Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, comes as President Hassan Rouhani took control of the country's much-criticized response to the virus and the COVID-19 illness it causes. Authorities announced that there were some 9,000 confirmed cases of the virus across Iran.
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| Trump snubs Jeff Sessions, backs Tommy Tuberville in Alabama Senate runoff Posted: 10 Mar 2020 07:47 PM PDT  The president endorsed the former Auburn head coach over his onetime attorney general in the runoff election set for the end of the month.
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| Apple: Worried about coronavirus? You can now clean your iPhone with alcohol and Clorox disinfecting wipes Posted: 10 Mar 2020 11:16 AM PDT  Apple used to warn you not to, but now says it's OK to clean your iPhone, iPad and other Apple products with 70% isopropyl alcohol and Clorox wipes.
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| Italy is in a nationwide lockdown over the coronavirus. Here are the rules all 60 million citizens now have to follow. Posted: 10 Mar 2020 05:01 AM PDT  The nationwide lockdown began Tuesday. Citizens now need police permission to travel, and businesses can open only if customers stay 3 feet apart.
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| Gunfire, burning vehicles in Mexican city; officials deny gang leader held Posted: 10 Mar 2020 09:27 PM PDT  Gunmen blocked roads with burning vehicles and exchanged fire with security forces in a central Mexican city on Tuesday, while security officials denied that a wanted gang leader had been captured. The brazen skirmishes in the city of Celaya in Guanajuato state sparked rumors on social media that security forces had closed in on Jose "El Marro" Yepez, the head of the Santa Rosa de Lima criminal cartel, and possibly arrested him. The cartel is believed to be behind the massive theft of gasoline from illegal taps on pipelines belonging to national oil company Pemex, a criminal racket that had grown significantly in recent years.
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| China slams US for warship sail-by in disputed waters Posted: 11 Mar 2020 03:43 AM PDT  Beijing on Wednesday accused the United States of a "provocative" act by sending a warship into disputed territorial waters in the South China Sea. The Paracel Islands are a chain of disputed islands and reefs in the South China Sea, claimed by China, Taiwan and Vietnam. "Under the guise of 'freedom of navigation', the US has repeatedly flexed its muscles, been provocative and stirred up trouble in the South China Sea," PLA Southern Theatre Command spokesman Colonel Li Huamin said.
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| Texas GOP Rep. Louie Gohmert, exposed to the coronavirus, is back in Congress, leading public tours Posted: 09 Mar 2020 08:53 PM PDT  Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), like several of his colleagues, was informed he was exposed to the novel coronavirus at the Conservative Political Action Conference in late February. Unlike his colleagues, Gohmert declined to self-quarantine, saying Monday that a doctor from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cleared him to return to Washington. So he did.> >@replouiegohmert, who interacted with COVID positive person at CPAC last week, is leading this large group of schoolkids around the Capitol right now pic.twitter.com/zTzd7IOQIq> > — Mike DeBonis (@mikedebonis) March 10, 2020> This is an enormous group, well over 100 kids pic.twitter.com/BxQx944Rhu> > — Mike DeBonis (@mikedebonis) March 10, 2020Gohmert did not say which CDC doctor called him on Sunday, but on Monday, the CDC advised Americans that "the novel coronavirus is capable of spreading easily and sustainably from person to person," and as it spreads to throughout the country, "it's likely many will become sick but most people likely will have mild illness."> As the outbreak continues, many people in the United States will at some point in time, either this year or next, be exposed to COVID19; it's likely many will become sick but most people likely will have mild illness. https://t.co/SlDrVXXfCz> > — CDC (@CDCgov) March 9, 2020President Trump, who may also have been exposed to the virus, has not indicated any curtailing of his public engagements.More stories from theweek.com Trump's former pandemic adviser: 'We are 10 days from our hospitals getting creamed' Biden is still riding support from older and African American voters to victory, exit polls show Andrew Yang says Bernie Sanders was his 'inspiration,' but 'the math' has him endorsing Joe Biden
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| Espy wins Mississippi US Senate race; will face Hyde-Smith Posted: 10 Mar 2020 06:22 PM PDT  Former U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy won the Democratic nomination for a U.S. Senate seat in Mississippi on Tuesday, setting up a rematch with Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, an outspoken ally of President Donald Trump. Republicans hold most major offices in Mississippi, which hasn't had a Democrat in the U.S. Senate since 1989. Hyde-Smith was unopposed for the Republican nomination this year.
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| Supreme Court Lets Trump Make Asylum-Seekers Stay in Mexico Posted: 11 Mar 2020 04:43 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Supreme Court backed the Trump administration on a key border policy, letting the government keep enforcing a rule that has forced 60,000 people to wait in Mexico while they seek asylum.The justices, over a dissent by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, blocked a federal appeals court decision that would have let future asylum seekers stay in the U.S. temporarily while their applications are being processed. The appeals court ruling, which would have applied to new applicants in California and Arizona, was set to take effect Thursday.The Supreme Court action suggests the justices are likely to uphold the Migrant Protection Protocols, also known as the "remain in Mexico" program, should they take up the challenge directly at some point. Neither the court nor Sotomayor gave any reasons.The high court order also averts what President Donald Trump's administration argued would have been a "rush to the border" if the appeals court decision had taken effect. Crowds of migrants gathered at border crossings in February after that court issued the ruling."The injunction is virtually assured to cause chaos at the border, thereby seriously compromising the government's compelling interests in safety and in the integrity of our borders," U.S. Solicitor General Noel Francisco argued in court papers.White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a statement the Supreme Court order was a "major victory for the Trump administration."'Humanitarian Crisis'Opponents represented by the American Civil Liberties Union say the asylum seekers are being exposed to kidnapping, assault and rape in Mexico. The group said the policy violates U.S. obligations under domestic and international law not to send people to places where they will suffer persecution or torture.The policy "has created a humanitarian crisis on Mexico's northern border, putting asylum seekers in harm's way, increasing the burden on local Mexican cities, and triggering an increase in nativism and xenophobia," the ACLU argued.Judy Rabinovitz, a lawyer with the ACLU, said asylum seekers "face grave danger and irreversible harm every day this depraved policy remains in effect."She added, "The Court of Appeals unequivocally declared this policy to be illegal. The Supreme Court should as well."The opponents said a trial judge's order upheld by the appeals court would apply to a limited number of people, including the ACLU's clients and new asylum applicants, and wouldn't require the immediate re-entry of people previously forced to stay in Mexico.The New York Times reported last week that the administration was sending troops to the border in anticipation of action by the Supreme Court. The administration told the high court that 25,000 of the 60,000 people sent to Mexico still have pending asylum claims."We are gratified that the Supreme Court granted a stay, which prevents a district court injunction from impairing the security of our borders and the integrity of our immigration system," the Justice Department said in an emailed statement after the court acted.The Supreme Court last year backed Trump on a separate border issue, clearing his administration to enforce a new rule that sharply limited who can apply for asylum at the southern border. That rule requires people who came from countries other than Mexico to first apply for protection from one of the countries they passed through on the way to the border.The case is Wolf v. Innovation Law Lab, 19A960.(Updates with White House reaction in sixth paragraph)To contact the reporter on this story: Greg Stohr in Washington at gstohr@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Laurie Asséo, John HarneyFor 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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| Analyst who predicted 2008 global financial crash warns another one is on the way — and not just because of coronavirus Posted: 10 Mar 2020 04:11 PM PDT  An analyst who predicted the 2008 global financial crisis has warned that another crash is on the way, and this time it will be much worse.Jesse Colombo, an economic forecaster and columnist who identified a housing and credit bubble in the US prior to the 2008 crash, says a number of new bubbles in markets around the world are set to burst.
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| Democratic lawmakers call on Republicans to apologize for 'bigoted' coronavirus language Posted: 11 Mar 2020 08:34 AM PDT  Rep. Judy Chu said, "insisting on identifying the virus by region, as Leader McCarthy and Rep. Gosar have done, only creates fear and hostility."
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| Protests erupt at Biden’s raucous Detroit rally Posted: 09 Mar 2020 09:22 PM PDT  Cory Booker and Kamala Harris joined Biden on stage in Detroit to a roaring crowd.
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| Italy has put all its 60 million people under lockdown. Here's what it looks like on the ground. Posted: 10 Mar 2020 07:54 AM PDT  Italians have been told to limit social contact and seek police permission to travel. Business Insider spoke to citizens there to see what it's like.
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| South Korea reports jump in coronavirus cases after call center outbreak Posted: 10 Mar 2020 06:25 PM PDT  South Korea reported a jump in new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, reversing 11 days of slowing infections, as authorities tested hundreds of staff at a Seoul call center where the disease broke out this week. Another 242 new cases were reported, compared with 35 a day earlier, bringing the total to 7,755 in Asia's worst outbreak outside mainland China, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said. The daily tally of new cases in South Korea peaked at 909 on Feb. 29, as authorities tested about 200,000 followers of a fringe Christian church at the center of the nation's epidemic.
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| There's another cruise ship being kept at sea pending COVID-19 testing Posted: 10 Mar 2020 03:09 PM PDT  Thousands of passengers on an additional Princess Cruises ship are being kept on board while crew members get tested for COVID-19.
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| Police: Remains identified as missing Tennessee girl Posted: 11 Mar 2020 04:55 PM PDT  Remains found last week in Tennessee were positively identified as those of a 15-month-old girl missing for weeks, police said Wednesday. The remains found Friday are those of Evelyn Mae Boswell, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Leslie Earhart said in a video message posted on Twitter. The remains were found in Sullivan County on property belonging to a family member, the bureau had said earlier.
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| Trump's radical plan to waive payroll tax would punch hole in Social Security, Medicare budgets Posted: 11 Mar 2020 12:15 PM PDT  President Donald Trump has picked his favorite weapon to fight the economic fallout from the coronavirus - an elimination of the "payroll tax" on workers' gross earnings that is used to fund national retirement programs. Trump advisers on the White House economic team and Republican lawmakers are pushing for more targeted stimulus. Trump told Republican senators in a meeting Tuesday he would like to waive the payroll tax entirely through the end of the year, or even permanently suspend it, one attendee told Reuters.
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| A plane made an unscheduled landing after one person's sneeze caused a major disruption on board Posted: 11 Mar 2020 10:31 AM PDT  As coronavirus fears run high, a United flight was diverted when passengers became disruptive when another person sneezed.
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| 'When it hits home, it's scary:' Atlanta parents worry after Fulton County Schools teacher tests positive for coronavirus Posted: 10 Mar 2020 03:42 PM PDT  Fulton County Schools parents are worried about sending their kids back to school after a teacher contracted coronavirus and the district closed.
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| ‘Hard to comprehend’: Sanders’ loss in Michigan crushes staff and supporters Posted: 10 Mar 2020 08:22 PM PDT  Many remain optimistic, saying that the campaign is more than 'one election, one primary, one president'In the days leading up to a must-win Tuesday Michigan primary, Bernie Sanders crisscrossed the state, firing up thousands of supporters and taking the stage with star surrogates in a bid to repeat his momentum-shifting 2016 upset of Hillary Clinton.As the polls closed, it seemed to some that a surprise win might not be out of the question. But not for long.The crushing reality of defeat hit the Michigan Sanders campaign staff at a downtown Detroit watch party by 9pm. News outlets called the race for Joe Biden, all but sealing the former vice-president's nomination and Sanders' now likely defeat in the race overall. Several staffers shed tears. Others left the party early.Sanders supporter Kevin Neems called the results "depressing"."It's just hard to understand. Hard to comprehend. Hard to wrap your head around," he said.While the loss crushed Sanders' staff and supporters, many maintained an optimistic tone, choosing to view the candidate's progressive campaign as part of a longer game that went beyond any single election season."He got millions of votes and his message resonates with young voters, but there were things that couldn't necessarily be controlled," Neems added. "It's clear that the progressive movement is growing even if this is a setback."Sanders supporter Justin Onwenu said he didn't have any answers about what went wrong, but added that the campaign is about "more than just one night, one election, one primary, one president or one campaign"."The values that the senator has been fighting for – clean water, clean air, healthcare as a human right, making sure we're supporting unions – I think those are values that Michigan is going to pick up, and you're going to see candidates fighting for more of them in the future," Onwenu said. "People in Michigan are better off for having Bernie Sanders speak to these issues."As results came in and showed Biden's lead widening beyond reach, Sanders' Michigan campaign coordinator, Michael Fasullo, addressed supporters and volunteers, characterizing the night as "difficult, frustrating" while underscoring what the progressive cause is up against."This work is not easy. If it was something that's in the bag, then we would've had Medicare for All and a Green New Deal a long time ago," he said. "It's hard for many reasons. There are entrenched interests and there's an establishment that wants to see us not succeed, but we continue on throughout this process no matter what."Polling in the upcoming states doesn't suggest any good chances for Sanders to turn the tide. Biden leads by a wide margin in delegate-rich Florida, while Sanders' failure to capture Michigan raises questions about his chances in rust belt states like Ohio and Illinois.The senator will probably face calls to drop out, but Onwenu said he personally wants to see Sanders continue to contest the race with Biden, perhaps hoping against hope for a miracle. "I want him to see this through, but whoever the nominee is, I'm going to support them and knock on doors until my arm falls off, but I do think that the exciting thing is that millions and millions of young people have overwhelmingly supported the Sanders campaign," Onwenu said. "I think that's telling for what's to come."
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| The Kremlin says President Trump will not be in Moscow for Victory Day Posted: 10 Mar 2020 10:41 AM PDT  President Trump will not be going to Moscow for Victory Day celebrations on May 9, the Kremlin said Tuesday.
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| Travel bans in Wuhan only delayed the coronavirus' spread in China by 3 to 5 days, and in the rest of the world by a few weeks, new research shows Posted: 10 Mar 2020 02:16 PM PDT  Travel restrictions alone can't stop the spread of disease. Interventions like isolating sick people and increasing hand-washing are also necessary.
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| Late night hosts are increasingly convinced Trump is part of the coronavirus problem Posted: 10 Mar 2020 01:56 AM PDT  "There are now over 600 cases of coronavirus in the United States," Stephen Colbert said on Monday's Late Show. Italy has shut down entirely, and "Wall Street S&Peed its pants." with the Dow suffering its "largest single point drop in history.""This is the first crisis of Trump's presidency that he did not cause himself, and he is shanking it," Colbert said. "Trump spent the weekend golfing" and continues to post callous tweets, "but when he hunkers down focuses on the problem, that's when he really sucks." He recapped Trump's trip Friday to the CDC, shaking his head at Trump's assertion he surprises doctors with his deep understanding of the virus, crediting his "natural ability" to his "super genius" Uncle John. "Epidemiology is not genetic!" Colbert said. "Knowledge does not get passed down in the family -- that's why, no matter how much we all know it now, future generations are going to have to learn for themselves that you're an idiot."Yeah, "I'm not sure that Trump has 'a natural ability' for science, especially considering he thinks scientific knowledge can be passed down through his uncle," Trevor Noah marveled at The Daily Show. And really, "Trump can't afford to be uninformed about corona -- not just because he's president, but because as an older man who's not in great shape and spends his time touching strangers, he's definitely at risk.""The president publicly seems determined to keep shaking hands," but reportedly, he's "privately terrified about getting the virus" and "thinks journalists will purposefully contract coronavirus to give it to him on Air Force One," Jimmy Kimmel said on Kimmel Live. "That doesn't seem paranoid at all." People are canceling major events, "selling off stocks, and buying up toilet paper," and freakily, "Costco is pulling their free samples," he said. "Trump needs to send Mike Pence to Costco to figure this out, right now!""We are now seeing what it's like when a lifelong scam artist is in charge of responding to a public health crisis," Seth Meyers said at Late Night. Trump told CDC experts he's getting his coronavirus information from Fox News, "public health officials are worried about making him angry by telling the truth," and "Trump appointees keep going out of their way to compliment him."Conan O'Brien had a a PSA about fighting misinformation.At The Late Show, the coronavirus took a victory lap. More stories from theweek.com Trump's former pandemic adviser: 'We are 10 days from our hospitals getting creamed' After finding piles of portraits in an abandoned studio, man finds a way to get them to rightful families A Seattle lab uncovered Washington's coronavirus outbreak only after defying federal regulators
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| 7-Eleven Owner Arrested After Selling 'Dangerous' Homemade Sanitizer Posted: 11 Mar 2020 08:00 AM PDT  Children allegedly suffered burns after using the "spray sanitizer"
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| 'You get fed up': Man facing death row for Fresno shooting spree says racism drove him to murder Posted: 10 Mar 2020 07:11 PM PDT  A man accused of killing four people told detectives in a recording that he was fed up with racism and that he might as well keep killing as many white men as he could.Kori Ali Muhammad, a black man who is currently on trial for a shooting spree that took place in California in 2017, could face the death penalty if convicted, Fresno Bee and ABC30 (KFSN-TV) reported.
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| Lawmakers briefed on Russian attempts to sow discord in US Posted: 10 Mar 2020 11:01 AM PDT  Two classified briefings that lawmakers received from intelligence agencies Tuesday did little to bridge the rift between President Donald Trump's administration and Democrats who have concerns about Russian interference in the 2020 elections. Democrats leaving the meeting said they had more questions and had heard conflicting evidence. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said after the briefing that he had "renewed concerns about the independence of the intelligence community, and their willingness to continue speaking truth to power."
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| Virus-hit Philippines calls off ritual crucifixions Posted: 11 Mar 2020 04:53 AM PDT  The Philippines' crucifixion reenactments will be cancelled this year as coronavirus cases climb, said authorities in the city where the annual tourist spectacle is held. About a dozen Catholics regularly have themselves nailed to wooden crosses on Good Friday as penance for their sins. This year's rituals were planned for farming villages around San Fernando city, north of the capital Manila on April 10, but local officials have stopped the event to prevent mass gatherings and a potential spread of the virus.
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| Many Americans are still taking cruises despite warnings amid the coronavirus spread — even if they have the option to rebook for free Posted: 11 Mar 2020 12:02 PM PDT  Here's how cruise lines are responding to the coronavirus, and why some passengers have no plans to cancel their upcoming cruise trips.
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| GOP senator drops subpoena of ex-Ukrainian official in Biden probe Posted: 11 Mar 2020 02:43 PM PDT  The Senate Homeland Security chairman told committee members that "out of an abundance of caution" he would seek more briefings before moving ahead.
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| Here are the 24 countries that are least ready for a pandemic Posted: 11 Mar 2020 06:36 AM PDT  A team of researchers evaluated the healthcare and disease control systems of 195 countries to see how ready they are for a major outbreak.
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| Don’t Let the Chinese Government Escape Blame for Coronavirus’s Initial Spread Posted: 10 Mar 2020 03:30 AM PDT  From almost the very beginning of the COVID-19/coronavirus crisis in January and early February, it's often been asked whether it might be the "Chinese Chernobyl." Could the crisis expose the weakness of the mix of oppression, information control, and social disgust that underpin the Chinese Communist regime and trigger its collapse? Others have suggested that it might instead be "president Xi Jinping's Tiananmen," meaning he will use all the tools at his disposal to tighten down and prevent, well . . . a Chinese Chernobyl.It is too soon to know what may happen. But it's not too soon for attempts to whitewash the timeline and Chinese-government actions in the earliest moments of the crisis. Indeed, even now, the level of public anxiety about both the virus and what the Chinese government is doing and saying about it remain high.It is helpful to review the current status and the timeline that got us here. On Monday, February 24, the World Health Organization determined that reported cases of COVID-19/coronavirus had peaked. At the time, there were about 76,000 reported cases in China, and about 1,800 cases elsewhere in the world. In the United States, there were 14 reported cases. As of March 7, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and state and local public health reporting suggest the number is more than 300 cases, a twenty-fold increase. Globally, there are more than 100,000 cases, with more than 350 deaths in Italy alone.The world has barely begun to reckon with what the Chinese government claims to have gotten under control. It's true that forced quarantining and other extreme measures in China played a critical role. The World Health Organization report of its February mission to China praises the PRC for its response: "The response structures in China were rapidly put in place according to existing emergency plans and aligned from the top to the bottom. This was replicated at the four levels of government (national, provincial, prefecture and county/district)." The leader of the World Health Organization mission to China in February, Canadian epidemiologist Dr. Bruce Aylward, encouraged the world to "access the expertise of China," adding that "if I had COVID-19, I'd want to be treated in China."But the WHO report and subsequent reporting about what the world can learn from China represents a real-time cleansing of the actual record, a record that includes intentional obfuscation and failure to respond in the early stages of the crisis. This includes the government's early attempts to stifle communication about the virus, the censorship of doctors and others on social media as cases were being observed in late December, and the continuing suppression of information on social media across the country about how the government, from President Xi Jinping to local administrators, continues to mislead the public and the rest of the world.On March 3, researchers at the University of Toronto Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy published "Censured Contagion," a report that meticulously documents a timeline and body of facts that paint quite a different picture than the WHO report, and placing WHO's accolades for China's "response structures" that were "rapidly put in place" in doubt. The WHO report concludes that the beginning of the epidemic was December 30, 2019, with the collection of samples from a pneumonia patient in Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital. Data provided in graphics in the report show essentially zero cases before that date.Yet the Munk School researchers found that censorship of certain keywords in social media had already begun by then. They highlight social-media reports during the prior week by doctors reporting an unknown pathogen, linking it to the Wuhan seafood market. By December 31, social-media channels, including WeChat, were already censoring the terms "Wuhan seafood market" and "unknown Wuhan pneumonia."As careful as the recent Munk School report is, its essential elements were available to WHO researchers before they made their February 16-24 trip and wrote their report praising the PRC response. On February 1, the Washington Post published a story excoriating Beijing's early handling of the outbreak. The story includes anecdotes consistent with the Munk School analysis, such as how the Wuhan Public Security Bureau on New Year's Day had begun detaining people for "spreading 'rumours' about Wuhan hospitals receiving SARS-like cases." The government-controlled Xinhua News Agency, the Post reported, called on those online to "jointly build a harmonious, clear and bright cyberspace."WHO and its director-general, the Ethiopian politician Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, have received criticism for their own response to the crisis. Michael Collins at the Council on Foreign Relations labeled it a joint "dereliction of duty" in a searing blog post in late February. Collins correctly concludes that WHO "laundered" the PRC record, damaging its own credibility by doing so.The most galling result of that image-burnishing is the ubiquity of coverage -- and repetition by third parties who don't care to find out the truth -- to the effect that the world should actually thank the PRC for its strong reaction, because it bought the world the necessary time to prepare for the challenge. Science magazine online, the publication of the American Academy for the Advancement of Science, posed the question this week: "Can China's COVID-19 strategy work elsewhere?" This is just one example.This reflects what we already know about the Chinese government. It is developing into a modern state, one whose public-health system has significantly advanced from its ordeal with the SARS epidemic just 20 years ago. Per capita wealth is up more than 300 percent, and the Chinese share of the global GDP has more than doubled, from about 7 percent to more than 16 percent over the same period.Alongside that growth and progress, though, China under President Xi is ever more repressive. It uses some of the most sophisticated technology in the world simply to control its population. That includes Internet censorship, social-media monitoring and tracking of ordinary citizens, and the mass detention of Muslims and other minorities.But Chinese government face-saving is not stopping at the Chinese border. It is also attempting to control the narrative through state-controlled media, and through their willing partners in the West, including WHO. Government propagandists published a compendium of state-news agency articles, official government statements, and other documents in a book called A Battle Against Epidemic: China Combatting COVID-19 in 2020. The publication faced immediate scorn in social media within the country.Fortunately, despite the well-documented censorship of social media, citizen journalism continues. A popular meme shows Dr. Li Wenliang, the Wuhan ophthalmologist whose social media questioned the "Wuhan pneumonia" in late December and who eventually died from the virus, with barbed wire where his facemask should be. Several citizen journalists have gone missing, including in Shandong province, where there have been reports including in the Epoch Times that significant underreporting of COVID-19 by official statistics continues despite the WHO declaration that the caseload has peaked.In times of duress, the most innate qualities of countries tend to predominate. That's what we've seen with the PRC. We can recognize the intensity of China's public-health response. But we should acknowledge and condemn the methods by which the world was kept in the dark for too long, and the means by which Beijing continues to interrupt the flow of information. We should not be thanking Beijing for its actions. Instead, we need honesty and the pursuit of the truth to defeat this challenge. And we must acknowledge that the Chinese government's actions early on almost certainly led to the global crisis we're facing.
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