| Al-Qaida in Yemen claims deadly Florida naval base shooting Posted: 02 Feb 2020 12:31 PM PST  Al-Qaida's branch in Yemen claimed responsibility Sunday for last year's deadly shooting at the Naval Air Station Pensacola by an aviation student from Saudi Arabia. The shooter, 2nd Lt. Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, was a member of the Saudi Air Force in training at the base. Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, released a video claiming the attack.
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| Trump administration declares coronavirus emergency, orders first quarantine in 50 years Posted: 01 Feb 2020 04:17 AM PST  U.S. citizens from parts of China will undergo entry health screenings and will be monitored during a 14-day self-quarantine, officials said.
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| A man in the Philippines has become the first person to die of the Wuhan coronavirus outside of China Posted: 02 Feb 2020 12:36 AM PST  A 44-year-old man died on Saturday in Manila. He had travelled to the Philippines from Wuhan, where the coronavirus broke out in early December.
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| Sri Lanka to probe aircraft deal after Airbus settlement Posted: 02 Feb 2020 05:21 AM PST  Sri Lanka's president ordered a fresh investigation Sunday into a multi-billion dollar aircraft purchase involving the island's loss-making national carrier, days after Airbus settled corruption probes in Europe and the US. A French court on Friday approved a deal allowing Airbus to pay 3.6 billion euros ($4 billion) in fines to Britain, France and the US to settle corruption cases sparked by suspicious equipment sales. One of the allegations cited in a judgement and released by a London court Friday concerned the purchase of aircraft by SriLankan Airlines.
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| Joe Biden Could Be Impeached by GOP Over Ukraine if He Wins, Iowa Senator Says Posted: 02 Feb 2020 04:05 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Iowa Senator Joni Ernst warned Sunday that Republicans could immediately push to impeach Joe Biden over his work in Ukraine as vice president if he win the White House."I think this door of impeachable whatever has been opened," Ernst said in an interview with Bloomberg News. "Joe Biden should be very careful what he's asking for because, you know, we can have a situation where if it should ever be President Biden, that immediately, people, right the day after he would be elected would be saying, 'Well, we're going to impeach him.'"The grounds for impeachment, the first-term Republican said, would be "for being assigned to take on Ukrainian corruption yet turning a blind eye to Burisma because his son was on the board making over a million dollars a year."President Barack Obama sent Biden to Ukraine on his behalf to fight corruption, including leading the push from the U.S. and western European powers to remove prosecutor general Viktor Shokin from office. When Shokin was fired in 2016, no congressional Republicans expressed concern about the move. Eventually, though, Shokin began to argue that he was fired because he was investigating Burisma and Biden wanted to protect his son, Hunter, who was on the company's board. The claim has been debunked.Biden told a Sinclair news reporter in Iowa that her words reinforced his argument that Trump's interest in Ukraine was meant to damage his candidacy."Doesn't that make the case I'm making that from the very beginning that this was all about not wanting to run against me?" he said.Earlier this week, Ernst tied the Senate's impeachment trial of President Donald Trump to Biden's chances in Monday's Iowa Democratic caucus, suggesting that the trial could hurt his case with caucus goers. "I'm really interested to see how this discussion today informs and influences the Iowa caucus voters, those Democratic caucus goers. Will they be supporting Vice President Biden at this point? Not certain at that," she said.Biden has been sure to mention Ernst's comments during every stump speech he's made this week, drawing applause as he suggests that Ernst had "spilled the beans" about Republicans' real intention in raising the Burisma issue to damage Biden's candidacy. "You can ruin Donald Trump's night by caucusing with me and ruin Joni Ernst's night as well," he's told Iowa crowds this week.Biden communications director Kate Bedingfield responded to Ernst's latest comments by again encouraging Iowans to caucus for Biden. "Iowans have the chance tomorrow to say the words that Donald Trump and Joni Ernst fear most: I'm here to caucus for Joe Biden," she said.(Disclaimer: Michael Bloomberg is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. He is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.)(Updates with Biden comment in fifth, sixth paragraphs)To contact the reporter on this story: Jennifer Epstein in Des Moines, Iowa at jepstein32@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Larry LiebertFor 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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| Former White House counsel: Trump thinks differently Posted: 01 Feb 2020 07:59 AM PST  A former White House counsel said President Trump thinks differently than any client he has ever had.
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| Mississippi inmate tries to hang self in cell, attorney says Posted: 01 Feb 2020 05:48 PM PST  An inmate tried to hang himself at a troubled Mississippi prison and was taken down by a state trooper, an attorney said in court papers filed Saturday. Casey L. Austin is one of the attorneys representing inmates in a federal lawsuit against Mississippi over conditions in the state's prisons. The lawsuit over prison conditions is funded by Team Roc, a philanthropic group connected to entertainment mogul Jay-Z's company, Roc Nation.
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| Bill Maher Brutally Mocks Alan Dershowitz Over Creepy Jeffrey Epstein Ties Posted: 31 Jan 2020 07:52 PM PST  On Friday night, one week after fervidly defending ex-Fox News host Megyn Kelly over her firing from NBC News (this after she defended the practice of blackface on Halloween), Bill Maher returned to his HBO program Real Time. And, prior to a softball interview with Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg, the comedian addressed the latest impeachment-trial madness from President Trump's legal defense team—namely, lawyer Alan Dershowitz's claim that, because Trump believes "his election is in the public interest… if a president does something which he believes will help him get elected in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment." Bill Maher Defends Megyn Kelly to Her Face: You're Not a 'Racist' and 'Cancel Culture' to Blame for FiringKobe Bryant's Disturbing Rape Case: The DNA Evidence, the Accuser's Story, and the Half-Confession"You saw Alan Dershowitz, the president's chief lawyer there at the trial, say that any action taken by this president to help his re-election is, by definition, in the public interest. When did we decide that?" asked Maher. "I can commit any crime if it's good for me, because then it's good for America? That's like saying you can't arrest a car thief if he thinks he should be walking more." "Alan Dershowitz, I tell ya. What happens to these people? Alan Dershowitz used to be normal!" he continued, jokingly adding, "He came up with this idea when he was on Jeffrey Epstein's plane, which he was a lot. He was getting a massage from I'm sure a completely age-appropriate young lady, in his underwear, and he ran it by her, this theory, and she said, 'Please, don't make my job disgusting.'" (Dershowitz was a close acquaintance of Epstein's as well as on his legal defense team, and at least two of Epstein's trafficked victims say that he directed them to have sex with Dershowitz. While Dershowitz admitted to receiving a massage at Epstein's mansion, in his underwear, he's denied the claims of sex with trafficked women.) Then, Maher reacted with disgust to Sen. Lamar Alexander's (R-TN) decision to not allow witnesses in Trump's impeachment trial, thus closing the door on the Democratic pipe dream of actually, you know, allowing witnesses in a trial—instead of a show trial. "So, it's a done deal. This is gonna happen. Trump will get acquitted on Wednesday," offered Maher. "As always, with Trump, nothing will happen to him. He's had bigger slaps on the wrist from Melania. And in the future, when Trump shoots someone on Fifth Avenue, Mitch McConnell will be there to lick the blood on his shoes." "So, we're officially living in a dictatorship," he exclaimed, "and not even one with good rail service!" 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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| Coronavirus: CDC issues ‘unprecedented’ federal quarantine for Americans returning from Wuhan as US airlines halt China flights Posted: 01 Feb 2020 02:48 AM PST  All 195 US citizens that were repatriated from Wuhan, China, have been placed under a federal quarantine order in an attempt to stop the spread of the coronavirus.This is the first time the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a quarantine order in 50 years.
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| Ukraine wants larger compensation for its citizens killed in plane shootdown in Iran Posted: 02 Feb 2020 11:19 AM PST ![Ukraine wants larger compensation for its citizens killed in plane shootdown in Iran]( "Ukraine wants larger compensation for its citizens killed in plane shootdown in Iran") Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday that Kiev was not satisfied with a size of compensation Iran had offered to families of Ukrainians killed in the downing of a plane near Tehran last month and would seek larger payments. The airliner was struck by a missile on Jan. 8 shortly after it left Tehran en route to Kiev. Iran admitted its forces had shot down the Ukraine International Airlines plane in error, after initially denying it had a role in the incident.
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| Thailand sees apparent success treating virus with drug cocktail Posted: 02 Feb 2020 08:14 AM PST  A Chinese woman infected with the new coronavirus showed a dramatic improvement after she was treated with a cocktail of anti-virals used to treat flu and HIV, Thailand's health ministry said Sunday. The 71-year-old patient tested negative for the virus 48 hours after Thai doctors administered the combination, doctor Kriengsak Attipornwanich said during the ministry's daily press briefing. The news comes as the new virus claimed its first life outside China -- a 44-year-old Chinese man who died in the Philippines -- while the death toll in China has soared above 300.
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| Kerry unloads on NBC after report he was overheard talking about 2020 bid Posted: 02 Feb 2020 04:38 PM PST  "A complete and total misinterpretation," the former secretary of State fumes.
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| Yemen's Huthi rebels in possession of new arms: UN report Posted: 31 Jan 2020 07:42 PM PST  Yemen's Huthi rebels are in possession of new weapons similar to those produced in Iran, according to a UN report obtained by AFP on Friday, in potential violation of a UN arms embargo. The crisis in Yemen pits the Iranian-backed Huthi rebels against government forces supported by a Saudi-led military coalition. Some of the new weapons, which the rebels have possessed since 2019, "have technical characteristics similar to arms manufactured in the Islamic Republic of Iran," said the report, which was compiled by a panel of UN experts tasked with monitoring the embargo.
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| America is Making a Bad Bet on India Posted: 02 Feb 2020 02:06 PM PST  America is dangerously emboldening India's Hindu nationalist government as it nears the point of no return. Modi, whose term ends in 2024, could be succeeded by someone far more extreme.
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| Appeal of man who shot Army recruiters in Arkansas rejected Posted: 02 Feb 2020 01:34 PM PST ![Appeal of man who shot Army recruiters in Arkansas rejected]( "Appeal of man who shot Army recruiters in Arkansas rejected") The Arkansas Supreme Court has rejected the appeal of a man who fatally shot a U.S. Army soldier and wounded another outside a recruiting station in Little Rock. The ruling dated Thursday and first reported by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette said Abdulhakim Muhammad's appeal is without merit. Muhammad, 34, was sentenced to life without parole after pleading guilty to the 2009 fatal shooting of Pvt.
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| Lamar Alexander: 'Mistake' for Trump to Peddle Russian Propaganda by Mentioning CrowdStrike Posted: 02 Feb 2020 06:52 AM PST  Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) said on Sunday that it bothered him that President Donald Trump pushed the Ukrainian president to investigate a long-debunked conspiracy theory surrounding the Democratic National Committee server hack in the 2016 election, calling it a "mistake."Alexander, who voted against allowing additional witnesses in the Senate impeachment trial last week despite saying he believed the president's behavior towards Ukraine was inappropriate, appeared on NBC's Meet the Press to defend his decision. Reiterating his assertion that more witnesses and evidence weren't necessary as the Democrats had already proven their case, the Tennessee Republican added that he was going to vote to acquit the president because he was "very concerned about any action that we could take that would establish a perpetual impeachment," adding that when you "start out with a partisan impeachment, you're almost destined to have a partisan acquittal."Having all but assured Trump's acquittal, Alexander, who is retiring at the end of his term, detailed where he thought the president's actions were wrong:"What I believe he did, one, was that he called the president of Ukraine and asked him to become involved in investigating Joe Biden," Alexander told host Chuck Todd. "The second thing was, at least in part, he delayed the military and other assistance to Ukraine in order to encourage that investigation.""Those are the two things he did," he added. "I think he shouldn't have done it. I think it was wrong. Inappropriate was the way I'd say -- improper, crossing the line. And then the only question left is who decides what to do about that."The conservative lawmaker, however, repeated his belief that this didn't rise to the level of impeachment and that Trump's fate should be left to the ballot box, saying "the people" should decide whether to punish the president for his actions."You know, in the phone call, there's one thing on the phone call that I'm surprised, frankly, hasn't been brought up more by others," the Meet the Press anchor noted at one point. "This -- the mere mention of the word 'CrowdStrike,' is a Russian intelligence sort of piece of propaganda that they've been circulating.""Does it bother you that the President of the United States is reiterating Russian propaganda?" Todd asked, referencing the fringe-right theory that the DNC server is currently in Ukraine and wasn't hacked by Russia."Yes. I think that's a mistake," Alexander responded. "I mean, if you see what's happening in the Baltic states, where Russians have a big warehouse in Saint Petersburg, in Russia, where they're devoted to destabilizing western democracies.""I mean, for example, in one of the Baltic states, they accused a NATO officer of raping a local girl," the senator continued. "Of course, didn't happen. But it threw the government into complete disarray for a week. So I think we need to be sensitive to the fact that the Russians are out to do no good, to destabilize western democracies, including us, and be very wary of theories that Russians come up with and peddle."Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| China seeks to boost economy as first virus death reported outside its borders Posted: 01 Feb 2020 04:44 PM PST  BEIJING/MANILA (Reuters) - The first death from the coronavirus outside of China was reported on Sunday and the Beijing government took steps to shore up an economy hit by travel curbs and business shut-downs because of the epidemic. A 44-year-old Chinese man from the city of Wuhan in Hubei province, the epicenter of the epidemic, traveled to the Philippines and died there on Saturday, the Philippines' Department of Health said. The vice governor of China's Hubei province, Xiao Juhua, said the virus outbreak was still "severe and complicated".
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| The Wuhan coronavirus is causing increased incidents of racism and xenophobia at college, work, and supermarkets, according to Asian people Posted: 02 Feb 2020 06:00 AM PST  As fears over the deadly coronavirus from China grow, so are racist incidents against Asian communities in places like the US, Canada, and Europe.
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| Klobuchar Vows to Fight On, Says No Deal With Biden’s Campaign Posted: 02 Feb 2020 09:26 AM PST ![Klobuchar Vows to Fight On, Says No Deal With Biden's Campaign]( "Klobuchar Vows to Fight On, Says No Deal With Biden's Campaign") (Bloomberg) -- Democrat Amy Klobuchar vowed to battle on for the 2020 Democratic nomination even as her support lags and said she hasn't made a deal to work in concert with Joe Biden's campaign in Iowa.The senator from Minnesota made her pitch on "Fox News Sunday," a day before the state's first-in-the-nation nominating contest. She said she's one of two presidential hopefuls from the middle of the U.S., and has been elected in the past by appealing to moderate Republicans and independents as well as Democrats."I'm going to New Hampshire no matter what," Klobuchar said, referring to the state that will hold the next nominating contest, on Feb. 11."I've got the endorsements of every major paper in New Hampshire, including the [Manchester] Union Leader, that have endorsed," she said. "And so of course I'm going there; we have a strong operation there."Klobuchar, 59, has been traversing Iowa all weekend. She and fellow Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are taking advantage of the break in Trump's impeachment trial to campaign in the state after being mostly absent for two weeks.The Iowa caucus results could make or break her campaign. She, Warren and former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg are banking on strong performances in the state to catapult them forward through the primary season.Former Vice President Biden and Sanders still far outpace their competitors in national polls.The RealClearPolitics average of Iowa polls shows Klobuchar ranked fifth with 8.8%, below the threshold that would let her pick up delegates. She's had support as high as 13% in some surveys.Klobuchar said she hadn't, as has been reported, come to an arrangement with Biden's campaign for her supporters in the caucuses to switch to Biden if she falls short of the 15% threshold required in each precinct."No deals," she said. "I am just focused on our own race here."To contact the reporter on this story: Ana Monteiro in Washington at amonteiro4@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Ros Krasny, Larry LiebertFor 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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| Bolivia's Morales says he wants to go home, run for Senate Posted: 02 Feb 2020 01:45 PM PST  Exiled former Bolivian president Evo Morales said in an interview published Sunday that he wants to return home and run for senator in May elections. Morales fled the country in December after the army withdrew its support for him during violent protests over his disputed re-election to a fourth straight term. Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous president, was in power for almost 14 years.
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| DHS: New screening to begin amid coronavirus concerns Posted: 02 Feb 2020 01:31 PM PST  As the U.S. steps up its response to the coronavirus outbreak, the Department of Homeland Security is warning airline passengers that their flights may wind up rerouted if officials discover mid-flight that someone onboard has been in China in the last 14 days. Under the new rules, U.S. citizens who have traveled in China within the last 14 days will be re-routed to one of eight designated airports, where they will undergo enhanced health screening procedures. The eight are: John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York; Chicago O'Hare International Airport; San Francisco International Airport; Seattle-Tacoma International Airport; Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu; Los Angeles International Airport in California; Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport; and Washington-Dulles International Airport in Virginia.
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| Adam Schiff Blasts Republican Senators for Scolding Trump's Ukraine Scheme While Letting Him Slide Posted: 02 Feb 2020 09:12 AM PST  Lead House impeachment manager Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) on Sunday chastised Republican senators who claimed to be bothered by President Donald Trump's Ukrainian actions as they voted against impeachment witnesses, saying it doesn't do justice to the president's behavior to merely call it "inappropriate."Appearing on CBS News' Face the Nation, the House Intelligence Committee chairman was asked what the impeachment trial had accomplished as the Senate is poised to acquit Trump after voting against hearing from witnesses about his actions. "What's remarkable is you now have Republican senators coming out and saying, yes, the House proved its case," Schiff told host Margaret Brennan. "The House proved the corrupt scheme that they charged in the articles of impeachment. The president did withhold hundreds of millions of dollars from an ally to try to coerce that ally into helping him cheat in the next election. That's pretty remarkable when you now have senators on both sides of the aisle admitting the House made its case."Schiff went on to say that the Senate now needs to move to the next step and find the president guilty and remove him from office since he's "threatening to still cheat in the next election by soliciting foreign interference," prompting Brennan to note the votes aren't there for that to happen."As you said, Senators Rubio, Alexander, Portman have all said in some way or another they found the actions of the president inappropriate, but not enough to oust him," she added. "So the bottom line here seems to be that the president will get away with what they're calling inappropriate. What are Democrats going to do? What do you do next?""Well, first of all, to call solicitation, coercion, blackmail of a foreign power, an ally at war, by withholding military aid to get help in cheating in the next election merely inappropriate, doesn't begin to do justice to the gravity of this president's misconduct," Schiff answered. "Misconduct that I think undermined our national security as well as that of our ally and threatens the integrity—the integrity of our elections."The California Democrat further noted that he's "not letting the senators off the hook" for not acting against Trump even though they've acknowledged his behavior was wrong, saying he's still going to make the case Trump needs to be removed."It will be up to the senators to make that final judgment and the senators will be held accountable for it," he stated.To Schiff's point, GOP senators appeared on the Sunday news shows and attempted to have it both ways by arguing that Trump behaved inappropriately with his Ukraine pressure scheme but that it isn't an impeachable offense. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), who voted against calling additional witnesses last week despite saying Trump made an "error in judgment," told Meet the Press' Chuck Todd that Trump' Shouldn't have done it" and "it was wrong" but that Trump's fate should be left to the ballot box and "the people." The conservative senator also confirmed that he'd vote to acquit the president.On CNN's State of the Union, meanwhile, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) said that the president acted inappropriately but that she would inevitably vote to clear Trump of all charges."He's done it now," she told anchor Jake Tapper. "The president has a lot of latitude to do what he wants to do. Again, not what I have done, but certainly, again, going after corruption, Jake...Maybe not the perfect call."After Tapper wondered aloud what she meant by saying it was something she wouldn't have done, Ernst added: "He did it—he did it maybe in the wrong manner… But I think he could have done it through different channels. Now, this is the argument, is that he should have probably gone to the DOJ. He should have worked through those entities, but he chose to go a different route."Senate Republicans weren't the only ones trying to thread the needle on Sunday regarding the president's Ukrainian actions. Trump defense team member Alan Dershowitz, who argued last week that Trump could engage in a quid pro quo with Ukraine since his re-election is in the "public interest" and he has "mixed motives," conceded on Fox News Sunday that the pressure campaign could be "troubling.""On Election Day as a citizen I will allow that to enter into my decision," he told host Chris Wallace when asked if he was troubled by the allegations. "Of course any citizen would find that troubling if it were proved, troubling is not the criteria for impeachment.""If a president linked aid to an ally to personal benefit that was not in the public interest, that would be wrong, that would be a reason for him not to vote for him," Dershowitz added.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| China virus death toll rises to 304 with 45 new fatalities: govt Posted: 01 Feb 2020 03:17 PM PST  The number of confirmed deaths from China's coronavirus outbreak rose to 304, as authorities in hardest-hit Hubei province on Sunday reported 45 new fatalities. In its daily update, figures from the provincial health commission also showed a sharp increase in confirmed infections in Hubei, with 1,921 new cases. China found itself increasingly isolated over the weekend, with the United States and Australia leading a growing list of nations to impose extraordinary Chinese travel bans.
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| Second person linked to butterfly sanctuary found dead in Mexico Posted: 02 Feb 2020 08:57 AM PST  The body of a tour guide who worked at a famous butterfly reserve in Mexico has been discovered two days after a prominent monarch butterfly activist was found dead.Mexican authorities said they are investigating the possible murder of Raul Hernandez, whose body was found beaten and with a head injury possibly caused by a sharp object.
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| Tests for suspected coronavirus patients in the US don't always work, the head of the CDC said Posted: 31 Jan 2020 05:57 PM PST  "We don't know the accuracy of this test. People who came in were negative, then all of a sudden they were positive," one official said.
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| U.S. universities set up front-line defenses to keep coronavirus at bay Posted: 02 Feb 2020 04:16 AM PST  The school, with one of the highest percentages of Chinese students among U.S. universities, has suspended academic programs in China for the spring semester and banned students from traveling to the country for academic-related matters. It has advised faculty and staff to follow federal travel advisories that, as of Friday, warned against going to China. "We want to take all of the precautions we can so, in the worst-case scenario, we keep our community healthy," said Robin Kaler, associate chancellor for public affairs at the University of Illinois, 135 miles (217 km) south of Chicago, where the first human-to-human transmission of the disease in the United States was confirmed last week.
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| Michelle Phan says she's been targeted with racism amid Wuhan coronavirus scare: 'Why are some of you telling me to go back to eating bats? I'm American you ignorant f---s' Posted: 01 Feb 2020 02:16 PM PST  The beauty YouTuber tweeted her disbelief about the comments, noting she was actually born and raised in the US.
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| South African Capital’s Mayor to Quit After Sex Tape Scandal Posted: 02 Feb 2020 03:55 AM PST ![South African Capital's Mayor to Quit After Sex Tape Scandal]( "South African Capital's Mayor to Quit After Sex Tape Scandal") (Bloomberg) -- The mayor of South Africa's Tshwane municipality, which includes the capital, Pretoria, said he will resign this month to end political wrangling over his continued presence in office.Stevens Mokgalapa has faced pressure to quit since a leaked audio tape indicated that he allegedly disparaged officials in a conversation with a mayoral council member and engaged in a sexual act with her in the municipality's offices. The two say the tape was tampered with.Mokgalapa is a member of the main opposition Democratic Alliance, which wrested control of Tshwane from the ruling African National Congress in 2016 with the aid of the Economic Freedom Fighters, the third-largest party.The DA placed Mokgalapa on leave in December as it investigated his conduct, while the EFF called for his removal. The ANC meanwhile threatened to place the city under the control of the administration of the central Gauteng province, but backed down after the DA said it would challenge the move in court."I wish to make clear that I have not broken any laws and am confident that I would emerge positively from any assessment of my conduct," Mokgalapa said in an emailed statement. "But in the end, I have concluded that it is best for the city if I stand down as mayor."The scandal has been yet another blow for the DA, which lost support in national elections last year, and has since seen its mayor of Johannesburg, Herman Mashaba, and its leader, Mmusi Maimane, quit the party.The DA's Gauteng leader John Moodley thanked Mokgalapa for his service and said the party would initiate the process of finding a replacement.(Updates with opposition comment in last paragraph.)To contact the reporter on this story: Mike Cohen in Cape Town at mcohen21@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net, Helen Nyambura, James AmottFor 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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| See This Stealth Fighter? Iran Could Shoot It Down in a War Posted: 01 Feb 2020 05:11 AM PST  But it wouldn't be easy.
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| Pompeo says US can supply Belarus with 100% of oil, gas Posted: 01 Feb 2020 12:52 AM PST  U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Saturday that the United States is willing and able to provide Belarus with 100% of its oil and gas, taking a slap at Russia which recently cut off supplies. Pompeo is the first secretary of state to visit Belarus in 26 years and arrived in Minsk amid new tensions between Minsk and Moscow over energy. In a meeting with authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, Pompeo said he hoped to help provide an opportunity for Belarus to achieve the "sovereignty" and "independence" it seeks.
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| Senators will vote Wednesday to acquit or convict Trump: What we know Posted: 02 Feb 2020 12:09 PM PST  Senators decided against allowing additional testimony and set the stage for a final vote Wednesday.
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| China outbreak forces Hyundai to suspend flagship SUV production Posted: 31 Jan 2020 11:04 PM PST  Hyundai Motor, South Korea's largest automaker, suspended the domestic production of its flagship sport utility vehicle this weekend as a result of a supply disruption caused by the deadly virus outbreak in China. The deadly virus that first appeared in the central Chinese city of Wuhan has resulted in 259 deaths and spread to more than two dozen other countries. Hyundai's decision was made following factory closures in China that have led to shortages of supplies, including the complete electrical wiring system of a vehicle, the Korean automaker said.
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| Health officials say they're testing the first possible Wuhan coronavirus case in New York City Posted: 01 Feb 2020 06:32 PM PST  If confirmed, the New York City patient would be the ninth coronavirus patient in the United States.
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| Paradise lost looms for German farmers as swine fever nears Posted: 02 Feb 2020 04:29 PM PST  The German state of Brandenburg has erected about 120 km (75 miles) of electric fencing to prevent wild boars infected with African swine fever (ASF) from straying across the border from Poland and infecting its pig herd. ASF, which has led to the deaths of a quarter of the world's pigs in China and roiled the global meat industry, is dangerously close to Germany, Europe's largest pork producer. A case of the viral disease was discovered in a wild boar in Poland just 12 km from the German border last month.
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| What I learned watching Andrew Yang barnstorm rural Iowa Posted: 02 Feb 2020 02:13 PM PST  He's a changed candidate from even a month ago.
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| Women only report harassment ‘from ugly men’, Ecuador’s president says Posted: 02 Feb 2020 03:07 AM PST  Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno has been criticised for saying women only report harassment "when it comes from an ugly person".Mr Moreno made the comment at an economics conference in the city of Guayaquil on Friday, where he also said that men are "permanently subject to the danger of being accused of harassment".
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| Trump Needs To Address This: Why the Federal Budget Is in Such Bad Shape Posted: 02 Feb 2020 03:30 PM PST  The debt bomb is coming.
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| Digital footprints lead cops to Arizona fugitive in Canada Posted: 01 Feb 2020 12:28 PM PST  A man who pleaded guilty to murder before fleeing Arizona over 16 years ago to avoid being sentenced has been arrested in Canada after police followed digital footprints provided by social media posts of his family and friends, authorities said. The fugitive, 32-year-old Adan Perez Huerta, was arrested in Toronto and returned to Arizona, where he was booked into a jail Thursday. An arrest warrant was issued for Huerta after he pleaded guilty to negligent homicide but didn't appear for his sentencing in 2003.
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| Bloomberg campaign says Trump has 'fake hair' Posted: 02 Feb 2020 01:43 PM PST  President Trump seems to have former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on his mind at the moment. And Bloomberg's campaign isn't holding back in its response.
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| Herbal remedies for the coronavirus spark debate in China Posted: 02 Feb 2020 12:39 AM PST  A claim by Chinese scientists that a liquid made with honeysuckle and flowering plants could help fight the deadly coronavirus has sparked frenzied buying of the traditional medicine, but doubts quickly emerged. The rush came after influential state media outlet Xinhua reported Friday that the esteemed Chinese Academy of Sciences had found the concoction "can inhibit" the virus. It quickly sold out both online and at brick-and-mortar stores, but responses to the remedy's supposed efficacy have ranged from enthusiasm to scepticism on Weibo, China's Twitter-like social media platform.
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| George Soros: Facebook, Zuckerberg in cahoots with Trump to win 2020 election Posted: 01 Feb 2020 09:51 AM PST  George Soros is accusing Facebook and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg of conspiring with Trump to help the president win reelection. Facebook denies it.
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| One of the 2 people with Wuhan coronavirus in the UK is a student at the University of York Posted: 01 Feb 2020 04:18 AM PST  "We understand this development will cause concern and anxiety among our students, staff, and the wider community," the university said.
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