A Washington state man in his 50s with underlying health issues became the United States' first fatality from the coronavirus, officials said on Saturday, as the Trump administration stepped up efforts to combat the spread of the global outbreak.


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Harvey Weinstein is sitting under guard in a cinderblock room at a New York City hospital days after his conviction for sexual assault and rape, and at times "can go stir crazy just staring at the emptiness," according to a spokesman.


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Voters in South Carolina's Democratic primary on Saturday appeared to be more moderate than those who took part in earlier presidential nominating contests, and a majority said a senior black congressman's endorsement of Joe Biden influenced their vote, according to exit polling by Edison Research.


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Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was not on the ballot in Saturday's Democratic presidential primary in South Carolina, but he was still on voters' minds - and not in a good way.


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Flanked by higher profile starters, left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez spent much of the past few seasons mostly out of the limelight -- and, at times, on the injured list. In 2019, Rodriguez stepped out of the very large shadows cast by fellow left-handers David Price and Chris Sale and finally delivered on the promise the Red Sox sensed when they acquired him from Baltimore at the 2014 trade deadline. Rodriguez went 19-6 with a 3.81 ERA, posting career bests in wins, ERA, starts (34), innings (203 1/3), and strikeouts (213).



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Pompeo savaged by Democrats on Capitol Hill over coronavirus, IranSecretary of State Mike Pompeo faced intense criticism Friday from Democrats on Capitol Hill, who questioned him on the Trump administration's response to the growing coronavirus threat, as well as the persistent threat from foes like Iran.




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'Are we in Greece?': Migrants seize their chance in Europe questSome attempt to cut through a barbed wire fence while others hunt for wood and rocks to throw at police. The thousands of migrants at the Kastanies border town between Turkey and Greece are desperate to reach Europe and furious with Greeks who "won't open the gates". Hundreds of Greek soldiers and armed police have fired tear gas in an attempt to hold back what they fear could become a flood of people trying to cross the border.




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210 people have reportedly died from coronavirus in Iran, but the government is saying the death toll is only 34The death toll in Iran from the novel coronavirus could be far higher than the government is letting on.




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Joe Biden was projected to win South Carolina's Democratic primary on Saturday, reviving his faltering White House campaign and halting the surge of national front-runner Bernie Sanders, who appeared headed to a distant second-place finish.


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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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Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is projected to win the South Carolina Democratic presidential primary on Saturday and is expected to defeat rival Bernie Sanders decisively for his first victory of the 2020 election campaign, according an analysis of exit polls by Edison Research.


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What Does Israel Have To Fear From Syria's Tunnels?Is Syria taking a cue from Hezbollah?




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Harvey Weinstein is sitting under guard in a cinderblock room at a New York City hospital days after his conviction for sexual assault and rape, and at times "can go stir crazy just staring at the emptiness," according to a spokesman.


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Billionaire Tom Steyer shakes up primary with slavery reparations planFor centuries, South Carolina’s Charleston was the largest port of entry for the transatlantic slave trade. Now, billionaire presidential candidate Tom Steyer is shaking up the state’s Democratic primary by advocating slavery reparations for African-Americans.




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

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

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

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Joe Biden was projected to win South Carolina's Democratic primary on Saturday, reviving his faltering White House campaign and halting the surge of national front-runner Bernie Sanders, who appeared headed to a distant second-place finish.


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Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is projected to win the South Carolina Democratic presidential primary on Saturday and is expected to defeat rival Bernie Sanders decisively for his first victory of the 2020 election campaign, according an analysis of exit polls by Edison Research.


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Joe Biden is likely looking at a massive margin tonight, considering the race was called right as polls closed.

This is the first race of the election cycle that has been called as soon as the vote was over. For comparison, New Hampshire, the only other primary so far, took hours to call because of Bernie Sanders’ narrow margin over Pete Buttigieg.

The Guardian’s Oliver Laughland is at Joe Biden’s party -- now a victory party -- in Columbia, South Carolina.

Huge cheer goes up as Biden immediately declared projected winner as polls close: pic.twitter.com/IoWzLxQXCc

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from US news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/3ckTH4w
Voters in South Carolina's Democratic primary on Saturday appeared to be more moderate than those who took part in earlier presidential nominating contests, and a majority said a senior black congressman's endorsement of Joe Biden influenced their vote, according to exit polling by Edison Research.


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At the grassroots conservative gathering after fronting a coronavirus briefing, the president was back in his happy place

Stop Donald Trump now, Democrats warned at his impeachment trial, or will he take on the aspect of a king.

Related: Trump fends off criticism of 'hoax' remark after first US coronavirus death

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The Federal Communications Commission confirmed on Friday it voted to propose fining four major U.S. wireless carriers more than $200 million for failing to protect consumers' location information.


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