Yen gains, yuan and Aussie down as virus cases and deaths rise
By Stanley White TOKYO (Reuters) – The yen rose from a three-week low against the dollar on Thursday as investors sought safe havens after China’s Hubei province, the epicentre of a coronavirus outbreak, reported a sharp jump in the number of new cases. The Chinese yuan slipped against the dollar as the latest update on…
China sacked a brace of top officials in Hubei province, likely in a move to protect Xi Jinping from people's anger over the coronavirus outbreak
Business Insider Feature China/Barcroft Media via Getty Images China has sacked and demoted several senior officials leading the fight against the Wuhan coronavirus in Hubei, the province where the virus broke out. It removed two top officials from their roles on Thursday, The Guardian reported, adding to dozens more in recent weeks. Many were blamed…
Trump suggested that the military might take disciplinary action against Lt. Col. Alex Vindman after he was kicked off the NSC
Andrew Harnik/AP President Donald Trump on Tuesday suggested the US military might explore disciplinary action against Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman. Vindman is the National Security Council staffer who lost his role there after testifying in Trump’s impeachment trial. “That’s going to be up to the military — we’ll have to see,” Trump told reporters of…
'We're not some banana republic': National security adviser defends removal of Trump impeachment witness from White House job
WASHINGTON — National security adviser Robert O’Brien said Tuesday evening there had been “absolutely” no retaliation involved in Friday’s departure of Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman from the National Security Council, even as President Trump seemed to indicate that the military would “look into” whether to take disciplinary action against the Army officer. Vindman, who…
Anatomy of a debacle: Biden supporters saw it coming, and it came
MANCHESTER, N.H. — Jill Biden made an impromptu visit on Monday morning to Joe Biden’s main field office. She thanked a group of 15 volunteers for working to get out the vote, in rain and snow. Judi Lanza, a volunteer from New Hampshire, waited to take a photo with Jill. She started to cry as…
'A true desecration': Sacred Native American site blasted for Trump border wall
Red-lettered signs warning of “BLASTING” began appearing over the past week at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, a remote desert region in southwestern Arizona bordered by Mexico to the south and a Native American reservation to the east. Crews have been blasting the hillside while excavators and backhoes clear a path for the towering sections…
For Many Who Cleaned Up a Nuclear Mess, a Key Ruling Comes Too Late
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — On Christmas Eve, Victor Skaar mailed a stack of letters to Air Force veterans he had served with in Palomares, Spain, scrawling a simple headline at the top of each one: “Great News!” Skaar, a retired chief master sergeant, was one of 1,600 troops scrambled by the U.S. Air Force in 1966…
Diamond Princess cruise passenger speaks out on coronavirus quarantine: 'It's heartbreaking'
Markets may be shedding coronavirus concerns, but fears remain all too real for the roughly 3,700 people stuck a cruise ship quarantined off the coast of Japan. The passengers and crew on board the Carnival (CCL )-owned Diamond Princess were placed under a mandatory two-week quarantine, after 10 passengers tested positive for the fast-spreading coronavirus.…
Woman wakes from coma to learn family died in New Zealand volcano eruption
An Australian woman recently woke up after nearly two months in a coma to learn that her husband and daughter died in the volcano eruption that nearly killed her, family members said. Click Here: gws giants guernsey 2019 Lisa Dallow, 48, suffered burns on about 60 percent of her body in the Dec. 9 eruption…
Trump is elevating judges who could gut the Voting Rights Act
WASHINGTON — Fresh from handing President Trump a victory in his impeachment trial, the U.S. Senate has moved to install federal judges who have expressed disdain for the Voting Rights Act, the landmark 1965 law that struck down rules across the South that kept African-Americans from the ballot box. Overturning voting-rights protections tends to benefit…