January, 2020

The Monday order followed a 5-4 split vote that divided the court’s conservatives and liberals. At issue is the administration’s rule issued in August that would restrict immigrants entering the United States if the government believes they will rely on public assistance, such as housing or health care benefits. Lower federal courts had blocked the policy from being implemented while the issue is being litigated.

The incident saw Hong Kong’s twin crises -- political unrest and the threat of a viral outbreak in mainland China spreading across the border -- converge in a striking echo of a similar period of anxiety about the city’s future during the SARS scare 17 years ago. Both issues were charged with deep local mistrust of authorities...

Dr. Nancy Messonnier, the Director of the Center for the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD), spoke on behalf of the CDC. During the press conference, she said that the US had identified 110 people who are under observation and being tested for the virus. While 5 cases have already been identified in the US, another 32 have definitively tested negative. Right now, the CDC is focused on providing tests to "priority" states (presumably, Cali, Washington, Arizona and Illinois, the states where cases have been confirmed). But soon they will expand the program to supply governments in need. The CDC has also uploaded the entire genome of the virus from the first two cases. From what the CDC can tell so far, the virus doesn't appear to be "mutating", as some Chinese officials had suggested.

Sessions, at 43 percent, towers over the next best candidate Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-AL)—who is at 22 percent. Tommy Tuberville, the former Auburn football coach, has dropped to third place at 21 percent—a slide that is significant in that it follows a trend where Tuberville has consistently struggled and faded since Sessions’ entrance into the field.

Standing outside Epstein's East 71st Street mansion on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, Berman said Prince Andrew, despite his public offer of cooperation, has so far provided none. The FBI has reached out to the prince's lawyers to no avail so far, he said.

...transcripts of my calls with President Zelensky are all the proof that is needed, in addition to the fact that President Zelensky & the Foreign Minister of Ukraine said there was no pressure and no problems. Additionally, I met with President Zelensky at the United Nations...

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 27, 2020

...(Democrats said I never met) and released the military aid to Ukraine without any conditions or investigations - and far ahead of schedule. I also allowed Ukraine to purchase Javelin anti-tank missiles. My Administration has done far more than the previous Administration.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 27, 2020

China has been forced to lock down cities and shutdown factories for the next several weeks. The outbreak of the coronavirus will likely damage first-quarter economic figures for the country, reported the Financial Times... China has ordered several manufacturing hubs and other centers of the industry to remain closed for the next one to two weeks.

Walsh Property Management, which oversees the homeowners association, charged each resident $300 to clean up the trash and waste at the camp... Residents told the outlet the delay in determining who was responsible caused more trash to pile up, making the cleanup costs more expensive. “No one knew it was their responsibility. I think everyone assumed it was county’s responsibility,” resident Cece Adams told the outlet...“They should have known that this was our property, and they should have taken care of it a long time ago."

Diners at some of San Francisco most popular restaurants might notice a new line item on their bills this month, a one percent add-on that’s known as the Restore California surcharge — a fee that’s intended to assist in efforts against climate change.

However, the charges will be “optional.”

…If you choose to opt in, it purports to make your meal more climate-friendly: The charge will fund a new program called Restore California, which is managed by the nonprofit Zero Footprint...

Jelani Maraj learned his fate in a Long Island courtroom, following his conviction for predatory sexual assault and acting in a manner injurious to a child. The sentence comes two years after a jury handed down the guilty verdict for the sexual abuse, which began in 2015. The stepdaughter took the stand in 2017 trial to testify that Maraj raped her in their Baldwin home while he was married to her mother.

Oil is getting hammered to start the week, now at the lowest level in more than three-months, thanks to fears that demand could plunge in China as coronavirus uncontrollably spreads across the country. Demand woes from Asia are coming at a time when oil markets remain oversupplied as the global economy continues to decelerate...

Many people saw their overall taxes go down after the 2017 law was passed. But the law had two main changes making it tougher to live in high-cost, high-tax states, especially compared with lower-taxed options. It essentially curbed how much homeowners can subtract from their federal taxes for paying local property and income taxes, by capping the state and local tax deduction at $10,000. It also lowered the size of mortgages for which new buyers can deduct the interest, to $750,000 from $1 million.

Tariq Ghazniwal, a journalist in the area, said that he saw the burning aircraft. In an exchange on Twitter, he told The Associated Press that he saw two bodies and the front of the aircraft was badly burned... Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said a U.S. Air Force plane crashed in the Ghazni province. He claimed the crash killed “lots" of U.S. service members. The militant group often exaggerates casualty figures.
[...]
U.S. Army Maj. Beth Riordan, a spokeswoman for U.S. Central Command, declined to comment when told about the Taliban claim. She earlier acknowledged American military officials were investigating reports of a crash in Afghanistan. She said that it remained unclear whose aircraft was involved in the crash.

That woman was me!!!!! https://t.co/y4bgOJc6Vp

— Kristen Day (@ProLifeDem) January 27, 2020

#WALKAWAY