New Bolton Book Allegations Drop Hours ahead of Vote on Witnesses

New reports of the contents of former White House adviser John Bolton's book have surfaced hours before the Senate is scheduled to vote on whether to call witnesses in the impeachment trial of President Trump.According to the New York Times, Bolton writes in his forthcoming book that Trump directed him to assist in the pressure campaign to coerce Ukrainian officials to conduct investigations against Joe and Hunter Biden during a May meeting at which the president's lawyer Rudy Giuliani, acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, and White House counsel Pat Cipillone were present.During the meeting, Trump directed Bolton to set up a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Giuliani, who was then planning a trip to Ukraine to discuss the opening of the Biden investigation with government officials. Giuliani on Friday denied he was present at such a meeting, while Trump said Bolton's alleged account was wrong.The Times' Sunday report on Bolton's book, The Room Where it Happened, disrupted Republicans' blanket opposition to calling witnesses in the impeachment trial. After unanimously resisting Democrats' calls for Bolton to testify, moderate Republicans began to waver on Monday.Democrats need four Republican senators to vote in favor of calling witnesses in order for the motion to pass. Senators Mitt Romney of Utah and Susan Collins of Maine have announced their support, however moderate Lisa Murkowski of Alaska has still not released her position. Senator Lamar Alexander (R., Tenn.), considered a swing vote, came out Thursday against calling witnesses.Democrats may argue that because revelations from Bolton's book have surfaced once again, a vote to allow witnesses at the trial-presumably including Bolton-would be necessary.The revelation that Trump's pressure campaign had begun as early as May and involved Bolton directly came moments after Senator John Cornyn (R., Texas) warned of the possibility the vote on President Trump's impeachment may be pushed back to next week."My guess is it probably is going to carry us over to the first part of next week," Cornyn told CNN. White House officials also told the network it was possible the trial would drag out into next week."I never instructed John Bolton to set up a meeting for Rudy Giuliani, one of the greatest corruption fighters in America…to meet with President Zelensky. That meeting never happened," Trump told the Times.

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South African Airways Faces Long Haul After Funding Lifeline

(Bloomberg) -- South African Airways finally secured the funding it needs to keep flying for the time being, yet there’s still a long way to go before the state-owned carrier can claim to be stable.SAA probably has enough cash to keep operating for as long as eight months after the Development Bank of Southern Africa stepped in with a 3.5 billion rand ($240 million) injection, according to Joachim Vermooten, an independent aviation consultant. The carrier is running at a loss of about 500 million rand a month and the situation may deteriorate as it scraps flights and reduces ticket prices to attract wary customers, he said.The loss-making airline was put into a local form of bankruptcy protection late last year and administrators at Johannesburg-based Matuson & Associates have little more than a month left to come up with a workable plan to turn it around. They’re working in the meantime on cutting costs, and on Thursday said they are reviewing supply contracts and canceled almost 100 domestic and international flights based on weak bookings.Matuson & Associates have said securing an equity partner for SAA is at the heart of its rescue strategy -- an option that’s been talked about for years but never materialized.“It would not be possible to get an equity partner in until SAA demonstrates a turnaround and level of profitability to enable a reasonable return,” Vermooten said Wednesday. “I cannot foresee this soon.”Ethiopian InterestSAA has lost money since 2012 as it grapples with high costs, an inefficient jet fleet, mismanagement and corruption allegations. Pooling resources with a partner could enable SAA to reduce operating expenses, while the sale of equity would also help pay down debt.Carriers that have expressed an interest in the past include Ethiopian Airlines Group, which said in October it would consider a deal in part to defend African airlines against competition from rivals in the Gulf. The Addis Ababa-based airline didn’t respond to requests for comment.The state-owned DBSA’s decision to put cash into SAA came months after the government agreed to provide it with a 2 billio-rand lifeline, and the move has raised eyebrows in some quarters.Mkhuleko Hlengwa, the chairman of the South African parliament’s public accounts committee, told a state-owned radio station the money is being lent without enough due diligence as the airline has failed to release financial statements.And while Grant Back, chairman of the SAA Pilots Association, welcomed the DBSA intervention and said it should reassure passengers that it’s safe to buy tickets, he said the management team must be replaced en masse.“Until now, government has failed to hold management accountable for the downward spiral of the airline and this cannot continue,” Back said in an emailed statement. “Managers are still making poor decisions at grave cost to the airline.”Louise Brugman, a spokeswoman for Matuson & Associates, declined to comment.(Updates with flight cancelations in third paragraph)\--With assistance from Roxanne Henderson.To contact the reporters on this story: John Bowker in Johannesburg at jbowker2@bloomberg.net;Paul Vecchiatto in Cape Town at pvecchiatto@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net, Mike Cohen, Paul RichardsonFor 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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U.S. Declares Public Health Emergency Over Coronavirus Fears

Federal officials declared a public health emergency and will be restricting entry into the United States in light of the 2019 novel coronavirus that has killed at least 200 people and infected nearly 10,000 more worldwide. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told reporters Friday that President Trump would sign a proclamation temporarily suspending entry to foreign nationals deemed to pose a transmission risk.Azar also said any U.S. citizen who traveled to China's Hubei province within the past 14 days before arriving home would be subjected two weeks of mandatory quarantine. And citizens who traveled to any other regions in China would undergo a “proactive entry health screen” and 14 days of monitored self-quarantine.“The risk for infections for Americans remains low,” Azar said, adding that these steps were “measured” reactions that would help officials deal with “unknowns” surrounding the virus.Earlier Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said they were putting 195 people who recently returned from China under quarantine for two weeks, dubbing it an “unprecedented” step that was now warranted.“We are preparing as this is the next pandemic, but hopeful this is not and will not be the case,” Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said on a call with reporters. “We would rather be remembered for overreacting to under-reacting.”The move came after one of those recently-returned travelers reportedly attempted to leave the March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, California, after arriving from Wuhan, China. The CDC declined to provide more information on the individual. There are currently over 9,800 cases of coronavirus in China, while the number of confirmed cases in the United States remained steady at six. Only one, the husband of a woman who recently traveled abroad, had been spread in-country, the CDC said previously. No one had died as a result of infection in the United States by the CDC's latest count.But Messonnier pointed to the most recent number of cases in China, which she said represented a 26 percent increase over Thursday's numbers, as a cause for growing vigilance. She also mentioned an increasing number of reports of person-to-person spread, including growing evidence that the 2019 novel coronavirus can be spread by people who have not yet experienced symptoms. The New England Journal of Medicine on Thursday released a study describing a case in Germany that appeared to show the spread of the virus from a person who traveled to China to several others.“The current scenario is a cause for concern,” Messonnier said.WHO Calls Coronavirus ‘Emergency’ as Person-to-Person Spread Confirmed in U.S.When asked if the coronavirus were more dangerous than the flu, Messonnier said there appeared to be “significant mortality related with this disease” based on cases coming out of China. However, she still didn't recommend face masks for the general public and urged people to stay calm.“Please do not let fear guide your actions,” she said, adding that the public shouldn't assume Asian Americans have the virus amid reports of surging xenophobia against people of Chinese descent worldwide. “There are about 4 million Chinese-Americans in this country.”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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GOP Sen. Lamar Alexander called Trump's actions 'inappropriate' but says he will vote against a motion for witnesses in impeachment trial

All eyes are on a few Republican senators who could be swing votes in the motion to call witnesses: Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Mitt Romney.

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Bernie Sanders told Ninth Graders the U.S. Committed Acts in Vietnam ‘Almost as Bad as what Hitler Did’

During his 1972 gubernatorial run, Senator Bernie Sanders told high-school students that the U.S. had committed acts in its war with Vietnam that were "almost as bad as what Hitler did."An article in the Rutland, Vermont, newspaper, The Rutland Herald, reported on the comments, made while Sanders was campaigning for governor as a member of the Liberty Union party. The article was first unearthed by the Washington Free Beacon.The North Vietnamese "are not my enemy," Sanders told a class of ninth graders in Rutland while on the campaign trail. "They're a very, very poor people. Some of them don't have shoes. They eat rice when they can get it. And they have been fighting for the freedom of their country for 25 years. They can hardly fight back."The American death toll from the Vietnam War was over 58,000. The Herald reported that students pushed back against Sanders's support for amnesty for draft evaders, saying it wouldn't be fair to the parents of soldiers killed in the fighting.Sanders also outlined other positions that may sound familiar to today's voters, including increasing the minimum wage and availability of low-income housing, as well as increased access to dental care. He also charged that the Democratic Party was too beholden to large corporations.The Vermont senator received around one percent of the vote in that election. Sanders is currently the strongest presidential candidate from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, and has polled ahead of moderate Joe Biden in various Iowa and New Hampshire surveys.Establishment Democrats have been worried by Sanders's rise and durability throughout the primary. The senator has relied on an enthusiastic base of younger progressive voters, and has received strong grassroots financial support.

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Trump impeachment: Failed witnesses vote paves way for acquittal

Bid to call witnesses in the Trump impeachment trial fails, setting up a likely acquittal next week.

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The Papers: 'Make leave not war' and 'what next?'

Saturday's newspapers mark a "moment of history" as Britain leaves the European Union after 47 years.

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Brexit at last: Britain leaves the EU as champagne corks fly

The United Kingdom finally cast off from the European Union on Friday for an uncertain future, with Brexiteers claiming victory and popping champagne corks for an "independence day" they said marked a new era for the country.

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'We are free': Flag-waving Britons cheer in Brexit

Singing patriotic songs and waving Union Jacks, thousands of Britons flocked to a muddy patch of grass outside parliament on a damp Friday night to toast their moment of history: Britain's departure from the European Union.

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Last train to Europe: all aboard the Eurostar as Britain bids goodbye

On the last train to Europe before Britain left the EU on Friday evening, passengers leaving London expressed sorrow, optimism and anger, reflecting the emotions of a nation conflicted ahead its great leap into the unknown.

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Former Belgian-Nicaraguan political prisoner calls for probe into Ortega government

Nicaragua's best known former political prisoner, Amaya Coppens, is calling for international organizations to investigate alleged abuses by the government of President Daniel Ortega.

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Trump eases restrictions on land mine use by U.S. military

President Donald Trump on Friday relaxed Obama-era restrictions on the U.S. military's use of anti-personnel land mines, arguing that the previous policy could put American troops at a "severe disadvantage."

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China's Hubei reports 45 new coronavirus deaths, total at 249

China's Hubei province, the epicentre of a coronavirus epidemic, reported 45 new deaths from the outbreak on Friday, bringing the total to 249, the local health commission said on Saturday.

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U.S. declares coronavirus public health emergency after imposing quarantines

Reuters) - The Trump administration, while insisting the risk to Americans from coronavirus is low, nevertheless declared a public health emergency on Friday and announced the extraordinary step of barring entry to the United States of foreign nationals who have traveled to China.

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Britain Brexits - United Kingdom leaves the European Union

The United Kingdom finally cast off from the European Union on Friday for an uncertain Brexit future, turning its back on post-World War Two attempts to unite the once warring nations of Europe into a global power.

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Airlines suspend China flights because of coronavirus outbreak

Airlines are suspending flights to China in the wake of the new coronavirus outbreak, which as of Friday had killed more than 200 people and infected nearly 10,000 people.

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Companies feel impact of coronavirus outbreak in China

Some companies have warned that a coronavirus outbreak in China that has killed more than 200 people and infected thousands could disrupt supply chains or hurt bottom lines as factories and shops shut and airlines suspend flights.

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Trump's expanded travel ban targets Nigeria, five other countries

U.S. President Donald Trump will issue an expanded version of his travel ban on Friday that targets prospective immigrants from Nigeria and five other countries, U.S. officials said, a move that could affect thousands of people and reignite debate over whether the policy is discriminatory.

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Some Americans to leave China, many stay after US advisory - AOL

Some Americans to leave China, many stay after US advisory  AOL

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Americans in coronavirus epicenter say they feel abandoned by U.S. - NBC News

1. Americans in coronavirus epicenter say they feel abandoned by U.S.  NBC News
2. Delta, American, United to suspend all China mainland flights as coronavirus crisis grows  USA TODAY
3. Coronavirus live updates: CDC quarantines Americans evacuated from Wuhan, airlines suspend China flights  CNBC
4. American, Delta and United airlines suspend most US- China flights amid coronavirus outbreak  CNN
5. Here are the 20 U.S. airports where health officials are screening for coronavirus  The Washington Post
6. View full coverage on Google News

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New sci-fi RPG from BioWare veterans announced – and it sounds like Mass Effect - PCGamesN

1. New sci-fi RPG from BioWare veterans announced – and it sounds like Mass Effect  PCGamesN
2. Wizards of the Coast announces 'story driven' RPG studio led by ex Bioware vets  PC Gamer
3. Wizards of the Coast teams with ex-BioWare devs on a sci-fi RPG  Engadget
4. Wizards of the Coast reveals new studio headed up by BioWare veterans  GamesIndustry.biz
5. Wizards of the Coast details new studio led by former BioWare developers  Gamasutra
6. View full coverage on Google News

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'The Crown' set to end with Season 5 - CNN

1. 'The Crown' set to end with Season 5  CNN
2. ‘The Crown’: Netflix Royal Drama To End With Season Five As Imelda Staunton Confirmed As Final Queen Elizabeth II  Yahoo Celebrity
3. The Crown Will End After Season 5 — and They've Cast Imelda Staunton as the Final Queen Elizabeth!  PEOPLE.com
4. Netflix 'The Crown' to End With Season 5; Imelda Staunton Set as Queen  Hollywood Reporter
5. 'The Crown' is coming to an end after 5 seasons amid real-life 'Megxit' drama  Fox News
6. View full coverage on Google News

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How a beef with Jim Harbaugh has made Richard Sherman a future Hall of Famer - Yahoo Sports

1. How a beef with Jim Harbaugh has made Richard Sherman a future Hall of Famer  Yahoo Sports
2. Richard Sherman wanted to escape Jim Harbaugh, Stanford, but his mom wouldn't let him leave  SFGate
3. Stephen A. disagrees with Richard Sherman over 17-game season criticism | First Take  ESPN
4. Richard Sherman is mad (again) about being drug-tested by NFL  Yahoo Sports
5. Super Bowl LIV Preview | San Francisco 49ers CB Richard Sherman  ABC10
6. View full coverage on Google News

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Pilots, flight attendants demand flights to China stop as virus fear mount worldwide

Pilots and flight attendants are demanding airlines stop flights to China as health officials declare a global emergency over the rapidly spreading coronavirus, with American Airlines' pilots filing a lawsuit seeking an immediate halt.

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