Anti-War – by Jason Ditz

The spread of coronavirus has delayed a lot of wargames, but the US and United Arab Emirates both want to send a message to Iran, and that message comes in the form of 4,000 US troops and combined Emirati fighters conducting the biennial Native Fury exercise.

The exercise took place primarily at al-Hamra base, where a fictional Iranian city was constructed, mosques and all, for the troops to pretend to invade and conquer. Troops rampaged through the narrow streets looking for “enemy fighters.” Continue reading “US, UAE Ignore Coronavirus Risk, Hold Anti-Iran War Games”

The Oregonian – by Maxine Bernstein

Violating the new ‘stay home’’ order issued Monday by Gov. Kate Brown is a class C misdemeanor punishable by up to 30 days in jail, a fine of up to $1,250 or both, but police and sheriffs’ officials across the state said they’ll work first to tell people about the new coronavirus restrictions before cracking down.

Brown pushed Oregonians to stay home except for essential work or buying food and similar supplies. She closed more businesses and said offices must allow people to do their jobs remotely if possible.  Continue reading “What’s the penalty for breaking Oregon’s new ‘stay home’ order? Jail, $1,250 fine or both.”

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Fox News

California is now living its first full day under some of the most wide-reaching measures in the country, aimed at halting the coronavirus outbreak.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the “stay home” order for the state’s nearly 40 million residents on Thursday night Continue reading “California wakes up to strictest coronavirus measures in USA: Here are new rules”

The Hill – by Jordain Carney

The Senate passed the House’s coronavirus aid package on Wednesday, sending it to President Trump, who is expected to sign it.

Senators voted 90-8 on the bill that passed the House in a middle-of-the-night Saturday vote but needed dozens of pages of corrections and changes, which cleared the chamber on Monday. Continue reading “Senate passes House’s coronavirus aid bill, sending it to Trump”

Salt Lake Tribune – by Matt Canham

A magnitude 5.7 earthquake hit the Wasatch Front shortly after 7 a.m., shaking homes from at least Logan and going all the way down to Utah County. It was the state’s largest earthquake since 1992, though at least so far there are no reports of major collapses.

The epicenter of the earthquake was northeast of Magna, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Continue reading “Earthquake, a magnitude 5.7, hits Utah — the largest since 1992”

OPB

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown announced Monday she is banning seated dining at the state’s bars and restaurants and prohibiting gatherings of more than 25 people, in the latest set of drastic actions meant to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Restaurants can continue take-out and delivery options and the prohibition on gatherings will have an exemption for grocery stores and retail outlets. The ban starts Tuesday and is scheduled to last at least four weeks. Continue reading “Oregon Orders All Restaurants And Bars To Restrict Access, And Bans Groups Larger Than 25”

The Hill

Canada on Friday formally approved the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), taking the last legislative step to implementation of the deal to replace the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

The trade deal, ratified by the Mexican legislature last June and by Congress in January, was formally ratified by the Canadian Senate Friday, and shortly thereafter received royal assent, the Canadian governor general’s approval.  Continue reading “Canada approves North American trade deal”

CNN

Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced late Monday night that polls will be closed in the state on Tuesday as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The order came from Ohio Health Director Dr. Amy Acton, who said she was ordering “the polling locations in the State of Ohio closed on March 17” in order to “avoid the imminent threat with a high probability of widespread exposure to COVID-19 with a significant risk of substantial harm to a large number of the people in the general population, including the elderly and people with weakened immune systems and chronic medical conditions.”  Continue reading “Ohio governor announces polls will be closed Tuesday over coronavirus”

Stars and Stripes – by John Vandiver

The Pentagon has ordered a halt to the deployment of forces for Defender-Europe 20, which would have been the military’s largest exercise on the Continent in a generation, because of concerns about the coronavirus, U.S. European Command said Monday.

Parts of the exercise have been completely eliminated including Dynamic Front, Joint Warfighting Assessment, Saber Strike and Swift Response, which involved paratroops dropping into the Republic of Georgia and the Baltics, officials said.  Continue reading “Coronavirus fears force Pentagon to curtail large Defender-Europe 20 exercise”

Live Science – by Nicoletta Lanese

A clinical trial for an experimental coronavirus vaccine has begun recruiting participants in Seattle, but researchers did not first show that the vaccine triggered an immune response in animals, as is normally required.

Now, biomedical ethicists are calling the shortcut into question, according to Stat News. Continue reading “Researchers fast-track coronavirus vaccine by skipping key animal testing first”

Mental Floss – by Byron Dugan

Using the bathroom has come a long way from when ancient Greeks used stones and pieces of clay for personal hygiene. Toilet paper is one of those things that often gets taken for granted in modern times, except for places Charmin has yet to infiltrate. This is definitely one of those unavoidable things in life, so through many centuries and in many cultures, everyone had their own method of staying clean.  Continue reading “What Did People Use Before Toilet Paper?”

Yahoo News

SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — A Maryland man was asleep in his bedroom when police opened fire from outside his house, killing him and wounding his girlfriend, an attorney for the 21-year-old man’s family said Friday.

The Montgomery County Police Department said in a news release Friday that Duncan Socrates Lemp “confronted” police and was shot by one of the officers early Thursday. Rene Sandler, an attorney for Lemp’s relatives, said an eyewitness gave a “completely contrary” account of the shooting. She said police could have “absolutely no justification” for shooting Lemp based on what she has heard about the circumstances. Continue reading “Lawyer: Man asleep when police fired on house, killing him”

Yahoo News

The U.S. military conducted airstrikes in various locations inside Iraq on Thursday targeting an Iranian-backed militia group it says is responsible for Wednesday’s rocket attack that killed two American service members, a British service member and wounded 14 others.

In a statement, the Pentagon characterized the strikes as “defensive, proportional, and in direct response to the threat posed by Iranian-backed Shia militia groups” to coalition bases in Iraq. Continue reading “US military conducts airstrikes in Iraq in retaliation for rocket attack that killed 2 Americans”

ABC News

A former Los Angeles Police Department officer was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison for the murder of a 23-year-old man.

Henry Solis said he was acting in self-defense while attempting to arrest Salome Rodriguez on March 13, 2015, in Pomona, California, for an alleged assault and robbery, according to court documents.  Continue reading “Ex-police officer sentenced to 40 years to life for murder of a man outside a bar”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

After increases its repo bailout facility twice this week already (from $100billion to $150billion to $175billion per day) and added some longer-term facilities, The New York Fed just went full-retard, with $1 trillion of liquidity in 3-month repo.

For some context of how that compares to what they have been doing… Continue reading “Bazooka Fired: Fed To Conduct $1 Trillion Repo Over 2 Days, Expands “Not QE” To QE4″

Yahoo News

Amid growing public anxiety over the novel coronavirus, President Donald Trump announced an extraordinary ban on some travel from Europe to the United States for the next 30 days and called for a series of stimulus measures to blunt the economic side effects of the virus. Continue reading “Trump announces travel from Europe to be restricted amid coronavirus threat”

Yahoo News

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Gun rights supporters are suing Connecticut officials over part of a 2013 state gun control law passed after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, saying it unconstitutionally bans people from loading more than 10 rounds of ammunition into their firearms.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court cites the Second Amendment right to bear arms and the ability of people to better defend themselves with more bullets in their guns. Continue reading “Suit filed over Sandy Hook-inspired law limiting gun rounds”