Stocks Fall on Coronavirus Fears 01/24 16:12
Stocks Fall on Coronavirus Fears 01/24 16:12 Health care companies led a broad slide in U.S. stocks Friday as increased fears over the spread of a deadly outbreak of coronavirus rattled markets. (AP) -- Health care companies led a broad slide in U.S. stocks Friday as increased fears over the spread of a deadly outbreak of coronavirus rattled markets. The S&P 500 had its worst day since early October and snapped a two-week winning streak. The sell-off followed news that a Chicago woman has become the second U.S. patient diagnosed with the new virus from China. Health authorities worldwide have been taking measures to try to contain and monitor the coronavirus outbreak. "It really is a reaction to the widening nature of what's going on with the coronavirus," said Lisa Erickson, head of traditional investments at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. "People are concerned about, ultimately, the impact on Chinese growth and perhaps global growth." The S&P 500 index fell 30.07 points, or 0.9%, to 3,295.47. The index had been down as much as 1.3% earlier. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 170.36 points, or 0.6%, to 28,989.73. It briefly slid more than 316 points. The Nasdaq composite lost 87.57 points, or 0.9%, to 9,314.91. The Russell 2000 index of smaller company stocks slumped 22.78 points, or 1.4%, to 1,662.23. The stock market has been mostly racking up gains going back to last fall. Before this week, the S&P 500 had only posted a weekly decline three times since October. Even with this week's decline of 1%, the benchmark index is still up 2% for the month. Jitters over the potential economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak intensified Friday as the tally of confirmed cases continued to climb, rising to more than 850. Twenty-six people have died, all in China. The Centers for Disease Control said over 2,000 returning travelers had been screened at U.S. airports and 63 patients in 22 states were being tested. The virus can cause pneumonia and other severe respiratory symptoms. The World Health Organization has so far held off on declaring the situation a global emergency, which would bring more money and resources to fight it, but also could trigger economically damaging restrictions on trade and travel. Shares in airlines and several other companies in the travel and tourism industries fell Friday. United Airlines slid 3.5% and American Airlines dropped 4%. Cruise line operator Carnival fell 3.9%. Drugmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb was among the biggest decliners in the health care sector, shedding 4%. Health insurers also fell. UnitedHealth Group dropped 2.2% and Amgen lost 4%. Banks and other financial sector companies also took heavy losses, with credit card issuers among the biggest losers. The price of U.S. crude oil fell 2.5%, dragging down energy stocks. Hess lost 3.2%. Utilities notched a slight gain as investors shifted money into safe-play, high-dividend stocks and U.S. government bonds. The surge in bond-buying sent yields lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 1.69% from 1.74% late Thursday, a big move. Investors continued to dig through the latest batch of company earnings reports Friday. Intel surged 8.1% after the chipmaker blew past Wall Street's fourth-quarter profit forecasts. The company cited demand for cloud-computing as the key reason for the solid financial results. It also gave investors an upbeat forecast for the first quarter, which helped inject some confidence into the broader market for chips. American Express rose 2.8% after the credit card issuer and global payments company beat Wall Street's fourth-quarter profit forecasts. Shares in two credit card issuers fell sharply after the companies released mixed quarterly snapshots. Discover Financial Services slumped 11.1% after it issued disappointing 2020 guidance. Synchrony Financial skidded 9.9% after its fourth-quarter revenue fell short of analysts' forecasts. Next week is shaping up as the busiest week for earnings reports, with roughly 40% of the companies in the S&P 500 due to issue their results for the last three months of 2019. So far, about 16% of S&P 500 companies have reported their quarterly results. Early indications have been encouraging, with 72.8% of those companies topping analysts' forecasts for profits, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. Even so, the outlook for 2020 earnings isn't improving as many investors expected, said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA. "The reason the market was up 13% in the past 3 months is with the expectation that we would see a ramp-up in economic growth and earnings increases, but that has yet to materialize," he said. "2020 (earnings) estimates have actually come down. They were expected to be up 7.9%, now they're expected to climb 7.6%." Benchmark crude oil fell $1.40 to settle at $54.19 a barrel. Brent crude oil, the international standard, dropped $1.35 to close at $60.69 a barrel. Wholesale gasoline fell 4 cents to $1.52 per gallon. Heating oil declined 6 cents to $1.73 per gallon. Natural gas fell 4 cents to $1.89 per 1,000 cubic feet. Gold rose $6.50 to $1,571.10 per ounce, silver rose 29 cents to $18.06 per ounce and copper fell 4 cents to $2.69 per pound. The dollar fell to 109.24 Japanese yen from 109.52 yen on Thursday. The euro weakened to $1.1029 from $1.1056. European markets closed with solid gains, helped by a report that showed improvement in manufacturing activity. Germany's DAX jumped 1.4% and the CAC 40 in France rose 0.9%. Markets were closed in Shanghai and the rest of mainland China, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan. Japan's Nikkei and Hong Kong's Hang Seng edged higher. (CZ)
China Death Toll Rises, US Preps Evac. 01/26 09:23
China Death Toll Rises, US Preps Evac. 01/26 09:23 A new viral illness being watched with a wary eye around the globe accelerated its spread in China on Sunday with 56 deaths so far, while the U.S. Consulate in the city at the epicenter announced it will evacuate its personnel and some private citizens aboard a charter flight. BEIJING (AP) -- A new viral illness being watched with a wary eye around the globe accelerated its spread in China on Sunday with 56 deaths so far, while the U.S. Consulate in the city at the epicenter announced it will evacuate its personnel and some private citizens aboard a charter flight. China's health minister said the country was entering a "crucial stage" as "it seems like the ability of the virus to spread is getting stronger." Ma Xiaowei declined to estimate how long it would take to bring the situation under control, but said travel restrictions and other strict measures should bring results "at the lowest cost and fastest speed." President Xi Jinping has called the outbreak a grave situation and said the government was stepping up efforts to restrict travel and public gatherings while rushing medical staff and supplies to the city at the center of the crisis, Wuhan, which remains on lockdown with no flights, trains or buses in or out. The epidemic has revived memories of the SARS outbreak that originated in China and killed nearly 800 as it spread around the world in 2002 and 2003. Its spread has come amid China's busiest travel period of the year, when millions crisscross the country or head abroad for the Lunar New Year holiday. The latest figures reported Sunday morning cover the previous 24 hours and mark an increase of 15 deaths and 688 cases for a total of 1,975 infections. The government also reported five cases in Hong Kong and two in Macao. Small numbers of cases have been found in Thailand, Taiwan Japan, South Korea, the U.S., Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Nepal, France and Australia. The U.S. has confirmed cases in Washington state, Chicago, and most recently Southern California. Canada said it discovered its first case, a man in his 50s who was in Wuhan before flying to Toronto. Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea each reported one new case Sunday, while Thailand reported three new cases. A notice from the U.S. Embassy in Beijing said there would be limited capacity to transport U.S. citizens on a Tuesday flight from Wuhan that will proceed directly to San Francisco. It said that in the event there are not enough seats, priority will be given to to individuals "at greater risk from coronavirus." The French Consulate also was considering an evacuation of its nationals from the city. It said it's working on arranging a bus service to help French citizens leave Wuhan. French automaker PSA Group said it will evacuate its employees from Wuhan, quarantine them and then bring them to France. Japan was also making preparations to fly its nationals out of Wuhan. Chinese travel agencies have been told to halt all group tours, and concern is growing over the potential impact of millions of people traveling back to the cities after the Lunar New Year holiday ends on Thursday. China's National Health Commission said anyone traveling from Wuhan is now required to register with community health stations and quarantine themselves at home for 14 days --- the virus' maximum incubation period. Beijing has decided to delay the start of classes after the Lunar New Year holiday ends, the official Beijing Daily reported on its website. That will extend to all schools in the capital from kindergartens to universities. Hong Kong announced similar measures on Saturday and on Sunday two of that territory's biggest attractions, Hong Kong Disneyland and Ocean Park, announced they were closing for the time being. A proposal to possibly quarantine suspected cases and others at a still-unoccupied public housing complex in the Hong Kong suburb of Fanling sparked a protest by area residents. Though largely peaceful, they were joined by black-clad protesters like those who have clashed with police during months of anti-government protests and those protesters set a fire in the lobby of one of the buildings. The fire was extinguished without appearing to cause major damage. Police later moved in n to disperse the group, using pepper spray on occasion. In the heart of the outbreak where 11 million residents are already on lockdown, Wuhan banned most vehicle use, including private cars, in downtown areas starting Sunday. The city will assign 6,000 taxis to neighborhoods to help people get around if they need to. China cut off trains, planes and other links to the city Jan. 22, and has steadily expanded the lockdown to 16 surrounding cities with a combined population of more than 50 million --- greater than that of New York, London, Paris and Moscow combined. Wuhan is building two makeshift hospitals with about 1,000 beds each to handle the growing number of patients. The city has said the first is expected to be completed Feb. 3. Medical workers in Wuhan have been among those infected and local media reported a doctor died on Saturday morning. The 62-year-old physician was hospitalized on Jan. 18 and died a week later. Xinhua also said medical supplies are being rushed to the city, including 14,000 protective suits, 110,000 pairs of gloves and masks and goggles. Videos have circulated online showing throngs of frantic people in masks lined up for examinations and there have been complaints that family members had been turned away at hospitals that were at capacity. The National Health Commission said it is bringing in medical teams to help handle the outbreak and the Chinese military dispatched 450 medical staff, some with experience in past outbreaks, including SARS and Ebola, Xinhua reported. The new virus comes from a large family of what are known as coronaviruses, some causing nothing worse than a cold. It causes cold- and flu-like symptoms, including cough and fever, and in more severe cases, shortness of breath. It can worsen to pneumonia, which can be fatal. First detected last month, the virus is believed to have originated in a type of wild animal sold at a Wuhan market to be consumed as food. Chinese authorities announced a temporary ban on the trade of wild animals Sunday, saying they will "severely investigate and punish" violators. They also called on the public to refrain from eating wild animal meat. Investigators are closely observing whether the virus was mutating, but thus far found "no obvious signs," that it is doing so, head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control, Gao Fu, told reporters. That could make it easier to develop vaccines against the virus, something the center is already working on. Xinhua quoted center official Xu Wenbo as saying the they had isolated the virus and were identifying seed strain. The rapid increase in reported deaths and illnesses does not necessarily mean the crisis is getting worse but could reflect better monitoring and reporting of the virus. Those killed by the virus have mostly been middle-aged or elderly people, sometimes suffering from other conditions that weaken their ability to fight back. It is not clear how lethal the new coronavirus is or even whether it is as dangerous as the ordinary flu, which kills tens of thousands of people every year in the U.S. alone. (KR)
Dem Race Heats Up as IA Caucus Nears 01/26 09:28
Dem Race Heats Up as IA Caucus Nears 01/26 09:28 DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Democratic presidential candidates have roared back into Iowa touting fresh endorsements, critiquing their rivals and predicting victories in the caucuses that will soon launch the process of deciding who will challenge President Donald Trump. Sen. Elizabeth Warren said Saturday she was "delighted" to pick up a coveted endorsement from The Des Moines Register. The state's largest newspaper called the Massachusetts Democrat "the best leader for these times" and said she "is not the radical some perceive her to be." But Warren's progressive rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, predicted victory in Iowa and campaigned alongside Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., one of the most prominent leaders on the left. Joe Biden, meanwhile, appeared for the first time alongside Rep. Cindy Axne, D-Iowa, who is the latest in a growing list of local politicians backing the former vice president's candidacy. And Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, sought to position himself a Washington outsider above the partisan fray. But as the candidates set out to make their best case to voters, the volatility of the race was evident. Several candidates began their day in Washington, sitting as jurors in Trump's impeachment trial. They will have to return to Capitol Hill early next week as the trial continues, sidelining them from campaigning during a critical period. More fundamentally, there's no clear front-runner despite the fact that many candidates have now spent more than a year courting Iowans. A New York Times/Siena College poll released Saturday showed Sanders with a slight --- but not commanding --- edge in Iowa. But several polls show Biden, Buttigieg and Warren remain among the front-runners. "There's still plenty of time for movement," said Kurt Meyer, chairman of the Tri-County Democrats in northern Iowa. "Every part of the ground game counts." Still, Sanders returned to Iowa exuding a sense of confidence. Hundreds of supporters filled the municipal auditorium in Ames and additional voters crowded an overflow room. Earlier in the night, he told voters in Marshalltown that he had an "excellent chance to win here in Iowa" and argued that his is the only campaign that can weave broad support from voters. "I believe that our campaign, our energy, our grassroots movement, our agenda is the approach that will speak to working people who, in many cases, have given up on politics," he said. "I think we will resonate with them. I think we have in the past, I think we will in the future." Polls suggest Biden also has a substantial appeal among Democratic voters, especially African Americans. While he has been critical of Sanders in the past, he kept his focus instead on the threat of four more years of Trump in the White House. "I don't believe we are the dark, angry nation that Donald Trump tweets about at night," he told a large crowd in Ankeny. "We are so much better than Donald Trump." Biden scored the endorsement of the Sioux City Journal, which called him "the candidate best positioned to give Americans a competitive head-to-head matchup with President Trump" and said he would be best at attracting support from "independents and disgruntled Republicans." Compared to Biden, Buttigieg was more dire in his reaction to the prospect of Sanders gaining strength in the Democratic contest. Hours after The New York Times/Siena College poll was released, his campaign sent an email to supporters with the subject line: "Bernie Sanders could be the nominee." "We need a nominee who can galvanize our country," the email said. "The Trump presidency will end one way or another, and when it does we need a president who can rally this country around a vision for the next generation. We know that candidate is Pete."" Speaking to reporters later in the day, Buttigieg stopped short of directly hitting Sanders, but noted that "we are getting into the heart of the competition." "I believe that we should be very mindful that the very worst risk we can take at a time like this is to recycle the same Washington-style of political warfare that that brought us to this point," he said. "If we believe it's important to win, and I sure do, then the best thing we could do is put forward a candidate who offers something new." (KR)
US Faces New Election Threats 01/26 09:29
US Faces New Election Threats 01/26 09:29 It's been more than three years since Russia's sweeping and systematic effort to interfere in U.S. elections through disinformation on social media, stolen campaign emails and attacks on voting systems. U.S. officials have made advances in trying to prevent similar attacks from undermining the 2020 vote, but the potential threats have increased and some old problems have not been addressed. (AP) -- It's been more than three years since Russia's sweeping and systematic effort to interfere in U.S. elections through disinformation on social media, stolen campaign emails and attacks on voting systems. U.S. officials have made advances in trying to prevent similar attacks from undermining the 2020 vote, but the potential threats have increased and some old problems have not been addressed. A look at what has changed since 2016 and what has not. THE THREAT THEN: U.S. intelligence agencies say Russia was the only nation that significantly interfered in the 2016 election. Russia's activities shouldn't have come as a surprise. Russia is believed to have interfered in Ukraine's 2014 vote. Russia's 2016 goals, according to an assessment by the U.S. intelligence agencies, were to add to the divisiveness in American society, undermine faith in the democratic process and harm Democrat Hillary Clinton's White House candidacy and potential presidency. NOW: The threat has expanded considerably. U.S. intelligence chiefs say potential threats aren't just from Russia, but also from China, Iran and North Korea. In addition, there have been indications that hostile foreign governments might disguise their attacks to make them appear to be caused by other hackers. Campaigns and state and local election systems remain attractive targets, and social media is still a convenient method for sowing divisions. ___ THREAT AWARENESS THEN: U.S. officials were ill-prepared for Russian intelligence officers to hack Democratic emails and distribute them to WikiLeaks. In addition, the covert Russian social media campaign aimed at spreading disinformation among American voters was unprecedented and largely undetected until after the election. Campaigns underestimated the threat. State and local election officials were unaware that they were on the front lines of defending U.S. democracy. NOW: U.S. intelligence chiefs have tried to reassure the public that securing U.S. elections from outside interference is a top priority. That's despite President Donald Trump's comments dismissing claims of Russian interference in the 2016 election and his assertion that he would be open to receiving information on his opponents from foreign governments. FBI Director Chris Wray frequently warns of foreign interests meddling in American politics. He has established a task force aimed at countering foreign hacking and disinformation campaigns. State and local election officials repeatedly highlight the work they are doing to boost election security, such as training, cybersecurity improvements and collaborations with federal officials. ___ FEDERAL ENGAGEMENT THEN: Before 2016, there were no clear communication channels between federal authorities and the states, which have primary responsibility for elections. When federal officials began to suspect election systems were being targeted in 2016, they communicated with some state officials but not necessarily those overseeing elections. Some state election officials did not learn their systems had been targeted by Russia until late 2017. NOW: The Department of Homeland Security has strengthened relationships with state and local election officials. They've offered free cybersecurity services, such as risk assessments and vulnerability scanning, and created an information-sharing group. They've granted security clearances to state election officials so they can receive threat intelligence. They've also sent equipment to states to help detect malicious cyberactivity. This was largely made possible after then-Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson in January 2017 designated election systems as "critical infrastructure," on par with power plants, banks and dams. Despite initial concerns about the designation, state and local officials now largely praise federal efforts to support them. ___ CYBERSECURITY IN THE STATES THEN: Before the 2016 election, state election offices were mostly focused on ensuring orderly elections and that voting-related equipment functioned properly. When Russia breached Illinois' voter registration system and searched for vulnerabilities in state election systems across the country, it underscored how outmatched state and local election officials were. The threat was not isolated to voting machines, but included internal networks, voter registration systems, electronic pollbooks and vote reporting websites. NOW: States have been scrambling since 2016 to increase their cyberdefenses, upgrade voting systems and train local election officials. They received $380 million in federal money in 2018, though cybersecurity advocates say that wasn't enough. Last month, Congress approved an additional $425 million to states, although it's likely too late for these funds to be spent replacing old or vulnerable voting equipment. But the money can be used quickly for cybersecurity personnel, training and audits to ensure the accuracy of election results. While the 2018 elections occurred without any major incidents, experts say the true test of how resilient state and local election systems are will be 2020. ___ VOTING MACHINES THEN: Much of the voting equipment in use in 2016 was purchased in the early 2000s amid efforts to update election administration following the "hanging chad" fiasco of the 2000 presidential election. But that fix created new problems. Some new voting machines had touchscreens and did not produce an auditable paper record of every vote cast. That meant there was no way to ensure these machines were counting votes accurately. Researchers have also shown these machines are vulnerable to hacking. In 2016, 20 percent of U.S. voters, some 27.5 million people, used these electronic voting machines. NOW: Some state and local election offices have been upgrading old and vulnerable voting equipment. But as many as 12 percent of voters nationally, or an estimated 16 million people, will continue to use electronic-only machines, according to an analysis by the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU's Law School. A Senate report urged states to ensure all ballots are cast on machines that produce paper records allowing voters to verify their selections. But legislation that would require states to make the switch has stalled. Meanwhile, concerns have been raised about new touchscreen voting machines known as ballot-marking devices. Although these machines produce a paper record, there are concerns voters will not verify their selections to ensure they are accurate, that the software could be tampered with or a ballot programming error could occur. ___ VENDOR SECURITY THEN: In 2016, three private companies dominated the voting equipment industry and faced minimal federal oversight. In addition to manufacturing voting machines and equipment, the companies --- Election Systems & Software, Dominion Voting Systems and Hart InterCivic --- also provide election management and vote-tallying systems for many of the nation's 10,000 voting jurisdictions. NOW: Nothing has changed when it comes to oversight of the industry. Vendors are still not required to submit their voting systems or corporate networks to independent, third-party testing for vulnerabilities. Their voting systems are certified by labs under a voluntary system administered by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Security specialists say this testing is inadequate and note the commission's guidelines have not been substantially updated since 2005. Vendors are not required to report cybersecurity breaches involving their systems. Some vendors have submitted their systems to a government lab for security testing, although the results of those tests have not been made public. ES&S has said it has also partnered with Homeland Security to install an intrusion detection system on its voter registration systems. ___ SAFEGUARDING CAMPAIGNS THEN: Russia largely caught political organizations off guard. The 2016 attacks were relatively low-tech, involving hundreds of spearfishing emails. All it took was a few people clicking on the wrong email and providing their login information. That opened the door to sensitive documents and emails being stolen and released publicly. NOW: Campaigns have been largely reticent to detail cybersecurity efforts since 2016, so it's difficult to gauge their abilities to prevent attacks. Certainly, awareness of the threat is higher, and Homeland Security and technology companies have offered resources to help campaigns. Candidates have also been receiving advice from the Republican and Democratic national committees, which say they are in regular communication with federal officials and are focused on implementing basic security protocols, including steps to prevent phishing attacks. ___ SOCIAL MEDIA/DISINFORMATION THEN: The 2016 election was marred by Russian attempts to use fake accounts on social media to increase polarization among Americans. A Senate report said Russian operatives masqueraded as Americans, using targeted ads, intentional false news stories and social media to interact and attempt to deceive millions in the U.S. Both law enforcement and social media companies were ill-prepared to identify the threat, let alone address it. NOW: Since 2016, social media platforms have invested in efforts to combat misinformation, identify online impostors and root out foreign interference in domestic elections. Twitter stopped accepting political ads, while Facebook began verifying the identity of ad buyers in 2018 and further tightened its rules last year. Google has made it harder for advertisers to target audiences based on specific characteristics such as their voting record or political affiliation. The changes haven't satisfied critics who say the platforms and their policies, and a lack of action by the government, leave the U.S. open to additional disinformation campaigns in 2020 --- from both foreign and domestic sources. ___ PUBLIC DISCLOSURE: THEN: In 2016, there was no federal law to compel a federal agency or state and local government to disclose the breach of an election system, and a federal policy shielded the identity of all cyber victims regardless of whether election systems are involved. That meant state officials wouldn't necessarily find out if an electoral system in one of its counties had been attacked and could certify elections without realizing there had been problems. NOW: There have been no changes to federal law. Even now, the public still doesn't know which Florida counties were breached by Russian agents in 2016. In a step toward addressing that secrecy, the Trump administration last year released a framework for notifying victims and the public of cyberattacks during the 2020 election. Decisions about whether to provide notification would take into account the need to avoid undermining investigations and to protect sources and methods. Also, the FBI now plans to notify state election officials in the event a local system is breached, but will not release this information to the public. (KR)
Libya Force Pushes to Western City 01/26 09:31
Libya Force Pushes to Western City 01/26 09:31 CAIRO (AP) -- Officials from Libya's two rival governments said fighting erupted Sunday as the country's east-based forces advanced toward the strategic western city of Misrata, further eroding a crumbling cease-fire agreement brokered earlier this month. The clashes came just hours after the United Nations decried "continued blatant violations" of an arms embargo on Libya by several unspecified countries. The violations fly in the face of recent pledges to respect the embargo made by world powers at an international conference in Berlin last week. Libya sits on Africa's Mediterranean coast, and is divided between rival governments, each supported by various armed militias and foreign backers. It has the ninth largest known oil reserves in the world and the biggest oil reserves in Africa. The weak but U.N.-recognized government in the capital Tripoli is backed by Turkey, and to a lesser degree Qatar and Italy. Rival forces loyal to military commander Khalifa Hifter receive support from the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, as well as France and Russia. Hifter's forces were advancing some 120 kilometers (around 75 miles) east of Misrata, near the town of Abugrain, according to the media office of militias allied with the Tripoli government. It said clashes were still taking place in the outskirts of Abugrein. An official with Hifter's forces said they have wrested control of two towns, Qaddaheya and Wadi Zamzam, on their way to Abugrein. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. Misrata, in western Libya, is the country's second largest city and is home to militias who oppose Hifter and have been extremely important in the government's defense of Tripoli. Hifter's forces have laid siege to the capital since last April. The nationwide truce, brokered by Russia and Turkey, marked the first break in fighting in months, but there have been repeated violations. Jalel Harchaoui, a Libya expert at The Netherlands Institute of International Relations, said Hifter's swing toward Misrata was a tactic calculated to draw away the Misratan militias defending the capital toward their hometown. He said it had a "good chance of succeeding" and weakening the U.N.-government's defenses in Tripoli as a result. Hifter's forces captured Sirte earlier this month, a major below to Tripoli-based administration. Sirte is located about 370 kilometers (230 miles) east of Tripoli. Late Saturday, the U.N. support mission in Libya released a statement saying "several (countries) who participated in the Berlin Conference" have been violating the arms embargo. "Over the last ten days, numerous cargo and other flights have been observed landing at Libyan airports in the western and eastern parts of the country providing the parties with advanced weapons, armored vehicles, advisers and fighters," the U.N. statement said. Among those who attended the Berlin conference were Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, French President Emmanuel Macron, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte, and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The peace push followed a surge in Hifter's offensive against Tripoli, which threatened to plunge Libya into chaos rivaling the 2011 conflict that ousted and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Earlier this month, powerful tribal groups loyal to Hifter also seized several large oil export terminals along the eastern coast as well as southern oil fields. The closure of Libya's major oil fields and production facilities has resulted in losses of more than $255 million in the six-day period ending Jan. 23, the country's national oil company said Saturday. (KR)
Trump Travel Ban Heads Back to Court 01/26 09:32
Trump Travel Ban Heads Back to Court 01/26 09:32 RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- After the U.S. Supreme Court upheld President Donald Trump's ban on travelers from several predominantly Muslim countries in 2018, the ruling appeared to shut down legal challenges that claimed the policy was rooted in anti-Muslim bias. But a federal appeals court in Richmond is set to hear arguments from civil rights groups hoping to keep the challenges alive. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments Tuesday in three lawsuits filed by U.S. citizens and permanent residents whose relatives have been unable to enter the U.S. because of the travel ban, which was first imposed shortly after Trump took office in January 2017. The court is being asked to decide whether a federal judge in Maryland made a mistake when he refused to dismiss constitutional claims made in a lawsuit filed by the International Refugee Assistance Project despite a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a Hawaii case that found the travel ban "a legitimate grounding in national security concerns." The Justice Department argues the high court's ruling effectively puts an end to the legal challenges. In a 5-4 ruling, a sharply divided Supreme Court found that the travel ban was within the considerable authority U.S. presidents have over immigration and their responsibility for keeping the nation safe. The court rejected claims that the policy was rooted in anti-Muslim bias based in large part on Trump's own tweets and public statements, including his call during the presidential campaign for "a complete and total shutdown of Muslims entering the United States." Trump has said the ban is aimed at making the U.S. safer from potentially hostile foreigners. "The Court rejected the argument that the Proclamation could be explained only by anti-Muslim bias, and held instead that the Proclamation was rationally grounded in legitimate national-security concerns and foreign policy objectives," Justice Department lawyers argue in a legal brief. The Trump administration is asking the 4th Circuit to dismiss the lawsuits. But the plaintiffs' attorneys say the Supreme Court merely rejected a preliminary injunction to block the travel ban and did not decide the merits of the constitutional claims. The plaintiffs allege the travel ban violates several constitutional rights, including the First Amendment's Establishment Clause prohibiting the government from favoring one religion over another. "The Trump administration has supplied ample and damning evidence of its discriminatory intent, time and time again, so we're hopeful that any court --- any fair-minded observer --- will see it the way we do, that it is a Muslim ban that's aimed at the Muslim community and Islam,'" said Gadeir Abbas, a senior litigation attorney with the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Federal appeals courts --- including the 4th Circuit --- had upheld rulings from federal judges who blocked the travel ban from taking effect. But the Supreme Court came to a different conclusion. The travel ban's third iteration --- now in effect--- applies to travelers from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. It also affects two non-Muslim countries, keeping out travelers from North Korea and some Venezuelan government officials and their families. The groups suing the Trump administration say the 4th Circuit is not being asked to decide the merits of the legal challenges. They say they are only asking the appeals court to find --- as U.S. District Court Judge Theodore Chuang did --- that their lawsuits can move forward to the discovery phase, when they will seek records from the Trump administration on the origins of the ban and how it has been enforced over the last three years. In rejecting the government's motion to dismiss the lawsuits, Chuang found that the plaintiffs "have provided detailed allegations for why the (travel ban) is not rationally related to its stated national security interests and is instead grounded in the illegitimate and unconstitutional purpose of disadvantaging Muslims." Jonathan Turley, a professor at George Washington University Law School, said that while the Muslim groups can legitimately argue that the Supreme Court did not require outright dismissal of their legal challenges, the high court's ruling did put a significant crimp in their arguments. "It strikes me as willful blindness to pretend the opinion did not substantially undermine these cases," he said. "It's very difficult to read the Supreme Court opinion and not see considerable support for the arguments of the administration." Justin Cox, an attorney with the International Refugee Assistance Project, said Muslim advocates will continue to try to prove that the ban is unconstitutional. "I understand why they want us to go away," he said. "But nothing requires us to go away and we are going to keep fighting." (KR)
General: US Committed Syria Fight 01/26 09:35
General: US Committed Syria Fight 01/26 09:35 GREEN VILLAGE MILITARY OUTPOST (AP) -- U.S. troops at military outposts n eastern Syria asked variations of the same question to their top commander Saturday: What is our future here? What are the goals we need to think about? Gen. Frank McKenzie, the U.S Middle East commander, knows the future is not certain. But at least for today, he said, "this is an area where we made a commitment. I think we're going to be here for a while." In an unannounced tour of five military bases in Syria stretching from the northeastern part of the country to the Middle Euphrates River Valley, McKenzie offered reassurances that the U.S. remains committed to its mission in Syria. And he said that operations against Islamic State militants are on the rise again, after the U.S. cut back due to the increased tensions with Iran and the need to concentrate on increasing security. But these are uncertain times. And America's mission to train and partner with Syrian Democratic Forces in the fight against the Islamic State group has been tested. Just last year President Donald Trump ordered U.S. troops to withdraw from Syria - part of his vow to bring forces home and halt the endless wars. Over time, his military commanders, members of Congress and other leaders convinced Trump to keep a scaled-back force in Syria to protect an expanse of Kurdish-controlled oil fields and facilities from falling into IS hands. So while some troops did leave Syria, the Pentagon ordered others to move into the east, with armored vehicles and security forces to help the SDF guard the oil. McKenzie, who met with the SDF's commander, Mazloum Abdi, at an undisclosed military base in eastern Syria Saturday morning, said the Kurdish leader wanted assurances that the U.S. would continue to help his fighters. His answer, McKenzie said, was that the U.S will continue to conduct anti-IS missions, partner with the rebel forces and help protect the oil fields. But, he said, he did not put a deadline on it. "He knows, and I agree, that we're not going to be here for 100 years," McKenzie said during a stop at Green Village military outpost, east of Deir el-Zour. "I frankly don't know how long we're going to be here and I have no instructions other than to continue to work with our partner here." McKenzie criss-crossed the east, flying by helicopter over long stretches of desert flecked with intermittent patches of green and scattered villages. It was his first trip to the five bases. The U.S. declared an end to the Islamic State's physical caliphate last March. But in recent months there have been growing concerns that the insurgents are regrouping, particularly in the west where U.S. forces are not present. Operations against IS, however, were interrupted in recent weeks, in the aftermath of the U.S. drone strike that killed a top Iranian general in Iraq. Fearing reprisals by Iran and Iranian-backed proxy forces, the U.S. paused or slowed operations to beef up security in Iraq and Syria. Iran, after several days, launched ballistic missiles at two military bases in Iraq where U.S. troops are stationed. Several dozen were diagnosed with traumatic brain injury, but no one was killed in the attacks. According to officials, US operations against the Islamic State group in Syria were reduced by half over that time. But as McKenzie took stock of the situation during his day-long sprint across eastern Syria he said that has now changed. "Certainly, the pace of operations went down earlier in the year, based on events in Iraq" McKenzie told two reporters from The Associated Press and The Washington Post traveling with him into Syria. "We're now back up to, I think, probably three or four operations a week with our partners here --- so that pace is beginning to pick up and we are very pleased with that." Maj. Gen. Eric Hill, commander of the special operations forces in Iraq and Syria, was with McKenzie for most of the day. He said his forces continue to train and conduct operations with the SDF to root out IS insurgents who are "hiding in the valleys, in the caves, in the desserts, trying to regroup." Hill spoke to reporters at the military base located at the Conoco gas field near Deir el-Zour, where military trucks and aircraft sit alongside looming plant buildings and old homes that have been turned into high-tech operations centers and barracks. According to officials, there are now about 750 U.S. troops in eastern Syria, spread across a swath of land that stretches more than 90 miles (150 kilometers) from Deir el-Zour to the border region east of al-Hassakeh. The U.S.-Syrian Kurdish relationship, which dates back to 2014, was strained after Trump last month ordered American troops out of northern Syria, making way for a Turkish invasion of Kurdish-held towns and villages along a stretch of the border. Kurdish and American forces are now operating in a region that is more complicated and crowded with troops since the Turks began their attack on northeast Syria in early October, aimed at pushing the Kurdish fighters away from the border. While talking to troops on Saturday, McKenzie warned that Iranian proxy forces in Syria continue to be a significant risk to them. He said that while Iran appears to be deterred right now from launching another attack against the U.S, "you always worry about their ability to command and control their proxy elements which they have equipped very well." (KR)
Netanyahu Hopes to 'Make History' at WH01/26 09:36
Netanyahu Hopes to 'Make History' at WH01/26 09:36 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he hopes to "make history" during his upcoming trip to the White House for the expected unveiling of President Donald Trump's Mideast peace plan. JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he hopes to "make history" during his upcoming trip to the White House for the expected unveiling of President Donald Trump's Mideast peace plan. Addressing his Cabinet shortly before departing for Washington, Netanyahu described the current environment, characterized by close ties with Trump, as a once in a lifetime opportunity for Israel that "we must not miss." Trump's plan is expected to be extremely favorable to Israel. "We are in the midst of very dramatic political events, but the peak is still ahead," he said. "For three years I have discussed with President Trump and his team our security and national needs --- dozens of discussions and hundreds of hours. In all of these talks, I found a receptive ear in the White House for the essential needs of the state of Israel," he said. "I am going to Washington with a great sense of purposes, great responsibility and great chance, and I am hopeful we can make history." The plan's release has been repeatedly delayed, and it seems to have little chance of success. The Palestinians have already rejected it, accusing Trump of being unfairly biased toward Israel. In a statement Sunday, the Palestinian Authority's Foreign Ministry called for "a clear international declaration rejecting the deal of the century" that it said would endanger regional stability. But the plan could give Netanyahu, who is in the middle of his third re-election campaign in under a year, a lift as he tries to remain in office while fighting criminal charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes. Netanyahu has tried to divert attention away from his legal troubles and focus his campaign on his close ties with Trump. His opponent, Benny Gantz, has focused his campaign on Netanyahu's criminal charges and expected trial. Gantz announced on Saturday that he would also be going to Washington for a private meeting with Trump. He turned down a joint appearance with Netanyahu at the White House, fearing the prime minister would use it to upstage him. Instead, Gantz will quickly return to Israel to proceed with his plans in parliament to block a request by Netanyahu to receive immunity from prosecution. (KR)
