News and Headlines: In The News, Politics, World News, Commentary/Opinion.
In The News:
McDonald’s worker charged with a felony for allegedly spitting on police officer’s burger
Tatyana Hargrove was arrested in November 2019 and faces a felony charge of willfully poisoning food, online court records show.
Prosecutors allege that while working at a McDonald’s in Bakersfield the then-21-year-old rubbed a hamburger bun on the floor and then spat on it as she prepared a meal for a city police officer at the drive-thru, NBC affiliate KGET reported.
She also allegedly shouted, “Black lives matter,” and referred to officers as “pigs,” according to the outlet.
Brawls break out at Costco, Sam’s Club amid coronavirus outbreak tensions
In footage reportedly taken on Thursday in Brooklyn, two customers got into a heated argument while standing in line.
In the video, a woman can be seen angrily talking to an employee while wearing a face mask. Another customer can be heard “don’t let her touch me with that cart.”
Also on Thursday, though later in the evening, according to a video uploaded to Twitter, two customers are seen in an all-out brawl in front of what appears to be a refrigerated section.
The violent altercation reportedly took place at a Sam’s Club in Hiram, Ga.
Border patrol agents seize $121,000 in heroin found during vehicle stop near Temecula
(Photo courtesy of U.S. Customs and Border Protection)
Border agents arrested two men this week after finding more than $121,000 in heroin in their car during a traffic stop near Temecula, authorities said.
Agents questioned the driver and examined the outside of the car with a K-9, which alerted agents.
The agents then found five bundles of heroin under the gear shifter in the center console, the agency said.
The 19-year-old driver and his 25-year-old passenger were arrested. The drugs and men, both U.S. citizens, were turned over to the Drug Enforcement Agency.
NOT REAL NEWS: Misinformation that’s spreading like a virus
A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week.
None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media.
The Associated Press checked them out. Here are the real facts:
President Donald J. Trump holds a press briefing to discuss the coronavirus outbreak.
Communist China threatens to deny lifesaving coronavirus medication to the US
Beijing’s threats to cut off access to coronavirus drugs in the middle of a global pandemic highlight for many the dangers of the West’s trade dependence on China.
As Fox News highlighted, China’s warnings come as the FDA has announced the first drug shortage related to COVID-19.
Concerns over China’s grip on global supply chains have been circulating around Capitol Hill for some time but have only escalated in recent weeks.
Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio told Fox News on Thursday that the United States is “dangerously reliant” on Beijing for medical technologies, parts, and drugs that are necessary to fight the coronavirus.
Andrew Gillum Found ‘Inebriated’ At Suspected Crystal-Meth Incident: Police
Police officers discovered Gillum “under the influence of an unknown substance” after arriving on the scene to respond to a cardiac arrest emergency.
One of Gillum’s friends, Travis Dyson, was being treated for a possible drug overdose by fire rescue officers when the police arrived, the report states.
A third individual, Aldo Mejias, called the police after he observed Dyson having difficulty breathing and Gillum allegedly vomiting inside the hotel bathroom.
Gillum was unable to speak with police officers “due to his inebriated state,” according to the report.
Gillum lost a close gubernatorial race in Florida to Republican Ron DeSantis in 2018. Gillum’s candidacy was dogged by allegations he violated state ethics laws during his tenure as mayor of Tallahassee.
Philadelphia officer shot and killed during apprehension of murder suspect
Cpl. James O’Connor, 46, is the first police officer killed in the line of duty in Philadelphia in five years, according to reports.
The officer was struck by gunfire just before 6 a.m. at a home where the SWAT team was attempting to serve a warrant on the murder suspect. Officers returned fire.
O’Connor, a married father of two, including a son who also serves on the force, had been a police officer for 23 years and was with the SWAT unit for 15 years. His daughter serves in the U.S. Air Force.
Politics:
Coronavirus will not be the last global pandemic
Commentary/Opinion:
Tucker Carlson breaks down lessons for this outbreak.
Biden Taps Campaign Manager Who Advocated for AR-15 Confiscation
Jen O’Malley Dillon will be Biden’s new campaign manager, according to the Washington Post.
While Biden has advocated for banning—but not confiscating—so-called assault weapons, Dillon led O’Rourke’s campaign as it adopted some of the most radical anti-gun policies in the Democratic field.
The longtime Democratic strategist also publicly backed the former Texas congressman when he called for the confiscation of AR-15s and other popular firearms in the wake of the El Paso shooting.
Biden’s campaign has cultivated an image of the candidate as a moderate in his run against Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), but he has staked out radical positions on gun control despite stopping short of confiscation.
Biden Ad Attacking Trump on Coronavirus Gets ‘Four Pinocchios’ From WaPo
The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee received “Four Pinocchios” for an ad that deceptively edited video of a Trump campaign rally to make it appear that the president called the coronavirus a hoax.
In the ad, Trump can be seen saying “coronavirus,” followed immediately by “This is their new hoax.”
But as the Post noted, the Biden campaign cut out more than 120 words in between those two statements.
In his comments, Trump was calling the Democratic politicization of coronavirus a “hoax,” not the virus itself:
Trump cracks 50 percent approval in Iowa, leads Biden, Sanders: by double digits
(MONEY SHARMA/AFP via Getty Images)
The president’s break-even approval rating number is up from 46 percent in February 2019, according to the new Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll, conducted from March 2 to March 5 and released this week.
Trump won Iowa in 2016 – after the state twice voted for Barack Obama as president.
The new poll, which has Trump at 50 percent, shows top Democratic presidential contenders Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders each having 41-percent support among Iowa voters.
World News:
Israel negotiates emergency coalition; U.S. strikes Iranian-proxy in Iraq – TV7 Israel News 13.03.20
1) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz are holding negotiations on advancing an emergency unity government for the purpose of dealing with the potentially devastating consequences of the spread of the coronavirus.
2) Jerusalem officially instructs the closure of most educational institutes until further notice, in efforts to contain the coronavirus.
3) The United States conducted retaliatory strikes against Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq, early this morning; after the Iranian backed militia struck a military base housing U.S-led coalition forces – killing one British and two American servicemembers.
More Koreans Recover Than Get New Infections
(AP photo/Lee Jin-man)
The country confirmed 110 new infections, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, taking its total to 7,979. But 177 fully recovered patients were released Thursday, it said.
South Korea has an advanced medical system widely available to all, and has embarked on a huge coronavirus testing drive.
The number of new cases in Daegu, the southern city at the center of the country’s virus spread, had declined “dramatically” along with those in neighboring North Gyeongsang province, officials said.
Nearly 90% of South Korea’s cases have been in the two regions.
WHO director general: Europe is now at centre of coronavirus pandemic – video
The director general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has said Europe is now at the centre of the global coronavirus outbreak.
In a press briefing at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday, he said Europe had more cases and deaths than the rest of the world combined apart from China.
Watch: Italians on Lockdown Encourage Each Other with Singing from Windows
Despite appearing completely deserted due to quarantine, the streets of Italian cities like Naples, Rome, Siena, Torino, Cagliari, Benevento, Lecce, and Salerno were nonetheless filled with song and life.
La Stampa assembled a compilation of the social media videos of Italians on lockdown serenading each other.
In the beautiful city of Siena — located in the country’s Tuscany region — chants of “long live Siena” rang through the barren streets, as proud Italians quarantined in their homes sang their city’s well-known folk song in unison from their windows.
Texan who led sex trafficking ring linked to teenager’s murder is jailed in Ecuador
Royce Phillips, 66, from Texas, and four Ecuadorean co-defendants, were jailed on Wednesday for 25 years and four months, the maximum sentence for people trafficking with the purpose of sexual exploitation.
Phillips, dubbed El Abuelo (“the grandfather”), ran the trafficking ring from his apartment in Quito Tenís, an upmarket neighbourhood in the Ecuadorean capital.
The girls were invited to parties, where they were plied with alcohol and drugs. Many of the 13- to 16-years-olds were secretly filmed for pornographic videos.
State Department summons Chinese ambassador over ‘blatant’ disinformation campaign on coronavirus
A senior State official told Fox News that Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Stilwell called in Chinese Ambassador Cui Tiankai over China’s “blatant, global” disinformation campaign on the novel coronavirus.
The remarks come as part of a massive public relations campaign from the Chinese to convince the world that the United States bears the blame for the coronavirus outbreak, which has claimed roughly 5,000 lives around the globe.
The Chinese government has already published a book in English — with translations in the works in French, Spanish, Russian and Arabic — touting its handling of the deadly disease.
Commentary/Opinion:
Why Are Fancy Groceries Madhouses, But Regular Chains Humming Along As Usual?
Different types of people handle situations differently, especially when it comes to stuff like a pandemic of a deadly Wuhan virus.
The evidence is anecdotal, but it’s reflected on social media as well.
I went to my local grocery this morning and there were a few people hoarding, but it wasn’t packed, it was well stocked, and seemed to be humming along.
There is something to be said for the fact that more affluent people may be paying closer attention to the virus, but before we get to that, there are a few practical reasons this could be happening.