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Oil prices sank for a sixth consecutive day early on Friday and were on track for their biggest weekly drop in more than four years as the coronavirus outbreak continues to roil global equity and oil markets. At 10:53 a.m. EST on Friday, WTI Crude was plunging by 5.92 percent at $44.30, and Brent Crude was down 4.58 percent at $49.36, after falling briefly below $50 earlier today. The sell-off on the oil market has continued for more than a week as the coronavirus spread quickly outside China—to Europe, the Middle East, and as of recently—Africa.

Rep. Norma Torres (D-Calif.) penned a letter to Vice President Pence asking him to “reconsider the implementation” of the “public charge” rule in light of the coronavirus outbreak. The rule, which critics call a “wealth test” for immigrants, was contested in U.S. district courts since it was introduced in August until the Supreme Court ruled in the administration’s favor last Friday. The new provision could deem an immigrant ineligible for permanent status or citizenship if they have a history of using public assistance, such as Medicaid. On Wednesday, President Trump made a rare appearance in the White House briefing room,...

Supermarket shelves are starting to be stripped bare as Americans prepare for the spread of coronavirus by stockpiling on medications and non-perishable items across the country. People have been panic buying items from stores ever since health authorities warned that Americans should start preparing for domestic acceleration of the virus, which has infected more than 80,000 people worldwide and killed nearly 3,000. There are now 60 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the U.S. and the first case where the origin of the disease is unknown was confirmed on Wednesday. Supplies have been flying off the shelves countrywide this week...

Flat out lies levelled at President exposed by AP Democrats / NYT are blaming President Trump for the spread of the Coronavirus to the US, despite the fact that he presided over enhanced border controls and blocking flights from infected areas weeks ago. The AP noted that both Bloomberg and Biden are flat out wrong in claims that Trump cut resources for the CDC and NIH. The fact check report states: Democratic presidential contenders are describing the federal infectious-disease bureaucracy as rudderless and ill-prepared for the coronavirus threat because of budget cuts and ham-handed leadership by President Donald Trump. That’s...

MEXICO CITY - Mexico’s government said on Friday it had detected the first cases of coronavirus infection in two men who had recently traveled to Italy, making the country the second in Latin America to register the fast-spreading virus. A 35-year-old man who showed positive in an initial test in Mexico City went through a second test that turned up positive results early on Friday, Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell Ramirez told a regular news conference. The man was linked to the second case, a 41-year-old in the northern state of Sinaloa, Lopez-Gatell told reporters, speaking alongside President Andres Manuel...

February 24, 2015 From Feb. 19, 1945 (when U.S. Marines assaulted its beaches) to March 27 of that year (the day combat officially ceased), the island of Iwo Jima was hell on earth. In 2009 I began writing occasional columns commemorating the 70th anniversary of key WW2 battles and events. I dedicated them to the WW2 generation. Twenty-year-old Marine vets of February 1945 are now 90, if they are still among us. Iwo Jima was on my list of must-cover subjects. By sheer coincidence, my wife and I spent this past weekend in Dallas, Texas, with the sister of a...

VIDEO Columbia University professor John McWhorter absolutely can't stand listening to President Donald Trump speak. As you can see in this video, it causes him to make hilariously over-the-top vitriolic attacks upon Trump's vocabulary and the way he uses his words. I'm sure that Trump's down to earth Queens borough accent also adds to the professor's sputtering rage.

Stocks tumbled once again on Friday, adding to the market’s worst week since the financial crisis, as worries over the coronavirus and its impact on the economy continue to rattle investor sentiment. The Dow was down more than 700 points after plunging 1,000 points earlier. The S&P 500 fell 2.1%, while the Nasdaq fell 1.2% after sinking more than 3% earlier. The major averages were under pressure Friday in part because investors kept adding to their bond market exposure. The benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yield touched a fresh record low. It was last at 1.18%. Yields move inversely to prices.

Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn’s lawyer, Sidney Powell, told Just the News this week that she is seeking total exoneration of her client from the Department of Justice in a case that has dragged on for years. “We don't want a pardon," she told the site's CEO John Solomon for his podcast John Solomon Reports. "We want an exoneration." While emphasizing that her client wouldn’t dismiss the idea of accepting a pardon, Powell made clear that she and Flynn have set their sights higher. “We want this case dismissed in the interest of justice,” she said

“When I said ‘arrested’ I meant I was not able to move, cops would not let me go with them and made me stay where I was. I guess I wasn’t arrested, I was stopped, I was not able to move where I wanted to go,” he said on CNN.

New York State Department Issues Travel Advisories In Response To Outbreak NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — With the coronavirus outbreak affecting at least 40 countries, many travelers are concerned about what’s being done to contain the virus. At JFK Airport, jetlagged passengers typically in a rush to clear immigration are now appalled by a lack of screening, especially compared to procedures in the countries they just left. Emily Ferrara and Blair Haworth just returned from Florence, Italy, where their study abroad program was canceled because of the virus. There are more than 300 cases there, one of the largest outbreaks outside...

Russia's military has denied it is responsible for airstrikes that killed dozens of Turkish soldiers on Thursday night in the Syrian province of Idlib, in an incident which threatens to cause a major escalation in Syria's civil war. Turkey has said at least 33 of its troops were killed and almost 40 more injured in the strikes. It said the airstrikes were carried out by the Syrian government. The deaths, the worst loss of life for Turkey's military since it became involved in Syria, occurred amid rising tensions and a spiraling humanitarian crisis in Idlib. This comes as Turkey seeks...

The broadcast networks weren’t really interested when ex-Democratic Mayor of Baltimore Catherine Pugh was raided by the FBI and the IRS in April of last year amid charges of corruption, nor when she was forced to resign just a few days later. So, it’s not surprising that ABC, CBS, and NBC completely ignored her pleading guilty and sentenced to three years in prison on Thursday.

The Wall That Heals, a three-quarter scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial along with a mobile Education Center, is coming to Garland Thursday, Feb. 27, through Sunday, March 1. The exhibit will be on display at Audubon Park, 342 W. Oates Road, and will be open 24 hours a day and free to the public. The City of Garland is leading the effort that will bring the exhibit to the metroplex. The Wall That Heals honors the more than three million Americans who served in the U.S. Armed forces in the Vietnam War and it bears the names of...

WILMINGTON, Del.—The purchase of an abandoned 10,000 square-foot DuPont mansion in an affluent Wilmington suburb may have been a stretch for a 32-year-old widower and father of two commuting daily to Washington for his job as a U.S. senator. Then again, Joe Biden readily acknowledges that his passion for real estate occasionally overtook his common sense.The son of a car salesman who was under frequent financial duress, Mr. Biden has seen up close what it looks like to scrape by. He also knows what it feels like to be worried about his mortgage payments. As Mr. Biden faces a make-or-break...

At the Place de la Bourse/Beursplein in central Brussels, tourists and commuters pick their way around coils of plastic tubing, bright green construction barriers and piles of paving stones that have been ripped up in the name of urban improvement. A few blocks north, the transformation is complete. What was once a busy boulevard clogged with traffic is now a car-free zone given over to pedestrians, bicycles, scooters and cafes taking advantage of the expanded sidewalk to offer alfresco dining. The area’s redevelopment began in 2017, and, weather permitting, will be finished by the end of 2020. But that’s just...

When Juliana Garcia crossed the U.S.-Mexico border with her 8-year-old daughter, Glendy, in December, she hoped to find safety and build a new life with her father living in Tennessee. But Ms. Garcia and her daughter remained in the U.S. just 25 days before being returned to Guatemala. Based on where they crossed the border, near El Paso, Texas, the two were placed in an experimental Trump administration program designed to give asylum seekers brief and rapid access to the U.S. legal system—and deport them quickly if the government finds they don’t qualify for protection. A review of the Garcias’...

What a difference a day makes! Yesterday, the Morning Joe crew was insisting that Mike Bloomberg immediately "get out" of the race to clear the field for Biden and prevent a Sanders nomination. Today, after airing Bloomberg's wide-ranging interview with Kasie Hunt, Morning Joe was overflowing with praise for him! "Great interview! Hasn't lost a step! Better prepared to run country than other candidates!" Get the rest of the story and view the video here.

A Darien woman has been named by President Donald Trump to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Jennifer H. Rearden, a partner in the litigation and crisis management practice groups at New York City-based firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, lives in Darien according to her Facebook page.... In 2008, she donated $2,000 to Barack Obama’s campaign, and Rearden has contributed repeatedly to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, as well as Gillibrand’s Off the Sidelines PAC which works to get more women elected to office. Rearden has donated to several Democratic campaigns, according to Federal Elections Commission...

<p>The coronavirus could be up to 1,000 times more infectious than SARS because it plagues the body in the same way as HIV and Ebola, scientists warn.</p> <p>Experts initially presumed the spread of COVID-19 would follow the same trajectory as the SARS outbreak in 2002/3, because the viruses are almost identical genetically.</p>