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Nearly 200 people in Italy have died in 24 hours as cases of coronavirus in the country continue to rise. There have been 827 deaths in Italy and the number of cases increased by more than 2,000, from 10,149 to 12,462, official figures showed. (Please see link for full details)

Sports events across the globe continue to feel the impact of the coronavirus. The disruption has extended to the local sports scene as well. NCAA Tournament games in Ohio won’t have spectators The governor of Ohio Mike DeWine said the state will issue an order that NCAA Tournament games in Ohio, including the First Four round in Dayton, will be played without fans in attendance.

If Donald Trump wins, then Michael Richard Pence, vice president of the United States, will be well positioned to serve Trump's third and fourth terms as president. Pence is only just now beginning to emerge from relative obscurity on the national stage, therefore many voters do not recognize him as the proto-Trump he is. If you like Trump but find him abrasive and overstated, you will love Pence, even if you learn his name only in the 2024 campaign. He is, if anything, to the right of Trump, but understatedly so, and a likely future POTUS. The more interesting outcome...

The founder of the nonprofit crime prevention group Guardian Angels said he plans to run for mayor of New York City in 2021 “to take back the city” from Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio. The announcement: “I am the anti-de Blasio candidate. The part time Mayor ‘Dope from Park Slope’ has single-handedly destroyed our city. Roll with Sliwa through the subways & streets & you’ll see why I’m the only one who can #SaveOurCity,” tweeted Guardian Angels founder and radio talk show host Curtis Sliwa. Sliwa, 65 has not yet filed paperwork to compete against de Blasio but has re-registered...

The Department of Justice (DOJ) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced Wednesday that more than 600 arrests have been made as a result of an interagency operation cracking down on Mexican cartel activity. “Project Python,” a DEA-led initiative, targeted members of Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG). According to the DEA, over the last six months federal law enforcement officials have been monitoring the activities of the accused. The operation resulted in more than 600 arrests nationwide, 350 indictments and “significant seizures of money and drugs,” according to the agencies. “Project Python marks the most comprehensive action to date in...

With further developments in the outbreak of COVID-19, the Ivy League Presidents are announcing their unanimous decision to cancel all spring athletics practice and competition through the remainder of the academic year. Individual institutions will decide whether or not winter teams and student-athletes who have qualified for postseason play will participate.

The Supreme Court has handed President Trump a victory, albeit a temporary one, by allowing the administration to enforce the “remain in Mexico” policy.Via The Hill:The justices will allow the “Remain in Mexico” policy to continue while the administration appeals a lower court ruling which deemed the program illegal and ordered a suspension that was scheduled to take effect tomorrow.Justice Sonia Sotomayor was the only justice to publicly dissent from the decision to allow the policy to continue.Known officially as Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), the policy aims to curb entry into the U.S. by asylum-seekers, many of whom are Central...

Doctors in northern Italy struggling with the explosion of COVID-19 cases are warning their hospitals are on the brink of collapse and telling other countries to prepare for a fierce battle. At the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in Europe, the sudden surge to more than 10,000 cases in the region in just three weeks has overwhelmed intensive care units, with a shortage of beds and staff and ventilators potentially pushing the death toll higher. The overflow means patients are being treated in operating rooms, hospital corridors, or recovery rooms. Only a small portion of patients are being housed in...

Chinese officials covered up the outbreak of the new coronavirus, costing the world some two months to respond, national security adviser Robert O’Brien said, in some of the strongest remarks against China in regards to the virus to date. Asked about Chinese officials recently trying to claim that the virus did not start in the country, O’Brien said that just wasn’t true. “It originated in Wuhan in Hubei Province in China. It originated some time ago. Unfortunately, rather than using best practices, this outbreak in Wuhan was covered up. There’s lots of open-source reporting from China, from Chinese nationals, that...

President Donald Trump is meeting with the heads of major banks Wednesday amid another sharp selloff in stocks and the declaration of the coronavirus as a pandemic. Trump’s scheduled 3 p.m. Eastern meeting with the chief executives of Bank of America BAC, -5.65%, Citigroup C, -9.93%, Wells Fargo WFC, -8.61% and other institutions comes as the World Health Organization designated the global spread of COVID-19 a pandemic. U.S. stocks extended losses, building on declines attributed partly to disappointment over prospects for a quick fiscal stimulus designed to cushion the U.S. economy from the outbreak.

Infectious disease specialists and health experts say that while cases of the new coronavirus will likely continue to grow in the United States, current case fatality rates appear to be an overestimation. Cases of the virus have jumped over the past few days, now with over 1,000 confirmed across the United States, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at John Hopkins University. As of this writing, there have been at least 32 coronavirus-linked deaths. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on March 3, global case fatality rate is “about 3.4 percent.” But a...

The Federal Reserve is again increasing the amount of money it’s providing to banks for overnight borrowing, raising the top level now to $175 billion. In an announcement Wednesday afternoon, the New York Fed said it would boost the top level it provides in overnight operations to at least $175 billion from the $150 billion level it had just set Monday. “Consistent with the FOMC directive to the Desk, these operations are intended to ensure that the supply of reserves remains ample and to mitigate the risk of money market pressures that could adversely affect policy implementation,” the Fed’s statement...

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced Wednesday new rules to try to stop the spread of coronavirus, including limiting mass gatherings and restricting the number of visitors to people in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. "We're in a different chapter of working our way through this," DeWine said. "The essential function of government is to do everything we can to protect people. ... We know it's going to be bad. The question is how bad is it going to be? It is within our hands to determine what that outcome is going to be." Among the actions DeWine announced: there...

A local youth hockey coach had a meltdown on the ice after he was ejected from a game by a referee. The incident happened during a game Saturday night between the 12-and-under teams of the Manchester Junior Monarchs and the Springfield Junior Pics at The Bog Ice Arena in Kingston. In the middle of the second period, a Monarchs coach began banging on the door and shouting profanities at the referee. The Monarchs received a minor bench penalty for the coach's actions, but he kept shouting at the referee, who ultimately decided to eject that coach from the game. Witnesses...

James S. Brady Press Briefing Room 5:43 P.M. EDT THE VICE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon. We’ve just completed today’s meeting of the White House Coronavirus Task Force and I couldn’t be more proud of the efforts of the men and women standing behind me or all of those standing behind them. President Trump said from early on that this would be a whole-of-government approach. And today gives evidence of the fact that it is also a whole-of-America approach. We’re bringing the full resources of the federal government and the full resources of — of this great economy and our great business...

CBS All Access, the network’s streaming service, is launching a weekly animated series featuring real-world guests that will discuss — and mock — the news of the day, the network announced Wednesday. “Tooning Out the News" plans to release daily five- to seven-minute segments followed by a weekly full episode available every Friday. It launches Monday in the U.S. and Canada. Confirmed guests include Reps. Barbara Lee (D-Texas), Donna Shalala (D-Fla.) and Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), as well as Dan Abrams, Alan Dershowitz, Thomas Friedman and Nicholas Kristof. The fictional animated news show is hosted by an anchor named James Smartwood....

Legendary New York mobster John “Sonny” Franzese, the former underboss of the Colombo crime family, has died at 103, according to TMZ. As a younger man, according to Mafia lore, Franzese was a big spender and a regular at New York’s Copacabana nightclub, where he hobnobbed with Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. He also provided financing for the classic 1972 porn film “Deep Throat.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders, after a drubbing in the latest round of primaries, vowed Wednesday to press on with his presidential campaign -- touting the appeal of his progressive message and suggesting front-runner Joe Biden has not attracted a sufficient following among young voters. The decision from the populist senator from Vermont came the day after he was pummeled by the former vice president in Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi and Idaho and failed to have a breakout performance in Washington state. As the bad news from the six March 10 contests continued to roll in Tuesday night, the self-described democratic socialist headed...

Are you in the market for a new car? Do you hate men? Did you think Captain Marvel was a really good movie and still write Tumblr posts about it? Are you a white professional-class woman between the ages of 21-35, living in a coastal city? Well then, Nissan has got the automobile for you. We've all been there: Your boss, who is a male, refuses to promote you because he has a small penis and listens to Joe Rogan. Then Brie Larson shows up and tells you to get in her car for some reason, drives recklessly while listing...

The Trump administration plans to delay the April 15 tax deadline for most individual taxpayers as well as small businesses as part of an effort to mitigate the effects of the spread of the novel coronavirus, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday. Mr. Mnuchin said the delay would apply “to virtually all Americans, other than the super rich,” and said officials would likely announce a decision quickly...