Free Republic

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases head Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that current coronavirus levels of 60,000 to 70,000 new cases per day were unacceptable. Therefore, he argued for pulling back masking and the physical distancing “carefully and slowly.”

Azaz (Syria) (AFP) - Turkey on Saturday urged the United States to withdraw personnel from a Kurdish-held town in northern Syria after Washington told Ankara it would stop arming a Syrian Kurdish militia that Turkey is fighting. As Turkey's offensive in Syria entered its second week with new air strikes and artillery, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said it was "necessary for them (US) to immediately withdraw from Manbij", where Washington has a military presence. Turkey launched operation "Olive Branch" on January 20 against the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia in its western enclave of Afrin, supporting Syrian opposition...

...black smoke was seen rising at the No. 3 reactor building...surface temperatures...have topped the maximum levels...high-level radiation amounting to at least 500 millisieverts per hour was detected...

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks were little changed on Monday as another day of persistently below-average volume suggested investors weren't willing to chase gains that carried stocks to 2 1/2-year highs last week. Equities were coming off two straight weeks of gains, although light trading volume undercut the bullish sentiment. "We've been setting new highs on low volume, which suggests the rally is on thin ice," said Tom Mangan, a portfolio manager who helps oversee $2.4 billion at James Investment Research Inc in Xenia, Ohio. He said a correction was likely. President Barack Obama proposed a federal budget that...

Stocks Due For Pullback — Perhaps This Week? Investors will keep eye on Fed and reports on consumers and housing NEW YORK - If the stock market's seemingly unstoppable march higher is to be believed, the economy is firmly on the road to recovery. Several key events on the economic calendar this week may help determine whether that conviction holds up. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's prediction last week that the worst of the recession is "likely over" helped sustain the markets' gains, which brought the Standard & Poor's 500 index up 2.5 percent through Friday. This week, the market...

TALK IS CHEAP. Trading index options is usually not. As pundits everywhere debate about the trajectory of the economic recovery, investors are laying out big dollars to buy defensive index options. If the global and U.S. economies recover in the shape of a V -- down fast, up fast -- the hedges will probably ultimately function as emblems of balancing risk and reward. If the economies follow a W-shaped recovery -- a view espoused by the famous hedge-fund manager, Paul Tudor Jones, and Bill Gross, the bond maven -- the hedges will offset stock losses from another sharp drop in...

By HUSSEIN DAKROUB, Associated Press Writer MDEIREJ, Lebanon - Syrian soldiers loaded trucks with furniture and other supplies Monday and drove east from the Lebanese mountain posts they have held for decades, the first signs of a redeployment to Lebanon's Bekaa Valley announced by the leaders of the neighboring nations. The pullback began as more than 70,000 Lebanese shouting "Freedom! Sovereignty! Independence!" thronged Beirut in the biggest demonstration yet of anti-Syria anger that has fueled recent street protests. Washington rejected the redeployment as insufficient. Syrian President Bashar Assad and his Lebanese counterpart, Emile Lahoud, met in Syria's capital, Damascus, to...

Palestinian leaders outlined plans Sunday to persuade visiting American envoys to pressure Israel into removing troops from urban areas to ensure smooth elections to replace Yasser Arafat. "If elections are held under occupation, people will say the candidate rode in on top of an Israeli tank," Palestinian Prime Minister Ahemd Qurei told Reuters, alluding to fears ordinary Palestinians would view agreement to run in such circumstances as kowtowing to Israel. Kicking off a week of intensive post-Arafat diplomatic activity - which will include visits by outgoing US Secretary of State Colin Powell, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and Russian Foreign...

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has visited American troops on the frontline with North Korea, after confirming plans to withdraw them from the potential military flashpoint. "Our motto is 'fight tonight'. We take that seriously," said Major Tamara Parker, spokeswoman for the 2nd US Infantry Division, whose combat-ready troops guard this strategic valley leading from North Korea to Seoul, some 56 kilometers (40 miles) further south. On Monday, following annual security talks with South Korea, Rumsfeld and South Korean Defense Minister Cho Young-Kil reaffirmed a plan to withdraw the division from camps near the frontlines as tensions on the Korean...

Anglo Amercian commanders open surrender negoiations with the Iraqi 6th Armored and 11th Infantry Divisions after the 8,000 strong Iraq 51st Mechanized Division came over with 200 tanks.Four Iraqi Divisions defending Baghdad pull back from positions 50 kilometers outside the city to a 30 kilometer line after sustaining heavy casulties in last nights massive bombardment on military and government targets.Civilian casulites relatively light...