Trump could face fresh impeachment over Roger Stone intervention, leading House Democrat suggests

Eric Swalwell says impeaching Donald Trump for his potential interference in Roger Stone's sentencing is not "off the table" as congressional Democrats prepare to hear from administration officials about the apparent "erosion of independence" inside the Department of Justice.The California Congressman and member of the House Intelligence and Judiciary committees told CNN that members of Congress "don't wake up in the morning wanting to impeach him" though the president has been "learning the wrong lessons" from his acquittal by the Senate, ​even after Republican allies admitted the president's wrongdoing following his impeachment in the House on charges of abuse of power and obstruction in his dealings with Ukraine and subsequent congressional investigation.

Who is Mexico's president? Ummm... say Democratic candidates

He is the president of a top US trading and security partner but two of the Democratic candidates for the White House couldn't name the leader of Mexico. Asked in a Nevada election forum Thursday held by the Telemundo channel and the League of United Latin American Citizens, neither Amy Klobuchar nor Tom Steyer could recall the name of the leader of America's immediate neighbor to the south: Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. "I forgot," said billionaire Steyer, when asked if he could name Mexico's president.

'There will be dad and mum': Putin rules out Russia legalizing gay marriage

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday Russia would not legalize gay marriage as long as he was in the Kremlin. During his two decades in power, Putin has closely aligned himself with the Orthodox Church and sought to distance Russia from liberal Western values, including attitudes toward homosexuality and gender fluidity.

China's Hubei province enacts 'wartime' measures as coronavirus count rises to 16,427

Coronavirus is continuing to spread throughout China and especially in the epicenter Hubei province, the World Health Organization said in a Friday update briefing on COVID-19.There are 47,505 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 throughout China with 1,381 deaths reported from the pneumonia-like illness it causes, including 121 deaths reported in the past day. Six of those who died were health care workers — "a critical piece of information" as WHO continues to investigate why even rigorous medical guidelines haven't stopped the spread, WHO reported Friday.A total of 1,716 health care workers in China have contracted COVID-19 despite WHO's guidelines, so this weekend, a team of 12 international and WHO experts will arrive in China to meet with local medical professionals for a "joint mission." The experts will particularly look at disease transmission and response measures to see how processes for health care workers, who "are working with virtually no sleep in difficult conditions," can be improved, WHO said.Meanwhile, Hubei, home to the epicenter city of Wuhan, is "enacting 'wartime' measures" as the number of confirmed cases in the province has climbed to 16,427. The measures include blocking people from going outside, "sealing off residential complexes and allowing only essential vehicles on the roads," The Washington Post reports. The virus has kicked off an "economic fallout" throughout China, with flower sales reportedly falling as much as 95 percent this Valentine's Day, the Post continues.More stories from theweek.com 7 brutally funny cartoons about the Democratic primary fight Bloomberg vs. Trump would be a clash of oligarchs R. Kelly hit with new allegation of sexual abuse of a minor in Chicago

Amid coronavirus fears, a second wave of flu hits US kids

A second wave of flu is hitting the U.S., turning this into one of the nastiest seasons for children in a decade. The number of child deaths and the hospitalization rate for youngsters are the highest seen at this point in any season since the severe flu outbreak of 2009-10, health officials said Friday. Experts say it is potentially a bad time for an extended flu season, given concerns about the new coronavirus out of China, which can cause symptoms that can be difficult to distinguish from flu without testing.

Rep. Collins Warns Dems are Using Stone Sentencing Intervention to Continue Impeachment Push

Representative Doug Collins (R., Ga.) cautioned on Wednesday that Democrats are leveraging the Justice Department's involvement in the Roger Stone case as a basis to continue their impeachment efforts against President Trump, adding that such efforts are "crazy."After President Trump complained Tuesday on Twitter that prosecutors' seven-to-nine-year sentencing recommendation constituted a “horrible and very unfair situation,” his Justice Department submitted a revised filing stating that the lengthy sentence “could be considered excessive and unwarranted.”Stone was convicted of lying to Congress, witness tampering and obstructing the House’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s connections to Russia. All four of the prosecutors who recommended Stone’s seven-to-nine year sentence either resigned or quit the case after the DOJ weighed in."Yes," Collins responded when asked by Fox News host Laura Ingraham whether Democrats are setting the Stone kerfuffle up as another basis for impeachment.Watch the latest video at foxnews.comThe Georgia Republican pointed to what he called the "hysterics" of House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler and Representative Eric Swalwell in response the DOJ's involvement in the case."This is just crazy," said Collins, who is the ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee. "There's nothing happening here except [Attorney General] Bill Barr, who is the adult in the room, saying look, we got a problem here. This is nothing but the deep state lashing out again.""Barr had this information beforehand. He was not influenced by this. He had already begun to look at this," the Georgia Republican added.Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell suggested this week that Democrats could impeach the president over his DOJ's attempts to get Stone's sentence reduced, saying Democrats will not let Trump "torch this democracy.""This constant investigation, this constant demeaning of him, this constant trying to smear him, is only one reason," Collins said. "They have a clown car bunch of candidates for president. They're not going to win.""It's time for members of Congress in the House and the Senate to stand up on the Republican side and say, 'Enough of this crap out of the Democrats,'" Collins said, adding a call for Republicans to "share the message of conservatism that actually matters to all Americans."

Beijing quarantines returning residents as China struggles to pick up economy

People returning to the Chinese capital Beijing from extended holidays on Friday were ordered to undergo a 14-day self-quarantine to help prevent spread of the new coronavirus, as hard-hit Hubei province reported more than 2,400 new cases.

from Reuters: World News https://ift.tt/37yE3ix