Skip to content

State Department to Evacuate Citizens From Coronavirus-Infected Chinese City in One-Time Flight

Leader of Human Smuggling Operation Sentenced to 9 Years in Prison: DOJ

A Florida man who headed a human smuggling operation that transported Cuban nationals to the United States through Mexico has been sentenced to 9 years in prison, according to the Justice Department (DOJ). George Ferrer Sanchez, 46, of Miramar, Florida, was sentenced by a district court judge on Wednesday for orchestrating a conspiracy to launder the proceeds of an alien smuggling operation. He previously pled guilty to participating in a conspiracy to commit money laundering, the department announced in a statement on Friday. Ferrer Sanchez was also ordered to pay a $5.4 million forfeiture money judgment and to forfeit two properties to the federal government. The 46-year-old was the leader of an alien smuggling conspiracy that was operating in Miami between around January 2009 and June 2015, according to DOJ, citing court records. He had directed…

State Department to Evacuate Citizens From Coronavirus-Infected Chinese City in One-Time Flight

The U.S. Department of State said Saturday it will evacuate some of its diplomats and some private American citizens from Wuhan, China—the epicenter of the mysterious new virus that has sickened hundreds and left dozens of people dead.

The State Department sent an email to citizens and posted the same notice on its website, saying that it is arranging a one-time-only flight from Wuhan to San Francisco, California, on Tuesday.

“The Department of State is making arrangements to relocate its personnel stationed at the U.S. Consulate General in Wuhan to the United States,” the agency’s statement said. “We anticipate that there will be limited capacity to transport private U.S. citizens on a reimbursable basis on a single flight leaving Wuhan Tianhe International Airport on January 28, 2020 and proceeding directly to San Francisco.”

In addition, “interested U.S. citizens” should contact the State Department immediately as “capacity is extremely limited,” according to the bulletin.

“If there is insufficient ability to transport everyone who expresses interest,” the alert added, “priority will be given to individuals at greater risk from coronavirus.”

The State Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

A travel ban was implemented by the Chinese regime to contain the virus, affecting some 50 million people in Wuhan and nearby cities in Hebei Province.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Sunday that Japan is planning to evacuate any Japanese citizens from Wuhan, using charter flights and other measures to fly them home, reported public broadcaster NHK. Some 700 Japanese nationals are believed to be living around Wuhan.

Authorities said on Sunday morning that around 56 people have died so far in China, including death in Shanghai, one of the largest cities in China. The total number of cases in China have reached around 2,000, according to state-run media outlets.

In the United States, meanwhile, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said a third person, who was traveling from Wuhan, tested positive in the U.S. They were located in Santa Ana in Southern California, and it’s the first known person to test positive for coronavirus in California after one person was found with the virus in Chicago and another was found in Washington state last week.

What’s more, China’s health minister, Ma Xiaowei, made the claim that the virus could be spread without observable symptoms, which is a “game-changer,” according to an adviser to the CDC.

“When I heard this, I thought, ‘Oh dear, this is worse than we anticipated,’” said Dr. William Schaffner, the agency’s adviser, in a CNN report on Sunday following Ma’s announcement. “It means the infection is much more contagious than we originally thought.”

This article is from the Internet:State Department to Evacuate Citizens From Coronavirus-Infected Chinese City in One-Time Flight

Cipollone: Democrats Left Out Entire Discussion on Burden Sharing in Impeachment Trial

White House counsel Pat Cipollone charged that House impeachment managers left out the discussion on burden sharing from President Donald Trump’s July 2019 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Cipollone, opening the rebuttal for Trump’s defense team after days of House Democrat presentations to the Senate, said that Democrats “are asking you to do something very, very consequential, and I would submit to you … very, very dangerous.” “They’re asking you not only to overturn the results of the last election, but they’re asking you to remove President Trump from the ballot in an election that’s occurring in approximately nine months. They’re asking you to tear up all of the ballots across this country, on your own initiative, take that decision away from the American people,” he said, referring to the…