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Hong Kong Bans Hubei Travelers, Declares State of Emergency Over Coronavirus

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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…

Hong Kong Bans Hubei Travelers, Declares State of Emergency Over Coronavirus

Hong Kong will ban entry all residents from Hubei Province and anyone who had visited there in the past 14 days amid the outbreak of the mysterious new virus that has sickened thousands and left dozens dead—in a move to contain the spread of the coronavirus that was first detected in the provincial capital of Wuhan.

In a statement Sunday, the government said it will implement the ban starting from midnight on Sunday, Hong Kong will ban any person who has been to Hubei in the past two weeks “until further notice.”

“Hidden patients have greatly increased the difficulty of preventing and controlling the epidemic,” the statement continued.

Hong Kong authorities also announced Sunday there were eight total cases in the city, reported the South China Morning Post.

On Saturday, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam held a meeting with health officials before declaring a state of emergency and shuttered all schools in the city. All primary and secondary schools will be shuttered for two weeks.

“I hereby urge all citizens stay united to fight against the epidemic to protect all Hong Kong people’s health and safety,” she said in a Saturday press conference.

The announcements came as China’s National Health Commission said that more than 2,000 people in China are infected and 56 have died from the virus.

The mayor of Wuhan told reporters he expected another 1,000 new patients in the city in the coming days, adding that the city will construct new special hospitals.

China’s National Health Commission Minister Ma Xiaowei, meanwhile, told reporters that the virus may be strengthening.

“According to recent clinical information, the virus’ ability to spread seems to be getting somewhat stronger,” Ma said.

Officials in Orange County, California, confirmed the third infected person in the United States over the weekend. That person was discovered in the city of Santa Ana, located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, after having come from Wuhan. The two previous U.S. cases were confirmed in Chicago and Seattle last week.

The Chinese regime has implemented a massive travel ban in hard-hit areas, including Wuhan and other cities in Hubei. Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department on Saturday announced it would evacuate American citizens and personnel one a one-time flight from Wuhan to San Francisco.

“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.”

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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…