USA

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- A United Nations relief official on Thursday said that civilians remain extremely vulnerable in northeast Syria, while an estimated 1.9 million people require humanitarian assistance.

Among these people, the majority, 1.34 million people, are in areas outside of Syrian Government control, Ursula Mueller, UN assistant secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, told the Security Council.

MAGNOLIA, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi man was given four death sentences by a jury on Thursday, hours after he spoke in court and blamed the devil for his actions the night eight people were shot to death.

Willie Cory Godbolt, 37, was convicted Tuesday of the May 2017 slayings of eight people. Four of the convictions were for murder, which carry a sentence of life in prison. Four other convictions were for capital murder — a killing committed along with another felony.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Billionaire Mike Bloomberg said Thursday that he might not spend money to assist Bernie Sanders if Sanders is the Democratic presidential nominee, days after a Sanders adviser said they wouldn’t want the help.

Sanders adviser Jeff Weaver said Tuesday that it would be a “hard no” on accepting Bloomberg’s financial assistance.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — President Donald Trump’s choice of Vice President Mike Pence to oversee the nation’s response to the new coronavirus threat is bringing renewed scrutiny to the former governor’s handling of an HIV outbreak in southern Indiana when he was governor.

Pence reluctantly agreed to authorize a needle exchange program in Scott County in March 2015 after the epidemic centered there saw the number of people infected with HIV skyrocket, with nearly 200 people eventually testing positive for the virus that year.

NEW YORK (AP) — New evidence against Mexico’s former top security official has been uncovered since he was charged with taking tens of millions of dollars in bribes to protect Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s notorious Sinaloa cartel, federal prosecutors said Thursday.

“The strength of the government’s case has only increased” since a grand jury indicted Genaro Garcia Luna last year on charges he conspired to traffic cocaine and made false statements, prosecutors wrote in court filings.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 2.1% in the final quarter of last year, but damage from the spreading coronavirus is likely depressing growth in the current quarter and for the rest of the year.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronomers have discovered the biggest explosion seen in the universe, originating from a super-massive black hole.

Scientists reported Thursday that the blast came from a black hole in a cluster of galaxies 390 million light-years away.

The explosion was so large it carved out a crater in the hot gas that could hold 15 Milky Ways, said lead author Simona Giacintucci of the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington.

It’s five times bigger than the previous record-holder.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — A Milwaukee electrician who police identified Thursday as the man who fatally shot five co-workers at one of the nation’s largest breweries enjoyed building guns, according to neighbors.

Authorities said 51-year-old Anthony Ferrill opened fire at the Molson Coors Brewing Co. complex on Wednesday, killing five male employees before turning his gun on himself. His motive remains a mystery; police say the case is still under investigation. They also haven’t released details about how the shooting unfolded.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A government whistleblower has filed a complaint alleging that some federal workers did not have the necessary protective gear or training when they were deployed to help Americans evacuated from China during the coronavirus outbreak.

WASHINGTON, Feb 27 (NNN-Xinhua) — US President Donald Trump appointed Vice President Mike Pence to oversee the country’s response to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

“I’m going to be announcing exactly right now that I’m going to be putting our Vice President Mike Pence in charge,” Trump said at the White House briefing room, citing Pence’s experience with health care policy.

Trump said the virus’s threat to the U.S. public “remains very low,” but the country is “very, very ready” for whatever the coronavirus threat brings.