Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Saturday approved a request from the Department of Health and Human Services for the possible use of military facilities to accommodate 1,000 people who may have to be quarantined upon arrival from overseas due to a new virus. A Defense Department statement said HHS officials requested the use of several facilities capable of housing at least 250 people in individual rooms through Feb. 29. HHS would be responsible for all care, transportation and security of the evacuees, according to the statement. The viral outbreak began in China, where the death toll rose to 259 on Saturday. More than 11,900 people have been infected with the coronavirus globally, the vast majority of them on the Chinese mainland.

China’s death toll from a new virus rose to 259 on Saturday and a World Health Organization official said other governments need to prepare for“domestic outbreak control” if the disease spreads in their countries. Beijing criticized Washington’s order barring entry to most foreigners who visited China in the past two weeks. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced similar measures Saturday, following Japan and Singapore. South Korea and India flew hundreds of their citizens out of Wuhan, the city at the center of an area where some 50 million people are prevented from leaving in a sweeping anti-virus effort. The evacuees went into a two-week quarantine. Indonesia also sent a plane.

Apple is temporarily closing its 42 stores in mainland China, one of its largest markets, as a new virus spreads rapidly and the death toll there rose to 259 on Saturday. The iPhone maker said in a statement it was closing stores, corporate offices and contact centers in China until Feb. 9 “out of an abundance of caution and based on the latest advice from leading health experts.” “Our thoughts are with the people most immediately affected by the coronavirus and with those working around the clock to study and contain it,” the statement said. Apple’s online store will remain open. China is the company’s third biggest market in terms of sales behind the United States and Europe and it is also where most iPhones and other devices are made.

Red alerts were sounded on Friday evening, around 10:40 p.m., in the Eshkol Regional Council, located near the Gaza border. The sirens sounded again on Motzei Shabbos in Nachal Oz and Kibbutz Alumim. The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit confirmed that on Friday night one rocket was fired from Gaza towards the area and on Motzei Shabbos three rockets were fired and one landed in an open field. The other two were shot down. The attacks were the third and fourth rocket attacks in 48 hours on southern Israel. Additionally, terrorists from Gaza continually launched balloon bombs against Israel on Shabbos. No injuries or damage were reported. Some balloon bombs landed in Sderot while others landed in various areas some being quite distant from the Gaza Strip.

The turbulence of impeachment, a contentious presidential campaign and a global virus health threat confront President Donald Trump as he prepares to deliver his State of the Union address Tuesday night. But one thing about the Trump era has remained remarkably steady: public opinion on the president. Approval of Trump has stayed persistently in negative territory, and the country is more polarized now than it has been under any other president in recent history. Polls also show Americans express significant dissatisfaction with the direction of the country and even more so with the state of politics. Even with those downbeat numbers, Americans have largely positive views of both the economy and how Trump is handling it.

The Trump administration announced Friday that it was restricting immigrants from six additional countries that officials said failed to meet minimum security standards, as part of an election-year push to further clamp down immigration. Officials said immigrants from Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Eritrea, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania will face new restrictions in obtaining certain visas to come to the United States. But it is not a total travel ban, unlike President Donald Trump’s earlier effort that generated outrage around the world for targeting Muslims. Trump signed a proclamation on the restrictions Friday; they go into effect Feb.

Democratic presidential candidates promised voters in Iowa on Saturday they would unify the party to take on President Donald Trump even as they kept up their criticism of each other and navigated the lingering divides from the 2016 campaign. “I’m confident Americans, Republican voters, Democratic voters and independent voters want us to come together,” former Vice President Joe Biden said in North Liberty. “I’m going to do whatever it takes to make progress in the areas that matter most.” About 20 miles away in Cedar Rapids, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren updated her stump speech to include a more explicit call for unity. “We’re down to the final strokes here,” she said.

Bernie Sanders was endorsed Thursday by the 200,000-member American Postal Workers Union, an influential group that also backed the Vermont senator’s presidential bid against Hillary Clinton during the 2016 Democratic presidential primary. The union’s support is key because it promises organizing muscle across the country. Sanders says that if turnout is high during Monday’s lead-off Iowa caucus, he will win — and a win there will key victories in the next two states that vote, New Hampshire and Nevada. “As with 2016, once again the Sanders campaign is boldly uplifting the goals and aspirations of workers,” union president Mark Dimondstein said in a statement.

A child walking to Yeshiva in Boro Park walked away after being run over by a garbage truck on Friday morning. It happened at 8:45AM at the intersection of 9th Avenue and 49th Street. As you can see in the attached video, the garbage truck didn’t see the boy crossing the street in the crosswalk, and struck the child. Sources tell YWN that the child says the truck went through a solid red light. Even worse, the driver got out of the vehicle, looked at the child, and simply drove away. The NYPD is actively looking for the driver. Bichasdei Hashem, the child was taken to the hospital by Boro Park Hatzolah, where he was treated for minor injuries and expected to be released. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Last year, towards the beginning of 2019, Reuven, an avreich in a Kollel in Yerushalayim was run over by a car on his way to learn near the Belzer Yeshiva. While he was crossing the street in a crosswalk, a car traveling at high speed hit him and injured him. Reuven was treated for his injuries at the scene and then taken to Share Zedek Hospital where he was hospitalized in the orthopedic surgical ward. After several tests, Reuven was found to have a broken finger and a torn ligament in his shoulder. He underwent surgery and began rehabilitation treatments that involved physiotherapy. Two months later, Reuven was able to return to his studies while maintaining a strenuous medical routine and visiting medical experts.