THE BIG STORY

Why did that quarantined cruise ship become such a disaster?

It turns out that you really don’t want to be on a cruise ship during a viral outbreak. Who’d have thought? More than 600 of the 3,700 passengers quarantined on the Diamond Princess in Japan have caught the COVID-19 illness, the disease caused by the coronavirus, and experts are not surprised.

“A cruise ship is not an ideal place for a quarantine,” epidemiologist Don Milton told Dan Vergano. The main reasons: cruise ships’ ventilation systems circulate air — and virus particles — from room to room. Everyone is crammed in together, eating together and touching the same things.

Even airplanes have their advantages, thanks to the way their ventilation and air filtration systems work. But — and it brings me no joy to tell you this — beware of airplane bathrooms. “Their action is so vigorous it can send virus particles upward to cover the hands and surfaces in the restroom cabin if the lid is open,” Vergano reports.

Close the lid before flushing, friends.

AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko

STAYING ON TOP OF THIS

The jury in the Harvey Weinstein case has been deliberating for three days now.

On Thursday afternoon, the jury asked to rehear the testimony of actress Annabella Sciorra, whose rape allegations are key to two counts of predatory sexual assault against Weinstein.

Those are the most serious charges he’s facing, and could result in a life sentence if he’s found guilty. But for that to happen, the jury must believe Sciorra’s testimony.

Weinstein is facing other charges that don’t depend on Sciorra’s testimony: one count of criminal sexual act in the first degree, one count of first-degree rape, and one count of third-degree rape.

The jury will continue deliberating on Friday; in the morning they will re-hear the testimony as requested.

SNAPSHOTS

Roger Stone has been sentenced to 40 months in prison. The veteran political operative is the latest member of President Trump’s inner circle to be jailed.

An attacker entered a London mosque and stabbed the man leading the call to prayer. The injuries are not believed to be life threatening, and police have arrested the attacker on suspicion of attempted murder.

Google removed almost 600 apps from its app store and banned their developers. The purge is part of a crackdown on ad fraud and “disruptive” mobile ads.

The Treasury Department has been slow-rolling requests for information from congressional Democrats. It’s raising questions in light of Treasury’s swift response to Republican requests regarding Hunter Biden and Ukraine.

Roger Stone arriving for sentencing at the U.S. District Court in Washington on. Thursday (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

THERE CONTINUES TO BE AN ELECTION

Here’s what’s happening on the presidential campaign trail.

— Democratic campaigns made their cases for immigration reform on Thursday at a forum hosted by Amnesty International in partnership with BuzzFeed News.

— Elizabeth Warren has reversed her position on big money funding from so-called Super PACs. She long said she would not accept their support, but now says she will, citing their use by her competitors.

“If all the candidates want to get rid of super PACs, count me in — I’ll lead the charge," Warren said. "It can’t be the case that a bunch of people keep them and only one or two don’t."

— And in the 2018 midterms, Democrat Liuba Grechen Shirley came close to unseating long-time Republican New York Rep. Pete King. She asked Michael Bloomberg, now running for the Democratic nomination, for his help.

“He told me that Peter King was a longtime friend and so he would be supporting him,” she told BuzzFeed News.

THEY’RE COMING HERE AND TAKING OUR BEST PICTURE AWARDS

The president is mad about the Oscars, again

This time, because a foreign film, Parasite, won. "How bad were the Academy Awards this year — did you see? ‘And the winner is a movie from South Korea' — what the hell was that all about?" President Trump said at a rally yesterday.

Unlike your most annoying friends, Trump doesn’t offer elaborate opinions about foreign films that he clearly hasn’t seen. “Was it good?” he asked. “I don't know."

But unless your most annoying friends are also 110 years old, they almost certainly don’t share the president’s taste in cinema. “Can we get, like, Gone With the Wind back, please?" Trump said, referring to the Best Picture winner from...1940.

“This place where you are right now, God circled on a map for you,”
Tom