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Trump complains his impeachment defense has a lousy time slot

Since being elected president, Donald Trump has tweeted about “ratings” exactly 100 times, according to the Trump Twitter Archive.

Damaged By Drone Strike: Suleimani's Sainthood Is Now Being Questioned

Iran’s brand is thinning among the Shi’a and Suleimani’s departure creates breathing room for the Shi’a in the region.

Ex-Maryland police officer has been charged with raping and attempting to transmit HIV to a woman he pulled over

A Maryland Grand Jury has indicted former police officer Martique Vanderpool on charges that he raped and attempted to expose a woman with HIV.

Two pedestrians killed by snowplow in Kansas

The two victims were struck by a snowplow north of the Kansas State University campus in Manhattan, authorities said.

China virus outbreak revives calls to stop wildlife trade

The outbreak of a new virus linked to a wildlife market in central China is prompting renewed calls for enforcement of laws against the trade in and consumption of exotic species. It's also raising questions about how it could happen again after the lessons learned from the 2002-2003 outbreak of SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which was traced to consumption of wild animals in the southern city of Guangzhou. Demand for wild animals in Asia, especially China, is hastening the extinction of many species, on top of posing a perennial health threat that authorities have failed to fully address despite growing risks of a global pandemic.

US military investigating after finding Pornhub video of Navy service members shot through peephole

The Navy is reportedly investigating videos found on the website Pornhub that they believe show unsuspecting service members through a peephole in a bathroom.The videos were discovered earlier this month by an agent from the Naval Criminal Investigative Series, according to a report by NBC News.

Philippine President Duterte threatens to end military deal with U.S.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte warned the United States on Thursday he would repeal an agreement on deployment of troops and equipment for exercises if Washington did not reinstate the visa of a political ally.

Greta Thunberg says climate demands 'completely ignored' at Davos

Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg on Friday said calls to the corporate elite meeting in Davos to immediately disinvest in fossil fuels had been ignored. Of course these demands have been completely ignored. Thunberg was a highlight of the 50th edition of the conference, drawing massive attention including barbs by US Secretary Steven Mnuchin who on Thursday told the teen to go "study economics".

Warren responds after angry dad confronts her on student loans

In the exchange, a father asked Warren if he is getting "screwed" because he saved money for his daughter's education.

Donald Trump is suddenly scared of Mike Bloomberg — as he should be

Mike Bloomberg probably isn’t going to win the Democratic nomination for president. But he might beat Donald Trump anyway. The reason? Well, there are a couple billion of them — namely, the $2 billion Bloomberg plans to spend on Democrats' behalf.

Bodies of U.S. firefighters retrieved from Australian air crash site

The bodies of three U.S. firefighters who died in a plane crash earlier this week in Australia's remote bushland while battling a fierce wildfire have been recovered, the police said on Saturday as investigators started probe into the accident. A spokeswoman for Australia's New South Wales state police confirmed the recovery to Reuters in an e-mail. "They have been taken for a post mortem examination to confirm ID," the spokeswoman said.

China is Expanding into the Indian Ocean—Here Are Five Things the Indian Navy Can Do About It

Two emerging superpowers square off. Who wins?

Sen. Susan Collins wrote note to Chief Justice Roberts prior to his admonishing of Senators

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she was "stunned" by remarks given by House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler at the start of the trial

First stage of extradition hearing for top Huawei exec ends

A Canadian judge said Thursday she will announce her decision at a later date after ending the first phase of an extradition hearing that will decide whether a top executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei is sent to the United States. This week's hearings dealt with the question of whether the U.S. charges against Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of Huawei's founder, are crimes in Canada as well. Canada arrested Huawei's chief financial officer in December 2018 at Vancouver's airport at the request of the U.S. as she was changing flights.

Photos show how China is grappling with the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak as 12 cities are quarantined and hospitals run out of space

Chinese authorities quarantined people in 12 cities, halting transportation and cutting off nearly 33 million people to try and quell the outbreak.

Canada ‘Will Not Stop’ Until It Has Answers on Iran Crash

(Bloomberg) -- Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said her government will be relentless in seeking answers from Iran on the jet crash that killed 57 Canadians this month near Tehran.Justin Trudeau’s second in command, speaking in an interview with Bloomberg TV in Davos, Switzerland, said Canada wants a “real, independent” analysis of the airplane’s black box, along with transparency on what exactly happened. She also said Canada is receiving support from allies in pressing on the issue, particularly from the Netherlands and Ukraine.“I am confident we will get those answers because Canada is relentlessly focused on getting them and we will not stop until we get them,” Freeland said.Iran is under intense international pressure to provide full accountability over the circumstances that caused the crash of the Ukrainian International Airlines plane on Jan. 8. The three-year-old Boeing Co. 737-800 was shot down about two minutes after takeoff from Tehran. While nearly half the victims were Iranians, the crash was also one of the worst air tragedies ever involving Canadians. Many of the victims were doctors, engineers and Ph.D. students who represented a microcosm of the northern nation’s immigration policies.Nafta RatificationSeparately in the interview, Freeland also commented on plans to get the new North American free trade agreement ratified in Canada’s parliament, calling it the top priority for the government.The deal, a result of a year of rough negotiations with Donald Trump’s administration, has been passed in the U.S. Senate and is awaiting the president’s signature. It has also been approved in Mexico.Ratification won’t be a straightforward process in Canada, however. Trudeau’s team will need to get the support of at least one opposition party to pass legislation, and expedite debate, after losing its parliamentary majority in October’s divisive election.With all of Canada’s provincial premiers calling for a speedy ratification, Freeland said she’s confident the governing Liberals will be able to win support for the deal.To contact the reporter on this story: Theophilos Argitis in Ottawa at targitis@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Theophilos Argitis at targitis@bloomberg.net, Stephen WicaryFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

Thunberg fires back at Mnunchin after college degree jab

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnunchin said Greta Thunberg can discuss fossil fuel divestment "after she goes and studies economics in college."

Lindsey Graham is offering unsolicited legal advice to Trump's team

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a juror in President Trump's impeachment trial, is offering free legal advice to his counsel, if they want to accept it.So far, the House impeachment managers have "done a good job" of "painting ... a tapestry, taking a series of events and telling a story," Graham told reporters on Thursday. When Trump's legal team starts delivering his defense on Saturday, they will "start pulling on the threads."Graham also thinks Trump's attorneys will need to shift the focus to former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden. Hunter Biden was on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company, and is in the center of a debunked conspiracy theory being peddled by Trump allies, including Rudy Giuliani. Graham said Trump's team needs to "really go hard at the idea that when they tell you there's not a scintilla of evidence, groundless, baseless, phony accusations regarding the Bidens, I would challenge that very hard."More stories from theweek.com Trump debuts official Space Force logo — and it's literally a ripoff of Star Trek Mike Pompeo reportedly angrily challenged a reporter to find Ukraine on a map. She did. 14 dead, hundreds injured after 6.7 earthquake in eastern Turkey

Ghislaine Maxwell: Hackers 'breached' computer belonging to Jeffrey Epstein associate, attorney says

Lawyers for the woman accused of procuring underage girls to have sex with Jeffrey Epstein told a judge that hackers “breached” her computer after a court failed to redact her email address in filings it released last year.Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyer Ty Gee said in a December letter to Judge Loretta A Preska that, “despite the Second Circuit’s best efforts, it made serious mistakes” when redacting thousands of pages of records associated with a defamation lawsuit filed by one of Epstein’s accusers, Virginia Giuffre.

The Indian Air Force Hopes to Dodge Sanctions as Its Springs for Russian Missiles and MiG and Sukhoi Jet Fighters

Some history you may not have know about until now.

'No, No America': Iraq protesters demand expulsion of U.S. troops

Tens of thousands of Iraqis rallied in central Baghdad on Friday calling for the expulsion of U.S. troops, but the protest mostly dissipated after a few hours despite a cleric's call for a "million strong" turnout. Populist cleric Moqtada al-Sadr convened the march after the U.S. killing of an Iranian general and an Iraqi paramilitary chief in Baghdad this month. Three French nationals and one Iraqi, working for charity SOS Chretiens d'Orient, also went missing in Baghdad, the NGO said.

Smugglers tried to bring 3,700 invasive crabs through the Port of Cincinnati

Mitten crabs are a delicacy in Asia and sell for about $50 each in the United States, officials say. They are considered an invasive species.

These gun enthusiasts at the Virginia rally carried more firepower than many US troops

"This sends a strong visual message," a man holding a .50 caliber rifle said. Attendees also came with an armored vehicle and a grenade launcher.

Marianne Williamson Will Support Andrew Yang, Sort Of

(Bloomberg) -- Self-help author and former presidential candidate Marianne Williamson says she will be supporting a fellow unconventional contender, entrepreneur Andrew Yang, in the early Democratic primaries.In announcements on Instagram and Twitter, Williamson said she wasn’t endorsing Yang, but wants to help him continue in the race. She is expected to appear with him at a town hall event in Fairfield, Iowa, on Friday.View this post on Instagram A post shared by Marianne Williamson (@mariannewilliamson) on Jan 22, 2020 at 9:01pm PST“I am not endorsing any presidential candidate at this time; I support all the progressive candidates,” she tweeted. “I’m appearing with Andrew Yang in Fairfield because I know the institutional obstructions to his candidacy and I want to see him continue in the race past Iowa.”Williamson  dropped out of the presidential race Jan. 10 after months of polling at less than 1% and flagging fundraising.Disclaimer: Michael Bloomberg is also seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. He is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.This post is part of Campaign Update, our live coverage from the 2020 campaign trail.To contact the author of this story: Ryan Beckwith in Washington at rbeckwith3@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Max BerleyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

Photos from the Lunar New Year show how coronavirus turned China's biggest party into a washout

Here are photos comparing last year's celebration — complete with Chinese lions, historical dances, and family time — to this year.

Donald Trump shares image of Barack Obama scaling Trump Tower

Donald Trump has tweeted a photoshopped image of Barack Obama scaling the walls of Trump Tower with suction cups and holding binoculars.The image, which was posted without a caption, appeared to be a reference to Mr Trump’s claims that Mr Obama and the FBI illegally spied on him.

Iran Cannot Defeat American Stealth Planes, but They Could Cause Real Damage

Not so lopsided?

Rep. Ilhan Omar launches 'Send her back to Congress!' reelection bid with big advantages

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., is kicking off her reelection campaign Thursday night with a massive bank account and no challengers who pose a serious threat from either party. Her campaign slogan — “Send her back to Congress!” — gleefully evokes President Trump’s personal attacks on her.

White House breaks silence on Jeff Bezos phone-hacking scandal, calls Saudi Arabia an 'important ally'

The White House weighed in on reports that Saudi Arabia hacked Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' phone, saying it takes the situation seriously.

'Kids are taking the streets': climate activists plan avalanche of events as 2020 election looms

Young demonstrators aim to make the climate crisis a central issue of the presidential campaignOrganizers in the youth climate movement plan an avalanche of activities beginning next week, determined to make the future of the climate the major issue of the 2020 election.Capitalizing on turnout in the September climate strikes, when 6 million people worldwide turned out to demand urgent action to address the escalating ecological emergency, young US organizers are making the leap from mobilization to demands. They’re planning widespread voter activation in the 2020 US presidential election as well as direct action targeting the fossil fuel industry and the banks and politicians that enable it.“The headline message of the strikes in 2020 is: the kids are taking to the streets to strike for climate and they’re asking you to vote,” said Katie Eder, the executive director of Future Coalition, a communications and training hub for youth climate groups.There are more than 300 organizations involved in the efforts, Eder said, including some of the largest youth and adult coalitions in climate movement: Fridays for Future, the Sunrise Movement, 350.org, Zero Hour, Extinction Rebellion.“We’re starting to have the conversation within the strikes about how we’re balancing both the political targets and the financial targets,” Eder said, calling power and money “really key to the root causes of why we’re not addressing climate change”.Activists have planned widespread voter mobilization campaigns; three days of national strikes, marches, and direct action against politicians and banks beginning on Earth Day (22 April); regular strikes on Fridays and additional strikes targeting primary elections in every state; plus an international day of action, college divestment campaigns, and a huge push by the Sunrise Movement to turn out the vote for Bernie Sanders and a Green New Deal.Stories of climate awakening are a universal truth for young Americans living in the age of worsening climate conditions. Isabella Fallahi, who has asthma, for example, has lived within 14 miles of a coal-burning generating facility all of her life.“A lot of people don’t think of Indiana, or the midwest, for that matter, as frontline communities,” she said. “We face the silent killers. The terrible air quality because of mining projects, the terrible water quality because of mining projects, the health effects associated with both of those, droughts that cripple the agricultural economies that we’re based off of.”But Fallahi, like many other young organizers, is also galvanized by the tech proficiency of her generation, born into the era of hashtags and the ubiquitous touchscreen. She was a speaker at the UN climate change conference in Madrid (COP 25) in December 2019, when she and other youth were nearly ejected for protesting against the fossil fuel executives on panels and in negotiations.Approximately 200 young people in 40 countries, many of whom were at the conference, organized a response called Polluters Out. In 20 days, they had a website, a multilingual launch video, a press release in seven languages, and a list of demands. In actions set for March, they will call for the exclusion of fossil fuel interests at COP26 and transparency in the UN framework on climate change, as well as inclusion of indigenous and human rights in the Paris agreement. Regional efforts in the US will also call for a Green New Deal, a halt to new fossil fuel infrastructure, divestments from fossil fuels by universities and campaign funds, and the targeting of specific banks for fossil fuel investments.The groups stay in touch through conference calls, Slack, Zoom, and Google Drive. Activists in Cuba – who can’t download the apps because of the US trade embargo – tune in through WhatsApp. There’s a Slack channel for supporting scientists, too. And meetings wait for organizers in the Amazon who need to travel to towns for internet access.For all of them, there is community. People to cry with over the photo of the bay in Australia, so covered in smoke that it is hardly visible.“Overall, I think the way to look at this perspective on the youth movement is: it is cohesive in that they do communicate, but the orgs are not all the same,” said Natalie Mebane, associate director of US Policy for 350.org and an adult mentor for Zero Hour, both organizations intensely focused on voter turnout for climate for 2020. “We want to make sure that climate becomes the number one issue on voters’ minds.”The Sunrise Movement, like 350.org and Zero Hour, has taken that to a grassroots level. That is how Naina Agrawal-Hardin ended up in the guidance office at Washtenaw high school outside Ann Arbor, Michigan, for an interview. She’s a leader for the Ann Arbor hub of the Sunrise Movement. And she’s 16, a junior. Her school, she said, was supportive.“Whenever I have to take conference calls or interviews during school hours, they usually will write me a pass to get out of class,” she said.Agrawal-Hardin is planning a watch party at her home – a sneak peek at the forthcoming documentary Generation Green New Deal and a video about the Sunrise Movement’s 2020 campaign, as part of its annual kickoff. Sunrise provides the documentaries, discussion questions, and near-daily training on organizing and recruitment techniques. When Agrawal-Hardin hosts her event on 29 January, she’ll be one of more than 2,000 hosts nationwide.Through 2020, the Sunrise Movement will similarly activate its 300 chapters in support of Bernie Sanders, leveraging 10,000 volunteers in most of the 50 states for door knocks, voting pledges and climate education. Sunrise endorsed Sanders as the best-positioned candidate to lead a Green New Deal and address income inequality.“By primary/caucus day in Iowa and New Hampshire, we are going to have over 20,000 young people who have signed pledges to vote for Green New Deal champions” in the two states, said Sofie Karasek, a Sunrise Movement spokesperson. “What we’re really expecting to see in 2020 is Young Green New Deal voters really become the margin of victory for whoever becomes the Democratic nominee.”

Family attorneys say cruise line's story of toddler's death is 'physically impossible'

Attorneys representing Chloe Wiegand's family say a ship visit proves it's "physically impossible" for her grandfather to hold her out of the window.

More than a third of Republicans say Trump probably broke the law. Most still don't want him removed from office.

Behold, the impeachment contradiction of contradictions.It's not surprising that a full 91 percent of Democrats have said they think President Trump "definitely" or "probably" did something illegal to warrant his impeachment, as a recent Pew Research Center poll found. But a solid 32 percent of Republicans or those who lean Republican have also said the same about Trump's conduct — not that they necessarily think it should warrant his removal.Yes, of Republicans who are either "definitely" or "probably" convinced Trump's behavior was illegal, a full 59 percent say that doesn't mean he should be removed from office, Pew found. As for those Republicans who say Trump has "definitely" or "probably" done something unethical, 78 percent believe he should remain.> Among Republicans who say Trump has definitely or probably done things that are illegal, 59% say he should remain in office following the Senate impeachment trial. https://t.co/d0LOFwghRu pic.twitter.com/YZ5Z6cuwMN> > — Pew Research Center (@pewresearch) January 23, 2020Pew surveyed 12,638 people from Jan. 6–19 via phone and online, with a 1.3 percent margin of error.More stories from theweek.com Trump debuts official Space Force logo — and it's literally a ripoff of Star Trek 14 dead, hundreds injured after 6.7 earthquake in eastern Turkey Donald Trump and the moral decline of the pro-life movement

America's B-25G Bomber Was The Air Force's Very Own Flying Tank

And it shot like one too.

Parties unite over Taiwan's exclusion from WHO anti-virus planning

Taiwan's exclusion from World Health Organization meetings on the coronavirus outbreak has united the island's political parties, who normally agree on little, especially to do with China. Taiwan is not a member of the WHO due to the objection of China, which considers it a Chinese province with no right to participate in international organizations as a separate entity. Taiwan was not allowed to participate in an emergency WHO meeting on Wednesday about the new virus, which has killed at least 25 people since originating in the Chinese city of Wuhan last month.

Inside the mile-long California homeless camp that is tearing a town apart as Silicon Valley house prices soar

Inside the mile-long California homeless camp that is tearing a town apart amid soaring Silicon Valley house pricesOn the outskirts of Santa Rosa, the first real city to emerge as you drive through the rolling wine country north of San Francisco, two new settlements hum with life. On one side of a chain link fence, construction workers raise a new neighborhood of handsome, two-story homes. Rich Bay Area people might eye these as second homes, or rental investments.

Belarus' leader blasts Russia for pushing merger of 2 states

The president of Belarus on Friday accused Moscow of pressuring his country to merge with Russia and vowed not to let it happen. The statement comes amid stalled talks on further strengthening economic ties between two countries, seen in Belarus as Moscow's plot to swallow its post-Soviet neighbor.

Trump administration accused by the UK of a 'denial of justice' after refusing to extradite a diplomat's wife accused of killing a British teenager

The UK government said the decision to reject the extradition request was a "denial of justice."

Chinese University of Minnesota Student Jailed for Anti-Xi Tweets Has Been Released to Wuhan

A Chinese student of the University of Minnesota sentenced to six months in prison for posting tweets critical of president Xi Jinping has been released to his hometown of Wuhan, which is coincidentally under quarantine due to the recent coronavirus outbreak, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported on Friday.The Tribune received a message from student Luo Daiqing's university email address saying he had been released.University of Minnesota spokesman Jake Ricker told the paper that while Luo had attended for the 2018-2019 academic year, the student was not currently enrolled at the University. Ricker said that while the University had learned of Luo's arrest from a Wednesday report on Axios, the administration would not take immediate public action regarding the situation."I am honestly not sure what a public university can do regarding another country’s legal system," Ricker said. The University of Minnesota's campuses host around 3,100 students from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.Politicians from across the political spectrum condemned China's arrest of the student, including Senators Ben Sasse (R., Neb.) and Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.), along with Representative Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.) in whose district Luo was studying."This is what ruthless totalitarianism looks like," Omar said in a statement. "Luo Daiqing made these posts while he was in the U.S. — attending college in my district. Here in the United States, we believe in free speech.""The Chinese Communist Party ought to release Luo Daiqing immediately, and the University of Minnesota ought to give him a full-ride scholarship,” Sasse said in his statement. “Don’t forget that the Chinese Communist Party has banned Twitter, so the only people who even saw these tweets were the goons charged with monitoring Chinese citizens while they’re enjoying freedom here in the United States. This is what ruthless and paranoid totalitarianism looks like.

U.S. Extends Clampdown on Iran With Sanctions on Energy Firms

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. sanctioned four companies that it says have traded hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Iranian petroleum and petrochemicals in its latest effort to clamp down on the Islamic Republic’s revenue sources.The Treasury Department penalized Triliance Petrochemical Co. Ltd., Sage Energy HK Limited, Peakview Industry Co. Limited, and Beneathco DMCC for dealings with the state-owned National Iranian Oil Co., it said in a Jan. 23 statement. The transactions helped finance Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force and its terrorist proxies, the department said.The move is a continuation of the White House’s aggressive strategy to penalize firms dealing with Iran, a country it nearly went to war with earlier this month. Last July, It sanctioned Zhuhai Zhenrong Co., a secretive company with links to the Chinese military and a history of taking Iranian crude and fuel. A couple of months after that it threw global shipping markets into disarray after it penalized a unit of COSCO Shipping Corp.“Iran’s petrochemical and petroleum sectors are a primary source of funding for the regime’s global terrorist activities and enable its persistent use of violence against its own people,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in the statement.In 2019, Triliance Petrochemical ordered the transfer of the equivalent of millions of dollars to NIOC as payment for Iranian petrochemicals, crude oil, and petroleum products shipped to the U.A.E. and China after the expiration of any applicable exceptions, the Treasury Department said. In facilitating these shipments, Triliance worked to conceal the origin of these products, it added.Triliance and Sage are based in Hong Kong, while Peakview is headquartered in Shanghai and Beneathco in Dubai. Calls to Triliance’s head office went unanswered, while a person at Beneathco declined to immediately respond to questions. Contact information for Sage and Peakview wasn’t immediately available.All property and interests in the property of the designated companies are blocked and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them, while foreign financial institutions that knowingly deal with them may be penalized, the department said.\--With assistance from Saket Sundria.To contact the reporters on this story: Serene Cheong in Singapore at scheong20@bloomberg.net;Elizabeth Low in Singapore at elow39@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Serene Cheong at scheong20@bloomberg.net, Andrew Janes, Dan MurtaughFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

New Trump Rule Requires U.S. Officials to Weigh Pregnant Visa Applicants' Medical Needs

Would this new restriction impact pregnant women with genuine medical needs? It will come down to how individual counselors enforce it

No qualms for India's hangman before first job of executing rapists

Pawan Kumar feels zero sympathy for the four men he is due to hang next month for a 2012 gang rape and murder that appalled India. The group set to meet their demise before dawn on February 1 -- although it may be delayed -- were convicted for a brutal crime against Jyoti Singh, a 23-year-old student. Angry demonstrations by tens of thousands of people broke out across the vast South Asian nation, sparking soul-searching about the plight of Indian women and leading to heavier sentences for sex crimes.

Trump admin plans to expand restrictive border policies

"The Trump administration is clearly attempting to scale up its crackdown on asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border," an immigration expert told CBS News.

Experts fear China virus lockdown is too late

China's bid to contain a deadly new virus by placing cities of millions under quarantine is an unprecedented undertaking, but it is unlikely to stop the disease spreading, experts warn. The contagious virus has already reached elsewhere in China and abroad, and even an authoritarian government has only a small time frame in which trapped residents will submit to such a lockdown, they say.