See award-winning journalist's warning about deadly virus - CNN

At least 24 Americans are among the 135 people infected with coronavirus aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Yokohama, Japan, Princess Cruises said, explaining it is using numbers from Japan's Health Ministry. CNN's Will Ripley has more. Watch "Full Circle" every weeknight at 5 p.m. ET.

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2020-02-10 23:00:56Z
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China launches coronavirus app to detect whether users have come in 'close contact' with the sick - CNBC

A woman wearing a protective mask looks at her mobile phone while waiting for transport at Hongqiao high-speed railway station before Lunar New Year in Shanghai, China, Jan. 22, 2020.

Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Images

China has released a mobile app that tracks people and alerts them if they have been in "close contact with someone infected" with the new coronavirus.

The "close contact detector" was released Saturday night, according to China's state news agency Xinhua. Users scan a QR code on popular Chinese apps like WeChat and QQ, and submit their name, phone number and government-issued ID number to request information about whether they have been in close contact with anyone infected by the virus.

China's National Health Commission defines close contact as someone who has been close to someone who is infected or is suspected of being infected, according to the report. It also includes potential cases, the report said, such as family members and caregivers as well as passengers and crew members who have been on the same train or plane as those suspected of being exposed to the virus.

Once users enter their name and ID number, the app will tell them whether they were in close contact with someone infected, the report said, adding that each registered phone number can run the search for three different ID numbers.

If the app determines a user is at risk, the report said they are advised to stay home and get in touch with local health authorities.

It is the latest effort by the Chinese government to use its sprawling surveillance system to contain the new coronavirus outbreak. The virus has now spread from the epicenter of Wuhan in central China to nearly every Chinese province and internationally, infecting more than 40,000 and killing more than 900 people, mostly in China.

The state news report, shared Monday on the website of China's National Health Commission, does not detail how the app works, but said several government agencies collaborated "to ensure accurate, reliable and authoritative data."

Both the General Office of the State Council and the National Health Commission played a hand in creating the app, the report said, as well as the state-owned enterprise China Electronics Technology Group Corp., or CETC.

The CETC said it received data from several government agencies to create the app, the report said, including data from the National Health Commission, the Ministry of Transport, China Railway and the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

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2020-02-10 21:11:00Z
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Coronavirus outbreak: City of Wuhan recorded by American teacher | USA TODAY - USA TODAY

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2020-02-10 19:48:06Z
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Germany's Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer Says She Won't Run For Chancellor - NPR

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Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, German Chancellor Angela Merkel's designated successor, says she will quit her role as head of the Germany's strongest party in summer and won't stand for the chancellorship. Markus Schreiber/AP hide caption

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Angela Merkel's handpicked successor says that she will not seek Germany's chancellorship, casting into uncertainty the future of the Christian Democratic Union, Germany's most dominant political party.

"With the aim of making the CDU stronger, I have today, after extended reflection, informed the party board and leadership team: I will not seek to become a candidate for the office of German Chancellor," party leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, 57, announced Monday, according to Deutsche-Welle.

Merkel later told reporters, "I regard this decision with great respect, though I greatly regret it."

"I can imagine this wasn't an easy decision for her and I thank her for being prepared to stay on to steer the process of choosing a successor," said the longtime chancellor, whose her current term will be her last.

Kramp-Karrenbauer's decision follows a period of unrest within the Christian Democratic Union.

Kramp-Karrenbauer was elected party leader in December 2018 — and was widely believed to be Merkel's preferred candidate, even though the chancellor didn't publicly endorse her. But "AKK," as she is often known, has since had trouble uniting its many disparate factions. Those tensions came to a head last week.

"Last week, in the German state of Thuringia, a local faction of her party joined the far-right Alternative for Deutschland party — known as the AfD — to elect the state's first minister, breaking with the party's aversion to working with the AfD, a party many in Germany label fascist," NPR's Rob Schmitz reported from Berlin.

The breakaway went against Kramp-Karrenbauer's explicit wishes as well as a post-WWII norm that major parties avoid cooperating with the far-right.

"The AfD stands against everything we as the CDU represent," Kramp-Karrenbauer said Monday, according to The Associated Press. "Any convergence with AfD weakens the CDU."

AfD is vocally anti-immigrant. In recent years, some CDU voters have cast votes for that party instead, particularly in light of Merkel's 2015 decision to welcome asylum seekers into Germany

When she became party leader, Kramp-Karrenbauer narrowly beat out Merkel's rival Friedrich Merz, As NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson reported at the time, Kramp-Karrenbauer "has a long road ahead to persuade German voters and the greater European Union that she can be as stabilizing and powerful a chancellor as Merkel."

Now, Merz is seen as a possible successor, along with Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn and CDU premier of North Rhine-Westphalia Armin Laschet, among others. Kramp-Karrenbauer is currently Germany's defense minister and reportedly wants to remain in the position.

"This decision will have, in my view, no effect on the stability of the government coalition," Kramp-Karrenbauer said Monday. "I was and I am leader of the party, and will remain in that role for the foreseeable future. I have decided for myself that I won't run for chancellor. Other than that, nothing has changed so far."

Kramp-Karrenbauer also has endured several scandals during her time as party leader, including a notorious incident in which she poked fun at the idea of gender-neutral bathrooms during a speech at a carnival celebration.

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2020-02-10 18:24:00Z
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Barr addresses Rudy Giuliani's work in Ukraine - Fox News

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2020-02-10 17:33:01Z
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Angela Merkel's succession plan is in tatters. Who runs Germany next is anyone's guess - CNN

Kramp-Karrenbauer, better known as AKK, announced she would not stand as the Christian Democratic Union's (CDU) candidate to be German chancellor in the next federal election. She is also stepping down as the party's chairwoman, according to the CDU's press office.

Merkel, who has been chancellor for almost 15 years, said in 2018 that she would not run again when her term expires in 2021. At that time, she stepped down as party leader and endorsed Kramp-Karrenbauer as her successor. But her attempt at securing an orderly transition of power -- as well as her own legacy -- appears to have failed.

Some say the chaos is of Merkel's own making.

"To me, this failure is symptomatic of the way Angela Merkel has exercised power," said Henrik Enderlein, president of the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin. "She never allowed anyone to rise within the federal government and become a natural heir."

Enderlein pointed out that after Merkel stepped down as CDU leader in 2018, the top three candidates for the post were Friedrich Merz, who had spent years outside of politics, and two rather junior politicians -- 38-year old health minister Jens Spahn and Kramp-Karrenbauer.

"AKK was a still relatively inexperienced regional governor of a tiny German state," Enderlein said.

Moving away from Merkel's politics

Florian Hense, an analyst at Berenberg Bank, said that despite the chaos, it seemed extremely unlikely that Merkel would change her mind and run again in 2021.

He said Merz and Armin Laschet, the prime minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, are likely to be the top contenders in the next leadership race.

Merz lost narrowly to AKK in 2018, and Hense said he might be better suited to take on the far-right Alternative for Germany than the other leadership candidates. He would certainly be a popular choice for those who are looking for a bigger change when Merkel's reign comes to an end.

Merkel formed a grand coalition with the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), and some parts of the CDU have criticized her for what they see as a move to the left. Merz, a corporate lawyer who has spent the past decade working for the investment company BlackRock, would move the party more to the right.

Spahn is also likely to throw his hat into the ring, although Hesse said his chances are likely to be limited, since he is not as popular among the wider German population.

Whoever becomes the next leader of the CDU will face the challenge of reuniting a deeply divided party.

That division was on display last week, when a regional branch of the CDU in the eastern German state of Thuringia breached a decades-old taboo and teamed up with the AfD to elect a liberal candidate as the state's prime minister.

"Thuringia is an example of how the right wing of the CDU wants to take decisions autonomously and implicitly cooperate with the far-right AfD," Enderlein said.

AKK's failure to force the regional CDU in Thuringia to stick to the official party line was just the last in a long list of moves that made her leadership look weak.

Speaking at a news conference on Monday, she said the decision to resign had been growing in her mind for some time. She called on the party to become "stronger than today."

AKK's shock announcement has thrown the CDU -- and the whole of Germany -- into political uncertainty.

One likely consequence of that will be a greater focus on domestic issues among German political leaders, something which could spell bad news for the European Union, which is desperately looking for strong leadership as it recovers from the United Kingdom's exit from the bloc.

Enderlein said the episode shows that Merkel is still the cornerstone of German politics. The four-time chancellor is on her way out -- and she certainly doesn't want her legacy to be associated with chaos. But Enderlein warned that might be exactly what's on the cards.

"Her departure ... will leave a big void [and] is likely to fundamentally deeply destabilize the German political system," he said.

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2020-02-10 16:09:00Z
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Coronavirus infections surge on cruise ship in Japan - CBS News

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2020-02-10 14:53:43Z
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