| Police: Man with rifle, bulletproof vest arrested at Springfield, Missouri, Walmart store Posted: 08 Aug 2019 05:22 PM PDT  Springfield, Missouri, police said the man had body armor and entered the Walmart store carrying a "tactical rifle" and another gun.
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| Man in anthem attack convinced Trump ordered it, lawyer says Posted: 08 Aug 2019 10:41 AM PDT  A Montana man charged with assaulting a 13-year-old boy who refused to remove his hat during the national anthem believed he was doing what President Donald Trump wanted him to do, his attorney said. Attorney Lance Jasper told the Missoulian he will seek a mental health evaluation for Curt Brockway, a U.S. Army veteran who became caught up in the heightened animosity and rhetoric gripping the nation, and convinced himself that he was following the president's orders. Brockway suffered a traumatic brain injury in a vehicle crash in 2000 that has affected his decision making, and Jasper said he plans to raise that in his client's defense.
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| India urges Pakistan to reconsider decision to downgrade ties Posted: 07 Aug 2019 11:59 PM PDT  India on Thursday urged Pakistan to review its decision to downgrade diplomatic ties over the withdrawal of special status to Kashmir, the foreign ministry said in a statement. Pakistan said it would expel India's ambassador in Islamabad and that its envoy who was to start his assignment soon will not move to Delhi after India revoked the special privileges to Kashmir. "The Government of India regrets the steps announced by Pakistan yesterday and would urge that country to review them so that normal channels for diplomatic communications are preserved," the Indian foreign ministry said.
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| Here are all the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates who have qualified for the September primary debates Posted: 08 Aug 2019 08:15 AM PDT  The next round of debates have much more strict criteria for candidates looking to secure a spot on stage. As a result, the field could thin out fast.
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| Chicago mayor calls out Ivanka Trump's 'nonsense tweets' about her city Posted: 07 Aug 2019 12:16 PM PDT  After the president's eldest daughter compares gun violence in Chicago to the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot responds.
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| Missile Explosion Prompts Radiation Warnings in Russia Posted: 08 Aug 2019 12:41 PM PDT  Was the explosion, which reportedly killed three people, a test of the Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile gone awry?
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| American Volunteer Branded 'Enemy of State' and Shot Outside His Home in the Philippines Posted: 08 Aug 2019 01:44 AM PDT  He volunteers with a group fighting against a hydropower project
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| Badass Planes, Ranked Posted: 07 Aug 2019 06:50 AM PDT |
| Mega-Trees Are the New Weapon Against Climate Change Posted: 08 Aug 2019 02:01 AM PDT  GettyScientists around the world are working on new technologies to combat climate change, like carbon capture and solar radiation management, but could simply planting enough trees stave off some of the devastation? We're actually in the midst of an international effort to do just that, but researchers have found there are some flaws in our approach. In 2011, the United States, Brazil and many other countries around the world entered into a large-scale project to restore 150 million hectares of forest by the year 2020 and 350 million hectares by the year 2030 called the Bonn Challenge. The project's goal was to renew large swaths of "deforested and degraded" land, and a total of 56 countries have joined the cause since it was created. It was estimated that 350 million hectares of forest could soak up 1.7 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide every year. We are on track to meet the goals set by the Bonn Challenge, but many climate experts have noted that much of the progress that's been made won't necessarily produce the intended climate benefits. A report from earlier this year that was published in the journal Nature found nearly half of the land that was pledged for forest area was "set to become plantations of commercial trees." That means smaller, fast-growing trees that are grown to be harvested for paper, pulp and log make up much of what's being counted as new forest area. "If trees are harvested, it doesn't take carbon out of the atmosphere for long before it's put right back," Richard Houghton, an expert in forest science at the Wood Hole Research Center, tells The Daily Beast. David Milarch is a co-founder of the Archangel Ancient Tree Archive. This organization clones the largest and oldest trees from many different tree species around the world. They've cloned trees from over 130 different countries since the organization was founded 25 years ago, including the coast redwood, and they aim to "propagate the world's most important old-growth trees before they are gone."Milarch tells The Daily Beast that if you want to get serious about tackling climate change, you need to be planting large trees that will be around for hundreds of years or more. He says planting smaller trees that will be harvested in the near future is "not doing anything for sequestering carbon.""You plant the right tree in the right place. You plant the strongest, hardiest natives state-by-state and region-by-region," Milarch says. "You have to go about this very intelligently."Gordon Bonan, a senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, tells The Daily Beast that reforestation and planting new trees are "essential components of climate change mitigation." He says forests act as a "carbon sink to remove CO2 from the atmosphere."That said, some worry focusing too much on planting trees and restoring forests to fight climate change could be harmful. A study that was published in the journal Science in July claimed planting a trillion new trees would have a tremendous impact in the fight against climate change and could theoretically be accomplished. Many articles were written about what looked to be exciting news, but even the study's lead author said this would not likely happen and shouldn't be seen as a silver bullet in the fight against climate change."Reforestation is one possible way to address climate change, but the main thing we have to be doing is reducing greenhouse gases," Karen Holl, a professor of environmental studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, tells The Daily Beast. "It's not a substitute."Holl says people shouldn't get the idea that we can "plant our way out of climate change." She says restoring forests and planting new trees are important parts of the equation, but reducing our greenhouse gas emissions is the top priority. Furthermore, she says we need to put a stop to the large amount of deforestation that's taking place in the United States, Brazil and beyond."The most important thing is to be protecting existing forests, because they hold a huge amount of carbon both above ground and in the soil," Holl says.The planet lost over half a million square miles of forest between 1990 and 2016. President Trump issued an executive order at the beginning of this year that allows for more logging on public lands, and President Bolsanaro of Brazil has begun a logging campaign that will likely decimate the Amazon rainforest. New data shows the Amazon is losing roughly three football fields of forest per minute to deforestation. Houghton says that reforestation and planting new trees are things that the U.S. should be doing much more actively, and he thinks we could stop subsidizing fossil fuels and use that money to pay for a large forest restoration project. It's extremely unlikely this will happen during the Trump administration, but the experts we spoke with said it could be accomplished after 2020 if Democrats controlled the White House, both houses of Congress, and made it a priority. "Getting off fossil fuels and getting into renewable energy will take some years, so in the interim, we could use some new forest," Houghton said.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Wife of US student held in Iran says husband 'not a spy' Posted: 08 Aug 2019 02:18 PM PDT  The wife of a Princeton University graduate student imprisoned in Iran said Thursday that her husband is not a spy as she appealed for international cooperation to secure his release. "I plead for the gate of mercy to be opened for him, and I hope he can come back to us as soon as possible," Hua Qu said in a speech marking the third anniversary of her husband's detention. Hua also said there have been no recent productive conversations between the United States and the Iranian government about Xiyue Wang, a Chinese-American history researcher who was sentenced to 10 years in prison after being convicted of "infiltrating" Iran and sending confidential material abroad.
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| Cummings: Hateful, incendiary comments must stop Posted: 08 Aug 2019 04:19 AM PDT  Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings says government officials must stop making "hateful, incendiary comments" that only to serve to divide and distract the nation from its real problems, including mass shootings and white supremacy.
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| Elizabeth Warren calls Trump a white supremacist Posted: 07 Aug 2019 11:22 PM PDT  Elizabeth Warren has said she believes Donald Trump is a white supremacist, hours after her fellow Democratic primary candidate Beto O'Rourke said the same."He has given aid and comfort to white supremacists," Ms Warren said, while campaigning in Iowa on Wednesday evening."He's done the wink and a nod. He has talked about white supremacists as fine people."He's done everything he can to stir up racial conflict and hatred in this country," she said, according to The New York Times.Asked if she believed the president himself was a white supremacist, the Massachusetts senator said: "Yes."Mr Trump has been criticised for his racism in the wake of the El Paso massacre.The shooting was allegedly carried out by a gunman who first posted a document filled with anti-immigrant rhetoric online.He then opened fire in an El Paso Walmart, killing 22 and wounding more than two dozen more.Beto O'Rourke, a former congressman who once represented El Paso, also criticised Mr Trump on Wednesday."He is. He has made that very clear," he said, when asked if he believed the president was a white supremacist."He dehumanised those who do not look and pray like the majority of people here."He said I wish we had more immigrants from Nordic countries because those from Haiti bring AIDS, those from Africa are s****** nations."The president defended himself on Twitter after being repeatedly criticised over his rhetoric."The Dems new weapon is actually their old weapon, one which they never cease to use when they are down, or run out of facts, RACISM!" Mr Trump said."They are truly disgusting!"I will be putting out a list of all people who have been so (ridiculously) accused!"The 73-year-old visited shooting survivors in El Paso on Wednesday.Protesters booed the president while he was driven to a hospital in the city.Mr Trump also visited Dayton, Ohio where a gunman killed nine people in a mass shooting which occurred shortly after the El Paso massacre.When his motorcade made its way to the Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, to meet survivors, around 100 people were gathered blocks away in a grassy field where they held signs reading "Dump Trump" and "Do Something!".Pro-Trump flags were also seen in the city.
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| Judge greenlights libel suit against NPR over Seth Rich reports Posted: 07 Aug 2019 06:06 PM PDT  The lawsuit will proceed to the discovery process, including demands for documents and depositions from the journalists involved.
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| Texas shooting suspect's mother alerted police about his gun ownership: CNN Posted: 07 Aug 2019 10:52 PM PDT  The mother contacted the Allen Police Department because she worried whether her son, aged 21, was mature or experienced enough in handling such a weapon to have purchased an "AK"-type firearm, CNN said, citing lawyers for the suspect's family. CNN quoted the lawyers, Chris Ayres and R. Jack Ayres, as saying the mother's call was "informational" in nature rather than motivated by concern that her son posed a threat to anyone. "This was not a volatile, explosive, erratic-behaving kid," Chris Ayres told the network.
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| The U.S. is Close to a Peace Deal With the Taliban, Officials Say Posted: 08 Aug 2019 01:07 PM PDT  American troops could leave Afghanistan by November 2020, but hurdles remain and some critics are skeptical
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| New Mexico faces extreme water scarcity on par with the United Arab Emirates. Experts warn more 'day zeros' are looming. Posted: 07 Aug 2019 09:03 AM PDT  The global water crisis will bring more "day zeros," when a city's taps run dry, a new report says. Worldwide, 17 countries face extreme water stress.
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| Google is getting better at making sure you book the cheapest possible flight Posted: 08 Aug 2019 12:29 PM PDT  For the past few years, I have been almost exclusively using Google's online travel tools to book flights. It's often the most convenient way to sort through dozens of flight options at once, and the interface is decidedly more manageable than what most competitors have to offer. That said, it does lack some features that other sites provide, but this week, the platform came one step closer to being the ultimate online travel companion.Google has been updating its travel tools rather frequently in recent years, highlighted by the launch of a travel portal in May which unified all of the features and menus into a single webpage. But that was just the beginning, as the new features arriving this week seem built to convince users never to book travel anywhere else.As Google Travel's Richard Holden noted in a blog post on Thursday, Google already shows you if prices for a flight you're about to book are high, low, or typical. But starting today, you will see all the same information for your exact itinerary. Google will also show you how the price has changed over the past few months on some flights, and will even warn you when it expects the price to go up or predicts the price won't go any lower.For a limited time, Google is offering a price guarantee for flights it predicts won't drop in price. If you book a flight on Google Flights between August 13th and September 2nd with Google's price guarantee, and the price drops, Google will refund you the difference. You don't even have to check -- Google will do the work for you.Other new features include recommendations for hotels, restaurants, and activities at destinations you're flying in to, and suggestions for which neighborhoods to stay in depending on how much you'll willing to spend, what you plan to do on your trip, and more. These should all roll out to Google Travel in the coming weeks.
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| View Photos of the 2020 Acura NSX in Indy Yellow Pearl Posted: 08 Aug 2019 03:00 AM PDT |
| Thailand's fugitive ex-premier gets Serbian citizenship Posted: 08 Aug 2019 08:29 AM PDT  Fugitive former Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who was sentenced in Thailand to five years in prison on graft-related charges, has received Serbian citizenship. State news agency Tanjug reported Thursday that the Serbian government granted her the citizenship "because it could be in the interest of Serbia." Serbian officials did not comment on the reason behind the decision. A government decree confirming she was granted citizenship was published in June in Serbia's official gazette.
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| Survivors of El Paso mass shooting said no to meeting with Donald Trump Posted: 08 Aug 2019 01:50 PM PDT  The president met with "about three families" in El Paso for nearly two hours after most objected to seeing him on Wednesday, Aug. 7.
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| US border detentions plunge in July after Mexico deal Posted: 08 Aug 2019 12:39 PM PDT  US southern border detentions plunged for the second straight month in July after a deal with Mexico to block Central American migrants, the Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday. US Border Patrol agents detained or blocked 82,049 migrants at the frontier with Mexico last month, down from 104,367 in June and a 13-year peak of 144,266 in May, they said. The Department of Homeland Security attributed the fall to a deal signed with Mexico in June to stem the flow of migrants traveling northward to the United States from Central America, mainly Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
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| Russia freezes bank accounts linked to opposition politician Navalny Posted: 08 Aug 2019 04:41 AM PDT  Russian authorities on Thursday froze a slew of bank accounts linked to jailed opposition politician Alexei Navalny as part of a money laundering investigation that his allies say is a trumped-up attempt to cripple his political movement. The move comes ahead of a series of planned nationwide demonstrations on Saturday being organized by Navalny's allies to protest against the exclusion of opposition candidates from a Moscow election next month. Russian investigators said in a statement on Thursday that they had frozen the bank accounts of Navalny's anti-corruption foundation, those of another organization, and those of more than 100 linked individuals and legal entities.
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| A Bloody Raid Shows Why Post-Soviet Leaders Hate to Hand Off Power Posted: 08 Aug 2019 06:43 AM PDT ![A Bloody Raid Shows Why Post-Soviet Leaders Hate to Hand Off Power]( "A Bloody Raid Shows Why Post-Soviet Leaders Hate to Hand Off Power") (Bloomberg Opinion) -- Events in Kyrgyzstan, a poor nation of 6 million on China's western border, show why post-Soviet leaders are so reluctant to part with power peacefully: It's hard for any of them to get any kind of credible guarantee that his successor won't try to lock him up, or worse.On Wednesday night, Kyrgyz special forces tried to arrest the country's former president, Almazbek Atambayev, at his residence near the capital, Bishkek. Atambayev, wanted on corruption charges, wasn't easy to take, though. He'd barricaded himself in his house, and he reportedly fired shots at the troopers who'd come for him. He was aided by about 1,000 supporters, who managed to repel the attack; one officer was killed and 80 people were injured. Atambayev's successor, Sooronbai Jeenbekov, took 12 hours to respond publicly to the events, a sure sign that he hadn't expected this kind of resistance. He chose to pretend he could have overcome the rebels, but not at the cost of more lives. At the time of this writing, the standoff continues; more Atambayev supporters have surrounded his residence, and more special forces have been sent to get him. Internet access has been shut off in the area. Jeenbekov was Atambayev's chosen successor as president (in Kyrgyzstan, leaders are limited to one six-year term – an exception in post-Soviet Central Asia, where rulers usually remain in office until they die). In 2017, he won an election European observers described as competitive and praised as a peaceful power transfer. This was the first time an elected Kyrgyz leader had left his post without being overthrown.Problems arose, however, when Atambayev refused to recede quietly into the background and Jeenbekov showed a reluctance to share power with him. A split in the ruling Social Democratic Party followed; Atambayev allies were fired from government jobs and mutual corruption allegations flew. In April, the parliament stripped ex-presidents of immunity from prosecution, clearly a move directed against Atambayev. Criminal cases in which he was officially only a witness escalated; the ex-leader refused to show up for interrogations. The conflict blew up into Wednesday's violence.Jeenbekov appears to have the upper hand for now since the military, police and special forces are still on his side. But the bigger issue is not who wins the standoff in tiny Kyrgyzstan, one of the 50 poorest countries in the world. It's whether any post-Soviet leader can safely hand off power after an election.That's also a question Ukraine's former president Petro Poroshenko must be asking himself. Poroshenko lost an election to former comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy in April. Late last month, Roman Truba, head of Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigations, said the ex-leader was a person of interest in 11 criminal cases, mostly involving corruption. Zelenskiy has mentioned at times he'd like to hold Poroshenko responsible for misruling the country, and though, according to Ukraine's prosecutor general (a Poroshenko appointee), the ex-president is only seen as a witness so far, the Atambayev case shows that can quickly change. A peaceful, democratic (or at least relatively democratic) power transition isn't everything. With post-Soviet justice systems largely unreformed and law enforcement agencies serving each master individually rather than the state, a ruler who gives up power is in grave danger, especially if he continues to dabble in politics and speak his mind. There will always be past transgressions for which he can be held responsible.In Ukraine and in Russia, ex-presidents have usually done their best to keep out of their successor's way. (Current Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev, who kept the presidential chair warm for Vladimir Putin between 2008 and 2012, is a kind of exception, but then he's always faithfully served Putin.) Poroshenko, however, vocally opposes Zelenskiy as head of a parliamentary faction; as a result, a Atambayev-style scene in the future is not entirely unimaginable.All this has a direct bearing on Putin's plans for 2024, when his last constitutionally allowed presidential term ends. He has few workable options for staying in power without changing the constitution to extend his rule, a scenario he's vowed to avoid. Watching the events in Kyrgyzstan must make him wonder about the feasibility of handing off to a supposedly tame successor, as Atambayev thought he was doing in 2017. Whatever Putin invents for 2024 will have to be less risky for him and his family. To contact the author of this story: Leonid Bershidsky at lbershidsky@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Tobin Harshaw at tharshaw@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Leonid Bershidsky is Bloomberg Opinion's Europe columnist. He was the founding editor of the Russian business daily Vedomosti and founded the opinion website Slon.ru.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| 'More than 100' immigrants tear gassed by ICE in US detention centre Posted: 07 Aug 2019 11:15 AM PDT  American immigration officials used tear gas and allegedly fired rubber bullets on more than 100 immigrants conducting a hunger strike at a detention facility in Louisiana over the weekend, just a day after as many as 40 detainees who were demonstrating against their detention conditions were reportedly pepper sprayed at a separate facility in the state.The spraying occurred at a facility in Pine Prairie, where more than 1,000 detainees are held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at a time, according to legal representatives for detainees in the facility who spoke to The Independent.According to a legal representative with the Southern Poverty Law Centre representing a detainee who witnessed the incident, more than 100 detainees were sprayed and hit with tear gas by law enforcement "in riot gear" on Saturday in a central yard of the facility. Many were then taken to a separate facility for decontamination, and legal representatives have since indicated they believe those impacted are being moved to different facilities.Another legal representative with a different immigrant legal group told The Independent that their clients reported seeing the use of "rubber bullets, which is painful but not deadly"."When an individual in detention goes on hunger strike, it means the person is willing to put their body on the line just to be heard," Sofia Casini, the southern regional co-ordinator for the group Freedom for Immigrants, said in a statement. "Multiple hunger strikes happening simultaneously are no coincidence: they are indicative of the desperation and suffering that immigrants are facing inside these human cages."When contacted for comment, ICE spokesman Bryan Cox confirmed that an incident had taken place, and said the pepper spray was deployed after the detainees refused to disperse from the outdoor recreation at the facility."Facility staff and ICE officers gave the detainees multiple opportunities to disperse and allow for the restoration of orderly operations. When the ICE detainees refused to comply, facility staff and ICE officers deployed pepper spray to disperse the group," Mr Cox said in an email.Mr Cox continued: "Medical staff evaluated all individuals who came in contact with the pepper spray; no detainee or staff injuries were reported."The incident came just days after dozens of immigrants were allegedly pepper sprayed and beaten at a facility in Bossier Parish, about 30 miles north of Shreveport."There are lots of cops who came from another prison, they beat up the Cubans, they pepper spray them and handcuff them," one of the men inside of the jail later texted his lawyer, according to Mother Jones, which was able to access those messages.Another text message from the same man claimed that the Cuban immigrants were attacked after they requested to be released on bond, and "to change the judge because he's violating our rights".The incident at Pine Prairie has once again drawn attention to the facility, which is operated by the private prison corporation GEO Group, which runs many of the jails that ICE relies upon for immigrant detention.
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| 57 people are dead and 18,000 were hospitalized in Japan as the country grapples with a stifling heat wave Posted: 07 Aug 2019 01:58 AM PDT  Scorching temperatures have plagued Japan for weeks, resulting in scores of heat-related deaths this summer.
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| Former SS guard of Nazi camp, 92, to go on trial in Germany Posted: 08 Aug 2019 06:36 AM PDT  A 92-year-old former SS private will go on trial this fall in Germany on 5,230 counts of being an accessory to murder, accused of helping the Nazis' Stutthof concentration camp function, a Hamburg court said Thursday. "Surveillance was necessary for the concentration camp to function, and the camp was made to kill people," Hamburg state court spokesman Kai Wantzen said of the prosecution's argument. Wantzen said the suspect did not deny to authorities that he had served in Stutthof and said he was aware people were being killed.
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| Police should prioritise animal welfare over protesters' rights, says Countryside Alliance after activists accused of killing thousands of pheasant chicks Posted: 08 Aug 2019 08:52 AM PDT  The police should prioritise animal welfare over the rights of protesters who storm farms and upset livestock, the Countryside Alliance has said, after activists were accused of causing the deaths of thousands of pheasant chicks. Direct action from animal rights campaigners, in which they storm farms, is on the rise, according to Tim Bonner, the chief executive of the organisation. Over the last year, activists have been accused of disturbing and even killing animals including piglets and turkeys. Last month, pheasant farmer Eloise McDonald, 23, found dead chicks with hundreds of birds huddled together after a raid on her family farm near Ashford, Kent. She wrote on Facebook: "Some lowlife scumbag so-called 'animal lovers' let out 20,000 of my birds, cut all the fencing, cut gas pipes, hundreds of week-old birds dead, gasping for water and starving!" Ms McDonald estimated that around 3,000 birds had perished. Mr Bonner said that while hunt saboteurs have engaged in forms of direct action for decades, there is a new wave of vegan activists who storm farms in order to get pictures for social media and raise awareness of their cause. He told The Telegraph: "It's a relatively new phenomenon, the farm invasions isn't something we've seen much of before. "Another prominent one is vigils at abattoirs and I understand people take views and don't like animals being killed but all they are doing is increasing the amount of time they are spending on the vehicle and are making things more stressful. "Obviously people can protest about whatever they want, but when animal welfare is impacted that is not acceptable." While the Countryside Alliance had found that police took the game farm vandalism seriously, the chief executive said there are issues with farm invasions. He explained: "With the farm invasion sometimes the policing does tend to be slightly biased towards ensuring people can protest - but if those protests are having an impact on the welfare of animals, if suffering is caused by that "There's a level of cynicism among the hardcore extremists and among the new generation of activists there's a level of ignorance. Making your views known - there's nothing wrong with that - but make sure you demonstrate in a way that doesn't impact the welfare of animals."
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| Atlantic hurricane forecast revised higher -U.S. agency Posted: 08 Aug 2019 11:32 AM PDT ![Atlantic hurricane forecast revised higher -U.S. agency]( "Atlantic hurricane forecast revised higher -U.S. agency") U.S. weather forecasters expect "above normal" activity in the current Atlantic hurricane season, revising an earlier forecast of "near normal" activity, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said on Thursday. The earlier forecast in May reflected the presence of El Nino, the climate phenomenon that warms the Pacific Ocean and tends to prevent storms from developing in the Atlantic. Since then, El Nino has abated, making for conditions that increase the likelihood of hurricanes forming, forecasters at the NOOA's Climate Prediction Center said in a statement issued as the hurricane season enters its peak months.
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| Popeyes is launching a new fried chicken sandwich nationwide Aug. 12 Posted: 08 Aug 2019 09:24 AM PDT  Fried chicken fans will soon be able to get Popeyes chicken on a brioche bun for $3.99 nationwide.
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| ISIS, Assad, and Turkey Are Waging a Shadow War on U.S. Allies in Syria Posted: 08 Aug 2019 02:05 AM PDT  George Ourfalian/AFP/GettyQAMISHLO, Syria—An enormous fire raged across several wheat fields outside this town on July 6. It was a dry summer day and dark smoke towered over the countryside as the flames spread across the farmland. Some locals watched in awe at the inferno. Others tried to fight back with shovels and rakes. They had little success. They watched the blaze consume their livelihood. Locals told The Daily Beast that the fire started near Turkish military checkpoints along the border and made its way south across Kurdish farms.Scenes like this have become commonplace this summer as fires have burned across Northeast Syria (or "Rojava" as it is known to the Kurds and their supporters). They have been particularly destructive this year and suspiciously concentrated in contested territories that make up the lines between between U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Turkish troops and Syrian pro-regime forces—as well as scattered fires near former ISIS strongholds. Suicide Attack on U.S. Troops in Syria Leaves a 'State of Terror,' Fears of Trump Exit PlansNow, as Turkish leaders threaten to invade this region, things could heat up even more.In December, President Donald Trump declared the so-called Islamic State to be completely destroyed and announced that U.S. troops would immediately leave Syria. After the announcement, forces loyal to the Assad regime in Damascus, and Turkish-backed proxies as well, began massing on the edges of territory held by the Kurdish-led and U.S.-backed SDF. In fact, even after Trump declared victory, the war against ISIS continued. It wasn't until March that SDF forces officially seized the last major ISIS stronghold in Baghouz. Today ISIS cells still remain scattered throughout Syria and Iraq waging a deadly insurgency. And thousands of American and European troops remain in parts of Syria controlled by the SDF hunting down those cells, much to the relief of many Kurds—and the chagrin of the Syrian and Turkish governments. Last week at a trilateral summit in the Kazakh capital of Astana, Turkish officials met with the Syrian regime's Russian and Iranian allies. In a joint statement released on Aug. 2 leaders from the three countries promised to work toward ending the savage fighting between Syrian government forces and rebels in Idlib Province while also condemning the "separatist" agenda of the SDF, noting they "rejected… all attempts to create new realities on the ground under the pretext of combating terrorism."Throughout the summer the Turkish Army has been massing thousands of troops—including tanks and heavy weapons—along its border with SDF-controlled territory. Over the weekend Turkish officials announced they had notified both Russian and American leaders of their intent to launch a new military incursion into Northeast Syria, which would be the third major Turkish military operation in Syria, following incursions in 2016 and 2018. On Sunday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan proclaimed, "We entered Afrin, Jarablus, and Al-Bab. Now we will enter the east of the Euphrates." American diplomats hastily worked out a new agreement with Turkish officials that seems to have halted the offensive—at least for now.While the U.S. military presence has prevented a full scale invasion of Northeast Syria up to this point, SDF commanders told The Daily Beast that both Turkish and Syrian regime forces have turned to sneakier tactics as they allegedly burn crops, collaborate with jihadist groups, coordinate bombings and even try to bribe some American-backed fighters to change sides in an effort to destabilize the region and make it more vulnerable to their influence.* * *Arson, Bombs, Spies, and Propaganda* * *While some of the fires plaguing Northeast Syria this summer are likely natural, a huge portion have started near military positions, on contested borders and along roadways, and frequently in multiple places at once. In places like Tirbespiye or on the road to Hasakah, the scene is almost apocalyptic—miles of black fields have replaced the bright gold crops. "Most of the fires in our areas are caused by the Syrian regime, Turkish intelligence, and ISIS cells," said Salman Barudo, joint chairman of the Agriculture and Economic Commission for the U.S-backed and Kurdish-led administration that now oversees much of Northeast Syria. According to the region's Economic and Agricultural Authority, the crop losses brought on by fires in Northeast Syria this summer are currently estimated to be more than 19 billion Syrian pounds (about $33 million). The fires have so far destroyed 44,788 hectares (more than 110,000 acres), killed at least 10 people and injured many more—including both military personnel and civilians.In the province of Deir Ezzor to the south, the Syrian military and allied Iranian-backed militias allegedly burned crops and tried to convince locals not to sell them to the Kurdish-led self-administration through a mix of counteroffers and threats. "It's an insidious attempt by the [Syrian] government to undermine the livelihood and base of support for Rojava," says David Phillips, a former diplomat who is now the director of the Peace-Building and Human Rights Program at Columbia University's Institute for the Study of Human Rights. "It highlights the precarious position of Kurds stuck between Turkey to the north and aggression from the [Assad] regime."In the Syrian city of Raqqa the devastating impact of the war is readily apparent. Much of the city remains rubble. Raqqa has been highly contested throughout the Syrian civil war. It was first controlled by factions of the Free Syrian Army before the al-Qaeda aligned Jabhat al-Nusra took over. ISIS took the city in January 2014 and made it the Caliphate's capital. SDF forces finally seized Raqqa in 2017 with the backing of Coalition forces. While Western military leaders touted their aerial bombing campaign as "the most precise" in history, much of the infrastructure has been destroyed and Amnesty International estimates Coalition forces killed more than 1,600 civilians. Small businesses are slowly setting up shop even among the devastation, and children play in the streets—but the recovery remains slow. International funding for reconstruction has been scant. ISIS also remains a problem, with sleeper cells regularly detonating bombs and ambushing local officials. But SDF officials stressed that ISIS isn't the only group with cells planting bombs in the city.They're Still Pulling Bodies Out of ISIS' Capital"There are some problems with the regime, they have been carrying out bombings to try to scare people and make them flee the city," explained a commander in the Raqqa Internal Security Forces who is known by the nom de guerre Mohammed Raqqa. A Kurd, he took on the city's name because he was born and raised in Raqqa and has been overseeing its internal security for about a year. "Lately the regime has been behind more bombings here than ISIS, but the reduction in ISIS bombings might be because they want to change tactics."Security officials in Raqqa told The Daily Beast that coalition special operations forces have supported local forces by helping them track cells and bombers, providing logistical support and aerial surveillance.SDF leaders say they have gradually tracked the regime's operations through interrogations of suspects and analyzing patterns in the attacks. Mohammed explained that ISIS bombings are typically more complex and coordinated, usually involving multiple explosive devices and occasionally accompanied by guerrilla-style attacks against security forces. By contrast regime operations usually only involve one bomb and perpetrators quickly flee the scene.The regime's campaign started "after President Trump announced that U.S. troops would withdraw," said SDF spokesperson Farhad Youssef. He added that the Syrian government's covert bombing campaign has particularly centered on former ISIS strongholds like Raqqa, Manbij and Deir Ezzor that have struggled to rebuild and that regime agents hope to exploit tensions between Kurds and Arabs. "The regime wants to discredit the coalition and the SDF and send a message to people that we can't protect them." SDF members admitted that they initially struggled to gain the trust of locals in Raqqa when they first arrived in the city, but insist that they have slowly made inroads. Today most of the city's internal security force is made up of Arab members, many of them locals from the area.Mohammed said the cells carrying out bombings on behalf of the regime seem less driven by ideology or loyalty to Assad and more motivated by financial incentives. When caught, members generally surrender easily and talk readily. "We have caught several people who confessed that they work for the regime and that they took money," Mohammed said. "Lots of people are coming back [to Raqqa], but there's no opportunities for work."Members of the Raqqa Internal Security Forces allege that on some occasions regime agents have used children, both boys and girls and usually between the ages of 11 and 16, to plant bombs before detonating them by remote control. "They tell the children 'go take this bag to this place' and that they'll give them cigarettes, buy them clothes or give them money," Mohammed explained. "Then after the explosion a lot of times they don't even actually pay them."SDF personnel said that many of the regime attacks target wealthier neighborhoods in an effort to drive away entrepreneurs and other educated professionals. "The reconstruction is what's most important. Half the city has no electricity. What we need is real support, financial support, to rebuild the city," says Mohammed. "There are some organizations working, but they're limited—they need international organizations to support them."Amid continued bombings the Syrian government has also been conducting a simultaneous propaganda campaign with messages suggesting that Syrian troops will try to retake control of Raqqa—a notion that a portion of the city's frustrated residents seem increasingly open to. "There's a sort of cooperation between Daesh [ISIS] and the regime in that they don't want stability here," Mohammed asserted.Mohammed believes ISIS and the regime have common interests, but said that he doesn't necessarily believe the Syrian government and ISIS are directly coordinating in this case, though Syrian regime defectors have admitted to past cooperation with the group and as recently as last year members of the Druze minority accused the regime and Russia of enabling the militants. Mohammed said he does have reason to believe ISIS has directly benefited from Turkish interventions and is using enclaves held by Turkish troops and their allied militias. "I believe most of the [ISIS] cells are in the city, but some are coming from outside territories, especially Jarabulus and the Turkish areas, to make instability."As Turkish troops began their military buildup along the border video emerged purportedly showing a Kurdish member of the SDF in Manbij abusing Arab residents and has widely circulated on social media. It wouldn't be the first time SDF members got caught mistreating civilians. In February 17, 2018 a group of U.S. Marines in Deir Ezzor provided care to badly wounded Arab civilians as angry Kurdish SDF fighters tried to stop them from providing treatment, leading to a violent confrontation that night that left one Kurdish fighter dead and U.S. Marine Sgt. Cameron Halkovich injured. However the Manbij Military Council—which is made up of both Arabs and Kurds along with other ethnicities—insists that the uniforms in the recent video are wrong and that it's a product of Turkish government propaganda.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has been critical of what it considers heavy-handed tactics and abuses by the SDF in several parts of the country, agrees the video is likely faked and that the timing isn't a coincidence. "The Syrian Observatory rejects all forms of torture and abuse against the Syrian citizen by any party," it said in a statement. "However, such fabricated videos in primitive ways which appear… at a time when Turkey is preparing to launch a military campaign east of Euphrates, aim to create an Arab-Kurdish strife."In the al-Hol displaced persons camp, where SDF authorities have housed suspected families of ISIS fighters since the Battle of Baghouz, there are almost daily attacks on the camp's staff and aid workers by residents. More than 73,000 people currently live in the camp and some are vocally eager for the prospect of a Turkish invasion, seeing it as a potential opportunity to stage large scale uprisings and escape. Foreign "ISIS brides" seem particularly enthusiastic. "[The Turkish Army] will get here, and they will liberate us," an American woman in al-Hol who didn't want to reveal her real name but who goes by Umm Sofia told The Daily Beast."If the coalition withdrew, we would face problems from both Turkey and the Regime," said Mohammed. "Both would attack from the North and from the West." * * *Shifting Alliances* * *When the war in Syria began in 2011 after forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad fired on Arab Spring activists, the Kurdish-led Democratic Union Party decided not to side with either the regime or the opposition despite the government's long history of repressing the Kurds. Instead they pursued what they called a "third way"—their own "Rojava Revolution" aimed at all people and not just Kurds.The goal was to create an autonomous region with a decentralized governing structure based on democratic confederalism and in 2012 some Syrian Kurds began forming "people's protection units" as self-defense forces—better known as the YPG. Their ideology aligns closely with the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Turkey and Ankara considers the YPG to be an extension of the insurgency in its own Kurdish regions. Despite early battles in 2012, for much of the conflict the regime and the YPG largely avoided direct confrontation with each other—despite occasional clashes in cities like Qamishlo where both sides control different sections of the city. They both fought against Sunni Arab militant groups that were often supported by Turkey and that both considered enemies. But regime hardliners still viewed the Kurds' ambitions to break away from their control as a direct affront to their authority and as a long term threat.During the bitter fight for the town of Kobani along the Turkish-Syrian border in 2014 the YPG formed a united front against ISIS with a few Free Syrian Army factions and other armed groups, fighting the militants as American jets pounded jihadist positions. The Kurdish guerrillas and their new Arab allies (with some prodding by American officials) formed the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) a year later. The new multi-ethnic alliance of armed groups raised alarms in both Ankara and Damascus—especially after the Kurdish-led force began receiving an influx of overt western military assistance in the form of arms, advisers, vehicles, and tactical air support.Turkey has continued backing several rebel groups, though some Syrian activists and former rebels have accused Ankara of using Islamist fighters to snuff out moderate and pro-democratic elements of the Free Syrian Army to turn it into a Turkish proxy force. Today Turkish-backed militants continue to be a thorn in the side of the regime in Idlib, home to millions of displaced Syrians and the scene of what's been the bloodiest fighting in the country lately. This weekend an uneasy ceasefire took hold in the embattled province until Syrian forces resumed aerial bombings on Monday. Syrian and Turkish troops have clashed violently around Idlib, most recently in June when Turkish forces shelled Syrian troops in retaliation for a Syrian government attack that killed a Turkish soldier. However, when it comes to the Kurds in Northeast Syria, Ankara and Damascus's goals seem to overlap.In January 2018, Ankara launched the "Olive Branch" operation. Turkish troops and allied Syrian militias invaded the Kurdish-held city of Afrin, justifying it as an operation against "YPG terrorists." The bloody campaign displaced thousands of people and numerous Human Rights groups accused Turkey of war crimes against the Kurds. Displaced Kurds have since accused Turkish forces of trying to "Arabize" the area by moving Arabs and Turks into formerly Kurdish and mixed neighborhoods. Ankara's goal seems to be to annex Afrin into Turkey as authorities issue residents Turkish ID cards, raise Turkish flags in institutions and schools, and have destroyed Kurdish monuments.During the battle for Afrin a handful of pro-regime fighters actually came to the aid of the Kurdish defenders to fight Turkish troops. But since the battle's conclusion both parties seem to have agreed to a new approach. "After the Afrin war and until now there have been meetings between Turkey and the regime intelligence," a senior SDF commander told The Daily Beast on the condition of anonymity. "According to our information a number of times Syrian intelligence went to Turkey, and Turkey has come to Syria. A month ago they had a meeting in Afrin."Though Erdogan has publicly called for the destruction of the Syrian regime, he and Assad seem to have an understanding of sorts when it comes to the Kurds. "Even though Erdogan is rhetorically committed to transitioning the regime, that coordination between Damascus and Ankara has been going on for years," Phillips argued. "And it will continue because Turkey insists that the regime complies with its offensive against the Kurds."The enmity between Turkey and the SDF has put Washington in a bind. Turkey is a NATO member and historically a close partner of the United States. After SDF troops took the city of Manbij with Western help, U.S. troops began coordinating patrols along the border with the Turkish military and American diplomats began working with Ankara and Kurdish leaders to negotiate a "safe zone" that would keep Syrian Kurdish fighters away from the Turkish border.But Turkish proxies have allegedly fired on U.S. troops near Manbij and the Turkish military recently acquired Russian missiles over the objections of American officials. The United States has since taken steps to cut Turkey out of the F-35 jet program. While American officials seem to have convinced the Turkish military not to launch its latest proposed offensive, the alliance is increasingly strained.Syrian Kurdish leaders, uncertain about their future since Trump announced the withdrawal of U.S. forces, reached out to the regime in Damascus to open talks shortly after Trump's declaration. The two groups have long communicated through back channels. However, the potential loss of American military support for the Kurds has undercut their leverage, and seems to have made the regime less interested in negotiating."The Kurds are actively seeking mediation from international mediators. It's the regime that is reluctant to talk to them," explains Phillips. "[The regime] discovered from their experience elsewhere in the country that they can use overwhelming force with Russian and Iranian backing to get the opposition to kneel and succumb to their demands."Even as Turkish-backed rebels and Syrian government forces continued sparring in Idlib, they have both kept one eye on their American-backed enemies in Northeast Syria waiting for an opportunity to strike. "Let me be clear: If the U.S. withdrew, Turkey and Syria would collaborate in an offensive against the Kurds and commit terrible atrocities in the Northeast," says Phillips.* * *Fragile Gains* * *The oil rich province of Deir Ezzor may be one of the most volatile places in SDF-held Syria. It was the last stronghold of ISIS, where many fighters made their final stand at Baghouz. It's also where American special operations troops fought a fierce battle against a force of Russian mercenaries and pro-regime fighters last year. The ousting of ISIS from its last stronghold in Baghouz has made the situation even more complex. Today coalition forces, SDF fighters, Russian troops and contractors, the Syrian army, Iranian agents and ISIS cells all operate within the city of Deir Ezzor and throughout the province.For months, some Arab residents have held protests against the SDF. Locals have lodged complaints about a lack of services, an ailing economy and frustration with a security situation that remains volatile as attacks and bombings target both civilians and local forces. All the while Coalition special operations troops conduct raids against suspected ISIS cells on an almost daily basis, often alongside SDF fighters."The coalition forces, especially the British forces, started operations to capture ISIS members in the area and they killed civilians in the process," said Abu Kahwla, an Arab SDF commander. "Of course people mistake the coalition forces with the SDF and the media say they are all the same, they don't understand this is two different things." Kahwla, who says he commands roughly 11,500 SDF fighters in Deir Ezzor, told the Daily Beast one of the greatest challenges he and his men face is the wide-ranging—and sometimes shifting—mix of ethnic groups and tribes in the area. For instance, there is now a significant presence of Shiite Muslims. For years Iranian-backed militias have sought alter Syria's demographics to bolster support for the regime by displacing Sunni Arabs and Kurds who opposed Assad and repopulating towns with Shiites. "This has been a long-time project for Iran," explains Kahwla. "They started years ago to have influence in this area, and the Shiite population is growing." Kahwla also said that outside forces are trying to bribe tribal leaders to turn them against SDF. "They offered million of dollars, even to me," he noted. "This strategy is not just the regime, also Iran is doing the same: offering money to different clans."Kahwla doesn't mince words in accusing both the regime and regional powers of using militant groups as proxies to advance their interests and undermine the SDF. "Everybody knows that, they use Daesh sleeper cells to bomb cities like Hasakah, Manbij, and even here. The last one was on July 11," he said. "They also use other groups such as Jabhat al Nusra to make bombing campaigns against the SDF and weaken their position with the people."But ultimately Kawhla said that the SDF can't solve Deir Ezzor's problems, and that in many ways the people don't really want them to. "Everyone in Deir Ezzor wants self-rule. They don't want an external force to come and rule them," he explains. "They want to have a self-administration, this is why we got initial support, because the aim of SDF is exactly that. But we are military and not a political force, so now we are waiting for the council to step up." Kawhla said he sees reason to be optimistic about the future, but that conflicts between outside powers playing out in Syria continually thwart local efforts. "All these external forces, Iran, Russia, Turkey, even America, should stop interfering in our affairs," he said. "Each day they spend in our country they force us to work for at least another year."However, as international players vie for control of strategic Syrian oil fields it's unlikely that meddling will stop soon. It's also why, despite talk of American withdrawal, U.S. troops may be in Syria for a very long time. "I think that the U.S. has a strategic objective, has a strategic goal, in maintaining an association with the Syrian Kurds," said Phillips. "Otherwise the U.S. has no friends or allies in Syria and can't influence events. That doesn't mean that the U.S. won't downsize, but I can't imagine a full withdrawal."Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Pentagon chief makes rare visit to Mongolia Posted: 08 Aug 2019 03:40 AM PDT  US Defense Secretary Mark Esper made a rare visit to Mongolia on Thursday –- the latest leg of an Asian tour aimed at shoring up partnerships to counter China's growing influence in the region. Esper has visited several regional US allies including Japan and Australia in his maiden tour abroad following his confirmation as Pentagon chief last month. Including Mongolia in his trip is partly a reflection of the landlocked country's geo-strategic importance -- sandwiched between China and Russia.
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| Emotions Erupt During Court Hearing for DUI Vehicular Homicide Suspect Posted: 07 Aug 2019 02:38 PM PDT  A 62-year-old Washington state woman who has a history of driving while under the influence has pleaded not guilty in the death of a 24-year-old man.
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| Police shootings are a leading cause of death for young American men, new research shows Posted: 08 Aug 2019 07:12 AM PDT  The phrase "leading causes of death" might bring to mind cancer, heart disease, suicide and drug overdose.But new research published this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences finds that young American men are at a surprisingly high risk of being killed by a police officer.Among men of all races, ages 25 to 29, police killings are the sixth-leading cause of death, according to a study led by Frank Edwards of Rutgers University, with a total annual mortality risk of 1.8 deaths per 100,000 people.Accidental death, a category that includes automotive accidents and drug overdoses, was the biggest cause at 76.6 deaths per 100,000, and followed by suicide (26.7), other homicides (22.0), heart disease (7.0), and cancer (6.3).The data used in this study do not differentiate between police killings that were later determined to be justified and those that were not. FBI data, which is widely acknowledged to be incomplete, shows that 400 to 500 homicides each year are determined to be justified, which is defined as "the killing of a felon by a law enforcement officer in the line of duty". Those deaths represent about half of the roughly 1,000 annual police killings that independent tallies, including those by The Washington Post and The Guardian, have found.For a black man, the risk of being killed by a police officer is about 2.5 times higher than that of a white man. "Our models predict that about 1 in 1,000 black men and boys will be killed by police over the life course," the authors write.In the 20 to 24 age group, black men represent nearly 2 per cent of such deaths, compared with 0.5 per cent for whites. A 40-year-old black man has about the same risk of being killed by a police officer as a 20-year-old white man.Because no reliable federal data exists for police killings, the authors turned to the data compiled by Fatal Encounters, a project that uses news reports, public records requests and crowdsourced information to tally officer-involved fatalities.The authors note that Fatal Encounters was "endorsed as a sound source of data" by the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics in a 2016 report, but they warn that the data likely undercounts the number of officer-involved killings: "If any death is not covered by news organisations or is not documented in searchable public records," they note, "it will not appear in the data."The study excludes police-involved deaths determined to be a suicide, the result of a car accident or an accident, like an overdose or fall.Police killings are far more common in the United States than in other advanced democracies. That is partly because the US has a much higher homicide rate – "25.2 times higher" – than economically similar countries, according to a 2016 study.One of the prime drivers of that difference, research shows, is the nation's high rate of gun ownership: Americans make up 4 per cent of the global population, but own nearly half the guns in the world.The nation's high rates of violence and gun ownership make many police fearful for their lives, research shows. Data compiled by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund shows that, in recent years, 100 to 200 officers are killed annually in the line of duty. And other research shows that police are more likely to be killed in the line of duty in states with more permissive gun laws.Officers can respond to the threat of violence by using lethal force of their own: more than half of the 544 people shot and killed by police to date in 2019 were found to be carrying firearms, according to data compiled by The Washington Post.The authors of the PNAS report note another factor at play in the country's high rate of police shootings: "Austerity in social welfare and public health programmes has led to police and prisons becoming catchall responses to social problems," they wrote.In his recent book, "The End of Policing," sociologist Alex Vitale of Brooklyn College argues that police often end up being the de facto first responders for mental health issues because of "a decision that's been made by political leaders not to fund adequate community-based mental health services".At least 20 per cent of people fatally shot by police so far this year had documented mental health issues, according to The Post's data.The study's authors say their findings reinforce calls "to treat police violence as a public health issue" with "profound consequences for public health, democracy, and racial stratification".The Washington Post
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| Poll: Majority of Republicans Supports ‘Assault Weapons’ Ban Posted: 08 Aug 2019 08:02 AM PDT  A majority of Republicans supports banning assault-style weapons, according to a poll taken immediately after two mass shootings left the nation shaken over the weekend.Seventy percent of respondents, including about 55 percent of Republican voters and 86 percent of Democrats, would support prohibiting such weapons, the Politico/Morning Consult poll found. Only 23 percent of voters overall said they opposed banning such weapons.Fifty-four percent of Republicans also said they support tightening gun laws in other ways, and a supermajority, 90 percent, said they back universal background checks for firearms purchases.73 percent of all voters said they supported stricter gun control in general, a six-point jump from early last year, while only 27 percent oppose tightening gun laws.Despite strong support for stricter gun laws among both parties, Americans are still split on whether constricting gun ownership is more important than preserving Second Amendment rights, with 44 percent saying the former and 44 percent the latter.The poll was conducted just a day after a young gunman used an assault-style rifle to kill ten people, including his own sister, and injure 27 more in a Dayton, Ohio entertainment district. Less than 24 hours before, another young male shooter had opened fire in an El Paso, Texas shopping center, killing 22 people and injuring 26 others. The El Paso shooter posted a white-nationalist manifesto to the Internet shortly before his attack.President Trump said Wednesday that he does not believe Congress has shown a "political appetite" for banning high-powered weapons such as the semi-automatic AR-15 rifle. He added that he supports "strong background checks" and called on lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to pass "red flag" laws, which would allow police to temporarily confiscate weapons from individuals deemed by a judge to be a danger to themselves or others.The poll of 1,960 registered voters was conducted from August 5–7.
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| 2nd ex-New Orleans cop takes plea deal in Hispanic beating Posted: 07 Aug 2019 02:48 PM PDT  WDSU-TV reports that Spencer Sutton pleaded no contest to disturbing the peace. John Galman, the other officer in the case, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery in February. Both officers, who are white and were off-duty at the time of the incident, had been on the force less than a year and both were fired a day after the July 24, 2018, beating.
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| U.S. Sanction Plan for Russian Pipe Could Repeat Reagan Failures Posted: 08 Aug 2019 01:10 AM PDT ![U.S. Sanction Plan for Russian Pipe Could Repeat Reagan Failures]( "U.S. Sanction Plan for Russian Pipe Could Repeat Reagan Failures") (Bloomberg) -- Efforts by the U.S. Senate to hamper a controversial natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany have probably come too late.The Senate is yet to vote on a bill to impose sanctions on construction of the undersea part of the 750-mile Nord Stream 2 link under the Baltic Sea, but the project is already almost complete and scheduled to be finished this year.The faltering U.S. attempt to prevent the pipeline mimics similarly unsuccessful moves to limit Soviet gas exports to Europe during the Reagan era in the early 1980s, according to Jonathan Stern, a senior research fellow at Oxford Institute for Energy Studies."They were resisted and ineffective then and I think we can expect the same result today," he said. "This all looks likely to be too late to be very significant since most of these pipelines have already been laid, unless the U.S. attempts retroactive sanctions, which I think could really raise a storm on this side of the Atlantic."The project has split the European Union, with nations including Poland concerned about Russia's Gazprom PJSC, already the region's dominant supplier, boosting its influence in the region when the link is finished. It also raised trade tension with the U.S., with President Donald Trump warning that the project would boost dependence on Russia and Energy Secretary Rick Perry touting "freedom gas" from North America.It's not so much that this year's attempts by the senators will stop the project, but there "might be a bit of disruption," said Wayne Bryan, a trader and analyst at Alfa Energy Ltd. in London. Gas prices for 2020 in the Netherlands are 55% higher than for delivery next month, signaling the market's assessment of heightened supply risk next year.Germany and other backers of Nord Stream 2 say the pipeline is needed to replace coal and nuclear plants being shuttered across Europe in order to help back up intermittent renewable supply and meet climate goals.The legislation creating the sanctions sponsored by Texas Republican Ted Cruz and New Hampshire Democrat Jeanne Shaheen would target vessels that lay the pipeline and sanction executives from companies linked to those vessels. Shaheen said that the only companies that would be affected are Allseas Group SA of Switzerland and Saipem SpA."Saipem does not believe this legislation as drafted applies to Saipem's existing contractual commitments for this project," said Vincenzo Romeo Tramontano, a spokesman for the Milan-based company. "Saipem understands that this legislation is aimed at imposing future sanctions on certain vessels providing construction support" to the pipeline.Allseas, which is laying the twin pipelines, declined to "speculate on potential impacts of proposed sanctions," the company said by email.While the U.S. had few objections to the first, almost identical, Nord Stream link that started operations in 2011, two subsequent events may help explain the current opposition.The first is the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, a key transit nation for Gazprom's gas that stands to lose billions of dollars if supplies go via Nord Stream 2 instead, which culminated in the 2014 annexation of Crimea and the imposition of sanctions by the U.S. and European Union. The second is the start of U.S. shale gas exports in 2016, which have since boomed to make the nation the third-largest liquefied natural gas exporter.With plunging renewable-energy costs the U.S. may be worried about the future of global gas demand, said Laurent Segalen, a former commodities banker who is now a partner at Megawatt-X in London, advising on financing wind and solar projects."In Asia, U.S. LNG is undercut by the Qataris and the Aussies -- Germany is the prize, and the U.S. LNG industry want to snap it from the Russians," he said. "If Nord Stream 2 goes through, the U.S. LNG exporters can kiss goodbye to hundreds of LNG cargoes to Germany in the coming years."\--With assistance from Daniel Flatley.To contact the reporter on this story: Mathew Carr in London at m.carr@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net, Rob Verdonck, Lars PaulssonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| View Photos of the 2019 Fiat 500X Posted: 08 Aug 2019 09:59 AM PDT |
| Gazans too poor to afford sheep for Eid sacrifice under blockade, Israel cash row Posted: 08 Aug 2019 03:08 AM PDT ![Gazans too poor to afford sheep for Eid sacrifice under blockade, Israel cash row]( "Gazans too poor to afford sheep for Eid sacrifice under blockade, Israel cash row") Ali usually marks the Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Adha with his family in the Gaza Strip by sacrificing a sheep, a customary annual ritual for those who can spare the cost. Gaza has suffered under years of blockade by Israel and Egypt, which cite security concerns for restrictions the World Bank says have severely damaged its economy. Ali said that in March, the PA cut his monthly salary in half, leaving him with of 1,500 shekels ($431).
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| Joe Biden atop Democratic rivals in new Iowa poll, but Elizabeth Warren is catching up Posted: 08 Aug 2019 01:04 PM PDT  As Warren starts to make headway with voters in Iowa, support for fellow progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Rep. Beto O'Rourke erodes.
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| DRC medics arrested over murder of WHO Ebola doctor Posted: 07 Aug 2019 01:53 PM PDT  Three Congolese medics have been detained over the murder of a World Health Organization (WHO) doctor who was fighting an Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo, a military prosecutor said on Wednesday. Cameroonian doctor Richard Valery Mouzoko Kiboung was shot dead on April 19 in an attack on a hospital in the eastern city of Butembo. The arrested doctors will be prosecuted for "terrorism" and "criminal conspiracy," Lieutenant-Colonel Jean-Baptiste Kumbu Ngoma, military prosecutor for Butembo in North Kivu province, told AFP.
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| Judge: Anti-Kushner bias not cause of Jersey City dispute Posted: 08 Aug 2019 04:28 PM PDT ![Judge: Anti-Kushner bias not cause of Jersey City dispute]( "Judge: Anti-Kushner bias not cause of Jersey City dispute") Jersey City wasn't animated by political bias when it took action last year against a real estate project connected to President Donald Trump's son-in-law, a federal judge ruled Thursday in dismissing a lawsuit brought by a group of real estate companies. One Journal Square Partners Urban Renewal Co. and affiliates claimed in a lawsuit filed last year that officials in the heavily Democratic city issued a notice of default on the $900 million project out of political retribution because of its connections to Jared Kushner. Before he was named a senior adviser to Trump in early 2017, Kushner was CEO of the Kushner Companies, a major investor in the companies seeking to build two residential towers and a parking garage in the city's Journal Square neighborhood.
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| Amazon and Google remove listings for firearm accessories following 2 mass shootings in the US (GOOGL, AMZN) Posted: 07 Aug 2019 07:15 AM PDT  Amazon and Google have removed listings for some gun-related products following mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio.
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| U.S. Intel Officials Eye Disinformation Campaign Targeting John Bolton’s Family Posted: 08 Aug 2019 08:38 AM PDT  GettyAmerican intelligence officials are monitoring a social media disinformation campaign that attempted to falsely implicate the White House National Security Adviser in a global money laundering and drug trafficking operation.On Monday, a Twitter user claiming to be a high-ranking Canadian law enforcement official posted records supposedly showing a $350,000 wire transfer from a Canadian children's apparel company to a Swiss bank account owned by National Security Adviser John Bolton's daughter. "Police investigations show [the company] and its CEO are accused of laundering and transferring dirty money between Canada and some European countries, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United States," the Twitter account claimed.The claims are clearly fabricated, and the effort does not appear particularly sophisticated. But a U.S. official familiar with the apparent disinformation campaign said intelligence community officials were aware of the effort. And Lee Foster, an information operations intelligence analyst at the cybersecurity firm FireEye, told The Daily Beast that the hoax's techniques are "consistent with what we've seen with previous pro-Iranian influence operations."Foster emphasized that there wasn't enough information to attribute the Bolton hoax to Iran or any other specific party yet, but said the incident did share some similarities with other campaigns documented by FireEye.The Twitter account at issue impersonated a high-ranking Toronto police officer named Donald Belanger. Twitter suspended the fake Belanger account and Toronto Police Service spokesman Alex Li confirmed to The Daily Beast that it was "a fraudulent" persona. The real police official the account had impersonated has never had a Twitter account and Toronto's Police Service does not tweet out information naming witnesses, victims, and other sensitive information in the course of criminal investigations, Li said. The tweet from the fake police official also made another mistake when the supposed wire transfer record in "Belanger's" tweet misspelled Bolton's daughter's name.The operator of the account first registered it in 2013 and appears to have originally tweeted in Arabic before repurposing the account into a fake Toronto police service official. The account, under the now defunct handle @BelangerPolice, retweeted an unremarkable stream of content from Canadian police accounts and mentioned nothing about Iran or Bolton until Monday.A Twitter spokesperson did not respond to questions about the "Belanger" account.Bolton is among the Trump administration's most aggressive critics of the Iranian regime. The U.S. official, while not commenting on this week's disinformation campaign specifically, said Bolton has been the target of state-sponsored influence operations designed to weaken his standing in the administration.Though Twitter quickly removed the tweet on Monday and suspended the account, it had already been picked up and covered by a handful of websites with editorial positions sympathetic to the Iranian government. News outlets such as Iran Front Page blared "Belanger's" claims that a Canadian business had supposedly transferred the funds at issue had been caught smuggling "a significant amount of opium" and "has close ties with the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) terrorist group."The outlet attributed its story to a tweet from a "senior Canadian law enforcement agent from the Toronto Police Drug Squad"—the fake police account—but has not updated or corrected its story to reflect the account's suspension or the Toronto Police Service's confirmation that the account was fake. "John Bolton," the "exclusive" article added, "is a fervent supporter of MKO terror group," using one of several acronyms for the Mujahideen-e-Khalq organization, or MEK. Bolton has earned tens of thousands of dollars in speaking fees for appearances at MEK conferences. The MEK participated in the 1979 revolution which installed Iran's theocratic government, but eventually sought exile in Iraq, where it carried out terrorist attacks in Iran on behalf of Saddam Hussein's government. The United States removed the MEK from its list of designated terrorist groups in 2012, but critics claim the organization, which has paid influential former American officials thousands of dollars to speak at events, is a cult bent on pushing the U.S. to war with Tehran. In May, FireEye assessed with "low confidence" that a series of fake Twitter accounts impersonating U.S. and Israeli political candidates and reporters "was organized in support of Iranian political interests." The fake accounts published content in line with Iranian foreign policy, but FireEye was unable to pinpoint the identity or location of those behind it. In other cases, FireEye has found more direct ties between social media influence campaigns and Iran. An August 2018 report from the company cited a network of interconnected fake news websites and Facebook pages echoing "anti-Saudi, anti-Israeli, and pro-Palestinian themes" tied to Iranian state-run media outlets. Send The Daily Beast a TipFoster noted that one of the Iran-linked fake news websites identified in that FireEye report, "US Journal," published a story based on the fake account's tweet. In contrast to the other stories, which summarized the fake Torono police account's tweet, U.S. Journal also claimed to have "other documents we got our hands on," in addition to the @BelangerPolice tweet. The apparent disinformation campaign comes as the feud between Iran and the Trump administration over U.S. sanctions and a 2015 nuclear agreement have grown increasingly personal. In late July, the Trump administration sanctioned Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif "because Zarif acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran." Zarif has spent the past few months blasting Bolton as part of a so-called "B_team" bent on war with Iran and undermining President Trump's attempts at diplomacy with the Islamic Republic. The Daily Beast was initially alerted to "Belanger's" tweets by a Twitter user claiming to be a U.S.-based freelance journalist covering the Middle East. The Twitter account was created in June, and has posted numerous tweets in broken and grammatically incorrect sentences consistent with someone whose first language is not English.Of the account's 63 tweets, 47 were devoted to promoting the "Belanger" story. Another 11 attacked Bolton by name.The Daily Beast could not identify any bylines by the purported Middle East freelance reporter. Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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