| Michael Flynn's attorney alleges government cover up, while prosecutors leave open possibility of prison Posted: 10 Sep 2019 09:52 AM PDT  Michael Flynn's attorney accused the government of withholding evidence as prosecutors push for sentencing date.
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| 2020 Vision Monday: State by state, Warren is getting closer to the Democratic nomination Posted: 09 Sep 2019 11:04 AM PDT  Elizabeth Warren has steadily ticked up in national surveys since the start of May, more than doubling her polling average, from 8 percent to 18, over that period of time. Everyone else has slipped.
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| Satellite images show US-pursued Iran tanker still off Syria Posted: 10 Sep 2019 08:33 AM PDT  New satellite photos obtained Tuesday show an Iranian oil tanker pursued by the U.S. remains off the coast of Syria. The images from Planet Labs obtained by The Associated Press have the Adrian Darya-1 still near the port city of Tartus. The Adrian Darya 1, formerly known as the Grace 1, was carrying 2.1 million barrels of Iranian crude oil worth some $130 million.
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| NRA Sues San Francisco over ‘Domestic Terrorist Organization’ Label Posted: 10 Sep 2019 05:19 AM PDT  The National Rifle Association filed suit Monday against the city of San Francisco in response to city's board of supervisors labeling the gun-rights group a "domestic terrorist organization."The suit — filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against the city and county of San Francisco, as well as the board of supervisors — claims the city violated the gun lobby's first amendment rights by seeking to prevent any individuals or entities associated with it from doing business in San Francisco."This lawsuit comes with a message to those who attack the NRA: we will never stop fighting for our law-abiding members and their constitutional freedoms," NRA CEO and executive vice president Wayne LaPierre said in a statement shared with the Washington Post.The board of supervisors passed a resolution last week in response to the country's "epidemic of gun violence," that accuses the NRA of using "its considerable wealth and organization strength to promote gun ownership and incite gun owners to acts of violence."The resolution also declares the board's desire to "limit those entities who do business with the City and County of San Francisco from doing business with this domestic terrorist organization."It was drafted in the immediate aftermath of the mass shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in July in which a lone gunman killed three festival-goers and injured 17 others. Three mass shootings — in El Paso, Texas; Dayton, Ohio; and, most recently, Odessa and Midland, Texas — have occurred since then.The San Francisco city attorney's office responded to the NRA's suit by suggesting the group focus its resources on preventing gun violence rather than retaliating against the city."The American people would be better served if the NRA stopped trying to get weapons of war into our communities and instead actually did something about gun safety," John Coté, a spokesman for the San Francisco City Attorney's Office, told the Associated Press. "Common-sense safety measures like universal background checks, an assault weapons ban, and restricting high-capacity magazines would be a good start."
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| Kremlin says man named in media reports as U.S. spy worked in Russian president's office Posted: 10 Sep 2019 02:30 AM PDT ![Kremlin says man named in media reports as U.S. spy worked in Russian president's office]( "Kremlin says man named in media reports as U.S. spy worked in Russian president's office") The Kremlin said on Tuesday that a former Russian official identified in media reports as a CIA asset inside Russia had worked in Russia's presidential administration, but did not have direct access to President Vladimir Putin. U.S. media reported on Monday that U.S. intelligence carried out an operation in 2017 to extract a high-level Russian official and CIA asset. Russian daily newspaper Kommersant said on Tuesday the official may have been a man called Oleg Smolenkov.
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| South Africa’s Malema Presents Himself to Police Over Gun Probe Posted: 10 Sep 2019 04:48 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- South African opposition leader Julius Malema presented himself to the police's special investigative unit over allegations that he illegally fired a weapon.Malema arrived at the offices of the so-called Hawks in the capital, Pretoria, on Tuesday. His party, the Economic Freedom Fighters, said Monday the unit would issue a warning statement to Malema. The 38-year-old was filmed allegedly shooting a rifle into the air during the party's five-year anniversary celebrations in the southern town of East London last year.Malema told reporters the Hawks informed him further investigations are being conducted on the incident after a prosecutor refused to move on the evidence presented before him. Known for his abrasive politics, Malema heads the country's third-biggest opposition party and often portrays himself as a defender of the poor."Someone, somewhere is sitting and making stupid decisions and not applying the law," he said. "What is happening here is that they are using us as a diversion."His appearance before the Hawks came a day after the Daily Maverick, a Johannesburg-based news website, alleged that Malema was a beneficiary of funds embezzled from failed VBS Mutual Bank and used the money to finance his political aspirations and lavish lifestyle, including the purchase of Gucci apparel and other luxury items.EFF spokesman Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said he couldn't immediately comment when contacted on Tuesday. The party has previously said there's no proof its officials did anything wrong."The allegations on VBS are a fabrication and unfounded," Malema said. "Louis Vuitton and Gucci, I have worn it before. I don't buy it with VBS money."He said he won't take any action against the Daily Maverick.Read more on EFF and VBS Mutual BankMalema established the EFF in July 2013 after he was expelled from the ruling African National Congress. His party won 11% of the national vote in May 8 elections.(Updates with Malema's comments starting in fourth paragraph.)\--With assistance from Amogelang Mbatha.To contact the reporter on this story: Nkululeko Ncana in Johannesburg at nncana@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net, Rene Vollgraaff, Pauline BaxFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Freed in prisoner swap, Ukraine's Sentsov warns: Don't trust Russia Posted: 10 Sep 2019 10:09 AM PDT  Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov on Tuesday warned against trusting Russian President Vladimir Putin, after Moscow freed him from jail in a historic prisoner swap with Kiev this weekend. Dressed casually in a polo shirt and jeans, the 43-year-old seemed calm and composed at his first news conference since flying to Kiev on Saturday along with 34 other Ukrainian prisoners. "As far as Russia's wishes for peace go, a wolf can put on a lamb's clothing, but his teeth don't disappear.
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| McConnell Said No to Money for Miners, Yes to Russian-Backed Plant Posted: 10 Sep 2019 01:25 AM PDT  Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/GettySenate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell last month blocked a measure that would have used Treasury Department funds marked for Appalachian development to help pay for coal miners' health care and pensions in his home state of Kentucky. But just a few months earlier, McConnell successfully steered near-identical Treasury funds for Appalachia to bankroll a Kentucky aluminum plant connected to an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Democrats on Capitol Hill have raised concerns for months about McConnell's connection to the aluminum plant. It's one of several reasons why McConnell's political opponents have tried to stick him with the nickname "Moscow Mitch." But what's gone largely unnoticed as the sobriquet has become a social media trending topic is how McConnell worked to keep money out of coal miners' hands—even as he maneuvered to steer federal funds to the Russian-linked plant.The scrutiny started in January, when McConnell voted to lift sanctions on Rusal, a Russian aluminum company formerly headed by Putin ally Oleg Deripaska, despite several of his Republican colleagues defecting and voting no. Rusal's de-listing caused an uproar among Democrats on Capitol Hill who viewed the deal the Treasury Department put together with Rusal as too lenient. Dems Move to Block Trump From Lifting Sanctions on Russian Oligarch Oleg DeripaskaThen, in April, the focus turned to McConnell. Just weeks after the Treasury Department announced the official de-listing of Rusal, the company announced a $200 million investment in the Braidy Industries aluminum plant in the northeastern part of Kentucky. Democrats raised questions about how much McConnell knew about Rusal's investment plan before he voted for sanctions relief. Rusal is the only outside investor in the plant. In a statement to The Daily Beast, a Braidy Industries spokesperson said the company has never lobbied members of Congress on sanctions issues and began working with law firm Akin Gump in May 2019 for "general government relations representation." The spokesperson also said no employee or director of the company has ever spoken to McConnell about Rusal.But McConnell's connection to the Rusal-Braidy aluminum plant is deeper than previously understood. At the same time Rusal was lobbying the Trump administration to get off the U.S. sanctions list, McConnell was advocating for federal funds to be diverted to help with construction of the Braidy plant in Kentucky. Since 2016 the federal government has given states in Appalachia millions of dollars from the Treasury Department to help clean up and reform abandoned coal mining land, and to assist in economic and community development in those areas. McConnell and other Kentucky lawmakers, including Rep. Harold Rogers (R-KY), have advocated that the state continue to receive that federal funding given the impact of coal companies' bankruptcies. Two companies, EastPark Industrial and Ashland Alliance, applied for $7 million from the pot of federal money from the Kentucky state government in November 2017 for general sewer and road repair on 204 acres of land. The application also included infrastructure improvements.In October 2018, McConnell, Rogers, and Kentucky officials announced that EastPark and Ashland would get $4 million. Then, in March 2019, the applicants confirmed that the $4 million would not go to funding general repairs but would instead go prepping for construction on the aluminum plant."Ashland Alliance and EastPark will only be applying the $4 million to the Braidy Site preparation," wrote Ashland Alliance president Tim Gibbs in an email from March 2019 reviewed by The Daily Beast. "The $4 million in AML funds will enable Braidy to complete the $14 million total investment to stabilize the site for high precision manufacturing."It is not clear when talks between Braidy Industries and Rusal began, but two sources with direct knowledge of the $4 million payout said McConnell went to bat for the applicants during the internal review process and was instrumental in helping them secure the federal funding.As site cleanup for the aluminum plant began, McConnell blocked a bill sponsored by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) that would have doled out federal money to help fund miners' pensions. Every year the Treasury Department collects fees from coal companies based on how much coal they produce in their plants. Those fees are then doled out to the Department of the Interior in part for the purpose of cleaning up land that houses abandoned mines and for economic development and restoration of coal communities suffering from energy company bankruptcies. Manchin wanted to take the excess money from that fund and use it to secure coal miner pensions and health care plans. McConnell blocked the measure, claiming he wanted a more permanent fix to multiemployer pensions. "There are amendments that benefit Americans and West Virginians that are being blocked by one person: Mitch McConnell," Manchin said in a statement at the time. "He is the sole person that is blocking a vote on my amendment to… secure coal miners' health care and pensions, even though it has bipartisan support and would better the lives of every West Virginian, Kentuckian and American."Making matters even more contentious was the fact that the majority leader helped steer $4 million in very similar federal funding for the Braidy aluminum plant construction. The $4 million came out of a $90 million allocation from the Treasury Department to the Department of the Interior to help three Appalachian states cope with the impact of a declining coal industry. The Department of the Interior did not respond to a request for comment.In a statement, McConnell's office defended his decisions."Leader McConnell has long been and will continue to be a strong supporter of Kentucky coal miners and their families. He has met with numerous Kentucky miners about important issues including the challenges facing their pension plan," a spokesperson said. "Sen. McConnell is concerned about the challenges facing a number of multiemployer pension plans, including UMWA's pension, and he believes it is best addressed through a broader bipartisan and bicameral pension reform effort." But some coal miners in Kentucky are threatening to throw their support behind McConnell's main 2020 opponent, Amy McGrath, if the majority leader fails to pass legislation that would help secure their pensions. Thousands of miners in Kentucky rely on the monthly $600 check to pay the bills and to buy groceries for their families. "We're not ever going to quit until they give us what we've earned. We're not going to quit until we get it," said Dwayne Thompson, a 72-year-old former Peabody Energy coal miner from Kentucky. "I hope Senator McConnell gets that. If he supports us, we will support him."The United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), the national mining union, has for years called on McConnell and other lawmakers to pass legislation that would help mitigate the fallout of the increasing number of energy company bankruptcies and the closure of hundreds of mines. In 1974, Congress passed a law that established minimum standards for pension plans in private industry. That same year UMWA negotiated its pension plan with coal mining companies. But with the demise of the coal industry, the fund is running out of money. It's expected to be insolvent by 2022.Behind closed doors, two sources with direct knowledge say, McConnell has privately promised miners a more permanent fix to the pension issue, but even national coal mining leaders are skeptical that the Senate majority leader and his colleagues in Congress will help in the short term."Coal miners understand something—when people tell us 'we're going to pass legislation'… we don't believe it," said Cecil Roberts, president of the UWMA, at a recent speech in Washington. "Anyone who understands how Congress works knows that that's a fight."Several miners who spoke to The Daily Beast said they felt McConnell had blocked the funding for pensions because some of the union members had decided to support his 2014 election opponent, Alison Lundergan Grimes. Others, though, were wary of going too far in their condemnation of the majority leader, saying that at the end of the day, McConnell was their best shot at ensuring they could continue providing for their families. (In 2017 McConnell helped push forward a bipartisan spending bill that included a permanent extension of health care benefits to thousands of coal miners.) On Friday two miners featured in an attack add by McGrath said they were not told their images would be used for a political campaign and demanded that McGrath stop airing them."We thank Mr. McConnell for what he did to help on our health care, but now he needs to finish the job and do something about our pensions," said Bob Cox, a 73-year-old former miner who serves as the president of a local UMWA chapter. "It's a day to day concern for a lot of the older people I live with. They're not well and they don't need the extra worry that it brings on. If anything goes wrong, we won't last as long as we thought we would."Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet 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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| Volkswagen Showed a Glimpse of the ID Electric SUV That's Coming to the U.S. Posted: 10 Sep 2019 03:55 AM PDT  This compact crossover will go on sale in America starting in 2020 and will eventually be built in the States, too.
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| Trump launches furious yet confused attack on rival's affair with 'flaming dancer' after promoting QAnon conspiracy theorist Posted: 09 Sep 2019 06:32 AM PDT  Donald Trump has attacked a Republican 2020 rival over an extramarital affair during an early morning Twitter rant in which he also promoted a QAnon conspiracy theorist."When the former Governor of the Great State of South Carolina, @MarkSanford, was reported missing, only to then say he was away hiking on the Appalachian Trail, then was found in Argentina with his Flaming Dancer friend, it sounded like his political career was over," Mr Trump tweeted on Monday.
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| 10-year-old girl films mom driving drunk, police say Posted: 10 Sep 2019 09:30 AM PDT ![10-year-old girl films mom driving drunk, police say]( "10-year-old girl films mom driving drunk, police say") The girl showed Glendale police officers video in which three children under the age of 15 could be heard yelling at her mother to stop.
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| Prosecutor: Chinese woman lied to get into Mar-a-Lago Posted: 10 Sep 2019 04:06 PM PDT  A Chinese businesswoman knew an event she planned to attend at President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club had been canceled, but she still wanted to get onto the property and lied to Secret Service agents repeatedly to make that happen, a federal prosecutor told jurors during closing arguments Tuesday. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rolando Garcia told the 10-woman, two-man jury that Yujing Zhang was told by her trip's organizer almost two weeks before she left Shanghai in March that the planned Chinese-American friendship event had been canceled and she demanded her $20,000 be refunded, showing she understood. Then when Zhang, 33, arrived at the club, she falsely told a Secret Service agent she was there to use the pool, leading resort management to believe she was the daughter of a member and admit her, Garcia said.
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| Gun Sales Jump 15.5 Percent in August as Dems Renew Push for Regulations Posted: 10 Sep 2019 10:48 AM PDT  Background checks for gun sales, concealed-carry permits, and security spiked in August as congressional Democrats renewed their push for expanded gun control in the wake of several mass shootings.The National Instant Criminal Background Check System recorded a 15.5 percent uptick in background checks last month, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation.The jump in gun sales appears to have been spurred by a desire to secure self-protection amid an epidemic of mass shootings in the U.S., before Congress potentially approves stricter gun-control measures such as an assault-weapons ban, universal background checks, or limits on ammunition.The NSSF also pointed out that some states saw a particularly steep jump in background checks last month, with Alabama's NSSF-adjusted number jumping over 100 percent from August of last year, and Minnesota's number increasing 68.9 percent.Gun sales also spiked in August of last year, just before the midterm congressional elections, and even more starkly in August 2016, before the last presidential election.House speaker Nancy Pelosi warned Monday that there will be "hell to pay" if the Republican-controlled Senate fails to pass a universal-background-check bill, which would require checks for private gun sales, including purchases made over the Internet and at gun shows. The bill has already passed the House."We are not taking no for an answer. We are not going away," she said."It is totally up to them, and it is on their shoulders. They can't escape that responsibility," Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer added.Renewed enthusiasm for gun-control measures comes after two back-to-back shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio killed 32 and left the nation shaken last month.
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| 60+ Christmas Cookies That You'll Finish Before Santa Arrives Posted: 09 Sep 2019 02:58 PM PDT |
| 489 illegal immigrants with detainers released in North Carolina: report Posted: 10 Sep 2019 04:30 AM PDT  A new report claims 489 illegal immigrants with detainers were released across North Carolina over the past 10 months. Judge Andrew Napolitano reacts.
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| Outcry over EU 'way of life' migration portfolio Posted: 10 Sep 2019 08:39 AM PDT  An EU Commission proposal to brand its powerful migration portfolio as "protecting the European way of life" sparked outrage from European lawmakers Tuesday who called it a worrying use of far-right rhetoric. The row erupted after incoming European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen named her cabinet for the next five years and gave the controversially-named job to Greek former MEP Margaritis Schinas. Migration is an explosive topic for the von der Leyen commission that is taking office on November 1, as far-right parties make electoral gains Europe-wide by stoking fears of a migration "invasion" from Africa and the Middle East.
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| Trump denies knowledge of Air Force resort stays: 'Nothing to do with me' Posted: 09 Sep 2019 08:59 AM PDT  President Trump on Monday denied any knowledge of military and government personnel using (and paying for) overnight stays at his Turnberry resort in Scotland.
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| Woman, 73, charged with killing her 82-year-old neighbor with brick at a home for seniors Posted: 10 Sep 2019 08:49 AM PDT  Chun Yong Oh is charged with first and second degree murder for the death of Hwa Cha Pak, her neighbor at a home for senior citizens in Maryland.
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| Family trapped atop waterfall send SOS message in plastic bottle and someone finds it Posted: 10 Sep 2019 02:04 AM PDT  It was a desperate act of hope by a father fearing he had brought his family into mortal peril.When Curtis Whitson found himself, his partner and his 13-year-old son trapped atop an isolated 40-foot waterfall in California, his only solution for possible escape was a plan he did not dare dream could really work.
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| Mugabe polarizes Zimbabwe in death as well as in life Posted: 10 Sep 2019 06:06 AM PDT  Zimbabwe's founder Robert Mugabe is proving as polarizing in death as he was in life, with a fight over where he will be buried threatening to embarrass his successor and deepen divisions in the ruling ZANU-PF party. President Emmerson Mnangagwa's government wants Mugabe, who led Zimbabwe from independence in 1980 until the November 2017 coup that ousted him, buried at a national monument to heroes of the liberation war against the white minority Rhodesian regime. Mnangagwa has taken the threat to snub a burial at National Heroes Acre sufficiently seriously that he has dispatched a delegation to Singapore, where Mugabe died in a hospital on Friday, to negotiate with the family, government sources said.
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| Former Taliban hostage admits striking wife but says she asked to be hit Posted: 10 Sep 2019 02:59 PM PDT  Joshua Boyle, charged with sexual assault, tells court estranged wife Caitlan Coleman was unfit to parent their four childrenJoshua Boyle outside court in Ottawa in March. Boyle has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Photograph: Lars Hagberg/AFP/Getty ImagesThe Canadian man who spent five years held hostage in Afghanistan with his American wife has admitted striking her with a broom, but told a court in Ottawa that she asked to be hit, as his trial for sexual assault nears its conclusion.Under cross-examination by prosecutors on Tuesday, Joshua Boyle claimed he struck his estranged wife, Caitlan Coleman, several times in December 2017. But he had acted not out of anger, but because she frequently asked to be spanked.ENDNEWBoyle and Coleman, who married in 2011, were kidnapped by Afghan militants during a backpacking trip in 2012 and were transferred to the custody of the Taliban-linked Haqqani network.Boyle has pleaded not guilty to assault, sexual assault and unlawful confinement betweenOctober and December 2017, after the couple returned to Ottawa.Since taking the stand last week, Boyle, 36 has worked to counter the prosecution's depiction that he was a manipulative and abusive husband.He is also accused of administering a noxious substance.On Tuesday, he disputed accusations that he drugged Coleman with the anti-depressant trazadone, instead testifying he had offered her the drug because she was prone to "fits".Hygiene routines – in disarray after five years in captivity – were a point of friction between him and Coleman, he said.He told the court that on 5 November – about a month after they were rescued by Pakistan security forces – Coleman flew into a rage when he suggested that she took a shower before meeting his parents."I don't remember if I invoked the fact both my mother and father had complained about Caitlan's hygiene," said Boyle. "Meeting in public was often embarrassing for them."Earlier in the week, Boyle accused Coleman of "incompetence" as a mother, saying that while in captivity, Coleman would "shut down", neglecting to feed their newborn or change diapers, prompting him to ask guards for food for the child.Even after the family was rescued in 2017 and brought to Canada, Boyle claimed Coleman would strike and violently shake their oldest child in their family's Ottawa apartment.In previous testimony from March and April, Coleman claimed Boyle was mercurial and violent, choking, punching and biting her. In addition to cataloguing numerous instances of sexual assault, she also alleged Boyle threatened to kill her – in front of their children.But during-cross examination, Boyle dismissed the accusation that he was manipulative in their relationship, suggesting Coleman's behaviour and accusations could be attributed to mental illness. He also claimed that his demands that Coleman maintain a certain weight and dress in a specific manner were merely "suggestions" that she could have freely disregarded.The trial, which began in March, has been marred by numerous procedural delays over what material – including Coleman's past sexual history – is admissible in court.The proceedings also came to a standstill in July after Coleman gave several interviews to media outlets about her time in captivity, despite an order from the judge not to discuss the case.The defence will question Boyle on Wednesday, with closing arguments from both sides scheduled for the end of September.
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| Lebanon Shiites mark Ashura in show of anti-Israel defiance Posted: 10 Sep 2019 06:24 AM PDT  Anti-Israeli chants rang through the streets of a Hezbollah bastion in the Lebanese capital on Tuesday as thousands of black-clad Shiites commemorated the seventh-century killing of Prophet Mohammed's grandson. "We have taught Israel that our people are not weak," the men cried, beating their chests in unison, during an Ashura commemoration marking the killing of Imam Hussein in battle by Caliph Yazid's forces. This year's ceremony comes shortly after a series of confrontations between Hezbollah and Israel, including an exchange of cross-border fire at the start of the month.
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| With school shootings an increasingly common fear, some students and teachers have started writing their own wills Posted: 10 Sep 2019 10:45 AM PDT  Teachrs and students are statistically unlikely to find themselves hunted by a school shooter, but their perceived fear is still very real.
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| Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders would stand to benefit from the most from Andrew Yang dropping out of the 2020 presidential race Posted: 10 Sep 2019 11:31 AM PDT  If Andrew Yang's candidacy doesn't end up staying viable through the first few primary contests, his sizable base of supporters will be up for grabs.
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| Chinese State-Run Paper Singles Out Navarro for Trade ‘Lies’ Posted: 09 Sep 2019 07:38 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Terms of Trade is a daily newsletter that untangles a world embroiled in trade wars. Sign up here. The Chinese Communist Party's flagship newspaper took aim at one of Washington's most prominent China hawks, calling recent comments by Peter Navarro unconstructive "lies" that hinder the progress of trade talks.Navarro, an adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, repeated accusations he's previously termed China's "seven deadly sins" during a Sunday interview with Yahoo Finance -- including alleged cyberattacks, forced technology transfers and currency manipulation. He also said China is taking on the "full burden" of U.S. tariffs on its products."All these preposterous comments are not constructive at all, and go against the larger direction of the two sides taking real action to create favorable conditions for the negotiations," Beijing's state-run People's Daily wrote in a commentary Tuesday. Navarro intended to "throw cold water on international markets," it said.Those "irresponsible" comments should stop, and the U.S. should show "sincerity" and "action" to create condition for the negotiations, the paper said.China and the U.S. will hold face-to-face trade negotiations in Washington in the coming weeks, after a deterioration in relations last month left global investors reeling amid increasing evidence the conflict is harming both nations. The U.S. Agriculture Department's undersecretary for trade, Ted McKinney, also used provocative language on Monday, calling Chinese President Xi Jinping a "communist zealot.""It is important for both China and the United States to grasp the opportunity of stabilizing bilateral trade and economic ties," the People's Daily commentary said, adding that the two countries should work together in the direction set by their leaders.To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Miao Han in Beijing at mhan22@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Jeffrey Black at jblack25@bloomberg.net, Sharon Chen, Karen LeighFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Malnourished 13-year-old boy weighing 65 pounds escapes from Ohio home; parents charged Posted: 10 Sep 2019 03:18 PM PDT ![Malnourished 13-year-old boy weighing 65 pounds escapes from Ohio home; parents charged]( "Malnourished 13-year-old boy weighing 65 pounds escapes from Ohio home; parents charged") The 13-year-old boy had a very strict vegan diet that basically consisted of almonds, bananas and grapes, Crawford County Prosecutor Matt Crall said.
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| Archbishop of Canterbury apologizes for massacre in India Posted: 10 Sep 2019 08:02 AM PDT  The archbishop of Canterbury said Tuesday he regrets a massacre by British colonial forces of hundreds of Indians participating in a peaceful demonstration for independence 100 years ago. Archbishop Justin Welby spoke at a memorial for victims of the attack in northwest India. The massacre took place at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar on April 13, 1919, when the British Indian Army opened fire at a crowd demonstrating for independence, killing more than 300 and injuring 1,200.
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| Michelle Malkin on who's funding illegal immigration Posted: 09 Sep 2019 01:16 PM PDT  Michelle Malkin investigates the funding of illegal immigration in her book 'Open Borders Inc.'
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| See Photos of the New 2020 Audi RS7 Sportback Posted: 09 Sep 2019 03:01 PM PDT |
| Netanyahu accuses Iran of destroying secret 'nuclear site' Posted: 09 Sep 2019 11:59 AM PDT  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday accused Iran of having a previously undisclosed site aimed at developing nuclear weapons that it destroyed. Iran destroyed the site located near the city of Abadeh, south of Isfahan, sometime between late June and late July after realising that Israel had detected it, Netanyahu alleged. In an address on live television, with photos of the alleged site on a screen behind him, Netanyahu referred to an intelligence trove he had previously announced last year.
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| China’s Ambassador to South Africa Attacks Trump Over Trade Posted: 10 Sep 2019 09:04 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Terms of Trade is a daily newsletter that untangles a world embroiled in trade wars. Sign up here. Lin Songtian, China's ambassador to South Africa, took out a half-page advertisement in a key local newspaper to attack the stance of the U.S. and President Donald Trump on global trade.In a paid-for editorial in Business Day, South Africa's biggest financial newspaper, Lin said bullying by the U.S. will drive the world into a "severe recession" and accused Trump of capriciousness."The Chinese culture emphasizes that 'gentlemen keep their words.' Honoring the promises and commitments is the basic ethical code and requirement for state leaders and businessmen," he said in the advert titled 'Voice of China.' His comments were also published in the Star newspaper."The president of the U.S. runs his country according to his own will, dictates the world through Twitter and changes his position overnight," Lin said.The column, part of a drive by Beijing to have its ambassadors speak out globally, reflects the deteriorating relationship between the world's two biggest economies. The Chinese Communist Party's flagship newspaper on Tuesday accused Trump adviser Peter Navarro of lying. A day earlier, Ted McKinney, the U.S. Agriculture Department's top trade official, called Chinese President Xi Jinping a "communist zealot."The U.S. embassy in South Africa declined to comment.Tit-for-tat import tariffs imposed by the U.S. and China are roiling world markets and upending global trade patterns."The U.S. insisting on escalating the trade frictions with China will harm the common interests of all people around the world and no one can escape," Lin said. "The U.S. clings to the winner takes all law of the jungle."Actions by the U.S. are harming its own economy as China's technological companies will need to establish new supply chains and its agricultural goods importers are already finding other sources of crops such as soybeans, which are being acquired from Brazil, he said. Trump is damaging his reputation and that of his country, he added."Even God doesn't know what he will do tomorrow," Lin said. "Such a U.S. model of democracy has become the laughing stock of all people around the world."(Adds soybean buying in ninth paragraph)To contact the reporter on this story: Antony Sguazzin in Johannesburg at asguazzin@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: John McCorry at jmccorry@bloomberg.net, Pauline Bax, Gordon BellFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Kamala Harris apologizes for her response to slur after backlash from disability community Posted: 09 Sep 2019 02:30 PM PDT  After a supporter used an offensive term to talk about the president at her event, Kamala Harris laughed and said "Well said."
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| Appeals court orders resentencing for Rand Paul attacker Posted: 09 Sep 2019 04:07 PM PDT ![Appeals court orders resentencing for Rand Paul attacker]( "Appeals court orders resentencing for Rand Paul attacker") A federal appeals court on Monday vacated what it called a "well-below-guidelines" prison sentence for the man who tackled U.S. Sen. Rand Paul outside his Kentucky home, ordering a resentencing for the attack that broke the lawmaker's ribs. The three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said it found "no compelling justification" for Rene Boucher's 30-day sentence. The Republican senator was tackled by Boucher in late 2017 when Paul's then-neighbor became angry over lawn maintenance at the senator's home.
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| Vegetarian Slow-Cooker Recipes, From Quinoa Tacos to Blueberry Oatmeal Posted: 09 Sep 2019 03:16 PM PDT |
| Ukraine president meets tycoon Kolomoisky amid concerns over their business ties Posted: 10 Sep 2019 12:36 PM PDT  Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met business tycoon Ihor Kolomoisky on Tuesday, the president's office said, the first reported meeting since Zelenskiy's inauguration in May between the two men who had long-standing business ties. The president's relationship with Kolomoisky, one of the richest businessman in Ukraine, has been under heavy scrutiny since the start of Zelenskiy's election campaign, amid fears that the tycoon may be wielding influence behind the scenes.
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| This Convicted Killer Has Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Will It Help Him Escape Execution? Posted: 10 Sep 2019 01:27 AM PDT  Fort Worth Star-Telegram/GettyA death-row inmate in Texas who murdered a grandmother during a robbery is hoping that his diagnosis of a birth defect caused by exposure to alcohol in the womb will spare him from execution Tuesday evening. Mark Soliz, 37, is set to be the 15th prisoner put to death this year unless he can convince the courts he is mentally disabled and exempt from capital punishment. His lawyers are citing a decision two weeks ago by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which stayed the execution of Dexter Johnson based on new standards for evaluating mental disability."They're almost identical," Soliz's lawyer, Seth Kretzer, said of the two cases."It's simply not right to execute the mentally disabled," Kretzer said, adding that he knows they may not prevail. "Hope is a very dangerous thing to have in prison. We've used every legal tool we can to fight this and now we just have to wait."Gary Ray Bowles, 'I-95' Serial Killer Who Preyed on Gay Men, Executed in FloridaUnder the old medical standards, Soliz's IQ of more than 70 meant he did not qualify as mentally disabled. But under new criteria, Soliz's lawyers say his diagnosis of fetal alcohol syndrome should qualify him as mentally disabled and ultimately save him from a lethal dose of pentobarbital. "Because Mr. Soliz suffers from fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, he should be categorically exempted from the death penalty under the eighth amendment to the United States constitution," his lawyers argued in court documents."[Fetal alcohol syndrome] is the functional equivalent of the conditions already recognized as disqualifying exemptions to the death penalty such as intellectual disability."Soliz's mother was a prostitute who drank and huffed glue during her pregnancy. He scored 75 on his last IQ test, which falls within the 70-84 range considered borderline intellectual functioning, according to an evaluation paid for by his lawyers and reported in the Austin Chronicle. Greg Westfall, who represented Soliz during his 2012 trial, said that in a different jurisdiction, his client would have received a life sentence."Johnson County has a huge evangelical presence and a large amount of people who believe in the death penalty," he said, adding, "and there's racial overtones to the case. He's a Hispanic who killed a white grandmother."Soliz's deadly crime spree began in June 22, 2010, when he and co-defendant Jose Ramos stole several guns. The pair went on to steal from several stores and killed a man in one of the robberies, making a widow of his eight-months pregnant wife. (Ramos pleaded guilty and was given a life sentence for the slaying.)On June 29, 2010, Nancy Weatherly, a grandmother and engineer at an aerospace company in Godley, Texas, heard her doorbell ring around 10:30 a.m. and opened her front door to find Soliz pointing a Hi-Point 9 mm semiautomatic handgun in her face.Soliz brought her inside and began to search the house for valuables. When she asked him not to take her deceased mother's jewelry box, he told her she would join her mother shortly and shot her in the back of the head. John William King, Racist Who Dragged James Byrd Jr. to Death, Executed in TexasJohnson County Assistant District Attorney Martin Strahan told a local paper last week that Soliz deserved death. "He was a very dangerous person who would hurt other people if there was ever any chance he might be let loose, which is why we decided to go with the death penalty option," Strahan said. Fort Worth Detective Danny Paine called Soliz "the most dangerous person he had ever come in contact with during his law enforcement career."During the trial, Soliz scratched his gang name, "Kilo," into the defense table and managed to memorize the mailing address of a potential female member of the jury and wrote her a romantic letter that was intercepted according to the Celburne Times Review. 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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| Bolton's rootin', tootin' exit: Today's Toon Posted: 10 Sep 2019 01:34 PM PDT  Want to keep up with USA TODAY's editorial cartoons? Bookmark this page. We'll update it frequently.
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| Pope 'not afraid' of schism in Catholic Church Posted: 10 Sep 2019 12:03 PM PDT  Pope Francis said Tuesday he was "not afraid" of a schism in the Roman Catholic Church, in reference to attacks by conservative cardinals who frequently take aim at his papacy. The most famous breakaway from the Church was the so-called Great Schism of 1054 between Eastern and Western Christianity, which has lasted almost 1,000 years. The most notable of the 20th century was led by French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who broke away with a small number of Catholics, ordaining four bishops without the approval of the pope in 1988.
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| Democratic candidate Andrew Yang 'peeling off' Trump supporters with $1,000 universal income pledge Posted: 09 Sep 2019 08:16 AM PDT  For supporters of Donald Trump now disillusioned with his actions an improbable figure is emerging on the Left. Andrew Yang, a candidate for the Democrat presidential nomination in 2020, has received increasing support from disenfranchised working class voters in key "rust belt" states like Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan. The radical central tenet of Mr Yang's platform is the "Freedom Dividend" which would provide a universal basic income of $1,000 a month to every American adult, much of it funded by taxing large businesses like Amazon, Google and Facebook. "I'm peeling off Trump supporters," Mr Yang told The Telegraph in an interview ahead of the next Democrat debate. "There were many people who voted for Donald Trump because they believed his solutions, but his solutions were garbage and nonsense. "They're attracted to me because I'm talking about the same problems. I'm running to solve problems that got Trump elected. It means, if I'm the Democrat nominee, we will win, and most Democrats want a nominee who's going to win." Andrew Yang has pledged an annual universal basic income Credit: REUTERS/Gretchen Ertl People who voted for Mr Trump in 2016 have increasingly been turning up at Mr Yang's rallies, replacing their MAGA hats with ones that say "MATH" - which stands for "Make America Think Harder" - "Yang Gang". According to polls Mr Yang, along with Bernie Sanders, is the the only Democrat who more than 10 per cent of Trump supporters say they would consider voting for. Like the president he is not averse to mixing it. Mr Yang recently called Mr Trump "fat" and a "slob" and asked: "What could Donald Trump possibly be better than me at? An eating contest?" His crossover appeal is also shown by his standing in Fox News polls, which have him higher than other surveys. In a recent one he ranked fifth behind only Joe Biden, Mr Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris. As the massive Democrat field was cut in half to 10 candidates for the next debate on September 12 Mr Yang qualified with ease. More than 200,000 people have donated to his campaign. The former technology entrepreneur also has the endorsement of Elon Musk. Mr Yang paints an apocalyptic picture of the future - something along the lines of Terminator or The Hunger Games - unless action is taken to alleviate the inevitable rise of robots. He said: "We're going to lose to automation and AI (artificial intelligence) 20 to 40 per cent of American jobs in 10 to 20 years. This is essentially a consensus. Democratic 2020 US presidential candidates pose together before a debate Credit: REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo You can see it happening right now. "People who understand technology know my concerns around automation are coming true as we speak. They see it in real time." His answer is the safety net of a universal basic Income for all citizens. To fund it, Mr Yang proposes a 10 per cent value-added tax on business transactions. That would raise about $800 billion of the estimated annual $2 trillion cost, hitting the massive low-tax paying technology companies harder than most. "Companies like Amazon pay very little, or in some cases no, federal income taxes. The technology companies will pay much more into the system," he said. According to some estimates spreading the money around would end up growing the US economy by $2.5 trillion by 2025. Mr Yang rejected the assertion that many people might spend their $1,000 a moth on drink or drugs. He said experiments in Finland and Alaska showed they were much more likely to spend it on groceries. And the amount wasn't enough for people to give up work.
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| 'It's perplexing.' How did the Golden Ray ship capsize? Here's a look at possible answers Posted: 10 Sep 2019 12:16 PM PDT  Four trapped crewmen were rescued Monday from the Golden Ray. Why did the cargo ship capsize? We talked to an NTSB expert about the possibilities.
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| Syria's Raqqa still finding the dead, 2 years after IS fall Posted: 09 Sep 2019 11:22 PM PDT  The neighbors reported a foul smell coming from the house next door. The house, which the Islamic State group had used as a school for its "cubs," had been untouched ever since the militants were chased out of the Syrian city two years ago. The discovery, seen by Associated Press journalists over the weekend, was the 16th mass grave found in Raqqa since IS militants were driven out in the summer of 2017.
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| Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren reportedly teaming up behind the scenes Posted: 09 Sep 2019 02:46 PM PDT  Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is said to be advising Elizabeth Warren on how to beat her Democratic presidential rivals; reaction and analysis on 'The Five.'
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| A former Boeing official is pleading the Fifth Amendment after being subpoenaed for documents in the US Justice Department's probe of the 737 Max Posted: 09 Sep 2019 10:12 AM PDT  The former chief technical pilot on the Boeing 737 Max project invoked the Fifth in response to a grand jury subpoena from the Justice Department.
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