| Trump's stonewalling could speed up impeachment Posted: 11 Oct 2019 01:36 PM PDT  Democrats believe they have enough evidence to impeach Trump, in the form of a whistleblower complaint and a partial transcript of a phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in which Trump asked Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son.
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| Trump advisory council recommends expanding private business in national parks Posted: 11 Oct 2019 02:00 AM PDT  The Trump administration is moving forward with an ambitious plan to give private businesses greater access to national parks, according to a memorandum written by an advisory council for the Department of the Interior.
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| American Airlines passengers told they may have been exposed to hepatitis A by a flight attendant Posted: 11 Oct 2019 08:32 AM PDT  Thirty-six American Airlines passengers were notified that they may have been exposed to hepatitis A by a flight attendant, Charlotte, N.C.'s WSOC-TV reported.
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| California Democrats Spend Nearly $1 Million To Settle Harassment Suits Against Former Chair Posted: 11 Oct 2019 12:39 PM PDT  Former chairman Eric Bauman cost the California Democratic Party more than $800,000 in a discrimination and sexual misconduct settlements, according to records reviewed by the Los Angeles Times.State and federal campaign finance filings show $378,348 in legal settlements for three lawsuits, filed by Alton Wang, William Rodriguez-Kennedy, and Kate Earley. In January, the trio filed against Bauman, and alleged that the abuse was "well-known and apparently tolerated" by other officials. The plaintiffs accused Bauman of unwanted touching and sexually explicit comments."Our party is at its best when it lives up to our values. One of those values is treating people fairly," current party chair Rusty Hicks told the Times in a statement. "We have reached an equitable settlement that begins the process of getting back to the work 9 million California Democrats expect from us."Several other cases brought against Bauman by former party staffers remain active or pending. Bauman first took a leave of absence and then resigned last November following claims of misconduct toward staff members and activists. He said that he planned to seek treatment for alcohol abuse in a statement apologizing for his actions."I deeply regret if my behavior has caused pain to any of the outstanding individuals with whom I've had the privilege to work. I appreciate the courage it took for these individuals to come forward to tell their stories," Bauman said at the time. "Leading the California Democratic Party to historic victories has been the honor of a lifetime, and I look forward to continuing this important work upon the conclusion of the investigation and when my health allows."More settlements could could severely hamper Democratic campaign funding during a cycle in which the party has seven vulnerable House seats to defend. California Democrats reported nearly $12 million in total funding in their latest campaign finance filings.
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| Four dead in New York shooting Posted: 12 Oct 2019 09:11 AM PDT  At least four people died and three were wounded in a shooting at an unlicensed private social club in New York early Saturday, police said. No one has been arrested over the early morning shooting in Brooklyn, and the motive and exact circumstances are not known, a New York police official told AFP. Four men were pronounced dead at the scene, while two other men and a woman suffered non-life threatening injuries, the police official said.
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| Venezuela denies entry to Guatemalan president-elect, scuppering meeting with opposition leader Posted: 12 Oct 2019 06:17 AM PDT  Venezuelan authorities on Saturday denied Guatemala's president-elect Alejandro Giammattei entry into Venezuela, where he was scheduled to meet with opposition leader Juan Guaido. Giammattei, a conservative who won the Central American country's presidency in August, landed at Simon Bolivar international airport near the capital Caracas but was placed on a departing flight to Panama in part because he had not been invited by socialist President Nicolas Maduro, authorities said.
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| Ford announces plans to display 6 Ford Ranger concepts at SEMA 2019 Posted: 11 Oct 2019 06:32 AM PDT  To show off all the customization possibilities available for the Ford Ranger, Ford is bringing 6 unique concept models of the pick-up to this year's SEMA show, taking place next month. What better place to display the breadth of customization possibilities available for the Ford Ranger than at one of the biggest automotive specialty products trade shows in the US? Ford is using SEMA 2019 as an opportunity to exhibit six concepts of the pickup with six distinct looks and purposes.
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| Sondland will defy State Department order not to testify in impeachment probe, lawyer says Posted: 11 Oct 2019 07:18 AM PDT  After being blocked from testifying in the House impeachment inquiry, Gordon Sondland, U.S. ambassador to the EU and a central player in the Ukraine controversy, will appear before Congress next week.
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| Norwegian Cruise Line Passengers Mutiny Over Changed Plans and Poor Conditions Posted: 11 Oct 2019 07:43 AM PDT  It is not clear if the rebellion was sparked by the clogged toilets or the canceled visit to Scotland, but passengers on the Norwegian Cruise Line ship had had enough. In recent days, travelers on the "mystical fjords" voyage in Europe have staged (and live tweeted) a veritable mutiny after inclement weather forced repeated changes to their itinerary and trapped them at sea.The ship, called Norwegian Spirit, departed from Southampton, England, recently for a 14-day voyage with planned stops in the Netherlands, Norway and Iceland. But those plans were scuttled by bad weather, forcing the ship to plan new stops -- some of which were then also canceled because of the weather. Passengers said they were stuck at sea for three days.By Monday, a fed-up -- and social media-savvy -- group of passengers rallied in the ship's atrium to vent their outrage at the crew, demand a refund from the company and post images and video of their revolt on newly created Twitter and YouTube accounts. They described the scene as a "riot" and "open rebellion.""Buddy, you're not a manager, we want the head -- who is driving the boat?" a passenger in one video asked a uniformed crew member, who stood flanked by security personnel in a crowd of angry vacationers. Nearby, a woman screamed."What you're doing right now is you're not helping the situation, you're getting people amped up," the passenger said to the crew member. Later, looking into the camera, the passenger said: "Nothing on this itinerary is the same. Nothing is the same. Not one thing."Passengers shared grim images of their trip on Twitter, including video and pictures of toilets that did not flush, a picture of a uniformed crew member in a scrum of angry passengers grabbing one of them by the wrist, and a receipt for a $79 tour of the ship that included a visit to the laundry room."After three days floating around the Atlantic the bathrooms are backing up, not flushing, and out of order today on Norwegian Spirit," one protester, Cody McNutt, wrote on a Twitter account he started to share updates from the protests. He said it "smelled like sewage in public areas on the ship."McNutt wrote that the ship was scheduled to dock in Southampton on Friday but that he had gotten off at an earlier port."Many passengers got off the ship when it stopped after 3 days stuck floating the ocean, fearing for their safety and health," he wrote.Another video showed crew members retreating up a staircase to escape dozens of angry passengers in the ship's atrium, many of whom could be seen holding their phones over their heads to record the mayhem. The man being booed was the captain, the passengers said."We don't want to be on this ship!" one man yelled, as the crew members clambered up the stairs. Another man agreed, yelling, "We want off the ship!"In another video, passengers at a reception desk can be seen angrily reacting to staff members who advised them to call the cruise line's Miami headquarters for information.Again, many of the passengers can be seen recording the scene with their phones. "It's a good thing we got this fancy new phone here for our trip," a woman quipped.A representative for Norwegian Cruise Line declined on Thursday to provide a day-by-day breakdown of events on the ship or to provide its original and modified itineraries. In a statement, the company pleaded for calm."We understand that it is disheartening when we are unable to call on ports that our guests have been looking forward to visiting," the company said. "However, we do ask for our guests' patience, cooperation and understanding that severe weather conditions are an act of God and cannot be controlled, influenced or remediated by the cruise line."A spokesman said that the itinerary was changed because of "severe weather conditions" and that the company had offered its passengers 25% off the cost of a future cruise.But on social media, the protesters said that offer was not enough.They held up signs in the ship's atrium and chanted: "Refund! Refund! Refund!"This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company
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| Turkey may have targeted US forces with artillery in Syria, coalition source claims Posted: 11 Oct 2019 03:43 PM PDT  Turkey may have deliberately targeted US forces with artillery in northern Syria in order to push them out, coalition sources have told the Daily Telegraph. US officials confirmed an explosion occurred near where a small contingent of its special forces were based on a hill near the town of Kobane. They said the cause of the explosion had not been confirmed but local reports suggested it was either an artillery or air strike. No US personnel were injured. It was the first time a coalition base had come under fire since Turkey's offensive began. US warplanes flew over the base immediately after the incident. Turkey's defence ministry denied targeting the US position, saying its forces were responding to Kurdish fire that originated nearby. Civilians flee amid Turkish bombardment on Syria's northeastern town of Ras al-Ain in the Hasakeh province along the Turkish border Credit: AFP A spokesman said: "There was no firing on the US observation post. The firing was ceased as a result of the issue being relayed to us by the US." But a coalition source said there was nothing else around in the area that the Turks could have been targeting, apart form the US forces. "It's likely they are trying to push us out. Kobane is the heart and soul of the Kurds," a source said. "If Turkey can get us to leave it's all over." A US official in Washington said an explosion had occurrednear the US military outpost, but no personnel were hurt. The official said the source of the explosion was unclear, but it coincided with Turkey's offensive against the Kurds. US troops were in the outpost at the time of the explosion but there had been no further activity since. Before the explosion Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley said Turkey had been informed of US positions in Syria. Speaking at the Pentagon he said: "The Turkish military is fully aware, down to explicit grid coordinate detail, of the locations of US forces. "Everyone is fully aware that we are the United States military. We retain the right of self-defence." A picture taken from Turkish territory shows smoke rising from targets inside Syria during bombardment by Turkish forces at Ras al-Ayn town Credit: REX It came after the US defence secretary pleaded with Turkey to stop its offensive on Kurdish-held northern Syria before it was "irreparable", as the civilian death toll rose and 100,000 were forced to flee their homes. In the strongest condemnation of the assault since Donald Trump gave Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan his blessing on Sunday, Mark Esper said Ankara faced "serious consequences" if it did not rein in its forces in Syria. "As part of the call, Secretary Esper strongly encouraged Turkey to discontinue actions in northeastern Syria in order to increase the possibility that the United States, Turkey and our partners could find a common way to de-escalate the situation before it becomes irreparable," read a statement released in his name. Mr Trump's green light for so-called Operation Peace Spring has turned amber in the face of international pressure. The president called the invasion a "bad idea" on Thursday and even offered to mediate between Turkey and Syrian Kurdish forces. "We have one of three choices," he tweeted on Thursday night. "Send in thousands of troops and win Militarily, hit Turkey very hard Financially and with Sanctions, or mediate a deal between Turkey and the Kurds!" "I hope we can mediate," he told reporters later when asked about the options. Facing increasing pressure to stop Turkish and allied Syrian rebel forces going deeper in Syria, the US set out red lines for their offensive. "That would include ethnic cleansing. It would include in particular indiscriminate artillery, air and other fire directed at civilian population," a senior US official said, spelling out what Turkish actions would trigger US sanctions. "That is what we're looking at right now. We have not seen significant examples of that so far." People run to take cover after mortars fired from Syria, in Akcakale, Turkey Credit: AP Mr Trump warned Turkey to act with moderation and safeguard civilians. But the barrages of the invasion so far showed little sign of holding back. Residents along the border fled with their belongings loaded into cars, pickup trucks and motorcycle rickshaws, while others escaped on foot. The UN refugee agency said tens of thousands were on the move, and aid agencies warned that nearly a half-million people near the border were at risk. France, which has come out strongly against the assault, said the European Union would discuss imposing sanctions on Turkey at a summit on Monday. The Netherlands suspended arms exports to Turkey yesterday, following Norway and Finland and Sweden, which plans to push for an EU-wide suspension. US senators, meanwhile, have been drawing up plans for their own possible sanctions. Without elaborating, Mr Trump also said the US was "going to possibly do something very, very tough with respect to sanctions and other financial things" against Turkey.
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| BEHOLD: Is China's DF-26 Missile a Real Threat to U.S. Navy Aircraft Carriers? Posted: 12 Oct 2019 09:00 AM PDT  Will Beijing's strategy work?
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| Photos of the 2019 Mercedes-AMG C63 S Coupe at Lightning Lap Posted: 11 Oct 2019 03:00 AM PDT |
| Vivid gladiator fresco discovered at Pompeii Posted: 11 Oct 2019 08:11 AM PDT  A vivid fresco depicting an armour-clad gladiator standing victorious as his wounded opponent stumbles gushing blood has been discovered in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii, Italy's culture ministry said Friday. The striking scene in gold, blue and red was uncovered in what experts think was a tavern frequented by gladiators, who fought each other, prisoners and wild animals for the public's entertainment. Gladiators were killed or shown mercy," Pompeii's director Massimo Osanna said.
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| Former California police officer convicted of sexually assaulting five women while on duty Posted: 10 Oct 2019 06:07 PM PDT ![Former California police officer convicted of sexually assaulting five women while on duty]( "Former California police officer convicted of sexually assaulting five women while on duty") A California jury on Wednesday found former police officer Noah White Winchester guilty of sexually assaulting five women while on duty.
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| A history of selling out the Kurds, people with 'no friends but the mountains' Posted: 11 Oct 2019 11:08 AM PDT  When President Trump pulled troops from a region of northeastern Syria, it was denounced as a "shameless betrayal" of the Kurds, who were left on their own to fight off an invasion by Turkey. But Kurdish history is filled with such betrayals.
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| DUP's Dodds says Northern Ireland must stay in full UK customs union: Repubblica Posted: 12 Oct 2019 08:35 AM PDT  A mooted eleventh-hour solution to the deadlock over Brexit cannot work because Northern Ireland must remain in a full United Kingdom customs union, the deputy leader of the province's key political party said on Saturday. With the Oct 31 deadline for a new Brexit divorce deal looming, an EU diplomat and an official said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has proposed keeping Northern Ireland in some form of EU customs partnership as well as a UK customs union. Italian newspaper Repubblica quoted its deputy leader Nigel Dodds as saying the proposal Johnson is said to have made "cannot work, because Northern Ireland has to remain fully part of the UK customs union".
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| A viral response from Elizabeth Warren is drawing mixed reviews from strategists Posted: 12 Oct 2019 10:08 AM PDT ![A viral response from Elizabeth Warren is drawing mixed reviews from strategists]( "A viral response from Elizabeth Warren is drawing mixed reviews from strategists") The campaign team for Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) was pleased with the Democratic presidential candidate's response to a question during Thursday's LGBTQ forum in Los Angeles, but some Democratic strategists think it could turn into her very own "deplorables" moment, The Washington Post reports.Warren was asked what she would say to someone who told her marriage was between one man and one woman. "Well, I'm going to assume it's a guy who said that, and I'm gonna say, 'The just marry one woman,'" she said. "I'm cool with that. If you can find one." The zinger drew a host of laughs and received a good amount of praise afterward, but not everyone was on board. Hank Sheinkopf, a Democratic strategist who advised former President Bill Clinton's re-election campaign, said it could serve as a "battle cry for men to turn out against" Warren. Not all of her critics saw it through that particular lens, however. It might not sit well with older and more religious black voters, either, some strategists reportedly said. "I'm not sure how that resonates with older African American voters, especially African American women," said Antjuan Seawright, a black Democratic strategist based in South Carolina. Warren has struggled to gain traction among black voters so far, the Post notes.Still, despite some criticism, Warren's team does not regret the comments whatsoever, and believe the senator spoke appropriately, seeing as it was aimed at people who want to deny those in the LGBTQ community their right to marry. Even some of her opponents appreciated it. "I thought it was funny," said former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D), who's supporting Warren's chief competitor, former Vice President Joe Biden for the nomination. "I would not say in any way, shape, or form that it will slow her candidacy down." Read more at The Washington Post.
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| A Man Wearing a Colin Kaepernick Jersey Was Thrown Out of Trump's Minneapolis Rally. Here's What He Says Happened Posted: 12 Oct 2019 07:25 AM PDT  Saul Eugene, 23, attended Trump's rally in Minnesota wearing a Kaepernick jersey. Security at the venue later kicked him out.
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| Russia Has a Terrifying Seaborne Nuclear Weapon Posted: 10 Oct 2019 10:30 PM PDT  But America has nukes too.
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| Bill Gates, who said he had no relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, reportedly met with the disgraced financier multiple times, including a 2011 meeting with billionaire Eva Dubin and her teenage daughter Posted: 12 Oct 2019 03:49 PM PDT  The disgraced financier sought to work with JPMorgan and Gates' foundation on multiple funds, per the New York Times.
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| In Hong Kong, all trust gone between police and protesters Posted: 12 Oct 2019 08:24 AM PDT  In trying to end the anti-government demonstrations, which broke out in multiple locations again on Saturday and are now in their fifth month, one of the most pressing problems to solve for Hong Kong leaders will be dispelling the now widespread public scorn for police officers. Protest graffiti likening officers to dogs and worse is all over the city, and protesters Saturday chanted for the force to be disbanded. Riot police deployed but stayed far behind the day's largest rally, which drew thousands of peaceful marchers in Kowloon.
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| Five takeaways from Trump's Louisiana rally on impeachment, China and election Posted: 11 Oct 2019 07:38 PM PDT  President Donald Trump spoke for about 90 minutes, mostly off script, and touched on impeachment, China and Louisiana's gubernatorial election.
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| In case you didn't have enough to worry about, there are now fish that can walk on land Posted: 11 Oct 2019 11:32 AM PDT  As an invasive species that can outcompete native wildlife, Georgia officials are advising residents that find the fish to "kill it immediately."
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| Ohio ban on Down syndrome abortion blocked by U.S. appeals court Posted: 11 Oct 2019 11:13 AM PDT ![Ohio ban on Down syndrome abortion blocked by U.S. appeals court]( "Ohio ban on Down syndrome abortion blocked by U.S. appeals court") Upholding a preliminary injunction, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati said the law was invalid under Supreme Court precedents because it had the purpose and effect of preventing some women from obtaining pre-viability abortions. The law known as House Bill 214 subjected doctors to as much as 18 months in prison for performing abortions when they knew a pregnant woman based her decision to abort at least in part on a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome in the fetus, or other reason to believe that condition was present. John Kasich, then Ohio's Republican governor, signed the law in December 2017, following passage by the Republican-controlled legislature.
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| CNN anchor Chris Cuomo issued an apology in the middle of the network’s town hall on LGBTQ issues Posted: 11 Oct 2019 11:28 AM PDT  CNN anchor Chris Cuomo issued an apology in the middle of the network's town hall on LGBTQ issues Thursday night after he joked he, too, used female pronouns.
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| Millions evacuated as Super Typhoon Hagibis slams into Japan - throwing Rugby World Cup into chaos Posted: 12 Oct 2019 07:36 AM PDT  At least six million people were told to evacuate their homes as Super Typhoon Hagibis smashed into Japan on Saturday, triggering mudslides, flooding and the heaviest rain and winds in 60 years. Within hours of the typhoon making landfall at around 7pm local time (11am UK), at least two people were dead, nine were missing and more than 80 were injured, according to local media. Officials warned that the storm could be the most powerful to hit Japan since one of the worst typhoons on record devastated Tokyo and surrounding areas in 1958, killing more than 1,200 people. Even before the storm hit, there were reports of at least one death, with a 50-year-old man killed when his car overturned in strong winds in Chiba Prefecture, an area just east of Tokyo still recovering from a strong typhoon which hit last month. Four others, including two children, were also injured by a tornado in the same area. One resident there told NHK: "When the winds suddenly hit, they blew the roof off my house. The noise was awful. One of my three children was injured but is now in a hospital." Even before the typhoon hit, strong winds brought havoc to areas such as Chiba, near Tokyo Credit: Katsuya Miyagawa/Kyodo News The typhoon had been brewing over the Pacific Ocean with recorded winds of more than 145 mph. Authorities issued warnings that with gusts likely to exceed that figure, some houses were at risk of being blown down. The Japan Meteorological Agency warned of as much as 30 inches of rain in the 24-hour period until midnight on Saturday. Television footage showed images of damage to roofs and walls of buildings in storm-hit spots across Japan. More than 16,000 homes, mainly along the Pacific coastline, were without electricity. Some residential areas along the coast in Shizuoka were also reported as being submerged up to around knee height in tidal surges. The approaching typhoon caused rivers to overflow in the area, with reports of at least one person swept away, and widespread landslide warnings also in place. Three people were missing in Gunma Prefecture after a landslide swept through six houses. The weather system passed directly over Tokyo, one of seven regions subject to the non-compulsory evacuation orders - and where a 5.7 magnitude earthquake hit just ahead of the typhoon's arrival. Around 17,000 Self-Defence Forces personnel were on standby across the country for potential deployment on rescue operations. Even as the typhoon moved away from the capital late on Saturday, one expert warned of further flooding as several surrounding prefectures began releasing water from dams, letting it flow downstream. "The situation is now worse than this evening," Nobuyuki Tsuchiya, director of the Japan Riverfront Research Centre, told Reuters. About 1.5 million people in Tokyo live below sea level. Japan's national rugby team waded through floodwater to reach the pitch for practice, with a decision still to be made on Sunday's matches Credit: Japan Rugby Football Union/Reuters A study by the Japan Society of Civil Engineers in June 2018 concluded that a huge storm surge in Tokyo Bay could lead to 8,000 deaths and cause damage estimated at Y115 trillion (£84 billion). Much of the damage would be to infrastructure, such as underground railway lines, roads and bridges, as well as structures on vulnerable reclaimed land in the bay. A disaster simulation prepared by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government in 2018 suggested that more than 80 square miles of the city could be inundated in a worst-case scenario, accounting for one-third of the entire city. In low-lying areas, water levels could rise as high as 32 feet above mean sea level. The government's estimations are based on data from Typhoon Muroto, which struck the city in September 1934, killing 3,066 people, injuring a further 13,000 and leaving 200,000 people homeless. Authorities in central Japan called on residents of coastal regions to evacuate to higher ground inland and alerts were sent out to mobile phones through messaging systems and are running on television and radio broadcasts. Train services in and around Tokyo were cancelled throughout Saturday, along with long-distance bullet train services. Japanese airlines grounded all domestic and international flights out of Narita and Haneda, the two airports that serve the capital, while theme parks and many shops closed their doors. There are fears for low-lying coastal areas, with residents warned they should move to higher ground inland Credit: Kyodo News/AP A number of companies, including car makers Toyota and Honda, have halted production. Saturday's Rugby World Cup game between England and France in Yokohama has been cancelled, along with the Italy-New Zealand clash in Toyota City. A decision is due to be made at midnight on games scheduled for Sunday, including the all-important Scotland-Japan game, which will decide which nation emerges from the group stages of the tournament. The looming super typhoon has also triggered a frenzy of last-minute buying, with store shelves emptied of bread, instant noodles, bottled water and other perishable foods. Stores in some areas have also reportedly run out of batteries and packing tape that is being put across windows to reduce the possibility of flying glass. Super Typhoon Hagibis - the Tagalog word for "speed" - is the second major storm to hit Japan in just over a month. Typhoon Faxai struck eastern Japan on September 9, killing three people, leaving more than 40 injured and leaving scenes of devastation in its wake. At the peak of the storm, more than 930,000 people were without power and it took two weeks for some areas to have electricity restored.
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| Honduran cartel figure testifies he bribed presidents Posted: 11 Oct 2019 04:08 PM PDT  The former boss of Honduras' Los Cachiros cartel testified Friday that he paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to the current and former presidents of Honduras in exchange for protection from extradition to the United States and other favors. Devis Leonel Rivera Maradiaga said in a Manhattan court that he gave then-President Porfirio Lobo between $500,000 and $600,000 in 2009 and alleged that Lobo helped him launder the proceeds from drug trafficking. Rivera Maradiaga also said he paid a $250,000 bribe to current President Juan Orlando Hernández, without specifying the date.
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| Ocasio-Cortez tells world's mayors drastic action needed on climate crisis Posted: 11 Oct 2019 11:15 AM PDT  In a passionate address to leaders of 94 cities in Copenhagen, the congresswoman called 'runaway' pursuit of profit unsustainableUS congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez warned that tackling the climate crisis will involve making dramatic economic changes in a passionate closing speech at the C40 World Mayors summit in Copenhagen on Friday.In her first overseas appearance as an elected politician, the 29-year-old was invited to speak after the C40, which represents the mayors of 94 cities worldwide, and which this week pledged support for a global version of her flagship Green New Deal policy."It is unsustainable to continue to believe [in] our system of runaway, unaccountable, lawbreaking pursuit of profit," she told the conference.Instead, she said, the world needed to adopt "a cooperative, collaborative" system, "whose economy … benefits the middle and lower classes and marginalised people"."Our current logic created this mess and operating in the same way will not get us out."This uncompromising message won her a powerful round of applause. But it was when she came to the impact climate change had had on her own life, and on her family in Puerto Rico, that she became emotional. "I speak to you as a human being, a woman whose dreams of motherhood now taste bittersweet because of what I know about our children's future," she said, her voice breaking as if she was struggling to hold back tears. "That our actions are responsible for bringing their most dire possibilities into focus." From the moment she began speaking, the main hall at the summit became completely still, and when she finished, the ovation she received far exceeded that received by the veteran climate campaigner and former vice-president Al Gore, Denmark's prime minister, Mette Frederiksen; or the UN secretary general, António Guterres. "She got a rockstar welcome in that audience," Nicholas Reece, a city councillor from Melbourne, Australia, said. "There's just something about her which is really mobilising and electrifying people around the world, particularly young people." After her speech, Ocasio-Cortez joined the weekly Fridays for Future rally outside Copenhagen city hall, where she called on the gathered activists to "make sure the politicians sweat a little bit".A substantial crowd, combining local activists with mayors and youth delegates from the summit, had turned out to meet her. "We have to face the oil and coal industry, the CO2-emitting industry, Wall Street, Bolsonaro, Donald Trump," she said to cheers from the crowd. "We can't and won't win by staying home."Emilie Baliozian, a youth delegate who had come to the summit from Paris, watched Ocasio-Cortez's speech despite the pounding rain. "It was so empowering. It was clearly directed to us. I know it, she's going to be president one day, because we're going to be the voters of tomorrow," she said. "It's super cool that she came all this way," said Selma White, 14, a regular at Copenhagen's Fridays for Future protests. "It's really inspiring." Ocasio-Cortez arrived in Copenhagen on Wednesday morning and immediately began posting images of the city to her 4 million followers on Instagram. She was invited to attend a royal dinner hosted by Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark, and his wife, Princess Mary, at the city's Christiansborg Palace on Thursday evening. But she stayed away from the summit itself until the moment she delivered her speech.• This article was amended on 12 October 2019 to correct the spelling of Emilie Baliozian's name.
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| Ex-Republican: Do we still agree on beating Trump? After your LGBTQ forum, I'm not sure. Posted: 12 Oct 2019 03:00 AM PDT  I'm not asking you to betray your principles, but Republican culture warriors are lying in wait. Why let them divide us where we already agree?
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| Seven stranded whales found dead in Indonesia Posted: 12 Oct 2019 04:28 AM PDT  Seven pilot whales were found dead on an eastern Indonesian beach, an official said Saturday, after 17 were stranded in the remote area. Residents of nearby Menia Village managed to save ten of the whales, all roughly three to four metres long, in a rescue attempt on Friday. "There were some lacerations on their body from the contacts with rocks," local marine conservation agency head Ikram Sangaji told AFP.
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| China, locked in trade war with U.S., agrees to tackle India's trade deficit Posted: 12 Oct 2019 12:07 AM PDT  Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed at a summit on Saturday to set up a high-level group to tackle India's galloping trade deficit with the world's second-biggest economy, a top Indian diplomat said. Xi and Modi held nearly six hours of talks in an Indian seaside town in their second annual summit designed to break through decades of distrust over border disputes, trade rows and China's close military ties with India's arch rival, Pakistan. Relations were ruffled further in August when India revoked the special status of the Himalayan territory of Kashmir, angering both Pakistan, which claims the region, and its all-weather ally China.
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| Revealed: Russia's Plan To Destroy U.S. Navy Aircraft Carriers In a War Posted: 12 Oct 2019 02:00 AM PDT  Designed during the Cold War.
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| Harry Dunn: US woman allegedly involved in crash does not have diplomatic immunity, says Foreign Office Posted: 12 Oct 2019 07:54 AM PDT  The US diplomat's wife allegedly involved in a crash which killed a teenager does not have diplomatic immunity, the Foreign Office has said.A letter, that appears to have been sent by foreign secretary Dominic Raab to Harry Dunn's parents, Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn, says: "The question remains when such immunity comes to an end, regardless of any waiver.
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| Mother to sue over 'wrongful removal' of children by Dutch social services Posted: 12 Oct 2019 09:28 AM PDT  A mother who says her two children were wrongfully taken into care shortly after their ninth birthday by Dutch social services intends to launch legal action against the authorities who handled the case. On March 23, 2012, Nikolai and Anastasia Antonova were removed from their mother's care. Among the reasons cited for their removal was that the children spoke their mother Jelena's native language Russian at home, not Dutch. Social workers also claimed their mother might flee with them to Latvia to escape the children's estranged father. The children had "severely conflicting loyalties" to their parents, social workers who were working closely with their father said. The children had previously said they were frightened of their father and did not want to see him again. The original care order was instituted for a year but was subsequently extended on several occasions. Ms Antonova alleges that the children were held without the right legal permission. The Dutch Court of Appeal made repeated rulings that the children should be reunited with their mother but these were overturned when the child protection board, part of the justice ministry, sought the extension of the care order in a lower family court. The family's case was first highlighted by the late Christopher Booker in a series of columns for The Sunday Telegraph. The case was also raised in the European parliament in March 2014. MEPs were shown a video of the children being taken away from their home, captured by their brother Ilja Antonovs. The children were eventually permanently reunited with their mother in November 2014 after two years and eight months when a judge ruled that they should never have been removed from their mother's care. The order followed a report from a family psychologist Dr De Jong who concluded that Ms Antonova was not guilty of neglect. Jelena Antonova was subsequently granted permission to question, under oath, social workers who handled the case and officials from two different authorities connected to the children's care. On June 18 and September 2 Ms Antonova questioned social workers and is now preparing to sue three parties linked to the ordeal; Salvation Army Youth Protection, the Ministry of Justice and Security and the youth protection service of Gelderland province. During the questioning, a number of flaws in the conduct of youth care emerged, the family claims. They are now suing the three parties for the "unlawful and careless removal of the children", claiming they are liable "for the damage suffered and to be suffered" by the family. Youth Protection said it is prohibited from commenting on individual cases. The Netherlands Salvation Army said it does not respond to individual cases but pointed out that Salvation Army Youth Protection always acts under the instruction of the Dutch legal authorities. The Ministry of Justice and Security and Gelderland youth protection did not respond to repeated requests for comment this week.
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| Caravan of 2,000 migrants detained in southern Mexico Posted: 12 Oct 2019 04:06 PM PDT  Mexican officials broke up a caravan of around 2,000 migrants that had set out from southern Mexico Saturday in the hopes of reaching the United States, amid increasing difficulty obtaining permission to pass through Mexico. Many of the migrants who departed from Tapachula, Chiapas early in the morning had been held up in this city just north of Guatemala for weeks or months, awaiting residency or transit papers from Mexican authorities. "I want to pass through Mexico, I don't want to live here," said Amado Ramirez, a migrant from Honduras who said he had been living on the streets of Tapachula with his young children and wife, hoping for a transit visa from Mexican officials.
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| Japan’s Vending Machine Designs Are Like No Other Country’s Posted: 11 Oct 2019 12:25 PM PDT |
| Warren Buys Facebook Ads That Claim Zuckerberg Backs Trump Posted: 12 Oct 2019 12:54 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Elizabeth Warren is buying ads on Facebook that falsely claim Mark Zuckerberg has endorsed President Donald Trump -- a ploy used to showcase that ads posted by politicians need to be fact-checked.The Democratic presidential candidate's campaign sponsored the posts that were blasted into the feeds of U.S. users of the social network, pushing back against Facebook's policy to exempt politicians' ads from its third-party fact-checking program.The ad begins with a lie: Facebook's chief executive officer "just endorsed" Trump for re-election. It quickly backtracks to the truth."You're probably shocked. And you might be thinking, 'how could this possibly be true?" the ad said. "Well, it's not."Facebook's fact-checking policy allowed Trump's team to share ads on the social network that allege former Vice President Joe Biden promised Ukraine $1 billion for firing a prosecutor. Biden's campaign has dismissed Trump's allegations as a smear."What Zuckerberg 'has' done is given Donald Trump free rein to lie on his platform -- and then to pay Facebook gobs of money to push out their lies to American voters," Warren said in the ad.Biden's campaign has written to both Twitter and Facebook asking for the ads to be taken down, but the platforms refused, according to technology site The Verge. It quoted a Twitter spokesman as saying, "The ad you cited is not currently in violation of our policies."Facebook's decision to allow Trump's ad contrasts with CNN, which rejected a request by the president's campaign to run what the network called two "demonstrably false" claims."If Senator Warren wants to say things she knows to be untrue, we believe Facebook should not be in the position of censoring that speech," Andy Stone, a spokesman for Facebook, said in a statement to CNN on the ads.(Updates with details throughout)To contact the reporter on this story: Siraj Datoo in Singapore at sdatoo@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Shamim Adam at sadam2@bloomberg.net, Atul PrakashFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Kamala Harris to Donald Trump Jr: 'You wouldn’t know a joke if one raised you' Posted: 11 Oct 2019 07:43 PM PDT  The 2020 democratic hopeful was responding to the President's son calling her "The most disingenuous person in politics, after Hillary" for laughing at her own jokes
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