| 5 key takeaways from the Democratic debate in Ohio Posted: 15 Oct 2019 09:24 PM PDT  Warren is treated like the front-runner, a "healthy" Bernie returns to the debate stage with key endorsements in his pocket and more.
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| Yang and O'Rourke propose decriminalizing opioids, including heroin Posted: 15 Oct 2019 07:59 PM PDT  Two Democrats suggested making small amounts of heroin legal as a way to combat the drug epidemic.
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| Cory Booker wants $90m a year to prevent urban gun violence Posted: 16 Oct 2019 04:00 AM PDT  New bill would focus federal dollars on public health approaches to gun violence Senator Cory Booker gives a speech on gun violence at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church, known as Mother Emanuel, in Charleston, South Carolina, in August. Photograph: Randall Hill/ReutersFor more than a decade, faith leaders from black and brown communities have come to Congress with the same request: spend more money on local strategies to prevent gun violence.Now, the New Jersey senator Cory Booker is introducing legislation that would devote $90m a year to programs that prevent urban gun violence.Booker's new grant program would focus federal dollars on helping the cities with the highest gun homicide rates, and it would prioritize funding for strategies that do not contribute to mass incarceration.series boxInstead of simply directing more federal money to local law enforcement, the new legislation would require cities to give at least half of their federal grant dollars to community organizations that provide services to high-risk people, or to a public department "that is not a law enforcement agency".Booker's bill does not include any gun control provisions: it's focused on strategies that prevent shootings by focusing on the people, not the guns."We're in a tough political climate," said Pastor Michael McBride, a California-based activist who has spent the last decade campaigning for more resources for local gun violence prevention. "This approach charts a way forward that does not bog us down in these intense debates over the second amendment or gun control."Booker's legislation is designed to fund programs that have shown success in reducing gun violence in cities such as Oakland and Richmond, California; Boston, Massachusetts; and New York City. The legislation would devote $90m a year over 10 years to evidence-based approaches to gun violence reduction.In the past decade, as they have invested public dollars into expanding community-based strategies, Oakland has seen a 44% decrease in its gun homicide rate, and nearby Richmond has seen a 67% decrease in its gun homicide rate.The decreases in Oakland, Richmond, and San Francisco have driven a 30% decrease in the overall gun homicide rate across the greater San Francisco Bay Area, even as the number of people living in poverty in the region has increased, and as property crime has spiked in some areas. The decrease in the area is much larger than in the nation overall.The successful local strategies highlighted in Booker's legislation include investing in street outreach workers or "violence interrupters", trusted community members who intervene in local gang conflicts to keep violence from spreading; funding intervention programs in hospitals to help shooting victims change their lives; and supporting "group violence intervention" strategies, such as Boston's Operation Ceasefire, that bring together law enforcement, community partners, and faith leaders to intervene with the small number of men in each city who are most likely to shoot or be shot.Booker's Break the Cycle of Violence Act is co-sponsored by the US representative Steven Horsford, a Nevada Democrat whose father was shot to death during a robbery when he was 19."These deaths are preventable," Horsford said in a statement.Mass shootings are usually the focus of America's gun control debate. But the majority of America's gun homicide victims are killed in smaller daily shootings in neighborhoods that have struggled with gun violence for decades.Black men and boys, who make up just 6% of America's overall population, represent more than 50% of the country's gun homicide victims.A 2015 Guardian investigation found that half of the country's gun homicides were concentrated in just 127 cities and towns. Experts have argued for years that American gun violence is highly concentrated, and that one of the best ways to save lives is to devote more resources into the neighborhoods with the greatest need.Black and brown activists have often felt "invisible" and "erased" from the American gun control debate, McBride said."Our communities are used as props, but never really given serious consideration on how to scale up strategies that save our lives and heal our communities," he said.The new legislation focuses resources on the majority of America's gun violence victims – and it also focuses on solutions that are less politically controversial than gun control laws, McBride said."We think Republicans, historically, have been huge supporters of these kinds of strategies, because of the role that faith communities and redemption and healing play," he said.
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| Kenya opens Chinese-built railway linking Rift Valley town to Nairobi Posted: 16 Oct 2019 01:47 AM PDT ![Kenya opens Chinese-built railway linking Rift Valley town to Nairobi]( "Kenya opens Chinese-built railway linking Rift Valley town to Nairobi") Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta is due to open a new $1.5 billion Chinese rail line on Wednesday linking the capital Nairobi to the Rift Valley town of Naivasha, despite delays in establishing an industrial park there to drive freight traffic. The development of Kenya's railways has been part of China's "One Belt, One Road" initiative, a multi-billion dollar series of infrastructure projects upgrading land and maritime trade routes between China and Europe, Asia and Africa. Kenya had planned to open an industrial park in Naivasha, offering companies tax breaks for investing in manufacturing, and preferential tariffs for electricity generated in the nearby geothermal fields.
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| Russia Prepares the Way for Bashar al-Assad’s Brutal Endgame in Nothern Syria Posted: 16 Oct 2019 02:01 AM PDT  GAZIANTEP, Turkey—After eight years of Syrian civil war, the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, and the displacement of half the Syrian population, U.S. President Donald J. Trump's decisions have created conditions for Bashar al-Assad's regime to re-assert control over nearly one-third of the country that had been outside its grip since 2012. Far from reining in U.S. adversaries, Trump's presidency will likely be remembered as one through which Assad, this century's greatest mass murderer, managed finally to claw his way back to a position of undisputed authority. Trump Just Enlisted America in a New Axis of EvilThis is the way that's playing out on the ground in what is, admittedly, still a complicated situation.The news began Tuesday morning with Russian pro-Kremlin journalist Oleg Blokhin streaming a live video from inside the recently abandoned American al-Sa'idi'a base in Syria on the western outskirts of the Manbij countryside. "Good morning to everyone from Manbij," exclaimed Blokhin. "I'm at the American military base right now, where they were until yesterday morning. Already, we're here [instead]. We're going to examine now how they were living here, what they were so busy with, and what's going on." A second video would show Blokhin as he mockingly played with a boom barrier at the entrance to the base, appearing to check whether or not it worked. "It's in good condition," he assured the cameraman, with a slight grin. Blokhin, who works for the pro-Kremlin ANNA news network, previously covered the activities of Russian private military contractor Wagner as it trained pro-Assad militiamen in January, and later accompanied Russian and pro-Assad forces during the latter's successful August campaign to take back the town of Khan Sheikhoun. Now, he stood gloating on a former U.S. military base. Other pro-Assad media soon conducted similar tours of other U.S. bases abandoned by American soldiers. Reports throughout the day Tuesday would also claim U.S. troops pulled out of two new additional locations including the eastern town of Tal Baydar and the Kharab Ashak base west of Ain Aissa. Shortly before U.S. troops withdrew, ISIS families still being detained at a nearby prison facility in Ain Aissa reportedly set fires throughout the camp in a renewed attempt to try to escape. In addition to exemplifying the momentous shift underway as Assad's vital ally Russia finally replaces the United States as the primary party in northern Syria capable of liaising with most all of the parties to the conflict, Blokhin's livestream carried a special significance for locals in Manbij. Over the past week, including several days after Trump's shock announcement that U.S. troops would withdraw from Syria, American soldiers at the al-Sa'idi'a base actually continued carrying out near-daily patrols in the western and northern Manbij countryside that helped successfully ward off previous attempts by Syrian regime forces to set up positions in the area. That offered hope to those in Manbij who oppose the regime—that U.S. military institutions might be capable of coercing the Turkish president to adopt a compromise that saw U.S. troops remain in the area until Turkish-backed forces were capable of assuming control. But those hopes along with more than 16 months of U.S.-Turkish diplomacy were dashed Tuesday as the American troops made their final withdrawal from the area, paving the way for Russian and Syrian regime forces to roll in free and unopposed. Elsewhere, in Ain Aissa and Tal Tamr, towns located along the M4 highway, northern Syria's main artery and transportation route, Russian and regime forces established permanent checkpoints and bases to ensure control of the strategic route in the face of oncoming Turkish assaults. Those reinforcements appeared to have helped the SDF capture three villages from Turkish-backed forces in the immediate vicinity north of Tal Tamr later that night. While the arrival of regime forces undoubtedly has provided much needed relief for the SDF on several fronts, doing so will come with a cost. As the SDF welcomes more Syrian regime reinforcements into its territory, the group undoubtedly will lose future leverage it would need in order to preserve a role for itself within civil governing institutions throughout northeast Syria. On Monday, the SDF's largely toothless civil wing, the Syrian Democratic Council, issued a directive to local councils in the area to continue to perform their duties "as previously," insisting that "nothing has changed" and that the agreement with the regime constituted no more than a temporary military alliance to protect Syria's borders. However it's unlikely that the SDF, the Syrian Democratic Council, or other SDF-backed institutions within the group's self-proclaimed "Autonomous Administration" will be able to preserve any modicum of independence as their reliance on the Assad regime becomes more solidified. And, following the failure of Russian-Turkish negotiations throughout Tuesday to reach a ceasefire between the warring parties, that reliance looks set to intensify. Negotiations between Moscow and Ankara began Tuesday morning following condemnation of Turkey's campaign by the Kremlin's special envoy to Syria, Alexander Lavrentiev. A high-ranking Free Syrian Army military source in Manbij told The Daily Beast that Turkey gave orders Tuesday morning to its FSA proxies to halt temporarily their assault while both sides attempted to reach a solution. During that time, numerous pro-regime demonstrations were held in Manbij as the Syrian army sent several armored tanks into the city. According to local sources on the ground, some of these demonstrations were led by pro-regime figures that previously had been arrested by the SDF but were recently released following the Russian and Syrian regime entrance to the city. The Russian-Turkish talks come one day after the official Facebook page for the Russian defense ministry's Hmeimim base issued a stern warning for Turkey and its allies not to "behave recklessly in entering an open war with government troops." That was issued shortly after the Russians allegedly concluded an agreement with the SDF to allow Russian and regime troops to enter the cities of Kobani and Manbij. Yet despite the repeated warnings and attempts to hold talks, by Tuesday night Turkish-backed forces re-launched their assault. Thousands of civilians fled the border city of Kobani as a result of renewed Turkish assaults on the city in an attempt by the latter to capture the site of a former U.S. base recently abandoned nearby. Shortly after, our military source would claim renewed orders had been given by Ankara to re-launch operations in Manbij by dawn. Speaking to Reuters while returning from the Azerbaijaini capital Baku, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appeared undeterred by recent U.S. sanctions imposed on Ankara, by the arrival of regime reinforcements into the area, or by international condemnation of his country's assault. "They say 'declare a ceasefire.' We will never declare a ceasefire," Erdogan said. "They are pressuring us to stop the operation. They are announcing sanctions. Our goal is clear. We are not worried about any sanctions."Shortly after, local media and activists would report a Turkish airstrike on the strategic town of Aun al-Dadat, the site of a former U.S. base in the north Manbij countryside along the al-Sajur River that has since been occupied by SDF and regime units. Nawaf al-Mustafa, an activist living several miles away in Manbij city, said he could hear the explosion from his home. "I heard an explosion and thought it might have been an ISIS suicide attack," he said. "But it wasn't, news came in shortly after that Turkish forces instead were bombing Aun al-Dadat."Look Who's Back! Trump Handed Terrorists a Free Pass.Ahmed Qalqali, another anti-regime activist, would send out an alert to the families of FSA fighters to several WhatsApp groups used by locals to follow the news. "Any young man in Manbij who has a brother fighting on the front lines with the FSA should avoid sleeping at home tonight," hinting at the possibility of SDF-regime house raids in response to the attacks. "Try to stay with a friend or someone to whom you're not blood related." Despite the Turkish insistence to continue fighting, in reality the tide seems to be turning against Ankara and its proxies. Despite managing to gain control of the strategic border town of Tal Abyad, after nearly one week of fighting Turkish-backed forces have been unable to capture Ras al-Ain, a city of just over 30,000 that has managed to put up stiff resistance and ward off Turkish incursions. Manbij, a city of nearly 100,000, will require much greater strength and political will in order to be captured.Recent U.S. sanctions imposed by the Trump administration on key Turkish ministers and cabinet officials will also likely further hamper Ankara's ability to freely wage war against the SDF, while significantly raising the cost of doing so. Nonetheless, these factors are unlikely to push Erdogan to end the campaign, as domestic pressures to create space to resettle Syrian refugees that have proven a burden to the Turkish economy threaten to destabilize his government. What will likely ensue will be a committed, albeit slow and protracted campaign to achieve Ankara's goal of carving out a safe zone in Manbij and along the entirety of Turkey's border with Syria. However, the likely delay in achieving further Turkish gains will also give the Syrian regime a larger window to calmly mobilize and deploy its forces throughout the region while still being able to exploit the threat posed to the SDF by Ankara in order to slowly grab more power in northeastern Syria. Further, the expansion of Syrian regime troops throughout the area doesn't seem to be a prospect that much bothers the Turkish president, so long as they don't mix with SDF and other armed Kurdish elements. Also while speaking to reporters in Baku, Erdogan stated, "The regime entering Manbij is not very negative for me. Why? It's their lands after all," he said. "But, what is important to me is that the terrorist organization does not remain there… I told this to Mr. Putin as well. If you are clearing Manbij of terrorist organizations, then go ahead, you or the regime can provide all the logistics. But if you are not going to do this, the people there are telling us to save them." By "terrorist organizations," Erdogan means primarily the Kurds who were backed by the United States in the fight against ISIS.Such a statement from a head of state who for eight years has been among the most enthusiastic supporters of the Syrian revolution to topple Assad is indicative of the extent to which international calculus surrounding the Syrian issue has changed. It will likely encourage the Assad regime to consider the possibility of going after and eliminating the SDF itself if doing so may once and for all put an end to the activities of their meddlesome Turkish neighbor. Such a prospect may occur as part of a broader swap or deal whereby Turkey would also agree to withdraw its troops from the broader Idlib region, where Ha'it Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an offshoot of al Qaeda's former Syrian branch, Jabhat al-Nusra, and other FSA groups have been engaged in a bloody standoff with the Syrian regime for over a year.Erdogan's statements make perfectly clear that, following Trump's decision to withdraw U.S. troops, the cards increasingly lie in the hands of the Assad regime and its Russian ally. 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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| UAE to launch new low-cost airline Posted: 16 Oct 2019 06:47 AM PDT  Abu Dhabi's giant Etihad Airways and Sharjah's low-cost carrier Air Arabia announced Wednesday an agreement to launch a new low-cost airline based in the United Arab Emirates capital. Etihad Airways posted a loss in 2018 for the third year running, it said earlier this year, blaming investment losses and challenging market conditions. The new Air Arabia Abu Dhabi will be launched in "due course", Tony Douglas, CEO of Etihad Aviation Group, said in a statement issued by the two Emirati carriers.
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| Buttigieg, O'Rourke clash over assault-rifle buyback plan Posted: 15 Oct 2019 07:57 PM PDT  At Tuesday night's Democratic primary debate, presidential candidates Beto O'Rourke and Pete Buttigieg escalated their disagreement over O'Rourke's proposal for mandatory buybacks of assault weapons.
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| Sears and Kmart closing more stores in late 2019 and early 2020. Is your location closing? Posted: 14 Oct 2019 11:04 PM PDT ![Sears and Kmart closing more stores in late 2019 and early 2020. Is your location closing?]( "Sears and Kmart closing more stores in late 2019 and early 2020. Is your location closing?") More than 100 Kmart and Sears stores will close by the end of 2019 and more closures are expected to continue into early 2020.
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| The Latest: Authorities seek cause for California fuel fire Posted: 16 Oct 2019 07:51 AM PDT  Officials are trying to determine if a 4.5 magnitude earthquake triggered an explosion at a fuel storage facility in the San Francisco Bay Area that started a fire and trapped thousands in their homes for hours because of potentially unhealthy air. The earthquake struck about 15 miles (24 kilometers) southeast from the NuStar Energy fuel storage facility in the Bay Area community of Crockett 15 hours before the fire started Tuesday. Randy Sawyer, Contra Costa County's chief environmental health and hazardous materials officer, tells KQED News that quake caused malfunctions at two nearby oil refineries operated by Shell and Marathon oil.
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| New Jersey police are looking for a possible witness to the kidnapping of a 3-year-old girl 30 days ago Posted: 16 Oct 2019 07:35 AM PDT  Five-year-old Dulce Maria Alavez disappeared from Bridgeton City Park in New Jersey on September 16.
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| How Nazi Germany Crushed France During World War II (It Wasn't Luck) Posted: 15 Oct 2019 11:00 PM PDT  Leadership was critical.
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| Mexican president confirms Pemex union boss under investigation Posted: 15 Oct 2019 10:15 AM PDT  The veteran leader of Mexico's powerful oil workers' union faces formal accusations of wrongdoing, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Tuesday, slowly turning up pressure on the labor boss to step aside. Earlier this year, sources said the attorney general's office had accused Pemex union chief Carlos Romero Deschamps and several relatives of illicit enrichment and money laundering, charges he has consistently denied. "Complaints have been presented to the attorney general's office," Lopez Obrador told a regular news conference.
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| Hiker Digs Up 1,000-Year-Old Iron Weapon Posted: 15 Oct 2019 07:49 AM PDT  Climate change melted away the ancient arrowhead.
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| Alan Dershowitz Gets Rival Lawyer Booted From Epstein Victim’s Case Posted: 16 Oct 2019 11:34 AM PDT  REUTERS/Andrew InnerarityAlan Dershowitz may have lost his battle to dismiss a defamation lawsuit brought by Virginia Roberts Giuffre—who claims Jeffrey Epstein kept her as his "sex slave" and forced her to have sex with Dershowitz. But the Harvard Law professor scored his own victory: persuading a federal judge to disqualify Giuffre's attorney, David Boies, and his firm, from her case.In an opinion filed Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska said she would deny Dershowitz's motion to dismiss the case—Dershowitz claims Giuffre is lying about having sex with him and tried to extort him—but grant his motion to disqualify Boies' firm. It was a blow to Boies, who's sparred with Dershowitz for decades, and Sigrid McCawley, a partner at the firm who represents multiple victims of Epstein.In a statement, McCawley said her firm would appeal Preska's decision to remove them from Giuffre's litigation in Manhattan federal court."Today's decision rejects Alan Dershowitz's chronic capacity to make this case about anything but the facts and what he has been accused of by our client, Virginia Giuffre. The defamation case against Alan Dershowitz is going forward and he will have to face justice," McCawley, a partner at Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, said in a statement."The decision, however, to disqualify our firm, which has had the privilege of representing Virginia and advocating for her brave voice and continued call for justice, is deeply disappointing and it will be promptly appealed."Jeffrey Epstein Accuser Names Powerful Men in Alleged Sex RingThe Biggest Bombshells in Newly Unsealed Epstein DocumentsThe order comes almost a month after Giuffre's and Dershowitz's legal teams faced off during oral arguments, after which Dershowitz held a press conference and accused Giuffre and her advocates of doing "a terrible disservice" to the MeToo movement. Boies and his firm have represented Giuffre for years, including in a separate defamation suit filed against Epstein's alleged madame, Ghislaine Maxwell. (A cache of court records in that case were unsealed last summer, providing a deeper look into the sexual abuse allegations against Epstein and his powerful friends.)Dershowitz, 81, argued the 78-year-old Boies should be booted from his case based on a conflict of interest: He was briefly a client of Boies' firm and says he provided an attorney with confidential information related to his fight against Giuffre's accusations. The professor also argued Boies and his firm's attorneys would be called as witnesses in Giuffre's case.The latter argument was more significant, according to Preska's order, which noted, "Because disqualification is so clearly required under the advocate-witness rule, the Court does not reach the conflict of interest argument advanced by Dershowitz."According to the rule, an attorney cannot represent a party where the attorney will be called as a witness. "The rule differentiates between an attorney who will be called on behalf of his client and an attorney who will be called as a witness other than on behalf of his client," Preska wrote in her order."A lawyer may also not act as an advocate where 'another lawyer in the lawyer's firm is likely to be called as a witness on a significant issue other than on behalf of the client, and it is apparent that the testimony may be prejudicial to the client,'" Preska added.In her complaint, Giuffre said Dershowitz's statements that she conspired with her lawyers to extort him and Epstein's associate and client Les Wexner are false. She also referenced a secretly-recorded phone call between Dershowitz and Boies; Dershowitz says Boies declared on the call that Giuffre was "simply wrong" in her accusation, while Giuffre has said Boies' assertions were taken "out of context.""By so pleading, Giuffre made the truth of these statements … a necessary—indeed essential—part of the Complaint," Preska ruled."Dershowitz's allegation of an extortion conspiracy is no mere throwaway line," the judge added of Giuffre's complaint, which was filed in April. "Giuffre explicitly characterizes Dershowitz's 'central assertion' as the facts that Giuffre committed perjury and that she and her attorneys 'hatched a scheme to falsely accuse Dershowitz of sex trafficking as part of a criminal attempt to extort a settlement from another party.'"Giuffre must prove at trial that Boies Schiller Flexner (BSF) lawyers didn't participate in the extortion scheme Dershowitz has alleged. "Either way, BSF is immersed in the facts it pled," Preska stated."Again it is essential to follow the litigation jujitsu at work here," the judge continued. "Giuffre says Dershowitz defamed her by falsely saying she and BSF engaged in an extortion scheme; Dershowitz says he said it and it is true. Giuffre's burden is to prove it is false in the face of Dershowitz's vehement claim that it is true."According to Preska's order, new counsel for Giuffre and Dershowitz's legal team must submit a proposed discovery plan by Nov. 13.Giuffre released a statement on Wednesday following the ruling: "I am grateful for the Court's decision to deny Alan Dershowitz's shameful attempt to dismiss my defamation case against him. I will no longer be silenced. I will no longer be shamed. I will see Alan Dershowitz in a court of law," she said."But I am dismayed by the Court's decision in this case to deprive me of my counsel. For over five years, my lawyers at Boies Schiller Flexner have worked tirelessly to bring Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirators to justice. When it was not in vogue and not a breaking news story, my lawyers Sigrid McCawley and David Boies stood up to the muscle of the Epstein machine and its grip on the legal system. It is no surprise that Alan Dershowitz, who was part of Epstein's ecosystem of power and privilege, is attempting to manipulate the legal system in the face of the serious charges I have brought against him. The reckoning of accountability has begun and today's decision will be appealed."Dershowitz's attorney, Imran H. Ansari, said the academic is "pleased" with Preska's decision to remove Boies from the case. "Disqualification is clearly required by the advocate-witness rule and by the very allegations made by the Plaintiff in her own Complaint," Ansari said in a statement. "Professor Dershowitz will call David Boies and his colleagues at trial to prove that their client—in Boies' own words—is 'wrong… simply wrong' in accusing him. Any appeal taken of Judge Preska's decision regarding disqualification will be met with stiff opposition by Professor Dershowitz."Meanwhile, Dershowitz argued Giuffre's complaint should be dismissed because the statements he made in 2018 and 2019—calling her a "total liar" who fabricated allegations against him for money—are "substantially identical" to statements he made in 2015 and therefore barred under the statute of limitations.Yet, Preska's order states that Dershowitz "admits he took affirmative steps to republish his prior statements to defend himself and his reputation by influencing new audiences or re-influencing old audiences.""Said differently, Dershowitz went looking for trouble, and by his repeated affirmative republications, he found it."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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| Here are the winners and losers of Tuesday's crowded Democratic presidential debate Posted: 15 Oct 2019 08:38 PM PDT  South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg was the clear winner of Tuesday's debate. He was far more aggressive than usual and it paid off.
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| Latest search for Amelia Earhart plane comes up empty: NYT Posted: 15 Oct 2019 10:26 AM PDT  The latest hunt for the remains of the plane of Amelia Earhart, the famed American aviatrix who disappeared over the Pacific in 1937, has turned up nothing. The New York Times reported Tuesday that an extensive search conducted by a team led by Robert Ballard, discoverer of the wreckage of the Titanic, had not turned up any evidence of Earhart's aircraft. The National Geographic Channel, which sponsored the expedition, is to air a documentary about the search on Sunday.
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| Shooting kills 6 in Puerto Rico, leads to emergency meeting Posted: 15 Oct 2019 05:00 PM PDT  Puerto Rico's governor called an emergency meeting Tuesday after six people were killed in a mass shooting in a San Juan housing project and gunfire left two people dead a day earlier in the island's north. A police statement said the violence left five men and one woman dead. The brazen murders led Gov. Wanda Vázquez to convene a gathering of her security team, led by public security chief Elmer Román and justice secretary Dennise Longo Quiñones.
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| View 2021 Genesis GV70 Spy Photos Posted: 15 Oct 2019 09:28 AM PDT |
| Three US diplomats held near Russian test site where mystery blast killed five Posted: 16 Oct 2019 10:18 AM PDT  * Russian foreign ministry says trio 'obviously got lost' * August explosion caused radiation levels to surgeA Russian navy official works on the Akula nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine at the Severodvinsk site in July. The August explosion there killed at least five people. Photograph: Sergei Bobylev/TassThree American diplomats were briefly detained in Russia near the military test site where a mysterious explosion released radiation in August, several Russia state news agencies have reported.The US embassy has confirmed the incident, the Interfax news service reported, but said the three diplomats had filed the proper paperwork to travel in the area.The Russian foreign ministry said the diplomats had named a different city as their destination and had "obviously got lost".The report comes just days after the United States said the accident was caused by a nuclear reaction when Russia tried to retrieve a nuclear-powered cruise missile from the Barents Sea.The diplomats were detained on Monday on a train in the city of Severodvinsk, near where Russian authorities said they had been testing a rocket engine with a nuclear component before the accident took place.The diplomats, who have been identified by Interfax as military attaches, were later released, but could face administrative charges for traveling in a restricted military area, agencies reported.In a statement, the Russian foreign ministry confirmed that the diplomats were on an official trip and had informed the Russian defence ministry of their plans."Only, they said their intention was to visit Arkhangelsk and they ended up en route to Severodvinsk," the ministry said."They obviously got lost. We are ready to give the US embassy a map of Russia," the ministry added.The blast at the military test site in August killed at least five people and caused panic after radiation levels jumped to 16 times their normal levels in nearby Severodvinsk.Russian authorities have given little information about the accident. But a US diplomat this week said that the accident took place when Russia attempted to retrieve a nuclear-powered cruise missile called Burevestnik from the Barents Sea."The United States has determined that the explosion near Nyonoksa was the result of a nuclear reaction that occurred during the recovery of a Russian nuclear-powered cruise missile," Thomas DiNanno, the diplomat, said during a speech at the UN.Russia's plans for a nuclear-powered cruise missile that could in theory fly indefinitely were first revealed by Vladimir Putin during a speech last year. The missile is still undergoing testing, and some weapons experts doubt if it can ever be made operable.Russia's military was attempting to retrieve the missile from another failed 2017 test when the accident took place.It was not immediately clear whether the diplomats were traveling to or from Nyonoksa, the village near the military testing site, when they were detained. But train timetables would indicate they were returning from the village when they were arrested close to 6pm in Severodvinsk.Russia has maintained a shroud of secrecy around the incident, closing off waters in the White Sea to foreign ships to prevent them from collecting information about the explosion.
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| A N.J. school district wants to ban students from attending prom if they have more than $75 in school lunch debt Posted: 16 Oct 2019 03:47 PM PDT  A school district in New Jersey passed a new policy this week that will allow schools to bar students from attending prom if they have a school lunch debt above $75.
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| Boston pension votes to fire money manager Fisher, withdrawals surge toward $1 billion Posted: 16 Oct 2019 12:48 PM PDT  The City of Boston's retirement board on Wednesday voted unanimously to end its relationship with money manager Kenneth Fisher, whose firm has lost almost $1 billion in assets after allegations he made disparaging remarks about women last week. "Boston will not invest in companies led by people who treat women like commodities.
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| Meet USS Barb: The Navy's Special World War II Submarine That Terrified Japan Posted: 15 Oct 2019 03:00 PM PDT  It sank the most Japanese vessels by tonnage.
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| Dems Torn Over How Much to Punish Rudy Giuliani for Ignoring Subpoena Posted: 16 Oct 2019 01:27 AM PDT  The Washington Post/GettyHouse Democrats are torn over how to respond after Rudy Giuliani gave them the equivalent of a massive middle finger on Tuesday, telling them he would completely ignore the subpoena that they served him for documents related to his expedition to dig up dirt in Ukraine on the Bidens in order to benefit President Trump.To some Democratic lawmakers, the idea of Trump's personal attorney skating by without a punishment while the courts decide whether he has to comply with their subpoena is infuriating. And it dredges up bad memories of their struggles to hold Trump administration officials to account for ignoring subpoenas over Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. In response, they want Giuliani to feel some pain, either personally or financially."You don't get to say no to a congressional subpoena," said Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT), who serves on the House Intelligence Committee, which is spearheading the impeachment inquiry. "That's not a thing. That is a crime. He's gonna show up, or he's going to get fined, or he's going to go to jail."But the party's leadership is increasingly convinced that its Ukraine-focused impeachment inquiry is getting results—and that going after Giuliani with threats of contempt of Congress would turn a success into a show that unnecessarily muddies the waters.And many in the caucus believe they already have a strong enough case to impeach Trump, and that Trumpworld's stonewalling of subpoenas will only make it stronger.Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA) told The Daily Beast on Tuesday night that he supports holding individuals accountable for not complying with the House's subpoenas. But he stressed that a court fight over that should not delay what he believes to be clearly justified articles of impeachment. "We have this very clear and compelling evidence right out in front, and in the president's own words, and it's already been corroborated and confirmed by a bunch of first-person witnesses," said Huffman. "I think we've got this, and in some ways we are now gilding the lily."As House Democrats return from a two-week recess poised to display their unity over the impeachment process—only seven of them do not openly support an inquiry—the divide over what to do about Giuliani is a point of divergence that reflects the differing views within the caucus over just how drawn out their impeachment inquiry can or should be. Tuesday was the deadline for Giuliani to comply with a subpoena asking for a broad range of documents and correspondence focusing on his Ukraine activity. The four-page request touches nearly every corner of the Democrats' probe, from the role of the $400 million in delayed security aid to his business interests in Ukraine, and covers the entirety of Trump's presidency.How Rudy Giuliani's Bid to Discredit Mueller Played Into Impeachment ProbeIn a letter, Giuliani's attorney—who was dropped by his client shortly after said letter went out—said the subpoena was "overbroad, unduly burdensome, and seeks documents beyond the scope of legitimate inquiry."In addition to Giuliani, the Department of Defense and the Office of Management and Budget faced a Tuesday deadline to produce documents that were requested in Democrats' subpoenas. OMB said it would not be complying, but Pentagon chief Mark Esper has said he would turn over at least some documents that would help lawmakers better understand the role that the hold-up in security security aid played in Trumpworld's campaign to pressure the Ukranians. "We will do everything we can to comply," Esper told CBS' Face the Nation on Sunday. Vice President Mike Pence, meanwhile, faced a Tuesday request—not a subpoena—for documents illuminating his role in the Ukraine saga. But his office announced on Tuesday that it would not comply with any of the Democrats' requests, casting their impeachment inquiry as illegitimate. The moves echo past attempts from Trumpworld to stiff-arm subpoenas during the Mueller investigation, which prompted intense hand-wringing among House Democrats over how to respond. Ultimately, they did vote in June to hold Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in contempt of Congress for ignoring subpoenas. These were largely symbolic votes, however, and their ramifications were murky at best, leaving Democrats struggling to explain their import to the public. That frustration is clearly animating some lawmakers' desire to reconsider ways to assert their punitive authority—including the avenue of inherent contempt, which empowers the legislative branch to take would-be witnesses into custody until they comply with duly issued congressional orders. "This is another example of why the House needs to revisit inherent contempt," said Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) of Giuliani. "We need to enforce our own subpoenas. We can and we should."But others on Capitol Hill look back on those struggles and see a reason to simply move past it to focus on what they believe really matters. "If the administration, and the president's private sector accomplices, are going to follow through on their promise not to comply with the investigation, including ignoring lawful subpoenas, and if the only recourse (court action) allows them to run out the clock on an active criminal scheme involving U.S. national security and elections, then the House has no choice but impeachment," said a House Democratic aide.Another House Democratic aide put it more bluntly: "They already have the Watergate tapes," the aide said of the impeachment investigators, underscoring why the party was unlikely to pursue a punishment outside the normal legal system for those defying subpoenas.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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| Angela Merkel Intervenes to Allow Huawei Access to German Networks Posted: 15 Oct 2019 09:22 AM PDT  Germany will allow Huawei access to its 5G networks despite a U.S. pressure campaign, spearheaded by FCC chairman Ajit Pai, to block the Chinese tech giant from interacting with allies' data networks."Essentially our approach is as follows: We are not taking a pre-emptive decision to ban any actor, or any company," government spokesman Steffen Seibert told a news conference Monday, as Germany's Federal Network Agency plans to release an in-depth "security catalogue" on compliance criteria for 5G networks in the coming days. The announcement confirmed a report by German business newspaper Handelsblatt, which stated that a review of the current draft of security requirements permits Huawei to provide 5G services in Germany.Handelsblatt also reports that the decision to include Huawei came from the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, due to fears that exclusion would damage the country's relationship with China.Merkel's office, in partnership with the Ministry of Economic Affairs, also removed a clause from a 5G government policy paper that suggested only "trusted suppliers" should be given access to the network.The decision comes after heavy pressure from the U.S. to urge international allies to resist partnerships with Huawei over fears of espionage, fraud, and intellectual property theft. In January, the Justice Department indicted the Chinese firm after allegations of theft and conspiracy."The criminal activity in this indictment goes back ten years and goes all the way to the top of the company," said former acting attorney general Matthew Whitaker at a press conference announcing the charges.In May, President Trump blacklisted Huawei from doing business with American firms.Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and other U.S. allies have already moved to block Huawei from accessing their networks, while the U.K. has had a political debate over the inclusion of the company in the wake of the rollout of 5G technology.
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| Iran president's brother starts 5-year jail term: report Posted: 16 Oct 2019 02:39 AM PDT  Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's brother entered prison Wednesday to begin a five-year sentence after he was convicted of corruption, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported, citing his lawyer. Hossein Fereydoun, who served as an aide to the president, was arrested in July 2017 and put on trial in February this year on allegations of financial violations. "This morning Mr Fereydoun together with myself were present at the prosecutor's office," Hossein Sartipi said, quoted by ISNA.
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| UK child abuser who preyed on Malaysians killed in prison Posted: 15 Oct 2019 02:20 AM PDT  A British man serving 22 life sentences for abusing scores of Malaysian children has been killed in prison. Richard Huckle was found dead Sunday at Full Sutton prison in the northern county of Yorkshire. The Prison Service confirmed Huckle had died.
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| Here are the winners and losers from Tuesday's Democratic debate Posted: 15 Oct 2019 09:40 PM PDT  Pete Buttigieg was ready to hit back, and those who didn't make the debate stage have an uphill battle.
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| India Plans to Train Women to Combat Water Challenge Posted: 15 Oct 2019 12:20 AM PDT ![India Plans to Train Women to Combat Water Challenge]( "India Plans to Train Women to Combat Water Challenge") (Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government plans to employ women across villages to test water quality to combat rising challenges, amid scarcity of the resource across India.Women in villages across 256 water-scarce districts will receive training to ensure clean water supplies, Smriti Irani, the federal minister for women & child development, said in Mumbai Tuesday. The program will be expanded to cover all of India's 750,000 villages, Irani said.Inadequate water supply, sanitation and hygiene cost India around 0.8% of its gross domestic product, according to the World Bank. The efforts to train women are part of the government's conservation plans at a time when water availability per person is expected to drop to 1,341 cubic meters by 2020 and about 70% of surface water is unfit for consumption.Irani, who spoke at the Bloomberg Equality Summit, said the government treated women as equal partners in administration and wanted to ensure better pay and access to credit for women entrepreneurs. The federal government is trying to do more to ensure pay parity for Indian women, especially in the organized sector, she said."This is an issue that we are struggling with, an issue that we are hoping to provide solutions for a number of years," Irani told an audience representing local and foreign companies and banks.@smritiirani speaks at the BloombergEquality Summit https://t.co/L6HUJG7oFN— Bloomberg Asia (@BloombergAsia) October 15, 2019 The minister defended India's efforts to ensure women's safety. Unsafe commutes and lack of implementation of laws that protect female workers have contributed to about 20 million women -- the size of the combined populations of New York, London and Paris -- vanishing from India's workforce since 2004, the World Bank estimates."I think to say that women's safety issues, children's safety issues are a challenge only in a particular subcontinent, a particular country would be doing great injustice to the data that is available that every country has its own challenges with regards to safety and security of its citizens," Irani said.She said while the Indian Parliament continues to make laws for women, it is up to the society to ensure those laws are followed.@smritiirani at the BloombergEquality Summit https://t.co/T6miQU1nX6— Bloomberg Asia (@BloombergAsia) October 15, 2019 "It is the responsibility of those who are in the social segment -- be it companies, non-profits or public at large -- who need to recognize the law," Irani said. "And they need to recognize that it is the woman's right to bear the fruits of that progressive law, not a woman's compulsion to stand at the end of the line waiting for the rainbow to hit her."To contact the reporter on this story: Archana Chaudhary in New Delhi at achaudhary2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Ruth Pollard at rpollard2@bloomberg.net, Karthikeyan SundaramFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Hong Kong protesters intend to topple city's government, says Singapore PM Posted: 16 Oct 2019 07:53 AM PDT ![Hong Kong protesters intend to topple city's government, says Singapore PM]( "Hong Kong protesters intend to topple city's government, says Singapore PM") Hong Kong protesters demanding universal suffrage and an amnesty for those charged with rioting are trying to humiliate and bring down the Chinese-ruled city's government, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Wednesday. In the strongest remarks yet by the ethnically-Chinese-majority Southeast Asian country which has close relations with China, Lee said the demands did not provide a way out of often-violent unrest which has gripped Hong Kong for months. "The demonstrators say they have five major demands and not one can be compromised but those are not demands which are meant to be a programme to solve Hong Kong's problems.
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| Iran's So-Called New Fighter Jet Is Most Likely a Scam (Sort Of) Posted: 15 Oct 2019 09:00 PM PDT  Or just another F-5 ripoff?
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| I Ran the VA Under President Trump Until He Fired Me. Our First Trump Tower Meeting Was a Job Interview Unlike Any Other Posted: 16 Oct 2019 08:50 AM PDT  David Shulkin reflects on his chaotic start in the Trump administration
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| Joe Biden, Bleeding Cash, Spent Nearly $1 Million on Private Jets Posted: 16 Oct 2019 09:34 AM PDT  REUTERSJoe Biden's presidential campaign is bleeding cash. And a big reason why appears to be an antiquated, higher-end approach to electoral politics that the former vice president has adopted. Biden's team spent more than $923,000 on private jets during the third quarter of 2019, according to recently filed Federal Election Commission data. The expenses, all made to the company EJCR, LLC Dba Advanced Aviation Team, represented a major chunk of change—accounting for roughly one out of every 16 dollars the campaign raised. It's not uncommon for candidates to lean on private jets as they crisscross the country in an effort to keep a schedule packed with speeches, rallies, and debates. But a review of Biden's expenditures suggest that a good deal of what he's spending money on currently involve efforts to simply raise more money. The former vice president spent more than $230,000 on "fundraising consultants" during Q3; nearly $500,000 on direct mail; and major chunks of change on high-end hotels in cities that serve as donor hubs but aren't centrally located in early-voting states. During the third quarter period, the Biden campaign spent more than $20,000 at the Carlyle Hotel in New York City; more than $14,000 at the Coronado Island Marriott in San Diego; more than $4,400 at the Hotel Jerome Auberge in Aspen; more than $10,500 at the W Hotel in Los Angeles, and more than $3,000 at the Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho. While the campaign's major expenses involved traditional campaign functions like payroll (which was nearly $9 million), office rentals, and digital advertising, the campaign also spent heavily on consultants—including several big-named aides. During Q3, the Biden campaign spent $228,378 on research consultants and $150,400 on "strategic consultants." The firm Anzalone Liszt Grove Research Inc., run by longtime Biden pollster John Anzalone, received more than $122,000 for polling. And two well-known Biden advisers, Bruce Reed and Anthony Blinken, received $35,000 and $10,500 respectively for "policy consulting." Asked what type of policy work he was doing, Reed told The Daily Beast only: "Domestic." Collectively, the expenditures have taken a toll on the Biden campaign's bottom line and raised questions about its long-term viability. Overall, Biden currently has less than $9 million cash on-hand after taking in roughly $15.7 million during Q3 and spending $17.6 million during that same period.Asked for comment, a Biden aide noted that some of the cost of the private jet travel was for carbon offsets. As for the broader financial picture, Biden, standing outside of the IBEW Electrical Trade Center in Columbus, Ohio, told reporters that he was not worried about his campaign's financial situation. "We are doing fine. Fundraising is building, we've raised a lot of money online, and we've raised money offline as well. So we feel confident we're going to be ready," said Biden.But Democrats who have worked on past campaigns that bled cash recognize some similarities. "When you are a candidate running for president, the other thing to keep in mind is, it is a difficult and rigorous schedule, and to the extent there are creature comforts that people have, they are going to do whatever they can to make the person comfortable," said Phil Singer, who worked as a press hand for Hillary Clinton's 2008 campaign, which also ended up in difficult financial straits. "But it is something they will have to solve fairly soon. Money, after all, doesn't grow on trees."—With additional reporting from Jackie Kucinich.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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| Magnitude 4.7 earthquake shakes part of central California Posted: 15 Oct 2019 04:28 PM PDT  A magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck a remote area of central California on Tuesday. But a seismologist said there was no connection to a slightly smaller quake hours earlier in the San Francisco Bay Area region.
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| Nigeria town celebrates claim as 'twins capital' of world Posted: 15 Oct 2019 08:00 PM PDT  To celebrate its self-proclaimed title the town hosts an annual festival, now in its second year, that draws hundreds of sets of twins from around the country. Donning different traditional clothes and costumes, the twins -- male and female, old, young and even newborns -- sang and danced at the latest edition this weekend to the appreciation of an admiring audience.
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| Wisconsin boy says man strapped him to chair in basement Posted: 16 Oct 2019 03:41 PM PDT  The boy told police he finally escaped on Saturday, Oct. 5, when he "could no longer take" the noise from mice in the basement vent and the pee he was sitting on because he wasn't allowed to go to the bathroom, according to the criminal complaint filed against 36-year-old Nathan Pogrant Monday. WLUK-TV reports he faces charges including false imprisonment and child abuse.
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| U.S. Indicts Turkish Bank With Ties to Giuliani Client For Evading Iran Sanctions Posted: 16 Oct 2019 08:30 AM PDT  The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday indicted Turkey's second-largest bank on charges of fraud and money laundering, accusing it of helping Iran evade sanctions implemented to curb its nuclear program.Halbank was reportedly involved in the largest Iran sanctions violation to date, sending billions of dollars in gold and cash to Iran in exchange for oil and gas."This is one of the most serious Iran sanctions violations we have seen, and no business should profit from evading our laws or risking our national security," Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers said in a statement released by the Justice Department. The statement further alleged that senior Turkish government officials received tens of millions of dollars in bribes to hide the violations from U.S. regulators.Earlier this month it was reported that Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani in 2017 pushed then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to ask the Justice Department to drop a case against his client Reza Zarrab. An Iranian-Turkish gold trader who himself evaded Iran sanctions, Zarrab went on to testify against Halbank head of international banking Mehmet Hakan Atilla, who was convicted of helping Iran evade sanctions through money laundering and served 28 months in U.S. prison.Zarrab had also alleged that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan knew of Atilla's laundering operation, which Erdogan has denied.The charges against Halbank came as the Trump administration is trying to negotiate its relationship with Turkey, which recently launched an invasion of northeastern Syria after Trump announced the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the region. The invasion is in part intended to combat Kurdish groups that Turkey considers terrorist organizations, some of which were instrumental in the U.S.-led fight against ISIS in Syria.Trump authorized sanctions on the Turkish economy on Monday, however the impact of the sanctions was less damaging than initially assumed.
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| A Florida man called the sheriff's office to report stolen marijuana. The deputy's response: 'Stop calling' Posted: 16 Oct 2019 06:49 AM PDT ![A Florida man called the sheriff's office to report stolen marijuana. The deputy's response: 'Stop calling']( "A Florida man called the sheriff's office to report stolen marijuana. The deputy's response: 'Stop calling'") The Pasco County Sheriff's Office in Florida told a man to stop calling 911 to report $20 worth of stolen weed.
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| Hong Kong Protesters Rage Against Corporate China's Growing Control Posted: 15 Oct 2019 03:57 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- The black-clad protesters pushing back against China's influence in Hong Kong aren't just focusing on Carrie Lam and the police. They're also targeting mainland-based brands such as Bank of China Ltd., China Mobile Ltd. and Huawei Technologies Co. with fire bombs, metal bars and spray paint.A walk down the primary route used by Hong Kong's anti-government marchers shows how big a chunk of the city China owns. Mainland-affiliated supermarkets, drugstores, hotels, Pacific Coffee stores and McDonald's outlets -- both franchises are operated by state-owned firms -- pepper the vicinity of skyscraper-lined Hennessy Road, the downtown artery connecting the Causeway Bay shopping district with government headquarters in Admiralty. Some of the businesses also occupy property owned by Chinese developers.These perceived outposts of President Xi Jinping's government expanded their operations after the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997, adding heft to Beijing's political goal of integrating the semi-autonomous territory with the motherland. Their deepening presence stokes fears among protesters that Hong Kong soon will become just another Chinese city, deprived of the autonomy former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping guaranteed until 2047."Mainland Chinese companies are forming a group of entities which can be both economically and politically influential," said Heidi Wang-Kaeding, who's done research on mainland investment in Hong Kong and now teaches international relations at Keele University in Staffordshire, England. "That's why this is shaking the local interest very much."Hong Kong police said Monday a radio-controlled improvised explosive device was detonated near a police car on Sunday evening, the first time the use of such a device has been reported during months of unrest.The use of explosives marks a significant escalation in pro-democracy protests that started out peacefully in June, with hundreds of thousands of residents marching in the streets in opposition to a bill that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China.In recent weeks, protesters have set fires near police stations, hurled makeshift petrol bombs at riot police, and bashed in glass kiosks at train stations and storefronts tied to mainland Chinese businesses.As Chinese Communist Party leaders focus on solidifying control over the rebellious city, companies taking direction from the state likely will play an even bigger role in Hong Kong's $363 billion economy. The city is sinking into a recession amid the riots, and Lam, the chief executive, may propose remedies during her annual policy address on Wednesday.In the past decade, the total amount of loans given by the Hong Kong-based unit of state-owned Bank of China in the special administrative region has more than doubled to $175 billion, and so have deposits to $257 billion.China Mobile, the world's largest wireless carrier by subscribers, is among the four operators in the city, having cemented its position since buying a local provider more than a decade ago to gain entry into the market.Mainland-based developers such as Poly Property Group Co. and China Overseas Land and Investment Ltd. successfully bid for 11% of the land for sale last year in the world's most-expensive real estate market, compared with about 5% in 2013. They bought almost 60% of residential land sold by the local government in the first six months of this year.In one high-profile deal, state-owned Poly Property and China Resources Land Ltd. successfully bid HK$12.9 billion ($1.6 billion) in June for a 9,500-square-meter parcel at Kai Tak, the former airport in the Kowloon district.Beijing-based Citic Ltd., a state-owned conglomerate, is part of a consortium that runs McDonald's outlets in the city, and unit Dah Chong Hong Holdings operates car dealerships and Food Mart stores.With forays into retail, telecommunications and property development, mainland-based companies are also altering the city's traditional business landscape. Homegrown tycoons such as Li Ka-shing and Lee Shau Kee, who built their empires by forging close ties with authorities in Beijing, may see that influence erode. Li, for instance, saw the writing on the wall some time ago and has been steadily reducing exposure to his home base.Over time, the economic balance of power will tilt more in favor of state enterprises and away from the local billionaires, said Michael Tien, a pro-Beijing member of Hong Kong's legislature and a deputy to China's National People's Congress."It will be very difficult for Hong Kong Chinese companies to fight mainland Chinese companies," he said. "They are capital-rich and powerful."But it isn't just state-owned companies that are building a bigger presence in Hong Kong. In 2015, billionaire Jack Ma's e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. agreed to buy the South China Morning Post newspaper and related assets for HK$2.06 billion. Prominent Chinese smart-phone makers such as Huawei, Lenovo, Xiaomi and electronics retailer Suning have retail stores in the city.Mainland-based companies with consumer-facing businesses have been particular targets in the latest phase of the four-month-long protests, which were sparked by opposition to a proposed law allowing extraditions to China.Bank of China branches and ATMs have been firebombed and vandalized, including this past weekend and on the Oct. 1 anniversary of Communist Party rule in the mainland. Huawei and Lenovo stores also were ransacked during the weekend at a mall in suburban Sha Tin.At least two China Mobile stores were attacked Oct. 1 and 2, and a Xiaomi outlet had anti-China graffiti spray-painted on its walls. The local unit of China Construction Bank, which has more than 50 locations, suspended service at two branches because of protest-related damage, including smashed glass doors.At least one local-run business has lost its immunity. Maxim's Caterers Ltd., which operates bakeries and some Starbucks outlets, is seeing stores vandalized after the founder's daughter called the protests "riots" and supported the Hong Kong government in comments at the U.N. Human Rights Council last month.Maxim's tried to distance itself from the comments and a spokeswoman said the group has never taken any political stance. Representatives for China Resources, Citic, the local units of Bank of China and China Construction Bank didn't respond to requests seeking comments, while a spokesperson for China Mobile said the carrier is focusing on resuming services at the damaged stores."Anything with a star on it is vulnerable," Gavin Greenwood, an analyst with A2 Global Risk, a Hong Kong-based political-risk consultancy, said of mainland-affiliated businesses. He was referring to the Chinese flag."They are extremely soft targets."(Updates with report on radio-controlled explosive from fifth paragraph.)\--With assistance from Chloe Whiteaker, Demetrios Pogkas and Alfred Liu.To contact the reporters on this story: Bruce Einhorn in Hong Kong at beinhorn1@bloomberg.net;Shirley Zhao in Hong Kong at xzhao306@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Emma O'Brien at eobrien6@bloomberg.net, Sam Nagarajan, Michael TigheFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| America's “Dauntless” Dive-Bomber Was a World War II Classic Posted: 15 Oct 2019 09:00 AM PDT  An excellent plane.
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| Sleep Soundly Outdoors by Saving on Klymit Sleeping Pads Posted: 15 Oct 2019 11:26 AM PDT |
| U.S. appeals court to revisit Trump win in hotel 'emoluments' case Posted: 15 Oct 2019 02:49 PM PDT  The Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in an order that it would rehear arguments in the case, which was brought by the Democratic attorneys general of Maryland and the District of Columbia. A three-judge panel of the court ruled on July 10 that the attorneys general lacked legal standing to bring the lawsuit, which alleged violations of constitutional provisions known as the Emoluments Clauses that bans the president from accepting gifts or payments from foreign governments without congressional consent. "This is very encouraging news today in our efforts to hold Trump accountable under the Emoluments Clauses," Deepak Gupta, a lawyer working with the attorneys general, said on Twitter.
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| ‘Barbaric’: DLA Piper Partner Who Said Boss Assaulted Her Four Times Has Been Put on Leave Posted: 16 Oct 2019 12:16 PM PDT  Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast / Photos HandoutThe junior partner at top-grossing law firm DLA Piper who claimed she was sexually assaulted four times by her boss in 2018 has been placed on paid administrative leave.Vanina Guerrero, who works out of the multinational firm's Silicon Valley corporate practice, filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission earlier this month, claiming that the $2.84-billion firm discriminated against her and retaliated when she complained of the alleged assaults. The complaint identified her boss, DLA Piper partner Louis Lehot, as the man who allegedly assaulted her in Shanghai, Brazil, Palo Alto, and Chicago."During my entire career I was known for my intellect, tenacity and confidence," Guerrero, who is married with children, wrote in an open letter to the firm earlier this month. "In less than nine months at DLA Piper... I became a shell of my former self." In her letter, Guerrero asked the firm to allow her to litigate the matter in court instead of through forced arbitration. A spokesman for the law firm has said the company took appropriate steps to investigate the allegations against Lehot as soon as they were reported and that the company "takes them seriously."Lehot has since left the firm, the company said last week."Despite the fact that the allegations have not been substantiated by the investigation to date, the firm has concluded for various reasons that it is in the best interest of the firm that we part ways with Louis Lehot," three executives wrote in a memo, Bloomberg Business reported.But on Tuesday, the firm sent a letter to Guerrero claiming that "during the course of our investigation of your allegations against Louis Lehot, another individual at the firm alleged that you engaged in inappropriate behavior toward, and harassed, that individual.""DLA Piper takes allegations of harassment seriously, regardless of the position or gender of the individual making those allegations or against whom they are made," said the letter, which was provided to The Daily Beast by Guerrero's attorney. "Unfortunately, you continue to refuse to cooperate with that investigation, including refusing to discuss the allegations that have been made against you. Indeed, you refused to do so despite our stated willingness to allow your counsel to be present during the interview."The memo states that Guerrero is barred from going to the Silicon Valley office or engaging in any of the firm's business until the investigation has concluded—and that DLA Piper has retained an outside firm to probe the matter.Guerrero's attorney, Jeanne Christensen, said in a statement on Wednesday that the letter was sent overnight to media outlets "across the country" in an attempt "to publicly smear" Guerrero "for daring to complain about being sexually assaulted."Christensen called the move "barbaric" and unprecedented."To be clear, as of the writing of this email, our firm and Ms. Guerrero have no knowledge or information about the purported 'harassment,'" she added. "The message is loud and clear: MeToo movement or not—speaking out about gender motivated violence will result in untold harm, damage and pain to you personally and professionally."Junior Partner at Silicon Valley Law Firm DLA Piper: Boss Sexually Assaulted Me 4 Times, Company Ignored ItRead 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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| Romania's ex-anti-graft chief confirmed as EU's top prosecutor Posted: 16 Oct 2019 12:47 PM PDT  Romania's former anti-graft chief Laura Codruta Kovesi has been confirmed as the European Union's first top fraud prosecutor, the European Parliament announced on Wednesday in an appointment that comes despite opposition from Bucharest. Kovesi can now head the new European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO)for a seven-year term after a majority of EU member states, including the President of the European Parliament David Sassoli, backed her nomination in September.
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| Judge says he miscalculated award by $107M in opioid case Posted: 15 Oct 2019 02:43 PM PDT  An Oklahoma judge on Tuesday acknowledged making a nearly $107 million miscalculation in determining how much drug maker Johnson & Johnson must pay the state to help address the state's opioid crisis. Following a hearing in Cleveland County, District Judge Thad Balkman acknowledged making the error in his August judgment in which he ordered the consumer products giant to pay the state $572 million to address the opioid crisis. Balkman said the actual amount he should have included in his judgment was $107,000 to help the state develop a program for treating babies born addicted to opioids.
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