| Former top Navy SEAL who oversaw the Osama bin Laden raid says the US is 'under attack from the president' Posted: 17 Oct 2019 02:25 PM PDT  The retired Navy SEAL William McRaven said a retired general told him, "'I don't like the Democrats, but Trump is destroying the Republic!'"
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| China detains 2 US citizens who ran teaching program Posted: 17 Oct 2019 06:37 AM PDT  China said Thursday it detained two U.S. citizens on suspicion of organizing others to illegally cross the border, amid sharpening tensions between the sides over trade, technology and other sensitive issues. Police in the eastern province of Jiangsu arrested Alyssa Petersen and Jacob Harlan on Sept. 27 and Sept. 29, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said. "The department handling the case has informed the U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai in a timely manner, arranged U.S. diplomats to conduct consular visits and protected the legitimate rights and interests of the two," Geng said at a regular press briefing.
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| Woman rescued after drawing SOS message in Australian wilderness Posted: 17 Oct 2019 09:21 PM PDT  After being lost in the wilderness for three days, an Australian woman has finally been rescued
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| Hong Kong Activist Renews Call for March After Hammer Attack Posted: 17 Oct 2019 12:41 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- One of Hong Kong's most prominent protest organizers -- including a march planned for Sunday -- was recovering after being attacked on the street by men wielding hammers.Jimmy Sham -- convenor of the Civil Human Rights Front, which has organized many of the city's largest peaceful protests -- issued a plea from his hospital bed Thursday for police to allow the march go ahead in the Tsim Tsa Tsui area as planned. Sham was assaulted by four to five men Wednesday while on his way to a meeting in nearby Mong Kok -- the second time he's been attacked since August."When Jimmy was at his street counter, many of the citizens expressed that they really hope there will be a safe march on Sunday," the Civil Human Rights Front said in a statement Thursday. "Jimmy therefore urges the Police to issue Letter of No Objection, so that Hongkongers can express their views."The Civil Human Rights Front has helped organize several of the largest protests ever held in the former British colony, including two largely peaceful marches in June that drew more than a million people. The demonstrations have since mushroomed into a broader push for greater democracy, leading to regular clashes between protesters and police and occasional incidents of mob violence.On Thursday, Hong Kong's embattled leader, Carrie Lam, was forced to repeatedly halt a question session in the city's legislature as opposition lawmakers demanded her to step down and address other protester demands. The coming weekend will be the Asian financial center's 20th-straight weekend of unrest.See also: Hong Kong Police Targeted With Remote-Controlled ExplosiveNg Tak-nam, chief police inspector for the Mong Kok area, condemned the attack on Sham, which he said appeared to have been premeditated. "The police will investigate impartially and seriously, regardless of the person's background and identity," Ng told reporters.Sham, who is planning to join the district council elections next month, was attacked in August by two masked men with a baseball bat and knife. Police have arrested three men in connection with that earlier case, charging two of them with conspiracy to assault causing bodily harm. The third is on bail pending further investigation.The Civil Human Rights Front said that the assailants in the latest attack appeared to be aiming for Sham's head, elbows and knees. The group said he suffered several wounds, but had no broken bones."The Civil Human Rights Front strongly condemns the acts of the perpetrators," the group said. "It is not hard to link this incident to a spreading political terror in order to threaten and inhibit the legitimate exercise of natural and legal rights."(Updates with recovery in headline and first paragraph)\--With assistance from Justin Chin.To contact the reporter on this story: Shelly Banjo in Hong Kong at sbanjo@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Ben SharplesFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Explainer: Democrats Warren and Sanders want wealth tax; economists explain how it works Posted: 17 Oct 2019 11:28 AM PDT  According to Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman, the University of California at Berkeley economists who developed that estimate, that is in part because the wealthiest American families declare only a small portion of their actual economic gains in any given year as income, while leaving the rest invested in stocks and other assets, to grow in value. Saez has been involved in a series of what are considered groundbreaking studies of U.S. income, inequality and economic mobility that involved both developing techniques to impute income based on holdings of wealth, and extensive access to U.S. Internal Revenue Service records. "The greatest injustice of the U.S. tax system today is its regressivity at the very top: billionaires in the top 400 pay less (relative to their true economic incomes) than the middle class," the economists wrote in a September paper https://brook.gs/2OWp9wx.
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| One dead in strong 6.4-magnitude Philippines quake: mayor Posted: 16 Oct 2019 09:45 AM PDT  A child was killed in a strong 6.4-magnitude quake that hit the southern Philippines on Wednesday, a local mayor said, as houses collapsed, power was knocked out and a shopping mall burst into flames. Residents evacuated homes and buildings across the Mindanao region including a mall that caught fire in the city of General Santos shortly after the quake struck in the evening, officials said. The child died in a house collapse in the town of Datu Paglas, while four residents of nearby Tulunan town were injured when at least two other houses fell down, Tulunan Mayor Reuel Limbungan told AFP.
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| Contractor claims video shows structural flaws prior to Hard Rock Hotel collapse Posted: 16 Oct 2019 07:57 PM PDT  A contractor posted a video arguing it showed structural problems inside the Hard Rock Hotel construction site two days before its deadly collapse.
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| Beto O’Rourke Dunks on ‘Disgraced TV Host’ Bill O’Reilly Posted: 16 Oct 2019 08:11 AM PDT  Bill O'Reilly, who was ousted by Fox News two-and-a-half years ago following decades of sexual-harassment allegations and payouts to victims, made a desperate bid for relevance this week when he decided to live-tweet the fourth Democratic presidential primary debate. Among O'Reilly's insights were that he found the "Trump bashing festival" by the candidates "boring," he wanted Joe Biden to "fight back" harder and that Elizabeth Warren "wants a wealth tax to pay for free stuff, lots of free stuff. Lots." Later, he added, "The Democrats on the stage hate Turkey. The country, not the meal. They might be right." Then came former Rep. Beto O'Rourke's answer to a question about Warren's wealth tax proposal. "I think it's part of the solution," he said, before going on to accuse Senator Warren of being "more focused on being punitive and pitting some part of the country against the other instead of lifting people up and making sure that this country comes together around those solutions." "I think of a woman that I met in Las Vegas, Nevada," O'Rourke continued. "She's working four jobs, raising her child with disabilities, and any American with disabilities knows just how hard it is to make it and get by in this country already." It was this anecdote that caught O'Reilly's ear. He wasn't buying it. "Beto says he met a woman working FOUR jobs," he tweeted. "And raising a special needs child. I don't believe him. Sorry." The response from O'Rourke came with receipts. Along with a photo of the woman and her disabled daughter, he replied, "This is her. Her name is Gina. Her daughter's name is Summer. The problem with our economy is she has to live in her car—while a disgraced TV host like you makes millions." O'Reilly, who at one point had enough money to shell out at least $32 million in sexual harassment settlements before Fox News finally decided to cut him loose, had nothing to say in response to that.But the tweet did get a response from health care expert and former Obama administration official Andy Slavitt, who tweeted, "I would invite @BillOReilly to get a real understanding of what life is like for many in the disability community or raising a special needs or chronically ill child. But that would be cruel to the people who'd have to meet him." Stephen Colbert Takes Bill O'Reilly to Task Over His $32 Million Sexual-Harassment SettlementRead 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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| Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is endorsing Bernie Sanders this weekend, and polling shows that could be a hit to Elizabeth Warren Posted: 17 Oct 2019 11:39 AM PDT  AOC is most popular among voters who support Warren, which makes her endorsement of Sanders particularly unfortunate for the Massachusetts lawmaker.
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| APNewsBreak: Skeleton unearthed beneath California peak Posted: 16 Oct 2019 07:25 PM PDT  The climbers were closing in on the top of California's second-highest peak when they came upon the grisly discovery of what looked like a bone buried in a boulder field. Tyler Hofer and his climbing partner moved rocks aside and discovered an entire skeleton. The discovery a week ago beneath Mount Williamson unearthed a mystery: Who was the unfortunate hiker?
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| Mystery as plane carrying Russian arms smugglers crashes in Congo Posted: 16 Oct 2019 12:43 PM PDT  The Democratic Republic of Congo has one of the world's worst aviation safety records, so reports that an aircraft had tumbled into a remote forest last week caused few international ripples. Since then, however, a deepening mystery over the nature of the cargo and the identity of those on board has left the Congolese government facing awkward questions. The fate of the stricken plane, a mysterious Antonov-72 so far only identified by its former registration number, EK-72903, may also provide a glimpse into the murkier side of Russia's attempts to reassert its influence in Africa. The details remain scant. Last Thursday, the plane crashed 59 minutes after taking off from the eastern city of Goma bound for the capital Kinshasa. None of the eight people on board survived, officials said. The passengers were identified as the personal chauffeur of Felix Tshisekedi, Congo's president, and three of his bodyguards. An armoured vehicle used by the president was also on board. A more troubling disclosure followed when two of the four-strong crew were identified. Vitaly Shumkov and Vladimir Sadovnichy, the plane's pilots, were not only Russian nationals, they both appeared to have a background in gun running. The plane, too, has a murky past. EK-72903 was once owned by an Armenian company whose proprietor has been linked to arms smuggling elsewhere in Africa. Whether the crew were somehow furthering Kremlin interests remains unknown. However, there is no secret that Russia hopes to regain the influence the Soviet Union once wielded in Africa by wooing its leaders with arms sales, private security and "political technologists" adept at winning elections. Such attempts have often been linked to Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close associate of Vladimir Putin who has been accused of masterminding attempts to interfere in the 2016 US presidential election. Mr Prigozhin allegedly had Congo in his sights after Russia announced in May that it was sending a team of army specialists to the country. Some Russia media outlets speculated that Mr Prigozhin, was on board the plane ahead of a meeting with President Tshisekedi. That is almost certainly untrue. Slumming it on an Antonov is generally not Mr Progozhin's style. "He wouldn't get into a plane like that," a Congolese government official said. "This gentleman is an oligarch and if he travels then he travels on his own plane." The official said that while Mr Prigozhin had not been scheduled to meet President Tshisekedi, other Russian government representatives had requested a meeting to discuss the upcoming summit. It is unclear if any were on board. At least two people described as being "of eastern European origin" were also on the plane. They have not yet been identified, adding to the intrigue surrounding the flight. For the moment, whoever else was on board the plane remains unknown. With some sources saying there may have been 11 people rather than eight on board, UN officials were attempting to identify the remains of the dead — some of whom had been hastily buried — last night. Even that might not put an end to the intrigue of what happened aboard EK-72903. Congo rarely gives up its mysteries. In 1961, a plane departing the country with then UN secretary general Dag Hammarskjöld on board crashed. Three inquiries failed to determined the cause of the crash and Hammarskjöld's death remains a mystery to this day.
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| Northeast Bomb Cyclone Leaves More Than 500,000 Without Power Posted: 17 Oct 2019 06:41 AM PDT  The storm has caused power outages from New York up to Maine.
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| South Korea’s Moon Sees Approval Rating Hit New Low Amid Scandal Posted: 17 Oct 2019 07:09 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- The approval rating for South Korean President Moon Jae-in hit a record low in a poll released just days after he issued a public apology for the resignation of a scandal-tainted minister who was a close political ally.The support rate for Moon's government was at 39%, according to data released Friday by Gallup Korea, which conducts regular tracking polls. The resignation of Cho Kuk -- a former justice minister who resigned just five weeks after taking the job -- added to Moon's woes that include a tepid economy, a trade war with Japan, and North Korea snubbing his overtures for talks.The approval rating slipped from 43% a week ago, with 53% of respondents saying they disapproved of the Moon government, Gallup said. Major reasons cited by the public for faulting Moon included economic mismanagement and his personnel appointments.Moon's appointment of Cho on Sept. 9 touched a nerve with many as they questioned why a person whose family was being probed for financial irregularities should lead the ministry conducting the investigation. Protests also spread to university campuses with students angered about reports that Cho may have used his influence to help his daughter win admission to a prestigious college.Moon came to office in 2017 with an approval rate above 80% with calls to increase employment and cut into income inequality. But he has presided over an economy forecast to expand this year at the weakest pace in a decade. Exports -- a key pillar of the Korean economy -- have fallen for ten straight months, and hurt corporate investment and hiring.To contact the reporter on this story: Jihye Lee in Seoul at jlee2352@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Jon Herskovitz, Peter PaeFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Trump leaves Turkey, Syria 'to argue it out' and clashes with U.S. House Speaker Posted: 16 Oct 2019 02:38 AM PDT  Trump's decision to withdraw U.S. forces before a Turkish offensive into northern Syria last week has shattered the relative calm there and he has been accused of abandoning Kurdish militia who helped the United States fight Islamic State militants in the region. The hasty troop exit has created a land rush between Turkey and Russia - now the undisputed foreign powers in the area - to partition the formerly U.S.-protected Kurdish area.
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| View Photos of the 2020 Subaru Crosstrek Posted: 17 Oct 2019 10:00 AM PDT |
| Hundreds of police officers have been labeled liars. Some still help send people to prison. Posted: 17 Oct 2019 12:26 PM PDT  Across the USA, prosecutors aren't tracking officer misconduct, skirting Supreme Court "Brady" rules and sometimes leading to wrongful convictions.
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| Trevor Noah Exposes Eric and Don Jr.’s Hunter Biden Nepotism Hypocrisy Posted: 16 Oct 2019 06:33 PM PDT  Comedy CentralWith Hunter Biden's foreign business dealings in the news, Trevor Noah turned his attention to the issue of nepotism Wednesday night. "The truth is, your name could be a big reason that you get a leg up in life," The Daily Show host began. "With that said," he added, "you can't deny, it's not a good look that a Ukrainian company hired Hunter Biden just months after Joe Biden became the Obama administration's point man on Ukraine. Because it looks very much like he got this business because of his father's position." "And I understand why a lot of people would complain about that," he continued. "What I don't understand is why these people are complaining about that." With that, he cut to a clip of Donald Trump Jr. accusing Hunter Biden of trading on his name and Eric Trump arguing that he and his brother are exempt from criticism because they do not sit on any corporate boards. "First of all, I'm not surprised nobody has put Beavis and Forehead on any corporate boards," Noah said. "I don't even think they're allowed on diving boards." But more importantly, the host said, "If there was ever an example of people who got opportunities because of their names, it's these two." For instance, if Donald Trump Jr. was not Donald Trump's son, Noah asked why anyone would be paying him $50,000 to make a speech. "To share his expertise on bad beards?" Jimmy Kimmel Goes Off on Lara Trump: A 'Heartless Imbecile With Lip Injections'"Also, if Trump's sons are actually concerned, like truly concerned, about children of politicians doing business overseas," Noah added, "then can someone please explain to me why they have been doing this?" He then allowed various news reports to lay out the details of continued foreign projects currently being carried out by Eric and Don Jr. on behalf of the Trump Organization. "Yeah, that's right, even with their dad in office, the Trumps are still growing their business in places like India, Philippines, Indonesia, Uruguay," Noah said. "They're all over the world. It's like The Amazing Race with no running and no chins." But "at least Donald and Eric are one step removed from the Trump presidency," Noah said before turning his attention to Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, who have official roles in the White House and yet still have entanglements with businesses that benefit from foreign money. "Now let's be clear," Noah concluded. "I'm not defending Hunter Biden. I don't know him. I don't know about his business. I'm just saying that the last people who should be talking about the blurred lines of family names and political influence are the people currently running their home office from the White House." Trevor Noah Roasts Joe Biden Over Bad Debate Answer on Son HunterRead 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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| Putin signals Russia's return to Africa with summit Posted: 16 Oct 2019 07:08 PM PDT  President Vladimir Putin hosts dozens of African leaders next week as Russia seeks to reassert its influence on the continent and beyond. The heads of some 35 African countries are expected for the first Africa-Russia Summit in the Black Sea resort of Sochi next Wednesday and Thursday. For Putin, the summit is a chance to revive Soviet-era relationships and build new alliances, bolstering Moscow's global clout in the face of confrontation with the West.
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| Chicago's top cop found lying in car; requests investigation Posted: 17 Oct 2019 04:26 PM PDT  Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson asked the city's police department to conduct an internal investigation on himself Thursday after he was found lying down in a car. Police department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement that Johnson indicated he parked his car after feeling lightheaded. "There were no charges of intoxication, no information of intoxication as far as I know," Guglielmi said.
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| Ancient Cambodian city found using aerial mapping Posted: 16 Oct 2019 08:55 AM PDT  An ancient settlement, known has the 'lost city' of Cambodia, has been rediscovered by scientists using aerial mapping after remaining hidden in dense jungle for centuries. Mahendraparvata, believed to have been the first capital of the Khmer Empire, a powerful Southeast Asian state that existed during the Angkor period from the 9th to 15th centuries, had long-eluded archeologists, who knew of its existence but were unable to map it out because of the difficult terrain. Studies of the city were further hampered by landmines leftover from the Khmer Rouge, who used the location in the Phnom Kulen highlands as a last stronghold when their regime came to an end in 1979 in the Cambodian-Vietnamese War. In a new paper, published this month in the academic journal, Antiquity, an international team has revealed what they say is a definitive reconstruction of the form of the early Angkor-period capital, with the help of airborne laser scanning, a technique known as Lidar. "Despite its importance as the location of one of the Angkor period's earliest capitals, the mountainous region of Phnom Kulen has, to date, received strikingly little attention," point out the report's authors, led by Jean-Baptiste Chevance from the Archaeology and Development Foundation in the UK. Predating the more famous Angkor Wat by 350 years, the roads, temples and carvings of Mahendraparvata are still being unearthed Credit: NYTNS / Redux / eyevine Their recent efforts began in 2012 when Damian Evans of the French Institute of Asian Studies in Paris and his colleagues scanned the region with lasers from planes. It gave them an incomplete snapshot of the ruins and so they returned in 2015 to scan a larger area alongside a ground-based survey. The result was "a very full and detailed interpretation of that city," Mr Evans told the New Scientist. The city was built on a plateau, covering some 40 to 50 square kilometres, and the team found that it was laid out in a grid structure, with each square in the grid revealing traces of buildings, including temples and grand palaces. "It shows a degree of centralised control and planning," he said. "What you're seeing at Mahendraparvata.. speaks of a grand vision and a fairly elaborate plan." Experts now aim to date the structures. Mahendraparvata, does not seem to have been used as the capital for long because its mountainous location was unsustainable for inhabitants. The heart of the Khmer Empire shifted to the city of Angkor, which lay to the south on a floodplain, and became the site of the now world-famous 12th century Angkor Wat temples. It has remained a source of fascination to historians, however. "The city may not have lasted for centuries, or perhaps even decades, but the cultural and religious significance of the place has lasted right up until the present day," said Mr Evans.
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| How a British family got entangled in a US immigration nightmare after a wrong turn led to nearly 2 weeks in ICE detention Posted: 16 Oct 2019 07:06 PM PDT  The Connors' story shows how just one unintentional violation of US immigration law can land a family in weeks of detention in an unfamiliar country.
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| Why Mexico Is Cooperating with Us on Immigration Posted: 17 Oct 2019 12:42 PM PDT  One of the reasons border apprehensions have dropped from their alarming peak in May is that Mexico has been pretty aggressive in stopping third-country nationals from traversing its territory on their way north to make bogus asylum claims so they can be released into the U.S.But why has Mexico been willing to work with us like this? It's especially curious because in the past, Mexico was not at all eager to help us limit illegal immigration, a pattern we might have expected to intensify with last year's election as president of left-wing populist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (commonly known as AMLO, pronounced as a word rather than initials).No doubt President Trump's tariff threats had some effect. Three-quarters of Mexico's exports go to the U.S., and despite increased integration of our economies over the past couple of decades, they still need us a lot more than we need them. Also, Trump's mercurial temperament clearly has the Mexicans worried that he could do something rash (similar to Iran's fears about Reagan if the hostages weren't released before he was inaugurated).But it's unlikely that these things would be enough to move a sometimes touchy nationalist like AMLO. Rather, I think a big part of the explanation is that the current flow of illegals is mainly made up of foreigners, not Mexicans. Earlier waves of mass infiltration across our southern border consisted mainly of Mexicans, and while Mexico quickly took back its people who had been nabbed by the Border Patrol, it did little if anything to reduce the flow. They did establish a police-like unit of the country's immigration agency called Grupo Beta, which worked on Mexico's northern border (opposite our southern border), but its remit was to help potential illegals with water and first aid and protect them from criminals.But the current flow is very different. Yes, there are still a significant number of Mexicans sneaking across the border, but fewer than there used to be. Mexico's economy has grown and developed to a point where fewer people see the need to emigrate. Also, there just aren't that many able-bodied, working-aged people left in rural areas of Mexico, which is now about as urbanized as the U.S.The current illegal flow, by contrast, is mainly non-Mexican, mostly from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador (the "northern triangle" countries of Central America), but with growing numbers from Haiti, Cuba, various African countries, and even the Middle East. There had always been a small number of what the Border Patrol calls OTMs (Other Than Mexicans), but they now constitute the majority of the flow.When the first caravan to catch the world's attention passed through Mexican towns on its way north in spring 2018, it was often welcomed with mariachi bands, offers of food and water, and even medical checkups. But as more caravans arrived, plus many migrants in smaller groups, all drawn by loopholes in American law that facilitated their release into the U.S., the welcome started to wear out. As the Washington Post wrote this spring:> But six months and several caravans later, much of that welcome has dried up. Most media have left. And the people of Mapastepec, and other places that have been overwhelmed, are showing their fatigue with the growing stream of migrants.> > "People . . . previously opened their doors to these migrants, but they do not have much extra money here," said Roberto Sarabia, 56, who works at a small grocery store. "What little they could give, they've already given."Exhaustion has turned to resentment. As the Central American illegals started piling up in Tijuana, preparing to cross to San Diego, local residents last November staged a protest; the NPR report offered a sense of the mood:> Demonstrators held signs reading "No illegals," "No to the invasion" and "Mexico First." Many wore the country's red, white and green national soccer jersey and vigorously waved Mexican flags. The crowd often slipped into chants of "Ti-jua-na!" and "Me-xi-co!" They sang the national anthem several times.Tijuana's mayor at the time, who was in political hot water generally (he subsequently lost his bid for reelection), rushed to try to take advantage of the situation by sporting a "Make Tijuana Great Again" red baseball cap.> Con ustedes el alcalde de Tijuana, Juan Manuel Gastélum, capaz de decir "que me perdonen las organizaciones defensoras de DH, pero los derechos humanos son para humanos derechos" … CaravanaMigrante pic.twitter.com/DkSuKeFBaF> > — Risco (@jrisco) November 16, 2018And it's not just Tijuana. The El Paso Times recently wrote about the newly developed Cuban community across the river in Juarez. Many Cuban illegals are giving up on their U.S. asylum gambit and deciding to settle down in Juarez (proving they were really economic migrants all along). And it's creating resentment. As a burrito seller said of the Cubans, "They don't get along with Mexican people. They get in a little group by themselves. A lot of people don't like them here." And a business consultant complained, "There are people who are coming looking for a handout, who want us to help them, when they could also look for work."The flow of illegals passing through Mexico to make bogus asylum claims in the U.S. has grown so large that some of them aren't bothering to head all the way to the border and are applying for asylum in Mexico instead. The number of asylum applications submitted to Mexico's refugee agency (COMAR) more than tripled in the first eight months of this year compared to the same period in 2018. The asylum burden seems to have gotten so bad that the refugee agency has removed the helpful video it used to host on its website explaining how to apply.And over the weekend, a large group of illegal aliens from Africa, the Caribbean, and Central America tried to set out on another caravan in southern Mexico, but were stopped by police and the National Guard (a new paramilitary force established by AMLO specifically for border control). Most telling was this bit of video from a Mexican news outlet, showing the commander of a National Guard platoon addressing his men before confronting the latest caravan. He starts his pep talk by saying, "No one will come to trample our country, our land!"> "Nadie va a venir a pisotear nuestro país, nuestra tierra", son las palabras de un comandante de pelotón de la GuardiaNacional durante la redada de hoy contra migrantes haitianos y africanos.> > �� @Chechetc corresponsal de @WRADIOMexico pic.twitter.com/9YexXMqMsF> > — Salvador Zaragoza A. (@SalvadorZA) October 13, 2019None of this is to say that our border has been fully secured, or that we don't need to plug the loopholes that sparked this flow in the first place, or that interior measures such as E-Verify, workplace enforcement, and curbing sanctuary cities are no longer needed. And it's entirely possible that if Mexico hits a serious economic road bump in the future, a new Mexican-illegal surge will take place, and the political calculus will be very different.But for now, the United States and Mexico have a confluence of interests in stopping the flow of third-country "asylum-seekers" heading for the American border. Mexicans love their country, as they should, and they're tired of foreigners using it as a doormat.
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| Elijah Cummings, U.S. civil rights icon who led House probe of Trump, dead at 68 Posted: 17 Oct 2019 02:18 AM PDT  WASHINGTON - (Reuters) - U.S. Representative Elijah Cummings, a civil rights champion who over the last quarter century became one of the most influential Democrats in Congress and a key figure in the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, died on Thursday.
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| Porsche's 718 Cayman Fits More Cargo Than the 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Posted: 17 Oct 2019 06:45 AM PDT  The new mid-engined Corvette holds one less carry-on suitcase, but it has space for two sets of golf clubs.
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| Peek Inside Eero Saarinen’s Iconic General Motors Technical Center Posted: 17 Oct 2019 08:22 AM PDT |
| A woman sues San Antonio after a police officer pulled out her tampon in public Posted: 17 Oct 2019 04:52 PM PDT  The city of San Antonio will vote this week on a proposed settlement that would award a woman $205,000, after she accused a police officer of inappropriately searching her and pulling out her tampon in public.
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| Doing it for the 'gram? Royal Caribbean says no to that, bans guest from ever sailing again Posted: 17 Oct 2019 02:44 PM PDT ![Doing it for the 'gram? Royal Caribbean says no to that, bans guest from ever sailing again]( "Doing it for the 'gram? Royal Caribbean says no to that, bans guest from ever sailing again") Doing it for the 'gram? Royal Caribbean Cruises doesn't seem to think that's a good idea, particularly when it's dangerous.
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| Police arrest 2nd suspect in case of isolated Dutch family Posted: 17 Oct 2019 12:58 PM PDT  Dutch police said Thursday that a group of people discovered on an isolated farm this week may have been kept there against their will for up to nine years, as they arrested a 67-year-old man who says he is the father of the group. The man who raised the alarm after walking into a local bar and ordering five beers for himself also says he belongs to the family. While the six people on the farm and the man who raised the alarm say they are all from the same family — a father and six siblings all now young adults — police say they are still investigating their exact relationship as none of the siblings appears to have been registered with authorities.
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| US troops bombed their own anti-ISIS headquarters as Turkey-backed fighters closed in during Trump's hasty retreat Posted: 16 Oct 2019 03:00 PM PDT  After Turkish forces fired on US positions on Friday, Turkish-backed forces advanced on the anti-ISIS base in Syria.
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| Washington Group Fighting Affirmative Action Used Proud Boys As Guards Posted: 17 Oct 2019 03:16 PM PDT  John Rudoff/GettyAn anti-affirmative action campaign used members of the Proud Boys for security—and is now claiming it didn't realize its protection team was an organization labeled a hate group.On Nov. 5, voters in Washington state are set to decide on the future of Referendum 88, a measure that would allow affirmative action hiring in public jobs. The measure has support from civil rights groups like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), but faces opposition from a state veterans group and the organization Washington Asians for Equality, which claims the measure would lead to preferential treatment for some groups. This summer, some of those opponents partnered with a more notorious organization: the Proud Boys, who featured the signature drive in a recently surfaced propaganda video.The Proud Boys—designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center—prioritizes street fights and has extensive connections to more explicit white supremacist organizations. But unlike many other extremist groups, the Proud Boys frequently cozy up to the more mainstream right. Their current leader, Enrique Tarrio, is a Florida director of Latinos for Trump, despite marching in 2017's deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.Republicans Are Adopting the Proud BoysIn the August video, a Washington Proud Boy claims Referendum 88 backers solicited the Proud Boys' help in delivering signatures to the secretary of state's office.The group "gave us a call asking for security to help take the signatures for Referendum 88 down to the capitol building," he says in the video, which referendum supporters like the group Washington Fairness surfaced this week.The video goes on to show the group riding in a truck with the signatures and speaking into walkie-talkies for reasons that are not immediately apparent. The clip concludes with an advertisement for gas masks, which the Proud Boy says he used during a summer brawl with anti-fascists in Portland, Oregon.Reject Ref. 88, the organization that allegedly hired the Proud Boys, disavowed knowledge of them."The Referendum 88 petition drive worked with many volunteers during the signature gathering phase," organizer Linda Yang said in an email. "We didn't know the association of these individuals you refer to, nor did they tell us. The Reject Ref.88/I-1000 campaign welcomes people from all walks of life who believe in equality for all, regardless of race. Those who don't believe in that principle—be they on the far left or the far right—are not welcome in this campaign."But as the Seattle Stranger noted, Yang even appeared in the Proud Boys' video, explaining her opposition to Referendum 88. In the video, she gives different account of her group coming to work with the Proud Boys. After trying and failing to hire a security company to help deliver referendum signatures, "I got a call saying 'hey there's a group, they're willing to help,'" she said in the video. "I said 'we'll take 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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| Dior Apologizes for Showing China Map without Taiwan in Meeting with Chinese College Students Posted: 17 Oct 2019 08:38 AM PDT  Luxury brand Christian Dior apologized on Thursday for showing students a map of China that didn't include Taiwan in a closed-door recruiting session at Zhejiang Gongshang University in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou."Dior first extends our deep apologies for the incorrect statement and misrepresentation made by a Dior staff member at a campus presentation," read a statement by Dior on Weibo, a Chinese social-media platform similar to Twitter. "Dior always respects and upholds the One China policy, strictly safeguards China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and treasures the feelings of the Chinese people."In a video, later posted online, of the question-and-answer session that followed the presentation, a female student asks why Taiwan, which the Chinese government considers a part of China, wasn't included on the map of China shown by Dior representatives. One representative answered that the map was too small, to which the student replied that the map did include the island of Hainan south of China, which is similar in size to Taiwan. Another representative interjected that Taiwan, Hong Kong, and mainland China together form "Great China."The company's apology to China drew condemnation from Taiwanese officials."@Dior's apology to the PRC government is a mistake," Taiwanese foreign minister Joseph Wu shot back on Twitter. "Its employee was correct in showing the Chinese map without Taiwan."The controversy comes after the NBA was accused of buckling to Chinese censorship in a similar spat earlier this month.On October 4, Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted, "Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong." The Chinese Basketball Association immediately moved to cut all ties with the Rockets, and Chinese streaming service Tencent announced that it would not show any Rockets games for the coming year. Morey subsequently released a statement apologizing to Chinese fans, and the NBA publicly condemned Morey for his tweet supporting the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. The NBA faced widespread condemnation from U.S. elected officials, who blasted what they called its weak response to China's demands.
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| UPDATE 1-Plane carrying UK's William and Kate twice aborts Pakistan landing in severe turbulence Posted: 17 Oct 2019 09:01 AM PDT ![UPDATE 1-Plane carrying UK's William and Kate twice aborts Pakistan landing in severe turbulence]( "UPDATE 1-Plane carrying UK's William and Kate twice aborts Pakistan landing in severe turbulence") Britain's Prince William said he and his wife Kate were fine after a Royal Air Force plane carrying the royal couple was forced to abort a landing in Islamabad twice on Thursday and return to Lahore after being caught in a severe thunderstorm. The RAF Voyager plane carrying the royals, who are on a four-day official visit to Pakistan, tried to land twice, at Rawalpindi air base and Islamabad international, before it decided to return to Lahore.
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| White House confirms president froze Ukraine aid in part over political investigation Posted: 17 Oct 2019 10:41 AM PDT  Donald Trump's acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, has appeared to confirm that the president withheld military aid to Ukraine at least partly in order to press for an investigation into his political opponents.The president is facing impeachment - and possible removal from office - for allegedly abusing his position by pressuring a foreign leader to dig up or even manufacture dirt on Joe Biden, one of the frontrunners to be the Democratic candidate in next year's election.
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| Mexico Throws $900 Million at Labor to Entice Democrats on USMCA Posted: 17 Oct 2019 12:30 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is pledging close to $1 billion to implement a law to improve labor conditions that U.S. Democrats say is key to passing a stalled North American trade accord.Mexico's Finance Ministry will ask lawmakers to boost the budget that was already presented to congress by $69 million for next year, Lopez Obrador stated in a letter he sent to U.S. Representative Richard Neal, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. He promised another $830 million over the following three years to fund the labor overhaul.The expensive pledges seem to be working, as both the White House and House Democrats are becoming increasingly upbeat about the stalled U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, known as USMCA. But AMLO's steep austerity measures for most of his other ministries amid a stagnant economy present a challenge to his carrying out those promises.Neal said he was very pleased with Mexico's demonstration of good faith, and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer separately told a Bloomberg Government audience on Thursday that Democrats are "working hard to get to yes." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday she's "optimistic" about finishing work on the accord, although "we are not there yet."AMLO, as Lopez Obrador is known, also said he'd tell the relevant authorities to carry out a "frontal attack" against labor impunity.To contact the reporter on this story: Nacha Cattan in Mexico City at ncattan@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Juan Pablo Spinetto at jspinetto@bloomberg.net, Robert JamesonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Why the UAW's Deal With General Motors Is Unlikely to Give Workers What They Really Want Posted: 16 Oct 2019 05:24 PM PDT  The strike, which started on Sept. 15, is the longest GM work stoppage since the 1970s
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| Record-smashing bomb cyclone or 'explosive cyclogenesis' wreaks havoc in the Northeast Posted: 17 Oct 2019 12:29 PM PDT  An 'explosive cyclogenesis' or bomb cyclone hit the Northeast, causing widespread power outages in Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut, New Hampshire.
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| Judges grapple with misconduct claims in Jodi Arias case Posted: 17 Oct 2019 03:03 PM PDT  Appellate judges who will decide whether to reverse Jodi Arias' murder conviction in the gruesome 2008 killing of her former boyfriend grappled Thursday with who was responsible for whipping up publicity during the salacious trial and whether alleged misconduct by a prosecutor should cause the verdict to be tossed. A lawyer for Arias told the Arizona Court of Appeals that prosecutor Juan Martinez improperly questioned witnesses, ignored rulings on evidence, courted publicity and made an unfounded accusation that an expert on her defense team had an inappropriate relationship with Arias. Terry Crist, a lawyer for the Arizona attorney general's office, told the judges that he believes Martinez may have occasionally violated court rules, but none of his actions should lead to a reversal of the conviction.
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| 35 foreigners dead in Saudi bus crash Posted: 17 Oct 2019 09:49 AM PDT  Thirty-five foreigners were killed and four others injured when a bus collided with another heavy vehicle near the Islamic holy city of Medina, Saudi state media said on Thursday. The accident on Wednesday evening involved the collision of "a private chartered bus... with a heavy vehicle" near the western city, a spokesman for Medina police said, according to the official Saudi Press Agency. This year, some 2.5 million faithful travelled to Saudi Arabia from across the world in August to take part in the annual hajj pilgrimage -- one of the five pillars of Islam.
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| Turkey's Air Force Has Stealth Fighter Dreams Posted: 16 Oct 2019 10:30 PM PDT  No F-35s or Su-57s? Could Turkey just build their own? What about China?
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| France says foiled September 11-inspired attack Posted: 17 Oct 2019 02:08 PM PDT  France's interior minister said on Thursday that intelligence services had arrested a man for planning an attack inspired by plane attacks on the World Trade Center in New York in Sept. 2001. France has for several years grappled with how to respond to both homegrown jihadists and foreign militants following a series of attacks across the country. "Just before (that attack) there was a 60th attempted attack since 2013," Christophe Castaner told France 2 television.
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| Trump says PKK is worse than ISIS, and that Graham would stay in Middle East for ‘the next thousand years’ Posted: 16 Oct 2019 12:10 PM PDT  At a press conference with the president of Italy, President Trump said that the Kurdish group PKK is worse than ISIS, and that Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., would keep the U.S. in the Middle East for "the next thousand years with thousands of soldiers fighting other people's wars."
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| Rick Perry confirms Trump's Ukraine policy passed through Giuliani, recounts a wild call with Rudy Posted: 16 Oct 2019 09:28 PM PDT ![Rick Perry confirms Trump's Ukraine policy passed through Giuliani, recounts a wild call with Rudy]( "Rick Perry confirms Trump's Ukraine policy passed through Giuliani, recounts a wild call with Rudy") Energy Secretary Rick Perry led the U.S. delegation to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's inauguration in May. In a subsequent May 23 meeting in the White House, President Trump said he wouldn't agree to meet Zelensky until the Ukrainians "straightened up their act," Perry told The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, adding that he later understood Trump to be referring to concerns about his 2016 presidential campaign. In order to resolve those concerns, Perry said, Trump told him to "visit with Rudy," meaning Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani.Perry says he agreed to call Giuliani in the hopes it would ease the way for Trump to meet with Zelensky. "And as I recall the conversation, he said, 'Look, the president is really concerned that there are people in Ukraine that tried to beat him during this presidential election,'" Perry told the Journal. "Rudy didn't say they gotta do X, Y, and Z," he added. "He just said, 'You want to know why he ain't comfortable about letting this guy come in? Here's the reason.'"Those reasons, Perry recalled, involved three conspiracy theories: That Ukraine was responsible for former British spy Christopher Steele's dossier on Trump; that Ukraine had Hillary Clinton's email server; and that Ukrainian's "dreamed up" evidence that led to Paul Manafort's conviction and imprisonment.Trump's former homeland security adviser, Thomas Bossert, said last month he was "deeply frustrated" that Giuliani had poisoned Trump's mind with those "completely debunked" conspiracy theories. Perry had a more detached response. "I don't know whether that was crap or what," he said, "but I'm just saying there were three things that he said. That's the reason the president doesn't trust these guys."Trump finally called Zelensky on July 25, and their conversation -- specifically Trump's request that Zelensky investigate Joe Biden and his son -- led to a whistleblower complaint and a House impeachment inquiry. In that inquiry, several diplomats have expressed concerns about Giuliani's shadow diplomacy in Ukraine on behalf of Trump and possibly other clients. Federal prosecutors in New York are also reportedly investigating Giuliani's Ukraine business dealings. Read more at The Wall Street Journal.
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| Murder Suspect in Case Behind Hong Kong Protests to Surrender, Paper Says Posted: 17 Oct 2019 08:51 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- The suspect in a Taiwan murder case that sparked Hong Kong's biggest political crisis in decades is willing to turn himself in to Taiwanese authorities, a Hong Kong newspaper reported.Chan Tong-kai, a Hong Kong man who has been accused of killing his pregnant girlfriend during a Valentine's Day trip to Taiwan, is ready to return to the island and surrender after his release from jail on a related money-laundering charge, the Sing Tao Daily reported Friday. Chan made the decision after consulting with a pastor, the paper said, citing a person it didn't identify."The pastor eventually convinced him to agree in principle to surrender himself in Taiwan, although Chan hoped that he would not be sentenced to death by Taiwan authorities," the newspaper said. Chan is due to be released next week.Hong Kong's inability to prosecute Chan for a murder committed in Taiwan prompted Chief Executive Carrie Lam to introduce sweeping legislation earlier this year that would've allowed one-time extradition deals with mainland China, as well Taiwan. The move sparked historic protests that expanded into a wider pro-democracy movement still roiling the city, weeks after Lam scrapped the bill.Should Chan turn himself in without legislative action, it would bolster the arguments of Lam's critics who said the case could be resolved without such far-reaching legislation. The legislation fanned fears that Beijing was trying to erode the judicial autonomy promised to the former British colony before its return to Chinese rule in 1997.While Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen -- a prominent critic of Beijing -- refused to cooperate with the now-defunct extradition bill, law enforcement authorities on the island urged Hong Kong on Thursday to further detain Chan. The Taiwanese Justice Ministry said in a statement that it was willing to provide evidence to assist in the case.The 19-year-old victim, Poon Hiu-wing, was beaten, strangled, stuffed in a suitcase and ultimately discarded near a train station. Although Chan admitted to the crime after returning to Hong Hong, local authorities were only able to prosecute him for the lesser charge for money laundering, stemming from his use of Poon's credit card.Chan felt guilty about the social turmoil triggered by his actions and was ready to face justice, the Sing Tao Daily report said. He will spend some time with his family after being freed and then travel to Taiwan, although the report said Chan's plans would depend on how Taiwanese authorities handle his case.\--With assistance from Adela Lin.To contact the reporters on this story: Dominic Lau in Hong Kong at dlau92@bloomberg.net;Iain Marlow in Hong Kong at imarlow1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.netFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Mexican Asylum Seekers Are Facing Long Waits at the U.S. Border. Advocates Say That's Illegal Posted: 16 Oct 2019 10:08 AM PDT  A new 'metering' practice is particularly dangerous for Mexican asylum seekers
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| See Photos of the Volvo XC40 Recharge Electric SUV Posted: 16 Oct 2019 09:45 AM PDT |
| GM workers to stay on picket line until vote on new contract Posted: 17 Oct 2019 03:40 PM PDT  Striking General Motors workers will stay on the picket lines for at least another week until they vote on a tentative contract with the company. Factory-level officials from the United Auto Workers union voted to recommend the agreement to members at a daylong meeting in Detroit Thursday. About 49,000 workers have been on strike for more than a month, paralyzing GM's U.S. factories and costing the company an estimated $2 billion.
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| Romney Demands Answers from White House on Syria Decision: ‘American Honor Has Already Been Tarnished’ Posted: 17 Oct 2019 01:45 PM PDT  A day after he called President Trump's handling of Turkey's invasion of northern Syria "unacceptable," Senator Mitt Romney (R., Utah) gave a speech on the Senate floor Thursday afternoon demanding answers from the administration, and proposing that public hearings be held by the Senate to look into what he called "a blood stain in the annals of American history."Romney's speech came several hours after Vice President Mike Pence announced that a ceasefire agreement had been reached with Turkey to end the nine-day conflict."The ceasefire does not change the fact that America has abandoned an ally," Romney said. "Adding insult to dishonor, the administration speaks cavalierly, even flippantly, even as our ally has suffered death and casualty. Their homes have been burned, and their families have been torn apart. . . . This is a matter of American honor and promise. So too, is the principle that we stand by our allies, that we do not abandon our friends. The decision to abandon the Kurds violates one of our most sacred duties. It strikes at American honor."Romney went on to voice concerns over how Trump's initial decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria has negatively impacted America's influence in the region."Iranian and Russian interests in the Middle East have been advanced by our decision. At a time when we are applying maximum pressure on Iran, by giving them a stronger hand in Syria, we've actually weakened that pressure. Russia's objective to play a greater role in the Middle East has also been greatly enhanced. The Kurds, out of desperation, have now aligned with Assad. So America is diminished, Russia, Iran, and Assad are strengthened," he said.The Utah senator also reiterated his displeasure with being left out of the decision-making process, despite serving on the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee, and despite hosting a hearing with his subcommittee on the Syria situation only a few weeks ago.The speech closed with Romney's dismissing arguments that the U.S. was right to have pulled out troops, and shouldn't have been in Syria in the first place."Once you jump in the ocean to save a drowning soul, you don't turn around with the excuse that you didn't have to jump in in the first place. It is a matter of commitment," Romney said."Are we incapable of understanding and shaping complex situations? Russia seems to have figured it out. Are we less adept than they? And are our principles to be jettisoned when we find things get messy? . . . Assuming for the sake of understanding that 'getting out of endless wars' was the logic for the decision, why would we take action so precipitously? Why would we not warn our ally the Kurds of what we were about to do? Why would we not give them time to also withdraw, or give them time to dig in to defend themselves? Clearly the Turks had a heads up, because they were able to start bombing within mere hours. I simply don't understand why the administration did not explain in advance to Erdogan that it is unacceptable for Turkey to attack an American ally."
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| Cartel gunmen terrorize Mexican city, free El Chapo's son Posted: 17 Oct 2019 05:01 PM PDT  Heavily armed fighters surrounded security forces in a Mexican city on Thursday and made them free one of drug lord Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman's sons, after his capture triggered gunbattles and a prison break that sent civilians scurrying for cover. Security Minister Alfonso Durazo said a patrol by National Guard militarized police first came under attack from within a house in the city of Culiacan, 1,235 km (770 miles) northwest of Mexico City. After entering the house, they found four men, including Ovidio Guzman, who is accused of drug trafficking in the United States.
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