| For Bill Taylor, first impeachment witness, 'everything's easy after Vietnam' Posted: 12 Nov 2019 02:00 AM PST  Most Americans came to know Taylor on Oct. 3, when Democrats released text messages that showed him calling it "crazy to withhold security assistance [to Ukraine] for help with a political campaign."
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| Venezuela ex-intel chief missing in Spain ahead of US extradition: police Posted: 13 Nov 2019 01:46 AM PST  Venezuela's former military intelligence chief has gone missing in Spain just days after a court approved a request for his extradition to the United States on drug trafficking charges, police said Wednesday. "They are currently looking for him," said a spokeswoman for Spain's national police, referring to General Hugo Armando Carvajal. Judicial sources said police had gone to his house in Madrid after Friday's court decision but could not find him.
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| U.S. Supreme Court declines to shield gun maker from Sandy Hook lawsuit Posted: 12 Nov 2019 07:11 AM PST  The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday dealt a blow to the firearms industry, rejecting Remington Arms Co's bid to escape a lawsuit by families of victims aiming to hold the gun maker liable for its marketing of the assault-style rifle used in the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre that killed 20 children and six adults. The justices turned away Remington's appeal of a ruling by Connecticut's top court to let the lawsuit proceed despite a federal law that broadly shields firearms manufacturers from liability when their weapons are used in crimes. The lawsuit will move forward at a time of high passions in the United States over the issue of gun control.
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| Chinese, other students flee Hong Kong as violence worsens Posted: 13 Nov 2019 02:59 AM PST  University students from mainland China and Taiwan are fleeing Hong Kong, while those from three Scandinavian countries have been moved or urged to leave as college campuses become the latest battleground in the city's 5-month-long anti-government unrest. Marine police used a boat Wednesday to help a group of mainland students leave the Chinese University of Hong Kong, which remained barricaded by demonstrators after violent clashes with police on Tuesday.
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| An Air India flight was delayed nearly 12 hours after a stowaway rat was spotted in the cabin Posted: 13 Nov 2019 08:30 AM PST  "The rat was located and trapped. Then the aircraft was fumigated," a representative from Air India said, according to Indian local media.
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| From 'Anonymous,' key excerpts from inside Trump White House on Putin, Hillary Posted: 12 Nov 2019 05:20 PM PST  Key excerpts from "A Warning," a book by an anonymous senior administration official about President Trump and his administration.
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| What North Korea Would Do if Trump Attacked: A Rocket Artillery Strike? Posted: 13 Nov 2019 11:00 AM PST  Would it be the end of the Peninsula?
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| Cat "repeatedly" breaks his friends out of animal shelter Posted: 12 Nov 2019 11:36 PM PST  "Quilty will not be contained. And he has no shame," the animal shelter wrote on Facebook
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| Is Nikki Haley auditioning to replace Pence on Trump's 2020 ticket? Posted: 12 Nov 2019 08:34 AM PST  Less than three months ago, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations tried to tamp down speculation that she might replace the vice president on Trump's 2020 ticket. But multiple political observers say her new book tour is doubling as an audition for the role.
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| William Taylor laughs at GOP question if Giuliani channel was 'as outlandish as it could be' Posted: 13 Nov 2019 12:15 PM PST  Republican counsel Steve Castor came to Wednesday's impeachment hearing with a curious line of questioning: could something extremely unusual have, theoretically, been even more unusual?Castor, the lawyer who questioned diplomat William Taylor on behalf of House Republicans during the public impeachment hearing, asked about what Taylor had previously described as a "confusing and unusual arrangement for making U.S. policy toward Ukraine" in the Trump administration, with there being a secondary, "highly irregular" channel including Rudy Giuliani operating outside of formal diplomatic processes.But Castor's apparent defense of this irregular channel is that it could have, in theory, been more irregular."In fairness, this irregular channel of diplomacy, it's not as outlandish as it could be," Castor said to Taylor. "Is that correct?"Taylor laughed at this question while agreeing that, well, sure, it "could be" more outlandish. But the line of questioning didn't go quite as Castor likely planned. After Castor tried to get Taylor to say that U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland's involvement in the secondary channel also was "certainly not outlandish," Taylor didn't exactly agree, responding that it's "a little unusual for the U.S. ambassador to the EU to play a role in Ukraine policy.""Okay," Castor said, making one more attempt by asking, "It might be irregular, but it's certainly not outlandish." This time, a seemingly baffled but amused Taylor just smiled. > "This irregular channel of diplomacy is not as outlandish as it could be, is that correct?" GOP counsel asks William Taylor. > > Taylor agrees, but adds, "It's a little unusual for the US ambassador to EU to play a role in Ukraine policy." https://t.co/YHsiIaIXhs pic.twitter.com/Vp6mO6PhvF> > -- ABC News (@ABC) November 13, 2019More stories from theweek.com The coming death of just about every rock legend The president has already confessed to his crimes Why are 2020 Democrats so weird?
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| Michael Avenatti faces new fraud charge in Nike extortion case Posted: 13 Nov 2019 04:13 PM PST ![Michael Avenatti faces new fraud charge in Nike extortion case]( "Michael Avenatti faces new fraud charge in Nike extortion case") Federal prosecutors on Wednesday unveiled a new fraud charge against lawyer Michael Avenatti, accusing him of lying to a client as part of his alleged effort to extort Nike Inc. The prosecutors also dropped two counts of conspiracy against Avenatti from the case, which was first made public in March, according to a superseding indictment filed in federal court in Manhattan. "I am extremely pleased that the two counts alleging I engaged in a conspiracy against Nike have just been dismissed by Trump's DOJ," Avenatti wrote on Twitter, referring to the U.S. Department of Justice under President Donald Trump.
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| Court rules against warrantless searches of phones, laptops Posted: 12 Nov 2019 08:10 PM PST  A federal court in Boston has ruled that warrantless U.S. government searches of the phones and laptops of international travelers at airports and other U.S. ports of entry violate the Fourth Amendment. Tuesday's ruling in U.S. District Court came in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation on behalf of 11 travelers whose smartphones and laptops were searched without individualized suspicion at U.S. ports of entry. ACLU attorney Esha Bhandari said the ruling strengthens the Fourth Amendment protections of international travelers who enter the United States every year.
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| Poland seizes two for plotting Breivik-style attacks on Muslims Posted: 13 Nov 2019 07:56 AM PST ![Poland seizes two for plotting Breivik-style attacks on Muslims]( "Poland seizes two for plotting Breivik-style attacks on Muslims") Polish agents arrested two people accused of planning attacks against Muslims inspired by Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik and suspected white supremacist Brenton Tarrant in New Zealand, the security service said on Wednesday. The arrests follow a spate of attacks involving white supremacists targeting ethnic and religious minorities across the globe. Far-right groups have grown in strength in Poland, the largest of the European Union's post-communist states.
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| The U.S. Navy canceled a routine Black Sea operation after Trump complained that it was hostile to Russia Posted: 13 Nov 2019 11:01 AM PST  Christopher Anderson, an aide to Kurt Volker, former special envoy to Ukraine, testified that the White House canceled a Navy freedom-of-navigation operation in the Black Sea after President Trump complained to then-national security adviser John Bolton about a CNN report that framed the operation as a counter to Russia, Politico reported.
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| 2020 Subaru Outback vs. 2019 Honda Passport in Photos Posted: 13 Nov 2019 04:59 AM PST |
| Tulsi Gabbard's lawyers sent a letter to Hillary Clinton demanding she retract Russia comments Posted: 12 Nov 2019 04:19 PM PST  Tulsi Gabbard's lawyers want Hillary Clinton to make her retraction at a press conference and on social media.
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| How Did Nazi Germany Crush France During World War II So Easily? Posted: 11 Nov 2019 06:30 PM PST  Though Germany eventually lost World War II and France again ended up on the victorious side, the leadership traits demonstrated before and during the battle in 1940 are textbook examples of what makes for great leadership—and what kind of leadership leads to defeat.
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| Could President Trump be impeached and removed from office — but still reelected? Posted: 12 Nov 2019 10:46 AM PST  What happens when a presidential impeachment inquiry runs into a presidential election year? The United States in uncharted territory.
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| German air force rejects delivery of two Airbus planes Posted: 13 Nov 2019 07:08 AM PST  Germany's air force said Wednesday it had refused delivery of two Airbus A400M transport planes over technical faults, saying bolts holding the propellers on some already operational aircraft were loose. Repeated technical problems have dogged the A400M programme, a turboprop transport aircraft developed jointly for Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain and Turkey.
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| A History of Modern American Architecture Posted: 13 Nov 2019 02:28 PM PST |
| FBI investigating killing of US women and children in Mexico Posted: 12 Nov 2019 03:44 PM PST  FBI agents are in Mexico helping investigate the fatal shootings of nine American women and children in northern Mexico last week. "The FBI remains committed to working alongside our international partners to help bring justice to the perpetrators of this heinous act of violence," Hagee said in a written statement. A Mexican federal official says FBI agents have been in Mexico since Monday, adding that they were unarmed.
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| Korean survivor says Japan's no-show at 'comfort women' case in Seoul lacks honor Posted: 13 Nov 2019 02:47 AM PST  A South Korean woman who had been forced to work in a Japanese wartime military brothel said Japan lacked honor for failing to attend a South Korean court on Wednesday as it began hearing a civil case brought against its government by a group of victims. "I am a living proof of history," said Lee Yong-soo, the 91-year-old survivor, her voice quaking with emotion as she addressed a news conference held near the courthouse, before proceedings began. Reminders of Japan's 1910-45 colonization of the Korean peninsula are inflammatory for both sides.
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| 'Words matter': Trump accused of fuelling attacks on Hispanics as violent hate crimes hit 16-year high Posted: 12 Nov 2019 05:45 PM PST  Violent hate crimes have climbed to a 16-year year high in the US, with a surge in attacks on Hispanics, according to FBI data.Reports of hate crimes dipped slightly in 2018 from an alarming increase the previous year, but violence rose as attacks increasingly targeting people instead of property.
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| The US is being hit by a frigid, early cold snap that has killed at least 6 people and could break 100 temperature records Posted: 13 Nov 2019 03:50 AM PST  The National Weather Service said the unseasonal cold air, which spread from Kansas to Minnesota to Kentucky to New York, has brought an early winter.
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| Pilot receives $300K in wrongful arrest Posted: 12 Nov 2019 11:20 AM PST  An airline pilot who was arrested after being seen naked in his hotel room overlooking Denver International Airport has been awarded a $300,000 wrongful arrest settlement from the city.
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| Taylor testimony on Trump-Sondland call brings president deeper into extortion scheme Posted: 13 Nov 2019 11:43 AM PST  Taylor revelation ties Trump to the extortion scheme beyond the lone July 25 call. Second call reveals deliberate strategy Trump himself was pursuing.
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| Why China Loves Russia's Su-35 Fighter (And Might Buy Even More of Them) Posted: 12 Nov 2019 04:13 AM PST  But a larger question looms.
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| Asylum-seekers in Greece, Italy face years of limbo: EU audit Posted: 13 Nov 2019 08:07 AM PST  Asylum-seekers crowded into "hotspots" in Greece and Italy face limbo that can drag on for years because of legal bottlenecks and poorly performing EU schemes, a report said Wednesday. The document, by the EU's European Court of Auditors, also found that two agencies meant to assist the two countries with their overflowing camps and caseloads were failing in their missions, partly because of insufficient support from member states. The audit looked at EU projects meant to alleviate the pressure on the so-called hotspots -- camps on Greek islands and in Italy, where migrants' asylum claims were examined and designated refugees were meant to be vetted for relocation to other EU states.
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| Officer: Miranda failure for Iowa murder suspect a mistake Posted: 12 Nov 2019 09:01 PM PST  A police officer who obtained a confession from a suspect in the disappearance and death of University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts said Wednesday that she made an honest mistake when she failed to read him his complete legal rights. Officer Pamela Romero testified that she tried to read Cristhian Bahena Rivera a Miranda warning during the Aug. 20, 2018, interrogation but didn't realize until later that she left one part out, failing to tell him that his statements could be used against him in court. After several more hours of questioning, Rivera led officers to a cornfield where they discovered Tibbetts' body underneath leaves and stalks.
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| Italian ship attacked by pirates in Mexico, two crew hurt Posted: 12 Nov 2019 03:45 PM PST ![Italian ship attacked by pirates in Mexico, two crew hurt]( "Italian ship attacked by pirates in Mexico, two crew hurt") Pirates attacked an Italy-flagged offshore supply vessel in the southern Gulf of Mexico, injuring two crew members, the Mexican Navy said on Tuesday, in the latest outbreak of robbery and piracy to hit oil platforms and infrastructure in the area. Owned by Italian offshore contractor Micoperi, the boat is a supply vessel for Mexico's oil industry. Micoperi and the Italian embassy in Mexico did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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| Report: Loud fight with detective preceded chief's death Posted: 12 Nov 2019 02:37 PM PST  A maintenance man checking on a noise complaint at a Florida beachfront hotel Sunday night walked into the room where a small-town Oklahoma police detective killed his boss in a drunken brawl, authorities said. The noises coming from room 527 at the Hilton on Pensacola Beach on Sunday night were so loud that the couple staying next door asked to switch rooms, according to an arrest report released to The Associated Press on Tuesday. Miller was later pronounced dead.
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| ‘Watchmen’ brings 1921 Tulsa massacre to the fore: Three questions Posted: 13 Nov 2019 02:31 AM PST !['Watchmen' brings 1921 Tulsa massacre to the fore: Three questions]( "'Watchmen' brings 1921 Tulsa massacre to the fore: Three questions") The massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was largely forgotten, even by those living in the state. But as many as 300 black people died.
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| Ruth Bader Ginsburg misses Supreme Court hearings due to illness Posted: 13 Nov 2019 11:05 AM PST  Ruth Bader Ginsburg was missing from oral arguments at the US Supreme Court on Wednesday morning after contracting a stomach virus.Chief Justice John Roberts announced that the court's oldest justice, at 86 years old, was "indisposed due to an illness" but would be following the week's cases by reading briefs from home. It's the second time within the past year that she has missed arguments due to an illness.
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| Cows swept off island during Hurricane Dorian found after swimming for miles Posted: 13 Nov 2019 08:06 AM PST  Cows missing for two months were located on North Carolina's Outer Banks after 'mini tsunami' carried wildlife awayCows are recognized as adept swimmers comfortable with covering a few hundred yards – but swimming miles of open water in a hurricane is outside their general range. Photograph: Dawn Damico/AlamyThree cows swept off an island during the raging storm of Hurricane Dorian have been located on North Carolina's Outer Banks after apparently swimming four miles during the storm.The extraordinary swimming bovines were grazing on their home of Cedar Island when the giant storm hit on 6 September, generating an 8ft "mini tsunami" that swept away wildlife, including 28 wild horses and about 17 cows from the island's herd.They were presumed dead, but Cape Lookout National Seashore staff spotted one of the cows on another barrier island a month after the storm. That sighting was followed by two more, apparently grazing peaceably. A picture of the rangy-looking trio is now on Facebook.Cows are recognized as adept swimmers comfortable with covering a few hundred yards. But swimming miles of open water in a hurricane is outside their general range of expertise.Cape Lookout Park spokesman BG Horvat said the animals were lucky not to have been swept out into the Atlantic."I'll say it's about four miles across Core Sound," Horvat told McClatchy news service. "Remember, the cows and all the horses were swept away with the water surging back. Who knows exactly, but the cows certainly have a gripping story to share."Locals are now working on a plan to recover the animals – presumably without making them swim.
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| MSNBC’s Malcolm Nance: Trump Was on the Russians’ Radar as ‘Early as 1977’ Posted: 12 Nov 2019 10:23 AM PST  MSNBC analyst Malcolm Nance, long one of the network's loudest voices when it comes to pushing Russiagate conspiracies, claimed Tuesday morning that President Donald Trump is a Russian asset who was on the Russians' radar "as early as 1977" via his first marriage to Czech-born Ivana Trump.Nance appeared on MSNBC's Morning Joe, in a segment first spotted by Mediaite, to hawk his latest Trump-centric Russia book and was immediately congratulated by host Willie Geist for being "out front before most people" were aware of the Kremlin's attempts to interfere in the 2016 election.Nance, a retired naval intelligence operator, went on to boast that he saw early in Trump's presidential campaign that the U.S. was under attack by a "wide-ranging information warfare attack" by Russia that was designed to make Trump president, adding that he saw it "about a year before anyone would really understand that."Pointing to Russia's hack of the DNC servers, Nance said that "Russia was trying to do Watergate" and that this "set off a chain of activities in my brain" based on previous Cold War activities from the then-Soviet Union that made it clear that this was an attack on the United States.Having established that he was aware that Russia was looking to interfere in the election at an early stage, Nance then dove headfirst into conspiratorial waters about Trump.Citing reporting by The Guardian, Nance said there were indicators that Trump had been "under Russian intelligence surveillance for a very long time—as early as 1977 with his first wife, Ivana." Noting that Ivana was from Czechoslovakia, then part of the Eastern Bloc, Nance claimed that the country's intelligence community at the time was monitoring her and thus gained access to Trump's communications.From there, the cable news pundit asserted that "Russia became very interested" in Trump during the mid-'80s as he first considered building a Trump Tower Moscow and began tossing around the idea of a presidential run."They had ten years of collection and then they brought him to Moscow for what he wanted, which is Trump Tower," Nance added. "But from that moment on, an enormous dossier of information was collected on him and more importantly, how to exploit him and his simple exploit—as we call it in the intelligence community—and he is avaricious to a fault. He wants money, they now own him. Modern Russia, with a former KGB director as president, they know how to exploit people, they know how to manipulate people, and they know how to buy people."Geist, meanwhile, suggested he bought what Nance was selling, remarking that "Putin and Russia never could have dreamed in the 1980s" that when they looked at Trump as an asset that he'd eventually be president. The host would go on to ask Nance when the Russians then decided to start using that information to make sure Trump was elected.According to Nance, "supervillain" Putin "took all the files of everyone he had ever flipped" during his Soviet days and "brought that into the business world when it became modern Russia," claiming it was around 2014 they decided to move Trump from "useful idiot" to an "unwitting asset, where he's being used and he doesn't know it.""And then by 2014, it's pretty clear that he knows it when they back Trump Tower Moscow 2.0, and then they put a set of rose-colored glasses on his face," Nance concluded. "Donald Trump sees the world only through Moscow's point of view because he knows that is where an enormous quantity of money that he cannot access exists and will be made available to him. Is the next step a Russian asset, where he is aware of those activities? Robert Mueller said yes. That he was well aware that he was going to benefit from Russia."Editor's note: An earlier version of this story mischaracterized Nance's comment. It has been updated to reflect that Nance said Trump was under Russian surveillance as early as 1977. 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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| Damaged Hard Rock hotel will be completely demolished, New Orleans officials say Posted: 13 Nov 2019 05:30 PM PST  The demolition process will take nine weeks, followed by three months of cleanup. The building's owners will cover all costs.
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| Dems and GOP argue over whistleblower at impeachment hearing Posted: 13 Nov 2019 08:25 AM PST  Following the opening statements of Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and Devin Nunes, the committee's ranking member, Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Oh., demanded to know when the Democratic majority would answer the Republicans' demands for certain witnesses to appear.
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| Mexico's Pemex won't pay ransom after cyberattack: energy minister Posted: 13 Nov 2019 11:28 AM PST  Mexican national oil company Pemex will not pay a ransom demanded by suspected cyberattackers who targeted the firm's computer systems, Energy Minister Rocio Nahle told reporters on Wednesday. Nahle, who also serves as chair of the Pemex board, added that the attack hit the company's administrative headquarters in Mexico City and that its "plants and wells" continued to operate. Hackers have demanded some $5 million in bitcoin from Pemex.
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| Federal prosecutors to charge 2 more St. Louis officers Posted: 13 Nov 2019 09:18 AM PST ![Federal prosecutors to charge 2 more St. Louis officers]( "Federal prosecutors to charge 2 more St. Louis officers") Federal prosecutors will seek additional charges in the 2017 attack of an undercover St. Louis police officer who claimed he was beaten "like Rodney King" by his own colleagues. St. Louis officers Randy Hays, 32, and Bailey Colletta, 26, have pleaded guilty in connection with the attack of undercover Officer Luther Hall. Two others, Dustin Boone, 36, and Christopher Myers, 28, are awaiting trial.
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| See Photos of the 2020 Jeep Wrangler EcoDiesel Posted: 11 Nov 2019 09:01 PM PST |
| DACA’s Day in Court Posted: 12 Nov 2019 07:32 PM PST  When President Obama unilaterally changed immigration policy after repeatedly and correctly insisting that he lacked the constitutional power to do it, he said that congressional inaction had forced his hand. In the case of his first major unilateral move — "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals," which gave quasi-legal status to illegal immigrants who came or were brought here as minors — the truth is closer to the reverse. Obama acted to head off the possibility of a bipartisan solution to the issue; he wanted to sharpen the distinction between the parties on this issue in the run-up to the 2012 election. The gambit succeeded. Even Republicans who approved of granting legal status to this group balked at the president's effective rewriting of law to achieve it, and so it was possible to cast them as the callous enemies of nonwhite children.That was more or less the same play being followed Tuesday as the Supreme Court considered whether the Trump administration may rescind the Obama policy. As sympathetic as most of the beneficiaries of the Obama policy are, the Court should not hesitate to allow the change. If Obama was abusing his discretion over law enforcement to subvert the laws, as we believe, then Trump is merely bringing executive practice back into conformity with them, which has to be within his power. But the case for allowing Trump to make this change holds even if we are wrong and the Obama policy is constitutionally permissible. In that case, the executive branch can exercise its broad discretion over enforcement to make this group of illegal immigrants effectively exempt from deportation, and thus has to be able to use that discretion to make them subject to it. Enforcement priorities aren't for the courts to second-guess.If the Court does the right thing, Congress and the president should follow suit by enacting immigration legislation that includes a grant of legal status for most illegal immigrants who came here as minors. Note that this amnesty would have to be limited to those who had spent enough time here to put down roots and to have stayed out of serious trouble. At the same time, legislation would have to include provisions to keep the amnesty from becoming an invitation to further illegal immigration. These provisions would ideally include mandatory verification of the legal status of companies' new hires.A deal like that would give something to those Americans who have been waiting for more seriousness in enforcement of the immigration laws, to those Americans who have been waiting for a solution to the problem of stateless people we have allowed to build up, and those Americans with a foot in both camps. Perhaps it would even pave the way for a future deal that swept in other aspects of immigration policy.This kind of lawmaking may be beyond the capacity of today's political class. But if Congress and the president fail to respond sensibly and humanely to a legally sound decision by the Supreme Court, the fault will be theirs and not that of the justices.
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| Rare deer-like species photographed for first time in wild Posted: 12 Nov 2019 02:06 AM PST  A tiny deer-like species not seen by scientists for nearly 30 years has been photographed in a forest in southern Vietnam, a conservation group said Tuesday. Images of the silver-backed chevrotain, commonly called the Vietnamese mouse deer, were captured in the wild by trap cameras, Global Wildlife Conservation said. Discovering that it is, indeed, still out there, is the first step in ensuring we don't lose it again, and we're moving quickly now to figure out how best to protect it," said An Nguyen, a conservation scientist at the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, a partner of GWC in the project.
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| Mysterious Professor at Heart of Russian Investigation Returns for Impeachment Proceedings Posted: 13 Nov 2019 12:51 PM PST  Chip Somodevilla/GettyROME—Joseph Mifsud, the erstwhile professor from Malta whose promise to help then-candidate Donald Trump's campaign aide George Papadopoulos get his hands on Russian "dirt" about Hillary Clinton has reportedly resurfaced. On Wednesday, the Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera posted a six-minute audio recording in English it says Mifsud sent from an anonymous email account late Tuesday night. A short time later, the Italian news agency Adnkronos published a clip it received. Whether other publications received the Mifsud missive is not clear, nor is the more important question of whether it's genuine. Last summer Attorney General William Barr and U.S. Attorney John Durham traveled to Rome twice to learn what they could from Italian secret service officials about the professor as part of their investigation into the Russian investigation led by Robert Mueller. Mifsud has not been seen for two years and speculation has swirled around the question of whether he is still alive and, if he is, who is supporting him.Barr Went to Rome to Hear a Secret Tape From Joseph Mifsud, the Professor Who Helped Ignite the Russia ProbeThe Corriere clip starts with a brief introduction. "Today is the 11th of November 2019" and continues, "I am Joseph Mifsud speaking, this is my voice." It does sound like other recordings of Mifsud.He goes on to say that he has had "no contact with friends and family for a number of months now." While he doesn't say where he is or where he has been, it is clear that—if this is Mifsud—he hopes that he can come back out from under whatever rock he has been hiding under for the last two years. "It is extremely important finally … that I am given the possibility of coming back to life," the voice says. "It has been very, very difficult for me to live like this, without any human contact, without a human experience, and I believe that I should be given the opportunity to do that. It is extremely important that somebody somewhere decides to let me breathe again."He does not say who is keeping him from resurfacing or why he has chosen to go underground. But he does make a laborious attempt to explain that he is "just a networker" who connects people who might be interested in "similar topics.""It's been almost two years to date that the whole issue—blown up issue—has been presented to the world's media and on the world's stage, as if I had something to do with issues concerning countries," the man says, without naming which countries or issues those are. He then goes on to deny infiltrating "programs, contacts or any other institutions of the world."The Mifsud voice does not mention that he has been accused of being a Russian asset in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Nor does me mention Papadopoulos, who pleaded guilty to lying to the F.B.I. about their interactions. Nor does the man who says he is Mifsud say he has also been accused by deep state conspiracy theorists that he was sent as a lure to trap Trump by then-President Barack Obama. Instead, he calls all accusations that he is anything but an academic absurd. "I try to bring one group in contact with another," he said. "Not, not repeat and underline, nobody in any service, secret service, intelligence service or anybody of this sort." He then goes on to qualify that if he had met any such spooks, he didn't know it. "If I had any contact with this, I have not known that this person or that person had any link with any institution," the man claiming to be Mifsud says. Mifsud's own lawyer, Stephan Roh, has insinuated that his client was forced into hiding by Italian intelligence officials to avoid compromising the investigation into Mueller's investigation. "I think Mifsud is still alive, he was at least until last Spring. I know he was hiding because he feared for his life, I also know that someone forced him to hide," Roh told Italian news agency Adnkronos last year. "Mifsud had to disappear, because he could compromise the whole investigation of Mueller against Trump."Here's How Dumb Bill Barr's Great Mifsud Conspiracy Story Really IsThe person on tape doesn't necessarily seem to agree with that assessment. Instead, he says he was not the bearer of dirt on anyone to anyone. "It was never my intent to try to obtain any information to pass from one side to the other," the voice says. "I have never done so because II was never in possession with any information which would be useful to one side or another."The Adnkronos clip rambles, with the man purporting to be Mifsud seemingly trying to convince whoever is listening that he wants out of hiding. "I have kept out of the limelight. I have tried to keep myself busy—mentally. I'm going to be 60 in April … I need to have contacts with my ailing parents … I've been living a very lonely life."He goes on to say, "I have never been paid by anybody to commit any intrusion into the privacy of another," he says. As noted, there is no independent verification of the recording's validity. One might think a video would be far more convincing.BuzzFeed quotes the investigative journalism website Belingcat's analysis that it is likely Mifsud based on words Mifsud is known to mispronounce, and the site called his former girlfriend who told it she was "certain" it was her former lover. Adnkronos, on the other hand, sent the audio tape to Mfisud's Swiss lawyer Stephan Roh, who says it is not him. If the voice does indeed belong to the mysterious professor, or even if it does not, it begs the question why the name Mifsud would resurface on the eve of the open impeachment hearings into Trump over the Ukraine? His broad denials prove nothing. His adamant insistence that he has "been a networker all my life" proves even less. Still, the timing is suspicious and mysterious. Who benefits? Until we know more, impossible to tell.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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| Bolivian senator declares herself president in Evo Morales’ absence Posted: 13 Nov 2019 02:27 AM PST  Bolivian opposition senator Jeanine Anez has declared herself interim president after Evo Morales resigned from office before fleeing to Mexico.Bolivia has been plunged into a state of crisis after Morales, who was first elected in 2006, was forced to stand down following weeks of protests and violence over a disputed presidential election result.
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| Socialism Stinks: The Unfortunate Lessons of Venezuela's Central Planning Posted: 11 Nov 2019 11:29 PM PST  Socialism doesn't work.
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| California launches investigation into public safety power shutoffs by PG&E, other utilities Posted: 13 Nov 2019 01:06 PM PST  The investigation will focus on PG&E;, responsible for lines that sparked the deadly Camp Fire, along with Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric.
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| China's huge mysterious extinct ape 'Giganto' was an orangutan cousin Posted: 13 Nov 2019 10:00 AM PST ![China's huge mysterious extinct ape 'Giganto' was an orangutan cousin]( "China's huge mysterious extinct ape 'Giganto' was an orangutan cousin") Genetic material extracted from a 1.9 million-year-old fossil tooth from southern China shows that the world's largest-known ape - an extinct creature dubbed "Giganto" that once inhabited Southeast Asia - was an oversized cousin of today's orangutans. The findings, announced on Wednesday, shed light on a species, called Gigantopithecus blacki, that has been shrouded in mystery because its fossil remains are so sparse - just a collection of teeth and remnants of several lower jaws. By some estimates, Gigantopithecus reached up to 10 feet (3 meters) tall, making it not only the largest-known ape but the biggest primate, the mammalian group that includes lemurs, monkeys, apes and humans.
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