| Democrats' impeachment charges say Trump 'betrayed' US Posted: 09 Dec 2019 09:13 PM PST  House Democrats announced two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump on Tuesday, declaring he "betrayed the nation" with his actions toward Ukraine as they pushed toward historic proceedings that are certain to help define his presidency and shape the 2020 election. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, flanked by the chairmen of impeachment inquiry committees at the U.S. Capitol, said they were upholding their solemn oath to defend the Constitution.
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| Remember When Russian Diesel Submarines Chased Down A British Nuclear Sub? Posted: 09 Dec 2019 04:05 AM PST  Depends if it actually happened.
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| A Florida sheriff office's captain told a deputy to act like a 'white supremacist' and a 'Nazi' when stopping a black murder suspect Posted: 10 Dec 2019 12:38 PM PST  The comment made by Monroe County Sheriff's Capt. Penny Phelps was recorded by a deputy's body camera during a conversation in late 2017.
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| Iran foreign ministry issues travel advisory for citizens not to visit America Posted: 10 Dec 2019 10:34 AM PST  Iran warned its citizens, particularly scientists, on Tuesday not to visit America, saying Iranians there were subjected to arbitrary and lengthy detention in inhuman conditions. "Iranian citizens, particularly elites and scientists, are requested to seriously avoid traveling to America, even to take part in scientific conferences and even having an invitation," a travel advisory on the foreign ministry website said. It cited, "America's cruel and one-sided laws toward Iranians, especially Iranian elites, and arbitrary and lengthy detention in completely inhuman conditions" as reasons for the travel advisory.
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| Elizabeth Warren Made $1.9 Million as Bankruptcy Lawyer Over 24 Years Posted: 08 Dec 2019 07:05 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Elizabeth Warren on Sunday said she made about $1.9 million working as a bankruptcy lawyer over three decades, a disclosure that comes after requests from the media and Pete Buttigieg for her to release her tax returns.Warren had previously released the names of the clients and cases she took on during her tenure as a professor at Harvard and other law schools, as well as 11 years of tax returns, dating back to 2008. The documents released Sunday cover her compensation between 1985 and 2009, but don't include tax returns.Warren has campaigned as a progressive in the presidential race, condemning big money in politics and calling for restraining the influence of large corporations. The release comes as Buttigieg demanded last week that she disclose her tax returns covering her work in the private sector.The campaign said it disclosed the compensation she received "from each case that we have been able to determine from public records." Warren lists her roles in these cases, sometimes as counsel and other times as an adviser, consultant, expert witness or mediator. Of the almost 50 cases, five have no compensation records. Warren did not receive any compensation in about 12 cases.Warren made $76,712 as a consultant for the attorneys of Rabobank, a creditor in Enron Corp.'s bankruptcy in 2001. She made $186,859 representing department store P.A. Bergner & Co in 1995, and received $212,335 from a 2009 case in which she represented insurance company Travelers Indemnity Co. In 1987, she served as a consultant for Getty Oil, advising them on bankrupt Texaco Inc., which they wanted to buy. The campaign said it had no compensation records for that case.Among the clients listed in Warren's resume are the silicon manufacturer Dow Corning Corp., which is owned by Dow Chemical. Warren received $19,942 for her work on compensation for women who had claimed injury from silicone breast implants after Dow Corning filed for bankruptcy, according to Warren's website. Warren also make about $154,679 as an expert witness for the Cable Advertising Networks bankruptcy in 1995."We must nominate a candidate who can create the most robust possible contrast against Republicans on conflicts of interest and corruption issues," Kristen Orthman, Warren's communications director, said in a statement. "Any candidate who refuses to provide basic details about his or her own record and refuses to allow voters or the press to understand who is buying access to their time and what they are getting in return will be seen by voters as part of the same business-as-usual politics that voters have consistently rejected."Buttigieg has moved into the top spot in many recent Iowa polls as Warren has slid.After Buttigieg called on her to release her tax returns, Warren fired back demanding that he disclose the names of the clients he worked with as a consultant at McKinsey & Co. Buttigieg has released his tax returns from three years at the firm, but says a nondisclosure agreement prevents him from making public the names of his clients. On Friday, he said he had asked McKinsey to release him from the confidentiality agreement.(Michael Bloomberg is also seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.)(Adds detail from earnings disclosure starting in fourth paragraph.)To contact the reporter on this story: Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou in Washington at megkolfopoul@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Max Berley, Linus ChuaFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Belgian boy, 9, terminates his studies at a Dutch university Posted: 10 Dec 2019 06:46 AM PST  A 9-year-old Belgian boy who was on track to become the world's youngest university graduate has terminated his studies at the Dutch university of Eindhoven following a dispute over his possible graduation date.
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| Greenland's ice is melting 7 times faster than it did in the early 90s — suggesting scientists' worst-case predictions may come true Posted: 10 Dec 2019 09:09 AM PST  As our planet and its oceans warm, the polar ice sheets are melting at accelerated rates. Greenland's average yearly ice loss is 262 billion tons.
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| Infowars host interrupts House impeachment hearing Posted: 09 Dec 2019 10:59 PM PST  Owen Shroyer, the host of a talk show on Infowars, filmed himself protesting at the start of the House Judiciary Committee's impeachment hearing Monday.
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| The Best War Movies on Netflix Posted: 10 Dec 2019 11:00 AM PST |
| 1 Officer and 3 Civilians Killed, 2 Suspects Dead in 4-Hour Jersey City Standoff Posted: 10 Dec 2019 11:11 AM PST  'Today is a horrific day'
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| Suu Kyi in court as genocide case set out against Myanmar Posted: 09 Dec 2019 10:37 PM PST  Mass rapes, the burning alive of Muslim Rohingya families in their homes and the killing with knives of dozens of children were described by Gambia's legal team as it set out its genocide case against Myanmar at the U.N.'s highest court on Tuesday. Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate, looked on impassively as the alleged atrocities were detailed on the first of three days of hearings at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. The case was instituted by Gambia against Buddhist-majority Myanmar in November.
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| Rick Gates Seeks to Avoid Jail at Sentencing for Conspiracy Posted: 09 Dec 2019 06:21 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Former Trump campaign official Rick Gates asked a judge to spare him from prison, put him on probation and order him to do community service for his crimes of conspiracy and lying to federal investigators.In a court filing Monday, Gates said he has accepted responsibility "in every way possible." He's scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson in Washington on Dec. 17.Gates was a critical witness in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election. He was the star prosecution witness in the trial of his former boss Paul Manafort, who was convicted of bank and tax fraud in August.Gates was Manafort's right-hand man in his political consulting firm and worked with him for a decade, lobbying on behalf of Ukraine before joining him on Trump's presidential campaign. Gates remained on the Trump campaign after Manafort resigned in August 2016.He also testified in the trials of one-time White House counsel to Barack Obama, Gregory Craig, and Republican operative Roger Stone.Gates said his "cooperation likely represents the most extensive undertaking by any cooperating defendant in the work of the OSC or any matters arising out of, or related, to the activity of that office."Additional and specific details of Gates's cooperation are under seal, according to the filing.Nine letters of support from family and friends, urging Berman to show leniency, were included with the filing. Many described him as a religious man, committed to his family. One letter was filed under seal.Gates also asked that the judge doesn't impose a fine."Mr. Gates has remained unemployed since his indictment, and in lieu of any income with which to support his family and maintain their home, he has had to deplete savings and investment accounts, including college savings plans for his children," according to the filing.The case is U.S. v. Richard W. Gates III, 17-cr-201, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia (Washington).(Updates with letters of support)To contact the reporter on this story: Joe Schneider in Los Angeles at jschneider5@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Joe Schneider, Peter BlumbergFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Trump in Hershey, Pa.: Supporters gathering early for rally call impeachment 'a sham' Posted: 10 Dec 2019 11:05 AM PST  The large crowds gathering early for Trump rally in Hershey were unfazed by the unveiling of articles of impeachment coming at the same time.
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| TikTok's chief cancels planned meetings with US senators amid concerns over privacy and app's ties to China Posted: 10 Dec 2019 09:05 AM PST  TikTok told Business Insider the meetings were postponed until after the holidays "to ensure these conversations are as productive as possible."
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| 'It hurt': Women of color from rival campaigns lament Harris' exit Posted: 10 Dec 2019 08:07 AM PST  But they also express hope that the historic diversity of the initial 2020 field "will reverberate for years to come."
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| Virginia gun rights activists vow to fight new restrictions Posted: 09 Dec 2019 01:40 PM PST ![Virginia gun rights activists vow to fight new restrictions]( "Virginia gun rights activists vow to fight new restrictions") More than 200 gun rights activists wearing "Guns SAVE Lives" stickers rallied Monday in Virginia, vowing to fight any attempt by the new Democratic majority in the state legislature to pass new restrictions on gun ownership. "Hands off our guns, hands off our rights, and hands off our guns," said Bob Good, a member of the Campbell County Board of Supervisors.
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| Pete Buttigieg's real 'black problem': He has been convicted of white privilege Posted: 10 Dec 2019 12:15 AM PST  Acknowledge the original sin, but also that white men risked their lives to end slavery and a black man led the way to gay marriage equality.
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| Russian court sentences 11 for Saint Petersburg bombing Posted: 10 Dec 2019 06:30 AM PST  A Russian court on Tuesday sentenced 11 people to terms including life in prison after finding them guilty of a deadly bomb attack on the Saint Petersburg metro in 2017. Abror Azimov, a 29-year-old from Kyrgyzstan, was sentenced by a military court in Russia's second biggest city to life in prison for organising and participating in a terrorist group. The bomb blast in April 2017 killed 15 people in the Saint Petersburg metro and wounded dozens more.
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| Brazil's Bolsonaro calls activist Thunberg a 'brat' Posted: 10 Dec 2019 09:21 AM PST  Brazil's right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro called Swedish climate change campaigner Greta Thunberg a "brat" on Tuesday after she criticized mounting violence against indigenous people in which two Amazon tribesmen were shot dead three days ago. The teen activist retorted by changed the biographical description on her Twitter account to "Pirralha".
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| Beijing Pushes for Removal of Foreign Tech in More State Offices Posted: 08 Dec 2019 11:36 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Terms of Trade is a daily newsletter that untangles a world embroiled in trade wars. Sign up here. The Chinese government is taking further steps to remove foreign technology from state agencies and other organizations, a clear sign of determination for more independence amid escalating tensions with the U.S.Beijing will likely replace as many as 20 million computers at government agencies with domestic products over the next three years, according to research from China Securities. More than 100 trial projects for domestic products were completed in July, the brokerage firm said. The Financial Times newspaper said the Communist Party's Central Office earlier this year ordered state offices and public institutions to shift away from foreign hardware and software.The government under President Xi Jinping has been trying for years to replace technologies from abroad, and particularly from the U.S. Bloomberg News reported in 2014 that Beijing was aiming to purge most foreign technology from its banks, the military, government agencies and state-owned enterprises by 2020. The country's Made in China 2025 plan also set out specific goals for technology independence, although the policy has been de-emphasized after contributing to trade war tensions.U.S. President Donald Trump's aggressive policies against China and its leading companies have given the effort renewed urgency. His administration banned U.S. companies from doing business with Huawei Technologies Co. this year and blacklisted other Chinese firms."The trade war has exposed various areas of Chinese economic weakness, which Beijing seems determined to rectify," said Brock Silvers, managing director of Adamas Asset Management. "If the decision pushes Trump to finally come down hard with a more forceful ban of Chinese tech, however, China may one day regret having gone so public with its policy so soon."While the current push is narrow in scope, it is designed as part of the broad, long-standing effort to decrease China's reliance on foreign technologies and boost its domestic industry. The goal is to substitute 30% of hardware in state agencies next year, 50% in 2021 and 20% in 2022, China Securities estimated, based on government requests and clients' budgets.The research, from September, detailed Beijing's goals. The FT reported the number of computers to be replaced could reach 30 million, attributing the figures to China Securities. The newspaper said the goal is to use "secure and controllable" technology as part of the country's Cyber Security Law passed in 2017.Starting next year, key industries such as finance, energy and telecom will test more domestic products in trials that may last years, the firm said. Chinese banks are supposed to shift from International Business Machines Corp. and Oracle Corp. to more diversified X86 architecture suppliers and then eventually to fully made-in-China hardware. China has decided to adopt ARM architecture for its domestic hardware, China Securities said."The China-U.S. trade war could also help to breed a new market for home-made products," China Securities analyst Shi Zerui wrote.Still, Beijing's push has proven difficult because its domestic industry hasn't yet shown itself capable of matching foreign technologies in certain sectors. Particularly hard to replace, for example, are semiconductors from suppliers like Intel Corp. and Nvidia Corp., as well as software from Microsoft Corp. and Apple Inc."While large suppliers such as Microsoft and IBM are undoubtedly worried, many high-end components, like chipsets, can't be easily replaced," Silvers said.\--With assistance from Debby Wu.To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Gao Yuan in Beijing at ygao199@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Peter Elstrom at pelstrom@bloomberg.net, Vlad SavovFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| 'Old man' Trump is 'bluffing,' says North Korea: KCNA news agency Posted: 09 Dec 2019 12:18 PM PST  North Korea on Monday accused President Trump of "bluffing" and called him "an old man bereft of patience" as Pyongyang ramps up pressure on Washington over stalled nuclear talks.
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| Missile Race: Does America or China Dominate the South China Sea? Posted: 10 Dec 2019 01:25 AM PST  Here's how they compare.
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| Cities are criminalizing homelessness by banning people from camping in public. That's the wrong approach, report says Posted: 10 Dec 2019 06:57 AM PST  More cities are criminally punishing homeless people for sleeping in public, a new report shows, amid an increase in Americans living on the streets.
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| Kentucky's new governor reorganizes school board on day one Posted: 09 Dec 2019 09:08 PM PST  Delivering on a campaign promise to teachers who helped elect him, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear used his first day in office Tuesday to overhaul the state school board. In his inaugural address outside the state Capitol, the new Democratic governor proclaimed his support for public education and expanding health care coverage.
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| Photo shows Jeffrey Epstein went to royal party dressed as a Navy SEAL Posted: 09 Dec 2019 01:45 PM PST  Jeffrey Epstein attended Prince Andrew's costume party in a US Navy SEAL officer's uniform. Some of the medals appear to be fictional.
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| India's lower house passes contentious nationality bill Posted: 09 Dec 2019 05:41 PM PST  India's lower house passed controversial legislation early Tuesday that will grant citizenship to religious minorities from neighbouring countries, but not Muslims, amid raucous scenes in parliament and protests in the country's northeast. "This bill is in line with India's centuries old ethos of assimilation and belief in humanitarian values," Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, adding that he was "delighted" about its passage. "This is not a bill that is discriminatory," Home Minister Amit Shah said.
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| Turkey says it has deported 11 French terrorist suspects Posted: 09 Dec 2019 01:26 AM PST ![Turkey says it has deported 11 French terrorist suspects]( "Turkey says it has deported 11 French terrorist suspects") Turkey said on Monday it had deported 11 French nationals back to France as part of a program to extradite what it says are foreign terrorist fighters. Turkey's Interior Ministry, which made the announcement, gave no details. France's Foreign Ministry declined to comment, but diplomatic sources said the 11 included four women and seven children.
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| Russia Throws Wrench Into Efforts to Renew Serbia-Kosovo Talks Posted: 10 Dec 2019 07:40 AM PST ![Russia Throws Wrench Into Efforts to Renew Serbia-Kosovo Talks]( "Russia Throws Wrench Into Efforts to Renew Serbia-Kosovo Talks") (Bloomberg) -- Russia poured cold water on U.S. and European plans for swift reconciliation between Serbia and Kosovo, with Moscow's envoy to Belgrade calling the latter a "fake state."The statements by Ambassador Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko support the long-held position of Serbia's government, which has refused to recognize its neighbor since it split away after a 1998-1999 war.By contrast, the U.S. wants the former foes to reach a lasting agreement that includes the recognition of Kosovo's unilateral 2008 secession. The neighbors need to normalize ties to qualify for European Union membership, but EU-mediated talks between them have stalled for more than a year."There aren't even preconditions in place for a constructive exchange of opinions or continuation of the dialogue," Botsan-Kharchenko told reporters in Belgrade Tuesday. "It's better to wait, to build trust, to solve some small but important problems in everyday life and to ensure progress, step by step, to political negotiations."Russia has long opposed the spread of euro-Atlantic institutions including the EU and NATO into former communist Europe, including by stoking unrest. Along with backing separatists in Ukraine and Georgia, Russia was blamed by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's newest member, Montenegro, for fomenting a failed coup in 2016. Moscow says it is innocent.'Fake State'The ambassador said Russia also wants an agreement between the two, and that it didn't oppose Serbia's plans to join the EU. He urged Kosovo to lift a punitive 100% tax on Serb goods that Pristina imposed after Serbia blocked its recognition in the Interpol international police body.That dispute helped torpedo a deal floated last year over possibly changing the border between Serbia and the ethnic Albanian-dominated Kosovo. The proposal was also opposed by nationalists and some European Union governments that saw the redrawing of frontiers as too dangerous in a volatile region where territorial disputes abound."Kosovo is part of Serbia," Botsan-Kharchenko said. He reiterated the Russian stance that any compromise arrangement would require Serbia's consent. He also criticized the U.S. backing for Kosovo's declaration of independence, saying it created a "fake state."Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has said that his country would never recognize Kosovo unless it gets something in return, and Botsan-Kharchenko said Moscow didn't understand the opposition to redrawing the map of Europe."Since the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia, there have been many precedents," he said. "We didn't hear such concerns before when borders crumbled in this part of Europe."To contact the reporter on this story: Misha Savic in Belgrade at msavic2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Irina Vilcu at isavu@bloomberg.net, Michael Winfrey, Andras GergelyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Rudy Giuliani's personal communications director is a 20-year-old minor Instagram personality still getting her communications degree Posted: 10 Dec 2019 08:55 AM PST  Christianné Allen is representing Rudy Giuliani in the middle of an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.
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| Pete Buttigieg Says He Will Open Fundraisers, Disclose All Bundlers Posted: 09 Dec 2019 02:15 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- McKinsey & Co said Monday it would release Pete Buttigieg from a nondisclosure agreement preventing him from naming the clients he worked for as a consultant at the firm from 2007 to 2010.In a statement, a spokesman for McKinsey, who refused to be identified, said the company would allow Buttigieg to release the names because of the "unique circumstances presented by a presidential campaign.""After receiving permission from the relevant clients, we have informed Mayor Buttigieg that he may disclose the identity of the clients he served while at McKinsey from 2007 to 2010," the spokesman said. "Any description of his work for those clients still must not disclose confidential, proprietary or classified information obtained during the course of that work, or violate any security clearance."Buttigieg asked the firm on Friday to release him from the nondisclosure agreements he signed when he joined McKinsey. He had come under attack from his Democratic rival Elizabeth Warren for not disclosing the names of his clients.Buttigieg spokeswoman Lis Smith tweeted that the campaign would soon release the names.He has said that he worked for several nonprofits and on projects in Iraq and Afghanistan. He also has released his tax returns for the years he was at McKinsey.Buttigieg also Monday said that he would open his fundraisers to the press and release more names of so-called bundlers, a response to Warren's demand that he be more transparent about the source of his campaign contributions.Buttigieg has held several high-dollar fundraisers with Wall Street and Silicon Valley donors without allowing any reporters in or releasing names of guests and hosts. "Bundlers" collect campaign contributions from multiple donors and deliver it to the candidate.Warren, whose attacks on Buttigieg have increased as he's taken the lead in the first nominating state of Iowa, has criticized him for a lack of transparency. She doesn't hold fundraisers and relies mostly on grassroots contributions. Joe Biden allows reporters into his fundraisers but has yet to release the names of his bundlers"From the start, Pete has said it is important for every candidate to be open and honest, and his actions have reflected that commitment," Mike Schmuhl, Buttigieg's campaign manager, said in a statement.Fundraisers will be open to the press beginning Tuesday and the names of bundlers will be released this week, Schmuhl said.Buttigieg and Warren have sparred over transparency and their past corporate ties.On Thursday, Warren unleashed an unusually pointed attack on Buttigieg's campaign-finance practices at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser in Boston."The mayor should be releasing who's on his finance committee, who are the bundlers who are raising big money for him, who he's given a title to and made promises to," Warren said. "And he should open up the doors so that the press can follow the promises that he's making in these big-dollar fundraisers."Buttigieg released a list of 32 campaign bundlers in the first quarter. The names included hedge-fund manager Orin Kramer, who raised more than $500,000 for Barack Obama's 2008 campaign, and Steve Elmendorf, a lobbyist who represents Goldman Sachs Group and Facebook Inc.Buttigieg raised $24.9 million in the second quarter, tops among Democratic contenders. Overall, Buttigieg's campaign has raked in $51.5 million, placing him third, behind Warren and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.In April, Buttigieg's campaign announced it would no longer accept money from registered lobbyists or allow them to raise money for him. It also said it would not accept money from corporate PACs. His campaign refunded $30,250 it had received from lobbyists up to that point, including $2,800 given by Elmendorf.On Sunday, Warren disclosed that she had made $1.9 million as a bankruptcy lawyer after several requests from Buttigieg that she release her tax returns.Warren had previously released the names of the clients and cases she took on during her tenure as a professor at Harvard and other law schools, as well as 11 years of tax returns, dating back to 2008. The documents released Sunday cover her compensation between 1985 and 2009, but don't include tax returns.(Michael Bloomberg is also seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.)(Updates with Buttigieg campaign statement in fifth paragraph.)\--With assistance from Bill Allison.To contact the reporter on this story: Emma Kinery in Washington at ekinery@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Max BerleyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Why the Marines Love Their LAV-25 "Destroyers" Posted: 10 Dec 2019 07:59 AM PST  A spunky and useful vehicle.
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| New 'Varsity Blues' charges: Georgetown mom pleads guilty to cheating in son's online classes Posted: 10 Dec 2019 06:52 AM PST  In a new twist in the "Varsity Blues" admissions scandal, a California woman agreed to plead guilty to paying $9,000 to have someone take online classes for her son so he could graduate from Georgetown.
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| China hints at national security trials for 2 Canadians Posted: 10 Dec 2019 01:15 AM PST ![China hints at national security trials for 2 Canadians]( "China hints at national security trials for 2 Canadians") China is hinting at upcoming trials for two Canadian citizens held for a year on vague national security charges in what is widely believed to be an attempt to pressure Canada to release Meng Wanzhou, a top executive at Chinese tech giant Huawei. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters on Tuesday that the cases of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor have been transferred to prosecutors for "review and prosecution in accordance with the law." Such trials are usually carried out behind closed doors and convictions are virtually assured. Beijing detained Kovrig and Spavor last December, days after Meng, whose father is Huawei's founder, was arrested in Canada on Dec. 1 at the request of U.S. authorities who want her on fraud charges.
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| US Army preparing biggest European deployment in years Posted: 09 Dec 2019 11:52 AM PST  The US Army is planning its biggest deployment of troops to Europe in 25 years, with 20,000 troops slated to take part in a massive force projection exercise at a time of increasingly adversarial relations with Russia. General Christopher Cavoli, the commander of US ground forces in Europe, said 20,000 US-based troops will deploy next year to Europe where they will join some 9,000 other US soldiers already stationed there. Some 37,000 troops will then take part in exercises across 10 European countries from May to June, he told reporters at the Pentagon.
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| Tulsi Gabbard says she will skip the December Democratic debate Posted: 09 Dec 2019 07:19 PM PST  Despite being one poll away from qualifying for the December debate, the Hawaii Congresswoman stated she wouldn't attend the debate.
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| Transgender pupil, 12, given puberty blockers, as mother says she 'wanted to be a girl from age of three' Posted: 10 Dec 2019 10:57 AM PST  A 12-year-old transgender girl has started puberty blocking treatment, as her mother says she "knew from the age of three" that she wanted to be female. Ash Lammin, who was born a boy, is embarking on a lengthy journey to transition to female at an NHS-run clinic and is one of the youngest in the country to do so. She has researched the process in depth and says that she eventually wants a womb transplant so that she can be a mother when she's older. Her mother, Terri Lammin, 43, said that Ash "insisted she was a girl from the moment she could speak". "When she was three she said to me, 'I'm a boy because you gave me a boy's name - it's your fault," Ms Lammin, from Ramsgate, Kent, said. "I remember feeling horrible, because she blamed me. Ash has started transitioning after realising she was born in the 'wrong body' aged just three Credit: KMG /SWNS.COM "I'd never come across it before and I just went along with it. I just thought 'if he's happy, well that's the main thing.'" Ash, who changed her name by deed poll to Ashley when she was eight, will start taking hormone blockers to halt the onset of puberty until she is 18. She will then decide whether to go ahead with gender reassignment surgery. Puberty blockers can be prescribed to any child suffering from gender dysphoria from age 10 by the NHS's Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS). GIDS has so far treated over a thousand children with puberty blockers, with about 230 of these children under the age of 14. Before 2011, GIDS would only give puberty blockers to children once they had turned 16. But the rules were relaxed after reports emerged of British children going overseas to buy the drugs. Commenting on her experience, Ash said: "The journey is long and it's still going, but I feel like the sense of victory is there through it all."
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| Stephen Colbert explains why Rudy Giuliani is in Ukraine Posted: 09 Dec 2019 10:04 AM PST  As articles of impeachment are written, shouldn't everyone involved in scandal stay away from Kiev? Comics explain otherwise in Best of Late Night.
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| A 5,000-Year-Old Plan to Erase Debts Is Now a Hot Topic in America Posted: 10 Dec 2019 02:00 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Explore what's moving the global economy in the new season of the Stephanomics podcast. Subscribe via Apple Podcast, Spotify or Pocket Cast.In ancient Babylon, a newly enthroned king would declare a jubilee, wiping out the population's debts. In modern America, a faint echo of that idea -- call it jubilee-lite -- is catching on.Support for write-offs has been driven by Democratic presidential candidates. Elizabeth Warren says she'd cancel most of the $1.6 trillion in U.S. student loans. Bernie Sanders would go further -– erasing the whole lot, as well as $81 billion in medical debt.But it's coming from other directions too. In October, one of the Trump administration's senior student-loan officials resigned, calling for wholesale write-offs and describing the American way of paying for higher education as "nuts.''Real-estate firm Zillow cites medical and college liabilities as major hurdles for would-be renters and home buyers. Moody's Investors Service listed the headwinds from student debt -– less consumption and investment, more inequality -- and said forgiveness would boost the economy like a tax cut.While the current debate centers on college costs, long-run numbers show how debt has spread through the economy. The U.S. relies on consumer spending for growth -– but it hasn't been delivering significantly higher wages. Household borrowing has filled the gap, with low interest rates making it affordable.And that's not unique to America. Steadily growing debts of one kind or another are weighing on economies all over the world.The idea that debt can grow faster than the ability to repay, until it unbalances a society, was well understood thousands of years ago, according to Michael Hudson, an economist and historian. Last year Hudson published "And Forgive Them Their Debts,'' a study of the ancient Near East where the tradition known as a "jubilee" -- wiping the debt-slate clean -- has its roots. He describes how the practice spread through civilizations including Sumer and Babylon, and came to play an important role in the Bible and Jewish law.Rulers weren't motivated by charity, Hudson says. They were being pragmatic -- trying to make sure that citizens could meet their own needs and contribute to public projects, instead of just laboring to pay creditors. And it worked, he says. "Societies that canceled the debts enjoyed stable growth for thousands of years.''Forgiveness was good for the economy, would be a modern way of putting it. In an October paper, Moody's examined how that might apply if America writes off its student debts.Moral Hazard?There would likely be a "modest increase'' in household spending and investment, and eventually higher rates of home-ownership and business-formation, it said. Buying up student loans would increase the government's own debt -- but "only marginally," since it already owns three-quarters of them. After that one-time hit, budget deficits each year would be slightly bigger because of the lost revenue from loan repayments, equal to 0.4% of GDP in 2018.Critics usually raise two key problems with debt forgiveness. One is about fairness. The other is known as "moral hazard'': Will write-offs today lead to more reckless borrowing tomorrow?These questions "need to be carefully thought through" for student loans, says William Foster, a senior credit officer at Moody's and the report's lead author. "Who would benefit, who would miss out, what attempts at equal treatment there should be.'' Any plan would also have to address "what the situation would be for the next generation of students with regard to accumulating debt,'' he says.Sanders and Warren plan to remove moral hazard by making state college tuition-free. But they've caught flak on the fairness question.'Bigger Debate'A study by the Urban Institute said that wealthier households hold more student loans –- so writing them off would be regressive. Pete Buttigieg, another Democratic presidential contender, wants to direct financial support toward poorer students, saying there's no reason to subsidize richer ones.Economies can skew against age cohorts, as well as income groups. Foster says the idea of debt relief plays into "the bigger debate about prospects for young Americans today: Job opportunities, the cost of education, income levels and slower wage gains since the financial crisis.''The last Democratic administration also got in a fight over debt forgiveness.Under President Barack Obama, the government took steps to help underwater homeowners. But it failed to get a measure allowing judges to reduce the principal due on mortgages –- known as "cramdown'' -– through Congress.Democrat-leaning analysts have been arguing about the episode ever since."There were 5 million foreclosures,'' says Mike Konczal, a fellow at the Roosevelt Institute. "It's a real stain on the Obama presidency's legacy. They had access to tools to be able to combat them.''House of DebtIn their 2014 book "House of Debt,'' economists Atif Mian and Amir Sufi argued that the economy would have rebounded faster with more writedowns. Larry Summers, Obama's economic adviser, pushed back when he reviewed it -- praising their analysis but calling the policy proposals naïve.A few years before the financial crisis, two top 2020 contenders -- Warren and Joe Biden –- took opposite sides in another clash over debt relief.Biden supported a 2005 bill that made it harder to get out of debt by filing for bankruptcy -- on the grounds it would curb abuses and help ensure cheaper borrowing. Warren, then a Harvard professor who specialized in household finance, attacked it for punishing struggling families.Konczal says that bill reflected a widespread idea that over-borrowing was a result of extravagant "lifestyle problems.'' In reality, he says, "middle-class families were in a much more precarious situation than was realized'' -- and relying on debt for the basics.Can't Pay, Won't PayForgiveness isn't the only big idea out there for reducing the economy's reliance on private debt. Another one is to pay for things like homes or education with instruments that look a bit more like equity, and less like debt.Mian and Sufi suggested a type of mortgage in which the lender shares risks if prices fall, and rewards when they rise. Some lawmakers, educators and investors are applying a similar model to college financing too.Mitch Daniels, head of Purdue University and a former Republican governor of Indiana, is one of the champions of Income Share Agreements. They work like this: investors fund students, and get repaid -– hopefully with a return on their equity –- when graduates start earning the higher wages that a degree should bring.Hudson, the historian, also says equity-financing is better. But he thinks the government should play a role. In a 2018 paper with Charles Goodhart of the London School of Economics, he proposed public-equity funds to help first-time home buyers, students and small businesses. By edging out debt-financing, the authors argued, it could be a modern version of the ancient jubilees."The fact is, debt causes instability for a society,'' Hudson says. Another lesson he's drawn from studying credit over thousands of years: "Debts that can't be paid, won't be paid.''(Michael Bloomberg is also seeking the Democratic nomination. Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.)\--With assistance from Alex Tanzi.To contact the reporter on this story: Ben Holland in Washington at bholland1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Simon Kennedy at skennedy4@bloomberg.net, Sarah McGregor, Margaret CollinsFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Why Don't the Marines Want More Amphibious Assault Ships? Posted: 10 Dec 2019 02:55 AM PST  What happens now?
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| The architect of Mexico's war on cartels was just arrested in Texas and accused of drug trafficking and taking bribes Posted: 10 Dec 2019 11:27 AM PST  Genaro Garcia Luna, a former Mexican security official once considered "something of a wunderkind," was arrested by US federal agents on Monday.
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| Fires from CP Rail train derailment under control: safety officials Posted: 10 Dec 2019 11:11 AM PST  "The last that I have on it is that things are under control... the fire is contained in an area, there's no concern about other tanker cars catching fire at this point," Transport Minister Marc Garneau told reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday. CP said it re-opened the rail line on Tuesday morning once all track repairs and safety inspections were complete. Garneau said Canada's Transportation Safety Board was investigating the derailment.
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| Planned Parenthood Employee Admits She Tried to Facilitate Sale of Fetal Livers in Court Testimony Posted: 10 Dec 2019 06:46 AM PST  A Planned Parenthood employee told a San Francisco court that she had planned to "move forward" with the sale of fetal livers at $750 each.Tram Nguyen, a healthcare administrator at Planned Parenthood of the Gulf Coast, testified in March that she wanted to sell fetal livers for $750 each as well as combinations of fetal livers and fetal thymi at $1,600 each, the Daily Caller reported Monday.Her testimony came as part of the ongoing lawsuits against pro-life investigator David Daleiden, who who went undercover several years ago to record abortion industry executives discussing and haggling over their procurement fetal body parts for researchers. Planned Parenthood sued Daleiden and his organization, the Center for Medical Progress, in 2016.Nguyen, who said she performed administrative duties but would also assist abortionists in the operating room, forwarded an email to her supervisor regarding her Planned Parenthood affiliate's offer to provide Daleiden's fake fetal research company with fetal livers for $750 each and a fetal liver and a thymus for $1600 each."FYI, we are still trying to move forward with this," Nguyen wrote in an email to her supervisor, Dyann Santos, according to Attorney Paul Jonna's statement in court."Do you want to do this," Santos responded."Yes, ma'am," Nguyen wrote back."I know I wanted to move forward with it," Nguyen told the court. "There were emails — from what I recall earlier, there were emails in between. Again, I'm not — I don't make decisions on the agreements. So I can't tell you that I saw this and agreed with the compensation or agreed with the agreement that was sent."On Friday, a San Francisco judge ruled that the criminal trial may move forward against Daleiden, 30, and Sandra Merritt, 64, who are charged with nine felony counts, one count of conspiracy and eight counts of illegal taping.Last month, the jury in the separate civil case against Daleiden and Merritt handed Planned Parenthood a win under federal racketeering statutes, awarding the abortion giant over $2.2 million.
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| 'S*** just got real': DOJ watchdog uncovers pro-Trump text messages between FBI agents Posted: 09 Dec 2019 05:13 PM PST  The Justice Department's inspector general, Michael Horowitz, uncovered a series of text messages between two FBI agents expressing support for President Trump right after the 2016 election.
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