| Trump threatens Comey with 'years in jail' over FBI Russia report Posted: 15 Dec 2019 11:15 AM PST  * Ex-director admits 'sloppiness' in surveillance of Trump aide * Presidential abuse follows Fox News Sunday interview * Impeachment: Democrats fume as Republicans rally to TrumpJames Comey, the former director of the FBI who has become a prime nemesis of Donald Trump, admitted on Sunday to being responsible for "real sloppiness" over the handling of surveillance of a Trump campaign adviser.He also fiercely defended himself and the bureau against any suggestion of political bias, prompting a new threat, of "years in jail", from Trump.Comey, who was fired by Trump as America's top law enforcement official in May 2017, came under intense questioning on Fox News Sunday, sparring with anchor Chris Wallace over the findings of the inspector general's report into the FBI's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.Comey seized on one of Michael Horowitz's main conclusions, that there was no evidence of political bias in the investigation, to launch an impassioned critique of how he and his FBI colleagues had been treated by Trump."The FBI was accused of treason, of illegal spying, of tapping Mr Trump's wires illegally, of opening an investigation without justification, of being a criminal conspiracy to unseat a president. All that was nonsense."He also had pointed words for Fox News: "Remember, I was going to jail, lots of other people were going to jail. People on this network said it over and over again … The American people, especially your viewers, need to realise they were given false information about the FBI."> I was overconfident in the procedures that the FBI had built over 20 years. I thought they were robust enough> > James ComeyThat Comey was given the opportunity by Fox News to welcome the absence of any bias finding in the report clearly riled Trump, who intervened with a characteristically breathless tweet. Paradoxically, the president accused Horowitz himself – an independent watchdog with no known political animus – of bias.Pointing out that the inspector general was appointed by Barack Obama, Trump claimed: "There was tremendous bias and guilt exposed, so obvious, but Horowitz couldn't get himself to say it. Big credibility loss."The president followed up by attacking Comey himself, in loose and intemperate terms. "So now Comey's admitting he was wrong," he tweeted. "Wow, but he's only doing so because he got caught red handed. He was actually caught a long time ago. So what are the consequences for his unlawful conduct. Could it be years in jail? Where are the apologies to me and others, Jim?"Even before Trump's intemperate intervention, Comey did not get an easy ride. Under persistent questioning by Wallace, he was forced to admit he presided over serious mistakes in the course of applying for permission to place former Trump adviser Carter Page under surveillance.The IG report gives details of 17 "significant errors and omissions" in the way four applications to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (Fisa) court were made from October 2016, the first two on Comey's watch.Asked to explain the contrast between the report's criticism of serious problems in the Fisa process and his earlier defense of the FBI's actions as "thoughtful and appropriate", Comey replied that Horowitz "was right, I was wrong"."I was overconfident in the procedures that the FBI had built over 20 years. I thought they were robust enough. It's incredibly hard to get a Fisa and he was right there was real sloppiness. It was not acceptable."Comey's admittance of fallibility, albeit over procedural issues rather than the overriding accusation of bias, is likely to give Trump and his enablers in the Republican party the fuel they need to continue to attack the FBI as the heart of the supposed "deep state". William Barr, the US attorney general, has already launched his own investigation of the Russia investigation.Trump has gone on the warpath on the back of the IG's report, despite its central finding of lack of evidence of any conspiracy. At a rally this week in Hershey, Pennsylvania, the president falsely claimed the FBI had conducted multiple undercover operations spying on his campaign."Look how they've hurt people," he said. "They've destroyed the lives of people that were great people, that are still great people. Their lives have been destroyed by scum. OK, by scum."Hours before the Fox News Sunday broadcast, Trump hurled further insults, calling Comey a "sleazebag". The Texas senator Ted Cruz then added reinforcement, telling ABC's This Week the IG report was "unbelievably damning of the Department of Justice and FBI. The abuse of power that occurred there is stunning."Neither the president nor the senator pointed out that two of the four Fisa applications were brought to the court by Trump's own administration.Page was an adviser on foreign affairs to the 2016 Trump campaign. Comey admitted Page had been "treated unfairly" in being subjected to wiretapping. The most egregious aspect, he said, had been Page's name being made public. "He is a United States citizen and it never should have been made public – that was an outrage."Horowitz pinpointed significant problems committed by three teams of FBI investigators. Two errors in particular stand out.The report highlights that the Fisa court was not told Page had contact with the CIA even after the FBI had become aware of that link, which would have severely diluted any suspicion of wrongdoing in his dealings with Russia. A justice department lawyer even altered an email to hide this crucial detail.The report also criticizes the FBI for critically relying on the highly contentious Steele dossier, an investigation conducted as opposition research against Trump that was paid for initially by Trump's Republican opponents and then by Democrats.Horowitz found the Steele dossier had played a "central and essential" role in the Fisa application, despite having contained "misstated or exaggerated" intelligence.Comey told Fox News the Steele dossier had been just "one of a bunch of different facts that were assembled to apply to the court". But he conceded it had "convinced the lawyers that they had enough to go forward" with a surveillance application.
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| Inmate's suicide shows need for reforms, advocates say Posted: 15 Dec 2019 07:43 AM PST  The final two months of Cachin Anderson's life in New York's prison system were filled with warnings he was a man in crisis. Prisoner advocates say Anderson's death and others illustrate how New York's prison system fails to ensure the safety of inmates who might hurt themselves if left alone in a cell. New York state prison inmates in solitary confinement or long-term "keeplock" units, in which inmates are isolated, were over five times more likely to kill themselves than prisoners in general confinement, according to a report from the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.
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| Holocaust architect's grave dug up in Berlin Posted: 16 Dec 2019 05:42 AM PST  The grave of a top Nazi who helped plan the Holocaust and was assassinated by British-trained agents during World War II has been dug up in Berlin, German police said on Monday. The grave of Reinhard Heydrich was "dug up in the night between Wednesday and Thursday" and an investigation has been opened on charges of disturbing a burial site, a police spokeswoman told AFP. Heydrich was the powerful head of Hitler's Reich Security Office, which included the Gestapo.
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| Police search for missing Texas mother and her newborn girl Posted: 15 Dec 2019 08:51 PM PST  Police in Austin are searching for Heide Broussard and her 2-week-old child, Margot Carey
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| A flight bound for New York took off from Germany, flew for 8 hours, then landed 85 miles from where it started Posted: 16 Dec 2019 09:01 AM PST  Passengers flying from Frankfurt to New York endured an extremely frustrating day last week when they ended up turning back halfway over the Atlantic.
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| India endures fifth day of violent protests as Modi doubles down on religious citizenship law Posted: 16 Dec 2019 07:56 AM PST  Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister, appealed for calm today as violent nationwide student-led protests against "anti-Muslim" citizenship legislation continued for a fifth day. Students from Jamia Militant Islamia University in Delhi took to the streets again despite police firing tear gas and baton charging protesters yesterday, accusing the government of introducing the legislation to suppress Muslims. Approximately 100 people were hospitalised and a group of 50 students was arrested overnight, and have since been released. The chancellor of the university has said she will press charges against the police after videos circulated on social media of officers brutally attacking peaceful protesters. In one video circulated on social media, a group of female students stopped a male student from being beaten up by forming a human shield. How to rescue a victim during a lynching incident. Real life demo by women students of Jamia pic.twitter.com/cHavlAtxmH— Natasha Badhwar (@natashabadhwar) December 15, 2019 Large protests also erupted in other major cities across India, including Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore. Students at Nadwa University in Lucknow reported being locked in by police, and claim stones were thrown at them. The Citizenship Amendment Act sets out rules that allow followers of six religions – including Christians, Sikhs and Hindus – who come from neighbouring Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh to become Indian citizens. Citizenship is offered on the condition applicants had to leave their country because of being persecuted for their religion, and they must have been living in India for six years. However, Mr Modi has not extended the offer of citizenship to Muslims. Critics, including the United Nations, say the act marginalises the minority of 193 million. It is the latest in a string of actions the government, led by the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, has taken against India's Muslim population. In August, Mr Modi revoked the autonomous status enjoyed by the Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir and announced 1.9 million people in Assam – largely Muslims – would be detained and deported as part of a new National Register of Citizens. Assam has been the site of the most violent protests, with six dead since Thursday, but the state has now been placed under curfew. Reminiscent of the ongoing crackdown in Kashmir, over 1,400 people have also been taken into preventive custody and internet services have been blocked. The north-eastern state of Assam witnessed the most violent protests with six people dying. It has now been placed under curfew Credit: Biju Boro/AP Protesters in Assam are concerned the bill could lead to unprecedented migration into the state, diluting its heavily inter-tribal culture and exacerbating ethnic tensions. Opposition leaders have said they will not recognise the law, including Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal. Sonia Gandhi, the leader of the opposition Congress party, accused Mr Modi of having "only a narrow agenda, to make people fight." Despite criticism Mr Modi doubled down on the passing of the act telling a rally on Sunday his decision was "1,000 per cent correct". "This is the time to maintain peace, unity and brotherhood," he implored. The largest demonstrations took place at Islamic academic institutions, including Aligarh Muslim University in Uttar Pradesh and Maulana Azad Urdu University in Hyderabad. Several Indian human rights groups and a Muslim political party have filed petitions to challenge the citizenship law in the Supreme Court. They argue it violates Article 14 of the Indian Constitution which guarantees the right to equality regardless of religion. The British Foreign Office has advised against all but essential travel to the north-east of India while the curfew continues.
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| The Real Meaning of the Statues on Easter Island Posted: 16 Dec 2019 01:24 PM PST  The stone monoliths have stumped scientists for centuries. Not anymore.
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| Brian Kilmeade ‘Stunned’ by Fox News Poll Differing From What ‘Fox & Friends’ Pushes About Impeachment Posted: 16 Dec 2019 07:57 AM PST  Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade confessed Monday that the latest Fox News poll, showing more than half of Americans supporting impeachment, left him "stunned"—seeing as it doesn't support his preferred narrative that sentiments are "trending away" from impeachment.In a survey released on Sunday, Fox News found that 50 percent of voters want the president impeachment and removed from office, with an additional 4 percentage points of responders supporting impeachment but not removal. This represented a slight uptick from the network's poll in late October when 49 percent supported impeachment and removal.Discussing the upcoming House impeachment vote on Fox & Friends Monday morning, the overtly pro-Trump morning crew framed the process as completely partisan, prompting Kilmeade to note that a handful of House Democrats may vote against impeachment."There were 31 Democrats who voted for Republicans against Bill Clinton," Kilmeade declared. "Now you have zero Republicans and you are looking at how many Democrats [switching]? Everyone is choosing to bury that part of this story—that's how weak this impeachment case is!"After the hosts insisted that dozens of House Democrats are in peril of losing their seats over impeachment, Kilmeade then turned to the poll results, expressing shock that the numbers flew in the face of everything they've been peddling lately."The Fox News poll came out, and I was stunned by this, it says 50 percent of the country want the president impeached," he exclaimed. (The survey, in fact, says half of the public wants Trump impeachment and removed.)"I was stunned to see that that's the number," Kilmeade added, "because I thought that things were trending away, although the president's approval rating did tick up in the same poll, so it's almost like a split personality." The president's approval rating did indeed see a bump in the latest poll, rising from 42 percent in October to 45 percent.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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| The 11 Cars We Are Most Excited About Driving in 2020 Posted: 16 Dec 2019 09:31 AM PST |
| Former Japanese official sentenced for killing reclusive son Posted: 16 Dec 2019 01:06 AM PST  A Tokyo court sentenced a former senior government official to six years in prison on Monday for fatally stabbing his socially reclusive son with a kitchen knife. The Tokyo District Court found Hideaki Kumazawa, 76, a former vice minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, guilty of repeatedly stabbing his son Eiichiro, then 44, in the neck and chest at his home in Tokyo in June. Kumazawa, who immediately called police and admitted to the killing, pleaded guilty to the crime during the trial.
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| Finland aims to repatriate Islamic State children from Syria 'as soon as possible' Posted: 16 Dec 2019 11:13 AM PST  Finland will try to repatriate children of Finnish mothers who traveled to Syria to join Islamic State "as soon as possible", Prime Minister Sanna Marin said on Monday. Finland is one of a number of European Union member states facing a decision over whether to bring home citizens with IS links who are trapped at the al-Hol camp displacement camp controlled by Kurds in northeastern Syria. More than 30 children born to 11 Finnish women are at al-Hol, according to Finnish media, and the fate of the mothers has caused divisions in Finland's five-party coalition government that took office last week.
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| 11 striking photos from 2019 show the US military in action around the world Posted: 16 Dec 2019 02:03 PM PST  Check out the year's best military images that show US troops jumping from planes, flying jets in close formation, fighting an intense blaze and more.
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| India protests rage over 'anti-Muslim' law Posted: 16 Dec 2019 09:59 AM PST  Fresh protests rocked India on Monday as anger grew over new citizenship legislation slammed as anti-Muslim, after six people died in the northeast and as many as 200 were injured in New Delhi. Critics say it is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist agenda to marginalise the 200-million strong Islamic minority. Modi denies this, tweeting Monday that the new law "does not affect any citizen of India of any religion", while accusing "vested interest groups" of stoking the "deeply distressing" unrest.
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| Argentina gang behind British tourist murder held welcome signs in airport arrival, say officials Posted: 16 Dec 2019 12:09 PM PST  The Argentinian crime gang which killed a British businessman held welcome signs in the airport arrivals hall as cover to spot wealthy tourists, officials say, as four men have been arrested in connection with the murder. Property magnate Matthew Gibbard and his family arrived at Ezeiza International Airport in Buenos Aires on Saturday morning, and were identified as targets because of their "high-end watches", according to a spokesman for the Ministry of Justice and Security in Argentina. CCTV shows that they were followed to their five star hotel across town, where Mr Gibbard, 50, and his stepson Stefan Zone, 28 were held up and shot while trying to fight off their attackers. Mr Gibbard died shortly afterwards and Mr Zone remains in hospital with a gunshot wound to the leg, which narrowly missed his femoral artery. One witness, who arrived in the aftermath of the shooting told a local news crew that he saw Mr Gibbard's wife next to her husband screaming "stay with me, stay with me." He added that "the son was also screaming in pain on the floor. It was very chaotic and disturbing." Guards were outside the Faena hotel in Buenos Aires after the attack Credit: AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko In a press conference yesterday, the Chief of Security for Buenos Aires, Marcelo D'Alessandro said: "This gang works in the arrivals hall of the Ezeiza airport, where they look for tourists coming from Europe and the United States. From there they begin their pursuit." "The modus operandi was to spot people at the airport wearing high-end watches, follow them to their destination, and rob them. "They had a kind of placard, they would pretend to work to work for Uber," he added. Mr Gibbard was a director at Tingdene, a retirement homes firm, which turned over £20 million last year, according to Companies House. He is also listed as a director for a local vineyard, and a vegetation management company. His stepson, Mr Zone is understood to be a product manager at JP Morgan, and works in London. Yesterday, police raided 18 properties across Buenos Aires and arrested four men, including an Argentinian who is thought to be the gang leader. They are still hunting at least six more people involved in the attack, including the shooter. It is understood that the chauffeur which drove the family to the hotel is not under suspicion. "We were able to identify the perpetrators and we are working to arrest them," said Mr D'Alessandro, adding that one of the suspects arrived on a flight from the Caribbean only last Monday. "Saturday's wasn't the first crime they've committed," he said, linking the group to an attack on a Canadian businessman outside the Intercontinental hotel last month. On Thursday, before the attack on Mr Gibbard and his stepson, an Argentinian was arrested for trying to steal a watch in a similar manner in the Palermo area of Buenos Aires. He was linked to the same gang by Mr D'Alessandro. Today, there will be a meeting between police and security forces to try and move the investigation forward. "It is an atrocious act and the loss of a human life is irreversible. Our job is to stop these criminals and bring them to Justice," said Diego Santilli, Argentina's security Minister. On Sunday, the president, Alberto Fernandez branded the incident "atrocious" adding: "We must be severe, we cannot tolerate this." Last night the Foreign Office told The Telegraph that they keep all their travel advice "under constant review."
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| Five things you should know about guns lost by G4S, the largest security company in the world Posted: 16 Dec 2019 09:04 AM PST  Guns that were supposed to be secured by G4S have been bought by children, stolen by criminals and used in murders, rapes and robberies across the U.S.
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| Could This Be The End Of Iran? Posted: 14 Dec 2019 09:05 PM PST  Iran is facing serious internal and external problems.
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| Supreme Court Lets Ruling Stand Forbidding Prosecution of Homeless for Sleeping in Public Spaces Posted: 16 Dec 2019 10:39 AM PST  The Supreme Court on Monday chose not to hear the city of Boise's defense of its policy of prosecuting homeless people who sleep in a public space, letting a lower court ruling stand that terms the city's policy "cruel and unusual punishment."Boise, the capital of Idaho, fined or jailed homeless people for sleeping in public, contending the policy was needed to prevent unsanitary and unsafe conditions from developing in the city. Six current and former homeless residents of the city, who were fined between $25 to $75 and served one to two days in jail, sued the city government in federal court in 2009.The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in San Francisco, California, ruled in 2018 that Boise's policy violated the 8th amendment, which forbids cruel and unusual punishment. The ruling prevents cities from punishing homeless people for sleeping in public if there are not enough beds available at local shelters to house them."As long as there is no option of sleeping indoors, the government cannot criminalize indigent, homeless people for sleeping outdoors, on public property, on the false premise they had a choice in the matter," the court said in its ruling. The city of Boise maintained that it did not issue citations to people when shelters were full, and added that two of the city's shelters had a policy to never turn away a person in need of a bed.The state of California is currently in the midst of its own homelessness crisis, with 60,000 homeless in Los Angeles County and 28,000 in San Francisco.
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| Trump: Giuliani 'does this out of love’ Posted: 16 Dec 2019 01:22 PM PST  President Trump talks about Rudy Giuliani's Ukraine investigations Downloadable
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| Police: Elected official's wife dumped drink on reporter Posted: 16 Dec 2019 08:50 AM PST  The wife of a local elected official in Georgia faces criminal charges after she reportedly dumped a drink on a reporter's head at a county meeting. Abbey Winters, the wife of Chattooga County Commissioner Jason Winters, intentionally poured a drink over the head of AllOnGeorgia reporter Casie Bryant just before a county budget meeting was to start around 11 a.m. Friday, witnesses told police. Winters, 35, "said something to the effect of the Victim 'deserved it,'" according to the incident report from the Summerville Police Department.
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| Judge rejects claims by Trump ex-adviser Flynn of FBI misconduct Posted: 16 Dec 2019 02:12 PM PST  A U.S. judge on Monday flatly rejected a last-ditch bid by President Donald Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn to get the criminal charge to which he already pleaded guilty dropped, brushing aside his claims of misconduct by prosecutors and the FBI. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan ordered Flynn to appear for sentencing on Jan. 28, concluding that the retired Army lieutenant general had failed to prove a "single" violation by the prosecution or FBI officials for withholding evidence that could exonerate him. Sullivan's 92-page ruling represented a major blow to Flynn, who has tried to backpedal since pleading guilty in 2017 to lying to the FBI about his conversations with then-Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
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| Pakistan Won in Afghanistan (While America Lost) Posted: 15 Dec 2019 07:00 AM PST  How did this happen?
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| Brexit Bulletin: Power Politics Posted: 16 Dec 2019 08:26 AM PST  Days to Brexit Deadline: 46(Bloomberg) -- Sign up here to get the Brexit Bulletin in your inbox every weekday.What's Happening? Boris Johnson is flexing his muscles on Brexit already.A majority of 80 changes everything. For the first time, a U.K. prime minister has control over Brexit. He's already wielding that power.Before the election, ministers trying to win votes on Johnson's Brexit deal agreed to give lawmakers a vote on whether to extend the transition period — the 11 months, starting on Feb. 1, that Britain will get to adjust to life outside the European Union and, crucially, reach a trade deal with the bloc. We now know that when the Withdrawal Agreement Bill goes back before MPs on Friday, that concession will be nowhere to be seen. The government now has — in the prime minister's words — a "stonking mandate." Sops to the anti-no-deal brigade are no longer necessary.Downing Street's modus operandi hasn't changed, even if the circumstances have. Preparations for a no-deal Brexit will continue as the country hurtles toward another apparently immutable deadline: If Britain doesn't have a trade deal by the end of 2020, it could still crash out of the EU's orbit in what would look very much like a no-deal Brexit. The threat is more realistic now because Parliament won't have a veto.Even so, Johnson has left himself room for maneuver. He will still be able to extend the transition if a trade deal with the EU is judged to be in sight. We know he can adapt his positions: After all, this is a man who said he would rather "die in a ditch" than delay Brexit.Whichever course he pursues, it shows how much political freedom a majority can buy at home. What currency it has in Brussels, though, is far less clear. For the EU officials anxious that a trade deal can't be inked in 11 months, the bigger question remains: What deal does Johnson actually want?Today's Must-ReadsWho will be the next Labour leader? With Jeremy Corbyn heading for the history books, Bloomberg reporters run the rule over some of the potential candidates to fill his shoes. Corbyn's failed Brexit strategy sealed Labour's fate, Caroline Flint, who lost her Don Valley seat on Thursday, writes in the Guardian. Meanwhile, there is "no deep bond" between the Conservatives and the northern voters who abandoned Labour last week, says Rachel Wolf, a co-author of the Tory election manifesto. "One must be forged."Brexit in BriefFlintstorm | Infighting has broken out in Labour before a leadership contest is even properly underway, after defeated former MP Caroline Flint accused the party's foreign affairs spokeswoman, Emily Thornberry, of calling voters "stupid." Thornberry denies making the remark, and said on Monday she's taking legal action against Flint. Unlucky Seven | U.K. manufacturing production suffered its worst month in more than seven years in December, increasing the chances that the economy as a whole will contract this quarter. Johnson's decisive victory does remove some near-term concerns, though if Brexit undermines growth it could impact his plans to both increase spending and keep control of the deficit.Dismantling | U.K. stocks have been on the rise since the election result became clear, but JPMorgan Chase & Co. thinks the post-landslide rally may be on its last legs. That contradicts the views of several other leading Wall Street banks, which have suggested there is more headroom for stocks. Onward and Upwards? | U.K. house prices should rise by 2% next year on the back of Boris Johnson's election win, according to property website operator Rightmove. Home values in London will probably increase by 1%, the first gain since 2016, Rightmove said.Want to keep up with Brexit?You can follow us @Brexit on Twitter, and listen to Bloomberg Westminster every weekday. It's live at midday on Bloomberg Radio and is available as a podcast too. Share the Brexit Bulletin: Colleagues, friends and family can sign up here. For full EU coverage, try the Brussels Edition.For even more: Subscribe to Bloomberg All Access for our unmatched global news coverage and two in-depth daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close.To contact the author of this story: Edward Evans in London at eevans3@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Adam Blenford at ablenford@bloomberg.net, Caitlin MorrisonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Turkey sends armed drone to N.Cyprus amid gas dispute Posted: 15 Dec 2019 04:57 PM PST  A Turkish military drone was delivered to northern Cyprus on Monday amid growing tensions over Turkey's deal with Libya that extended its claims to the gas-rich eastern Mediterranean. The Bayraktar TB2 drone landed at Gecitkale Airport in Famagusta around 0700 GMT, an AFP correspondent said, after the breakaway northern Cyprus government approved the use of the airport for unmanned aerial vehicles. It followed a deal signed last month between Libya and Turkey that could prove crucial in the scramble for recently discovered gas reserves in the eastern Mediterranean.
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| Greta Thunberg apologizes for "against the wall" comment Posted: 14 Dec 2019 11:33 PM PST  Thunberg says she was translating a Swedish saying into English and was not calling for violence.
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| The US military wants to deliver drinking water to troops in the desert by sucking it out of the air Posted: 16 Dec 2019 01:32 PM PST  DARPA is trying to figure out how to extract water from the ambient air as a way to provide drinking water to troops on the move in really dry areas.
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| Mom settles breastfeeding lawsuit with church that said she could 'cause men to lust' Posted: 16 Dec 2019 10:13 AM PST ![Mom settles breastfeeding lawsuit with church that said she could 'cause men to lust']( "Mom settles breastfeeding lawsuit with church that said she could 'cause men to lust'") Staff at the Nazarene church in Michigan told Amy Marchant that she was being "immodest and could cause men to lust and stumble."
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| Brazil’s environment minister ridicules climate talks with image of steak dinner Posted: 16 Dec 2019 05:44 AM PST  Brazil's environment minister Ricardo Salles has taunted COP25 climate talks with a photo of a large steak after President Jair Bolsonaro dismissed them as a "commercial game".Mr Salles tweeted the photo with the caption: "To compensate for our emissions at COP, a vegetarian lunch!"
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| Utah snowboarder triggers avalanche that buries, kills him Posted: 15 Dec 2019 09:37 PM PST  A Utah snowboarder was killed after he was buried in an avalanche that he unintentionally triggered in a gulch where another snowboarder died seven years ago, according to the Utah Avalanche Center. The snowboarder left Canyons Village in Park City through a backcountry exit gate at the top of a lift Sunday to access an area called Dutch Draw, the center said. Crews dug out Raymond M. Tauszik, 45, of Salt Lake City, and tried to save him, but he ultimately died, Summit County Sheriff Justin Martinez said.
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| Philippine court dismisses case seeking $3.9 billion of Marcos wealth Posted: 16 Dec 2019 02:14 AM PST  A Philippine court threw out a high-profile, 32-year-old forfeiture case on Monday involving the family of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, citing insufficient evidence to order the return of $3.9 billion of allegedly ill-gotten wealth. The country's anti-graft court decided in favor of the Marcoses for the fourth time since August, with judges ruling that photocopied documents could not be used as evidence, so the case would not proceed. It has been referred to widely as the "mother" of cases in a three-decade effort by a special presidential panel to recover an estimated $10 billion allegedly siphoned off by Marcos and a family that had lived lavishly during his 20 years in power, 14 of which were ruled under martial law.
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| Jeremy Corbyn should never have apologised over anti-Semitism claims, says French far-Left ally Posted: 15 Dec 2019 03:27 PM PST  French far-Left firebrand Jean-Luc Mélenchon has sparked uproar by claiming Jeremy Corbyn should never have apologised over "churlish" anti-Semitism accusations, which he claimed were trumped up by the chief rabbi and Israeli Right. Mr Mélenchon, who came fourth in France's 2017 presidential election, claimed that the UK Labour leader lost a part of the electorate during his election campaign by showing "weakness" over such allegations. In a blog, he said: "(Corbyn) had to endure, unaided, churlish anti-Semitism claims from England's chief rabbi and various influence networks linked to Likoud (the hard Right party of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu". "Instead of riposting, he spent his time apologising and making pledges. In both cases, he showed weakness, which worried popular sectors (of the electorate)," he said. The Labour defeat "must serve as a lesson", said Mr Mélenchon, an MP who leads the France Unbowed party. "Corbyn spent his time being insulted and stabbed in the back by a handful of Blairite MPs. Instead of riposting, he took it on the chin." Jeremy Corbyn was personally accused of 11 counts of anti-Semitism in a leaked Jewish Labour Movement dossier this month Credit: TOBY MELVILLE/Reuters Earlier this month, Mr Corbyn was personally accused of 11 acts of anti-Semitism in an extensive leaked dossier detailing an alleged "cover-up" within the Labour Party over its treatment of Jews. The submission compiled by the Jewish Labour Movement alleges Mr Corbyn "has repeatedly associated with, sympathised with and engaged in anti-Semitism". But Mr Mélenchon dismissed such allegations and said that in France he would never let himself "be influenced by lobbies of any sort - be they financial or from a sectarian community." He then went on to slam what he called the "arrogant and sectarian dictates" of the Crif, France's Jewish umbrella group. The Crif slammed the claims, saying they were reminiscent of "Vichy rhetoric about the Jewish conspiracy". They were, it said, "a shocking and surprising hotchpotch: what link is there between the Crif and the British elections?," asked Crif president Francis Kalifat. The "media-hungry" Marxist's "conspiracy theory drift speaks volumes about his thought processes". The French government condemned Mr Mélenchon's comments, with education minister Jean-Michel Blanquer branding them "foul" and liable to "fuel anti-Semitism". French interior minister Christophe Castaner denounced Mr Mélénchon's comments as "foul" Credit: LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP Christophe Castaner, the interior minister, called them "shocking and inappropriate". After winning almost 20 per cent of the vote in the first round of France's 2017 presidential elections, Mr Mélenchon's popularity has nosedived following a string of controversial outbursts. Last week, he was handed a three-month suspended prison term and an €8,000 (£6,700) fine for intimidating officials investigating his funding. In October 2018 prosecutors launched searches of his party offices and home. Mr Mélenchon was filmed shouting "I am the Republic!" at a police officer and shoving him. With colleagues he then tried to break into the party HQ.
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| Was America's M16 Rifle a Bad Weapon to Fight North Vietnam? Posted: 16 Dec 2019 01:40 AM PST  A history lesson.
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| Zimbabwe Vice President’s Wife Charged With Attempted Murder Posted: 16 Dec 2019 03:19 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Sign up to our Next Africa newsletter and follow Bloomberg Africa on TwitterThe wife of Zimbabwean Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, who was arrested during the weekend over alleged fraud and money laundering, now faces an additional charge of attempted murder.Prosecutors accused Marry Mubaiwa of deliberately denying the vice president medical attention at the height of his illness and unlawfully interfering with medical procedures when he finally got to a hospital."On 23 June 2019, the accused kept on denying the complainant access to medical treatment and the security team had to force their way to take the complainant to Netcare Hospital," according to charges read out by Prosecutor Michael Reza in the capital, Harare.The Magistrate Court ordered Mubaiwa detained until Dec. 30 She was not required to take a plea during Monday's session.Chiwenga, a possible challenger to President Emmerson Mnangagwa, returned to Harare in November after spending months in South Africa, China and India seeking treatment for an undisclosed illness. The retired general orchestrated the army intervention that toppled former President Robert Mugabe and brought Mnangagwa to power.To contact the reporter on this story: Desmond Kumbuka in Harare at dkumbuka@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Gordon Bell at gbell16@bloomberg.net, Helen Nyambura, Dulue MbachuFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Trump said China would more than double its agricultural purchases from the US. Farmers are skeptical. Posted: 15 Dec 2019 10:44 AM PST  At a press conference Friday night in Beijing, China declined to confirm a farm purchase quota touted by the White House.
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| Mississippi man accused of quadruple homicide could walk away from jail after six trials Posted: 16 Dec 2019 07:58 AM PST  Curtis Flowers, who has been tried a record six times for the same crime, will appear in court for a bond hearing Monday in Mississippi.
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| 5 Italian men sentenced to jail for rape of tourist in popular holiday resort Posted: 15 Dec 2019 07:55 AM PST  Five Italian men have been jailed for the gang rape of a British tourist in the popular resort of Meta di Sorrento, south of Naples.
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| Mexico says 2 more anchors may have come from Cortes' ships Posted: 16 Dec 2019 02:54 PM PST ![Mexico says 2 more anchors may have come from Cortes' ships]( "Mexico says 2 more anchors may have come from Cortes' ships") Two more 16th century anchors have been found at the spot where conquistador Hernán Cortés is believed to have scuttled his ships, experts said Monday. Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History said that while the anchors cannot be positively identified as belonging to Cortés' fleet, they appear to match the time period. Another Spanish expedition came to the area just after Cortés, so the anchors could have been from those ships.
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| U.S. spending deal would raise tobacco age, deny some Trump border wall money Posted: 16 Dec 2019 11:17 AM PST  Republican and Democratic lawmakers hope to pass the $1.4 trillion spending bill before current government funding runs out on Saturday, to avoid a partial government shutdown and head off the kind of messy budget battle that resulted in a record 35-day interruption of government services late last year and early this year. This drew opposition from bipartisan lawmakers who said it hurt innovation at medical device companies.
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| Nunes Urges Schiff to Accept the IG’s Findings on FBI FISA Abuses: ‘You Are in Need of Rehabilitation’ Posted: 16 Dec 2019 06:47 AM PST  Ranking House Intelligence Committee Republican Devin Nunes rebuked committee chairman Adam Schiff in a Sunday letter, telling Schiff he is "in need of rehabilitation" if he is to fully accept the Justice Department's inspector general report detailing the FISA abuses committed by the FBI during their Russia probe."After publishing false conclusions of such enormity on a topic directly within this committee's oversight responsibilities, it is clear you are in need of rehabilitation, and I hope this letter will serve as the first step in that vital process," Nunes wrote in a Sunday letter.After originally dismissing Nunes's concerns about the warrant process, Schiff admitted that the FBI committed significant errors in its application to the FISA court to surveil Trump-campaign adviser Carter Page."FBI and DOJ officials did not 'abuse' the [FISA] process, omit material information, or subvert this vital tool to spy on the Trump campaign," Schiff wrote in a memo last year, adding a claim that the warrant applications "made only narrow use of information from Steele's sources."However, the inspector general's report documented 17 "significant errors and omissions" in the process and said the FBI failed to inform the FISA court about the partisan origins of the Steele dossier, which they also failed to independently corroborate.On Sunday, Schiff said he "certainly accepts" that "the inspector general found things that we didn't know 2 years ago."Nunes commended Schiff for that acknowledgement, calling it "a valuable first step—a baby step, but a step nonetheless—in your rehabilitation.""As part of your rehabilitation, it's crucial that you admit you have a problem—you are hijacking the Intelligence Committee for political purposes while excusing and covering up intelligence agency abuses," Nunes wrote. "Rehabilitation will be a long, arduous process."The intelligence committee held an impeachment hearing last week and the lower chamber is expected to hold a full House vote this week to impeach President Trump over accusations that he engaged in a quid pro quo involving temporarily withheld U.S. military aid to Ukraine. Trump is accused of witholding the aid to coerce Ukrainian officials to announce the opening of a corruption investigation into Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
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| Why South Korea's Marines Are Such an Excellent Fighting Force Posted: 16 Dec 2019 05:05 AM PST  North Korea should be wary.
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| Thousands of Gambians demand President Barrow step down Posted: 16 Dec 2019 01:15 PM PST  Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Gambia's capital Banjul on Monday demanding that President Adama Barrow respect his pledge to quit after three years in office. The president, a relative unknown at the time, defeated former autocrat Yahya Jammeh in elections in the tiny West African state in 2016. According to the founding charter of Barrow's ruling coalition, the president was meant to lead a provisional government for three years and then call elections, and not stand.
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| Russia Seeks to Lift Ban on ‘Blood Diamonds’ From African Ally Posted: 15 Dec 2019 12:00 AM PST ![Russia Seeks to Lift Ban on 'Blood Diamonds' From African Ally]( "Russia Seeks to Lift Ban on 'Blood Diamonds' From African Ally") (Bloomberg) -- Russia is proposing to move toward ending the ban on selling so-called blood diamonds from the Central African Republic, a former French colony that's struck recent military and commercial ties with Moscow, amid resistance from the U.S. and Europe.The CAR, which is mired in civil conflict, should be granted a "road map" outlining the steps it needs to take to get the suspension of diamond sales lifted, Russian Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev said in an interview in Moscow."We need to ensure that illicitly traded diamonds move to the legal marketplace, bringing income for people and taxes for the state," Moiseev said. "The situation in CAR isn't getting any better, and we can't delay this any more."Russia's pressing for action as President Vladimir Putin seeks to challenge the U.S. and other major powers in a new push to restore Soviet-era influence in the resource-rich African continent. He hosted more than 50 African leaders in the first Russia-Africa summit in October and his ally Yevgeny Prigozhin's mercenary venture is active in about a dozen countries, including the CAR.Russia next year takes over the rotating chair of the Kimberley Process, a group of countries and non-governmental organizations that monitors the trade in diamonds to avoid illegal armed groups benefiting from it. The CAR was blacklisted in 2013, though the embargo was eased slightly three years later with the establishment of government-run "green zones" where the precious stones are mined.Russia argues that the full export of CAR diamonds, whose registered sales have slumped to 39,000 carats a year from 300,000 carats prior to the ban, would benefit the impoverished nation of 5 million, where residents continue to be involved in the illicit diamond trade. They have no other choice and "they get very little money for their work" as the smuggled gems fetch much lower prices, said Moiseev.'First Step'The Indian-chaired plenary of the Kimberley Process in New Delhi last month agreed to grant the CAR government the right to issue certificates for the export of rough diamonds from the green zones. Previously, the precious stones could be exported only after approval from the international group's monitoring team. The Russian Finance Ministry called this a "first step" toward the legalization of CAR diamonds."Our proposals don't reflect commercial interests," Moiseev said. "I know certain participants are starting to introduce politics into the discussion of this issue. Particularly now, when diamonds are being smuggled from the CAR, there are many benefiting from the situation."The CAR is "very much in agreement" with Russia's proposal, Communications Minister Ange-Maxime Kazagui said by phone. "We think the embargo should be lifted across our nation."The European Union won't support the lifting of the restrictions without a "convincing" indication, including by United Nations experts, that gems are mined in conflict-free zones and that the CAR authorities can guarantee full control over exports, the EU said in an emailed statement. "This is not currently the case," it added.Russian activities in the CAR appear to seek to "exploit the country's fragile institutions and weak rule of law rather than supporting good governance, transparency and sound economic growth," the U.S. State Department said by email.Neither the EU nor the U.S. responded to a request for comment on the specific Russian proposal for a "road map" enabling the CAR to meet the criteria for lifting the embargo.Putin's ChefRussia deployed military personnel in the CAR after obtaining a UN waiver early last year to arm and defend the government, which appealed for help after France ended a three-year peacekeeping mission. Putin's ally Prigozhin has also dispatched contract fighters to the country and appointed an associate as official security adviser to President Faustin Archange-Touadera, according to Russian media reports. Prigozhin didn't respond to an emailed request for comment via his Concord catering company.In return for assistance, Prigozhin secured gold and diamond concessions in the CAR, the reports say. Three Russian journalists murdered in the CAR in mid-2018 were investigating Prigozhin's activities, according to exiled tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who funded their trip.While Russia seems unlikely to swing opinion within the Kimberley Process behind lifting the embargo on the CAR, which would require a consensus, the initiative marks a crisis for the legitimacy of the international mechanism to keep the trade in diamonds clean, according to activists."Russia is effectively saying the process has failed completely and is no longer of use," said Joanne Lebert, executive director of Impact, a Canada-based NGO that quit the Kimberley Process in 2017, arguing the certification process gave consumers false confidence that diamonds are coming from non-conflict areas.Russia's trying to bring the CAR's exports into line with the Kimberley Process, which aims to help the country "start trading diamonds legally" rather than outlaw sales permanently, the Finance Ministry's press service said in a phone message.\--With assistance from Pauline Bax, Mahmoud Habboush, Swansy Afonso and Yuliya Fedorinova.To contact the reporters on this story: Evgenia Pismennaya in Moscow at epismennaya@bloomberg.net;Henry Meyer in Moscow at hmeyer4@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Gregory L. White at gwhite64@bloomberg.net, Tony Halpin, Karl MaierFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| How US Army engineers keep things working at the US's northernmost military base in the world Posted: 16 Dec 2019 11:35 AM PST  The location and harsh conditions they face mean Army engineers have to use special techniques to keep everything running properly.
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| On Battle of the Bulge's 75th anniversary, WWII vets return to celebrate – and pay tribute Posted: 16 Dec 2019 12:18 PM PST  Louisville native George Merz is among a group of American WWII veterans whose return to Europe marked the 75th anniversary of Battle of the Bulge.
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| Florida truck driver arrested in 1980 Colorado killing Posted: 16 Dec 2019 07:37 AM PST  A Florida truck driver has been arrested and charged in the killing of a college student working as an intern for a Denver radio station nearly 40 years ago, a break in the cold case that authorities on Monday credited to the analysis of DNA information shared on genealogy websites combined with old fashioned police work. James Curtis Clanton of Lake Butler, Florida, was arrested in the 1980 slaying and sexual assault of Helene Pruszynski, 21, after being surveilled by investigators for a week and extradited to Colorado over the weekend, Douglas County Tony Spurlock said. Pruszynski was from Massachusetts and had only been working as an intern at KHOW-AM for two weeks when she was killed on Jan. 16, 1980, Spurlock said.
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| The perplexing politics of Priyanka Chopra, who has been called 'hypocritical' for her patriotic statements Posted: 15 Dec 2019 08:37 AM PST  The actress has raised eyebrows with her politics, backing her native India at particularly tense moments with countries like Pakistan.
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| Pentagon chief urges Iraq to stop attacks on bases housing U.S. forces Posted: 16 Dec 2019 03:14 AM PST  U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper on Monday urged Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi to take steps to prevent bases housing U.S. troops from being shelled, a statement from the premier's office said. Esper's call came after a senior U.S. military official warned last week that attacks by Iranian-backed groups on bases hosting U.S. forces in Iraq were pushing all sides closer to an uncontrollable escalation.
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