| Meet the lawyer at the center of the Trump universe Posted: 08 Dec 2019 10:35 AM PST  Marc Mukasey has deep, personal connections within President Trump's orbit, and he has worked on a number of high-profile cases involving the president.
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| Four rockets hit military base near Baghdad airport Posted: 09 Dec 2019 03:19 AM PST ![Four rockets hit military base near Baghdad airport]( "Four rockets hit military base near Baghdad airport") Four Katyusha rockets hit a military base near Baghdad International Airport early on Monday, wounding at least six soldiers, Iraqi security officials said. It was the latest incident in a series of rocket attacks in recent weeks. Iraqi security forces discovered a rocket launcher and some defused rockets nearby after searching the area following the the attack, a statement from Iraqi security forces said.
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| Erdogan says Turkey aims to settle 1 million refugees in Syria offensive area Posted: 09 Dec 2019 12:08 PM PST  Turkey aims to settle one million Syrian war refugees in the area of northern Syria where it carried out a military incursion in October, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday. Turkey and its Syrian rebel allies launched the offensive against the Kurdish YPG militia, which Ankara views as a terrorist group. After seizing a strip of land inside Syria 120 km (75 miles) long and around 30 km (18 miles) wide running from the town of Ras al Ain to Tel Abyad, Turkey signed separate deals with the United States and Russia to halt its assault.
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| 'I Got Tired of Hunting Black and Hispanic People' Posted: 08 Dec 2019 08:55 AM PST  NEW YORK -- At a police station tucked into an end-of-the-line subway terminal in South Brooklyn, the new commander instructed officers to think of white and Asian people as "soft targets" and urged them to instead go after blacks and Latinos for minor offenses like jumping the turnstile, a half-dozen officers said in sworn statements."You are stopping too many Russian and Chinese," one of the officers, Daniel Perez, recalled the commander telling him earlier this decade.Another officer, Aaron Diaz, recalled the same commander saying in 2012, "You should write more black and Hispanic people."The sworn statements, gathered in the last few months as part of a discrimination lawsuit, deal with a period between 2011-15. But they are now emerging publicly at a time when policing in the subway has become a contentious issue, sparking protests over a crackdown on fare evasion and other low-level offenses.The commander, Constantin Tsachas, was in charge of more than 100 officers who patrolled a swath of the subway system in Brooklyn, his first major command. Since then, he has been promoted to the second-in-command of policing the subway system throughout Brooklyn. Along the way, more than half a dozen subordinates claim, he gave them explicit directives about whom to arrest based on race.Those subordinates recently came forward, many for the first time, providing signed affidavits to support a discrimination lawsuit brought by four black and Hispanic police officers.The officers claim they faced retaliation from the New York Police Department because they objected to what they said was a long-standing quota system for arrests and tickets, which they argued mainly affected black and Hispanic New Yorkers.The authorities have deployed hundreds of additional officers to the subways, provoking a debate about overpolicing and the criminalization of poverty. Videos of arrests of young black men and of a woman selling churros in the subway system have gone viral in recent weeks. Demonstrators have taken to the subway system and jumped turnstiles in protest.Six officers said in their affidavits that Tsachas, now a deputy inspector, pressured them to enforce low-level violations against black and Hispanic people, while discouraging them from doing the same to white or Asian people.Tsachas declined to comment when reached by telephone this week, but his union representative said the inspector denied the allegations of misconduct. The Police Department also declined to address the allegations.The department has said in the past that its enforcement of fare evasion is not aimed at black and Hispanic people.More than three years ago, when Tsachas was promoted to his current rank, the police commissioner at the time, William J. Bratton, said that allegations Tsachas pushed quotas were false."I have full faith and support in him," Bratton said. He added that Tsachas had "the requisite skills and comes highly recommended."Most of the people arrested on charges of fare evasion in New York are black or Hispanic, according to data the Police Department has been required to report under local law since 2017.Between October 2017 and June 2019, black and Hispanic people, who account for slightly more than half the population in New York City, made up nearly 73% of those who got a ticket for fare evasion and whose race was recorded. They also made up more than 90% of those who were arrested, rather than given a ticket.Some elected officials have complained about the apparent racial disparity in arrests, saying it may indicate bias on the part of officers or an unofficial policy of racial profiling by the police."The focus of black and brown people, even if other people were doing the same crime, points to what many of us have been saying for a while," the city's public advocate, Jumaane Williams, said. "The same actions lead to different results, unfortunately, depending on where you live and an overlay of what you look like."Enforcement has surged nearly 50% in 2019, as city police officers issued 22,000 more tickets for fare evasion this year compared to 2018, according to Police Department data from Nov. 10.While the affidavits focus on a time period that ended nearly five years ago, they suggest at least one police commander openly pushed racial profiling when making arrests in the subway."I got tired of hunting Black and Hispanic people because of arrest quotas," one former officer, Christopher LaForce, said in his affidavit, explaining his decision to retire in 2015.In the affidavits, the officers said that different enforcement standards applied to different stations across Transit District 34, which spanned stations across South Brooklyn: Brooklyn's Chinatown in Sunset Park; neighborhoods with large Orthodox Jewish communities; a corner of Flatbush that is home to many Caribbean immigrants; and the Russian enclave around Brighton Beach."Tsachas would get angry if you tried to patrol subway stations in predominantly white or Asian neighborhoods" LaForce said in his affidavit. He added that the commander would redirect officers to stations in neighborhoods with larger black and Hispanic populations.Diaz, who retired from the Police Department last year, described in his affidavit how on one occasion Tsachas seemed irritated at him for having stopped several Asian people for fare evasion and told him he should be issuing tickets to "more black and Hispanic people."At the time, Diaz said, he was assigned to the N Line, which passes through neighborhoods with large numbers of Chinese Americans. He had arrested multiple residents of that neighborhoods for doubling up as they went through the turnstiles, according to his affidavit.Other officers described similar experiences. Some of the officers claimed in affidavits that Tsachas urged his officers to come up with reasons to stop black men, especially those with tattoos, and check them for warrants.Of the six officers, all but one is retired. They are all black or Hispanic. The affidavits were given to The New York Times by one of the four officers who has sued the Police Department, Lt. Edwin Raymond.The allegations in the affidavits were bolstered by a police union official, Corey Grable, who gave a deposition in June in the same lawsuit that recounted his interactions with Tsachas. He recalled Tsachas had once complained about a subordinate who Tsachas said seemed to go for "soft targets."Unsure what that meant, Grable asked if the officer was ticketing old ladies for minor offenses? Tsachas responded: "No, Asian."Grable, who is black, asked, "Would you have been more comfortable if these guys were black or Hispanic?""Yes," Tsachas replied, according to Grable's recollection.Tsachas joined the Police Department in 2001 and patrolled public housing developments in Harlem for five years. He later analyzed crime patterns in Queens and across the city before being transferred to the Transit Bureau. He was a captain in 2011 when he was appointed to command Brooklyn's District 34, a position he held for at least four years.In 2015, he took command of neighboring Transit District 32, where Raymond, who is currently suing him, worked. At the time Raymond held the rank of police officer.Raymond has charged in the lawsuit that Tsachas blocked his promotion by giving him a low evaluation as punishment for not making enough arrests.Raymond, who is now a patrol supervisor in Brooklyn, recorded a conversation in October 2015 in which Tsachas encouraged him to arrest more people and gave an example of the sort of arrest he did not want: a 42-year-old Asian woman with no identification arrested on a charge of fare beating."That's not going to fly," he said, according to the recording, first described in a New York Times Magazine article.Raymond, who still had the rank of police officer at the time, responded that it was unconstitutional to consider race when deciding whom to arrest. Tsachas, a captain at the time, then apologized, saying the comment "didn't come out the way it's supposed to."Raymond said he believed Tsachas should not have been promoted. "It's a spit in the face of communities of color that this man is given more power after being exposed as a bigot," he said.This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company
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| The Russian Navy Has Some Problems Posted: 08 Dec 2019 11:19 PM PST  Yes, they received 23 new ships this year. That's where the good news ends.
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| 'An outright lie': Ohio lawmaker shown to be linked to group pushing rightwing Christian bills Posted: 09 Dec 2019 02:00 AM PST  Timothy Ginter, who said he had 'no knowledge' of Project Blitz, was listed as co-chair of state branch of group behind the campaignAn Ohio legislator who said he had "no knowledge" of a rightwing Christian bill mill called Project Blitz is, in fact, the co-chair of the state branch of an organization behind the campaign.The Ohio state representative Timothy Ginter sponsored a bill called the Student Religious Liberties Act. Opponents argued the bill would provide students with a religious exemption to facts, and would frighten teachers and school administrators into including religion in school functions.The Guardian revealed the bill was nearly identical to one promoted by Project Blitz, a state legislative project guided by three Christian right organizations, including the Congressional Prayer Caucus (CPC), WallBuilders and the ProFamily Legislators Conference. Project Blitz aims to promote and help pass conservative legislation across the US to fulfil its rightwing Christian agenda.When initially approached, Ginter told the Guardian in an email from a legislative aide that he had "no knowledge of 'Project Blitz' and has not been working with WallBuilders or the Congressional Prayer Caucus".However, a screenshot shows Ginter was listed as the co-chair of the Ohio Prayer Caucus, the state chapter of the Congressional Prayer Caucus, as recently as January 2019. Ginter's former chief of staff, Chris Albanese, is currently listed as the state director of the state chapter of CPC, Ohio Prayer Caucus."I would call it an outright lie," said Frederick Clarkson, a senior research analyst with Political Research Associates, and an expert on the Christian right. "The Prayer Caucus in the states are the action arm of Project Blitz – it is Project Blitz," he said. "When he told you, 'I've never heard of Project Blitz,' that was a lie," said Clarkson.The Guardian repeatedly called and emailed both Ginter and the the Republican Ohio house speaker, Larry Householder. Neither responded to these phone or email requests.In a statement at the time, Ginter argued the bill was necessary because, "well-funded groups" were intimidating school officials with "the thread of litigation". His bill, he argued, would clarify their responsibilities.Ginter also argued the Student Religious Liberties Bill was not a Christian bill, because it does not explicitly mention Christianity. However, the Ohio Prayer Caucus he co-chaired explicitly lays out that it support legislators "who are standing for faith, morality and Judeo-Christian principles".The Congressional Prayer Caucus also circulated an Ohio Prayer Proclamation. Among its signers are Ginter; the former representative Bill Hayes, who originally sponsored the bill; and the former House speaker Cliff Rosenberger. Rosenberger resigned in 2018 after a search warrant and subpoena revealed the FBI was investigating Rosenberger for corruption involving three payday lending representatives, according to the Dayton Daily News.Prominent defenders of religious liberties, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the Anti-Defamation League, oppose the legislation. Republicans in the Ohio House passed the legislation with a party-line vote in November. It has not yet been taken up by the Ohio senate.
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| Passenger stung by scorpion which fell out of her trousers during United Airlines flight Posted: 08 Dec 2019 06:26 AM PST  A woman was stung by a scorpion which climbed up her trouser leg during a United Airlines flight.The passenger was attacked by the eight-legged arachnid while travelling from San Francisco to Atlanta.
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| Chris Wallace Schools Ken Starr: Trump Impeachment ‘Much Bigger’ Than Clinton’s Sex Lies Were Posted: 09 Dec 2019 09:37 AM PST  Fox News anchor Chris Wallace on Monday dressed down Kenneth Starr, the Clinton impeachment-era independent counsel, objecting to Starr's insistence that the current allegations against President Donald Trump are "narrow" and "slanted."During a break in Monday's House impeachment hearing, Wallace addressed Starr directly, letting him know he was going to "push back a bit respectfully" on his previous analysis of the impeachment inquiry while referencing Starr's own role in former President Bill Clinton's impeachment two decades ago."He said that the presentation of the case against the president is narrow, prosecutors look at the world through dirty windows. It is slanted," Wallace noted before speaking right to Starr."When you compare this to the Clinton impeachment, which was basically about whether or not the president had lied under oath about sex—I'm not talking about whether or not this story is true or not—but the allegation that President Trump conditioned support for a key foreign policy ally on political benefit to him strikes me as not narrow but far broader than the Clinton impeachment and the effort that was made by you and Republicans then to impeach him," the Fox News anchor declared.Wallace went on to take issue with Starr suggesting that since it doesn't appear that the Senate will convict Trump on impeachment the House should abandon their efforts, noting that "there was certainly never any prospect that Bill Clinton was going to be removed.""The House and you to some degree participated in impeaching [Clinton], Wallace explained. "Not saying there was anything wrong with that but I'm simply saying it seems there is a very different standard in how the Clinton impeachment went and how this impeachment is being judged.""It seems to be a much bigger issue—whether or not you believe the president did it is a different issue—but it's about an issue of foreign policy, national security," the Fox News Sunday host added. "The security of our elections. It is a much bigger issue than whether or not Bill Clinton lied about sex."Starr, for his part, responded by asserting that there is currently no "bipartisan support of this impeachment inquiry," insisting that in this impeachment process that "we have not seen proof that a crime has been committed." "That seems to me to be a very relevant fact," Starr continued. "When some president has committed actual federal felonies, then that puts, it seems to me, the impeachment inquiry in a very different context."Starr concluded that the Democrats' view that Trump is "a clear and present danger to national security" due to the president pressuring a foreign leader to investigate his political rivals is an "extravagant claim."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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| Stocks slip as investors weigh outlook for US-China trade Posted: 09 Dec 2019 01:27 AM PST  Stock markets weakened during European trading on Monday as investors weighed the possibility of more U.S. tariffs on China and the outlook for negotiations on the trade dispute. A Chinese official said that Beijing wants a prompt settlement of its trade war with Washington as another U.S. tariff hike on $160 billion of Chinese imports is due to take effect Sunday. China announced Friday it was carrying out a promise to waive punitive tariffs on American soybeans and pork.
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| Ramaphosa Faces Party Bid to Oust Him Over Reforms, Citizen Says Posted: 08 Dec 2019 11:39 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- South African President Cyril Ramaphosa's opponents within the ruling party are plotting to oust him over reforms that they say are failing to benefit the poor, the Citizen reported, citing people it didn't identify.A campaign being led by African National Congress Secretary-General Ace Magashule aims to discredit him over economic policies that his opponents argue are supplanting the party's pro-poor stance, the Johannesburg-based newspaper said.The anti-Ramaphosa faction wants Deputy President David Mabuza to become president, deputized by either Magashule or Water Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, the newspaper said.ANC spokesman Pule Mabe didn't answer calls to his mobile seeking comment.Magashule is an ally of former President Jacob Zuma, whose almost nine-year term was marred by a series of corruption scandals.To contact the reporter on this story: Paul Richardson in Johannesburg at pmrichardson@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Benjamin Harvey at bharvey11@bloomberg.net, Vernon Wessels, Alastair ReedFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Isil 'matchmaker' who lured British teen bride to Syria is deported to France Posted: 09 Dec 2019 08:51 AM PST  Turkey has deported to France the "Islamic State matchmaker" who lured a British teen bride to Syria as part of a drive to send foreign fighters back to their countries of origin. Tooba Gondal, 25, is among 11 French nationals that Turkey repatriated early on Monday, according to France's Centre for Analysis of Terrorism, CAT, citing official sources. A French judicial source confirmed that four women and their seven children had arrived in France. Two of the women returned were already targeted by arrest warrants and will soon face a judge, while the other two were sought by police and have been placed in custody, the French source said. The children have been taken into care. Ms Gondal, from Walthamstow, east London, has been "detained for questioning" and faces terror charges, said CAT. She will then likely be detained while awaiting trial. She was born in France but moved to UK capital as a child and had British residency. A source close to the family told The Telegraph they were upset by the UK's decision to refuse her return. "Her kids most certainly will go into foster care away from her and any of her family in Britain," said the source. Tooba Gondal, known as the 'Islamic State matchmaker' pictured before leaving for Syria in 2015 Ms Gondal has been accused of acting as an online recruiter and "matchmaker" for the terrorist group by luring women to Syria to marry Isil fighters. Among them was reportedly Bethnal Green schoolgirl Shamima Begum. She used social media to post images of herself wearing a burqa and holding an assault rifle. In October, Ms Gondal told the Telegraph how she managed to escape from Ain Issa camp with her two infant children, along with hundreds of other foreign suspected Isil women in a mass prison break after Turkey launched its offensive. She expressed a desire to be sent to the UK or Turkey. "I want to go home, see my family," the former Goldsmiths, University of London, student said via WhatsApp messages. "But if I am not able, I want to seek refuge in Turkey." Married and widowed three times while living in Isil's "caliphate", she was banned from re-entering the UK last November by a Home Office exclusion order, but her three-year-old son is entitled to citizenship because of his British father. However, her 18-month-old daughter's late father was Russian. Last month, Turkey stepped up the return of suspected foreign Isil members - either held in Turkish prisons or in Syria - back to their countries of origin, saying Turkey was "not a hotel" for foreign fighters. The Turkish interior ministry on Monday confirmed it had sent 11 French relatives of suspected "terrorist fighters" back home. According to CAT, one of the deported women was Amandine Le Coz, who had been married to a Moroccan militant killed in Syria. She joined Isil with her husband in 2014. The French foreign ministry and interior ministry declined to comment. The mother-of-two, seen here with a Kalashnikov, was denied return to the United Kingdom with her children Credit: Telegraph Turkey stepped up its deportation of foreign fighters after criticism from Western countries, in particular, France, over its military offensive against Kurdish forces in Syria. The move has created a conundrum for European governments over how to manage the return of radicalised militants, some of them battle-hardened. Britain, which has taken one of the strongest stances against the return of its nationals, has deprived many of them of their citizenship. Under a 2014 accord between France and Turkey, Paris agreed to take back jihadists trying to return home from Syria via Turkey and incarcerate them at home. Some 300 French nationals have been thus returned in the past five years. However, France is keen on foreign suspects being sent for trial near to their place of arrest - notably Iraq, where several of its nationals have recently been handed death sentences. America last month clashed with Europe over the issue, with Mike Pompeo, US secretary of state, insisting they needed to "hold them to account". "Coalition members must take back the thousands of foreign terrorist fighters in custody and impose accountability for the atrocities they have perpetrated," he said in a meeting of the international coalition against Isil in Washington DC. Ankara says it has around 1,200 foreign Isil members in custody. There are understood to be around 10 British men, 20 women and 30 children, currently detained in Kurdish-run camps and prisons around north-east Syria.
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| Jury would convict Trump 'in 3 minutes flat': Nadler Posted: 08 Dec 2019 09:58 AM PST  The chairman of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee said Sunday that if the impeachment case against President Trump were put to a jury, there "would be a guilty verdict in three minutes flat."
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| U.S. Supreme Court rejects Arizona opioid case against Purdue, Sackler family Posted: 09 Dec 2019 06:51 AM PST  The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned away a novel case by Arizona seeking to recover billions of dollars that the state has said that members of the Sackler family - owners of Purdue Pharma LP - funneled out of the OxyContin maker before the company filed for bankruptcy in September. The justices declined to take the rare step of allowing Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich to pursue a case directly with the Supreme Court on the role the drugmaker played in the U.S. opioid epidemic that has killed tens of thousands of Americans annually in recent years. The lawsuit accused eight Sackler family members of funneling $4 billion out of Purdue from 2008 to 2016 despite being aware that the company faced massive potential liabilities over its marketing of opioid medications.
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| Elizabeth Smart's dad, Ed, in first interview since coming out as gay: 'There is no cure' Posted: 09 Dec 2019 11:25 AM PST  Ed Smart told Gayle King he wanted to speak out publicly because he wanted to reach out to other gay men "who are struggling in the same spot."
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| Man wearing reindeer slippers tips woman out of wheelchair on train as he tries to steal it Posted: 09 Dec 2019 08:12 AM PST  A man has been arrested after a would-be thief tipped a woman out of her wheelchair on a train and attempted to steal it.CCTV footage of the incident shows a man dressed in a red jacket and reindeer slippers, who lept out of his seat and grabbed the handles of the wheelchair as the train approached a station.
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| Think America Is Safe? A Nuclear ICBM Could Destroy Us In Half An Hour Posted: 08 Dec 2019 09:00 AM PST  A movie tells us what we can do about it.
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| Sen. Lindsey Graham: The whole impeachment process in the House is not legitimate Posted: 08 Dec 2019 07:21 AM PST  Republican Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Lindsey Graham says the impeachment process in the House is partisan.
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| Barr warned Trump for months that Rudy Giuliani was becoming a liability, but the president ignored him because he loves Giuliani's fiery media appearances Posted: 09 Dec 2019 03:18 AM PST  Rudy Giuliani was a key figure in the events that sparked an impeachment probe, and his actions have long concerned Trump administration officials.
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| Hong Kong protests mark 6-month mark with massive rally Posted: 08 Dec 2019 06:56 AM PST  Almost hidden among the throngs of demonstrators who marched in Hong Kong on Sunday was one woman who crawled, literally on hands and knees on the rough road surface — an apt metaphor for the arduous path traveled by Hong Kong's protest movement in the past six months. Dragging bricks and empty soda cans on pieces of string behind her, the young woman elicited shouts of encouragement from fellow protesters. Chanting "Fight for freedom" and "Stand with Hong Kong," the sea of protesters formed a huge human snake winding for blocks on Hong Kong Island, from the Causeway Bay shopping district to the Central business zone, a distance of more than 2 kilometers (1 1/4 miles).
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| Syria's Assad: OPCW faked a report on attack near Damascus Posted: 09 Dec 2019 12:47 PM PST  Assad's comments to Italy's Rai News 24 came after the director-general of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons expressed confidence in the report into the deadly attack in Syria. OPCW's chief Fernando Arias supported the report issued in March by a fact-finding mission from the watchdog that found "reasonable grounds" that chlorine was used in a deadly attack on the eastern Damascus suburb of Douma.
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| Marijuana Allegations Brings Call for Probe Into Serb President Posted: 09 Dec 2019 03:48 AM PST ![Marijuana Allegations Brings Call for Probe Into Serb President]( "Marijuana Allegations Brings Call for Probe Into Serb President") (Bloomberg) -- A top aide of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic requested an investigation into his boss and his brother in a bid to clear them from opposition-led allegations that they're linked to an illegal marijuana farm.Opposition parties are struggling to make a dent in the dominant position of Vucic's ruling Serbian Progressive Party as the Balkan state heads into general elections next spring. His opponents have led sporadic street rallies over the last year to protest against what they say is an autocratic style of governing that stifles media freedom and opens deals to businessmen allies.The new allegations follow last month's seizure of almost 4 tons of greenhouse-cultivated marijuana at an organic farm near the capital. Police arrested the owner, who had sought state subsidies for growing non-psychoactive hemp. While there's no clear evidence that he got financial support, activists accused Vucic and his brother of protecting the farmer."There can be only one truth," Milos Vucevic, the vice president of Vucic's party, told reporters in Belgrade Monday after filing a request to prosecutors. The aim is to knock down "heinous lies and slander and to establish if those who made the accusations actually lied," he said.Opinion polls show Vucic, who started his political career serving under late strongman Slobodan Milosevic, is by far the country's most popular politician. Opposition parties say that he has unfairly used his position to harness state media to amplify his messages and marginalize his rivals."The whole point is to show who's lying," Vucic told private Pink TV on Sunday. "You just have to stop that and show people what what kind of liars these people are."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, Andrea DudikFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| U.S. Supreme Court rejects inmate's bid for sex reassignment surgery Posted: 09 Dec 2019 07:56 AM PST ![U.S. Supreme Court rejects inmate's bid for sex reassignment surgery]( "U.S. Supreme Court rejects inmate's bid for sex reassignment surgery") The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear an appeal by a convicted murderer who filed a civil rights lawsuit because Texas prison officials denied her request to be considered for gender reassignment surgery. The justices let stand a lower court's decision to reject the claim by inmate Vanessa Lynn Gibson that denying the surgery request violated the U.S. Constitution's Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. Gibson, 41, who is transgender and also goes by the name Scott in court papers, was assigned male at birth and has lived as a female since age 15.
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| Justice Department Backs Free-Speech Lawsuit Against Mississippi Junior College: U.S. Is ‘Not a Police State’ Posted: 09 Dec 2019 02:11 PM PST  The Justice Department weighed in on a federal campus free-speech lawsuit on Monday, proclaiming that neither Jones County Junior College in Ellisville, Mississippi, nor any other public educational institution, can "trample on" its students' First Amendment rights.Former student J. Michael Brown—along with the non-profit group Young Americans for Liberty—filed the lawsuit in September, claiming that the college had instituted a policy requiring campus administrators to pre-approve all "meetings or gatherings" at least three days before any event for any purpose anywhere on campus, The Clarion-Ledger reported at the time. Brown's lawsuit alleged that college officials twice called the campus police on him when he "sought to engage on campus with fellow students about topics such as free speech and civil liberties" and the legalization of marijuana, according to a press release from the Justice Department on Monday. Based on the school's current policies, a student's violation of its rules about meetings and gatherings could result in expulsion, according to the statement.'Your Word Against Mine': College Baseball Coach Accused of Raping Teen PlayersThe government's 14-page statement of interest filed in federal court on Monday points to Supreme Court case law and compares the college's "extreme preconditions to speech" to the dystopia depicted in George Orwell's famous novel 1984."As alleged, these draconian regulations are no mere paper tigers: JCJC enforces them to the extreme," the government said in its legal filing. "Preconditions like these have no place in the United States of America.""Some people get in trouble for smoking weed, but at Jones College, I got in trouble just for trying to talk about it," Brown told The Clarion-Ledger when he first filed his lawsuit. "That's not what college is for. We're supposed to debate openly about important issues, especially ones with huge national significance."Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband, who works in the civil rights division of the Justice Department, slammed the college's policies on Monday in a statement, writing, "The United States of America is not a police state.""Repressive speech codes are the indecent hallmark of despotic, totalitarian regimes," said Dreiband. "They have absolutely no place in our country, and the First Amendment outlaws all tyrannical policies, practices, and acts that abridge the freedom of speech."In a similarly critical statement, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos called the case "yet another concerning example of students encountering limits on what, when, where, and how they learn."Wheaton College Students Sue Chicago for Banning Them From Evangelizing at The Bean"This is happening far too often on our nation's campuses," she continued. "This administration won't let students be silenced. We stand with their right to speak and with their right to learn truth through the free exchange of ideas—particularly those with which they might disagree."Mike Hurst, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi, added that "unconstitutional restrictions on our first freedoms to speak and assemble directly threaten our liberty as Americans." "While some may disagree with the content of one's speech, we should all be fighting for everyone's constitutional right to speak," said Hurst. "I pray JCJC will do the right thing, change its policies to comply with the U.S. Constitution, and encourage its students to speak and assemble throughout our free state."The college said in September that its policies exist "not to limit students' right to free speech or assembly" but to "ensure that all students have equal and safe access to an environment free from hate speech; racial, gender, national origin, religious affiliation; and disability discrimination."A spokesperson for Jones County Junior College did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Daily Beast on Monday.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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| Michigan man died of overdose from prison drug ring run by guards, lawsuit says Posted: 09 Dec 2019 11:26 AM PST ![Michigan man died of overdose from prison drug ring run by guards, lawsuit says]( "Michigan man died of overdose from prison drug ring run by guards, lawsuit says") The operation was allegedly orchestrated by a corrections officer and a prisoner with whom she had a romantic relationship with, the lawsuit says.
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| Trump impeachment hearing: Pro-Trump Infowars host who called for Obama to be lynched thrown out of inquiry Posted: 09 Dec 2019 08:36 AM PST  A host on the far-right US conspiracy and disinformation website InfoWars has been removed from the latest impeachment hearing by police, after interrupting House Judiciary Committee chairman Jerry Nadler with pro-Donald Trump messages.The interruption came from a host on the fringe conservative website who led a racist call earlier this year for the lynching of Barack Obama, America's first African American president.
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| The United States' New 'Ninja Missile' Chops Targets to Bits (We Have Questions) Posted: 08 Dec 2019 02:00 AM PST  A game-changer or just some really cool marketing?
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| Trump accused of anti-Semitism after saying Jewish Americans will vote for him so they can avoid a wealth tax Posted: 09 Dec 2019 05:17 AM PST  "You're brutal killers," President Donald Trump told those in real estate. "Not nice people at all, but you have to vote for me you have no choice."
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| Russia plans to set up Arctic air defense 'dome' with S-400 missiles Posted: 09 Dec 2019 06:03 AM PST ![Russia plans to set up Arctic air defense 'dome' with S-400 missiles]( "Russia plans to set up Arctic air defense 'dome' with S-400 missiles") Russia plans to establish an air defense "dome" across its polar region by arming all of its Northern Fleet's Arctic divisions with S-400 missile batteries, a Russian naval commander said on Monday. Russia has been stepping up its military presence in the Arctic, building new infrastructure and overhauling its ports as it vies for dominance in a region with huge untapped mineral wealth amid warmer climate cycles. In May, Washington accused Russia of aggressive behavior in the polar region and said China's actions must be watched closely.
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| Elizabeth Warren Built the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. It Became a Revolving Door. Posted: 09 Dec 2019 02:19 AM PST  When Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) began staffing up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in 2010 and 2011, she did something that appeared, at first blush, to be highly counterintuitive. Instead of limiting staff to those with extensive background in consumer activism and regulatory policy, she chose people with places like Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, and Capital One on their CVs.Those financial institutions were the very entities that the CFPB was supposed to haunt. The agency had been included in financial regulatory reform as a wishlist item for Wall Street-skeptical progressives. And yet, here was Warren—the intellectual godmother of the CFPB—handing out key roster assignments to officials from those very institutions. Before long, the supply chain was working the other way. As the CFPB carried out its mission during the Obama years, undertaking reforms to practices from aggressive debt collection to payday lending to mortgage finance rules, some of its senior staffers would leave the agency to work in the financial sector, many of them helping major banking and securities firms understand and navigate the rules they'd just helped write. As the agency pursued billions in civil penalties against financial firms, some of its senior officials found themselves on the payrolls of the sort of companies the CFPB was created to scrutinize and hold accountable.It's the sort of "revolving door" between government industry that Warren has decried as a progressive stalwart in the Senate and a leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination. And it could complicate her efforts to make the CFPB a cornerstone of her White House bid by drawing cries of hypocrisy from campaign rivals. But beyond the talking points, the hirings also offer an unexpected window into Warren's approach to governance, suggesting that she's a shrewder, more pragmatic policymaker than her persona as a populist firebrand indicates.In the Warren vs. Dimon Feud, It's Warren, Not Even CloseThe CFPB was created in response to the 2008 financial crisis, which resulted in mass mortgage defaults and hammered American debtors. Warren, then a Harvard professor, had dreamt up the idea and became the Obama administration's point person in devising a new agency to serve as a consumer finance watchdog and ensure that borrowers were not being fleeced by the financial institutions on which their livelihoods depended. Warren never actually led the agency, which was created as part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law. There were internal White House fears that her presence atop the CFPB would spark immense backlash among Senate Republicans, so she was made a "senior adviser" with heavy sway over its inception and—most critically—early staffing decisions. "She was monstrously productive from a recruiting point of view," recalled Raj Date, who served as CFPB's associate director of research, markets, and regulation. "I grew up around successful recruiting engines—at McKinsey, at Capital One—and I have never seen a human being better at recruiting than her."Warren's central role was evident in a report that the CFPB released in 2011 recapping its creation and launch and the early progress it had made as the nation's first federal consumer finance watchdog. She wrote a letter of introduction for the report, hailing the "strong foundation" for the agency and pledging, "in the years ahead, the CFPB will work hard for consumers across the country."The report identified 21 people in senior CFPB leadership positions that had been instrumental in getting the new agency off the ground. They included some notable names from the financial sector. Date had been a managing director at Deutsche Bank in addition to his prior roles at McKinsey and Capital One. Elizabeth Vale, who oversaw community banks and credit unions at the agency, had been a managing director at Morgan Stanley. CFPB's chief operating officer, Catherine West, had led Capital One's credit card division.Take a Bow, Elizabeth WarrenWhile Warren plucked talent from the financial services industries, the relationship became even more intertwined over the subsequent years. Nearly half of the senior officials—nine out of the 21—mentioned in that report would go on to work in financial services, or for law or consulting firms with expertise and clientele in the sector, after their tenure at the CFPB.Roberto Gonzalez, for instance, served as the agency's deputy general counsel before becoming a partner at the law firm Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP. He "represents financial institutions and other companies in high-stakes litigation, investigations and advisory matters," according to the law firm's website, which boasts that he helped "a major U.S. bank in connection with a favorable settlement with the CFPB.""Roberto is an extraordinary lawyer with deep knowledge of the broad range of complex issues facing financial institutions, including, specifically, in the areas of financial regulation, DoddFrank, economic sanctions, anti-money laundering and cybersecurity," the firm's chairman told Law360 in 2016. "Needless to say, Roberto's expertise is in high demand today."It's precisely that sort of demand that fuels Washington's revolving door, and has created a cottage industry of former regulators who cash out to the industries they once regulated. Such moves can create perverse incentives for government employment: Those who go into public service in the hope of landing a lucrative private sector career afterward may be just as willing to side with industry in the hope of future pay as former industry lobbyists and executives who move into government positions."In many ways, I find revolving out into industry more problematic than coming from industry," said Jeff Hauser, the executive director of the Revolving Door Project at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a progressive think tank, in an interview. "That influences your incentives in office, if you think you're going to go work in this industry... There's a willingness to rock the boat that I think is diminished if you want to enter the field that you'd be shaking up."Hauser noted, though, that Warren has proposed policies that would have blocked at least some of the career moves that CFPB staffers took into private industries if they had been in effect at the time. That's something the Warren campaign stressed as well."Elizabeth is the leader—Republican or Democrat—in proposing a set of serious anti-corruption reforms and it will be her top priority to make them law," campaign spokeswoman Saloni Sharma said in an emailed statement. "Her legislation will expand the definition of lobbyists to include anyone paid to influence lawmakers and ban giant companies, banks, and monopolies from hiring former senior government officials for at least four years." Warren has also committed to imposing those standards on her administration if she's elected president, even barring any action on the proposed legislation by Congress.Warren's campaign did not address more specific questions about the revolving door between the early CFPB and the companies it regulated. Those questions go to the heart of the dilemma facing policymakers as they look to effectively wield the nation's regulatory agencies while preventing and rooting out corruption: namely, how to staff the federal administrative apparatus with people who know the issues in their portfolio but are driven by public, not private, interests.As a presidential candidate, Warren has come down firmly on the anti-corruption side of that dilemma—blocking or at least slowing the revolving door. But that approach can come at the expense of expertise that former industry insiders can offer. It can also preclude the private sector companies from hiring the very regulators who can help them make sense of often complex regulatory regimes and even imbue their industry with a sense of mission. It's the latter approach that Warren appears to have embraced in the early days of the CFPB. She often stressed that the agency was drawing talent and expertise from a host of backgrounds, including industry, in an effort to craft a more effective regulatory apparatus.It's an approach that Date described as a break from traditional progressive thinking on financial watchdog efforts, which often elevate consumer advocates and lawyers. "If you want to build and operate these agencies well, it cannot just be a bunch of lawyers," he said. "This notion that a critical qualification to make policy for an industry is to have never been in it—the idea that you are more capable the less you know—I find that notion, on its face, absurd."The other side of the CFPB revolving door had its benefits, too, Date said. The dispersal of people from the agency, who were instrumental in its creation and committed to its mission, into the financial services industry had an evangelizing effect, he said."There are lots of reasons where I thought the most important thing longer-term was to take people, a nontrivial number of people, who live what it's like to be the enforcers and articulators of what the right principles should be, it would be good if you take people who internalized what these principled-based views should be and take that into industry," Date said. "That's good. We have suffered from that in consumer finance."Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. 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| Milo, the cat who went missing at Dulles airport in October, is reunited with owner Posted: 09 Dec 2019 08:09 AM PST ![Milo, the cat who went missing at Dulles airport in October, is reunited with owner]( "Milo, the cat who went missing at Dulles airport in October, is reunited with owner") "Guess who's home for the holidays!" wrote Molly McFadden, who has been reunited with Milo the cat, who went missing at Dulles Airport in October.
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| Court to hear resentencing bid in Arizona death penalty case Posted: 09 Dec 2019 08:29 AM PST  The U.S. Supreme Court will hear an appeal Wednesday by an Arizona death row inmate who is seeking a new sentencing trial, arguing the horrific physical abuse that he suffered as a child wasn't fully considered when he was first sentenced. The appeal of James Erin McKinney could affect as many as 15 of Arizona's 104 death row inmates. Attorneys say the Arizona courts used an unconstitutional test in examining the mitigating factors considered during the sentencing trials of the inmates.
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| Modi criticised after excluding Muslims from religious persecution citizenship offer Posted: 09 Dec 2019 08:14 AM PST  Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is facing renewed criticism after tabling legislation today which will exclude Muslims from an offer of citizenship rights to religious refugees. The Citizenship Amendment Bill will see nationality defined by religion for the first time in India's history but only to followers of six faiths – including Christians, Sikhs and Hindus – from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. It will allow them to acquire Indian citizenship if they live or work in the country for six years and are fleeing religious persecution. However, critics argue it is the latest move to discriminate against Muslims. "[The Bill is] couched in the language of refuge and seemingly directed at foreigners but its main purpose is the de-legitimisation of Muslim citizenship," said historian Mukul Kesavan. Hundreds of people took to the streets of Assam, Gujarat and West Bengal today in protest. "We will fight and oppose the bill till the last drop of our blood," vowed All Assam Students' Union adviser Samujjal Bhattacharya. A group of 1,000 academics released a statement arguing the Bill undermines the pluralistic and secular history of India. Home Minister Amit Shah dismissed their concerns and said the proposed legislation is backed by India's 1.3 billion population. Hundreds of people took to the street in Assam to protest the Bill, which comes after the National Register of Citizens stripped 1.9 million people of their citizenship there Credit: Anupam Nath/AP The BJP first proposed the Bill as an electoral promise in 2014 but it was abandoned in 2016 after protests. This time, MPs in the lower house of parliament voted unanimously in favour of passing the Bill – 293 to 82 – and it will now be voted on in the upper house. The date for this has not yet been disclosed but it needs approval from both houses for it to become law. Since his landslide re-election in May, Modi and the BJP have faced repeated claims of anti-Muslim discrimination. In August, he revoked Muslim-majority Jammu & Kashmir's autonomous status and the region remains under curfew and an internet blackout. Later that month he announced 1.9 million people in Assam will face detainment and deportation to Bangladesh. While Modi claimed it was part of a wider crackdown on illegal immigrants, campaigners say it is an attempt to render Indian Muslims stateless.
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| This Pictures Proves 1 Fact: It's Really Hard to Sink a U.S. Navy Submarine Posted: 09 Dec 2019 12:05 AM PST  And thank god for that.
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| TV crew laugh at Ted Cruz in live interview after he endorses Trump's baseless conspiracy theory Posted: 09 Dec 2019 01:53 AM PST  Ted Cruz was laughed at by a TV crew during a live interview after he endorsed Donald Trump's baseless conspiracy theory about Ukraine.The Texas senator, who challenged Mr Trump to be the Republican nominee in 2016, was mocked for saying he believed there was "considerable evidence" that Ukraine meddled in the most recent presidential election.
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| Virginia Elementary School Teacher Charged with Producing, Distributing Child Pornography Posted: 09 Dec 2019 12:34 PM PST  A Richmond elementary school music teacher and minister was arrested Friday on charges of producing and distributing child pornography.
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| Saudi Arabia Tightens Purse Strings But Aramco Cash Beckons Posted: 09 Dec 2019 11:13 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Saudi Arabia will earmark less money for subsidies, social benefits and the military, embarking on three years of spending cuts as the government looks to private businesses to pull a greater load in channeling investment.A fiscal program unveiled on Monday marks a shift away from stimulus that helped power non-oil economic growth this year to the fastest since 2015. With output curbs negotiated by OPEC still a drag on the world's biggest crude exporter, Saudi Arabia is expecting its sixth consecutive deficit to widen next year.Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan said in an interview that Saudi Arabia would tap both the international and local bond markets in 2020 to help finance a budget shortfall that is expected to reach 6.4% of gross domestic product from 4.7% this year."We have seen the effort of enabling the private sector to do some of the projects that we would have otherwise done which yielded a reduction of about 50 billion Saudi riyals from our expenditure envelope this year. That is going to continue next year," Jadaan said.How Aramco's record initial public offering will affect the biggest Arab economy in 2020 remains among the biggest questions hanging over its annual budget. The windfall of almost $26 billion could be used to soften the blow of spending cuts, with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman saying in 2017 that at least half of the cash will be deployed at home by the Public Investment Fund.Jadaan said the PIF, which has its own board, was likely to allocate "a lot" of the Aramco proceeds to local investments, with the government projecting economic growth will accelerate to 2.3% next year from near zero despite the stimulus cut and an expected decline in oil revenues.The budget is based on an average Brent crude oil price of $65 per barrel in 2020, close to current levels, according to Bloomberg Economics.Read: The $26 Billion Question and What Else to Expect in Saudi BudgetFollowing are other highlights in the budget announcement:RevenueNext year's revenue is expected at 833 billion riyals versus 917 billion riyals in 2019Oil revenue is seen at 513 billion riyals in 2020 compared with 602 billion this yearNon-oil revenue is expected to rise to 320 billion riyals next year versus an estimated 315 billion riyals in 2019SpendingSpending is expected to fall from about 1.05 trillion riyals this year to 1.02 trillion riyals in 2020, then to 955 billion riyals by 2022.Capital spending next year will rise slightly to 173 billion riyals, while the wage bill will stay unchanged at 504 billion riyals. Military spending is set to drop to 182 billion riyals in 2020 from 198 billion riyals this yearEconomic GrowthGDP is expected to grow 2.3% in the coming year, after being revised down to 0.4% this yearPrivate sector non-oil GDP grew 2.9% in the first half of 2019, while oil GDP shrank 1% in the period(Updates with finance minister's comments in interview, details)\--With assistance from Reema Alothman, Sarah Algethami, Nour Al Ali and Lin Noueihed.To contact the reporters on this story: Abeer Abu Omar in Dubai at aabuomar@bloomberg.net;Vivian Nereim in Riyadh at vnereim@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Lin Noueihed at lnoueihed@bloomberg.net, Paul AbelskyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Sweden charges former China envoy over dissident bookseller case Posted: 09 Dec 2019 04:26 AM PST ![Sweden charges former China envoy over dissident bookseller case]( "Sweden charges former China envoy over dissident bookseller case") Swedish prosecutors said on Monday they had brought criminal charges against the country's former ambassador to China over unauthorized meetings in Stockholm aimed at freeing dissident bookseller Gui Minhai. Anna Lindstedt was replaced as ambassador in February amid a furore over her alleged role in setting up the meetings with people representing the Chinese government, which Sweden's foreign ministry said had not been authorized. Gui, a Hong Kong-based publisher of books critical of China's communist leaders and also a Swedish citizen, was abducted in Thailand in 2015 and later appeared in custody in mainland China.
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| Female Reporter Calls Out Runner Who Groped Her While She Was on TV Posted: 08 Dec 2019 01:55 PM PST  "You violated, objectified and embarrassed me"
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| Twin girls, 4, free themselves from car crash that killed their father in 'heroic' act Posted: 09 Dec 2019 11:14 AM PST ![Twin girls, 4, free themselves from car crash that killed their father in 'heroic' act]( "Twin girls, 4, free themselves from car crash that killed their father in 'heroic' act") The twins unbuckled their booster seats, extricated themselves from the wreckage and climbed 200 feet up an embankment back to the main road.
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| Former Australian PM, Bob Hawke, pleaded with daughter not to report alleged rape by political ally to police Posted: 08 Dec 2019 12:50 PM PST  Former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke pleaded with his daughter not to report being raped by a Labor MP fearing the case could damage his political career, it is claimed in court documents. The allegations against Mr Hawke, who died in May aged 89, have been made by his second daughter Rosslyn Dillon, 59, in a legal claim against her father's estate. Ms Dillon is seeking 4 million Australian dollars (£2 million) from her father's $18 million estate, rather than the $750,000 she was left. In a 25-page affidavit lodged at the New South Wales Supreme Court and reported by The New Daily, she claims she was raped by Bill Landeryou, a Labor MP and close ally of Mr Hawke, who died in February aged 77. Ms Dillon alleges she was sexually assaulted three times: at a Hilton hotel, in parliament and at the MP's home. "These instances of sexual assault occurred during a period when, to my knowledge, my father was preparing to challenge the current Leader of the Opposition for the role of Leader of the Australian Labor Party," she alleges in the affidavit. She confronted her father, who was soon to become Australian Prime Minister, with the allegations at the family home. Mr Hawke replied: "You can't go to the police. You can't. I can't have any controversies right now. I am sorry but I am challenging for the leadership of the Labor Party." Ms Dillon says she was "shocked and hurt" by her father's request. "He asked me to let the matter go for him and I did so for him. "I am still haunted by the sexual assaults. I feel that I may have had a chance to get over these rapes if I was able to report the incidents to police." Ms Dillon says her share of the estate is inadequate given the impact the sexual assaults had on her mental health. Her older sister, Sue Pieters-Hawke, has confirmed Ms Dillon did tell her about the assaults. Mr Hawke did succeed in securing the party leadership and led Labor to four election victories in succession.
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| F-117 Stealth Fighters Are Playing the Enemy (Taking on F-22s, F-15s and F-16s) Posted: 08 Dec 2019 09:30 PM PST  "I witnessed an F-117 along with four F-16s go up against F-15s and F-22s. The F-117's callsign was KNIGHT, the F-16s were GOMER and MIG, and they were communicating on the aggressor frequency."
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| U.S. border arrests dropped again in November amid Trump crackdown on migrant crossers Posted: 09 Dec 2019 01:16 PM PST  Border arrests - which are used to estimate illegal crossings - initially plummeted after U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January 2017. The Trump administration credits the decline to tougher asylum policies and increased cooperation with Mexico and Central American nations. Acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan said on Monday that Congress needs to take legislative action to discourage illegal crossings in the long term.
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| Kosovo files IS terror charges against man, wife and mother Posted: 09 Dec 2019 07:39 AM PST ![Kosovo files IS terror charges against man, wife and mother]( "Kosovo files IS terror charges against man, wife and mother") Kosovo prosecutors filed terrorism charges Monday against three ethnic Albanians who returned to the small European country in May after allegedly joining the Islamic State group in Syria. Prosecutors said the three are a man, his wife and his mother.
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