| 2020 Vision: Hillary Clinton thinks Russia will back Tulsi Gabbard to help Trump stay in power Posted: 18 Oct 2019 12:11 PM PDT  "This is not some outlandish claim," Clinton said in an interview this week. "This is reality."
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| Hunter Biden Served as ‘Ceremonial Figure’ on Burisma Board for $80,000 Per Month Posted: 18 Oct 2019 09:31 AM PDT  Mykola Zlochevsky, the Kremlin's former minister of natural resources and the founder of Burisma Holdings, reportedly hired Hunter Biden "as a helpful non-executive director with a powerful name," according to a Friday Reuters report.Oleksandr Onyshchenko, a Ukrainian businessman and former politician who knows Zlochevsky says Burisma's founder hired Biden in 2014 "to protect [the company]" in the face of potential prosecution. Zlochevsky was investigated for tax violations, money-laundering, and corruption and initially cleared of any wrongdoing. Earlier this month, Ukraine's Prosecutor General Ruslan Ryaboshapka told reporters that 15 cases involving Zlochevsky were being reviewed.According to sources, Hunter Biden never visited Ukraine, but participated regularly in biannual board meetings, all of which were held outside Ukraine. Sources also said Biden was appointed during a time when Burisma was seeking foreign investment, a process which Biden helped by finding lawyers for the potential deal, which ultimately broke down when war broke out in east Ukraine. "He was a ceremonial figure," a source said.Reuters reviewed payment records allegedly from Burisma which show $3.4 million in payments to a company headed by Biden's business partner, Devon Archer, called Rosemont Seneca Bohai LLC, between April 2014 and November 2015.Every month during that 18-month period, the records show two payments of $83,333 for "consulting services," which sources say were intended for Archer and Biden. One of the sources also said that in their investigations of Burisma, prosecutors obtained payment records which showed activities prior to when Archer and Biden were appointed to the board.
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| Mexico deports 311 Indian nationals in 'unprecedented' move Posted: 18 Oct 2019 07:17 AM PDT  More than 300 Indian nationals who paid tens of thousands of dollars each trying to get into the United States arrived in New Delhi Friday after an "unprecedented" mass deportation by Mexico. The move, which saw those deported flown back to the capital on a charter flight, follows a deal on illegal migration struck between Mexico and US President Donald Trump in June. The only woman in the group of 311 people, Kamaljit Kaur, 34, told the Press Trust of India news agency she spent 5.3 million rupees ($74,500) for herself, her husband and her son.
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| Atomwaffen Division’s Washington State Cell Leader Stripped of Arsenal in U.S., Banned from Canada Posted: 19 Oct 2019 02:13 AM PDT  Police HandoutKaleb James Cole, the 24-year-old leader of Atomwaffen Division's Washington State Cell stripped of his firearms by a "red-flag law" late last month, was deported and banned for life from Canada earlier this year, according to court records, which also showed that he had been previously interrogated by American border agents about his extremist views.Cole, a National Socialist black metal enthusiast who goes by the alias "Khimaere," was first identified as a member of Atomwaffen Division in a 2018 ProPublica investigation. He played a key role in organizing "hate camp" trainings for the group's members at an abandoned building known as "Devil's Tower" in Skagit, Washington, and in Nevada's Death Valley. Cole also helped craft the group's eye-catching propaganda.Atomwaffen Division is an underground neo-Nazi guerrilla organization which had 23 chapters throughout the United States as of mid-2018. Since its inception in 2015, Atomwaffen members have been implicated in five homicides and several bomb plots, and are the subject of an intensifying national investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It makes common cause with other militant fascist groups like the Base and Sonnenkrieg Division in the United Kingdom, where authorities have charged a number of members with terrorism-related offenses.As The Daily Beast reported, the Seattle Police Department obtained an "Extreme Risk Protection Order" against Cole on September 26 to confiscate his concealed carry firearms permit and any firearms he owned for at least a year. That same day, SPD seized five rifles, a shotgun, three semiautomatic handguns and four lower receivers (the firing mechanism of a rifle that can be used to craft untraceable 'ghost guns') from Cole's father's house outside Arlington, in Washington State's Snohomish County.According to court records, none of the guns or the lower receivers seized from Cole were registered in Washington State's licensed firearms database."Law enforcement officials are increasingly concerned about the respondent's access to firearms and his involvement in the Atomwaffen Division, a known terrorist group," Seattle Police Sergeant Dorothy Kim wrote in a petition for an Extreme Risk Protection Order. As further evidence, Sgt. Kim cited Atomwaffen Division propaganda calling for "Race War Now," and the group's adherence to "acceleration theory," which urges actions that undermine the existing social order to "exacerbate the feeling of alienation among white supremacists and a greater impulse to engage in violence or destructive behavior."Cole's "words, actions and behavior suggest he has taken additional steps towards a plan with his ideologically motivated violence. Specifically, the coordinated camps with firearms training, overseas travel with Atomwaffen paraphernalia-flags/skull masks, threats to kill (gas the Kikes) and the possession of firearms, suggest an imminent risk to public safety if Cole is permitted to continue to purchase or possess firearms," Sergeant Kim wrote.The request to seize Cole's guns was reportedly made to Seattle Police by the FBI, which did not have enough information to file criminal charges but believed Cole posed a serious threat to public safety.Multiple law enforcement sources told The Daily Beast that Cole had been the target of an FBI investigation following his February 2018 identification by ProPublica. However, law enforcement made no contact with him until December 28, 2018, when Cole landed in Chicago's O'Hare International Airport on a flight from London. Customs and Border Protection pulled Cole aside for secondary screening. Records of that interview were included by the Seattle Police Department in their emergency risk petition last month.During the interview, Cole told CBP agents he had traveled to the Czech Republic, Poland and Ukraine with two friends from Washington State, Aidan Bruce-Umbaugh and Edie Allison Moore. The trip, Cole said, was to "see the historic architecture and museums in Eastern European countries." The three also attended a heavy metal festival while in Kyiv. The 2018 edition of Asgardsrei, a festival several National Socialist black metal bands have played in the past, was held in Kyiv from December 15-16 last year. Photographs from the concert posted to social media show an Atomwaffen Division flag brandished by individuals in the crowd. According to information obtained by The Daily Beast, Aidan Bruce-Umbaugh is a member of the Washington State cell of Atomwaffen Division, and goes by the moniker "Nythra." The drummer for Kaleb Cole's old metal band, Operblut, is listed as "Nythra" on music websites. In the CBP interview, Cole told federal agents he and Bruce-Umbaugh had been friends since grade school.Border agents searched Cole's luggage, and found a skull mask balaclava and an Atomwaffen Division flag inside his bag. When questioned about press reports tying him to Atomwaffen Division, Cole admitted to his involvement with the group and stated that he "shares a Fascist ideology, 'strong dominate the weak'." He also admitted he owned an AK-47 and multiple handguns "for his own protection."Cole's phone was also searched by border agents, who downloaded several images from the device. Amongst them are a photograph of Cole and another man wearing skull mask balaclavas in front of the gates of Auschwitz, the death camp where the Nazis murdered hundreds of thousands of Jews. Images of him posing with other Atomwaffen members, firearms, and the group's flag were also recovered from Cole's phone.According to multiple sources close to law enforcement, Cole previously attracted the interest of Canadian authorities by frequently driving across the border to British Columbia, sometimes several times a week. In late May, Cole was detained by the Canadian Border Service Agency because of press reports linking him to Atomwaffen Division, as well as "his overseas travel to Ukraine," where several right-wing extremists have traveled to fight with the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion against Russia-backed separatists.According to court records, he was held by Canadian authorities and placed into deportation proceedings due to his involvement in "an organization that may engage in terrorism," per Section 34 [1][F] of the Canadian Immigration Code. According to records prepared by the Seattle Police Department, Cole was deported in July and "barred from Canada for life."The Canadian Border Services Agency and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police both declined to comment on Cole's deportation, the Atomwaffen Division or its affiliated organizations in Canada, citing the restrictions of Canada's Privacy Act. Earlier this year, Patrik Mathews, a master corporal in the Canadian Military Reserve went AWOL after being identified as a recruiter for the Base. Mathews—who reportedly came to the attention of multiple Canadian security agencies because racist material was previously found by the Canadian Border Services Agency in his car while crossing the border with the United States—is still at large.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Israel, Russia, and the US are in a diplomatic standoff over a 26-year-old woman smuggling 9 and a half grams of marijuana Posted: 19 Oct 2019 10:54 AM PDT  Naama Issachar, 26, was sentenced to 7.5 years of prison in Moscow, and negotiating her release is part of a bigger diplomatic dispute.
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| ECB’s Draghi Urges Fiscal Action, Trade Openness to Lift Economy Posted: 18 Oct 2019 07:27 AM PDT ![ECB's Draghi Urges Fiscal Action, Trade Openness to Lift Economy]( "ECB's Draghi Urges Fiscal Action, Trade Openness to Lift Economy") (Bloomberg) -- European Central Bank President Mario Draghi called on euro-area governments to spend more to revive the euro-zone economy, while also warning that global growth is at risk from trade protectionism."The effectiveness of monetary policy can and should be enhanced by other policies," he said in Washington at meetings of the International Monetary Fund. "In view of the weakening economic outlook and the continued prominence of downside risks, governments with fiscal space that are facing a slowdown should act in an effective and timely manner."Draghi is due to attend his final ECB policy meeting on Thursday before ending his eight-year term and handing over to former IMF chief Christine Lagarde. He's leaving with euro-area inflation at less than half the goal of just-under 2%, growth slowing, and policy makers split over last month's decision to cut interest rates further below zero and resume quantitative easing.The president also criticized attacks on central-bank independence, and warned that global trends toward trade protectionism "pose considerable risks" to the world economy. Both are partly allusions to U.S. President Donald Trump's rhetoric and policies."Multilateral cooperation is needed to reduce trade frictions and mitigate risks of major disruptions to global economic activity and financial stability," Draghi said. "Preserving openness is crucial if the global economy is to thrive and secure its growth potential."To contact the reporters on this story: Paul Gordon in Frankfurt at pgordon6@bloomberg.net;Yuko Takeo in Tokyo at ytakeo2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Gordon at pgordon6@bloomberg.net, Jana RandowFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Johnson will ask for Brexit delay after losing parliament vote -EU official Posted: 18 Oct 2019 02:36 PM PDT  Boris Johnson will send a letter on Saturday requesting a further extension to Britain's departure from the European Union, an EU official said, with the British prime minister obliged to ask for a delay after losing a vote in parliament. Instead, lawmakers voted 322 to 306 in favour of an amendment that turned Johnson's planned finale on its head by leaving the prime minister exposed to a humiliating obligation to ask the EU for a delay until the end of January 2020, and increasing the opportunity for opponents to frustrate Brexit.
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| Turkey wants Syrian forces to leave border areas, aide says Posted: 19 Oct 2019 06:40 PM PDT  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants Syrian government forces to move out of areas near the Turkish border so he can resettle up to 2 million refugees there, his spokesman told The Associated Press on Saturday. The request will top Erdogan's talks next week with Syria's ally, Russian President Vladimir Putin. Arrangements along the Syrian-Turkish border were thrown into disarray after the U.S. pulled its troops out of the area, opening the door to Turkey's invasion aiming to drive out Kurdish-led fighters it considers terrorists.
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| Next-Gen Dodge Challenger Coming in 2023? Don't Be So Sure, Says Dodge Posted: 18 Oct 2019 12:40 PM PDT  The number 2023 spotted on press photos has people all excited, but Dodge told C/D it doesn't mean anything.
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| Why Did 3 U.S. Navy Submarines Surface In The Pacific In 2010? China. Posted: 19 Oct 2019 03:00 AM PDT  Submarines are useful for signaling intent.
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| New ICE Program Exposes Hundreds of Fraudulent ‘Family Units’ Trying to Cross The Border Posted: 18 Oct 2019 05:41 AM PDT  U.S. immigration authorities have discovered hundreds of instances at the border of "family unit fraud," or unrelated individuals posing as families, over the last six months thanks to a new investigative initiative.Authorities exposed 238 fraudulent families presenting 329 false documents, according to the results of an investigation run by Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations unit in El Paso, Texas, the results of which were announced Thursday.More than 350 of those individuals are facing federal prosecution for crimes including human smuggling, making false statements, conspiracy, and illegal re-entry after removal. Authorities have referred 19 children to U.S. Health and Human Services as a result of this investigation. Another 50 migrants fraudulently claimed to be unaccompanied minors."Some of the most disturbing cases identified involve transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) and individuals who are increasingly exploiting innocent children to further their criminal activity," ICE said in a statement.In some cases, criminal organizations made deals with the children's biological parents to transfer children as young as 4 months old to the U.S. and pose as a family unit either for human smuggling purposes or to fraudulently obtain immigration benefits, ICE said."These are examples of the dark side of this humanitarian crisis that our Border Patrol and HSI agents are working tirelessly to identify," said El Paso Sector Interim Chief Gloria Chavez. "We will pursue the highest of judicial consequences for those who commit fraud and exploit innocent children."The Trump administration has attempted to end the "catch and release" policy for migrant family units, which provides migrant families an expedited release into the U.S. as their asylum cases are being processed.Then–acting Homeland Security secretary Kevin McAleenan said last month that the vast majority of migrant families who enter the country illegally will no longer be eligible for "catch and release" due to the implementation of stricter policies. One such policy, the Migrant Protection Protocols, requires that migrants wait in Mexico while their asylum claims are being adjudicated.
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| Bill Maher Ignores Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Disturbing #MeToo Allegations Posted: 19 Oct 2019 12:24 AM PDT  Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/Photos Getty & HBONeil deGrasse Tyson, the fun-lovin' astrophysicist and TV personality, has been credibly accused of sexual misconduct by four women—one of whom, Thchiya Amet El Maat, alleged that he drugged and raped her while the two were graduate students at the University of Texas in 1984. Bill Maher, the boundary-pushing comedian, has branded the MeToo movement "scary" and aspects of it "MeCarthyism" whilst downplaying women's accounts of inappropriate touching at the hands of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, and the allegations against former congressman Al Franken. On Friday night, Maher welcomed pal Tyson to his long-running HBO program Real Time. Tyson, who's managed to weather any professional ramifications from the sexual-misconduct allegations—keeping his gigs with National Geographic's StarTalk, Fox's Cosmos and Hayden Planetarium—joined Maher and his panel, which included The Daily Beast's politics editor Sam Stein, for an interview toward the end of the program. And sure enough, Maher joked about Tyson's planets tie; let him hawk his new book of published letters to and from his fans; debated the scientific evidence (or lack thereof) supporting the existence of God, as is the outspoken atheist's wont; talked flat-earthers; and acted generally chummy with one another. Bill Maher Fails to Challenge The Federalist Publisher (and Mr. Meghan McCain) Ben DomenechJohn Oliver Thinks Rudy Giuliani Is Totally Screwed: 'Trump Will Abandon Him'What Maher failed to do was even remotely probe the disturbing allegations against Tyson—something that most interviewers of Tyson have failed to properly reckon with during his recent book tour (CBS This Morning sort of did, albeit via a soft line of questioning, asking what he's "learned" since the allegations surfaced.) In addition to soft-pedaling the allegations against Biden, Maher voiced objections to the public outrage surrounding Dr. Christine Blasey Ford's sexual-assault allegation against Trump's Supreme Court nominee (now justice), Brett Kavanaugh. "There are social justice warriors who are crazy enough in this country, I fight with them all the time, who… they lend enough credence to this to make people think, 'Oh, you know what? They're going to go after my high school record. That's fair game now.' And it becomes sort of a privacy thing," offered Maher. Later on, the comedian added, "It does seem like things morphed from 'listen to any woman who says she's been wronged,' which is the right thing to do, to 'automatically believe.' That's what's scary." What's frustrating about Maher's attitude toward MeToo is that he appears to consistently downplay allegations of inappropriate touching or attempted sexual assault levied against certain men of power (usually Democrats), while regularly railing against those said to have been committed by President Trump, who's been accused of varying acts of sexual misconduct by over 22 women. While the attitude shouldn't be to "automatically believe" women, it shouldn't take nearly two dozen accusers—or hating the man's politics—to either. 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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| High-profile cases turn spotlight on domestic violence in Russia Posted: 18 Oct 2019 07:34 PM PDT  Natalia Tunikova's partner pushed her towards the open balcony in their high-rise Moscow flat, before punching her to the floor. A Moscow court later ruled that her use of force in self-defence was not justified. Cases like Tunikova's are ever more widely reported in Russia, leading to a public outcry in a country that has no specific law on domestic violence and where feminist movements like #MeToo had little impact.
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| Brexit reversed: How could Britain end up with a second referendum? Posted: 18 Oct 2019 05:44 AM PDT  British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's battle to win support for his new Brexit divorce deal raises the possibility that the United Kingdom could hold a fresh vote on membership of the European Union. A group of lawmakers in the main opposition Labour Party have put forward an amendment calling for approval of any deal to be put to a second referendum, although this will only be debated if Johnson's agreement is voted down. The idea of a second referendum has been gathering support among some British politicians as a way to end the political stalemate.
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| Hondurans call for president to step down after drug verdict Posted: 19 Oct 2019 06:04 PM PDT  Opposition groups called Saturday for more protests to demand that Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández be removed from office after his younger brother was convicted of drug trafficking in a New York court. President Hernández insisted via Twitter that the verdict is not against the state of Honduras, saying his government has fought drug trafficking. On Saturday he attended a parade to honor the country's armed forces and posted pictures of himself on Twitter smiling alongside the U.S. chargé d'affaires to Honduras, Colleen Hoey.
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| Could France and Germany Jointly Build an EU Aircraft Carrier? Posted: 18 Oct 2019 08:00 PM PDT  All in all, a European carrier will only come about in a world where Germany is willing and able to commit far more resources to defense than it currently does; and can arrive at a joint vision with France on how to use such an expensive vessel to project force abroad. That's not the world we live in yet.
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| Archaeologists have located an ancient city hidden in the Cambodian jungle. The discovery was 150 years in the making. Posted: 18 Oct 2019 08:45 AM PDT  For centuries, the ancient city of Mahendraparvata has been covered by dense trees that make it hard to observe.
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| Mitch McConnell Calls Syria Withdrawal ‘Grave Strategic Mistake’ Posted: 18 Oct 2019 02:31 PM PDT  Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) lambasted the Trump administration's decision to withdraw Troops from Syria on Friday, declaring that "America's wars will be 'endless' only if America refuses to win them."In an op-ed published in the Washington Post, McConnell — who said on Thursday that he wanted "a strong, forward-looking strategic statement" — called Trump's withdrawal "a grave strategic mistake" that mirrors "the Obama administration's reckless withdrawal from Iraq, which facilitated the rise of the Islamic State in the first place."In his op-ed, McConnell laid out "three principal lessons" he has learned from the fight against Islamic terrorism in the years following 9/11: "the threat is real," "there is no substitute for American leadership," and "we are not in this fight alone." Despite the recent brokering of a ceasefire between Turkey and the Kurds by a White House delegation, McConnell said the pullback was a "strategic nightmare.""Even if the five-day cease-fire announced Thursday holds, events of the past week have set back the United States' campaign against the Islamic State and other terrorists," he wrote "Unless halted, our retreat will invite the brutal Assad regime in Syria and its Iranian backers to expand their influence. And we are ignoring Russia's efforts to leverage its increasingly dominant position in Syria to amass power and influence throughout the Middle East and beyond."McConnell also pushed back on Trump's defense that "the endless wars must end," a line the president has adopted in recent days after criticism of the decision.> I am the only person who can fight for the safety of our troops & bring them home from the ridiculous & costly Endless Wars, and be scorned. Democrats always liked that position, until I took it. Democrats always liked Walls, until I built them. Do you see what's happening here?> > -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 17, 2019"As neo-isolationism rears its head on both the left and the right, we can expect to hear more talk of 'endless wars.' But rhetoric cannot change the fact that wars do not just end; wars are won or lost," McConnell argued, and concluded by calling for a re-commitment to "our Afghan partners as they do the heavy lifting to defend their country and their freedoms from al-Qaeda and the Taliban."McConnell has long been a critic of Trump's motivations to withdraw troops from Syria. "While it is tempting to retreat to the comfort and security of our own shores, there is still a great deal of work to be done. We're not the world's policemen, but we are the leaders of the free world," he said in January after the initial news of Trump's planned pullback.
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| Ousted Communist leader Zhao Ziyang is buried: family Posted: 19 Oct 2019 12:00 PM PDT  A former Chinese Communist Party leader ousted after he opposed the use of force to quell 1989 democracy protests was buried over a decade after he died, his family said, in a service ignored by state media. Zhao Ziyang, who is a revered figure among Chinese human rights defenders, is still a sensitive topic in the country, where commemorations of his death are held under tight surveillance or prevented altogether. There was no mention of his burial ceremony Friday on state media, and searching for his name on social media returned no results.
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| Louis Vuitton x Donald Trump: the big fashion collab no one asked for Posted: 18 Oct 2019 11:53 AM PDT  Is Louis Vuitton not worried about the threat of aligning their plastic-y, tan hides with the plastic-y tan hide in chief? Donald Trump visits the Louis Vuitton Rochambeau Ranch leather workshop in Keene, Texas. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/ReutersLouis Vuitton, the most valuable luxury brand in the world and prize pony of luxury conglomerate LVMH's stables, has opened a Texas factory, AKA the Louis Vuitton Rochambeau Ranch. Vuitton promised the venture will provide 1,000 American jobs over the next five years.Yet, at a time where brands are feeling the pressure to be more political and woke than ever, is it not a gigantic faux pas to discount politics on Vuitton's part?The answer is … maybe? First off, it's salient to note that this is not the first Vuitton factory in the States. No, the company has been manufacturing its products in California for three decades (ah, rarified European luxury!). It is, however, the first factory opening to require LVMH's president, Bernard "The Wolf in a Cashmere Coat" Arnault, to painfully equivocate about his guest of honor, Donald Trump, who along with daughter Ivanka joined Arnault and LVMH's top brass for the grand opening."I am not here to judge his types of policies. I have no political role. I am a business person," Arnault said of Trump at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, as reported by the New York Times. How convenient, given that while the ceremony was unfolding, US forces were withdrawing from northern Syria, the impeachment procedure has been intensifying, and his 1,000th day in office had just passed with more and more people being concerned by his mental stability.But apart from confirming the fact that Trump cannot pronounce "Vuitton" (here's a handy how-to-pronounce guide), the photo-op raises another question: how are dedicated Vuitton fans going to feel about this?One truth universally recognized by marketers of our era is younger demographics care, more or less, about corporate responsibility. An official boycott – grabyourwallet – of brands financially related to the Trump campaign has affected the popularity of companies before. Remember the recent thing with SoulCycle and Equinox?So do the people who buy Louis Vuitton care that their bag was brought to them by two men who both recently publicly chastised teen climate activist Greta Thunberg on separate occasions? Is Louis Vuitton not worried about the reputational threat of aligning their plastic-y, tan hides with the plastic-y tan hide in chief?Maybe not in Texas where, after all, 77.5% of Johnson county, where the factory is located, voted for Trump in 2016. But according to the Hollywood Reporter, stylists who oversee the wardrobes of the likes of Justin Beiber, Katy Perry and Julia Roberts have already taken to Twitter to cry, essentially, "Big mistake". Yuge!
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| UPDATE 1-Mexico flies 300 Indian migrants to New Delhi in 'unprecedented' mass deportation Posted: 18 Oct 2019 01:27 AM PDT ![UPDATE 1-Mexico flies 300 Indian migrants to New Delhi in 'unprecedented' mass deportation]( "UPDATE 1-Mexico flies 300 Indian migrants to New Delhi in 'unprecedented' mass deportation") MEXICO CITY/NEW DELHI Oct 17 (Reuters) - Mexico has deported over 300 Indian nationals to New Delhi, the National Migration Institute (INM) said late on Wednesday, calling it an unprecedented transatlantic deportation. The move follows a deal Mexico struck with the United States in June, vowing to significantly curb U.S.-bound migration in exchange for averting U.S. tariffs on Mexican exports. "It is unprecedented in INM's history - in either form or the number of people - for a transatlantic air transport like the one carried out on this day," INM said in a statement.
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| Bolivia's Evo Morales faces tightest presidential election Posted: 19 Oct 2019 08:05 AM PDT  Bolivian President Evo Morales faces the tightest election of his political career Sunday as he tries to extend his nearly 14 years in power. Bolivia's first indigenous president is credited with pragmatic economic stewardship that spread the Andean country's natural gas and mineral wealth among the masses. An Oct. 4-6 poll by the San Andres Higher University and other institutions showed Morales apparently leading his nearest rival, former President Carlos Mesa, 32% to 27% heading into the first round of voting, with the rest split among other candidates.
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| Archaeologists discover hidden city in the jungle Posted: 18 Oct 2019 12:08 PM PDT  For centuries, the ancient city of Mahendraparvata has been buried under a dense canopy in the Cambodian jungle. It was one of the first capitals of the Khmer Empire, which controlled large swaths of Southeast Asia from the 9th to 15th centuries. Over the last 150 years, archaeologists have uncovered artifacts that they suspected came from Mahendraparvata, but they didn't have enough evidence to support the link — until now.
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| 7 Things To Do With Your Old Smartphone Posted: 19 Oct 2019 12:00 PM PDT |
| Russia's Stealth Su-57 Is a Beast, But Can Russia Afford It? Posted: 19 Oct 2019 01:00 AM PDT  It's pretty expensive for Russia's flagging economy.
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| Erdogan Vows to Crush Kurd YPG if It Doesn’t Leave: Syria Update Posted: 19 Oct 2019 01:16 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to resume Turkey's offensive against Kurdish forces in northeast Syria if they don't withdraw by the end of a U.S.-brokered five-day truce on Tuesday night.Kurdish and Turkish officials have repeatedly accused each other of violating a truce announced by U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday to allow Kurdish fighters to withdraw from a safe zone along the border. Turkey denied claims by Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces that no safe corridor had been created from the border town of Ras al-Ayn, saying a convoy of ambulances evacuated the wounded on Saturday in coordination with the U.S.Highlighting the fragility of the truce deal, Turkey and the Kurds have disagreed on its parameters. The SDF has said the cease-fire was limited to the 120-kilometer (75-mile) strip between the border towns of Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ayn. Erdogan says the deal requires Kurdish fighters to withdraw from an area 444 kilometers long and 32 kilometers deep.The U.S. fought with the SDF for years to defeat Islamic State but withdrew from the area as Turkey began a long-threatened offensive this month to clear a part of northeastern Syria of Kurdish militants it considers a threat to national security. Abandoned by the U.S., the Kurds made a deal with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad who's troops have deployed to the border with Turkey, upending old alliances and pushing the eight-year-old Syrian war into an unpredictable new phase.Here is a rundown of major events in Turkish local time:Key DevelopmentsTurkey vows to crush Kurdish militia if they do not withdraw by end of truceTurkey denies claims by Kurdish-led SDF of violating cease-fire, says safe corridor has been created to evacuate woundedU.S. Vice President Mike Pence, Erdogan announced cease-fire deal in Ankara after marathon talks on ThursdayTurkish markets rally a day after the U.S.-Turkey dealTrump faces Congressional rebuke for Syria pulloutTurkey Counters Kurds' No-Safe-Passage Claim (10:40 p.m.)Turkey denied preventing the evacuation of wounded following claims by Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces that no safe corridor has been created."There has been absolutely no prevention, and coordinates that can be safely used have been completely relayed to U.S. military officials," Turkey's Defense Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.A 39-vehicle convoy, mostly ambulances, "safely went in an and out of Ras al-Ayn today and evacuated the wounded," according to the statement. "The issue is being closely coordinated with U.S. military officials."Erdogan Vows to Crush Kurdish Militia If They Don't Withdraw (4:12 p.m.)"The 120-hour pause on operations will end Tuesday night, we will continue crushing heads of terrorists if they don't withdraw by then," Erdogan told thousands of flag-waving supporters in the central Anatolian city of Kayseri on Saturday.Erdogan also said he would discuss during his planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin next week what to do about troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who have deployed to the border after striking a deal with the Kurds."There are regime forces under Russian protection in parts of our operation area. We will discuss it with Putin. We've to find a solution," he said.Turkey Denies Violating Agreement With U.S. On Syria Truce (3:04 p.m.)Turkey's Defense Ministry said that its troops are fully committed to the truce and the establishment of a safe zone in Syria but Kurdish "terrorists" there have opened fire on Turkey and its forces 14 times over the past 36 hours.Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said he told U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper in a phone call on Friday that his country would retain the right to self-defense. He called on the U.S. to honor its promise to collect heavy weapons it has given to Kurdish groups and to remove their fortifications along the border under the deal.SDF Yet to Withdraw from East of Euphrates: SOHR (11:15 a.m. )The Syrian Democractic forces hadn't withdrawn from the east of the Euphrates river 37 hours into the truce that required them to clear out of 32 kilometers from the Turkish border, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.The border town of Ras al-Ayn continues to be "under siege" with the wounded unable to receive assistance, it said. Tens of Turkey-allied forces took control of three villages near Ras al-Ayn.Kurdish-Led Forces Say Turkey Is Not Abiding by Syria Truce (9:37 a.m.)Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces accused Turkey of violating a U.S.-brokered five-day truce and called for the creation of a safe corridor to evacuate the wounded from a key border town."Despite the constant communication with the American side and the promise made by them to solve this problem, there has not been any tangible progress in this regard," the SDF said in a statement Saturday. "We have pledged to abide by the ceasefire and continue to abide by it, but at the same time we demand the U.S. side to abide by it and also to pressure the Turkish side to open the corridor."\--With assistance from Nick Wadhams, Saleha Mohsin, Rosalind Mathieson, David Wainer, Taylan Bilgic, Justin Sink, Tony Capaccio and Steven T. Dennis.To contact the reporters on this story: Onur Ant in Istanbul at oant@bloomberg.net;Lin Noueihed in Beirut at lnoueihed@bloomberg.net;Selcan Hacaoglu in Ankara at shacaoglu@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Lin Noueihed at lnoueihed@bloomberg.net, Tony CzuczkaFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Harry Dunn's family vow to expose 'cover up' as Foreign Office admit they asked police to delay passing on information Posted: 18 Oct 2019 05:41 AM PDT  The family of Harry Dunn have said they suspect the British government of colluding with the United States to "cover up" details of his death and renewed calls for police to extradite Anne Sacoolas, the wife of a US intelligence agent accused of killing him. Radd Seiger, a spokesman for the family, said: "The search for justice has now expanded beyond simply Mrs Sacoolas' return, as important as that is. "The family is now concerned that there has been misconduct and a cover up on both sides of the Atlantic and they are intent on exposing it." The call came after Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, admitted the Foreign and Commonwealth Office asked police to delay informing the family that Mrs Sacoolas had left the country. Speaking on Good Morning Britain, Mr Raab said: "I know there was a delay and we were asked our opinion by the police, and I think an official from the Foreign Office said it would be helpful to have a day or two. "I know the police delayed a bit longer, and they are responsible for that." He added: "We have done everything we can within the law to clear the path so that justice can be done for the family and we will continue to do so." Mr Raab was speaking after ITV News reported there had been a been a ten-day delay between officers learning that Mrs Sacoolas had left the country and the family being told. Dominic Raab admitted FCO officials asked police to delay telling Harry Dunn's family that Anne Sacoolas had left the country Credit: Victoria Jones/PA Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn, Harry's parents, told the Telegraph they felt that the British government had abandoned them, saying they believe the Foreign Office "just want us to go away and forget about it all". "We don't understand why," said Mr Dunn. "Harry has died in an accident, and we feel that nobody but us wants to get justice for him." They were due to fly back from the United States on Friday after a five day trip to plead with US officials to send Mrs Sacoolas back to the UK. The trip included a surprise meeting with Donald Trump at the White House, which the family say ended after he suggested an impromptu photo-opportunity meeting with Mrs Sacoolas in the Oval Office. Anne Sacoolas left the country after she allegedly collided with his motorbike near RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire on August 27 Mr Seiger said when they said they would only meet her on UK soil, Robert O'Brien, Mr Trump's national security adviser, said she would never return to Britain. Mrs Sacoolas is alleged to have been driving her right-hand drive Volvo on the wrong side of the road when her car hit Mr Dunn, who was riding his motorbike, on August 27. She and her husband Jonathan Sacoolas, a US intelligence officer, were spirited out of Britain on a private flight from a US air base after the incident. The 42 year old mother-of-three, claimed diplomatic immunity to avoid prosecution despite not being on the official London diplomatic list. The Foreign Office confirmed however that Mrs Sacoolas and her husband, 43, were given diplomatic immunity prior to their arrival in the UK under the Vienna Convention. The immunity is extended to intelligence officers and other Americans working on military bases including RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire where the crash happened. Mr Seiger said the family did not accept that Mrs Sacoolas had diplomatic immunity and would be meeting with the chief constable of Northamptonshire police next week. The family has called on the force to charge Mrs Sacoolas and initiate extradition proceedings. Mr Seiger said he the family had told the FCO and US officials that they were prepared to "have a conversation" if there were security concerns related to Mr Sacoolas' work, but had been rebuffed. "If there is some good reason why this lady should have been recalled, the family would have been open to that discussion. But they just completely ignored us," he said.
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| The Chicago teachers' strike shows how to go on offense against neoliberalism Posted: 19 Oct 2019 03:00 AM PDT  Chicago teachers led the battle against destructive reforms seven years ago – now they're showing all working people left behind by cuts how to fight'Together, the coordinated strikes have put more than 30,000 workers on the picket lines – more than 1% of the city's population.' Photograph: Xinhua/Barcroft MediaIn 2012, when Chicago teachers walked off the job in their first strike in 25 years, the cards were stacked against them, nationally and locally. Today, they're on strike again – and on the offense against austerity.Seven years ago, Rahm Emanuel had just been elected mayor and was looking to deal the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), who he saw as a barrier to privatizing the city's education system, a crushing defeat. That agenda was shared by both Republicans and Democrats across the country, with a barrage of attacks on teachers' unions, devastating budget cuts to schools and charter school networks – intended to undercut public schools and do an end run around their unions – rapidly multiplying.Yet after electing a new militant leadership in 2010 that pledged to fight not just for bread-and-butter issues like higher pay but a broad agenda of "educational justice" and opposition to austerity, Chicago teachers won that strike, inspiring educators and workers of all kinds across the country – and planting the seeds of future unrest in schools across West Virginia, Oklahoma, Arizona, Oakland, Denver and elsewhere, in the teachers' strike wave that kicked off last year.Chicago teachers are again on strike, now against the recently elected mayor, Lori Lightfoot. As in 2012, their demands are focused on burning issues in their schools and the city as a whole rather than simply wages and benefits (a strategy that has been called "bargaining for the common good"). And they're waging that fight alongside another striking union, SEIU Local 73, which represents bus aides, janitors, classroom assistants and other school staff – many of whom earn below-poverty wages.CTU's staffing demands are straightforward: a nurse, counselor, librarian and social worker in every school. The current ratio of students to counselors, nurses and social workers in Chicago public schools (CPS) far exceeds professional association recommendations. The National Association of School Psychologists recommends one psychologist for every 700 students; last year, each CPS psychologist served 1,760. For nurses, the ratio is four times what is recommended; for social workers, nearly five times. The union is also demanding enforceable caps so that classes aren't overcrowded, which CTU says is the case in nearly a quarter of all Chicago classrooms.The union is also connecting its bargaining to the city's affordable housing crisis, demanding housing assistance for both its members and its students, nearly 16,000 of whom experience homelessness. The op-ed pages of the city's newspapers have upbraided this proposal, but CTU argues that "to fully support our public schools, we must address the lack of sustainable, affordable housing in our city" – a problem faced by cities throughout the country.CTU is breaking new ground, both in the kinds of broad working-class demands it is putting forward and by striking alongside SEIU Local 73. Together, the coordinated strikes have put more than 30,000 workers on the picket lines – more than 1% of the city's population. Yesterday, a sea of CTU red and SEIU purple swarmed the city's downtown in the afternoon, with thousands on the streets for a mass march after morning school pickets.The union is up against Lightfoot, a political newcomer who won office earlier this year by campaigning as a progressive and running on an education agenda that borrowed heavily from CTU's: an elected school board rather than one appointed by the mayor, a freeze on charter expansion and major investments in public schools. But Lightfoot's progressive posturing is now running up against tens of thousands striking Chicago teachers and staff who want more than progressive rhetoric – they want hard commitments, put in writing and legally enforceable through their contract.If she continues to balk at union demands at the bargaining table, Lightfoot will probably see the goodwill she has maintained from average Chicagoans since taking office disappear. The signs don't look good for her: a Chicago Sun-Times poll conducted just before the strike shows that the public is backing the CTU over the mayor and school board. The same was true for Rahm Emanuel in 2012.Critics on the school board and in mainstream media have responded with the common refrain that Chicago is broke and can't afford such demands. But Chicago is awash in wealth – enough for Lightfoot to approve the giveaway of $1.3bn in public money to luxury real estate firm Sterling Bay for the mega-development project Lincoln Yards. CTU has long argued that the way to pay for their demands is clear: end these corporate giveaways and tax the rich.The nationwide neoliberal education reform movement was on the march when CTU struck in 2012. But after numerous corruption scandals, growing charter school unionization and strikes, and teacher walk-offs in states throughout the country, that movement is on its heels. Just as the Democratic party has been forced to at least feint left on issues like Medicare for All and free public college tuition because of Bernie Sanders's presidential campaigns, the party has been forced to back off of its most fervent support for corporate education reform.Chicago teachers led the way in the fight against these destructive reforms seven years ago. Today, they're showing educators around the country how to fight not only for themselves, but for all working people who have been left behind by budget cuts and the dismantling of the public sector.The education policy scholar Pauline Lipman once described Chicago as "the incubator, test case and model for the neoliberal urban education agenda". This week, teachers are working to make sure Chicago is where that agenda ends. * Miles Kampf-Lassin is an editor at In These Times. * Micah Uetricht is the managing editor of Jacobin and host of its podcast The Vast Majority. He is the author of Strike for America: Chicago Teachers Against Austerity and coauthor of the forthcoming Bigger Than Bernie: How We Go From the Sanders Campaign to Political Revolution in Our Lifetimes
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| Egypt unveils biggest ancient coffin find in over a century Posted: 19 Oct 2019 06:08 AM PDT  Egypt on Saturday unveiled the details of 30 ancient wooden coffins with mummies inside discovered in the southern city of Luxor in the biggest find of its kind in more than a century. A team of Egyptian archaeologists discovered a "distinctive group of 30 colored wooden coffins for men, women and children" in a cache at Al-Asasif cemetery on Luxor's west bank, the Ministry of Antiquities said in a statement on Saturday. "It is the first large human coffin cache ever discovered since the end of the 19th century," the Egyptian Antiquities Minister Khaled El-Enany was quoted as saying during a ceremony in Luxor.
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| U.K. serial killers had affair in prison, lawyer claims Posted: 19 Oct 2019 07:47 AM PDT  Notorious U.K. serial killers Rose West and Myra Hindley were lovers in prison, according to one of their former lawyers. West's ex-attorney Leo Goatley claimed his client fell for the Moors murderer in 1995 after they were both jailed in the hospital wing of Durham prison.
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| Analysis: Confronted by impeachment, Trump adds to the chaos Posted: 19 Oct 2019 07:18 PM PDT  The impeachment investigation into President Donald Trump has thrust Washington into a political crisis. In the four weeks since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., launched the investigation, Trump has taken steps that have drawn more criticism, not less, repeatedly testing the loyalty of his stalwart Republican allies. Trump angered GOP leaders and U.S. allies by clearing the way for Turkish attacks on Syrian Kurdish fighters, key American partners in the fight against the Islamic State group.
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| The U.S. Army And Marines Have a Plan To Take On China and Russia's Navies Posted: 19 Oct 2019 06:00 AM PDT  Dispersed attacks from land and sea.
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| Daily woes explode onto Lebanon's streets Posted: 19 Oct 2019 12:28 PM PDT  Surrounded by chanting protesters, Lebanese mother-of-two Nada Saad cries her despair over the political leadership's mismanagement of her country. "They're laughing at us," she shouts at a protest in central Beirut. "Wherever we work, there's no social security.
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| The ATF Has Been Enforcing a Rule That Does Not Exist Posted: 18 Oct 2019 03:30 AM PDT  Anyone else sick to death of watching the Democrats debate each other already? Tuesday saw them rehash numerous conversations they've already had, and there are still eight excruciating nights of such television for us to endure.Beto O'Rourke, for instance, once again loudly and obnoxiously announced his intention to confiscate semiautomatic "assault weapons" from their lawful owners. He said he "believes" that compliance will be forthcoming.If I really need to engage with this nonsense, I'll go ahead and note that the American people don't support gun confiscation — even in polls where they endorse banning sales of new assault weapons; that compliance with gun bans is low pretty much everywhere; that his policy would violate the Second Amendment; and that there's little solid evidence that blanket gun bans are effective in reducing crime. We're not going to pass this law, we wouldn't comply with it if we did, and the courts might not allow it anyway.But with that out of the way, let's address what should be an elephant in the room: While Beto was rambling on about his bizarre fantasies in which docile AR-15 owners happily identify themselves to the government and dutifully surrender their arms, our actual legal regime for regulating these guns came under serious threat from a case out of California — because the folks who are supposed to enforce the gun laws have royally messed up for decades.To understand what's going on here, you need a little bit of background. There are lots of rules about making and selling guns in this country: If you sell guns regularly as a business, you need to get a license and conduct background checks on your buyers; each gun a manufacturer creates for sale needs a serial number; etc. However, it's generally legal to sell firearm parts without following those rules.The exception is the "receiver." Federal law treats this part — the frame that holds the gun's guts, basically — the same way it treats an entire firearm. It needs to have a serial number and so on even when it's sold by itself, preventing people from evading the law by simply buying and selling firearms piece by piece.But this creates an issue for AR-15s, whose receivers themselves are divided into two parts. For these guns, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives treats the bottom part — the "lower receiver" — as the firearm for regulatory purposes. The only way to skirt the law is to sell "80 percent lowers," hunks of metal mostly made into lowers but still requiring some machining. (It's legal to finish these off yourself, but only for personal use.)But wait a minute: Could the ATF's usual practice be wrong? Is it actually flat-out legal to sell a completed lower with no serial number and no background check? That's the issue raised by the recent case.You can read the whole story over at CNN, and find the judge's order here, but for our purposes, these are the important facts: A guy named Joseph Roh illegally manufactured and sold AR-15s and other guns through a slapstick scheme to avoid the law. A judge issued a tentative order against Roh — but in the process held that lower receivers are not firearms under current regulations, thus acquitting Roh of some of the charges. The government decided to let Roh off with a slap on the wrist rather than pursue the matter further, to prevent the order, as CNN puts it, from "becoming permanent, drawing publicity, and creating case law that could hamper ATF enforcement efforts." It ended up on CNN's website regardless, and anyone prosecuted for selling AR-15 lowers going forward will be tempted to try Roh's defense.How did this happen? Vague laws and poorly crafted bureaucratic rules.Congress's law on this matter simply refers to a "receiver"; it doesn't define the word. The definition is found instead in the Code of Federal Regulations:> That part of a firearm which provides housing for the hammer, bolt or breechblock, and firing mechanism, and which is usually threaded at its forward portion to receive the barrel.This is very bad, for the reason noted above: AR-15s don't have a single receiver. The bolt and threading are found in the upper receiver, while the hammer and firing mechanism are in the lower. Neither, in other words, by itself meets the definition of "receiver" in the regulation — and for decades the ATF has been enforcing, via its opaque in-house classification process, a rule that doesn't exist in the official rulebook. As a result, someone who carefully reads both the law and the regulation is not on notice that it's illegal to sell a lower receiver without a serial number and background check, and cannot rightfully be punished for doing so.The upshot? Here's how the government put it in a filing noted by CNN, warning the judge about the consequences of enforcing the rule as written:> Unregulated parts could be manufactured, sold, and combined with other commercially available parts to create completed, un-serialized firearms which would not be subject to background checks, and which would be untraceable.It also stressed that the problem is common to many semiautomatic guns, not just AR-15s and their variants.This isn't the first time a court has noticed this problem, surprisingly enough. In 2016's U.S. v. Jimenez, a court found similarly when faced with wording like this in a related part of the regulatory code. It further noted that the ATF itself was confused about how to handle split receivers when it discussed them internally in the 1970s.This might be a loophole the executive branch can plug fairly easily, since the problem lies mainly in the regulation and not the statute passed by Congress — though prosecutors could lose cases against illegal gun sellers in the meantime. It's also possible that other courts will let the agency get away with pretending that the rule means something other than what it says. (See, for instance, ATF's decision to ban "bump stocks" by administrative fiat despite the fact the statute at issue clearly does not cover them.)But you have to ask: If Congress and the ATF can't write rules clearly ensuring that our basic gun laws apply to AR-15s, how well could Beto's confiscation drive possibly go?
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| Michigan Farmers Suffered a Massive Apple and Pumpkin Heist, Losing Thousands of Dollars in Produce Posted: 19 Oct 2019 12:13 PM PDT  "This was not a one man job"
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| Prince William and wife Kate leave Pakistan, day after aborted flight Posted: 18 Oct 2019 12:39 AM PDT  Britain's Prince William and his wife Kate left Pakistan on Friday after visiting an army dog training school, a day after a severe thunderstorm forced them to change their schedule and stay the night in Lahore. "What happens here in Pakistan directly correlates to what happens on the streets of the UK," William told British media after he and Kate saw dogs that are trained to sniff out explosives.
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| The Latest: Woman denies link to Alabama child abduction Posted: 18 Oct 2019 10:23 AM PDT  A woman described as a person of interest in the abduction of a 3-year-old Alabama girl is denying any involvement. Attorneys for 29-year-old Derick Irisha Brown of Birmingham released a statement Friday saying she had no role in the kidnapping and hopes for the safe return of Kamille "Cupcake" McKinney. Brown and a man were arrested earlier this week after being described as persons of interest in the child's abduction from a birthday party last weekend.
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| Trump is planning to sue CNN for 'misrepresention.' This ex-solicitor general thinks CNN will love it. Posted: 18 Oct 2019 11:24 AM PDT ![Trump is planning to sue CNN for 'misrepresention.' This ex-solicitor general thinks CNN will love it.]( "Trump is planning to sue CNN for 'misrepresention.' This ex-solicitor general thinks CNN will love it.") President Trump's newest threat isn't much of a threat.In a letter to CNN sent Friday, Trump lawyer Charles Harder threatened to sue the network for apparently launching "unfair, unfounded, unethical and unlawful attacks" on Trump, especially in the era of impeachment. Trump is seeking monetary damages under the Lanham Act because CNN allegedly "misrepresented" the "trademark" that is Trump's name, and at least one lawyer seems to think it's ridiculous.In the letter, Trump's legal team takes aim at CNN's claim that its reporters are "truth seekers" and outlines other times when CNN basically said it's relaying facts. But a recently published video from the right-wing group Project Veritas seems to show CNN employees claiming company president Jeff Zucker has a vendetta against Trump, thus "constituting misrepresentations" of Trump, Trump's team claims.Neal Katyal, the Obama-era solicitor general who wrote the special counsel regulations, has already suggested CNN will have no problem dealing with Trump's threat. In fact, he said in a tweet that "CNN will want him to sue and have a court decide this one," perhaps giving them a legal answer to Trump's ongoing fake news claims.> Trump is threatening to sue CNN. If the legal claims in his letter are any indication, I would think CNN will want him to sue and have a court decide this one. https://t.co/76jE8MZN3W> > -- Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) October 18, 2019While it's unclear if it would actually welcome a lawsuit, CNN did dismiss the suit as a "desperate PR stunt" that "doesn't merit a response" in a statement.
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| India's Nuclear Weapons Arsenal Keeps Getting Bigger and Bigger Posted: 19 Oct 2019 11:30 AM PDT  A large arsenal in a dangerous part of the world.
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| U.S. Proposed to Help North Korea Build Tourist Area: Report Posted: 19 Oct 2019 02:17 AM PDT ![U.S. Proposed to Help North Korea Build Tourist Area: Report]( "U.S. Proposed to Help North Korea Build Tourist Area: Report") (Bloomberg) -- U.S. officials proposed a long-term plan to help North Korea construct a tourist area in return for denuclearization during recent working-level talks in Stockholm, Hankook Ilbo newspaper reported.U.S. negotiators prepared plans on the development of the Kalma tourist area, the paper said, citing an unidentified senior South Korean diplomat familiar with the talks in Stockholm. The paper didn't say how North Korea reacted to the proposal.North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been pushing to complete a resort construction in the Wonsan-Kalma coastal area. In August, Pak Pong Ju, a key member of the ruling party's politburo, visited the region to encourage workers to make the area "a scenic spot" on the east coast.The talks in Stockholm earlier in October were the first in about eight months between the U.S. and North Korea, but ended with little agreement about what was even on the table. North Korean nuclear envoy Kim Myong Gil said the U.S. arrived "empty-handed" to the meeting, a point disputed by State Department officials.To contact the reporter on this story: Kanga Kong in Seoul at kkong50@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Shamim Adam at sadam2@bloomberg.net, Jasmine NgFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Turkey urges US to use 'leverage' to get Kurdish force pullout: AFP interview Posted: 19 Oct 2019 01:56 PM PDT  Turkey on Saturday urged the United States to use its "leverage" over Syrian Kurdish forces to ensure an orderly pullout under an agreement reached with Washington, a presidential spokesman told AFP. Ankara had no intention of "occupying" any part of the neighbouring country, he insisted. Turkey and the United States reached an agreement that gives Kurdish forces five days for a complete withdrawal from a safe zone along the border -- a deadline which expires Tuesday night.
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