| Trump declares 'major breakthrough' in Syria, lifts sanctions on Turkey Posted: 23 Oct 2019 09:30 AM PDT  President Trump on Wednesday declared his strategy in Syria a success amid bipartisan anger over the president's decision to pull U.S. troops from the region.
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| 'White terror': Hong Kong's China critics beaten in targeted attacks Posted: 23 Oct 2019 11:17 PM PDT  The men jumped Stanley Ho without warning, smashing both his hands with metal rods -- one of multiple recent attacks against prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy figures that activists have dubbed a "white terror". Since late August, eight well-known pro-democracy figures have been beaten by unknown assailants as fear swirls that some "triad" crime networks have flocked to Beijing's cause after five months of protests. "The cause of the attack may be related to two things -- the upcoming district council election and the ongoing movement," Ho told AFP, referring to the protests.
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| Police Shooting Outside El Paso Walmart Leaves Shoppers Stuck in Store and Suspected Car Thief Dead Posted: 24 Oct 2019 12:50 AM PDT  It comes months after 22 people were killed in a mass shooting at another El Paso Walmart
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| As teachers strike, Chicago mayor touts $838M deficit fix Posted: 23 Oct 2019 11:54 AM PDT  Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who's still trying to settle a nearly week-old teacher's strike, proposed a combination of debt refinancing, tax and fee hikes and assistance from the state Legislature on Wednesday to close a massive $838 million budget deficit.
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| Iranian beauty queen pleads for asylum in the Philippines Posted: 22 Oct 2019 08:11 AM PDT  An Iranian beauty queen is seeking asylum in the Philippines, fearing for her life after Tehran demanded her extradition for a crime she claims she did not commit. Bahareh Zare Bahari, who represented Iran at the 2018 Miss Intercontinental pageant in Manila, and who has studied dental medicine in the Philippines since 2014, has been held for six days at the country's Ninoy Aquino airport after Iran slapped an Interpol Red Notice on her for alleged assault. In a series of messages, the distraught Ms Bahari told the Telegraph that the case was a "big lie," adding that she believed she was being targeted for her political activism and outspoken support of women's rights. If she was deported to Iran, "they will kill me," she said. Markk Perete, undersecretary at the Philippine department of justice, said that "the only reason she was held at the airport - and we really don't call it detention - it is really restraining her from entering the Philippine territory, is only because of that Red Notice issued against her." He added that the request had been made "presumably on account of a pending criminal case against her in Iran, and this case was filed by an Iranian national against her in relation to an assault that happened presumably here in the Philippines." Bahareh Zare Bahari, who is studying dental medicine, is an outspoken advocate for women's rights Credit: Facebook However, Mr Perete said that the Philippines was unaware of this allegation, and that an earlier accusation of commercial fraud against her had been dismissed. There were no criminal cases pending against Ms Bahari, he confirmed. "We don't have any cause for refusing her entry for violation of our laws." Ms Bahari's asylum plea is now being considered by the justice department, with the help of a lawyer. Meanwhile, the dental student is confined to Terminal 3's transit area awaiting her fate. "There is no updating, no information about the reason why [they] keep me here so long," she said. She believes her political statement at the pageant - waving a poster of Reza Pahlavi, the exiled former crown prince, and one of the foremost critics of Iran's Islamic government - made her enemies in Tehran. Mr Pahlavi's name has been invoked by some Iranian groups who have called for a return of the monarchy to deal with corruption and poor economic conditions. "I used his photo on stage to be [the] voice of my people because all news and media are ignoring my people," she said. Human Rights Watch on Tuesday called for "a fair and impartial hearing of her claim" in Manila. "It's absolutely critical the Philippines provides Bahareh Zare Bahari with support, including access to legal counsel, to compile and file her asylum application," said Phil Robertson, HRW deputy Asia director. "While waiting for the details to become clear, there should be no action under Iran's Interpol red notice, especially since under Interpol rules a red notice is null and void if the person named in the notice is found to be a refugee fleeing from the state that issued it."
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| NYPD officer fired in chokehold death sues to get job back Posted: 23 Oct 2019 08:04 PM PDT  The officer who was fired in the 2014 chokehold death of Eric Garner is suing the New York Police Department and the police commissioner to be reinstated. Video of the confrontation between Garner, a black man, and the officers trying to arrest him for selling untaxed cigarettes drew outrage and was viewed millions of times online.
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| West Point cadet found dead on campus, ending four-day search Posted: 23 Oct 2019 05:55 AM PDT ![West Point cadet found dead on campus, ending four-day search]( "West Point cadet found dead on campus, ending four-day search") The body of 20-year-old Cadet Kade Kurita from Gardena, California was discovered at West Point on Tuesday night. "We are grieving this loss and our thoughts and prayers go out to Cadet Kurita's family and friends," Lt. Gen. Darryl Williams said. On Monday, the military academy reported the cadet had been missing since Friday at 5:30 pm and the Coast Guard and New York State police were involved in a search of the campus, some 55 miles north of New York City.
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| Tasmanian Tigers Are Extinct, So Why Are Locals Reporting Sightings? Posted: 23 Oct 2019 08:23 AM PDT  These sightings, if true, would reverse the belief that the carnivore has gone extinct.
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| View Photos of the Mazda MX-30 Posted: 22 Oct 2019 08:08 PM PDT |
| Russian forces patrol Syrian-Turkish border Posted: 23 Oct 2019 10:53 AM PDT  Russian forces in Syria conducted their first patrols near the Turkish border Wednesday to ensure Kurdish fighters withdraw under a deal between Moscow and Ankara ousting them from the minority's entire heartland. US President Donald Trump hailed the agreement as a "big success" and announced his administration was lifting sanctions it had imposed on Turkey after it launched its offensive against Kurdish armed groups earlier this month. Kurdish forces, who previously controlled nearly a third of Syria, have lost almost everything under the deal, which sees Turkey remain fully deployed in an Arab-majority area that was the main target of its two-week offensive.
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| Murder Investigation Launched After 39 Bodies Found in a Truck in the U.K. Posted: 23 Oct 2019 02:46 AM PDT  A 25-year-old truck driver has been arrested in connection with the incident
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| Mexico Misleads on Failed Arrest of ‘Chapo’ Son: Ex-DEA Official Posted: 23 Oct 2019 09:52 AM PDT ![Mexico Misleads on Failed Arrest of 'Chapo' Son: Ex-DEA Official]( "Mexico Misleads on Failed Arrest of 'Chapo' Son: Ex-DEA Official") (Bloomberg) -- Mexico's government isn't being truthful about the botched attempt to capture the son of the world's most notorious drug trafficker, according to a former head of international operations for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.The administration of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador hasn't revealed that while trying to bring Ovidio Guzman Lopez into custody, security forces had caught another son of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, Mike Vigil, the former DEA official, said in an interview.Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar had also been detained and let go when gunmen overpowered police, Vigil said, citing unverified intelligence he received from top Mexico police sources. The New York Times had originally reported that Ivan Archivaldo had also been captured and released, citing people who asked not to be identified."There are so many factors that point to the fact that he was there and they also released him," said Vigil. "But they'll never admit to it because they've been lying from the get go." Vigil wouldn't disclose the sources behind his assertions, which couldn't be independently corroborated. He added that authorities have been misleading the public by playing down the amount of planning that went into the operation.Lopez Obrador said at his daily news conference Wednesday that he had no information on whether Ivan Archivaldo had been captured and released. AMLO's press office strongly rejected Vigil's assertion that it misled the public on the botched arrest. "There's been an unusual amount of transparency, not only for Mexico but by international standards. The entire security cabinet was explaining every detail," said Jesus Cantu, the information chief of the president's press office. "The president himself said he'd testify before the authorities if they considered he'd done something illegal."How AMLO's Plans to Transform Mexico Ran Into Reality: QuickTakeLopez Obrador, known as AMLO, has been struggling to convince the public that his government took the right step by releasing Guzman Lopez after gunmen began attacking civilians in efforts to free him in the northern city of Culiacan, Sinaloa. Guzman Lopez is said to have taken over some of the criminal activities after his father was sentenced to life in a U.S. prison.Initially, Mexico's security chief, Alfonso Durazo, had said the troops had stumbled on Guzman Lopez by accident. Afterward, government officials said it was part of a planned operation. More recently, officials signaled that the arrest was approved by low-level law enforcement officials and cabinet ministers may not have been aware.While the president and Durazo have spoken of "errors" regarding the operation, they've been distancing themselves from it. AMLO, as the president is known, said Tuesday that he wasn't informed about the operation to capture Guzman Lopez.He also confirmed that there was an extradition order for the alleged trafficker and raised questions about whether the minister of defense had even been informed about the operation. "I think the Defense Ministry had knowledge of it, the minister? I don't know. I think so."Jesus Ramirez, the president's spokesman and like Cantu is also from AMLO's press office, told Bloomberg News on Monday that Mexico attempted to detain Guzman Lopez upon request by the DEA for extradition. The DEA declined to comment and the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City directed inquiries to the White House press office, which hasn't responded to a request for comment.Vigil questioned why the authorities would target Guzman Lopez for extradition, when Chapo's other sons are far more active in the Sinaloa Cartel once run by their father. "Jesus Alfredo and Ivan Archivaldo are much more important than Ovidio," he said. "Mexico from the very beginning began distorting the truth in order to buy time so they could come up with a plausible deniability story."(Updates with AMLO's comment in fifth paragraph)To contact the reporter on this story: Nacha Cattan in Mexico City at ncattan@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Juan Pablo Spinetto at jspinetto@bloomberg.net, Robert JamesonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Can Israel Fend off an Iranian Missile or Drone Attack? Posted: 22 Oct 2019 08:00 PM PDT  How good are their defenses?
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| Democrat Buttigieg used marijuana 'a handful of times' Posted: 23 Oct 2019 11:45 AM PDT  Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg said Wednesday that he's used marijuana "a handful of times a long time ago," and that it's time for the U.S. to legalize marijuana. Buttigieg, speaking to reporters after touring a legal pot dispensary in suburban Las Vegas, was asked about whether he'd ever used marijuana. A handful of times a long time ago," he said.
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| UPDATE 1-Kremlin says U.S. betrayed Kurds in Syria, tells Kurds to withdraw or be mauled Posted: 23 Oct 2019 12:19 AM PDT ![UPDATE 1-Kremlin says U.S. betrayed Kurds in Syria, tells Kurds to withdraw or be mauled]( "UPDATE 1-Kremlin says U.S. betrayed Kurds in Syria, tells Kurds to withdraw or be mauled") The Kremlin said on Wednesday that the United States had betrayed and abandoned the Syrian Kurds and advised the Kurds to withdraw from the Syrian border as per a deal between Moscow and Ankara or be mauled by the Turkish army. The comments by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov to Russian news agencies followed a deal agreed on Tuesday between Russia and Turkey that will see Syrian and Russian forces deploy to northeast Syria to remove Kurdish YPG fighters and their weapons from the border with Turkey. Peskov, who was reported to be reacting to comments by U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy for Syria James Jeffrey, complained that it appeared that the United States was encouraging the Kurds to stay close to the Syrian border and fight the Turkish army.
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| A vegan said he felt 'betrayed' and got sick after Domino's mistakenly served him pizza with real ham Posted: 22 Oct 2019 09:23 AM PDT  Accidentally eating meat can be upsetting, but in most cases it won't cause any physical harm, a nutritionist told Insider.
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| America's consumer paradise means hell on Earth for Chinese Muslims Posted: 23 Oct 2019 02:55 AM PDT ![America's consumer paradise means hell on Earth for Chinese Muslims]( "America's consumer paradise means hell on Earth for Chinese Muslims") You're in your bed and you wake up with a black bag over your head. When you can see again you have no idea where you are: exposed concrete room, very cold. You're forced to perform manual labor, to attend talks on patriotism, to learn a new language, to sing inane songs. You are beaten -- for refusing to eat pork, for sending messages on a phone you don't have and wouldn't even know how to use, for refusing to confess to crimes you have not committed, for confessing to crimes you have not committed, for any offense at all or none. If you are under the age of 35, you are raped, often by more than one person at a time; if you are a woman and become pregnant you will be forced to have an abortion, perhaps more than once. Or you may have a contraceptive device inserted inside you against your will. No sleep, and you stink. Then there are the drugs that are supposed to protect you from the flu and AIDS; these weaken your cognitive faculties and lead to the end of menstruation and sterilization. If you are actually sick with a condition like diabetes you will receive no treatment. And it could be worse: You could be brought to the black room, where you will be be electrocuted and made to sit on a bed of nails and have your fingernails ripped out, even though the black room officially doesn't exist and talking about it is forbidden. All of this is carried out by a sinister body with administrative and military as well as economic authority over an entire region; it is known only as "The Corps."This is not a summary of a dystopian novel or a pitch for a new Hulu original series. It is a description of the conditions under which perhaps as many as a million Uighur Muslims live in China in 2019. China, in case you had forgotten, is the United States' largest trading partner, the country whose achievements in everything from infrastructure to STEM education we are supposed to be fawning over, the country our president is an idiot for wanting to tangle with, and prominent sports figures are officially not allowed to criticize. In the last six or so years they have created hell on Earth for the country's largest Turkic ethnic minority group in the ostensibly autonomous Xinjiang region.And no one particularly cares, least of all in the United States. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo criticized China's treatment of the Uighurs earlier this month, but it was in the context of a ludicrous comparison with Iran and Pakistan. There was no indication during a Cabinet meeting on Monday that President Trump or anyone else involved in the ongoing trade talks intends to do anything about the issue, which was not mentioned either by the president or by Wilbur Ross, the commerce secretary.I cannot believe I am typing this about a man who eight years ago said he would be walking on Mars by now, but Newt Gingrich is absolutely right. Our leaders are not prepared to deal with China. Not only do they lack the cunning and the willpower -- they lack the requisite bargaining tools. We are in too deep, and China knows it. Any concession we could possibly demand of them will require a corresponding one that we are unable to grant.Besides, it is not clear to me that a substantial number of Americans particularly wants to see our relations with China change. We are happy to buy cheap water bottles and Halloween decorations and licensed cartoon merchandise and mobile phones. We want our movies shown in Chinese theaters and our sports leagues to have large Chinese fan bases. From our home in this consumer paradise hell looks impossibly remote."I will never forget the camp," says Sayragul Sauytbay, a former teacher in one of the Uighur camps now living in Sweden. "I cannot forget the eyes of the prisoners, expecting me to do something for them. They are innocent. I have to tell their story, to tell about the darkness they are in, about their suffering. The world must find a solution so that my people can live in peace. The democratic governments must do all they can to make China stop doing what it is doing in Xinjiang."Indeed they must. But they will not if their citizens and leaders alike care more about stock prices and Cyber Monday deals than they do about torture, rape, and Mengelean experimentation on human bodies and brains.Want more essential commentary and analysis like this delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for The Week's "Today's best articles" newsletter here.
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| Trump declares 'big success' in Syria, lifts sanctions on Turkey Posted: 23 Oct 2019 03:05 PM PDT  In a 15-minute speech at the White House, Trump said critics of his policy want an endless, unlimited U.S. commitment in a dangerous region.
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| Rudy Giuliani Admits He ‘Did Sort of Look at’ Ukrainian Oligarch Dmitry Firtash for Info Posted: 22 Oct 2019 08:05 PM PDT  Georges Schneider/AFP/GettyVictoria Toensing and Joe DiGenova, the pro-Trump lawyers representing a Ukrainian oligarch wanted by U.S. authorities on conspiracy charges, reportedly met personally with Attorney General William Barr in July—at the height of Rudy Giuliani's hunt for kompromat on Joe Biden in Ukraine. Citing three sources familiar with the meeting, The Washington Post reports that diGenova and Toensing argued against the charges facing Dmitry Firtash—who has been described by federal prosecutors as having connections to the "upper echelons" of Russian organized crime—in the meeting with Barr and other Justice Department officials. Barr is said to have refused to intercede. Firtash, who has been fighting extradition to the U.S. on bribery and corruption charges from Vienna for more than five years, had only recently hired Toensing and diGenova at the time of the reported meeting. According to Bloomberg, he paid them $1 million earlier this year to dig up dirt on Biden in a bid to get Giuliani's help with his legal woes. While Giuliani has maintained he never had anything to do with Firtash's case, Firtash reportedly bankrolled at least one piece of opposition research that Giuliani would later hold up on cable news as proof of Biden's wrongdoing: a witness statement from Viktor Shokin, Ukraine's former prosecutor general, claiming the former vice president had him fired to protect his son from a corruption investigation. Giuliani told the Post that he "did sort of look at Firtash to see if he had any relevant information" that could help with his search for damaging information about Democrats. "As far as I can tell, he didn't. I looked at maybe 20 of these oligarchs."A Justice Department spokeswoman said the Firtash case "has the support of the department leadership" and said DOJ would "continue to work closely with the Austrian Ministry of Justice to extradite Mr. Firtash." Toensing reportedly declined to comment on the Barr meeting.The Post also reports that prosecutors in Chicago who filed the bribery charges against Firtash in 2013 had previously come across two of Giuliani's recently arrested associates, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, in their case. Prosecutors there are now said to be reviewing whether there is a larger relationship between Firtash and the Soviet-born businessmen accused of campaign finance violations. Parnas and Fruman, who were reportedly enlisted by Giuliani to help find dirt on Trump's political opponents in Ukraine, are accused of making an illicit campaign donation in a bid to have the then-U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, removed. Giuliani claimed he did not know whether Firtash, Parnas, and Fruman had a relationship. "It's none of my business," he told the Post. Lawyers for Parnas and Fruman have not publicly spoken about their clients' potential ties to Firtash.Firtash reportedly hired both Toensing and diGenova this summer at the recommendation of Parnas, who is said to have worked as a translator for Toensing and diGenova in the Firtash case. A Toensing and diGenova spokesman said Firtash had "no business relationship" with Parnas or Fruman. "No money has been paid to Mr. Parnas by Mr. Firtash beyond his work as a translator for the law firm," the spokesman said.Parnas and Fruman were both arrested at a D.C. airport before they reportedly could board one-way flights to Vienna earlier this month. Giuliani told The Atlantic that he also intended on going to Vienna just one day after Parnas and Fruman were scheduled to depart the U.S.Indicted Oligarch Dmytro Firtash Praises Paul Manafort, Says Trump Has Third-Grade SmartsRead 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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| Former ICE Head Slams L.A. Police for Releasing Illegal Immigrants Posted: 23 Oct 2019 12:16 PM PDT  The former head of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency Tom Homan slammed the Los Angeles police department on Tuesday after an ICE spokesman testified to Congress that L.A. police were releasing as many as 100 illegal immigrants from custody per day.The L.A. police chief "has taken a political stance," Homan asserted during an interview on Fox and Friends. "He forgot the oath he's taken; he stopped being a cop and became a politician."During a Monday Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on "sanctuary jurisdictions," ICE official Timothy Robbins stated that the L.A. police department was releasing captured illegal immigrants at a high rate, up to 100 per day, in accordance with a policy implemented by chief Michel Moore."Cooperation between ICE and state and local law enforcement agencies is critical to the agency's efforts to identify and arrest removable aliens, and to protect the nation's security," Robbins said. "Unfortunately, we are seeing more jurisdictions that refuse to work with our officers, or directly impede our public safety efforts.""Are you saying that local law enforcement, if they knew they had a violent offender in custody, that they would release those persons?" asked Senator Mazie Hirono (D., Hawaii) during the hearing."Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying," Robbins responded.A 2017 California law signed by former governor Jerry Brown greatly restricts the ability of local law enforcement agencies to work with the ICE to capture illegal immigrants. The legislation in effect turns California into a "sanctuary state."However, Homan said during the Tuesday interview that California police generally opposed the legislation.California is home to roughly 2.5 million illegal immigrants comprising about one tenth of the state's workforce, according to the Public Policy Institute of California, a non-profit think tank.
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| U.S. Security Bloc to Keep China in ‘Proper Place,’ Pompeo Says Posted: 23 Oct 2019 01:24 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Terms of Trade is a daily newsletter that untangles a world embroiled in trade wars. Sign up here. U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo has said efforts to revive the Indo-Pacific security grouping known as the Quad will help the Washington contain China's rise."We've reconvened 'the Quad' -- the security talks between Japan, Australia, India and the United States that had been dormant for nine years," Pompeo said in a speech to the conservative Heritage Foundation research group on Tuesday. "This will prove very important in the efforts ahead, ensuring that China retains only its proper place in the world."His remarks came in a speech where he also said U.S. President Donald Trump "has changed the global conversation on China" and that Beijing "is a strategic competitor at best that uses coercion and corruption as its tools of statecraft."The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue involving four democracies is seen as a counter to China's growing influence in Asia as it spends billions on infrastructure, builds artificial structures in the South China Sea and expands its military power. However, some of the group's members -- particularly India -- have occasionally tried to downplay the significance of the group to avoid angering Beijing or alienating countries in Southeast Asia.Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has mocked the idea of a unified Indo-Pacific strategy as a "headline-grabbing idea" that will dissipate "like the sea foam in the Pacific or Indian Ocean.""The four countries' official position is that it targets no one," Wang said in March. "I hope they mean what they say and their action will match their rhetoric. Nowadays, stoking a new Cold War is out of sync with the times and inciting bloc confrontation will find no market."In late September, the talks were upgraded from officials to the ministerial level, with Pompeo meeting the four foreign ministers of the Quad nations, including Australia's Marise Payne, Japan's Toshimitsu Motegi and India's Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.To contact the reporter on this story: Iain Marlow in Hong Kong at imarlow1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Daniel Ten Kate, Chris KayFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Japan's Emperor Naruhito hosts tea party for foreign royals Posted: 23 Oct 2019 07:14 AM PDT  Japanese Emperor Naruhito hosted a tea party at his residence for royals from other countries on Wednesday, thanking them for celebrating his enthronement the day before. Naruhito proclaimed his succession in a ritual-laden ceremony Tuesday at the Imperial Palace. Naruhito and his wife, Masako, greeted the royal guests with hugs or handshakes as they arrived at the tea party they hosted at their Akasaka Imperial residence.
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| UPDATE 3-China plans to replace Hong Kong leader Lam with 'interim' chief executive -FT Posted: 22 Oct 2019 01:53 PM PDT ![UPDATE 3-China plans to replace Hong Kong leader Lam with 'interim' chief executive -FT]( "UPDATE 3-China plans to replace Hong Kong leader Lam with 'interim' chief executive -FT") China is drawing up a plan to replace Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam with an "interim" chief executive, the Financial Times reported, citing people briefed on the deliberations, which would bring to a close Lam's rule after months of often-violent pro-democracy protests. Lam has become a lightning rod for protests over fears that Beijing is tightening its grip, limiting the freedoms enjoyed under the "one country, two systems" principle enshrined when colonial ruler Britain handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997. Sources told the FT that officials in China want the situation in Hong Kong to stabilise before making a final decision, as they do not want to be seen to be giving in to violence.
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| AOC's reelection campaign says it refunded two mysterious $500 donations from former Facebook exec and Trump supporter Palmer Luckey Posted: 23 Oct 2019 10:03 AM PDT  Oculus founder Palmer Luckey regularly donates to far-right causes, but he donated to AOC without explanation.
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| Children are being sexually abused every seven minutes, NSPCC reveals as figures hit new high Posted: 23 Oct 2019 03:57 PM PDT  Children are being sexually abused every seven minutes, according to police data obtained by the NSPCC. Reported sexual offences against children rose to 76,204 in the last 12 months, a record high, according to the figures from 44 of the 45 police forces released under Freedom of Information laws. That is a rise of 63 per cent compared to five years ago when there were 46,738 recorded child sexual offences. Analysis of the data also reveals that where age of victim was provided, a fifth of the offences - some 16,773 - were recorded against children aged ten and under, with 341 of the offences against babies under the age of one. The NSPCC say the rise in offences which include rape, sexual assault and grooming is partly explained by better recording and increased reporting but believe there has also been a rise fuelled by paedophiles exploiting social media to contact children. In 2018/19, there were 8,656 recorded child sexual offences flagged as involving an online element – an increase of 18 per cent from the previous year where there were 7,362. Duty of Care white paper Peter Wanless, chief executive of the NSPCC, said: "Record numbers of child sexual offences means we are facing a nationwide crisis in the help available for tens of thousands of children. "These children are bravely disclosing what happened to them but in too many cases there is not enough timely, joined up and child-friendly support. Instead they are shunted from overstretched service to service. "We need a radical rethink in the way we help these young people, otherwise they could struggle for the rest of their lives with long term, deep seated trauma." The charity is calling for the provision of specialised services around the UK, with an emphasis on early joined up support from police, local NHS services, children's services and advocacy for children who have experienced sexual abuse, offered in child-friendly spaces. Last year there were 69,543 recorded child sexual offences, more than three times the 20,698 when figures were first collected in 2007/08. Duty of Care white paper Chief Constable Simon Bailey, the National Police Chiefs' Council lead for child protection, said: "Policing is doing all we can to pursue and prosecute criminals who exploit and abuse young people. "But much more must be done to stop this abuse happening in the first place. Social media and tech companies need to acknowledge their responsibility and do more to stop children accessing harmful content and prevent abuse on their platforms. "They have a social responsibility to design out this type of offending and to cooperate in full with police investigations into child abuse or exploitation."
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| Meet the Fox reporter who is bedeviling Trump on Syria Posted: 23 Oct 2019 01:12 PM PDT ![Meet the Fox reporter who is bedeviling Trump on Syria]( "Meet the Fox reporter who is bedeviling Trump on Syria") When President Donald Trump claimed in a Monday Cabinet meeting that "we never gave a commitment to the Kurds," the U.S. ally recently abandoned in northern Syria, an immediate rebuke came from a source not easily dismissed as "fake news": a Fox News correspondent. "Not true," Jennifer Griffin tweeted. "According to a former top senior military adviser to President Trump, 'We told them over and over 'We are your friends.
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| South Carolina police find remains of 5-year-old girl missing since August in landfill Posted: 22 Oct 2019 07:18 PM PDT  The Sumter Police Department on Tuesday announced the remains of Nevaeh Lashy Adams were found after a search that began in August.
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| 2020 BMW M340i vs. 2020 Genesis G70 in Photos Posted: 23 Oct 2019 08:30 AM PDT |
| Putin Enters Contest for Africa After Humbling U.S. in Mideast Posted: 22 Oct 2019 09:00 PM PDT ![Putin Enters Contest for Africa After Humbling U.S. in Mideast]( "Putin Enters Contest for Africa After Humbling U.S. in Mideast") (Bloomberg) -- After restoring Russia as a key power in the Middle East, President Vladimir Putin is turning his attention to Africa to raise Moscow's profile in the struggle for geopolitical influence.Putin hosts leaders from more than 50 African states on Wednesday in Russia's first conference with the continent, underlining a Kremlin push to rival the U.S., the European Union and China as strategic players in the resource-rich region."Russia is increasingly looking to Africa as a region where it can project power and influence," said Paul Stronski of the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "The power vacuums created by a lack of Western policy focus in recent years" are giving it "an opportunity to curry favor."The two-day summit in Sochi co-hosted with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, the current African Union chairman, is an effort to revive former Cold War relations, when African regimes often allied with Moscow in the ideological contest with the U.S. before the Soviet Union's collapse. It's "an unprecedented, benchmark event," Putin told the state-run Tass news service in an interview published Monday, calling stronger links with Africa "one of Russia's foreign policy priorities."Still, there's a sense Russia is coming late to the continent after China and other states including Turkey and the United Arab Emirates filled a vacuum left by the erosion of Communist-era ties. Russia's $20 billion trade volume with Africa in 2018 was dwarfed by the EU's 300 billion euros ($334 billion) and China's $204 billion, and was about a third of the U.S.'s total.Moscow's "influence will grow but it will be incremental rather than exponential," said Ronak Gopaldas, director at Signal Risk in South Africa, a risk-management firm. "I don't think they'll come anywhere close to matching Chinese influence in Africa."Renewed FocusAs in the Middle East, where Putin leveraged his successful Syria intervention to bolster Russia's standing at the U.S.'s expense, the Kremlin is exploiting Washington's fading influence even as President Donald Trump's new Prosper Africa strategy seeks to reverse the decline.While it's never been entirely absent from Africa, the Kremlin's renewed focus has largely involved a two-pronged strategy so far, shoring up unstable regimes through informal military contractors while offering defense and energy cooperation to other states.Russia signaled its capabilities by sending two Tu-160 'Blackjack' strategic nuclear bombers that were due to arrive in South Africa on Wednesday, the first time they will have landed on the continent."We are ready to engage in competition for cooperation with Africa," Putin said in his interview. "We see a number of Western states resorting to pressure, intimidation and blackmail" in attempts to regain "lost influence and dominant positions in former colonies."Russia, which has written off $20 billion of African debts, plans to offer financing to states with little access to capital markets. It has also inked defense-cooperation accords in recent years with about 15 African nations. State atomic energy operator Rosatom Corp., meanwhile, is seeking contracts across the continent including in Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria and Zambia.Still, Russia can't match China's financial firepower. Chinese President Xi Jinping last year announced $60 billion in loans and other financing at a Beijing conference with African nations, three years after pledging a similar amount.'Niche Player'"Russia is now a niche player and its playing in the energy arena and security area," said Steven Gruzd, head of the South African Institute of International Affairs' Governance and Diplomacy Program in Johannesburg. It hopes offering African nations closer economic and political ties "will get it more support in forums like the United Nations," he said.Putin showed his potential last year when the UN issued a waiver for Russia to arm and defend the government of the Central African Republic, which sought help after its former colonial master, France, ended a three-year peacekeeping mission.Even so, he's faced setbacks. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa froze a multibillion-dollar nuclear power project with Russia after he took office last year. Protests against longtime Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir, who enjoyed Kremlin backing despite an international arrest warrant against him for alleged genocide, led the military to oust him in April and share power with the civilian opposition.The Wagner mercenary group of Putin ally Yevgeny Prigozhin, which has been fighting in Syria, is offering security services in Sudan and the CAR in exchange for gold and diamond concessions. It's active in other mineral-rich African countries including the Democratic Republic of Congo, and is present in Libya in support of military leader Khalifa Haftar, who's battling the UN-backed government in Tripoli.Influence, MoneyPrigozhin deployed political consultants to try to influence elections in Zimbabwe and Madagascar. Russia is backing President Alpha Conde's attempt to prolong his rule next year by scrapping term limits in Guinea, the biggest supplier of bauxite for Russian aluminum giant United Co. Rusal.Another wealthy Putin ally, Konstantin Malofeev, helped set up the International Sovereign Development Agency this year, which is a general partner at the summit. The agency says it's in negotiations with several central and western African countries and plans to issue $500 million in sovereign debt to one of them in early 2020, though it won't say which one."Real sovereignty begins with economic sovereignty," Malofeev said. "A lot of the financing received by African countries is granted on unfavorable conditions."Russia has "grand designs to be a global superpower again" and knows it can't ignore Africa as "a new geopolitical chessboard," said Gopaldas at Signal Risk. "For African policy makers, it creates more choice," he said.\--With assistance from Mike Cohen and Matthew Hill.To contact the reporter on this story: Henry Meyer in Moscow at hmeyer4@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Gregory L. White at gwhite64@bloomberg.net, Tony Halpin, Michael WinfreyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| South Korean prosecutors arrest ex-minister's wife Posted: 23 Oct 2019 09:14 PM PDT  Prosecutors on Thursday arrested the wife of South Korea's former justice minister who resigned last week over corruption allegations surrounding his family that have sparked huge protests and rattled Seoul's liberal government. The Seoul Central District Court said a judge issued an arrest warrant for Chung Kyung-shim over concerns that she might attempt to destroy evidence as prosecutors investigate her suspected involvement in dubious financial investments and creating fake credentials to help her daughter get into medical school.
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| Bitcoin plunges to five-month low vs dollar after Zuckerberg testimony Posted: 23 Oct 2019 09:43 AM PDT  Bitcoin's price dropped on Wednesday to its lowest level against the dollar since the middle of May after Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerbeg, in testimony before Congress, expressed doubts about whether the company's cryptocurrency project Libra was going to work. Bitcoin's price on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange was last down 6.95% at $7,471 , after hitting a five-month low below $7,300. Appearing before the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee, Zuckerberg admitted that he did not know if Libra would work.
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| After El Paso and Odessa shootings, my plan to reduce mass violence: Sen. John Cornyn Posted: 23 Oct 2019 09:03 AM PDT  No person, family, or community should endure the heartbreak caused by the recent mass shootings in Texas. It's time to answer their call for action.
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| The Balkans fuse Posted: 23 Oct 2019 07:56 AM PDT ![The Balkans fuse]( "The Balkans fuse") Three nations in what was once Europe's powder keg set plans to blend their economies, replicating the "common home" of the EU.
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| Sen. Lindsey Graham and a Fox News contributor threw a Hail Mary to keep US troops in Syria Posted: 22 Oct 2019 11:45 AM PDT  The duo attempted to persuade Trump to keep a contingency force in Syria to help defend oil fields from Iranian interests, NBC News reported.
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| The World’s Most Beautifully Designed Ocean-Fed Pools Posted: 23 Oct 2019 02:34 PM PDT |
| Iraqi Kurds turn to Zoroastrianism as faith, identity entwine Posted: 22 Oct 2019 06:52 PM PDT  Zoroastrianism. Years of violence by the Islamic State jihadist group have left many disillusioned with Islam, while a much longer history of state oppression has pushed some in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region to see the millennia-old religion as a way of reasserting their identity. "After Kurds witnessed the brutality of IS, many started to rethink their faith," said Asrawan Qadrok, the faith's top priest in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region.
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| Phoenix police officer involved in viral video stop of couple fired Posted: 23 Oct 2019 11:00 AM PDT  Phoenix Chief Jeri Williams announced that the officer involved in a viral video stop of Dravon Ames and Iesha Harper has been fired.
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| Rats and Mold in Kushner-Managed Apartments, Maryland Claims Posted: 23 Oct 2019 11:10 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- An apartment management firm run by Jared Kushner's family was sued by Maryland's attorney general, who claims the company engaged in numerous "illegal and harmful" practices.Westminster Management lied about the quality of rental units and the level of maintenance the company would provide, routinely failing to address hazardous conditions in the properties, including infestations by rodents and other vermin, water leaks and mold growth, Attorney General Brian Frosh said in a statement."We're charging that Westminster and the rental property owners in this case took advantage of consumers, primarily low- and middle-income families, collecting fees and other unlawful costs from them and often failing to make the repairs needed to maintain suitable environments for their tenants," Frosh said.Westminster Management is a unit of Kushner Cos., a family-run, New York-based business that owns, manages and develops properties and was built on working-class apartment complexes in New Jersey and Maryland. Some of the properties in the suit are owned by other companies but managed by Westminster.Kushner Cos. was run by Jared Kushner before he joined the administration of President Donald Trump, his father-in-law. Charles Kushner, Jared Kushner's father, has said his family firm has been unfairly targeted since his son became a key adviser to the president. In July, Trump attacked the Baltimore district of Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings, describing it as a "disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess." Cummings died last week.The suit, an administrative proceeding by the attorney general's Consumer Protection Unit, comes about a month after Laurent Morali, president of Kushner Cos., said Westminster had rejected an offer from Frosh to settle a long-running probe into how its tenants were treated, according to the Associated Press."We refuse to be extorted by an ambitious attorney general who clearly cares more about scoring political points than fighting real crime and improving the lives of the people of Maryland," Morali said. "We look forward to defending ourselves against these bogus allegations."A statement of charges in the suit describes "rodents living and dying in walls and kitchen appliances" and cockroaches that have "crawled into consumers' food." Various plumbing problems cause "water-logged carpeting; holes in walls and ceilings; sagging, buckling and collapsing ceilings; and the stench of mildew and sewage," according to the filing.Kushner Cos. has also battled Steven Fulop, the mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey, where the company wants to build a mixed-use tower. Fulop "has expressly acknowledged to several people on the phone and in meetings that Kushner Companies is being unfairly and blatantly discriminated against by Jersey City simply because its former CEO works in the Trump administration," a spokeswoman told Bloomberg last year.In New York, the company was targeted last year for failing to disclose rent-regulated tenants when applying for construction permits in Queens. The disclosure is required to protect such tenants from being forced out of their homes. In a statement at the time, the company said the filings were prepared by a third party.(Updates with details of allegations and with Kushner Cos.' view that it has been unfairly targeted)\--With assistance from Andrew Harris.To contact the reporters on this story: Chris Dolmetsch in Federal Court in Manhattan at cdolmetsch@bloomberg.net;Caleb Melby in New York at cmelby@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Peter JeffreyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Making do with less: Mexican media bruised by president's austerity Posted: 23 Oct 2019 01:02 AM PDT  Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador took office in December promising to reduce public spending to free up more resources for the poor. Between January and August, Lopez Obrador's government spent 88 million pesos ($4.6 million) on advertising, just 3.6% of the sum spent in the same months of 2018 by his predecessor Enrique Pena Nieto, Public Administration Ministry (SFP) data show. The reduction in government publicity, which had accounted for 10% or more of advertising revenue for many outlets, has sparked layoffs and the suspension of projects in an industry still suffering disruption from the shift to the internet.
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| Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez asked Mark Zuckerberg how big a lie she could buy on Facebook Posted: 24 Oct 2019 02:55 AM PDT ![Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez asked Mark Zuckerberg how big a lie she could buy on Facebook]( "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez asked Mark Zuckerberg how big a lie she could buy on Facebook") The House Financial Services Committee held a hearing Wednesday ostensibly about Facebook's cryptocurrency, Libra, but lawmakers weren't going to waste their chance to question Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on some Bitcoin knockoff. Here's how Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) made her pivot: "In order for us to make decisions about Libra, I think we need to kind of dig into your past behavior and Facebook's past behavior with respect to our democracy."Ocasio-Cortez grilled Zuckerberg on the Cambridge Analytica election-data-manipulation scandal -- Zuckerberg said he learned of the breach "around" March 2018, even though correspondence unearthed in a lawsuit this year showed executives know about potential improper data harvesting as early as September 2015 -- and then she turned to Facebook's "official policy" of allowing "politicians to pay to spread disinformation in 2020 elections and in the future. So I just want to know how far I can push this in the next year," she said.Zuckerberg said Ocasio-Cortez couldn't buy an add targeting black voters with the wrong election date, but when she asked if she could "run advertisements on Facebook targeting Republicans in primaries, saying that they voted for the Green New Deal," Zuckerberg said yes, probably. "Do you see a potential problem here with a complete lack of fact-checking on political advertisements?" Ocasio-Cortez asked, and Zuckerberg said he thinks "lying is bad, and I think if you were to run an ad that had a lie in it, that would be bad," and voters should know if she or any other politician is a liar."Facebook doesn't need to run political ads; they're not a significant portion of its business," Vox notes. "But the company appears determined to leave its policy unchanged. So prepare for some your-Republican-congressman-supports-the-Green-New-Deal ads from Democrats in 2020. Maybe."
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| Calif. wildfire fanned by 70 mph winds leaps out of control Posted: 23 Oct 2019 08:36 PM PDT  Evacuations ordered in Geyserville area of Sonoma County, near where power was cut as preventive measure
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| Iraqi security forces killed 149 protesters, most by shots to head, chest: Government inquiry Posted: 22 Oct 2019 12:26 PM PDT  An Iraqi government committee investigating a wave of unrest found that 149 civilians were killed because security forces used excessive force and live fire to quell protests, according to its report, seen by Reuters.
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| Japan Has Something Called "Helicopter Destroyers" (Code For Aircraft Carrier?) Posted: 23 Oct 2019 11:00 PM PDT  And they might get F-35s?
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| Donald Trump Mocks Black Americans by Evoking Emmett Till Posted: 22 Oct 2019 01:58 PM PDT  Jonathan Ernst/ReutersEvery black person, whether they were born in the 1930s like my grandmother, the 1940s like my parents, the 1960s like me, or the 1990s like my eldest niece knows the story of Emmett Till. Emmett was 14 years old when, in 1955, he was kidnapped, beaten mercilessly, disfigured, lynched, and drown in the Tallahatchie River river in Mississippi after allegedly "wolf"-whistling at a young white woman, Carolyn Bryant Donham. In 2008, more than 50 years later, she told a historian that her allegations against Emmett were false. Emmett, who was from Chicago, had been visiting his mother's family in Mississippi that summer when he was dragged out of their home in the night. His body was found near the river bed in Glendora, Mississippi where a makeshift memorial was put up, then defaced, then put up, then defaced, then shot with bullet holes, until this past week, a new bullet-proof steel sign was put in place. Lindsey Graham Stands Up for Trump: Impeachment Inquiry a 'Lynching in Every Sense'Lynching is not a word to be used lightly: From 1882 to 1968, 4,743 lynchings occurred in the U.S., according to the NAACP. Of those men, women, and children we know of who were hanged, burned alive, shot, drowned, and beaten to death, 3,446 were black. And these are just the ones we know about.And while lynchings are much rarer now, they do still occur. And at any number of college campuses, nooses have been found in recent years. When my law school alma mater, American University, elected its first black female college president she was greeted by a rope hanging with some bananas. It is obscene for an American president—let alone a powerful white man who inherited a fortune from his father (himself once arrested at a Klan rally) and famously paid for full-page newspaper ads calling for the death penalty for five innocent young black men in the "Central Park Five" case—to say that he the victim of a "lynching" simply because he is being investigated and will likely be impeached by a co-equal branch of our government. This man who is the very epitome of white male privilege has long cried about "witch hunts," a term that recalls the infamous Salem witch trials of the 17th century, whose victims were white women who showed independence of thought, were unwed, and who spoke out for themselves. And now, he is talking about lynchings used not just to murder blacks who spoke out of turn, acted out of turn, or who simply were found being black—but to keep other blacks "in their place."For the president to compare his impeachment to a lynching is a national disgrace. But he is also, as my Nana from South Carolina used to say, "Crazy like a fox." He understands that he needs to change the subject from his Ukraine quid pro quo and Syrian human rights catastrophe. What better way to do that than to send a Bull Connor whistle to his base about how he is being treated as unfairly as if he were a black person?Let me call bull on the president since few other Republicans will. If you go to his rallies, you will see supporters wearing black T-shirts with the words "Rope. Tree. Journalist." The president presides over a party that includes U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde of Mississippi—where nearly one in eight American lynchings took place, including that of Emmett Till—who could barely muster a half-hearted apology after praising a supporter on the campaign trail by saying that, "If he invited me to a public hanging, I'd be on the front row."Bottom line: The Republican party is lost. It is no longer the party of the "Radical Republicans" of the 1860s who championed an end to slavery, the equal amendment clause, and voting rights for former slaves. It is no longer the party of Jack Kemp or Margaret Chase Smith, one of moral values, love of democracy, racial equality and economic liberty. It is the party of Donald Trump, and it is the party of division, racial hatred, and cruelty toward black and brown people. 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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| 'Johnny Reb' no longer welcome in Norfolk: Virginia city gets OK to move Confederate statue Posted: 23 Oct 2019 11:56 AM PDT  Virginia's attorney general says the city of Norfolk can move its "Johnny Reb" Confederate statue from a busy downtown intersection to a cemetery
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