| Republican apologizes for saying Democrats are 'in love with terrorists' Posted: 10 Jan 2020 10:30 AM PST  Rep. Doug Collins apologized Friday for saying that Democrats are "in love with terrorists" and mourn more for killed Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani than they "mourn for our Gold Star families."
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| German Chancellor urges all parties to back Iran nuclear deal Posted: 11 Jan 2020 09:04 AM PST  German chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday repeated a call for all parties to respect the Iranian nuclear accord, despite Iran's decision to intensify its enrichment of uranium and moves by the United States to impose economic sanctions. Under a deal brokered in 2015, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran agreed with China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States, to restrict its nuclear program.
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| An Iranian commander said 'I wish I could die' after Tehran accepted responsibility for shooting down Ukrainian Airlines flight 752 Posted: 11 Jan 2020 03:20 AM PST  "I wish I could die and not witness such an accident," Amirali Hajizadeh, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's head of aerospace, said on Saturday.
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| Boy kills teacher, self in Mexico school shooting Posted: 10 Jan 2020 05:28 PM PST  Torreón (Mexico) (AFP) - An 11-year-old boy shot and killed his teacher Friday at a school in northern Mexico and wounded six other people before killing himself, authorities said. As shocked Mexicans searched for explanations for the school shooting -- a rare event for the country -- officials said they were investigating a possible link to the Columbine High School massacre in the US in 1999. Panicked parents rushed to the private elementary school, the Colegio Cervantes, in Torreon as officials evacuated the trim brick building and police and soldiers put it on lockdown.
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| Thousands of Australians are calling for their prime minster's resignation. He's vowed to keep exporting coal, despite the link between fires and climate change. Posted: 10 Jan 2020 09:30 AM PST  Since September, 25 million acres of Australia have caught fire. The resulting smoke plume stretches 1.3 billion acres.
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| Sanders Leads Presidential Field in Poll of Iowa Democrats Posted: 10 Jan 2020 04:17 PM PST |
| IS claims Pakistan mosque bombing as death toll rises to 15 Posted: 11 Jan 2020 01:41 AM PST  Pakistani officials raised the death toll from a mosque bombing in the country's southwest to 15 people on Saturday, as the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack. It killed a senior police officer and 13 others. Quetta police chief Abdur Razzaq Cheema said another victim of the mosque bombing died of serious wounds in the city hospital raising the death toll to 15.
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| U.S. could reportedly bar Iraq from accessing key bank account if troops forced to leave Posted: 11 Jan 2020 09:49 AM PST  While a good chunk of Iraq's parliament wants American troops to begin a safe withdrawal from the country in the wake of heightened tensions between the U.S. and Iran, Washington is in turn threatening to block Baghdad's access to its central bank account held at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in an effort to keep the forces in place, Iraqi officials told The Wall Street Journal.Iraq, like many other countries, maintains government accounts at the New York Fed, which helps them manage national finances, including revenue from oil sales. If the government can't access those accounts, it'd reportedly due some significant damage to an already-struggling Iraqi economy. An official in Mahdi's office said the prime minister received a warning about the bank account during a phone call Wednesday.The warning appears to have some members of the Iraqi government on edge, with officials stressing the need to maintain friendly ties with the U.S. despite pressure from pro-Iran militias. Some have pointed out that international pressure on Iraq's economy would hurt Baghdad's efforts to answer to its citizens, who have launched massive anti-government protests in recent months. "The U.S. Fed basically has a stranglehold on the entire [Iraqi] economy," said Shwan Taha, chairman of Iraqi investment bank Rabee Securities.Others, like Mahdi adviser Abd al-Hassanein al-Hanein, think the U.S. is bluffing. "If the U.S. does that, it will lose Iraq forever," he said. Read more at The Wall Street Journal.More stories from theweek.com 5 royally funny cartoons about Harry and Meghan's exit Trump is setting up a massive nuclear crisis with Iran The ground game takes center stage in Ravens-Titans clash
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| George Conway's anti-Trump group releases new ad calling out evangelical Christians Posted: 10 Jan 2020 07:47 AM PST  A group of Republicans opposed to President Trump is calling out one of his most reliable voting blocs: evangelical Christians.
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| Russian ship 'aggressively approached' a US destroyer in North Arabian Sea, Navy says Posted: 10 Jan 2020 12:02 PM PST  A Russian Navy ship "aggressively approached" a US destroyer conducting routine operations in the North Arabian Sea Thursday, the Navy said.
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| North Korea says leaders' relations not enough after Trump sends birthday wishes to Kim Posted: 10 Jan 2020 10:22 PM PST  North Korea has received birthday greetings to its leader Kim Jong Un from U.S. President Donald Trump, but their personal relationship is not enough for a return to talks, according to a statement published on Saturday by state news agency KCNA. While Kim could personally like Trump, he would not lead his country on the basis of personal feelings, Kim Kye Gwan, an adviser to the North Korean foreign ministry, said in the statement.
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| The U.K. Has Sent a Formal Extradition Request to U.S. for Anne Sacoolas, the Wife of a Diplomat Charged in the Death of Harry Dunn Posted: 10 Jan 2020 04:40 PM PST  U.K. prosecutors sent a formal extradition request to the U.S., asking that the country return Anne Sacoolas to face trial for the killing of teenager Harry Dunn
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| India blows up luxury high-rises over environmental violations Posted: 11 Jan 2020 03:02 AM PST  Two luxury waterfront high-rises in southern India were reduced to rubble in controlled explosions Saturday in a rare example of authorities getting tough on builders who break environmental rules. The 19-floor H2O Holy Faith complex of 90 flats -- overlooking Kerala state's famous lush backwaters -- was the first to go down, collapsing in just a matter of few seconds. A thick grey cloud of dust and debris cascaded down after officials detonated explosives drilled into the walls of the building, which had been occupied for several years until the Supreme Court ruled last May that it was constructed in violation of coastal regulations.
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| Death From Above: The Air Force's Fearsome AC-130 Gunship Is Getting Upgrades Posted: 10 Jan 2020 01:00 AM PST  And America's enemies are running.
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| Alphabet's chief legal officer is leaving the company after a series of scandals involving allegations of sexual misconduct Posted: 10 Jan 2020 10:29 AM PST  David Drummond, who headed legal affairs at Google's parent company, is leaving after a widely publicized blog post accused him of emotional abuse.
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| Stomach illness outbreak at Yosemite prompts major clean-up Posted: 10 Jan 2020 03:34 PM PST  Federal health officials are inspecting Yosemite National Park's food service areas after at least a dozen people have fallen ill with stomach issues. The National Park Service and the U.S. Public Health Service told the San Francisco Chronicle they launched an investigation after employees and visitors reported the problems this month. Park officials said those who had gotten sick are getting better or already recovered.
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| Mom says she was attacked by daughter’s bullies outside California high school Posted: 10 Jan 2020 10:33 AM PST  One student has been arrested for battery with serious bodily injury.
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| Aerospace Chief Says He Wishes He Was Dead After Iran Admits Shooting Down Ukraine Jet Posted: 10 Jan 2020 08:03 PM PST  Iranian authorities have said they accidentally shot down a Ukrainian jet with 176 people aboard—and the country's aerospace chief said he wishes he was dead.Tehran's first acknowledgement of responsibility came early Saturday, just over a day after Western leaders said they had evidence to suggest Iran has downed Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752. All aboard the Kyiv-bound plane were killed when it plummeted from the sky earlier this week in what Iranian authorities initially blamed on a "mechanical failure." Later on Saturday, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps chief aerospace commander, Amir-Ali Hajizadeh, told reporters that he accepted all blame."I wish I was dead and such an incident hadn't happened," he said at a press briefing. "We in IRGC accept all the responsibility and are ready to implement any decision made by the establishment."During that press conference, the commander said he had actually requested that all commercial flights in Iran be grounded until tensions with the U.S. abated, but that those within the Armed Forces who had the power to do just that chose not to.At a separate press briefing in Kyev, Ukraine, the airline's CEO Yevgenii Dyhkne said his pilot had been in touch with the Tehran airport control tower just moments before the plane went down. "We have been reassured that [the aircraft] had the dialogue with the airport, with the dispatcher tower, until the last moment of the catastrophe," he said. "There were negotiations about the route, they had permission to turn, so all of this is now connected to the investigation and I'm sure it will be available in documents in time." Ukraine Plane Crash: Roulette in the SkyThe tragedy occurred at a time when Iran and the U.S. appeared to be on the brink of war, just hours after Iran fired missiles at bases in Iraq housing U.S. forces in retaliation for the U.S. air strike that killed Quds commander Qassem Soleimani. In a statement released early Saturday, the general staff of Iran's armed forces said the flight was shot down after it was mistaken for a "hostile target" when it went towards a "sensitive military center" of the Revolutionary Guard. The military was at its "highest level of readiness" due to tensions with the U.S., the statement said. "In such a condition, because of human error and in a unintentional way, the flight was hit," the military said, adding that those responsible will face prosecution.Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called the plane's downing "unforgivable" and a "disastrous mistake," saying the country "deeply regrets" it. "My thoughts and prayers go to all the mourning families. I offer my sincerest condolences," he tweeted after the military's announcement.Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said the announcement of the accidental downing marked a "sad day" but he went on to blame the Trump administration for the catastrophe. "Human error at time of crisis caused by US adventurism led to disaster," he wrote on Twitter. "Our profound regrets, apologies and condolences to our people, to the families of all victims, and to other affected nations," he said. Eighty-two of those killed were Iranian, while 57 were Canadian and 11 were Ukrainian. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded to Iran's admission with a statement focusing largely on the victims: "Our focus remains closure, accountability, transparency, and justice for the families and loved ones of the victims," he said. He went on to say Canada "expects full cooperation from Iranian authorities" in completing a "thorough investigation" into the tragedy. Iranian historian Arash Azizi questioned how a country that could carry out such precision strikes on U.S. military bases that avoided loss of life could make such a disastrous mistake. "What is notable to me, however, is that Iran's Revolutionary Guards, the praetorian guard of the Islamic Republic, was savvy enough to ensure that not a single American soldier was killed or injured when it rained its missiles on American military bases hosting thousands of soldiers in Iraq three days ago. But apparently it could not extend the same precautions to the lives of ordinary Iranians and foreign guests of our country," he wrote in Iran Wire. "The PS752 disaster shows the gross negligence of a rotten regime that does not deserve to last. A poet may say: The only reason it survives is that it has forgotten to die."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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| Bernie Sanders in Trump's crosshairs in wake of Iran crisis Posted: 10 Jan 2020 10:36 AM PST  The Iran crisis collided with the Democratic presidential race this week as Sen. Bernie Sanders and President Trump battled over the circumstances of the U.S. strike that killed a prominent Iranian general.
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| U.S. military tried to take out another Iranian leader, but failed Posted: 10 Jan 2020 12:38 PM PST  The U.S. military tried, but failed, to take out another senior Iranian commander on the same day that an American airstrike killed a Revolutionary Guard commander, U.S. officials said Friday.
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| Japan seeks Interpol wanted notice for wife of ex Nissan boss Posted: 10 Jan 2020 08:57 PM PST  Japanese authorities have requested the International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO) for an Interpol wanted notice for the wife of former Nissan Motor boss Carols Ghosn, local media reported on Saturday. If the notice is issued for his wife, Carole, the couple's travel chances outside of Lebanon may be restricted, Mainichi newspaper said. Interpol has already issued an arrest warrant for Ghosn.
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| China reports first death from mystery pneumonia outbreak Posted: 10 Jan 2020 09:43 PM PST  China on Saturday reported the first death from a virus believed to be from the same family as the SARS pathogen that killed hundreds in China and Hong Kong more than a decade ago. Forty-one people with pneumonia-like symptoms have so far been diagnosed with the new type of coronavirus in the central Chinese city of Wuhan where it was first confirmed, with one of the victims dying, the city's health commission said on its website. The commission did not specify when the death occurred or give further details on the patient other than to say the bulk of those diagnosed worked at a Wuhan seafood market that was closed January 1 following the outbreak.
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| MIT warns foreign students of possible visits from ICE Posted: 10 Jan 2020 10:17 AM PST |
| The 9 Things You Need in Your Car This Winter Posted: 11 Jan 2020 12:00 PM PST |
| Iran protesters take to the streets over shooting down of Ukrainian airliner Posted: 11 Jan 2020 09:08 AM PST  Protesters took to the streets of Tehran on Saturday night after the regime was forced into the embarrassing admission that it accidentally shot down a civilian airliner. After three days of officially denying any involvement in the crash, Iran abruptly reversed course and said "human error" had led its forces to shoot down Flight PS752 after mistaking it for a US cruise missile. The announcement was met with fury on the streets of Tehran, where crowds of students gathered to denounce the Revolutionary Guard. "Shame on you," the protesters shouted. "End your rule over the country." The surging anger over the crash and the days of false denials comes at a sensitive moment in Iran and just weeks after the regime's forces killed hundreds of civilians while crushing nationwide protests. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei quickly insisted he was not responsible for misleading the public about the real cause of the Ukraine crash and moved to place the blame on the military. "As soon as the supreme leader was informed of the catastrophic mistake" he ordered the truth to be "made known to the people explicitly and honestly," the semi-official Fars news agency reported. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei tried to distance himself from blame Credit: IRANIAN SUPREME LEADER PRESS OFFICE / HANDOUT/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images In an official statement on his website, he ordered the military to address "shortcomings" and expressed "sincere condolences" but stopped short of apologising for the crash. There were indications that the relatively moderate circle around Hassan Rouhani, Iran's president, was also seizing the moment to push blame towards its hardline rivals inside the Revolutionary Guard. Hesamedin Ashena, an advisor to Mr Rouhani, said the Revolutionary Guard had "cheated" the public by denying its involvement in Wednesday's disaster. "What they regarded as news was a lie. What they regarded as a lie was actually the news," he said. "May god save us from cover ups." The anger directed towards the Revolutionary Guard marked a sharp reversal from earlier in the week, when an estimated million people turned out to the public funeral of Qassim Soleimani, one of the force's top leaders, and many celebrated Iran's missile barrage against the US. General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the same commander who triumphantly took credit for the missile attack on US forces in Iraq on Wednesday, appeared looking forlorn in front of state television cameras yesterday to take responsibility for his men's mistake. Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, aerospace commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, pointing at a map during a televised press conference Credit: Photo by -/IRINN/AFP via Getty Images "When I learned of this error, I wished to die. I accept all responsibility for this," the general said, in a rare expression of remorse from a senior Revolutionary Guard figure. He said his forces had been braced for US retaliation to the missiles fired hours earlier and that a single air defence operator had mistaken the Boeing 737 for an incoming US cruise missile and made the decision to fire. "He had ten seconds to decide. He could have decided to strike or not to strike and under such circumstances he took the wrong decision," Gen Hajizadeh. Despite the show of transparency, Iran was still facing serious questions over how it could have shot the aircraft down early on Wednesday yet still insisted until Friday night that the crash had been the result of engine failure or some other mechanical problem. There was also confusion over whether the government tried to halt civilian flights after the missile attack, with the Revolutionary Guard saying it called for the grounding of civilian aircraft but aviation authorities saying they received no such order. Mr Rouhani promised Iran would continue to investigate the crash and suggested his government would prosecute those responsible. "The armed forces' internal investigation has concluded that regrettably missiles fired due to human error caused the horrific crash of the Ukrainian plane and death of 176 innocent people. Investigations continue to identify and prosecute this great tragedy and unforgivable mistake," he said. Armed Forces' internal investigation has concluded that regrettably missiles fired due to human error caused the horrific crash of the Ukrainian plane & death of 176 innocent people. Investigations continue to identify & prosecute this great tragedy & unforgivable mistake. PS752— Hassan Rouhani (@HassanRouhani) January 11, 2020 The Iranian president was due to speak to Volodymyr Zelensky, his Ukrainian counterpart, about the disaster on Saturday. Ukraine said it was heartened by Iran's admission of responsibility but Mr Zelensky also demanded that Iran "bring the guilty to the courts" as well as pay compensation. "We hope the inquiry will be pursued without deliberate delay and without obstruction," he said. One Ukrainian MP compared Iran's behaviour favourably with Russia's years of denials that it was responsible for the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014 despite widespread evidence of Russian involvement. "Iran has shown itself more civilised than Russia," said Volodymyr Ariev, a pro-Western MP. "Tehran has admitted its guilt in three days while Russia continues to try to get out of it." The acknowledgement of responsibility will have been especially difficult for Iran because of the legacy of Iran Air 655, a civilian passenger jet accidentally shot down by the US Navy in 1988, killing all 290 aboard. While the US admitted responsibility and apologised, Iran has long insisted that US forces deliberately shot down the aircraft and the memory of the doomed flight is often invoked by Iranian politicians as a symbol of American brutality. Tehran now finds itself in the same position the US was 31 years ago as it tries to explain how it could mistake a slow-moving civilian airliner travelling along a normal flight path for an incoming missile attack. The Revolutionary Guard claimed that the Ukrainian aircraft had turned off its planned course and was heading towards a sensitive military area but that was quickly contradicted by Iran's civil aviation agency, which said the flight maintained a normal course after it left Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport at 6.12am. In the flight's final moments it was far from its planned trajectory and heading in the wrong direction. But analysts said that was likely because it had veered out of control after being struck by the missile and flown a wide arc before crashing. Logs showed that at least eight other flights took off from the airport inbetween the time Iran fired its missile barrage and the shootdown of flight PS752 and that flights resumed again just over an hour after the crash.
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| Trump's European allies leave him alone on the world stage as they hold crisis talks to salvage the Iran nuclear deal he called 'foolish' Posted: 10 Jan 2020 02:17 AM PST  European leaders are trying to salvage the Iran nuclear deal, in defiance of Trump's calls to abandon the 2015 agreement.
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| Storm cancels over 1,000 flights in Chicago and triggers flooding along lakeshore Posted: 11 Jan 2020 11:38 AM PST  A potent storm traversing the eastern half of the country has produced flooding rain, deadly tornadoes and travel-halting ice and snow and its impacts are far from over.Chicago wasn't immune from the storm's impacts as winds increased Friday night into early Saturday, gusting as high as 50 mph.On Saturday morning, the storm caused flight delays as long as four and a half hours at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, according to FlightAware.Delays escalated later in the day to more than six hours long, with over 1,000 cancellations from O'Hare alone.> HAPPENING NOW: More than 950 flights cancelled at O'Hare International Airport. Right now there is a ground stop at O'Hare for inbound flights due to ice. weatherwatch winterstorm chicagoweather @cbschicago pic.twitter.com/B5cGE4oFp8> > -- Vi Nguyen (@ViNguyen) January 11, 2020Such delays had a ripple effect across the country, including in cities that managed to escape effects from the storm. However, gusty winds are likely to spread across states from New York to Florida through Saturday night, which may add to the delays and cancellations.In addition to impeding air travel, the severe winds affected motorists along the lakeshore as well.Winds blowing southwestward across the southern part of Lake Michigan funneled the water over the beaches and through towns along the shore. Northeasterly winds off of Lake Michigan triggered flooding in the Chicago area on Saturday, leaving one golf course underwater (Photo/@EricAllixRogers) Locations such as Rogers Park and Evanston were reportedly underwater as intense waves moved onshore.Radio station WBBM reported that parts of Lake Shore Drive and South Shore Drive were closed due to high water and flooding.> Serious and damaging surf in Rogers Park from lakemichigan this morning. Storm surge is insane. Flooding in Evanston as well. weather Chicago pic.twitter.com/KLE7a0AvDr> > -- Bo Rodda (@b0rodda) January 11, 2020Much of the Lake Michigan shoreline was underwater Saturday.The wind even produced large waves, as high 20 feet, which continued pound the southwestern shoreline of Lake Michigan through the afternoon on Saturday.> Birchwood Ave at Lake Michigan. The rocks on the left used to rise above Jarvis Beach. The beaches are all gone now. pic.twitter.com/rk06Tztmq0> > -- Bogochicaguense (@litwicki) January 11, 2020The Chicago Transit Authority reported several delays and reroutes of bus services as well as branches of the Blue, Red, Yellow and Green lines on Saturday morning, citing debris on the tracks.CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APPAs the storm pulls away into Sunday, winds are expected to lessen, and waters are likely to recede.In addition to the winds, periods of heavy rain spread across Illinois Friday night and Saturday. Cities such as Carbondale, Effingham and Cami all reported more than 3.5 inches of rain by midday on Saturday.Locations away from the lake saw accumulating ice and snow, including Rockford, Illinois which reported two periods of steady freezing drizzle during the storm.The Department of Streets and Sanitation said they had over 200 snow vehicles out to respond to the winter weather reported across Chicago.Other than a brief period of snow possible Sunday night, dry weather is expected for Chicagoland through early in the week for those cleaning up after the storm.Flooding was also reported around lower Michigan on Saturday along the Interstate 94 corridor, including around Kalamazoo.Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
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| Mother charged with murder after 11-month-old son drowns in bathtub Posted: 10 Jan 2020 04:52 PM PST  The mother told authorities she left the baby unattended in a tub while she stepped out for a cigarette and "some me time," according to a warrant.
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| World War III: This Is What Would Happen If North Korea Nuked Tokyo Posted: 10 Jan 2020 04:13 AM PST  Tokyo is the largest urban area on the planet.
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| Egyptian restores historic synagogue, but few Jews remain Posted: 10 Jan 2020 11:47 AM PST  Egypt reopened a historic synagogue on Friday in the Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria after a yearslong government renovation. The country's Jews largely left more than 60 years ago amid the hostilities between Egypt and Israel. The two-story Eliyahu Hanavi synagogue in Alexandria partially collapsed in 2016.
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| China's Communist Party expels ex-chairman of China Development Bank Posted: 10 Jan 2020 09:34 PM PST  A former chairman of the China Development Bank, Hu Huaibang, has been expelled from the country's ruling Communist Party for serious violations of discipline, the party's graft watchdog said on Saturday. An investigation found that Hu had "lost his ideals and convictions" and had committed violations such as using his post to illegally benefit others, abusing his power, and allowing his family members to "complain about property", said the statement by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI). The CCDI also said it would seize his illegal income and transfer his case to the judicial bodies.
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| Planes brought down by missiles since 1973 Posted: 10 Jan 2020 11:39 PM PST  Iran on Saturday said its armed forces had "unintentionally" shot down the Ukrainian airliner which crashed outside Tehran. The Boeing 737 crashed on Wednesday, killing all 176 passengers and crew on board, shortly after Iran launched missiles at American forces in Iraq in response to the killing of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in a US drone strike in Baghdad. July 17, 2014: Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 is shot down over rebel-held eastern Ukraine en route to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam.
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| Without presenting any evidence, Trump now claims that Soleimani was plotting against 4 US embassies before he was assassinated Posted: 10 Jan 2020 01:01 PM PST  "Soleimani was actively planning new attacks, and he was looking very seriously at our embassies, and not just the embassy in Baghdad," Trump said.
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| Pete Buttigieg Woos ‘Future Former Republicans’ in New Hampshire Posted: 10 Jan 2020 01:00 AM PST |
| Australian Bushfires and Heat Are Killing Flying Foxes by the Thousands Posted: 11 Jan 2020 02:15 AM PST  Bushfires fueled by climate change that are raging across eastern Australia have burned millions of acres, destroyed thousands of buildings, and killed 25 people. But there are other victims: Australia's endangered flying foxes. These furry, doe-eyed, puppy-size migratory bats have died by the thousands in the fires and in the months of extreme heat that preceded the blazes. While the bushfires have affected billions of animals and killed potentially millions of them, the flying foxes are uniquely vulnerable. Above a certain temperature, they can simply drop dead from the trees where they roost. Stressed adult bats that survive the heat often abandon their pups —a death sentence for the helpless babies. Fires have destroyed millions of the trees the fruit-eating bats rely on. Despite desperate rescue efforts, as many as a fifth of Australia's flying foxes have died in just a few months. And with the southern continent's hot, dry summer in full flow and bushfires likely to continue, many more bats could perish.Owing to runaway global warming, this season's extraordinary temperatures and fires could become the new normal. In that case, flying foxes are almost certainly doomed to extinction. "They're the canaries in the coal mine for climate change," Evan Quartermain, head of programs for the Washington, D.C.-based Humane Society International, told The Daily Beast.Australia's wildlife rescuers are panicking, but the country's climate change-denying national leaders definitely aren't. "This ecological nightmare should be sounding very loud alarm bells in the halls of parliament, but it's not," Lou Bonomi, a rescuer with the Fly By Night Bat Clinic in Melbourne, told The Daily Beast. Seven species of flying fox call Australia home. Three are classified as "vulnerable" or "endangered" by Australia's Ministry of the Environment. Prior to the heat and fires, hunting and deforestation were the biggest threats. Two species, the gray-headed flying fox and the spectacled flying fox, live in large numbers in the eastern bushfire zone and have suffered the most in recent months.As recently as early 2019, there were around 700,000 gray-headed flying foxes and around 100,000 spectacled flying foxes in eastern Australia, according to government surveys. Then the temperatures rose and fires broke out. 2019 was the hottest and driest year on record in Australia, according to government statistics. The annual bushfire season that began in late 2019 also has broken records. Nearly 26 million acres have burned so far. That's seven million more acres than burned in the Amazon's own catastrophic fires last year. Flying foxes suffer potentially fatal heat stress at temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius, or 104 degrees Fahrenheit. "We have about 30 of us who will prepare to head out if we see the forecast is going to be 40 degrees Celsius or higher," Bonomi said. "You can imagine our dread when we had forecasts of 44 and 43 degrees both in two weeks."Rescuers try to cool down the bats by gently spraying them with water. It's easier said than done. There are hundreds of flying-fox colonies. Some are nearly a mile across and number tens of thousands of bats roosting high in the trees. "We walk up and down with firefighting backpacks filled with water and quietly try to cool them," Bonomi said. "They are so stressed and so flighty that you really have to go easy doing this, despite what your instinct tells you to do. Go too close or move in too soon and the bats will take flight. This can kill them as they're already so hot and exhausted. Sometimes it's just too late, you reach them and they will drop dead at your feet." "Some of the younger ones you can offer water for them to lap, cool them down and keep offering water," Bonomi added, "but honestly, you spend half an hour with one little one and in the meantime 20 around you die." Bonomi said 20 percent of the flying foxes in the biggest nearby colony have died in recent months. Conservationists are still tallying up the countrywide bat death toll. It could be in the tens of thousands in a total population that was already in decline owing to hunting and habitat destruction. Rescue groups and animal hospitals have taken in thousands of abandoned pups for rehabilitation. Humane Society International is helping to supply rehabilitators with food for the pups. Fly By Night Bat Clinic is experimenting with sprinklers that could help keep colonies cool. Both groups are raising money for rescuers and rehabilitators.But all these measures are short-term fixes to a long-term problem. Barring a global green-energy revolution, atmospheric carbon is likely to increase and temperatures will spike even higher. If you think 2019 and 2020 have been bad for bats, try to imagine 2021. Or 2030, for that matter. "Given that extreme heat events are becoming more frequent and intense under climate change, the long-term prospects of the species must be considered as of serious concern," Justin Welbergen, associate professor of animal ecology at Western Sydney University and president of the Australasian Bat Society, told The Daily Beast.The federal government under Prime Minister Scott Morrison has reacted with a veritable shrug. The Department of the Environment declined to comment for this story. "We have a conservative government of climate skeptics, who prioritize wealth, big business and non-renewable energy sources that are ruining us faster than we can fix," Bonomi explained. "While our beautiful country burns, our prime minister holidays. While entire species literally collapse around us, the government is investing in coal-mining and logging our old growth forests.""If governments at all levels don't do everything they can to make Australia's nature more resilient to climate change, I don't think flying foxes, and in turn us humans, will stand a chance," Quartermain said.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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| This Is How the U.S. Navy Hunts Nuclear-Armed Chinese Submarines Posted: 10 Jan 2020 11:13 AM PST  From the sky!
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| Teen gets 65 years for killing girl who was pregnant with his child Posted: 10 Jan 2020 04:35 AM PST  An 18-year-old former high school football player has been sentenced to 65 years in prison for killing a classmate who was six months pregnant with his child.
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| Gun case delayed for man cleared of San Francisco pier death Posted: 10 Jan 2020 02:32 PM PST  A federal judge on Friday delayed a gun possession trial against a Mexican man who was acquitted of killing a woman on a San Francisco pier in a case that became a national flashpoint, saying he has questions about the man's mental competency. U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria postponed a trial expected to start next week until a psychiatrist evaluates Jose Inez Garcia-Zarate. "It appears that Garcia-Zarate may not understand the charges against him, and it's possible that he's not currently taking any medication for his apparent mental illness," Chhabria wrote in his ruling.
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| A viral photo of a tiger and her 5 cubs shows how the species is bouncing back from extinction Posted: 10 Jan 2020 01:43 PM PST  India's wild tiger population is finally on the rise. An Indian Forest Service officer recently shared an inspiring photo of a tiger with five cubs.
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| ‘Every day I was praying’: Detroit dad deported after 30 years returns home to US Posted: 10 Jan 2020 07:03 PM PST  Jorge Garcia was deported on Jan. 15, 2018, and was stuck in Mexico for almost two years, separated from his family in Michigan.
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| Iran's sole female Olympic medallist defects Posted: 11 Jan 2020 01:09 PM PST  Iran's only female Olympic medallist Kimia Alizadeh announced Saturday she has permanently left her country, citing the "hypocrisy" of a system she claims humiliates athletes while using them for political ends. "Should I start with hello, goodbye, or condolences?" she wrote on Instagram, as Iran reeled from Wednesday's accidental shooting down of a Ukrainian airliner that killed all 176 people onboard. Alizadeh, who won a bronze medal in taekwondo at the 2016 Rio Olympics, cited oppression by authorities in the Islamic republic.
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| Ex-Trump lawyer Cohen says his assistance justifies early prison exit Posted: 10 Jan 2020 03:57 PM PST  Michael Cohen, Donald Trump's former personal lawyer and fixer who is now seeking early release from prison, on Friday rejected the claim that his lies undermined his ability to help investigators on matters related to the U.S. president. Cohen was responding to a Dec. 19 letter opposing an early release, where Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss in Manhattan said he was not a "credible witness," citing statements in which she said Cohen and his surrogates minimized his acceptance of responsibility for conduct to which he had pleaded guilty. Cohen, 53, wants U.S. District Judge William Pauley to shorten his three-year prison term to a year and a day, or move him to home confinement, reflecting his "extensive" cooperation with investigators concerning his former boss.
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| US rejects Iraq request to discuss troop withdrawal Posted: 10 Jan 2020 07:23 AM PST  The United States on Friday rejected a request by Iraq's caretaker prime minister to send a delegation to start preparations to pull out its 5,200 troops in the country. "At this time, any delegation sent to Iraq would be dedicated to discussing how to best recommit to our strategic partnership -- not to discuss troop withdrawal, but our right, appropriate force posture in the Middle East," State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said. Iraqi leaders were infuriated by a US drone strike at Baghdad's airport that killed Iran's most prominent general and parliament voted Sunday to rescind an invitation to foreign troops.
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| Gambia’s Jammeh Seeks Return to Nation He Ruled For 22 Years Posted: 11 Jan 2020 06:25 AM PST |
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