| Parnas said he is speaking out because he is afraid of William Barr Posted: 16 Jan 2020 07:08 PM PST  Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas said he was giving media interviews about his role in President Trump's attempts convince Ukrainian officials to announce an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden because he wanted to protect himself from Attorney General William Barr.
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| An ISIS preacher captured in Iraq was apparently so overweight that police had to take him away in the back of a pickup truck Posted: 17 Jan 2020 06:36 AM PST  Shifa al-Nima was captured in the Mansour neighborhood of Mosul by the Nineveh police command, according to Iraqi police.
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| 'You have not seen anything yet,' climate activist Greta says ahead of Davos Posted: 17 Jan 2020 08:10 AM PST  Swedish activist Greta Thunberg marched with 10,000 protesters in the Swiss city of Lausanne on Friday and said "you have not seen anything yet" before some head to Davos next week to challenge the global financial elite to fight climate change. "So, we are now in a new year and we have entered a new decade and so far, during this decade, we have seen no sign whatsoever that real climate action is coming and that has to change," Thunberg said in a speech in Lausanne. Hundreds will take trains over the weekend and then march to Klosters near Davos, the annual gathering of world political and business leaders that Thunberg is attending for the second year in a row and will take part in two panel events.
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| Wealthy CEOs complain about feeling 'unsafe' because of homeless people in San Francisco Posted: 16 Jan 2020 09:01 AM PST  A major healthcare conference in San Francisco this week has sparked a debate about the California city's homeless crisis as wealthy executives and investors complain of feeling 'unsafe'.The city rakes in $51m (£39m) each year from the annual JPMorgan Healthcare Conference despite growing concerns about the city's homeless population among attendees of the healthcare industry's leading conference, according to Bloomberg News.
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| Jordan, Meadows Send Letter to FISA Court Questioning Kris Appointment Posted: 16 Jan 2020 12:10 PM PST  House Oversight Committee Republicans Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows issued nine demands to FISA Court presiding judge James Boasberg in a Thursday letter in response to the appointment of Obama Department of Justice lawyer David Kris to help oversee the FBI's reform of FISA applications.The letter, obtained by National Review, asked Boasberg to identify who else besides Kris was considered, whether Kris's past defense of the FISA application to surveil Trump-campaign adviser Carter Page was taken into account, and whether "the FISC bears any responsibility for the illegal surveillance of Carter Page," among other concerns."If the FISC's goal is to hold the FBI accountable for its serious misconduct, Mr. Kris does not appear to be an objective — or likely effective — amicus curiae for several reasons," the letter states. "At minimum, the selection of Mr. Kris creates a perception that he is too personally invested on the side of the FBI to ensure it effectuates meaningful reform."A Republican official with knowledge of the letter told National Review that the letter signaled a concerted Congressional effort to reform FISA."For too long, the FBI has remained largely un-checked when it comes to the FISA process. Congress must ensure that FISC stands ready to protect civil liberties without even the slightest indicia of political bias," he said.The letter appears to be a follow-up to Monday comments from Meadows, who said in an interview that Republicans were "appealing this to the Judge" regarding Kris's appointment. The North Carolina Congressman also slammed the move to appoint Kris, saying that "there's no way" Kris is the right man to address abuses "if he doesn't even acknowledge that there is a problem."Kris, a former assistant attorney general in the Obama DOJ's national security division, has extensive experience with the FISA Court, serving as an amicus curiae, or special adviser, since March 2016.A frequent contributor to Lawfare blog, Kris was an outspoken defender of the FBI's authority in surveilling Page, who was accused of being a Russian agent.Following the release of heavily-redacted FISA applications used to surveil Page in July 2018, Kris doubled down. "It seems to me very likely that if we get below the tip of the iceberg into the submerged parts and more is revealed, it will get worse, not better," for Page, he told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow at the time. The letter references Kris's comment to Maddow as evidence that he is biased in favor of the bureau and against Page.DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz revealed in December that the FBI knowingly withheld information that Page was a CIA informant in order to obtain a FISA warrant against him, and even doctored an email to keep the information from the court. The report also revealed that the bureau did not inform the FISC of the partisan origins of the uncorroborated Steele dossier despite its playing a "central and essential" role in their application to surveil Page.In their letter, Jordan and Meadows also request that Boasberg give greater insight into the details surrounding the court's assessment of the Page applications, including when it "first received any indication that information contained in the FBI's surveillance applications for Carter Page was misleading or false."
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| A Delta pilot may have dumped jet fuel on schoolkids because of poor communication with air traffic control Posted: 16 Jan 2020 06:25 PM PST  FAA investigators are looking into why the Delta flight crew dumped fuel even though they told air traffic control at LAX that they wouldn't.
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| Senate Passes USMCA, Giving Trump a Win Before Impeachment Trial Posted: 16 Jan 2020 09:46 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- The Senate approved President Donald Trump's U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement on Thursday, handing the president a major political win on the same day senators will be sworn in as jurors in his impeachment trial.The Nafta overhaul, Trump's top legislative priority for the past year, cleared the Senate on an 89-10 vote and now heads to the president for his signature. The U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement passed the House in December on a bipartisan 385-41 vote the day after the Democratic-led chamber voted to impeach Trump.The Senate vote moved in tandem with the impeachment process, coming just a few hours before Chief Justice John Roberts is sworn in to preside over the trial. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell applauded the trade deal as a rare moment of bipartisan cooperation."A major win for our country. A major win for the Trump administration. A major win for those of us who are ready to move past this season of toxic political noise and get back to doing even more of the American people's business," McConnell said on the Senate floor.Democrats, led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, finally got behind the trade agreement in December after more than a year of wrangling with the Trump administration over changes to provisions regarding labor, the environment, pharmaceuticals and the overall enforcement of the deal.The vote split the two progressive candidates seeking the 2020 Democratic nomination for president: Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren voted for the deal while Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders voted against it.Climate ConcernsSanders said earlier this week that he opposed the USMCA in part because it isn't strong enough on climate. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, also cited climate concerns as the reason he voted against the deal."Despite the fact that it includes very good labor provisions, I am voting against USMCA because it does not address climate change, the greatest threat facing the planet," Schumer said in a statement before the vote.The two other Democratic senators who are presidential candidates, Amy Klobuchar and Michael Bennet, voted in favor of the USMCA.Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey was the only Republican who voted against the agreement. He previously said he was concerned about the new wage requirements created for the auto industry, among other market interventions.McConnell initially said the Senate wouldn't act on the USMCA until it had finished with Trump's impeachment trial, but Pelosi's decision to delay sending the impeachment articles to the Senate created a window for the vote this week. The Senate Finance Committee and six other panels rushed to approve the deal since lawmakers returned from their holiday recess last week.Economic GrowthPassing this revision of the North America Free Trade Agreement gives Trump a victory to tout in his election-year State of the Union address scheduled for Feb. 4. While the USMCA is projected to add just 0.35% to GDP after six years, signing this agreement and the first phase of a China trade deal will relieve some economic uncertainty, helping Trump's pitch to voters based on the strength of the U.S. economy.For Democrats from narrowly divided or Republican-leaning districts, the USMCA allows them to show constituents that they're working with the president and doing more than impeaching him. They have highlighted the labor enforcement provisions as a model for future free trade agreements.The Mexican Senate already approved the deal, so with Trump's signature, Canada becomes the only country that hasn't yet ratified the pact.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government will move forward on ratification when parliament reconvenes in Ottawa later this month, but the speed of its passage will depend on opposition lawmakers, a Canadian government official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Trudeau lost his parliamentary majority in an election last fall, but the deal is still likely to pass.(Updates with votes by Democratic candidates, status of Mexico, Canada beginning in sixth paragraph)\--With assistance from Josh Wingrove.To contact the reporter on this story: Erik Wasson in Washington at ewasson@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Anna EdgertonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| A 15-year-old orphan who lives with his grandparents is being kicked out of their senior living community because he's too young Posted: 17 Jan 2020 12:51 PM PST  Collin Clabaugh has been living with his grandparents in a 55-and-over gated community in Arizona since last year, when both of his parents died.
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| Alleged neo-Nazis caught with assault rifle charged ahead of Virginia gun rally Posted: 16 Jan 2020 03:17 PM PST  Three suspected members of a neo-Nazi group appeared in a Maryland court on Thursday to face federal charges after the FBI arrested them for carrying an assault rifle and planning to incite violence at a gun-rights rally in Virginia. Earlier on Thursday, the FBI arrested the trio: Brian Lemley, 33, a former cavalry scout in the U.S. Army; Patrik Mathews, 27, a combat engineer in the Canadian Army Reserve who authorities said had illegally entered the United States; and William Bilbrough, a teenager who prosecutors called a serious flight risk, saying he expressed a desire to fight with Ukrainian nationalists.
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| Republican tells female reporter 30 schoolboys ‘could have a lot of fun’ with her Posted: 16 Jan 2020 05:09 AM PST  A Republican lawmaker is facing calls for a sexual harassment investigation after he told a young female reporter that a group of high school boys "could have a lot of fun" with her.Peter Lucido, a Michigan state senator, has been accused of making inappropriate comments to local reporter Allison Donahue during a tour of the state Capitol.
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| Fires, then floods: How much can a koala bear? Posted: 16 Jan 2020 09:53 PM PST  A week ago, koalas at an Australian wildlife park were in the path of raging bushfires. On Friday, they were soaking wet and being carried to safety from flash floods. Months of drought that have contributed to Australia's catastrophic bushfire season have this week given way to huge downpours in some of the blaze-ravaged areas.
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| Texas carries out first U.S. execution of 2020, putting man to death by lethal injection Posted: 16 Jan 2020 07:54 AM PST  Texas on Wednesday carried out the first execution of the year in the United States, putting to death by lethal injection a man convicted of killing his wife 15 years ago because she wanted a divorce. John Gardner, 64, was sentenced to death in 2006 for killing his fifth wife, who had left him after multiple incidents of physical violence and filed for divorce.
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| Florida woman who feeds alligators, vultures behind her home forced to pay $53K in fines Posted: 17 Jan 2020 06:40 AM PST  The property owners association said the feedings attracted flocks of defecating, vomiting vultures, as well as raccoons, alligators and a bobcat.
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| Khamenei Says Iran Strike Delivered a ‘Slap’ to the U.S. Superpower Image Posted: 17 Jan 2020 03:45 AM PST ![Khamenei Says Iran Strike Delivered a 'Slap' to the U.S. Superpower Image]( "Khamenei Says Iran Strike Delivered a 'Slap' to the U.S. Superpower Image") (Bloomberg) -- Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iran had delivered a "slap to the U.S.'s image as a superpower" in this month's military confrontation, seeking to rally Iranians around an embattled establishment as he led Friday prayers in Tehran for the first time in eight years.His speech came amid unprecedented international scrutiny over the Islamic Revolutionary Guard's unintentional shooting down of a Ukrainian passenger plane just hours after Iran had fired missiles into Iraqi bases housing American troops without causing fatalities. That attack had been in retaliation for the killing of a top Iranian commander by the U.S."They're hit by strikes in Syria, in Iraq, in Lebanon and in Afghanistan at the hands of the power of resistance, but this strike was greater than all of those, it was a strike on prestige," Khamenei said of the Iranian action in Iraq. U.S. officials, including President Donald Trump, who claimed to be on the side of the Iranian people are "clowns," he said.Khamenei branded the U.S. "terrorists" for the Jan. 3 killing of General Qassem Soleimani, whom he credited with being the most effective force in defeating Islamic State.Soleimani was a hero to many Iranians for his leadership of an elite unit of the Guard which orchestrated Iran's military policy overseas, playing a major role in destroying the extremist group's rule in Syria and Iraq. His killing brought the nation together in mourning but that sense of unity was shattered by the downing of the Ukraine International Airlines plane, which killed all 176 people on board. Most of the victims were Iranian citizens or dual nationals.'Bitter Incident'Khamenei called the jet disaster an "extremely bitter incident" but said public opinion over the tragedy had been manipulated by U.K. and U.S.-based television channels. The top cleric directly instructed the Revolutionary Guard to carry out a full investigation and guarantee that there could never be a repeat.Once Iranian officials finally accepted responsibility, after days of denials, protests against the government broke out in Tehran and other cities. Just weeks earlier, security forces had crushed some of the biggest and most sustained anti-regime demonstrations in more than a decade. Human rights groups say hundreds of people were killed in that crackdown.While Iran's leaders admitted culpability for the jet disaster they have also blamed the U.S. for creating the sense of crisis that preceded it. In the part of his sermon conducted in Arabic, Khamenei said the "real punishment" for the U.S. would be its forced ouster from the Middle East.Under pressure from Democrats at home, Trump has offered various justifications for the decision to kill Soleimani, including intelligence that he said pointed to imminent attacks on U.S. embassies, as well as past American military deaths due to Iranian actions supervised by Soleimani in Iraq.A report on Friday said that nearly a dozen U.S. troops were treated for concussion after Iran's missile attacks in Iraq. The U.S. and Iran have since both signaled they want to back away from further military conflict, but with the two arch foes locked in a deepening confrontation over Iran's nuclear program and American sanctions, tensions in the Gulf remain high.On Tuesday the U.K., Germany and France angered Tehran by announcing they would activate a dispute resolution mechanism contained in the 2015 nuclear deal which Trump exited before reimposing sanctions. The European move nudged the accord closer to the brink of collapse.Khamenei accused the European countries of working with the U.S. to try and force Iran "to its knees," and said he had "never trusted them since day one."(Updates with more comments, statement on EU countries)To contact the reporter on this story: Golnar Motevalli in Dubai at gmotevalli@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Lin Noueihed at lnoueihed@bloomberg.net, Mark Williams, Karl MaierFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Report: Israeli home demolitions in east Jerusalem spiked Posted: 16 Jan 2020 07:00 AM PST  Israeli authorities demolished homes in Palestinian areas of east Jerusalem at a significantly higher rate in 2019 than the previous year, according to an Israeli advocacy group. In a new report, Ir Amim said 104 housing units were demolished in 2019, compared() to 72 units in 2018. Aviv Tatarsky, the Ir Amim researcher who wrote the report released Wednesday, said the group found that only 7% of housing units advanced by city planners last year were for Palestinian neighborhoods.
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| Secrets Stolen: What Will China Do With Data On Israel's Iron Dome Missile Defense? Posted: 16 Jan 2020 09:00 PM PST  If China can break into top-secret Israeli computers, they can break into America's—and everybody else's, too.
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| FBI Busts Members of Neo-Nazi Group ‘The Base’ Days Before Richmond Gun Rally Posted: 16 Jan 2020 10:02 AM PST  The FBI arrested three members of a neo-Nazi group called "The Base" on Thursday morning, days ahead of a pro-gun rally in Richmond that is attracting fringe figures and has already prompted a state of emergency declaration. The three suspects—Brian Mark Lemley, William Garfield Bilbrough, and Canadian fugitive Patrik Mathews—face a variety of gun charges. Lemley and Bilbrough are also accused of illegally harboring Mathews, a former Canadian military reservist who fled his home country after being accused of being a recruiter for The Base. The trio is expected to face a federal judge in Maryland on Thursday afternoon. The suspects had discussed traveling to Richmond, Virginia, for a Jan. 20 rally in front of the state Capitol to protest new gun control legislation, The New York Times reported. The rally has become a flashpoint for the fringe right, prompting Gov. Ralph Northam to declare a four-day state of emergency and ban guns from the Capitol complex.Lemley and Mathews had allegedly built an assault rifle and amassed hundreds of rounds of ammunition before their arrest, according to the FBI. On a recording, Lemley said he had made the gun into an illegal machine gun and made plans to hide it from federal agents, according to the FBI."Oh oops, it looks like I accidentally made a machine gun," Lemley, a former cavalry scout in the U.S. Army, said, according to the affidavit. "I'm going to stow it here until next week, just in case the ATF [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms] shows up tomorrow," he told Mathews."Um, if they show up here, we got other problems," Mathews replied.Missing Canadian Bomb Expert With Neo-Nazi Ties May Be in U.S.The Base, which is derived from the English translation of the name of radical Islamic terrorist group al Qaeda, is a white supremacist paramilitary group committed to race war. In an affidavit filed with an application for the arrest warrants, the FBI described how Base members discuss their racial terrorism plans online."Within The Base's encrypted chat rooms, members have discussed, among other things, recruitment, creating a white ethno-state, committing acts of violence against minority communities (including African-Americans and Jewish-Americans), the organization's military-style training camps, and ways to make improvised explosive devices," the affidavit reads. Mathews allegedly crossed into Minnesota from Canada around Aug. 19, according to the FBI. After learning that Mathews was hiding in Michigan, Lemley and Bilbrough allegedly drove from Maryland to pick him up, then allegedly drove him back to the mid-Atlantic area on Aug. 30.On Nov. 4, according to the FBI, Mathews and Lemley rented an apartment in Delaware, according to the FBI. They ordered a part for the gun and ammunition, according to the affidavit, and made regular trips to a Maryland gun range with the functional assault rifle they had assembled. At one point, Bilbrough visited the pair, and the three allegedly discussed the Base's membership and tried to make the hallucinogen DMT. On Jan. 11, Lemley picked up hundreds of rounds of additional ammunition and components for body armor, according to the FBI. 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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| Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal says India has not put curbs on imports from Malaysia, Turkey Posted: 16 Jan 2020 02:40 AM PST  India's Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said that New Delhi has not imposed any curbs on imports from Malaysia and Turkey. "India believes in free play and equal treatment for all," Goyal said at a security conference in New Delhi, adding that the government also was not contemplating any restrictions on the two countries. On Wednesday, Reuters reported that India is planning to cut some imports from Turkey and widen restrictions on Malaysia, targeting the two Muslim-majority countries for their criticism of New Delhi's policy towards Kashmir.
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| Philippines reimposes ban on workers deploying to Kuwait Posted: 16 Jan 2020 04:16 PM PST  The Philippines said Friday it was reimposing a ban on its citizens going to work in Kuwait after a Filipina was allegedly killed by her employer, echoing a 2018 row between the two countries. President Rodrigo Duterte approved the ban as his government accused the emirate of covering up the killing of a maid, one of about 240,000 Filipinos working in the Gulf state. Duterte's government briefly banned Filipinos deploying for work in Kuwait two years ago amid a diplomatic row that began with the discovery of the remains of a murdered Filipina maid in her employers' freezer.
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| The TSA apologized after an agent pulled a Native American passenger's braid and said "giddyup!" during a pat down Posted: 17 Jan 2020 09:43 AM PST  Tara Houska was going through security at the Minneapolis airport on Monday when she said an agent humiliated her by whipping her braids.
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| Supreme Court will hear case that could decide future presidential elections Posted: 17 Jan 2020 01:17 PM PST  Must the 538 members of the Electoral College vote for their states' winning candidates, or can they exercise independent judgment?
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| How Trump's impeachment differs from a criminal trial Posted: 17 Jan 2020 02:37 PM PST  Yes, it's a trial — but the Senate's impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump won't resemble anything Americans have seen on Court TV. In Trump's trial, the Senate will serve as both judge and jury. COURTROOM TRIAL: Federal trials, both civil and criminal, are presided over by District Court judges who are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
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| U.S., Japan May Invest in Indonesia Islands Near South China Sea Posted: 16 Jan 2020 10:39 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- The U.S., Japan and South Korea are keen to invest in Indonesia's Natuna Islands as President Joko Widodo steps up efforts to rebuff Chinese claims over the resource-rich waters in the South China Sea.The countries are interested in building fisheries processing and manufacturing industries in Natuna, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Pandjaitan, told reporters in Jakarta on Friday. Indonesia can manage the sea dispute with China without going into a war, Pandjaitan, a former general, said."The U.S. investors have expressed their interest, along with investors from Japan, Korea and China," Padjaitan said. "For us, it doesn't matter where they come from."Widodo's efforts to lure foreign investment into the Natuna islands may ratchet up tension with Beijing following the intrusion of Chinese fishing vessels into an area claimed by Indonesia as an exclusive economic zone. Indonesia is not a claimant in the broader dispute over the South China Sea, but it does insist on its sovereign rights to waters around the Natunas.Beijing says while it has no territorial disputes with Jakarta, claims over maritime interests in certain waters in the South China Sea "overlap.""War is the last resort in our negotiation process," Pandjaitan said referring to the standoff with China on Natuna. "But under no circumstances will we negotiate our sovereignty and territorial rights."Jokowi, as Widodo is commonly known, visited the Natuna islands last week and asserted Indonesia's sovereignty over the waters after authorities deployed fighter jets and warships to push back the Chinese fishing vessels, which were accompanied by coast guard ships. The president also inaugurated a fisheries processing center in the region and days later invited Japan to invest in Natuna to develop the fishing industry.Indonesia is also seeking investment by Vietnamese marine processing companies. Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi met officials of Hai Nam Co., a seafood importer this week in Ho Chi Minh City, and asked it to explore a joint venture with Indonesian companies for a fisheries processing unit in areas including Natuna, according to a foreign ministry statement Thursday.It has identified a location in north Natuna for a fishing port, while southern Natuna will serve as a base for the navy, Pandjaitan said. The country will also soon acquire its first ocean-going vessel, probably from Denmark, to beef up its sea powers, he said.To contact the reporters on this story: Arys Aditya in Jakarta at aaditya5@bloomberg.net;Harry Suhartono in Jakarta at hsuhartono@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Stephanie Phang at sphang@bloomberg.net, Thomas Kutty AbrahamFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Trump Attaches Severe Restrictions to Puerto Rico's Long-Delayed Disaster Aid Posted: 16 Jan 2020 05:00 AM PST  WASHINGTON -- The Trump administration on Wednesday imposed severe restrictions on billions of dollars in emergency relief to Puerto Rico, including blocking spending on the island's electrical grid and suspending its $15-an-hour minimum wage for federally funded relief work.The nearly $16 billion in funding, released while Puerto Ricans still sleep on the streets for fear of aftershocks from last week's earthquake, is part of $20 billion that Congress allocated for disaster recovery and preparation more than a year ago, in response to the territory being hit by back-to-back hurricanes in 2017.The Department of Housing and Urban Development had released only $1.5 billion of the congressional relief, citing concerns of political corruption. Of that, only $5 million has been allocated."In a great win for Puerto Ricans and U.S. taxpayers, the Administration has outlined reforms for the grant agreement to Puerto Rico in order to protect resources," said Chase Jennings, a spokesman for the Office of Management and Budget at the White House.Rep. Nydia M. Velazquez, D-N.Y., the first Puerto Rican woman elected to the House, called the move disdainful and contemptuous."Why is Puerto Rico always subjected to different standards when it comes to this administration?" she demanded.President Donald Trump has clashed repeatedly with Puerto Rico's government. In 2018, he suggested the death toll from Hurricanes Irma and Maria had been inflated "in order to make me look as bad as possible." He has exaggerated the amount of federal relief allocated to the island and denounced the mayor of San Juan as "crazed and incompetent."Even as pressure has mounted for him to release emergency assistance, the president has maintained his assertions that the money will not be well spent. On Wednesday, the White House budget office made clear how those assertions had shaped relief.To access $8.2 billion in recovery money and $8.3 billion in disaster prevention funds, Puerto Rico will have to submit budget plans to the territory's federally mandated fiscal control board, which will track where the money goes. It will also have to bolster its property registration database.Puerto Rico will be barred from paying its $15-an-hour minimum wage to workers on federally funded projects. And none of the funds can be used on the electrical grid, although the Department of Housing and Urban Development has yet to release nearly $2 billion that was allocated for Puerto Rico's electrical system.White House officials acknowledged rolling blackouts continue on Puerto Rico but insisted there was no need for new money.The requirements were first reported by The Washington Post.A congressional aide involved in the issue said the White House and its budget office appeared to have chosen restrictions that would be politically difficult for Puerto Rican officials to carry out. That way, the aide suggested, the federal government would not appear responsible for withholding the aid.For example, the fiscal control board is viewed in Puerto Rico as unaccountable to the people. And Puerto Rican officials are not inclined to tell workers they will be paid less than the minimum wage. With regard to the property and deed registrations, Puerto Ricans have long used informal ownership records.The restriction relating to the electrical grid may just be a practical one: Congress has already appropriated a separate tranche of money specifically for the electrical grid, though it has yet to be allocated.Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, called the new restrictions "onerous and unprecedented" and said they "would add insult to injury for our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico reeling from multiple natural disasters."The White House announcement came four days after a 5.9-magnitude earthquake rocked an island reeling from a series of earthquakes this month and still struggling to recover from Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017. Parts of the island have lost power, and some Puerto Ricans have set up camp in public spaces instead of returning to their homes."While it is a welcome development that the administration has released its hold on these funds, this step is inexcusably overdue," Velazquez said.Puerto Rico's government was already straining to spend federal money under earlier restrictions. The new conditions will make it much harder.The administration's disparate treatment of Puerto Rico is not new. In August, the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that it would release billions of dollars in federal disaster mitigation funds in two funds: one for nine states on the mainland, and the other for territories like Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The department also announced it would appoint a federal financial monitor to ensure that the money for Puerto Rico was managed properly."Recovery efforts in jurisdictions prepared to do their part should not be held back due to alleged corruption, fiscal irregularities and financial mismanagement occurring in Puerto Rico," Ben Carson, the secretary of housing and urban development, said at the time.Congressional Democrats are struck by how long the money has been delayed."As appropriators, we have fought for the release of the aid by questioning Secretary Carson, establishing a legal deadline for agency action, conducting an oversight hearing with HUD officials and the inspector general, and withholding money from the department in the most recent appropriations bill," said Rep. David E. Price, D-N.C. "It should never have come to this."Since 2017, the housing department, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other agencies have provided only a fraction of the $91 billion in aid Puerto Rico is estimated to have needed following Hurricanes Irma and Maria, leaving the island's critical infrastructure and homes in limbo.Trump has approved Puerto Rico's request for an emergency declaration but has not approved a major disaster declaration, which could pave the way for additional federal funding.This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
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| U.S. warship transits Taiwan Strait less than week after election Posted: 16 Jan 2020 04:29 PM PST  A U.S. warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Thursday, the island's defense ministry said, less than a week after Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen won re-election by a landslide on a platform of standing up to China which claims the island. The ship sailed in a northerly direction through the sensitive waterway and Taiwan's armed forces monitored it throughout, the ministry said in a brief statement on Friday, describing the sailing as an "ordinary mission". Taiwan is China's most sensitive territorial and diplomatic issue and Beijing has never ruled out the use of force to bring the island under its control.
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| Israel's F-35I Adir Is Taking America's Stealth Fighter To A Whole Other Level Posted: 17 Jan 2020 06:03 AM PST  Israel has a history of improving America's weapons to fit its needs.
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| USS Abraham Lincoln shatters US Navy's record for longest post-Cold War carrier deployment with 10-month around-the-world tour Posted: 17 Jan 2020 07:25 AM PST  The Lincoln broke a cruise record set nearly two decades earlier, sailed around the world, and sent warnings to both Russia and Iran.
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| Royal Caribbean blames 'reckless' grandfather in toddler Chloe Wiegand's death Posted: 17 Jan 2020 07:48 AM PST  "His actions... were reckless and irresponsible and the sole reason why Chloe is no longer with her parents," Royal Caribbean said in court documents.
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| Georgia sets execution for man convicted of killing 2 people Posted: 17 Jan 2020 10:54 AM PST  Donnie Cleveland Lance, 66, is scheduled to die Jan. 29 at the state prison in Jackson, state Attorney General Chris Carr and Department of Corrections Commissioner Timothy Ward announced Friday. Lance has exhausted his standard appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court declined last year to hear his case, though three justices dissented. According to a Georgia Supreme Court summary of the case, Lance went to Wood's home the night of Nov. 8, 1997, kicked in the front door and shot Wood in the front and back with a shotgun and then beat Joy Lance to death with the butt of the shotgun, the summary says.
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| Iranian general says officials lied about shooting down jet to defend national security Posted: 16 Jan 2020 05:03 AM PST  An Iranian general defended his government's decision to lie for days about whether it shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet, killing all 176 people onboard.
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| Norway Government Crisis Brews Over ISIS Prisoner Return Posted: 16 Jan 2020 12:53 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Norway's government risks splitting after a coalition partner threatened to pull its support over the repatriation of a woman who joined Islamic State in Syria.The anti-immigration Progress Party threatened to abandon the Conservative-led administration in the next few weeks if a number of demands aren't met. Such a move would deprive Prime Minister Erna Solberg of her majority in parliament, and possibly even topple the government."We've had enough," Finance Minister and Progress leader Siv Jensen told reporters on Wednesday evening, after meeting with lawmakers and party executives. "We will define some very clear demands to Prime Minister Erna Solberg and the Conservative Party. It will be up to her to take them seriously or not."Jensen's threat follows a government decision to repatriate a Norwegian woman charged with joining a terrorist organization. The woman has two children, one of whom is critically ill. The Progress Party was only willing to bring back the children. The situation echoes similar debates in other European countries over how to handle nationals caught fighting for ISIS.It's not the first time that a conflict has erupted between Norway's government parties, which hold different views on key issues such as immigration, climate change and the Nordic country's vast oil industry.The coalition has ruled with the support of the centrist Liberals and Christian Democrats since 2013, before the two parties joined the government in 2018 and 2019, providing Solberg with a majority.Since the 2017 election, the four parties have lost much of their popular support, with the average of national polls in January compiled by pollofpolls.no indicating they will lose power in 2021 when Norwegians next vote. The Progress Party is down to about 10%, compared to 15% in the 2017 election.Progress has been forced into a compromise on key issues for too long and the party now needs "clear wins" in government policy, Jensen told state broadcaster NRK on Thursday. The party will probably present a list of demands to Solberg in the course of the day, but the list won't be made public and Jensen declined to provide details.Jensen also declined to say whether the government could continue to hold power without her party if it quit. The Conservative Party leads the coalition with 45 seats in Parliament, Progress has 27 and the Liberals and Christian Democrats eight each, giving the government a slim majority in the 169-strong assembly.(Updates with comments from Progress leader and finance minister Jensen from third paragraph)\--With assistance from Jonas Cho Walsgard.To contact the reporter on this story: Mikael Holter in Oslo at mholter2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Tasneem Hanfi Brögger at tbrogger@bloomberg.netFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| As Iran and Iraq simmer, giants of Shiite world vie for influence Posted: 17 Jan 2020 08:49 AM PST ![As Iran and Iraq simmer, giants of Shiite world vie for influence]( "As Iran and Iraq simmer, giants of Shiite world vie for influence") The separation of religion and state is splitting the Shiite world, pitting the supreme leader of Iran, a theocracy, against Iraq's grand ayatollah.
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| One of Canada's biggest newspapers said Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are not welcome Posted: 17 Jan 2020 04:53 AM PST  The scathing opinion piece from The Globe and Mail argued their residency would break "an unspoken constitutional taboo."
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| Myanmar president hails 'historic' visit as China's Xi arrives to fanfare Posted: 17 Jan 2020 04:19 AM PST  Chinese President Xi Jinping flew into Myanmar on Friday for two days of talks to shore up massive infrastructure projects in the Southeast Asian nation isolated by the West over its treatment of the Rohingya Muslim minority. State counselor Aung San Suu Kyi greeted him with a handshake on the steps of the presidential palace after a ceremonial welcome by the president and a military marching band, on the first day of a two-day visit, Xi's first as leader and the first of any Chinese president in 19 years. Analysts say Xi will seek to reinvigorate stalled infrastructure projects central to his flagship Belt and Road Initiative described as a "21st century silk road".
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| Germany's Air Force Has a Serious Problem Posted: 17 Jan 2020 06:21 AM PST  And it's running out of time to fix it.
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| Rain douses some Australian bush fires but flash floods now threaten wildlife Posted: 17 Jan 2020 08:19 AM PST  Heavy rains in fire-ravaged eastern Australia have brought welcome relief for firefighters and farmers, but sparked flash floods that have led to fresh scrambles to save native animals. As the rain hit on Thursday the New South Wales State Emergency Services department warned that the sudden heavy downpours in some areas would bring flash flooding, falling trees and landslides where the fires have wiped out vegetation. On Friday, the warnings were realised when flash floods hit the Australia Reptile Park on the NSW east coast, and the state's koalas - having lost thousands of their number and huge swathes of their habitat - needed to be rescued again as floods thundered down fire-blasted hills empty of vegetation. Park director Tim Faulkner told local media that the sudden floods on Friday morning were "incredible". "Just last week we were having daily meetings to discuss the imminent threat of bushfires," he said. "Today, we've had the whole team out there, drenched, acting fast to secure the safety of our animals and defend the park from the onslaught of water… We haven't seen flooding like this at the park for over 15 years." And while the rains have doused fires in some areas, blazes continue to rage across many other parts of the country where the weather stayed dry, including in other parts of New South Wales where 82 fires were still burning, with 30 out of control, and in the state of Victoria, to the south. Parts of the state's Alpine region were evacuated again as erratic winds caused spot fires around a large blaze at Mount Buffalo. The rain also completely missed Kangaroo Island, the nation's third biggest off the southern coast of the mainland, where fires have devastated the formerly wildlife-rich national park. The authorities have warned the crisis could worsen again with Australia only halfway through its summer. The unprecedented fires, fuelled by climate change and a years-long drought, have already claimed 28 lives over the past five months. They have scorched massive tracts of pristine forests in eastern and southern Australia, decimated livestock on already barren farms and destroyed 2,000 homes. In areas where rain has arrived, there are new concerns that muddy ash will be swept into rivers and lakes, exacerbating an emerging crisis as fish die in vast numbers due to ash poisoning the waterways. The NSW Department of Primary Industries has received reports of "hundreds of thousands" of fish dead in the Macleay river since December 2019.
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| Passengers were terrified when an engine on their United flight failed after takeoff Posted: 16 Jan 2020 10:08 AM PST  No one was hurt in the frightening incident, and passengers were flown on a later flight on a different plane.
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| Therapist charged with killing family faced fraud probe Posted: 16 Jan 2020 10:28 AM PST  A physical therapist charged with killing his wife, three children and dog in a home near Walt Disney World and leaving their bodies there for days was being investigated in Connecticut for health care fraud motivated by his need to pay off personal loans, according to court documents unsealed this week. Anthony Todt was being investigated for submitting fraudulent claims for physical therapy by the FBI and agents with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, according to an affidavit and criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday in federal court in Connecticut. According to agents, the allegations involved Todt and his Colchester, Connecticut-base clinics submitting claims to Medicaid and private insurers for physical therapy services that weren't given to patients.
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| EU border chief says migrant entries from Turkey on the rise Posted: 17 Jan 2020 05:17 AM PST  The number of migrants entering Europe from Turkey rose significantly last year as people fleeing strife in Syria and Afghanistan flooded into the country and then set out for Greece, the head of the European Union's border agency said Friday. More than 82,000 migrants tried to enter Europe without authorization in 2019, an increase of 46% over the previous year, Frontex Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri said in Brussels. "This was mainly due to the situation in Syria, but also instability in Afghanistan, and changing policies towards Afghan nationals by Iranian and Pakistani authorities," Leggeri told reporters.
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| Judge upholds firearms ban for Virginia gun rally Posted: 17 Jan 2020 03:14 AM PST  A Virginia judge ruled that a firearms ban imposed by the governor ahead of a planned pro-gun rally can stay in place, but gun rights groups are still fighting the ban.
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| Malaysia Rejects All Bids to Buy Its Biggest Highway Operator Posted: 15 Jan 2020 11:19 PM PST ![Malaysia Rejects All Bids to Buy Its Biggest Highway Operator]( "Malaysia Rejects All Bids to Buy Its Biggest Highway Operator") (Bloomberg) -- Follow Bloomberg on LINE messenger for all the business news and analysis you need.Malaysia has rejected all bids from companies seeking to buy stakes in the nation's biggest highway concession-holder, as the government sets out another plan to lower toll fares to meet an election pledge.The cabinet has decided that state funds Khazanah Nasional Bhd. and Employees Provident Fund will maintain their stakes in toll road operator PLUS Malaysia Bhd., Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad told reporters on Thursday. The government has studied all proposals from the private sector, he said, without naming the bidders.Instead, the government will cut toll fares by 18% from the current rate and keep them unchanged despite inflation or changes to traffic, Mahathir said."Remember that the 18% is fixed at today's rate, which means that in 30 years' time that 18%, I mean the toll rate will be very very low indeed," he said.The government has struggled to fulfill its election promise of abolishing toll fares as part of a plan to help lower living costs. Negotiations to acquire the remaining concessions for four separate highways from Gamuda Bhd. has hit multiple delays since the 6.2 billion ringgit ($1.5 billion) acquisition was first announced in June.PLUS is 51%-owned by Khazanah through UEM Group Bhd., with the rest owned by EPF. The company operates the country's longest expressway connecting the southern border with Singapore to cities near the northern border with Thailand.To contact the reporter on this story: Anisah Shukry in Kuala Lumpur at ashukry2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Yudith Ho at yho35@bloomberg.net, Chan Tien HinFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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