| Joe Biden took questions from black reporters for 90 minutes. He did not disappoint. Posted: 27 Aug 2019 07:13 PM PDT ![Joe Biden took questions from black reporters for 90 minutes. He did not disappoint.]( "Joe Biden took questions from black reporters for 90 minutes. He did not disappoint.") The ex-VP explained what he'd want in a running mate and acknowledged his continued support among African Americans isn't guaranteed.
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| 26 killed in fiery attack on bar in southern Mexico Posted: 28 Aug 2019 05:04 PM PDT  Gang members burst into a bar, blocked all the exits and then started a fire that killed 26 people and injured about a dozen others, Mexican officials said Wednesday. Authorities said the attack in the Gulf coast city of Coatzacoalcos late Tuesday apparently was overseen by a man who had been recently arrested but released. "The criminals went in, closed the doors, the emergency exits, and set fire to the place," President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said at his daily morning news conference.
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| 'Tough guy!': Trump mocks NYT columnist Bret Stephens for bedbug reaction Posted: 28 Aug 2019 05:34 AM PDT  Bret Stephens, who was called a bedbug Monday evening on Twitter, has since deactivated his Twitter account.
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| See Photos of the 2019 Mercedes-AMG GT53 4-Door Posted: 28 Aug 2019 10:59 AM PDT |
| Alarmed tourists watch huge volcanic eruption on Italy's Stromboli island Posted: 28 Aug 2019 08:23 AM PDT  A powerful volcanic eruption on the Italian island of Stromboli sent a huge cloud of ash into the sky, nearly two months after a similar eruption killed a hiker. Frightened tourists watched the eruption as lava cascaded down the sides of the volcano, one of the most active in the world. The eruption was preceded by a deafening boom, witnesses said. Known as a "paroxysmal eruption", it sent up a tall column of smoke and ash which could be seen from many miles away. Water-bombing aircraft were deployed to the island, scooping up sea water to put out small wild fires on the flanks of the mountain. The eruption on Stromboli sent a huge plume of ash and smoke into the sky Credit: Twitter There were no reports of injuries. Video footage showed one boat, with Italians on board, fleeing the island in panic as gigantic clouds of black ash rolled across the sea. On another boat, a British family watched in awe as the eruption took place. "Wow, the whole mountain is shaking," an Englishman says on a video clip of the eruption. "Oh my goodness, that is really bad guys." Nicole Bremner, an Australian who lives in London, was on a boat off Stromboli when the volcano erupted. "We were just at Stromboli volcano watching the small eruptions. We left and then this giant eruption happened!" she wrote. The property developer said the smoke and ash had left "a metallic taste in our mouths… waiting to see if we need to help with evacuations." Water-bombing aircraft were deployed to put out fires on the flanks of the volcano Credit: Italian fire service/AP Some tourists watched the eruption from the safety of the nearby island of Panarea. In video posted on social media, an American woman is heard to say: "Oh my God. I don't think we should go there today." The volcano last erupted on July 3, when a 35-year-old Italian hiker was killed by falling debris. He was with a companion who survived. At the time, one tourist wrote: "I've never felt so much fear in my life." Stromboli is part of the Aeolian archipelago of islands, which attract sailors and celebrities during the summer months. "The situation is under control, but all the same we have activated the normal civil protection procedures," said Marco Giorgianni, the mayor of Lipari, the most populated of the islands. Volcanologists believe Stromboli has been in nearly continuous eruption for at least 2,000 years and the eruption on Wednesday is not considered unusual. There are small eruptions on an hourly basis, with the volcano spewing out chunks of incandescent lava, ash and volcanic rock from its cone. At night the explosions can be seen far out at sea, lending the island the nickname "Lighthouse of the Mediterranean." There have been several fatal explosions in the past – four people were killed in 1919, three people in 1930 and one person, a biologist, in 1986.
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| S. Korea Supreme Court orders retrial for ex-president Park Posted: 28 Aug 2019 11:20 PM PDT  South Korea's top court on Thursday set aside former president Park Geun-hye's convictions in the sprawling scandal that saw her ousted from power and ordered the case to be heard again. Park was convicted in April last year on bribery and abuse of power charges and sentenced to 24 years, later extended for an additional 12 months. "We send the case back to the Seoul High Court," said chief justice Kim Myeong-su.
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| Top challenger of Afghan president says ready to quit elections for peace Posted: 29 Aug 2019 01:55 AM PDT  Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's main challenger in a election next month has said he is ready to abandon his bid for power for the sake of peace, raising more questions about prospects for an election the Taliban have vowed to block. The twice-delayed presidential election comes as the United States and the Taliban are trying to seal an agreement under which U.S. forces will withdraw in exchange for a Taliban security guarantee and a promise of power-sharing talks with Ghani's government. The Taliban have denounced the election as a sham and vowed to attack rallies.
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| Brazil's president said he would accept $20 million from the G7 to tackle the Amazon fires, but only if Emmanuel Macron apologizes for calling him 'extraordinarily rude' Posted: 28 Aug 2019 02:53 AM PDT  French President Macron called Jair Bolsonaro rude after he appeared to endorse a Facebook post mocking the age gap between Macron and his wife.
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| Serbia Vows to Block Plan to Turn Nazi Death Camp Sites Into Shops Posted: 29 Aug 2019 06:51 AM PDT ![Serbia Vows to Block Plan to Turn Nazi Death Camp Sites Into Shops]( "Serbia Vows to Block Plan to Turn Nazi Death Camp Sites Into Shops") (Bloomberg) -- Serbia will adopt a law to create a memorial center in Belgrade for tens of thousands of Jews, Serbs and Roma killed by Nazis in World War II, preventing plans to redevelop two concentration camp sites in the capital city into commercial space.Draft legislation will be sent to parliament in November with the "active involvement of the Jewish community in Serbia," Efraim Zuroff of the Simon Wiesenthal Center told reporters in after meeting with President Aleksandar Vucic on Thursday. He said he got assurances from the Serb leader that the bill will be adopted and the government will provide funds for the memorial.Originally a 1937 trade fair complex built in the then capital of Yugoslavia, Staro Sajmiste became a death camp when Nazis invaded the country in 1941. Some 30,000 died there, including 7,000 Jews. After the fall of communism, this and another site of a Nazi-era camp in Belgrade, Topovske Supe, were partly sold off by the state, but have been spared large-scale redevelopment.After the war, parts of Staro Sajmiste were used as art studios, a kindergarten, a nightclub, and a restaurant. It even housed a local office of Vucic's ruling Serbian Progressive Party. The land of Topovske Supe is slated for building a $220 million shopping mall by closely held Delta Holding. That may be prevented through mandatory expropriation, according to the draft bill.To contact the reporter on this story: Misha Savic in Belgrade at msavic2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Irina Vilcu at isavu@bloomberg.net, Andrea Dudik, Andrew LangleyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Defendant in major opioid case says he was helping people Posted: 27 Aug 2019 05:34 PM PDT  Prosecutors have called Aaron Shamo the kingpin of a multimillion-dollar drug ring that shipped hundreds of thousands of potentially deadly opioid pills across the country from a suburban Utah basement.
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| Rare 3.8-million-year-old skull reveals the face of Lucy’s ancestor, gives insight into early man Posted: 28 Aug 2019 01:07 PM PDT ![Rare 3.8-million-year-old skull reveals the face of Lucy's ancestor, gives insight into early man]( "Rare 3.8-million-year-old skull reveals the face of Lucy's ancestor, gives insight into early man") A 3.8 million year old skull from Africa is giving researchers a peek into humanity's evolutionary history, a new study suggests.
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| Why the Resignation of a Key Scottish Leader Is a Sign the U.K. Could Break Apart Over Brexit Posted: 29 Aug 2019 03:25 AM PDT  The leader of the Conservative Party in Scotland, Ruth Davidson, has quit her post after Boris Johnson moved to prorogue Parliament
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| Russia discovers five islands as climate change melts Arctic ice Posted: 28 Aug 2019 01:04 PM PDT  A Russian naval expedition has discovered five Arctic islands as climate change melts glaciers and reveals landforms previously hidden under ice. Ranging in size from 900 to 54,500 square metres, the five tiny islands are located in the cove of Vize off the northeastern shore of Novaya Zemlya, which divides the Barents and Kara seas in the Arctic ocean, a defence ministry statement said. Rather than planting the proverbial flag in the sand, members of the expedition built a cairn on one of the islands containing a note about their discovery, a compact disc with their photographs and a pennant commemorating the 100th anniversary of the northern fleet's hydrographic service. Then-student Marina Migunova first spotted the islands in 2016 while analysing satellite imagery for her final coursework at a naval university. But new geographic points are added to maps and other navigational documents only after specialists visit them and perform a topographic survey, the defence ministry said. The islands were previously concealed under the Nansen glacier, also known as the Vylka, which is part of Europe's largest ice cap covering much of Novaya Zemlya's northern island. Location of newly discovered Russian islands The retreat of Arctic ice amid rising air and ocean temperatures has been unveiling unknown landforms. In 2015-18, the hydrographic service observed more than 30 islands, capes and bays near Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land for the first time through satellite monitoring. More are expected to be found. A US study last year concluded that the ice loss by glaciers on Franz Josef Land had doubled between 2011 and 2015. Melting ice has increasingly stranded polar bears on land, contributing to incidents like the "polar bear invasion" of a military town on Novaya Zemlya this year. Coastal erosion is also speeding up as permafrost soil thaws and summertime wave action increases. President Vladimir Putin said at an Arctic conference in April that Russian data showed the region was warming not two but four times faster than the rest of the world. In response, his country has been expanding its presence in the Arctic, opening military bases and building nuclear icebreakers to promote shipping along the northern sea route. Last week, Russia's new floating nuclear power plant began a voyage across the Arctic Ocean to provide heat and electricity to a gold-mining town in the remote Chukotka region. Russia's floating nuclear power plant, the Academic Lomonosov, stands in port during a visit by The Telegraph last month Credit: Alec Luhn/For The Telegraph State concern Rosatom hopes to export this technology to other countries despite the safety concerns of activists, who have dubbed the plant "Chernobyl on ice". A top-secret nuclear submarine caught fire in the Arctic Ocean in July, killing 14, and this month a blast at a missile testing site killed at least five and caused a radiation spike in the northern Arkhangelsk region. The defence ministry said a "liquid-fuelled reaction engine" had exploded, but foreign experts have said the fallout suggested that a nuclear reactor had blown up. Following the routes of early explorers, the expedition to Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land is also collecting data for scientific research, raising Russian flags over historic sites and visiting Soviet military infrastructure, including a meteorological station destroyed by a Nazi U-boat in 1943. Much of the archipelago was mapped by Florence Nightingale's cousin Benjamin Leigh Smith, whose shipwreck in Franz Josef Land was reached by divers last year.
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| China 'rotates' troops in Hong Kong ahead of planned rallies Posted: 28 Aug 2019 11:48 PM PDT  China's military on Thursday said fresh troops had arrived in Hong Kong as part of a routine rotation, as the financial hub prepares for fresh political rallies against Beijing's tightening grip on the city. State media published a video of armoured personnel carriers and trucks driving across the Hong Kong border in the border. "The Hong Kong Garrison of the Chinese People's Liberation Army on Thursday morning completed the 22nd rotation since it began garrisoning Hong Kong in 1997," Xinhua news agency reported.
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| Hurricane Dorian gains might as it takes aim at Florida Posted: 29 Aug 2019 12:48 AM PDT ![Hurricane Dorian gains might as it takes aim at Florida]( "Hurricane Dorian gains might as it takes aim at Florida") Hurricane Dorian churned in the Atlantic, picking up speed early on Thursday, fueled by warm waters as it took aim at the U.S. coast and threatened to become a dangerous category 3 storm. Dorian had sideswiped the Caribbean without doing major damage but Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency on Wednesday and asked east coast Floridians load up with at least 7 days worth of supplies, such as food and water. "All indications are that by this Labor Day weekend, a powerful hurricane will be near or over the Florida peninsula," the National Hurricane Center in Miami said in an advisory.
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| A growing number of Americans doubt that Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide. Here's a guide to the conspiracy theories about his death, and why they're not backed by evidence. Posted: 29 Aug 2019 06:25 AM PDT  Authorities have dismissed theories that Jeffrey Epstein was killed in his Manhattan jail cell while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.
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| Federal Court Rules Atheists May Be Barred From Giving Invocations at Pennsylvania Statehouse Posted: 28 Aug 2019 04:23 PM PDT  A federal appeals court ruled that atheists and others who do not believe in God can be prohibited from delivering an invocation at the Pennsylvania statehouse.The 2 to 1 ruling from the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia on Friday upheld a state House of Representatives policy that stipulates the chamber's opening invocation may be led only by a current member of the House or "a member of a regularly established church or religious organization."The court found that the rules governing the opening invocation, which also require the invocation to be "respectful of all religious beliefs," do not infringe on the First Amendment since the invocation falls under government speech and goes along with the "historical tradition of legislative prayer.""First, only theistic prayer can satisfy all the traditional purposes of legislative prayer. Second, the Supreme Court has long taken as given that prayer presumes invoking a higher power," the court stated.A lower court halted the policy last summer, ruling that there is "no justification to sanction government's establishment of a category of favored religions — like monotheistic or theistic faiths — through legislative prayer," but Friday's ruling overturns that decision.Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which represented the plaintiffs who complained about the rule, panned the "disappointing ruling," saying it gives "special privileges to people because they believe in a god."
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| Likely field for next Dem debate narrows to 10 Posted: 28 Aug 2019 12:10 PM PDT  Candidates who fail to qualify for September's debate will still have an opportunity to make the stage in October.
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| West Virginia state senator charged with prostitution Posted: 28 Aug 2019 05:28 PM PDT  West Virginia state Sen. Mike Maroney has been charged with soliciting a prostitute. The Republican lawmaker turned himself in and was arraigned Wednesday morning, a Marshall County court clerk said. Maroney exchanged text messages to discuss prices and set up meetings with a woman who has acknowledged being a prostitute, according to a criminal complaint.
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| View Photos of the 2020 Volvo XC60 Polestar Posted: 29 Aug 2019 05:18 AM PDT |
| 'Fastest woman on four wheels' Jessi Combs killed attempting to break her own land speed record Posted: 29 Aug 2019 12:06 AM PDT  Racing driver Jessi Combs, considered the "fastest woman on four wheels," was killed in a car accident trying to break her own record, police said Wednesday. Combs's jet car crashed Tuesday in the Alvord Desert where she was pronounced dead at the scene, officers in the northwestern US state of Oregon said in a statement. Combs, 39, earned her "fastest woman" title in 2013 when she hit 398 miles (641 kilometers) per hour, and police said the fatal crash occurred while "attempting to break" the record. "Jessi Combs was pronounced deceased at the scene," the Harney County Sheriff's Office statement said. "The cause of the crash is unknown at this time and is currently being investigated." Combs, who also appeared on various US television shows, previously tried to break her record in October. Combs's jet car crashed Tuesday in the Alvord Desert where she was pronounced dead at the scene According to industry media, she was able to exceed her previous speed to reach 483 miles per hour, but a mechanical problem meant the record couldn't be officially validated. She had expected to do even better on Tuesday. Combs, an accomplished mechanic, had challenged herself to beat American stuntwoman Kitty O'Neil's 1976 "fastest woman in the world" record, which was set on a three-wheel vehicle also in the Alvord Desert, at 512 miles per hour.
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| 'Feed the wolf': fear stalks Cathay staff after Hong Kong protest sackings Posted: 28 Aug 2019 07:29 PM PDT  A fortnight ago Cathay Pacific said it "wouldn't dream" of muzzling the views of its 27,000 Hong Kong staff, but after the dismissal of several pro-democracy supporters among its workforce under Chinese pressure, employees say this is exactly what has happened. Hong Kong, a financial centre that was once a byword for stability and prosperity, has been plunged into an unprecedented crisis by anti-government protests, framed by fears over growing Chinese influence. The chaos put airline Cathay in a bind over whether to allow its staff to take part in -- or voice support for -- the massive demonstrations, or risk losing its China-facing business.
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| How Russia and China are preparing to exploit a warming planet Posted: 29 Aug 2019 02:11 AM PDT  POLITICO's latest Global Translations podcast explores how climate change is reshaping power dynamics among America's adversaries.
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| India's top ports on alert for attacks from 'Pakistan-trained commandos' Posted: 29 Aug 2019 03:45 AM PDT ![India's top ports on alert for attacks from 'Pakistan-trained commandos']( "India's top ports on alert for attacks from 'Pakistan-trained commandos'") India's two main ports said on Thursday they had been warned by the coastguard and intelligence officials that Pakistan-trained commandos have entered Indian waters to carry out underwater attacks on port facilities. The Mundra Port, run by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd, and the state-owned Kandla Port had asked their employees and ship operators to be vigilant, port officials and the ports said in advisories seen by Reuters. Tensions between India and Pakistan have escalated since India revoked the special status of its portion of the Himalayan region of Kashmir on Aug. 5 and moved to quell objections by shutting down communications and clamping down on local leaders.
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| Mnuchin Says China Trade Meeting Will Happen But Won’t Say When Posted: 28 Aug 2019 08:15 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Terms of Trade is a daily newsletter that untangles a world embroiled in trade wars. Sign up here. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said U.S. trade officials expect Chinese negotiators to visit Washington, but wouldn't say whether a previously planned September meeting would take place."We continue to have conversations. We're planning for them to come," Mnuchin said Wednesday in an interview, declining to say whether the September encounter would happen.Concern about prospects for a trade breakthrough weighed on markets on Thursday. Futures on the S&P 500 Index fell 0.4% and most Asian equity indexes traded lower, while the yen advanced."There's no appetite to actively trade equities right now," said Ayako Sera, a market strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank Ltd. in Tokyo. "There will be another round of tariff increases on Chinese goods at the start of September. Investors' current stance probably is to see through carefully what kind of impact the latest tariff hike has on the global economy."Tensions between the two nations reached a fresh peak last Friday when China threatened retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. and President Donald Trump responded with a plan to ratchet up duties on Chinese products further and ordered American companies to look for alternatives to the country. The remarks prompted U.S. stocks to suffer one of their worst losses of the year.By Monday, Trump had softened his tone, saying the two nations had had phone conversations and that China was eager to strike a deal.Compounding the battle over tariffs, the two nations are engaged in a dispute over the value of their currencies. Mnuchin said Wednesday that he's been in contact with China's top central banker, the International Monetary Fund and other counterparts in Beijing over what the U.S. has deemed manipulation of the yuan."We've had conversations with the IMF and directly with our counterparts in China, including the governor of the PBOC," since the U.S. formally labeled China a currency manipulator on Aug. 5, Mnuchin said, referring to Yi Gang, who heads the People's Bank of China.China's currency broke the 7 per dollar level earlier this month for the first time since 2008, unleashing tumult across global markets. The U.S.'s manipulator announcement followed a declaration by PBOC's Yi that his nation wouldn't use the yuan as a tool to deal with trade disputes.The designation of China as a currency manipulator was seen as largely symbolic since the potential penalties are less punitive than steps Trump has already taken against China."We will have a separate dialog and discussion on currency as part of the trade discussion but separate from the trade discussion," Mnuchin said.(Updates with markets in third paragraph)To contact the reporter on this story: Saleha Mohsin in Washington at smohsin2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Joshua Gallu, John HarneyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Elizabeth Warren is the only candidate to consistently rise in the polls. That could make her the candidate to beat in the 2020 primaries. Posted: 28 Aug 2019 06:59 AM PDT  Elizabeth Warren is the only candidate who has consistently and steadily gained support over time, a huge warning sign for the frontrunner Joe Biden.
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| Attorney who 'refuses to prosecute' domestic violence cases between same-sex partners faces suspension Posted: 28 Aug 2019 08:06 AM PDT  A district attorney in Tennessee could face suspension after saying he does not prosecute domestic violence cases between same-sex partners.Coffee County district attorney Craig Northcott came under fire in June after a video emerged of him saying he would not prosecute anyone with domestic violence charges if they are in a gay marriage because he does not accept their legal status.
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| Florida city, under fire for imposing massive fines on homeowners, drops lawsuit against woman Posted: 27 Aug 2019 01:25 PM PDT  The city of Dunedin, Florida, has been under scrutiny for massive fines lodged against homeowners over code enforcement violations.
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| Video: Dozens Of High-End Cars Smashed From Smuggling Bust Posted: 27 Aug 2019 08:19 PM PDT  The Philippine government destroyed nearly $5.2 million worth of cars. This may not be for the faint of heart or the car enthusiast, but it's worth talking about. The Philippine government had apparently destroyed over two dozen illegally imported classic and luxury cars. This was done as a means of sending a message against tax evasion. Twenty of the cars were lined up at a Manila customs yard where they were driven over by a bulldozer and then smashed with an excavator. As painful as that sounds, the video certainly doesn't help. It's sad to see so much money be literally destroyed in front of your very eyes. Imagine being there in that yard? We can and we are glad we weren't there.All in all, the collection of cars was said to be worth more than $5 million. Over $1.2 million worth of seized Porsches, Jaguars, Mercedes-Benzes, Lamborghinis, and even a third-generation Corvette were wrecked in the public event. People roared in outrage over how such an event could even be allowed to take place.You would think that after seizing these high-end vehicles, the government would turn around and sell them for a profit, right? Wrong. While it would be nice to invest that money back into positive programs for the community, it would raise a substantial conflict of interest. So, instead of auctioning off the valuable cars, Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte ordered the workers to just sell the twisted metal."They cannot have cars like that. But they can get something, make toys out of it," Reuters reports Duterte saying.Finance Minister Carlos Domingue added that "it does not pay to evade taxes in the Philippines so might as well stop trying, because you will never succeed."The video (above) clearly shows what happens when a bulldozer plows its way through an entire collection of cars that a majority of people would love to see in their garage someday. At the end of the day, though, and depending upon who you ask, this event might have been necessary to send a message and have a fair solution to illegal activity.Source: Speed Society Read More: * 'Once Upon A Time In Hollywood' Features A Smorgasbord Of Classic Cars * Barn Find Hunter Digs Up World-Class Collection Of Muscle Cars
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| Graham: CNN just hired alleged architect of criminal conspiracy against Trump campaign Posted: 28 Aug 2019 06:59 PM PDT  South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham reacts to CNN hiring fired FBI official Andrew McCabe on 'Hannity.'
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| Japan PM warns Africa about debt as China grows presence Posted: 29 Aug 2019 02:23 AM PDT  Japan's prime minister on Thursday warned African leaders against accumulating too much debt, in an apparent reference to Chinese infrastructure projects some blame for damaging the finances of developing nations. Addressing leaders from several African nations at a development conference in Yokohama, Shinzo Abe stressed Tokyo was promoting "quality" infrastructure exports and investments, supported by Japan's government-backed institutions. "What should the government do to encourage (entrepreneurs) to exercise their skills?" Abe asked the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD).
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| War and poverty drive Gazans to seek better life in Europe despite dangers Posted: 29 Aug 2019 07:20 AM PDT  Shaban Khalaf's advice to any other Gazans thinking of heading to Europe in search of a better life, as he did, is blunt: don't bother - it's not worth the danger and the expense. Khalaf should know. Despairing of ever finding a decent job in Gaza, where the economy is near collapse, the journalism graduate flew to Turkey via Egypt in June 2018 and tried no fewer than 18 times to cross into Europe, mostly by boat.
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| MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell apologizes, retracts report on Trump finances Posted: 28 Aug 2019 12:47 PM PDT ![MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell apologizes, retracts report on Trump finances]( "MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell apologizes, retracts report on Trump finances") Charles Harder requested that Lawrence O'Donnell and NBCUniversal "immediately and prominently retract, correct and apologize for the … false and defamatory statements."
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| Backcountry Offers Our Favorite Outdoor Gear For Half Off During Labor Day Posted: 28 Aug 2019 09:12 AM PDT |
| Detained writer urges Australia to help free him from China Posted: 29 Aug 2019 05:16 AM PDT  A Chinese Australian writer detained in Beijing on suspicion of espionage since January has urged Australia to maintain diplomatic pressure for his release. "I implore the prime minister to help me go home as soon as possible," Yang, 54, said in the statement provided to The Associated Press by Feng Chongyi, an academic who was detained in China for two weeks in 2017 while researching human rights lawyers. Yang was taken into custody upon arriving in southern China's Guangzhou from New York on Jan. 19 with his wife, Yuan Xiaoliang, and his 14-year-old stepdaughter.
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| Hurricane Dorian set to pummel Florida after cutting power on Caribbean islands Posted: 29 Aug 2019 12:47 AM PDT  Hurricane Dorian is gaining strength at it approaches Florida, with forecasters warning it could grow into a dangerous storm before it hits the east coast state.The hurricane has moved out into open waters after hitting Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, where it caused power cuts and flooding in places.
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| A man in Kashmir says he was blinded in one eye after being shot by police pellets. Police insist there have been 'no major injuries.' Posted: 29 Aug 2019 04:35 AM PDT  Kashmir remains under severe lockdown, almost one month after India changed its constitution to cancel the disputed region's political autonomy.
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| Escaped deadly cobra terrorises German town Posted: 27 Aug 2019 09:45 AM PDT  The metre-long snake, a monocled cobra whose bite can be fatal, has been missing since Sunday after escaping from its owner in the western city of Herne. Local authorities said the evacuated buildings will "remain locked and we will be regularly checking for any trace of the snake".
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| A bear broke into a Colorado couple's home. They fought it off with a baseball bat and their bare fists Posted: 28 Aug 2019 08:57 PM PDT ![A bear broke into a Colorado couple's home. They fought it off with a baseball bat and their bare fists]( "A bear broke into a Colorado couple's home. They fought it off with a baseball bat and their bare fists") A Colorado couple fought a bear with their fists and a baseball bat Monday, authorities said, driving the animal and her cub out of their home.
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| Republicans have themselves to thank for socialism Posted: 28 Aug 2019 06:00 AM PDT  Socialism has been an incredibly divisive issue in American politics for decades. But its recent uptick in popularity has Republicans wondering what's wrong with the left. Little do they know they have their own actions and policies to thank for democratic socialism's rise in America. In this opinion piece, Business Insider's Manny Ocbazghi analyzes the role Republicans played in Obamacare's rollout, the Green New Deal, and more.
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| Justice Department Inspector General Blasts Comey: ‘Set a Dangerous Example’ by Leaking Memos About Trump Posted: 29 Aug 2019 07:25 AM PDT  REUTERSThe Justice Department's Inspector General has found that former FBI Director James Comey broke internal rules by sharing his memos on conversations with President Donald Trump with people outside the FBI. The Inspector General said in a report released Thursday that Comey set a dangerous example for FBI employees by disseminating a memo in order to put pressure on then-Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to appoint a special counsel after Trump fired Comey in May 2017."[E]ven when these employees believe that their most strongly-held personal convictions might be served by an unauthorized disclosure, the FBI depends on them not to disclose sensitive information," the report said. "Former Director Comey failed to live up to this responsibility. By not safeguarding sensitive information obtained during the course of his FBI employment, and by using it to create public pressure for official action, Comey set a dangerous example for the over 35,000 current FBI employees—and the many thousands more former FBI employees—who similarly have access to or knowledge of non-public information." The report also said that the Justice Department, after reviewing the inspector general's findings, decided against prosecuting comey over the memos. The decision may disappoint Trump, who once retweeted a meme showing Comey behind bars, and reportedly told the former White House counsel he wanted to prosecute the ex-FBI director.The report found no evidence that Comey or his lawyer shared classified material with reporters—a finding the former FBI director immediately cheered on Twitter. "I don't need a public apology from those who defamed me, but a quick message with a 'sorry we lied about you' would be nice," he wrote.In the early months of the Trump presidency, Comey had multiple conversations with the president about the Russia probe that he memorialized. In one of those conversations, Trump pressured him to go easy on Michael Flynn, the ex-national security adviser who later pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about conversations with Russia's ambassador. Comey shared the memo with his lawyer, who then shared it with The New York Times. Comey has drawn blistering criticism from both Democrats and Republicans in the years since the 2016 election season. When he made a public statement on July 5, 2016, criticizing Hillary Clinton's use of her personal email to do government business, Republicans cheered. But Democrats, irate, lambasted him for sharing derogatory information discovered in the course of a criminal investigation about someone who was not charged with a crime. Comey also shared additional information with Congress about the FBI's scrutiny of Clinton's email server in the weeks before Election Day. Clinton's campaign argued that those revelations caused a decisive downturn in her support and handed the election to Trump.All that endeared Comey to the right, but it didn't last.At the same time that it was scrutinizing Clinton's emails, the FBI was also running a counterintelligence investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign. Comey confirmed the existence of the probe in congressional testimony on March 20, 2017."I have been authorized by the Department of Justice to confirm that the FBI, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election and that includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia's efforts," he said. "As with any counterintelligence investigation, this will also include an assessment of whether any crimes were committed."Those two sentences really ticked off Trump. A few weeks later, on May 9, he fired the FBI director. The White House cited a memo Rosenstein had written about Comey's handling of the Clinton investigation as grounds for his firing. But Rosenstein's memo didn't actually call for him to be dismissed. And days later, Trump told NBC News's Lester Holt that he'd actually canned Comey because of the Russia probe. "I said to myself, I said, 'You know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made up story,'" Trump said. Comey's firing set off a panic at Justice Department headquarters. And on May 17, Rosenstein named Robert Mueller as special counsel overseeing the probe. Mueller's work concluded this past spring.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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| Boost for global climate fund as rich states pledge fresh billions Posted: 29 Aug 2019 04:54 AM PDT ![Boost for global climate fund as rich states pledge fresh billions]( "Boost for global climate fund as rich states pledge fresh billions") Five wealthy nations have promised new contributions worth almost $6 billion to the U.N.-backed Green Climate Fund, which is seeking to refill its coffers this year to ramp up efforts to help poorer countries combat climate change. At last weekend's summit of powerful G7 nations, Britain, France and Canada announced fresh support for the Green Climate Fund (GCF), which backs projects to help developing states shift to clean energy and cope with wilder weather and rising seas. In the GCF's first fundraising push in 2014 it received pledges of more than $10 billion.
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| Drug dealers offered driving lessons instead of prison in new police scheme Posted: 28 Aug 2019 09:16 AM PDT  Drug dealers are being offered driving lessons instead of a prison sentence, in a new police scheme which attempts to end the "revolving door" of reoffending. The first of its kind to be implemented in the UK, the scheme will guide young offenders towards education and employment, diverting them away from "serious criminality". Call-In, run by Avon and Somerset police, is targeted at 16 to 21-year-olds who have been arrested for drug-supply offences. The offenders will be offered six-to-nine months training upon arrest instead of facing criminal proceedings, with sessions on offer such as non-contact boxing, anger management or a business management course with the organisation Street2Buisness. Still in its pilot stage, the scheme has also helped some offenders gain driving lessons and "if appropriate" English lessons, according to Det Supt Gary Haskins. As The Daily Telegraph reported in June, similar schemes run by Durham, Cleveland and Avon and Somerset police forces have previously only been offered to drug users. County lines feature The police told the BBC one person on the scheme had been removed and charged with dealing class A drugs. He will appear in Bristol Magistrates' Court in September. While another was been removed after being found in possession of a weapon. A spokesman for Avon and Somerset police said: "If a candidate is arrested for an offence while on the programme, or does not engage, the candidate will be invited in for a review. "If it appears the young person is not engaged then the candidate will be charged with the original offence and the new offence if one is suitable." The new initiative will also undergo a "rigorous" review process, including an independent academic evaluation to judge its success, sustainability and impact on gang related and drug crime, police said. Det Supt Haskins said: "We're quite strict around it. We've had a good look at it, this is normally for people that have made that one mistake and people we think we can work with. "Why not give them a chance? What is there to lose? We send them to prison and we'll see them again."
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| Satellite photos show burning Iran space center launch pad Posted: 29 Aug 2019 09:09 AM PDT  A rocket at an Iranian space center that was to conduct a satellite launch criticized by the U.S. apparently exploded on its launch pad Thursday, satellite images show, suggesting the Islamic Republic suffered its third failed launch this year alone. State media and officials did not immediately acknowledge the incident at the Imam Khomeini Space Center in Iran's Semnan province. In previous days, satellite images had shown officials there repainted the launch pad blue.
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| Woman survives 80ft fall after attempting yoga pose on sixth-floor balcony Posted: 28 Aug 2019 05:07 AM PDT  A Mexican woman has survived an 80ft fall after she slipped while doing an extreme yoga pose over the edge of her sixth-floor balcony.Alexa Terrazas, 23, was hanging off the edge of her balcony when she fell onto the driveway of her building in the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo Leon on Saturday, local media reported.
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