| UPDATE 1-Iran seizes vessel in Gulf for allegedly smuggling diesel fuel - ISNA Posted: 16 Sep 2019 05:09 AM PDT ![UPDATE 1-Iran seizes vessel in Gulf for allegedly smuggling diesel fuel - ISNA]( "UPDATE 1-Iran seizes vessel in Gulf for allegedly smuggling diesel fuel - ISNA") Iran's Revolutionary Guards have seized a vessel in the Gulf for allegedly smuggling 250,000 litres of diesel fuel to the United Arab Emirates, Iran's semi-official Students News agency ISNA reported on Monday. "It was detained near Iran's Greater Tunb island in the Persian Gulf...the crew have been handed over to legal authorities in the southern Hormozgan province," ISNA said, without elaborating on the nationalities of the crewmen.
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| Virginia Attorney General Concludes Race Information Is Not Necessary for Marriage Licenses Posted: 15 Sep 2019 01:55 PM PDT  The state has new forms, which let applicants "Declined to Answer" about race
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| B-2 Spirit: The Stealth Bomber Trump Could Send to Strike Iran Posted: 15 Sep 2019 08:00 PM PDT  Or North Korea, Russia, China--anyone.
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| Trump lashes out at MSNBC's Joy-Ann Reid, tweets that he 'never met' the TV host but that she has 'NO talent' and a 'bad reputation' Posted: 14 Sep 2019 01:28 PM PDT  Joy-Ann Reid, who recently published a critical book about Donald Trump, was the target of the president's vitriol on Twitter Saturday morning.
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| Teen died from birthday meal even after he told restaurant of allergy, coroner rules Posted: 16 Sep 2019 09:20 AM PDT ![Teen died from birthday meal even after he told restaurant of allergy, coroner rules]( "Teen died from birthday meal even after he told restaurant of allergy, coroner rules") Owen Carey collapsed about an hour after he ate the grilled chicken in April 2017. A corner ruled that he died from a "severe anaphylactic reaction."
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| VIDEO: Would-be burglars kick in front door of Bay Area house, scared off by homeowner Posted: 15 Sep 2019 02:45 PM PDT  Two masked-man kicked in the front door of a Pleasanton home in an attempted home-invasion -- and it was all caught on surveillance video.
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| Spain won't extradite Venezuela's ex-spymaster to US Posted: 16 Sep 2019 04:43 AM PDT  Spain's National Court on Monday rejected the extradition to the United States of a former Venezuelan military spy chief accused of drug smuggling and other charges. A court spokesman said retired Maj. Gen. Hugo Carvajal, who claimed that the extradition request was politically motivated, would be released within hours of the decision. María Dolores Argüelles, a lawyer for Carvajal, said she had no immediate details of the ruling beyond that a release order had been issued for the retired general.
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| ICC prosecutor appeals acquittal of I.Coast's Gbagbo Posted: 16 Sep 2019 09:15 AM PDT  The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court appealed on Monday against the shock acquittal of former Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo over post-electoral violence that killed around 3,000 people. Gbagbo, the first head of state to stand trial in The Hague, and his deputy Charles Ble Goude, were both cleared of crimes against humanity in January and released the following month. "The appeal will demonstrate that the trial chamber committed legal and procedural errors which led to the acquittals of Mr Gbagbo and Mr Ble Goude on all counts," Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda's office said.
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| The Future of Design: Transportation Posted: 15 Sep 2019 01:26 PM PDT |
| Scores of tigers rescued from infamous Thai temple have died: media Posted: 15 Sep 2019 01:47 AM PDT  More than half of the tigers that Thai authorities confiscated in 2016 from an infamous Tiger Temple tourist attraction have died from a viral disease because their immune systems were weakened by inbreeding, media reported. The Buddhist temple west of Bangkok was a tourist destination where visitors took selfies with tigers and bottle-fed cubs until authorities removed its nearly 150 tigers in 2016 in response to global pressure over wildlife trafficking.
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| Your History Book Lies: Imperial Japan Was Crushed at Pearl Harbor Posted: 14 Sep 2019 08:42 PM PDT  A major strategic blunder.
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| Moderate Democrats warn Pelosi of impeachment obsession Posted: 15 Sep 2019 03:52 AM PDT  Vulnerable House Democrats fear the party's drive toward impeachment will undercut them in 2020.
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| Joe Biden reportedly praised pharmaceutical companies at a private party despite publicly railing against high drug prices Posted: 15 Sep 2019 02:01 PM PDT  Biden told donors in private that there were "great drug companies out there — except a couple of opioid outfits," according to Bloomberg.
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| New Zealand’s Ardern Under Scrutiny After Botched Sexual Assault Allegation Posted: 15 Sep 2019 10:34 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's leadership is under scrutiny after her Labour Party botched its handling of an alleged sexual assault on a 19-year-old party volunteer.Ardern has been forced to apologize to the woman and take control of an investigation into the allegations, including that she was attacked and groped by a Labour Party staffer in early 2018. The party decided earlier this year that no disciplinary action was necessary, prompting the woman to tell her story to the media. Since then, Labour Party President Nigel Haworth and the man at the center of the allegations, who worked in parliament and hasn't been identified, have both resigned."There are no excuses for the handling of the complaints by the Labour Party, and I will offer none," Ardern said at a post-cabinet press conference in Wellington on Monday, a week after the sexual assault allegation was detailed by website The Spinoff. "We have a duty of care, and we failed in it."A year out from a general election, the scandal has the potential to undermine support for Labour and Ardern, whose popularity has much to do with her image as a caring leader and champion of the disadvantaged, including women in the workplace. Questions are being asked not only about the culture of the Labour Party, which mishandled a separate sexual assault allegation last year, but also whether Ardern knew about the allegations sooner than she says she did.The Labour Party looked into multiple complaints against the man from several people, including harassment and bullying, but Ardern says she was not aware of the sexual assault claim until The Spinoff article.While Haworth said the woman's complaint about the man didn't include the allegation of sexual assault, she insists it did. A lawyer is currently conducting an appeal process, and Ardern said today that an independent third party would review Labour's handling of the allegations. Ardern has also agreed to meet with the complainants."While the party has continued to maintain that they weren't in receipt of the complaints that have since been published in the media, that is secondary to the fact that the complaints made to the party were of significant concern and needed to be heard in a timely way," she said. "That didn't happen."To contact the reporter on this story: Matthew Brockett in Wellington at mbrockett1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Matthew Brockett at mbrockett1@bloomberg.net, Edward JohnsonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Teachers in Chicago inch closer to possible strike Posted: 15 Sep 2019 06:43 AM PDT  Teachers in the nation's third-largest school district are inching closer to a strike that could happen as early as next month. After rejecting the district's latest offer, Chicago educators are back at the bargaining table negotiating issues including pay, staffing shortages and class size. Chicago's last major teachers strike was seven years ago, but the tone, issues and financial backdrop this time around are totally different.
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| Subterranean blaze: Indonesia struggles to douse underground fires Posted: 16 Sep 2019 08:31 AM PDT  Thousands of Indonesian firefighters are locked in an around-the-clock game of Whack-a-Mole as they battle to extinguish an invisible enemy -- underground fires that aggravate global warming. Vast blazes are ripping across the archipelago's rainforests, unleashing a toxic haze over Southeast Asia that has triggered health fears and sent diplomatic tensions with Indonesia's neighbours soaring. "It's so much harder to fight fires on peatlands," a dirty and exhausted Hendri Kusnardi told AFP outside smog-hit Pekanbaru city in Sumatra.
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| Blasphemy accusation in Pakistan sparks ransacking of Hindu temple, school Posted: 16 Sep 2019 12:37 AM PDT ![Blasphemy accusation in Pakistan sparks ransacking of Hindu temple, school]( "Blasphemy accusation in Pakistan sparks ransacking of Hindu temple, school") KARACHI/ISLAMABAD, Sept 16 (Reuters) - A crowd in Pakistan ransacked a school and Hindu temple after a Hindu principal was accused of blasphemy, police said on Monday, the latest case to raise concern about the fate of religious minorities in the predominantly Muslim country. The enraged crowd ransacked the school and damaged a nearby temple, a district police chief said. "It seems the principal had not done anything intentionally," the district police chief, Furrukh Ali, told Reuters.
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| Indian authorities step up rescue effort for 20 tourists missing after boat capsize Posted: 16 Sep 2019 04:31 AM PDT  The Indian authorities have intensified their rescue efforts today with more than 20 people still missing after a boat illegally carrying Indian tourists capsized on Sunday. The bodies of 12 people have so far been recovered from the Godavari River in Andhra Pradesh after the 'Royal Vasishta' vessel collided with a rock formation while traveling to the popular tourist destination of Papikondalu. The local government said they had banned tourist boats from operating on the river after heavy rainfall caused water levels to rise dangerously. 'Stern action' would be taken against those responsible for organising the tour, according to the Home Minister for Andhra Pradesh. Local media said while life jackets were available on the boat most passengers were not wearing them because it was unusually hot. They also reported that the crew seemed untrained to deal with the emergency. The 'Royal Vasishta' was carrying 61 people, including crew, when it sunk. Everyone on board was an Indian national and the majority were believed to be tourists from the neighbouring Telengana state. Two helicopters, eight boats and a team of divers have been deployed to search for those missing and feared drowned. They are yet to locate the vessel which is believed to have sunk to a depth of over 300ft. The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh accompanied one of the helicopters to conduct an aerial survey of the accident spot while Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted his condolences. India has an extremely poor safety record when it comes to boat travel. Operators rarely adhere to laws which govern the number of passengers who can safely travel at one time and do not carry out checks. In May 2018, 30 people died after a similar boat capsized close to the location of Sunday's accident.
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| Man who dragged shark to death from speedboat and poured alcohol down throats of fish is jailed Posted: 15 Sep 2019 08:56 AM PDT  A Florida man who dragged a shark to its death from a high-speed boat has been jailed for 10 days.Robert Benac III will pay a $2,500 fine, perform 250 hours of service at an animal shelter and lose his fishing licence for three years after pleading guilty to misdemeanour of animal cruelty.
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| The U.S. Army's Next Generation of Super Weapons Are Coming Posted: 16 Sep 2019 12:28 AM PDT  And Iran, North Korea, Russia and China should be very afraid.
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| Trump says he didn't offer Iran a meeting without preconditions. He did, repeatedly. Posted: 16 Sep 2019 10:05 AM PDT  Donald Trump is denying he previously offered to meet Iranian leaders without preconditions, despite a litany of instances in which he did just that.
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| Muslim American New Jersey Mayor Says CBP Wrongfully Detained Him for Almost 3 Hours Posted: 15 Sep 2019 02:29 PM PDT  According to Mohamed Khairullah, officials asked directly whether he met any terrorists
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| Bernie Sanders shakes up campaign leadership in New Hampshire Posted: 15 Sep 2019 03:00 PM PDT  "The people who helped Bernie win here last time knew and felt intimately that something was very different and not for the best," said a steering committee member.
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| Tears at Bangkok memorial for murdered activist Posted: 16 Sep 2019 02:41 AM PDT  The wife of a murdered activist whose charred remains were found dumped in a Thai reservoir led an emotional memorial Monday, saying their five young children had been left bereft by his death. Thailand is among the most deadly places in Asia for environmental and rights defenders -- the United Nations has counted over 80 cases of enforced disappearances in the country since 1980. The park chief at the time, Chaiwat Limlikitaksor, was one of the last people to see him alive, after Billy was detained for apparently collecting honey illegally.
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| Gay Softball League Leads to Major Supreme Court Job-Bias Case Posted: 16 Sep 2019 01:00 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Gerald Bostock says he's convinced his participation in a gay softball league was why he was fired from his job running the child-advocate program at the juvenile court in Clayton County, Georgia.The Atlanta-area county's decision sent "a homophobic message that we do not approve of your sexual orientation," Bostock said.But Bostock might never get to test his allegations in court. The U.S. Supreme Court is set to use his case to consider whether federal law gives gay people any protection against employment discrimination. The court will hear arguments on Oct. 8, the second day of its new nine-month term.The case will tackle a central irony in the fight over gay rights. Even though the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide in 2015, gay people can still be fired from their jobs in much of the country. Lower courts are split on whether federal law permits anti-gay discrimination, and fewer than half of the states bar it through their own civil rights statutes."Most people in this country already think that federal law protects gay and lesbian employees from being fired because of their sexual orientation," said Sasha Samberg-Champion, a Washington lawyer who filed a brief backing Bostock for a group of employment-discrimination scholars. For the Supreme Court to say otherwise "would be very surprising and upsetting to many people," he said.The court will hear Bostock's appeal on the same day it considers a similar case involving a now-deceased gay skydiving instructor in New York, as well as a separate fight over a transgender woman fired from her job at a Michigan funeral-home chain.Defining 'Sex'Together, the cases will define the reach of the main federal job-bias law, known as Title VII. That measure outlaws discrimination because of sex, as well as race, religion and a handful of other factors. It doesn't explicitly mention sexual orientation or gender identity.President Donald Trump's administration is among those arguing that Title VII, by its terms, doesn't cover sexual orientation or gender identity."The ordinary meaning of 'sex' is biologically male or female," Solicitor General Noel Francisco argued. "It does not include sexual orientation."The administration and its allies say Congress had no intention of covering sexual orientation or gender identity when it enacted Title VII as part of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. They say lawmakers have repeatedly tried -- and failed -- to broaden the law's coverage."If 'because of sex' included 'sexual orientation,' why have there been efforts over the past several decades to amend the statute to include 'sexual orientation'?" said John Eastman, a professor at Chapman University School of Law. He filed a brief backing the county on behalf of the National Organization for Marriage and the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence.Bostock and his supporters contend that sexual-orientation bias is a form of sex discrimination because it necessarily depends on the gender of the person being targeted. They say the Supreme Court has always interpreted the law broadly, as when it barred employers from sex stereotyping in a 1991 ruling."What the court has said in the past is that discrimination 'because of sex' is a very broad concept that applies even to situations that the Congress that enacted Title VII probably never imagined," Samberg-Champion said.Business SupportBostock has the support of more than 200 businesses, including Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and General Motors Co. They say a ruling in Bostock's favor would help companies recruit talent and generate innovative ideas.Bostock was 49 when he was fired in 2013 from his job running Clayton County's Court Appointed Special Advocates program, which recruits and trains volunteers to serve as the voice for children who have been victims of abuse or neglect.His dismissal occurred after a county audit of the funds he managed. The juvenile court's chief judge, Steven Teske, was quoted at the time by a local television station as saying Bostock improperly used the money at bars and restaurants in midtown Atlanta, about 20 miles north of the Clayton County courthouse in Jonesboro."I don't see how you can justify going to Atlanta to recruit volunteers for Clayton County," Teske told WSB-TV.Teske didn't respond to a request for an interview, and the county's attorney, Jack Hancock, declined to discuss the specifics of the lawsuit."It is our position that Mr. Bostock's sexual orientation had nothing to do with his termination," Hancock said in an e-mail. "Nor does the juvenile court or the county discriminate against employees based upon their sexual orientation."But Bostock said in an interview at his house that he was engaging in the same type of recruiting he had been doing for years. He said his spending wasn't questioned until he got involved with the Hotlanta Softball League and started recruiting volunteers from the people he got to know."I wanted to open that door," said Bostock, who now lives on the other side of Atlanta in a house festooned with University of Georgia paraphernalia. "There are a lot of resources within the gay community that had really kind of been untapped."He said he had been open about his sexual orientation at work even before he joined the league.'A Job You Love'Bostock said his active recruiting had helped make the county the first in the Atlanta area to have a volunteer for every child who needed one. He said he was passionate about making a difference for needy children and was devastated by his firing."You have a job you love, you're good at it, and then all of a sudden you find yourself fired," he said. He now works as a mental health counselor at a local hospital.Bostock, now 55, said he hadn't intended to become a civil rights activist."I didn't ask for any of this," he said. "But this is an issue of national importance. And through my experience, I've learned that somebody needs to stand up for this cause and now that person's me."To contact the reporter on this story: Greg Stohr in Washington at gstohr@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Laurie Asséo, John HarneyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| County lines epidemic blamed as number of children missing or linked to drugs gangs doubles Posted: 15 Sep 2019 02:19 PM PDT  County lines drug networks have been blamed for a huge spike in the number of children identified as having links to gangs, after the figure more than doubled in three years. Social services in England carried out 8,650 assessments of young people whom they labelled as vulnerable with gangs highlighted as an issue in 2017-18. It marked a significant jump on 2014-15, when 3,680 such cases were recorded. A similar trend was found in the number of children who went missing during the same period - from 8,850 to 16,070 - which is considered a trait of county lines networks. Drugs gangs increasingly recruit vulnerable children to ferry narcotics from cities to smaller towns, with around 2,000 operations believed to be operating across the UK. County lines feature The smuggling networks are known as "county lines". Academics and MPs described the figures, analysed by The Guardian, as "shocking". "There will be elements of that about increased reporting and awareness but that is not going to account for such a big rise - there is something happening," Simon Harding, an associate professor of criminology at the University of West London, told the newspaper. "Working in county lines has a great allure for young people. It gives them a tax-free income, gives them a regular income and high income". The Department for Education data showed a steady rise in the number of vulnerable children who go missing or become involved with gangs over the past few years. Factors for a child disappearing are complex but can also include the absence of social services in the area, along with the work of drugs gangs. Josie Allan, of Missing People UK, said: "I did research recently with a small group of young people involved in county lines, and everyone who took part said that going missing was a key feature, especially in the early stages of criminal exploitation." Another factor thought to be driving the trend of children being reported missing is a drop in the number of parents or teachers reporting them as "absent" instead. FAQ | County lines Ann Coffey, the MP for Stockport and chair of the all-party Parliamentary committee on runaway and missing children and adults, told the newspaper: "What concerns me is that we are not really making inroads on arresting and taking those senior gang leaders out of county lines. As long as they continue to operate, the number of children exploited will continue to grow." A Government spokesman said: "Any child that goes missing from home, school or care could be in danger of exploitation from gangs or violent criminals – that's why we are equipping the professionals who protect vulnerable children to help them identify those who are most at risk and keep them safe. "Our national 'tackling child exploitation' support programme is helping specialists in education, social care, health, the police and the voluntary sector to improve how they respond to these kinds of threats in their communities, including gangs, county lines drug activity and trafficking, and our serious violence strategy includes a range of actions to combat county lines."
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| Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez makes a stark prediction about climate change Posted: 14 Sep 2019 10:27 AM PDT  New York Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez suggests Miami, Florida will 'not exist' in a few years.
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| Locked and Loaded: Could Iran Sink the U.S. Navy If War Breaks Out? Posted: 15 Sep 2019 03:00 PM PDT  Tehran has lots of missiles. Could they start sinking warships?
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| Iran says it will adopt maximum crude output policy if U.S. lifts sanctions Posted: 14 Sep 2019 10:34 AM PDT  Iran will adopt a policy of maximum crude production if the United States lifts sanctions on the country's oil industry, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said on Saturday. "Maximum production would be the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum's policy in case (U.S.) sanctions are eased on Iran's oil industry," the ministry's official news website SHANA quoted Zanganeh as saying.
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| At least 22 people injured after deck collapse at New Jersey event Posted: 15 Sep 2019 10:03 AM PDT  A home's multilevel deck collapsed Saturday evening at the Jersey Shore trapping people and injuring at least 22, officials said.
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| Edward Snowden ‘would love’ to be granted asylum in France Posted: 14 Sep 2019 02:01 PM PDT  Whistle blower Edward Snowden has said he would love to be offered asylum by France's President Emmanuel Macron.Mr Snowden, who served as a sub-contractor for the US National Security Agency (NSA) has been living in exile in Russia since revealing details of surveillance programmes run by US Intelligence.
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| Big global climate protests on Friday get union support Posted: 16 Sep 2019 07:17 AM PDT  Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to join worldwide demonstrations this week ahead of a U.N. climate summit in New York, as unions and some businesses lend their support for faster action to fight climate change. Organizers said Monday that more than 400 rallies are planned in Germany alone for Friday's "global climate strike." Campaigners are also staging protests in Australia, Japan, India, South Africa, most other European countries, the United States and Canada. "This is an important signal," said Antje von Broock, a spokeswoman for a broad alliance comprising some 200 environmental, youth and church groups in Germany, noting that the demonstrations will take place just days before the U.N. climate summit, where leaders will present their long-term plans for curbing greenhouse gas emissions.
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| Next Trump Tariffs May Soon Hit Europe’s Luxury Exporters Posted: 16 Sep 2019 04:09 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Terms of Trade is a daily newsletter that untangles a world embroiled in trade wars. Sign up here. Some of Europe's top luxury brands are targeted in President Donald Trump's latest tariff salvo, which could affect billions of dollars in exports of American-bound whiskeys, wine, Champagne, handbags and men's suits.A panel of three World Trade Organization arbiters, as expected, said Friday the U.S. can legally impose tariffs on an array of European exports in retaliation for Europe's illegal government aid to Airbus SE. EU sources say they expect the WTO arbiters to publicly circulate a report by month's end that will allow new U.S. duties on a range of goods worth $5 billion to $7 billion per year, while Trump has threatened tariffs on $11 billion.Shares of French luxury conglomerate LVMH fell as much as 4.4% on Monday in Paris, with Airbus dropping as much as 5.4%. Continuing political turmoil in Hong Kong and a slowing Chinese economy have also weighed on European fashion and drinks companies. Washington's response is expected within days after the WTO's green light for retaliation. The U.S. has identified possible targets -- with tariffs potentially as high as 100% -- on a list of goods with a total export value of $25 billion a year. Though the most valuable goods on the U.S. list are exports of European aircraft and parts, the tariffs could also hit products made by Europe's most recognized high-end brands.LVMH is particularly vulnerable to the proposed U.S. levies, which target two of its primary product lines -- wine and spirits like Dom Perignon, Moet & Chandon and Hennessy -- and leather goods under labels such as Donna Karan, Givenchy, Kenzo, and Louis Vuitton.Expensive TastesThe U.S. market for luxury goods is among the top destinations for European companies like LVMH where the U.S. made up almost a quarter of its total global sales last year. American shoppers bought 11.2 billion euros ($12.4 billion) worth of goods from LVMH in 2018, according to Bloomberg data.LVMH Chief Financial Officer Jean-Jacques Guiony said that the company is "sensitive to tariffs and trade barriers," during a conference call in July.New tariffs will increase costs that will undoubtedly be passed on to U.S. consumers, said Luca Marotta, the CFO of Paris-Based Remy Cointreau SA, which produces Remy Martin cognac, Cointreau, Passoa and Mount Gay rum."If the tariff increase will happen, I repeat myself, we will increase prices at the same moment," Marotta said during a July 17 conference call.Trump's planned EU tariffs are unique for his administration because, unlike the trade war he started against China, the U.S. will be applying duties explicitly authorized by the WTO, an organization he's threatened to withdraw from if it doesn't reform.The dispute between Toulouse, France-based Airbus and Chicago-based Boeing Co. encapsulates a criticism from Trump and others -- that the WTO is a slow-moving bureaucracy -- because it's a case that's taken about 15 years to resolve.European beverage producers are already reeling from the uncertainty stemming from Trump's repeated threats to slap new tariffs on wine, liquor and other alcohol.The Trump administration is currently evaluating whether to penalize French wine and other goods in response to France's tax on digital companies like Amazon.com Inc., Facebook Inc., and Alphabet Inc.'s Google."The degree of uncertainty has somewhat notched up a little bit," said Pernod Ricard SA Chief Executive Alexandre Ricard on an Aug. 26 conference call.Paris-based Pernod Ricard produces top-shelf wines, bitters, whiskeys, spirits, cognac, brandies and rum.The impact of Trump's tariffs will also have an unwelcome effect on Scotch whisky producers, which are already girding for the fallout of a potentially messy no-deal Brexit.The EU exported $2.1 billion worth of Irish and Scotch whiskeys to the U.S. in 2018, according to data provided by the Geneva-based International Trade Center.Many U.S. exporters oppose the Trump administration's proposed tariffs, which they say could boomerang and jeopardize thousands of American jobs.Whiskey ShotU.S. whiskey producers have already become collateral damage from Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs -- which spurred the EU to retaliate with a 25% tariff on U.S. bourbon and whiskey. What's more, the EU has threatened further penalties on $12 billion worth of whiskey and other U.S. exports stemming from a related WTO dispute over U.S. subsidies to Boeing Co."Depending on the level of tariffs imposed on EU spirits and wine, we estimate it could negatively impact U.S. businesses, leading up to a loss of jobs from 11,200 to even 78,600 jobs across the United States," said Chris Swonger, the president and CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council.There are two ways the EU can avoid new tariffs from the long-running aircraft dispute with the U.S.: by ending its illegal subsidies for Airbus, or reaching a settlement agreement.Though U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and the current European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom have both welcomed the idea of negotiating a settlement, talks to resolve the issue haven't begun.Those negotiations could become more difficult after Malmstrom cedes her post on Nov. 1 to Phil Hogan, a hard-nosed Irish trade negotiator who's pledged to take a more pugnacious approach to EU-U.S. trade relations.In a Sept. 10 interview with RTE radio, Hogan said "we are going to do everything we possibly can to get Mr. Trump to see the error of his ways."(Updates with shares in third paragraph.)\--With assistance from Thomas Mulier, Chris Middleton and Birgit Jennen.To contact the reporter on this story: Bryce Baschuk in Geneva at bbaschuk2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Richard Bravo at rbravo5@bloomberg.net, Sarah McGregor, Brendan MurrayFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| China's economy strains under disappointing data Posted: 15 Sep 2019 09:55 PM PDT  China's economy showed more signs of strain Monday as the country published weak data for industrial output, investment and retail sales, amid a lingering trade war with the United States. Industrial output grew by 4.4 percent year-on-year throughout August, falling to its lowest level in 17 years and down from 4.8 percent in July. The figure was well below analyst expectations, with a Bloomberg survey of analysts predicting heartier growth of 5.2 percent.
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| Astronomers Observe the Most Massive Neutron Star Ever Posted: 16 Sep 2019 07:59 AM PDT  It's 15 miles across with a mass of more than twice the sun.
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| Afghan, U.S. forces kill Taliban governors, fighters Posted: 15 Sep 2019 03:54 AM PDT ![Afghan, U.S. forces kill Taliban governors, fighters]( "Afghan, U.S. forces kill Taliban governors, fighters") Afghan forces backed by U.S. forces killed two senior Taliban leaders and at least 38 fighters of the hardline insurgent group in joint air strikes conducted in northern and western regions of Afghanistan, officials said on Sunday. The operations, launched on Saturday night, were aimed at foiling attacks planned by the Taliban on Afghan forces, said a senior security official in capital Kabul, adding that clashes have escalated following the collapse of diplomatic talks between the U.S. and the Taliban. The defence ministry in a statement said that the Taliban's designate governor for northern Samangan province, Mawlavi Nooruddin, was killed along with four fighters in an air strike in Dara-e-Soof Payeen district.
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| 'Call of Duty' gamer Casey Viner solicited a fatal 'swatting' call. He was sentenced to 15 months in prison Posted: 15 Sep 2019 05:52 PM PDT  Casey Viner, a 19-year-old gamer who planned a hoax 911 call resulting in an innocent Kansas man's death, was sentenced to 15 months in prison Friday.
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| Over 1,200 students at 17 universities including Stanford have pledged to not take jobs at Palantir unless it stops working with ICE Posted: 16 Sep 2019 08:28 AM PDT  Some students from elite schools, including MIT and Stanford, have pledged not to work for Palantir due to its contracts with ICE.
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| 20 photos that show how US towns still haven't recovered from devastating hurricanes that took place months or years ago Posted: 15 Sep 2019 10:48 PM PDT  Hurricanes Michael, Florence, Maria, Irma, and Harvey are still impacting communities across the US, years after touching ground.
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| Tom Homan rips Democratic efforts to abolish ICE Posted: 15 Sep 2019 07:20 PM PDT  Former Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Tom Homan joins Mark Levin to discuss Democratic lawmakers' opposition to border enforcement.
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| Trump news – live: President orders 'blind unilateral escalation' in Iran after attack halves Saudi oil production, as he defends Kavanaugh amid impeachment calls Posted: 16 Sep 2019 08:05 AM PDT  Donald Trump has been warned he cannot declare war without congressional support following the bombing of Saudi Arabian oil facilities.The strikes, which destroyed half of the kingdom's oil production capacity, were claimed by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
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| NY schools first to have 'red flag' petition power on guns Posted: 15 Sep 2019 05:02 AM PDT  Schools across New York began the academic year with a new tool intended to prevent student suicides and violence: the ability to ask a court to remove a troubled person's access to firearms. About a third of U.S. states have so-called "red flag" laws, which allow courts to temporarily seize guns from people believed to be a danger to themselves or others, but New York is the first to empower schools to petition a court themselves for such an order, rather than go through local law enforcement. In New York, school principals are now allowed to petition the court for an "extreme risk protection order" requiring the safe storage of firearms the youth might have access to, such as a parent's gun.
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| See Photos of Vision Mercedes Simplex Concept Posted: 14 Sep 2019 03:30 PM PDT |
| The Iran-Iraq War Was a Special Kind of Hell (A Million Dead?) Posted: 15 Sep 2019 09:00 PM PDT  Neither country came anywhere near achieving even the most modest of its war aims. The borders were unchanged; both armies ended the war in essentially the same position they were in at the outbreak of hostilities. Together, the opponents had squandered some $350 billion on a senseless war of attrition engineered by two venal and intransigent autocrats.
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| Italian police arrest three men accused of torturing and raping migrants in hellish Libya camp Posted: 16 Sep 2019 08:17 AM PDT  Three men who allegedly raped, tortured and murdered migrants in a hellish camp in Libya were arrested by the Italian authorities on Monday. The men – one from Guinea and two from Egypt – were reportedly recognised by other migrants in a reception centre in Messina in Sicily, having arrived in Italy on a migrant boat at the end of June. The three, aged between 24 and 27, have been charged with several counts of murder and sexual violence and, for the first time under Italian law, the newly-introduced charge of torture. They are accused of conducting a reign of terror in a detention centre in Zawiyah on the Libyan coast, where migrants were tortured to put pressure on their families back home to send more money to the traffickers, and women were routinely raped. Hundreds of migrants and refugees were held in the centre, a former military base, from where they hoped to reach Italy or Malta by boat. They were "subjected to systematic atrocities, including repeated and constant physical violence," Italian police said in a statement. The violence included being beaten with rifle butts, wooden poles, rubber hoses and whips and having electric shocks applied to body parts. The camp was run by a Libyan man called Ossama, who was always armed with a pistol, migrants told investigators. African migrants in a detention camp in Tripoli, Libya Credit: Reuters Migrants who could not raise enough cash for the onward journey to Europe were treated as sexual slaves or sold as labourers to other gangs, the Italian police said. Others were murdered. "All the women who were among us, once we were locked up in the shed where they kept us, were systematically and repeatedly raped by two Libyans and three Nigerians who managed the place," one migrant told police. "You could not escape. We were locked inside. The Libyans and one of the Nigerians were armed with automatic weapons while the other two Nigerians had sticks." The migrants said they were given seawater to drink and stale bread to eat. One migrant said he witnessed two others shot dead after they tried to escape. At least one migrant had died of hunger, witnesses said. "We were all subjected to continual violence and torture until our families could send enough money for our liberation," one survivor said. The price of being allowed to leave the detention centre was 10,000 Libyan dinars – £5,700, a fortune to migrants fleeing poverty and unrest in sub-Saharan Africa and the Horn of Africa. Luigi Patronaggio, a prosecutor in Sicily, said the abuses perpetrated in the camp amounted to "crimes against humanity." The investigation had "confirmed the inhumane conditions" endured by many migrants and "the need to act, at an international level, to protect their most basic human rights." Italy and the EU have collaborated with the Libyan coast guard to reduce the number of migrant boats trying to reach Europe. As interior minister, Matteo Salvini declared Italy's ports to be closed to NGO rescue boats, but the 14-month coalition of which he was a part collapsed last month. It was replaced by a new coalition, an alliance between the centre-Left Democratic Party and the Five Star Movement, which human rights activists hope will be more sympathetic to the plight of asylum seekers. Mr Salvini has warned there will be an angry backlash among Italians if the country starts letting in too many asylum seekers.
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