| South Korea police say they may have found serial killer Posted: 19 Sep 2019 07:10 AM PDT  South Korean police said Thursday that they have found a suspect thought to be an infamous serial killer wanted for the slaying of nine women some 30 years ago. Senior police officer Ban Gi-soo said police have continued their investigation into the 1986-1991 slayings even after the statute of limitations expired 13 years ago in order to find the truth. Ban said the technological improvement of DNA analysis allowed authorities to extract DNA samples from evidence that wasn't possible at the time of the cases.
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| Man who allegedly changed adopted daughter's age then abandoned her turns himself in Posted: 19 Sep 2019 05:14 AM PDT  An Indiana couple has been charged with neglect after allegedly changing their daughter's age from 11 to 22, moving to Canada and leaving her behind.
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| Michelle Malkin Smears Cokie Roberts on the Day of Her Death: ‘One of the First Guilty Culprits of Fake News’ Posted: 18 Sep 2019 12:44 AM PDT  Charley Gallay/Getty for International Innovators of Justice/American Justice AllianceHours after the world learned that journalist Cokie Roberts had passed away following complications from breast cancer, right-wing provocateur Michelle Malkin took a swipe at the reporter's legacy by calling her "one of the first guilty culprits of fake news."Taking part in a panel at the Paley Center on Tuesday, Malkin joined an array of liberal and conservative commentators and media figures to discuss whether the media is biased.At one point in the discussion, Malkin—who has recently been making the media rounds hawking her latest anti-immigrant book—took aim at Roberts."Cokie Roberts, of course, passed away today and God bless her for an incredible career that she had but I distinctly remember that she was one of the first guilty culprits of fake news," she declared."We're doing this today?" CNN chief media correspondent Brian Stelter, who was also on the panel, interjected."Yes, yes we are," Malkin confirmed."You're attacking her today," Stelter continued. "I just want to be clear: The body isn't even cold yet."Malkin, meanwhile, said her remark was "pertinent" to the issue of "fake news," bringing up an instance in 1994 when Roberts stood in front of a projection of the Capitol to do an ABC News report from the State of the Union address."This was a deliberate attempt to deceive the viewing public into thinking she was actually there live covering it," Malkin added. "Fake news has existed far longer than before President Trump even had the idea of running for office."Malkin's remarks, predictably, were not well received by the attendees, with many in the audience shouting at her to leave and go home. Tuesday was far from the first time that Malkin has kicked dirt on a prominent figure after he or she has passed away. During this year's Conservative Political Action Conference, Malkin slammed the "ghost of John McCain" for what she described as his weak immigration policies.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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| California’s Ban on School Suspensions Invites Another Parkland Posted: 18 Sep 2019 03:30 AM PDT  My daughter Meadow was murdered in the Parkland school shooting in Florida last year. It was the most avoidable mass murder in American history. And last week, Governor Gavin Newsom just forced into every school in California the policies that made it inevitable.The Parkland shooter was a known-wolf. Before the massacre was over, students knew who did it. He was considered so dangerous when he attended Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that school administrators banned him from bringing a backpack and frisked him every day for fear that he'd bring a deadly weapon.Even though security staff brought him to the principal's office all the time, his disciplinary record looked pretty clean on paper. If he had been arrested at school for his crimes, maybe the FBI could have followed through on tips that he would shoot up the school. And if he'd been disciplined for his sub-criminal misbehavior, maybe school administrators could have made a strong case for sending him back to a specialized school for disturbed students, where he so badly needed to be.But the Broward County school district had embarked on a quest to fight the "school-to-prison pipeline" by lowering suspensions, expulsions, and arrests. And school principals responded by systematically sweeping disturbing behavior under the rug. If one individual in the Broward school district made one responsible decision about the killer, the tragedy could have been averted. But you can't even call what happened a "failure," because each obviously irresponsible decision makes perfect sense given the policies.The state of California has just lurched far harder on leniency than Broward, by banning suspensions and expulsions for nonviolent offenses.Don't you dare think that in practice this leniency won't extend to violence, though. In Broward, 52 percent of teachers fear for their safety. Twenty-four percent have been threatened. Thirteen percent have been assaulted. And only 39 percent think that a student would be suspended if he assaulted them.Beyond leading to an increase in school violence and risk of deadly catastrophe, these leniency policies are profoundly bad for learning and for character. We know what happens when schools ban suspension.In Philadelphia, math proficiency declined by three percentage points, and reading proficiency by seven. Truancy skyrocketed from about 25 percent to over 40 percent, perhaps because even as suspensions for nonviolent offenses fell, suspensions for serious offenses rose.Education researcher Dominic Zarecki studied the effects of suspension bans in several California districts: Los Angeles, Oakland, San Francisco, and Pasadena. The harm to math achievement was large enough to take a student from the 50th percentile to the 39th percentile after three years.Anti-discipline advocates claim that suspensions can be replaced by "restorative justice" and "healing circles." In reality, that does further damage. A gold-standard study from the RAND corporation found that in Pittsburgh, "restorative justice" harmed academic achievement among black students.Anti-discipline advocates claim that they are fighting the "school-to-prison pipeline." In reality, their policies increase the flow. The idea that not holding kids accountable for their actions will make them more law-abiding as adults is idiotic. If we tell juveniles there are no consequences for misbehavior, we set them up for failure in the workplace. And we put them at risk for a hard reckoning when they find that behavior that didn't even get them suspended in school gets them a felony charge when they hit age 18.For evidence, look no further than Los Angeles. As the school board banned suspensions, referrals to law enforcement increased 145 percent. And last year, threats of violence in Los Angeles schools increased by 70 percent.I sent my daughter to public school thinking she was safe. I had no idea there was a kid there so dangerous that they frisked him every day. I had no idea that the school was systematically covering up threats and violence. I didn't know.I can't let any other parent make that excuse. That's why I wrote a book to tell the true story of Parkland. I don't expect that this article or that book, or that anything, really, will convince the Democratic politicians who run California to think twice about this terrible mistake. My whole life's mission now is to inform parents.Chances are, your kid won't get murdered at school. But you have to know about the type of environment you're putting your child in. Public school in California is now a place where disruption, threats, and even violence can't even be punished.My advice to California parents: Stretch your wallet to send them to private school. Or keep them in public school and roll the dice.
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| Netanyahu, Gantz deadlocked with nearly all votes counted: Israel media Posted: 18 Sep 2019 12:09 AM PDT ![Netanyahu, Gantz deadlocked with nearly all votes counted: Israel media]( "Netanyahu, Gantz deadlocked with nearly all votes counted: Israel media") Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main challenger Benny Gantz were deadlocked with nearly all votes from the country's general election counted on Wednesday, Israeli media reported. Various Israeli media reported that Netanyahu's right-wing Likud and Gantz's Blue and White had 32 seats each of parliament's 120 with more than 90 percent of the vote counted. Ex-defence minister Avigdor Lieberman could prove to be kingmaker, with the reported results showing his nationalist Yisrael Beitenu with nine seats.
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| Two key hearings on Capitol Hill could shed light on the origins of the Russia investigation Posted: 18 Sep 2019 08:27 AM PDT  House Judiciary Committee holds hearing on alleged surveillance abuse as Justice Department watchdog Michael E. Horowitz is set to testify before the oversight panel; chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge reports from Washington.
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| Justin Trudeau blackface: Third incident of Canadian PM wearing racist makeup emerges Posted: 19 Sep 2019 05:46 AM PDT  A video of Justin Trudeau wearing blackface has been released. The clip is the third instance of the Canadian prime minister wearing racist make-up to emerge in the last 24 hours.The video was first obtained by Global News.
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| View Photos of Porsche's 911 RSR in Coke Livery Posted: 18 Sep 2019 11:39 AM PDT |
| Andrew McCabe cites Barr in bid to avoid charges Posted: 19 Sep 2019 06:05 AM PDT ![Andrew McCabe cites Barr in bid to avoid charges]( "Andrew McCabe cites Barr in bid to avoid charges") Lawyers for the former FBI deputy director are asking whether the Justice Department is using a double standard to pursue him.
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| 'Get it together': False emergency sirens spark déjà vu on Hawaiian islands of Oahu and Maui Posted: 18 Sep 2019 11:09 PM PDT !['Get it together': False emergency sirens spark déjà vu on Hawaiian islands of Oahu and Maui]( "'Get it together': False emergency sirens spark déjà vu on Hawaiian islands of Oahu and Maui") Emergency sirens accidentally went off on Oahu and Maui Wednesday, rattling nerves as Hawaii residents recalled surviving a false missile alarm.
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| Earth to 2020 Democrats. The Syrian civil war was not caused by climate change. Posted: 19 Sep 2019 02:00 AM PDT  This is a sad excuse for real discussion on climate change and international conflict, two very separate issues.
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| Women’s March Dismisses New Board Member amid Backlash over Statements Comparing ISIS to U.S. Military Posted: 19 Sep 2019 06:23 AM PDT  Zahra Billoo, who joined the board of the Women's March just several days ago, announced on her Twitter feed Thursday morning that she has been voted off the board.Billoo has a history of controversial statements on Twitter, in which she has compared the U.S. and Israeli militaries to ISIS and Nazis, once even asserting that the FBI recruits "mentally ill" people to join ISIS.The Women's March has not released a statement explaining the justification for her dismissal as of this writing.However, Billoo asserted in a tweet thread that she was voted out as a result of an "Islamophobic smear campaign led by the usual antagonists, who have long targeted me, my colleagues, and anyone else who dares speak out in defense of Palestinian human rights and the right to self determination."Addressing the controversy over her tweets, she wrote "In looking at the tweets in question, I acknowledge that I wrote passionately. While I may have phrased some of my content differently today, I stand by my words."> In looking at the tweets in question, I acknowledge that I wrote passionately. While I may have phrased some of my content differently today, I stand by my words. 15/> > -- Zahra Billoo (@ZahraBilloo) September 19, 2019Billoo stated on Facebook in 2017 that she would not go to see the movie "Wonder Woman" because of the participation of actress Gal Gadot, who served in the Israeli Defense Forces. She justified her stance by saying she would similarly not see a movie in which the lead actress was proud of being a member of ISIS, al-Qaeda, or the U.S. military.In a 2014 post on Twitter, Billoo said she was opposed to "all terrorism, including all that regularly committed by the US military and Al Qaeda, the Israeli Defense Forces and ISIS."Billoo and other new members were hired to replace three former Women's March leaders dogged by allegations of anti-Semitism. Two of these members, Tamika Mallory and Linda Sarsour, have drawn fire for their support of Louis Farrakhan, the anti-Semitic leader of the Nation of Islam.
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| Netanyahu Lost. His Enemies Won. But Who Can Govern Israel? Posted: 18 Sep 2019 05:30 PM PDT  Jack Guez/AFP/GettyThe strangest episode of Israel's raucous election—the second in six months—flickered by almost unnoticed, one clip among the 30 videos Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted to his YouTube channel in the final two days before Tuesday's vote.Lush with images of sleek Israelis surfing off Tel Aviv beaches and sipping coffee and cocktails in a succession of inviting bars and cafés, it almost looked like a product of the tourism ministry—until the part where you see a woman's toes peek beyond a blanket, reaching out to tease the toes of the man sharing the bed with her, and those manly toes turning away."Right-wing voters have to wake up!" the caption blared. "On Tuesday, you have to go out to vote Likud, and bring family and friends!"The Likud is Netanyahu's party, and the ad was meant as a counter-incentive. Netanyahu's pitch can be summed up thus: Don't sleep with your hot girlfriend. Don't go to the beach. Don't enjoy Tel Aviv's great cafés. Go out and vote for me!If Netanyahu was concerned about voter fatigue, he needn't have worried.Turnout was a few points higher than it was in the April 9 vote, despite fresh memories of the night six weeks later in which Netanyahu acknowledged he'd failed to form a coalition government and—instead of returning the mandate to Israel's President, Reuven Rivlin—dissolved the parliament and sent Israel into second elections.On first glance it looks like Israelis returned a second inconclusive verdict, this time with gusto.The apparent draw between Netanyahu's Likud and the main opposition party, Blue and White, led by former army chief of staff Benny Gantz—each claim about 33 seats out of the parliament's 120—seems to indicate that Israelis have no idea what they want.On second glance, it is clear that Netanyahu, who has dominated Israeli politics for decades and has served as prime minister for the last 10 years, lost—if only because all of his perceived enemies won.Netanyahu ran his campaign as if he was besieged in a bunker, regularly taking aim at sham nemeses.He deemed Avigdor Lieberman, a hardline secular nationalist best known for advocating the death penalty for terrorists, "a leftist."Lieberman, Netanyahu's former defense minister, triggered both the elections of 2019, first by resigning in December 2018, and then by refusing in May to join a coalition beholden to the demands of ultra-orthodox Jewish parties. Lieberman's wager paid off, and he has come close to doubling the number of seats his party holds in the Knesset, Israel's parliament, to a projected eight or nine.Yohanan Plesner, the president of the Israel Democracy Institute, in Jerusalem, said "Lieberman is the ultimate kingmaker. Netanyahu does not have a government without Lieberman. Lieberman can really dictate the makeup, to a certain extent, of the next government."Official elections results are expected on Sept. 25, after the certification of the ballot counts, which is conducted by hand.Netanyahu attacked the media from the start to the end of his campaign, complaining, in his 3 a.m. Wednesday not-concession speech delivered before a largely empty hall, that the press had forced him to contend with "the most difficult, the most biased campaign ever."But the press got it right this time, forecasting that he would be left without room to maneuver ahead of the Oct. 2 hearing at which his attorney general, who announced his intention to indict Netanyahu on a raft of corruption charges last February, will lay out the evidence against him. Netanyahu, Facing Indictments, Rains Scorn on His Political EnemiesSuch is Netanyahu's predicament that on Wednesday, he canceled his participation in next week's United Nations General Assembly, one of his favorite events of the year.Gantz vows to pursue peace with the Palestinians, to institute term limits, and, has unrelentingly promised his supporters that he will never join a government including Netanyahu while he remains a criminal suspect.This stance seems to rule out a possible government of national unity, in which Blue and White would sit together with the Likud.This electoral dead end is leading observers to envisage what was once unthinkable: a unity government in which Likud would be led by someone else.In the event the party, hungry to hold on to power, ousts Netanyahu as its leader, "a new chairman of the Likud might be able to form a government with Blue and White, and then we will probably witness an outcome of a rotation of the position of the Prime Minister between Mr. Gantz and whoever the Likud will elect," Plesner says, predicting that Israel is "about to enter a period of political uncertainty."Throughout his campaign, Netanyahu reserved his most vicious, most uncompromising, and finally most unhinged attacks for Israel's Arab minority, 20 percent of the population and about 16 percent of the voting public, whose participation in the last vote sunk to an historic low. He accused Arab politicians of supporting terrorism. He accused his opponent, Gantz, a decorated general, of conspiring with Arab leaders to name them ministers.Netanyahu also accused Gantz of concealing the fact that Iran had hacked his phone, obtaining sleazy photographs proving sexual misbehavior—an accusation that appears to have been invented out of whole cloth.In the campaign's frenzied final week, Netanyahu tried to rush through the Knesset a law allowing his party to hide cameras in Arab polling places—as it did, illegally, in April, causing an uproar. The bill failed. And he became the first head of government to be sanctioned by Facebook for hate speech, when his page sent out messages warning that "Arabs want to annihilate us all – women, children and men."The Joint List, a majority-Arab party, that ran as several disparate factions in April, mobilized a major get-out-the-vote operation, apparently surging to 13 seats and becoming Israel's third largest party, after the Likud and Blue and White.With an Arab, Joint List chairman Ayman Odeh, who exulted late Tuesday that "incitement didn't work!" and a "leftist," Avigdor Lieberman, poised to play kingmakers, the election results constitute a Netanyahu nightmare. "Netanyahu was defeated," Ehud Olmert, a former prime minister and Likud elder, told The Daily Beast in an interview, "he lost, and as far as we can see, there is no feasible way he could form a new coalition."But since it looks "doubtful that any possible coalition would achieve the support of 61 Knesset members," Olmert said, "it is likely there will be another round of elections in early 2020."For Israel to once again have a stable government, the only solution Olmert sees is another round of elections "very soon." But unlike Netanyahu's opponents, who have spent the past year admonishing the public about the danger the prime minister poses to Israeli democracy, Olmert is sanguine."The country's democratic foundations are very stable," he said, "and there is no real fear they are being undermined." Not only that, he said, mentioning the political crisis in the United Kingdom, "the difficulty of ruling a state is not just an Israeli phenomenon… These are relatively common phenomena and Israel is no exception."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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| Trump administration bars California from requiring cleaner cars Posted: 19 Sep 2019 03:08 AM PDT  The Trump administration said on Thursday it is revoking California's authority to set its own auto tailpipe emissions standards and to require some zero-emission vehicles, a decision that will spark a massive legal battle between Washington and the most populous state over the future of U.S. vehicles. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler said the decision will ensure nationwide rules that provide "much-needed regulatory certainty for the automotive industry." Currently, California's more stringent vehicle emissions rules are followed by a dozen other states that account for more than 40% of U.S. vehicle sales.
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| Russia detains shaman on mission to 'banish Putin' Posted: 19 Sep 2019 07:26 AM PDT  Russian police on Thursday said they had detained a Siberian shaman trekking towards Moscow on a mission to expel "demon" President Vladimir Putin, picking up a crowd of supporters on the way. Police in the eastern Siberian region of Buryatia told Interfax they had detained Alexander Gabyshev, the shaman, on a highway near Lake Baikal and would put him on a flight back to his home region where he is "wanted for committing a crime". Gabyshev's eccentric bid to walk from his home city of Yakutsk to Moscow, a distance of over 8,000 kilometres (5,000 miles), has seen a group of followers join him on the way.
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| 'Serial killer' charged with killing four women and leaving their bodies in abandoned houses Posted: 18 Sep 2019 11:53 AM PDT  A suspected serial killer has been charged with murdering four women and leaving their bodies in abandoned houses in Detroit.Police had arrested Deangelo Martin in June for allegedly stabbing and sexually assaulting a 26-year-old woman, who managed to escape, the previous month.
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| Judge resigns after sharing noose image with 'Make America Great Again' slogan on Facebook Posted: 18 Sep 2019 08:09 AM PDT  A New York town judge was forced off the bench after a written complaint said his post appeared 'to convey racial and/or political bias.'
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| Jimmy Carter says he hopes 'there's an age limit' for presidency in apparent jab at Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders Posted: 18 Sep 2019 06:44 AM PDT  Former President Jimmy Carter says he hopes 'there's an age limit' for presidency. The jab could be aimed at President Trump, Senator Bernie Sanders and Former Vice President Joe Biden's age. The three are all well into their 70s.
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| This Plane Landed on a U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier. The Pilot Wasn't American. Posted: 19 Sep 2019 05:26 AM PDT  It might have a little to do with Russia.
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| Zarif Warns of ‘All-Out War’ If U.S. or Saudis Strike Iran Posted: 19 Sep 2019 06:45 AM PDT ![Zarif Warns of 'All-Out War' If U.S. or Saudis Strike Iran]( "Zarif Warns of 'All-Out War' If U.S. or Saudis Strike Iran") (Bloomberg) -- Iran's foreign minister warned that any U.S. or Saudi strike on his country in response to the attacks on the kingdom's critical oil facilities would lead to "all-out war."In an interview with CNN, Javad Zarif reiterated that Iran wasn't involved in the weekend attacks and hoped to avoid a conflict. He said Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who have been fighting a Saudi-led coalition for four years and claimed responsibility, had the capability to carry out such a sophisticated operation."I cannot have any confidence that they did it because we just heard their statement," Zarif said. "I know that we didn't do it. I know that the Houthis made a statement that they did it."Saudi and U.S. officials have said that the drones and missiles used were made by Iran, had never before been deployed by Iranian proxy groups, and came from a northerly direction, ruling out Yemen as a launch site. But they stopped short of saying the strikes were launched directly from or by the Islamic Republic, claims that could have propelled a drift toward war. The attacks caused an unprecedented surge in oil prices.Asked what the consequence of a U.S. or Saudi military strike on Iran would be, Zarif said: "All-out war," CNN reported."I make a very serious statement about defending our country," he said. "I am making a very serious statement that we don't want to engage in a military confrontation."The attacks have damped speculation that President Donald Trump and his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, could meet at the United Nations General Assembly in New York next week. The U.S. reimposed sanctions on Iran after exiting the 2015 nuclear deal, kicking off a year of increasingly fraught relations.The disputed weekend attacks sent tensions in the Gulf soaring to new heights.U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held talks in the United Arab Emirates on Thursday after visiting the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah, as the allies plot their next move.Talking to reporters, Pompeo said he'd gathered "important information about how it is we should think about proceeding," adding that Trump still wants a peaceful resolution to the issue. The president, who as a candidate campaigned to end America's foreign wars, initially declared the U.S. "locked and loaded" for a response, and on Thursday said it was possible there wouldn't be a "peaceful solution."But he's also announced a tightening of sanctions on Iran, leading to speculation that he's working to avoid another Middle East conflict.(Updates with Trump, Pompeo comment.)To contact the reporter on this story: Shaji Mathew in Dubai at shajimathew@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Lin Noueihed at lnoueihed@bloomberg.net, Mark Williams, Stuart BiggsFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| This Activist Invited ICE to a Community Meeting. Days Later They Arrested Him. Posted: 19 Sep 2019 01:51 AM PDT  Smith Collection/Gado/GettyWhen Houston immigration activist Roland Gramajo Reyes invited U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to a public meeting for people worried about being arrested due to their immigration status, he didn't think he'd end up behind bars.He was wrong. Gramajo's longtime advocacy on behalf of Houston's immigrant and Latino communities, family, attorney, and allies said, make them seriously doubt that the timing of his apprehension was an accident.Now, Gramajo, 40, is caught in a tug-of-war between law enforcement agencies seeking to either deport him after 25 cumulative years in the United States, or to first incarcerate him for improper entry into the United States, a charge that could land him in prison.Handout"His bond was denied Monday by a federal judge, so he will remain in detention while his illegal reentry charges are resolved," Raed Gonzalez, Gramajo's attorney, told The Daily Beast. "We are trying to reopen his immigration case… Many hurdles await us, but we are trying our best."Gramajo, a father of five and grandfather of two, was born in Retalhuleu, Guatemala in 1979, and first moved to Houston at age 15. Since then, he has made the improvement of the Guatemalan community and his adopted hometown his life's mission.He founded the Centro Organizativo Guatemalteco, which raises funds for humanitarian causes in Guatemala, as well as the Southwest American Systems Chamber of Commerce, which helps minority children participate in sports and beauty pageants. After Hurricane Harvey devastated the city in 2017, he took weeks off work to organize community efforts in helping those affected by the storm's flooding that caused an estimated $125 billion in damage. For his work, Gramajo has received commendations from a host of state and local organizations, including the Alief Independent School District, Houston Community College, the Golden Eagle Society, and the Houston City Council.Only days before his apprehension by ICE, Gramajo had organized a "know your rights" seminar for undocumented immigrants and their families in the city—the seminar to which he had invited immigration agents to participate. That invitation, Gramajo's defenders believe, may have unintentionally goaded ICE into looking into Gramajo's immigration status, a charge ICE has called "baseless.""To be abundantly clear, ICE personnel did not attend this Immigration Forum in any capacity—official or unofficial," the agency released in a statement last week, saying that Gramajo became a target after ICE received an anonymous tip about his status. "To portray him in one-sided media reports… as a victim of some 'covert' law enforcement operation is an insulting affront to public safety.""We're not gonna be able to comment any further on the anonymous tip" that led to Gramajo's apprehension, ICE spokesperson Tim Oberle told The Daily Beast when asked about the timing of the tip that lead to his arrest, "because it's anonymous, obviously."At the heart of ICE's deportation case is Gramajo's 1998 guilty plea to a misdemeanor charge of burglary of a vehicle, for which he was sentenced to 20 days in prison. Gramajo's family told reporters in Houston that the charge was the result of a practical joke that he had played on a friend, the vehicle's owner.After his plea, immigration authorities commenced deportation proceedings against Gramajo, culminating in his deportation to Guatemala in summer 2004. Gramajo returned months later to be with his family in Houston—including his wife and children—and has remained ever since.It's that 2004 illegal entry for which Gramajo will stand trial. If he is found guilty, he could face a six-month prison sentence before his potential deportation."My sons, they are texting me asking how is their father, and that's what hurts the most," Magaly Quicano, Gramajo's wife, told reporters in Houston last week. "I've been praying, praying praying that he will win this immigration battle."Gramajo's defenders, who count members of Houston's political establishment among their members, told The Daily Beast that the potential deportation of the father of five is disgraceful."The prospect of deporting Mr. Gramajo is outrageous," Mayor pro tem Ellen Cohen, a member of the Houston City Council, told The Daily Beast. Last year, the city council commended Gramajo as "dedicated to serving and inspiring the community," and whose "qualities represent a true leader with an exceptional drive to improve the quality of life" throughout the city."His so-called 'crime' of coming back to this country—his country—after his 2004 deportation is a result of unjust laws. If I were in his shoes, I would have tried to find a way back to my spouse and children too," Cohen added, noting that she has called upon ICE to immediately release him. "He is an asset to Houston and there is no legitimate public safety-related reason to deport him again. If ICE's concern is public safety, they should be focusing their limited resources on those who are bringing violence, drugs, and human trafficking in to our communities."Houston City Council member Steve Le, who brought forth a successful proposal last year to name May 17, 2018 as "Roland Omar Gramajo Reyes Day" in the city, called Gramajo "a good person and community leader" whose presence in the city makes it a better place to live. "Our office appreciates everything he has done for the community and recognized him with a Mayoral Proclamation for his achievements," Le told The Daily Beast. "We were surprised by his arrest and hope the court will take into account all the great contributions he has made when determining his sentencing. We look forward to a favorable outcome for his family and our community."But after a judge denied his bond in a hearing on Monday, Gramajo will remain in federal detention until trial. Even if he wins his criminal case, his presence in the United States is far from assured—if deported, Gramajo will be barred from entering the United States for 20 years."I don't know what the verdict will be, but I leave everything in the hands of God and wait," Quicano said tearfully. "No more."Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet 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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| Israeli leader invites rival to join in unity government Posted: 19 Sep 2019 07:54 AM PDT  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invited his political rival Benny Gantz to join a unity government with him and his religious allies on Thursday, an offer that was greeted coolly amid continued deadlock following this week's election. The deadlock has already raised speculation about a possible third election in the coming months, just two days after an unprecedented repeat vote left the country's two main political parties with no clear path to a coalition government. While weeks of negotiations to form a coalition government lay ahead, conditions set by the parties could hobble the task within the allotted time, forcing another election.
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| Jerry becomes a hurricane en route to Puerto Rico; Humberto knocks out power in Bermuda Posted: 19 Sep 2019 08:39 AM PDT  Tropical Storm Jerry strengthens into a hurricane. Meanwhile, there's power outages in Bermuda thanks to Humberto.
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| Navy SEAL who oversaw the bin Laden raid says China's massive military buildup is a 'holy s---' moment Posted: 18 Sep 2019 12:51 PM PDT  Speaking at an event in Washington, William McRaven, a SEAL who oversaw the bin Laden raid, said the US was approaching a "Sputnik moment" with China.
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| Guatemala admits it is a cocaine producing nation, not just transit point Posted: 19 Sep 2019 08:37 AM PDT ![Guatemala admits it is a cocaine producing nation, not just transit point]( "Guatemala admits it is a cocaine producing nation, not just transit point") Guatemala must now consider itself a cocaine producing nation and not just a transit country for the powerful narcotic after authorities discovered new coca processing laboratories, the interior minister said. Last year, Guatemala discovered plantations growing coca, along with a laboratory to process the leaf into cocaine. Interior Minister Enrique Degenhart said on Wednesday that in total three laboratories had now been detected.
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| After hours of questioning Lewandowski, Democrats finally land punches Posted: 17 Sep 2019 08:24 PM PDT  When Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee turned to criminal defense lawyer Barry Berke to question Corey Lewandowski, the tenor of Tuesday's hearing abruptly changed.
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| Here's Why Russia Has Detained 161 North Korean Sailors Posted: 19 Sep 2019 02:31 AM PDT  Is a crisis brewing over illegal fishing?
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| Moldova Turns to FBI for Help in Investigating $1 Billion Fraud Posted: 18 Sep 2019 08:37 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Moldova requested assistance from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation to bring to justice participants in a $1 billion fraud that led to a bailout of three of the nation's banks.Interior Minister Andrei Nastase said he met with senior FBI officials and handed over a letter seeking assistance.The letter "put on the FBI's agenda the theft of the billion, the laundromat of the international mafia and all the other schemes that have ruined the financial and banking system and have deprived our country of much needed resources," he said Wednesday in a post on Facebook. The FBI gave assurances they would help, he said.The former Soviet republic of 3.5 million people was rocked by the 2014 theft that forced the government to seek assistance from the International Monetary Fund. A new government led by Prime Minister Maia Sandu took power in June, and the banking sector has been overhauled and sold to foreign investors.\--With assistance from Olga Tanas.To contact the reporter on this story: Aaron Eglitis in Riga at aeglitis@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrea Dudik at adudik@bloomberg.net, Michael Winfrey, Andrew LangleyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Boris Johnson’s Brexit Gamble Might Take the U.K. Back to Square One Posted: 19 Sep 2019 03:24 AM PDT  Prime Minister Boris Johnson learned that he cannot leave the E.U. without a deal because of British Parliament, writes Ian Bremmer.
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| How Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Learned to Play by Washington's Rules Posted: 18 Sep 2019 12:28 PM PDT  WASHINGTON -- Less than two weeks after being sworn in last year, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a young progressive star fresh off an upset of one of the top Democratic leaders in the House, put her fellow Democrats on notice that she would soon be coming for them, too.Appearing in a promotional video for Justice Democrats, the insurgent liberal group dedicated to unseating entrenched Democratic lawmakers that helped sweep Ocasio-Cortez to power, the Bronx firebrand urged her supporters to recruit candidates to run against her new colleagues. She was flanked by the group's three co-founders, two of whom had just taken top jobs in her office. There were even whispers that she might try to oust Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., a rising star regarded by many Democrats as a future speaker of the House.But after nearly nine months, with her eyes now wide open to the downsides of her revolutionary reputation and social media fame, Ocasio-Cortez has tempered her brash, institution-be-damned style with something different: a careful political calculus that adheres more closely to the unwritten rules of Washington she once disdained."I think I have more of a context of what it takes to do this job and survive on a day-to-day basis in a culture that is inherently hostile to people like me," Ocasio-Cortez said in an interview.Gone from her Washington office are her original chief of staff and her communications director, two Justice Democrats co-founders who were intent on waging their divisive brand of politics from their offices on Capitol Hill. No longer an unabashed ambassador of the combative group, Ocasio-Cortez has carefully managed her involvement with it.And she never did go after Jeffries, now chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, the same position held by former Rep. Joseph Crowley last year when Ocasio-Cortez set her sights on ousting him. Instead, on Tuesday she announced that her first endorsement of a primary challenger to an incumbent Democrat would be Marie Newman, who is making a second run at ousting Rep. Daniel Lipinski of Illinois, a conservative-leaning Democrat who is regarded by many of his colleagues as something of an outlier because of his opposition to abortion rights and his vote against the Affordable Care Act. Ocasio-Cortez is not the only Democrat to break with Lipinski and support Newman, nor is she the first.Deciding on the endorsement, she said, was in part a product of having learned to balance her twin roles as a dissident and a member of Congress."It's not just about being an activist," Ocasio-Cortez said. "It forces you to grow. So it doesn't mean you don't endorse activists, but it also requires an assessment for a capacity of growth and how you navigate a space like this."When she first arrived on Capitol Hill, Ocasio-Cortez and her team made it clear they planned to use their perch inside Congress as a platform for their divisive, outsider brand of politics. On her first day of orientation, Ocasio-Cortez joined protesters camped outside Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office agitating for the Green New Deal."It could have made people mad, they could have put me on the dog-walking committee," she joked later that week on a Justice Democrats conference call promoting the organization's candidate recruitment campaign. "They still might."Ocasio-Cortez may have meant it as an offhand quip, but her comment underscored a reality on Capitol Hill that she and her team were slow to fully appreciate: the extent to which power and the ability to get things done in the House were dependent on personal relationships and respect for the hierarchy. The first-term congresswoman enjoys rich public support outside the halls of Congress, particularly on social media platforms where progressive activism thrives. But the approach that she and her cohorts champion -- pulling the institution to the left in part by threatening the careers of any Democrat who fails to embrace their ideas -- quickly alienated many of her colleagues, and has made it difficult for her to get anything done.And in private conversations, many of Ocasio-Cortez's Democratic colleagues routinely complain that in her zeal to build her social media celebrity and political brand, the first-term congresswoman is too quick to cast aspersions on her fellow lawmakers, painting them as apologists for the status quo."In many ways, I feel like I walk around with a scarlet letter, because many members who just have any primary, whether I know about it or not, tend to project that onto me," Ocasio-Cortez said in an interview. "In many ways, I feel like I walk through that body as a symbol of someone who should not be there and a threat to the way power is organized."She said she has gone through a "loss of innocence and naivete," realizing that it was impossible to separate the legislative work of serving in Congress with the politics of reelection campaigns."They are frankly much closer in that dynamic and much closer in overlapping than a lot of people tend to realize," she said.Ocasio-Cortez has cut back on her appearances on behalf of Justice Democrats and has begun bolstering her fellow incumbent freshmen lawmakers, like Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., a member of Democratic leadership who she will support at a fundraiser in Boulder later this week. In April, she rallied around some of her colleagues who flipped districts President Donald Trump won in 2016, encouraging her Twitter followers to donate to their campaigns. She diligently reached out to the so-called majority-makers on her committees -- the centrist freshmen who flipped Republican-leaning seats -- to win them over.Her aides, however, continued to carry the Justice Democrats flag without restraint, tweeting out their support when the group challenged incumbents, to the dismay of Democratic aides and lawmakers. A flashpoint came in July when Saikat Chakrabarti, then her chief of staff, ignited a firestorm by accusing centrist Democrats of enabling "a racist system" after they blocked an effort to defund immigration enforcement as part of an emergency border aid package. In a post on Twitter, he compared them to "new Southern Democrats," a reference to segregationists. It was a remarkable breach of protocol for an unelected aide.Jeffries used the House Democrats' official Twitter account to deliver a biting warning shot in a now-deleted tweet that singled out the chief of staff. Two weeks later, Chakrabarti announced he would leave the office entirely. Ocasio-Cortez's new chief, Ariel Eckblad, a former aide to Sen. Kamala Harris of California, is well-versed in the workings of Capitol Hill and is widely seen as a sober-minded replacement. Corbin Trent, who had been handling communications for both Ocasio-Cortez's campaign and her congressional office, a highly unusual arrangement, has returned to the political side.The rift was an escalation of a feud that began days earlier when Maureen Dowd, The New York Times columnist, asked Pelosi about the fury from the Bronx Democrat and three other progressive freshmen over the border aid package. The speaker noted that the group had failed to persuade any other Democrats to join them in voting against the House's version of the bill."All these people have their public whatever and their Twitter world," Pelosi said then. "But they didn't have any following. They're four people, and that's how many votes they got."Ocasio-Cortez fired back by saying that it was she and progressive activists who revere her, not Pelosi, who wielded the real power in the party, and later complained that the speaker was engaging in a "singling out of newly elected women of color." Chakrabarti followed up with a tweet questioning the speaker's leadership.The break ultimately led to a private, one-on-one meeting with Pelosi in the speaker's Capitol office last month, where Ocasio-Cortez appeared ready to call a truce, telling reporters, "I think the speaker respects the fact that we're coming together as a party and a community."Waleed Shahid, a spokesman for Justice Democrats, said Ocasio-Cortez's challenge came from the fact that she leads a movement "bigger than one district and Washington."Navigating her role as a legislator and a movement-maker is basically what her career is about," Shahid said in an interview. "We'll continue to have that theory of change with one foot in D.C. and one foot in the movement. It's really hard to do that."For Ocasio-Cortez, the process continues to be bumpy. Even with Eckblad at the helm, her office still operates in some ways more like an upstart campaign on a shoestring than a congressional office. A replacement for Trent has yet to be hired, and another aide who routinely rankles rank-and-file aides and lawmakers with combative comments -- like when he claimed his fellow congressional aides were elitist "careerists" -- is still in place.And while it is not clear how many more Justice Democrats Ocasio-Cortez will endorse, she said she was still "very wedded" to the insurgent theory of change that propelled her to Congress."Change by nature takes friction," she said. "It's just a question of how we move through it."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company
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| Chicken plants lured them. Feds jailed them. How Mississippi's immigration crisis unfolded Posted: 18 Sep 2019 11:59 AM PDT  Undocumented immigrants helped build poultry into Mississippi's richest agricultural commodity.
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| 'It's bad': Hundreds of water rescues as Imelda soaks Texas Posted: 19 Sep 2019 09:50 AM PDT  The remnants of Tropical Depression Imelda unleashed torrential rain Thursday in parts of Texas, prompting hundreds of water rescues, a hospital evacuation and road closures as the powerful storm system drew comparisons to Hurricane Harvey two years ago. Although the amount of predicted rainfall is massive — forecasters say some places could see 40 inches (100 centimeters) or more this week — Imelda's deluge is largely targeting areas east of Houston, including the small town of Winnie and the city of Beaumont.
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| Missing Magnolia teen found safe in Dobbin, Texas Posted: 18 Sep 2019 10:10 PM PDT  The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office confirmed that she was not abducted, but ran away.
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| Here Are the 5 Biggest Nuclear Weapons Tests Ever Conducted Posted: 18 Sep 2019 03:42 AM PDT  We've got them ranked.
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| How Vietnamese Commandos Sank A U.S. 'Aircraft Carrier' Posted: 18 Sep 2019 07:43 AM PDT  The sinking of the Card was a stunning victory for the Viet Cong, yet little remembered today. It illustrated how vulnerable naval vessels can be even when faced with a low-tech enemy … and how difficult maintaining port security can be in a war with no real front.
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| INTERVIEW-Student architects to help build 5 mln cheap homes in Pakistan Posted: 18 Sep 2019 09:10 PM PDT ![INTERVIEW-Student architects to help build 5 mln cheap homes in Pakistan]( "INTERVIEW-Student architects to help build 5 mln cheap homes in Pakistan") An ambitious plan to build five million affordable homes within five years in Pakistan will tap student architects and use local materials and new technologies to keep costs low, a senior government official said on Thursday. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has committed to build four million homes in rural and urban areas, and one million homes in peri-urban areas over the next five years. It is the biggest government-backed housing programme ever attempted, and will meet half of Pakistan's needs, said Zaigham Rizvi, chairman of the federal task force on housing.
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| US drone strike 'kills 30 Afghan farmers' Posted: 19 Sep 2019 06:17 AM PDT  A U.S. drone strike intended to hit an Islamic State (Isil) hideout in Afghanistan killed at least 30 civilians resting after a day's labor in the fields, officials said on Thursday. The attack on Wednesday night also injured another 40 people after accidentally targeting farmers and laborers who had just finished collecting pine nuts at Wazir Tangi in eastern Nangarhar province, three Afghan officials told Reuters. "The workers had lit a bonfire and were sitting together when a drone targeted them," tribal elder Malik Rahat Gul told Reuters by telephone from Wazir Tangi. Afghanistan's Defense Ministry and a senior U.S official in Kabul confirmed the drone strike, but did not share details of civilian casualties. Taliban control in Afghanistan "U.S. forces conducted a drone strike against Da'esh (Isil) terrorists in Nangarhar," said Colonel Sonny Leggett, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan. "We are aware of allegations of the death of non-combatants and are working with local officials to determine the facts." About 14,000 U.S. troops are in Afghanistan, training and advising Afghan security forces and conducting counter-insurgency operations against Isil and the Taliban movement. Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the provincial governor of Nangarhar, said at least nine bodies had been collected from the site. Haidar Khan, who owns the pine nut fields, said about 150 workers were there for harvesting, with some still missing as well as the confirmed dead and injured. Jihadist Isil fighters first appeared in Afghanistan in 2014 and have since made inroads in the east and north where they are battling the government, U.S. forces and the Taliban. The exact number of IS fighters is difficult to calculate because they frequently switch allegiances, but the U.S. military estimates there are about 2,000. There was no word from Isil on the attack. There has been no let-up in assaults by Taliban and Isil as Afghanistan prepares for a presidential election this month. In a separate incident, at least 20 people died in a suicide truck bomb attack on Thursday carried out by the Taliban in the southern province of Zabul. Hundreds of civilians have been killed in fighting across Afghanistan after the collapse of U.S.-Taliban peace talks this month. The Taliban has warned U.S. President Donald Trump will regret his decision to abruptly call off talks that could have led to a political settlement to end the 18-year-old war. The United Nations says nearly 4,000 civilians were killed or wounded in the first half of the year. That included a big increase in casualties inflicted by government and U.S.-led foreign forces.
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| 3 Amish children killed, another injured after vehicle crashes into buggy Posted: 19 Sep 2019 09:19 AM PDT  Four Amish siblings were in the buggy traveling home from school around 3:20 p.m. when a vehicle struck them from behind, officials said.
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| Surprising Facts You Didn't Know About Rhinos Posted: 17 Sep 2019 11:59 AM PDT |
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