| 2020 Vision Thursday: Why Kamala Harris is struggling in the polls Posted: 19 Sep 2019 07:05 AM PDT  Pundits have been speculating about the state of Sen. Kamala Harris's campaign ever since one of her staffers accidentally left an internal briefing memo that included the phrase "summer slump" at a Manchester, N.H., restaurant earlier this month.
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| PHOTOS: Tropical Storm Imelda floods Texas Posted: 20 Sep 2019 06:30 AM PDT  The slow-churning remnants of Tropical Storm Imelda flooded parts of Texas on Thursday, leaving at least two people dead and rescue crews with boats scrambling to reach stranded drivers and families trapped in their homes during a relentless downpour that drew comparisons to Hurricane Harvey two years ago.
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| Death of troubled officer whose gun wasn't taken away marks record number of suicides in NYPD Posted: 19 Sep 2019 09:53 AM PDT  A police officer's recent death has disturbingly highlighted the record number of suicides among members of the New York Police Department this year.
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| Why Trump had a wad of cash in his back pocket Posted: 19 Sep 2019 07:57 AM PDT  "I don't carry a wallet because I haven't had to use a credit card in a long time," he told reporters aboard Air Force One. "I do like leaving tips to the hotel. I like to carry a little something."
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| A former employee of Andrew Yang claimed he abruptly fired her because she got married and he thought she'd stop 'working as hard' Posted: 20 Sep 2019 06:01 AM PDT  Kimberley Watkins worked for Yang when he was a CEO in 2007. She said Yang claimed marrying meant she "wouldn't want to continue working as hard."
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| Marianne Williamson wants a national mandatory service for people ages 18-26 to combat climate change Posted: 19 Sep 2019 12:22 PM PDT  At a presidential climate forum hosted by MSNBC, Marianne Williamson said Americans need a "World War II" level of mobilization against climate change.
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| Dozens of people charged for illegally distributing millions of opioid pills Posted: 18 Sep 2019 01:38 PM PDT  Dozens of people - including six doctors and seven pharmacists - have been charged with fraud for illegally distributing more than 6 million opioid pills.Some of the pills were obtained using counterfeit prescription pads, and the stolen identities of legitimate doctors, prosecutors say.
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| With viral moments and hard facts, Democrats seek to seize the moment on gun control Posted: 20 Sep 2019 08:34 AM PDT  The fall congressional session is not a week old, but there have already been a number of events related to gun control on Capitol Hill. That suggests the furious debate over Second Amendment rights and restrictions will dominate the following months.
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| Single 25-year-old mother of 3 diagnosed with terminal cancer: 'I'm scared of leaving them behind' Posted: 19 Sep 2019 01:51 PM PDT  A single mother of three who had gone cancer-free for months has now been diagnosed with terminal cancer.
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| How to make ratatouille, a vegetable dish that's both hearty and healthy Posted: 19 Sep 2019 11:59 AM PDT  This fall ratatouille recipe works perfectly as a side dish or a delicious vegetarian main. The different colored veggies looks great on the table, too.
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| Mexico's Los Cabos braces for approaching storm Lorena Posted: 20 Sep 2019 09:41 AM PDT  Owners pulled boats from the water and hauled them away on trailers, while shopkeepers put plywood over windows and doors as Hurricane Lorena bore down Friday on Mexico's resort-studded Los Cabos area. Lorena was forecast to pass over or near the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula later in the day with heavy winds and soaking rains, and locals who have been through past hurricanes were taking no chances. Authorities in Los Cabos said 787 people have taken refuge at 18 storm shelters.
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| Injured crewman sues California dive boat owner after 34 diein fiery tragedy Posted: 19 Sep 2019 12:44 PM PDT  Ryan Sims filed the suit last week in Ventura County Superior Court saying the Conception dive boat was unseaworthy and operated in an unsafe manner.
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| ‘We are preparing for the worst’: Storm Area 51 event could be disaster, locals fear Posted: 19 Sep 2019 11:26 AM PDT  Local residents are "preparing for the worst" as fans of the viral Storm Area 51 Facebook event descend on a town near the secretive military base.The event could become a disaster as people struggle with the difficult conditions in Nevada without proper preparation, they have warned.
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| U.S. to return about $100 million to the Treasury for an Afghanistan project due to a lack of transparency Posted: 19 Sep 2019 07:27 AM PDT  Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday that the United States would return about $100 million to the Treasury for an energy infrastructure project in Afghanistan and would withhold a further $60 million in planned assistance to the country due to a lack of transparency.
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| How Iran Would Unleash an 'All Out War': Lots of Missiles Posted: 19 Sep 2019 07:19 AM PDT  If Trump decides to strike here is how Tehran could respond.
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| Israel scientists unveil appearance of ancient human relative Posted: 19 Sep 2019 06:43 PM PDT  We know what Neanderthals looked like. Now, thanks to ancient DNA, Israeli scientists have unveiled the appearance of another of our ancient relatives. Very few clues exist about the lives of the Denisovans -- cousins of Neanderthals -- who went extinct around 50,000 years ago: three teeth, a pinky bone, and a lower jaw.
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| Makeup guru Bobbi Brown reveals her top six favorite products from Walmart Posted: 18 Sep 2019 12:50 PM PDT  If we're going to take beauty advice from anybody, it's going to be Bobbi Brown.
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| Buttigieg’s Health Plan Gets One Big Thing Right Posted: 19 Sep 2019 10:27 AM PDT  (Bloomberg Opinion) -- Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, jumped into the Democratic presidential primary's most contentious issue on Thursday with the release of his "Medicare for All Who Want It" outline. A particularly bold part of his health plan tackles a key issue largely avoided by the other candidates. Buttigieg comes down firmly on former Vice President Joe Biden's side with a plan that closely resembles the one the front-runner released in July. Buttigieg's proposal would retain the private insurance market, create a public health insurance option with limited auto-enrollment and boost subsidies for lower-income Americans. One crucial difference — and not just with Biden's plan — is that Buttigieg's proposal explicitly calls out hospital and provider prices as a critical driver of health care costs. His plan would cap out-of-network provider charges at double what Medicare would pay for the same service. Many providers charge substantially more than that, but even Democratic presidential candidates tend to avoid the issue and focus on easier political targets like insurers and drugmakers.Out-of-control prices are an inevitable consequence of America's confusing mash-up of private employer coverage, public plans and individual insurance options. Fragmentation reduces negotiating power and makes it extremely difficult to bargain effectively with providers, especially as hospitals consolidate. Hospital care and physician and clinical services accounted for more than half of America's $3.5 trillion in health care spending in 2017. Provider prices have been rising more rapidly than inflation for years, which helps explain why the U.S. spends so much more than other developed countries. For example, the average cost of bypass surgery in the U.S. was $78,318 in 2014. The same surgery cost $34,224 on average in Switzerland that year and $24,059 in the U.K. That sort of gap is not unusual.In addition to already inflated pricing and spending, there are countless individual examples of abusive pricing and behavior from providers. Even candidates like Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders who call for "Medicare for All," which would require steeper and more widespread provider cost cuts, don't go out of their way to talk about the issue. Provider prices came up only a few times across five Democratic debates in which health care received sustained airtime. It's a touchy subject, considering the large number of people employed by health providers and their relative popularity among voters. Buttigieg's willingness to openly address the issue is a refreshing step forward in the health policy debate and boosts the appeal of his plan. His proposal would retain many of the current system's flaws, even with the addition of a public option. But the cap has the chance to improve matters substantially. On top of cutting outlier prices, it would bolster negotiating leverage for the public option and private plans by making it less lucrative for providers to refuse to join insurance networks. It could bring the cost of insurance and care down and expand access in a less disruptive manner. In many ways, his plan still falls far short of single-payer options. Medicare for All could do far more to bring costs down by folding people with private insurance into a national plan and would provide substantially more generous coverage to many more people.The cost of such a plan and voter concerns about eliminating private coverage means it's not guaranteed to pass even if Democrats take back the White House and Senate. In that light, it's refreshing to have a more moderate alternative that at least acknowledges and attempts to tackle one of the health system's biggest issues. To contact the author of this story: Max Nisen at mnisen@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Daniel Niemi at dniemi1@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Max Nisen is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering biotech, pharma and health care. He previously wrote about management and corporate strategy for Quartz and Business Insider.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| San Francisco's dirtiest street has an outdoor drug market, discarded heroin needles, and piles of poop on the sidewalk Posted: 19 Sep 2019 05:23 PM PDT  Residents of Hyde Street's 300 block report having to hose down urine in front of their offices or hold their breath to avoid the stench of feces.
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| State sending troopers to help fight St. Louis crime Posted: 19 Sep 2019 04:09 PM PDT  Missouri Gov. Mike Parson is sending highway patrol troopers and other state workers to St. Louis as part of an effort to fight the surge of violent crime that has included the killings of more than a dozen children in the region so far this year. Parson said the total cost of the state's commitment, including the 25 state employees who will work in the St. Louis region, is up to $4 million. "This is about targeting violent criminals and getting them off the street," Parson said at a news conference in St. Louis.
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| Solomon Islands students to move to China after diplomatic break with Taiwan Posted: 20 Sep 2019 03:10 AM PDT ![Solomon Islands students to move to China after diplomatic break with Taiwan]( "Solomon Islands students to move to China after diplomatic break with Taiwan") More than 100 Solomon Islands students will be transferred to China from self-ruled Taiwan early next year, after the South Pacific nation switched diplomatic ties to Beijing, the Solomons leader said on Friday. Kiribati followed the Solomon Islands this month in shifting ties to China, giving it two wins in the bid to strip allies from what it considers a wayward province with no right to state-to-state ties.
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| Republicans Slam Democrats Uninterested in Spying Investigation Posted: 18 Sep 2019 10:38 AM PDT  Why don't they want to know?
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| Carson Daly surprises 'Today' co-hosts on-air with pregnancy news: 'How long have you been sitting on this?!' Posted: 20 Sep 2019 06:58 AM PDT  Carson Daly shared an exciting announcement live on-air during the 'Today' show, taking his co-hosts by total surprise.
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| India Is Planning a Huge China-Style Facial Recognition Program Posted: 19 Sep 2019 02:00 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- India is planning to set up one of the world's largest facial recognition systems, potentially a lucrative opportunity for surveillance companies and a nightmare for privacy advocates who fear it will lead to a Chinese-style Orwellian state.Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government will open bids next month to build a system to centralize facial recognition data captured through surveillance cameras across India. It would link up with databases containing records for everything from passports to fingerprints to help India's depleted police force identify criminals, missing persons and dead bodies.The government says the move is designed to help one of the world's most understaffed police forces, which has one officer for every 724 citizens -- well below global norms. It also could be a boon for companies: TechSci Research estimates India's facial recognition market will grow sixfold by 2024 to $4.3 billion, nearly on par with China.But the project is also ringing alarm bells in a nation with no data privacy laws and a government that just shut down the internet for the last seven weeks in the key state of Kashmir to prevent unrest. While India is still far from implementing a system that matches China's ability to use technology to control the population, the lack of proper safeguards opens the door for abuses."We're the only functional democracy which will set up such as system without any data protection or privacy laws," said Apar Gupta, a Delhi-based lawyer and executive director of the Internet Freedom Foundation, a non-profit group whose members successfully lobbied the government in 2015 to ensure net neutrality and reject platforms like Facebook Inc.'s Free Basics. "It's like a gold rush for companies seeking large unprotected databases."Black MarketA draft data protection bill presented to the government last year still hasn't been approved by the cabinet or introduced into parliament. The country has already had problems implementing Aadhaar, one of the world's biggest biometric databases linking everything from bank accounts to income tax filings, which been plagued by reports of data leaks and the growth of a black market for personal information.So far, not much is known about which companies might bid on the facial-recognition system. Minutes of a meeting with potential bidders, obtained by the Internet Freedom Foundation through a right to information request, showed unidentified companies sought clarifications on integrating facial recognition data with state databases and whether it should be able to identify people with plastic surgery.Vasudha Gupta, a spokeswoman for the Home Ministry, didn't respond to an email seeking comments about the system.For some in the police force, the system will be an essential tool to fight crime if implemented properly. India has seen more than 100 terrorist attacks in the last three decades, including one on luxury hotels and a train station in Mumbai that killed 166 people in 2008.'Powerful Tool'Nilabh Kishore, who headed a unit fighting organized crime in the state of Punjab until last year, had success against gangsters after he set up a system linking data from police stations across the state."A system that can identify criminals is invaluable -- facial recognition is a powerful tool," said Kishore, who is now deputy inspector general of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police. "But human intentions are also very important. You can make the best of technology, but if human intentions are wrong it can be a tool for misuse."That's particularly a worry for vulnerable minority groups that have long faced discrimination in India. Lower castes and tribals account for about a quarter of the population but constitute 34% of India's prisoners, according to the National Dalit Movement for Justice.In January, the Delhi High Court said it was "unacceptable" that facial recognition had not helped trace any of the 5,000 children missing from the city in three years. Earlier this month, photos and phone numbers from a Madurai city police facial recognition database in the southern state of Tamil Nadu were leaked online.Surveillance ThreatThe threat of foreign spying is also persistent. Last month a federal government think tank criticized the local administration in Delhi for hiring the Indian arm of Chinese firm Hikvision to set up 150,000 CCTVs, saying the move could spur illegal hacking and data leaks to the Chinese government.Foreign surveillance companies operating in India include CP Plus, Dahua, Panasonic Corp., Bosch Security Systems, Honeywell International Inc., and D-Link India Ltd. Many Indian companies won't be able to bid on the facial-recognition system because the current tender requires them to meet standards established by the U.S. National Institute of Science and Technology, according to Atul Rai, chief executive officer of Staqu Technologies, an Indian startup.Rai, whose company has developed facial recognition for eight local police forces, said India doesn't have the same quality cameras as China -- making it harder to meet the goal of being able to identify any person with an integrated system. He also said it would be more difficult to implement a national network in India because state governments are responsible for law and order under its constitution."But if this one happens in line with the government's plan, it should be a China-like system," Rai said. "Any powerful country wants to be like China when it comes to using technology to monitor people -- even western countries."\--With assistance from Santosh Kumar.To contact the reporter on this story: Archana Chaudhary in New Delhi at achaudhary2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Ruth Pollard at rpollard2@bloomberg.netFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| 'It’s happening, [Trump] is getting impeached', says former White House ethics chief Posted: 19 Sep 2019 06:26 AM PDT !['It's happening, [Trump] is getting impeached', says former White House ethics chief](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_uzQgrqCtHqCBPx382pPw26dYk05n2OdvXYMHqVMBw5yhOps-jDycBecXuUR7l9HtoZvt0BPEPVrswhfXhqt74hyVla97Z3Od9LgnG8Whrfkdk5Yl1dYVg1BSAZ_7YYGgGS3mlye5IUF9oQdPfmHuI6iz5Ihb5Efermv6GWLgRsaI0naL3NgKRkvV9cvCWM1vlQuxXGDiFd3WcMehVphgkQVZJ1CiEZqTZj-IpzYSamJVSAaxQuK_TDeqhdpj8i6GMAS5x6yNQdtCgavKJyUXD1TDucBWyx43c83oA8OcN8-A=s0-d "'It's happening, [Trump] is getting impeached', says former White House ethics chief") A former White House ethics lawyer has said people who oppose impeachment hearings probing the Trump presidency do not respect the U.S. constitution. "It's happening, [Donald Trump] is getting impeached," Richard W. Painter tweeted.
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| The Latest: Migrant killed by train in North macedonia Posted: 20 Sep 2019 04:53 AM PDT  Police in North Macedonia say a 23-year old Pakistani migrant has died after being hit by a train. Migrants who enter North Macedonia illegally from Greece often use rail tracks as a guide for the route toward Serbia, from where they hope to head to more prosperous European countries further north. In 2015, 14 migrants were killed when they were hit by a train while walking along the railway tracks.
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| Iran's Zarif says Saudi, UAE want to "fight Iran to the last American" Posted: 20 Sep 2019 03:43 AM PDT ![Iran's Zarif says Saudi, UAE want to "fight Iran to the last American"]( "Iran's Zarif says Saudi, UAE want to \"fight Iran to the last American\"") Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Friday that U.S.-allied Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates seem to wish to "fight Iran to the last American". Zarif has in the past said that a so-called "B-team" including Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Abu Dhabi's crown prince could goad the U.S. president into a conflict with Tehran.
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| Police Officers Federation accuses Minneapolis lawmakers of having anti-cop agenda amid officer shortage Posted: 19 Sep 2019 05:32 AM PDT  Lt. Bob Kroll, president of the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis, says the 'ultra-left' city council does not want to increase the police department amid escalating violence.
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| AOC on DC statehood: 'Disenfranchisement' of DC rooted in the 'history of slavery' Posted: 20 Sep 2019 07:50 AM PDT  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez cited the disenfranchisement of the majority-minority city as "upholding the injustice of the practices enacted during slavery."
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| Meghan McCain storms off 'The View' after sparring with Ana Navarro: Watch Posted: 20 Sep 2019 09:43 AM PDT  Conservative 'The View' pundit Meghan McCain walked off set on Friday following a blow-up with guest co-host Ana Navarro.
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| FedEx Pilot Detained in China for Item Found in Luggage Posted: 20 Sep 2019 01:51 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- A FedEx Corp. pilot was temporarily detained in southeastern China after authorities found hundreds of air-gun pellets in his luggage prior to boarding a commercial flight to Hong Kong, marking the delivery firm's latest setback in the country.The pilot, who was held in the city of Guangzhou, was later released on bail and the company is working with relevant authorities to understand the facts better, Memphis-based FedEx said in an email. Geng Shuang, spokesman at China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at a briefing Friday that he was detained after being found with 681 air-gun pellets in his luggage.While FedEx didn't provide details, a Wall Street Journal report earlier cited people familiar with the matter as saying Chinese authorities have started a criminal probe on the former U.S. Air Force colonel for allegedly carrying ammunition illegally. China notified the U.S. consulate in Guangzhou about the matter and the case is still under investigation, Geng said.FedEx has been under particular scrutiny in recent months, after Huawei Technologies Co. said documents it asked to be shipped from Japan to China were diverted to the U.S. instead without authorization. In another incident, FedEx said it mistakenly rejected a package containing a Huawei phone being sent to the U.S. from the U.K., a claim China rebuffed.Separately, police in China's Fujian province started an investigation into a package containing a gun delivered by FedEx to a company in China, state media reported in August. Chinese authorities also began probing FedEx on suspicion of illegally handling a package sent to Hong Kong containing knives, Xinhua News Agency reported in early September.The fracas over the Huawei packages has seen FedEx targeted in Chinese state media, with Beijing considering adding the company to a list of so-called unreliable entities it is drafting, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg in June.China Mulls FedEx Blacklisting After Huawei Delivery ErrorsAfter the U.S. slapped curbs on Huawei, China's Commerce Ministry announced the creation of the list in late May to target firms that the government says damage the interests of domestic companies.(Updates with foreign ministry comment in second paragraph.)\--With assistance from Thomas Black, Feifei Shen and April Ma.To contact the reporter on this story: Young-Sam Cho in Hong Kong at ycho2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Young-Sam Cho at ycho2@bloomberg.net, Emma O'BrienFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| See Photos of the 2020 BMW Z4 M40i Posted: 19 Sep 2019 09:59 AM PDT |
| The Navy SEAL who ran the bin Laden raid says negotiating with the Taliban is like sitting down for talks with ISIS Posted: 19 Sep 2019 12:19 PM PDT  Talking to the Taliban is like meeting with ISIS, the retired Navy SEAL said weeks after Trump tried to bring Taliban leaders to the US for talks.
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| Imelda leaves 2 dead in Texas, others stranded and trapped Posted: 20 Sep 2019 09:14 AM PDT  Emergency crews continued to pull motorists and others from high water Friday after the remnants of Tropical Storm Imelda soaked the Houston area, leaving at least two people dead during the relentless downpour. The aftermath from Imelda, which drew comparisons to Hurricane Harvey two years ago, was blamed for major travel headaches as motorists slogged through water-swollen streets and air travelers faced flight delays and cancellations. Nearly 123,000 vehicles normally cross the bridges each day, according to the Texas Department of Transportation.
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| Mexican president casts doubt on report of Singapore interest in airport project Posted: 20 Sep 2019 07:32 AM PDT ![Mexican president casts doubt on report of Singapore interest in airport project]( "Mexican president casts doubt on report of Singapore interest in airport project") Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Friday he did not believe a media report that said Singapore was interested in finishing a new Mexico City airport project that he had canceled a few weeks before he took office in December. Earlier this month, prominent Mexican journalist Carlos Loret de Mola wrote in a column in El Universal newspaper that Singapore wanted to put forward a plan to Lopez Obrador that would enable the completion of the abandoned airport on the eastern flank of the city. Citing diplomatic sources, Loret said the idea had arisen in the context of a visit that Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong could make to Mexico later this year.
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| Fukushima Nuclear Disaster Verdict Leads to Angry Fallout Posted: 19 Sep 2019 09:54 AM PDT  Christopher FurlongTOKYO—Three executives of Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) who ignored repeated warnings of a potential tidal wave that could result in a nuclear disaster, which did in fact take place, were found not guilty of criminal negligence resulting in death and injury by a Tokyo Court on Thursday. Many feel justice was poorly served. However, a former prosecutor says that the verdict was to be expected. * * *The Four-Hour Verdict* * *The Tokyo District Court ruled former executives of TEPCO were not guilty of criminal negligence, in the only criminal prosecution to come out of the 2011 nuclear disaster in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan.The cataclysm at the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant in March of 2011 resulted in over 100,000 people losing their homes, wide-spread radioactive pollution, injuries, and the deaths of patients who had to be evacuated. The disaster, on the scale of Chernobyl, raised alarms around the world about nuclear energy and atomic safety. The disaster area has not been cleaned up entirely and is essentially a nuclear accident still in progress, requiring constant cooling. Radioactive water stored at the TEPCO facilities is likely to be dumped into the ocean next year—probably after the Olympics. The three former executives of TEPCO who were indicted on charges of professional negligence resulting in injury and death were: Tsunehisa Katsumata, 79, chairman of TEPCO at the time of the accident, and two former vice presidents—Sakae Muto, 69, and Ichiro Takekuro, 73. The trial centered on whether these three could be held criminally responsible for what the Japanese Parliament's Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission called "a man-made disaster." How the Earth Is Reclaiming Fukushima, the Ninth Ward, and Staten IslandThe central issue at stake could be summarized as this: Did the TEPCO officials know about the possibility of a nuclear-meltdown-inducing tidal wave, when did they know, and what did they do—or not do about it? TEPCO's six-reactor plant, located on the Pacific coast, was disabled after tsunamis triggered by the massive earthquake of March 11, 2011 flooded power supply facilities, which were unprotected, and crippled reactor cooling systems. Some reactors suffered fuel meltdowns, while hydrogen explosions damaged others. The indictment blamed the three former executives for injuries to more than 10 people from hydrogen explosions at the plant, as well as the deaths of 44 patients forced to evacuate from nearby hospitals. As early as 2002, TEPCO and the Japanese government were aware of a potentially disastrous earthquake and tidal wave causing a nuclear accident. The prosecutors argued, and the court also acknowledged that several times between February 2008 and March 2009 the TEPCO executives were warned of the risk of a tidal wave 14 meters (45 feet) high or higher hitting the power plant and causing a potential nuclear disaster. On March 11, tidal waves between 11.5 and 15.5 meters (50 feet) did hit the power plant, knocking out the power grid and, yes, as predicted for years, triggering the nuclear disaster. There were also independent reports that suggested the earthquake's tremors caused a nuclear meltdown in the 40-year-old Reactor One even before the waves hit, but those allegations were not considered by the court.The verdict, which took several hours for the judges to finish reading out loud—starting at 1:15 p.m. and ending around 4:30 p.m. with a short break—concluded that while the TEPCO executives did receive several warnings of a tidal wave large enough to cause a nuclear accident, they were justified in taking no safety measures for a number of reasons:1) If they had taken the warnings seriously and tried to take countermeasures it would have required them to close the plant down temporarily, which was considered prohibitively expensive. 2) There were questions as to how seriously to take the data about tsunamis.3) Even if the TEPCO executives had acted on the warnings, they probably wouldn't have completed safety countermeasures in time. In reaching the decision, the court stated that tsunami forecast information was vague, and that the three could not have "realistically" foreseen a disaster on such a grand scale. It took the judges so long to read out the explanation for their ruling because as ex-prosecutor Nobuo Gohara explains, "Legally the judgment made sense but on an emotional level, gut instinct level—it all seems wrong and the judges must know that. They wanted to convince people their judgment makes sense." Residents of Fukushima Prefecture took the judgment less gracefully. "It's a disgrace. It's a slap in the face and it shows that the courts here always value profits over people," said a 67 year old farmer from the area who had come to hear the verdict himself this afternoon. Former prosecutor Gohara noted, "There are limits to the Japanese justice system and I have said from the start that it was unlikely the individuals would be found guilty. What you have in the Fukushima Nuclear disaster is a failure of policy and of the entire organization. Japan does not have a legal mechanism for holding a corporation responsible for criminal behavior, and in this case the charges were criminal negligence—on an individual level. The hurdle is very high to prove that." * * *The Trial That Almost Never Took Place* * *The trial of TEPCO executives almost never took place at all.In June of 2012 residents of Fukushima Prefecture submitted criminal complaints against TEPCO executives and central government officials to try to make sure someone was found responsible for the nuclear accident. As noted, the Japanese Parliament's Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission called it "a man-made disaster," so it would seem to follow that men should be help accountable.However, the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office decided not to indict anyone named in those complaints. In typical Tokyo Prosecutor's Office fashion, they deliberately tried to bury the story at first by leaking their decision not to prosecute on the day Japan won the bid for the 2020 Olympics.Despite the best efforts of the prosecutors not to serve the public interest, a prosecutorial review board decided on two separate occasions that the former executives should be indicted and made to stand trial. The Prosecutorial Review Board system was introduced in May of 2009 as part of judicial reforms in Japan that included the introduction of a modified jury system. If eight of 11 citizens chosen for the board agree that the prosecutors have failed to do their job, and that indeed an indictment is warranted—on two separate occasions—the individual named must stand trial. The court designates civilian lawyers to act as prosecutors, who then indict the individual. In February of 2016, the three former executives were indicted formally. The trial began in June of 2017. All of the former executives pled not guilty. The prosecution asked for five years in prison. * * *Jokyu Kokumin* * *It should be noted that even after the TEPCO executives were indicted, they were not jailed, although the charges were very serious and involved loss of life. In Japan, suspects in criminal cases typically are arrested and held for up to 23 days. But the executives of TEPCO, who are politically connected, belong to what the Japanese public now angrily refer to as Jokyu Kokumi (upper-class citizens who are above the law) so they remained at large during the entire trial. Carlos Ghosn, the former Chairman of Nissan charged with far lesser crimes, but a foreigner, spent months in detention without bail while prosecutors tried to extract a confession. Miwa Chiwaki, a 49-year old woman who was living in a small village in Fukushima Prefecture at the time of the meltdown, was outraged by the verdict. She is the spokesperson for a group of citizens supporting the pursuit of criminal justice in the Fukushima nuclear disaster. She told The Daily Beast, "It's as if the Japanese courts said that there is no one responsible at all. The argument that TEPCO executives would have had to shut down the power plant to put safety measures into place, therefore they had reason not to do it, makes no sense. It is the same as saying corporate profits matter more than people. The Japanese courts care more about the well-being of a company than a person. At least the case established that they knew of the danger...and did nothing."The Real Fukushima Fallout Isn't RadiationThe designated prosecutors in the case may appeal and demand a second trial. In Japan, prosecutors do have the right to appeal a case. Not guilty verdicts are rare and occur in less than one percent of all criminal cases. In general, prosecutors almost always appeal when losing the first round, but the prosecutors in this case are civilian lawyers. It is not clear what will happen next, or if anything will happen at all. Nuclear power plant operators in Japan have faced charges of criminal negligence resulting in death in the past and were found guilty. In April 2003, the Mito District Court found six of employees of JCO guilty over a fatal nuclear accident. They ruled that the company had allowed workers to use buckets to pour uranium solution into a processing tank, causing a nuclear fission chain reaction that resulted in the deaths of workers. The guilty were given suspended sentences and served no time in jail.Hiroyuki Kawai, a lawyer who represents the 5,700 Fukushima residents who filed the original criminal complaint, said in a press conference, "It's a terrible verdict. Yet, if there had been no indictment, the evidence would have never seen the light of day. In that sense, [the trial] has a historical significance." 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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| Elizabeth Warren Declares War on Lobbying, Hires Lobbyist One Day Later Posted: 20 Sep 2019 04:24 AM PDT  Is she serious?
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| A black Charlottesville city council candidate dropped out of the race after receiving violent threats from a white supremacist, prosecutors say Posted: 19 Sep 2019 08:15 AM PDT  A federal indictment accuses Daniel McMahon, 31, of using social media "to threaten and intimidate a potential candidate."
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| ‘House Hunters’ host Suzanne Whang dies at 56 after long battle with cancer Posted: 20 Sep 2019 09:03 AM PDT  Suzanne Whang, who hosted HGTV's "House Hunters" for nearly a decade, died on Thursday after a long battle with breast cancer.
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| As a foreign reporter visiting the US I was stunned by Trump's press conference Posted: 20 Sep 2019 05:26 AM PDT  Despite being subjected to a daily diet of Trump headlines, I was unprepared for the president's alarming incoherenceNot normal: Donald Trump addresses the press at Otay Mesa, California. Photograph: ReutersAs a regular news reader I thought I was across the eccentricities of the US president. Most mornings in Australia begin with news from America – the bid to buy Greenland, adjustments to a weather map hand-drawn with a Sharpie or another self-aggrandising tweet. Our headlines and news bulletins, like headlines and news bulletins everywhere, are full of Trump.As a political reporter for most of the last 30 years I have also endured many long and rambling political press conferences with Australian prime ministers and world leaders.But watching a full presidential Trump press conference while visiting the US this week I realised how much the reporting of Trump necessarily edits and parses his words, to force it into sequential paragraphs or impose meaning where it is difficult to detect.The press conference I tuned into by chance from my New York hotel room was held in Otay Mesa, California, and concerned a renovated section of the wall on the Mexican border.I joined as the president was explaining at length how powerful the concrete was. Very powerful, it turns out. It was unlike any wall ever built, incorporating the most advanced "concrete technology". It was so exceptional that would-be wall-builders from three unnamed countries had visited to learn from it.There were inner tubes in the wall that were also filled with concrete, poured in via funnels, and also "rebars" so the wall would withstand anyone attempting to cut through it with a blowtorch.The wall went very deep and could not be burrowed under. Prototypes had been tested by 20 "world-class mountain climbers – That's all they do, they love to climb mountains", who had been unable to scale it.It was also "wired, so that we will know if somebody is trying to break through", although one of the attending officials declined a presidential invitation to discuss this wiring further, saying, "Sir, there could be some merit in not discussing it", which the president said was a "very good answer".The wall was "amazing", "world class", "virtually impenetrable" and also "a good, strong rust colour" that could later be painted. It was designed to absorb heat, so it was "hot enough to fry an egg on". There were no eggs to hand, but the president did sign his name on it and spoke for so long the TV feed eventually cut away, promising to return if news was ever made.> In writing about this not-especially-important or unusual press conference I've run into what US reporters must encounter every dayHe did, at one point, concede that would-be immigrants, unable to scale, burrow, blow torch or risk being burned, could always walk around the incomplete structure, but that would require them walking a long way. This seemed to me to be an important point, but the monologue quickly returned to the concrete.In writing about this not-especially-important or unusual press conference I've run into what US reporters must encounter every day. I've edited skittering, half-finished sentences to present them in some kind of consequential order and repeated remarks that made little sense.In most circumstances, presenting information in as intelligible a form as possible is what we are trained for. But the shock I felt hearing half an hour of unfiltered meanderings from the president of the United States made me wonder whether the editing does our readers a disservice.I've read so many stories about his bluster and boasting and ill-founded attacks, I've listened to speeches and hours of analysis, and yet I was still taken back by just how disjointed and meandering the unedited president could sound. Here he was trying to land the message that he had delivered at least something towards one of his biggest campaign promises and sounding like a construction manager with some long-winded and badly improvised sales lines.I'd understood the dilemma of normalising Trump's ideas and policies – the racism, misogyny and demonisation of the free press. But watching just one press conference from Otay Mesa helped me understand how the process of reporting about this president can mask and normalise his full and alarming incoherence.• Lenore Taylor is the editor of Guardian Australia.
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| Parents of Israeli held in Gaza plead for news, action five years on Posted: 19 Sep 2019 12:14 PM PDT  The parents of an Israeli man believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza since 2014 travelled to Geneva this week to demand international action to help bring him home. Avera Mengistu, a 33-year-old Israeli of Ethiopian descent, is depressed and suffering from mental problems since the death of his older brother when he crossed into Gaza five years ago. Israel's defence ministry determined he was being held by Hamas, but the Islamist movement governing Gaza has to date provided no information about his whereabouts or condition.
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