| Federal judges rule against Trump in 3 cases on executive powers Posted: 11 Oct 2019 01:23 PM PDT  The president's legal team was handed three courtroom defeats on Friday.
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| Turkey Mistakenly Shells U.S. Special Forces in Syria: Report Posted: 11 Oct 2019 01:02 PM PDT  U.S. special forces based in Syria have been caught in Turkish artillery fire, according to Newsweek. It remains unclear whether there were any other casualties.The contingent of U.S. troops was operating in the Kurdish-dominated city of Kobani in northeastern Syria when they were hit by shelling from Turkey's military, which is currently invading the region.A senior Pentagon official confirmed the incident, saying Turkish forces should have precise knowledge of American positions.Earlier on Friday Defense Secretary Mark Esper told reporters that a small number of special forces had been moved back from the Syrian border with Turkey in advance of the Turkish incursion into Kurdish territory. President Trump was met with bipartisan criticism when he announced the move on Monday as prominent lawmakers and pundits interpreted the development as an indication that the U.S. had signed off on the invasion.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stated the goal of the operation is to secure an area inside Syria to resettle 3.6 million Syrian refugees currently residing in Turkey, as well as to fight Kurdish groups Turkey deems terrorist organizations.The U.S. partnered with several of those groups to combat ISIS. There are roughly 12,000 ISIS prisoners currently held in Kurdish detention facilities, although it is unclear what will happen to them as a result of the invasion.Meanwhile, the commander of the heavily-Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces, General Mazlum Kobani Abdi, confirmed in an interview that Turkish shelling hit a prison with ISIS fighters in Syria, and five ISIS fighters managed to escape.The United Nations estimated that over 100,000 people fled the region in anticipation of Turkey's invasion.
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| Four killed in shooting at illegal gambling club in Brooklyn: police Posted: 12 Oct 2019 08:09 AM PDT  Four men were killed and three people wounded early on Saturday in a shooting at an unlicensed gambling club in New York City, police said. Officers responding to a 911 call of shots fired at an address on Utica Avenue in the borough of Brooklyn found victims inside ranging in age from 32 to 49 years old and recovered two handguns. "I would not be shocked if we recovered more," the New York Police Department's chief of detectives, Dermot Shea, told reporters at the scene.
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| Iran Attacked Saudi Arabia's Oil Facilities, But Not For the Reason You Think Posted: 11 Oct 2019 01:00 PM PDT  Iran doesn't want war.
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| CNN anchor Chris Cuomo issued an apology in the middle of the network’s town hall on LGBTQ issues Posted: 11 Oct 2019 11:28 AM PDT  CNN anchor Chris Cuomo issued an apology in the middle of the network's town hall on LGBTQ issues Thursday night after he joked he, too, used female pronouns.
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| New fresco with gladiators discovered in Pompeii Posted: 11 Oct 2019 11:36 AM PDT  Archeologists excavating what may have been an ancient Roman drinking den in the ruined city of Pompeii said Friday they have unearthed a well-preserved wall painting of gladiators in action, complete with realistically gory wounds. The 3ft by 4.5ft fresco is located in the Regio V site, in the northern section of Pompeii's archaeological park, in an area not currently accessible to visitors. "Very probably the fresco decorated a place used by gladiators, perhaps a watering hole .
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| Federal judge blocks Trump administration 'public charge' rule targeting poor immigrants Posted: 11 Oct 2019 01:20 PM PDT  The Trump administration was set to implement a new "public charge" rule blocking poor immigrants from getting green cards, but a judge blocked it.
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| UPDATE 2-Hong Kong protesters, police in chaotic clashes, as metro, shops targeted Posted: 13 Oct 2019 02:16 AM PDT ![UPDATE 2-Hong Kong protesters, police in chaotic clashes, as metro, shops targeted]( "UPDATE 2-Hong Kong protesters, police in chaotic clashes, as metro, shops targeted") * 'Hong Kong has become a police state. Several rallies in shopping mall started peacefully around midday with a few hundred people at each chanting slogans such as "Free Hong Kong", but by late afternoon hardcore black-clad activists trashed shops and metro stations and erected road blocks around the city.
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| US-China partial trade deal: the main points Posted: 12 Oct 2019 12:58 AM PDT  US President Donald Trump on Friday announced a partial trade deal with China after talks in Washington with Vice Premier Liu He. "We have a fundamental understanding on the key issues... but there is more work to do," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters. Mnuchin said Liu needed "to go back to do some work with his team, but we have made a lot of progress over the last two days," signaling that approval from the highest level in Beijing would be sought.
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| Jake Tapper Exposes Pompeo, Graham and Giuliani’s ‘Stunning’ Hypocrisy Posted: 13 Oct 2019 09:23 AM PDT  It's easy to forget just how different some of President Trump's most loyal servants felt about oversight and impeachment when there were Democrats in the White House. On Sunday morning, CNN anchor Jake Tapper made sure his viewers remembered. In the final moments of his State of the Union broadcast this week, Tapper said that the White House's outright refusal to "participate" in the House impeachment inquiry means that the president is "seemingly thumbing his nose at the very notion that the U.S. government was designed with three co-equal branches, specifically to offer checks and balances on each other." "When President Obama was in the White House, the Republican-led House of Representatives conducted lots of oversight," Tapper continued, "on the Fast and Furious scandal, on the Benghazi tragedy and more." He said that anyone who covered or followed the Benghazi saga "may find it stunning to see Republican members of Congress trash-talking whistleblowers and inspectors general and trash-talking the oversight responsibilities of the House." "After all, during the Obama years, in the trenches, pushing to conduct oversight were many of these same House Republicans," Tapper said, "such as then Congressman Mike Pompeo from Kansas." After playing a clip of Pompeo extolling the constitutional necessity of oversight, Tapper added, "Yes it is!" In response to him saying it was "unacceptable" for the Obama administration to ignore subpoenas, Tapper said, "It is unacceptable!""One has to wonder what that congressman would make of the secretary of state, who has the same name, whose department is ordering State Department officials to ignore congressional subpoenas," Tapper said, before moving onto Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who also reportedly urged Donald Trump Jr. to do the same.That is a "far cry," Tapper said, from what Graham had to say when he was tasked with prosecuting the impeachment case against Bill Clinton. "The day that Richard Nixon failed to answer that subpoena is the day that he was subject to impeachment," Graham said at the time. "Similarly, during the Clinton impeachment, Rudy Giuliani made it very clear where he stood on the matter of avoiding subpoenas," Tapper said, revealing another clip from 1998 of Trump's personal lawyer telling Charlie Rose that "the president is not above the law, is not able to avoid subpoenas." "Now that Giuliani is enmeshed in the Ukraine scandal, however, Giuliani hasn't even made it clear whether he is going to honor the congressional subpoena aimed at him," Tapper added. "The arguments that Democratic presidents needed to comply with congressional oversight were correct. That's how the system was set up." Tapper concluded, "If you only apply constitutional standards to the other political party and not to your own, then those aren't principles, they're tactics." Rachel Maddow Predicts Senate GOP May Just Find Its 'Conscience' and Impeach TrumpRead 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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| Man sentenced to death for Texas attack that killed 6 Posted: 11 Oct 2019 04:53 PM PDT  Jurors sentenced Ronald Lee Haskell after deliberating for little more than four hours. The jury had to choose between life in prison without parole or a death sentence. Haskell killed the couple and four of their children in the living room of their suburban Houston home in 2014.
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| Japan’s Vending Machine Designs Are Like No Other Country’s Posted: 11 Oct 2019 12:25 PM PDT |
| Norwegian Cruise Line passengers demand refunds after ship skips several scheduled stops Posted: 12 Oct 2019 11:31 AM PDT ![Norwegian Cruise Line passengers demand refunds after ship skips several scheduled stops]( "Norwegian Cruise Line passengers demand refunds after ship skips several scheduled stops") Norwegian Cruise Line passengers voiced their anger after disembarking from the ship Friday after several port stops were canceled due to weather.
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| Trudeau appears at rally in bulletproof vest after unspecified ‘security threat’ Posted: 13 Oct 2019 01:01 AM PDT  Justin Trudeau donned a bulletproof vest to speak at an election rally on Saturday night after an unspecified security threat.Accompanied by a heavy security detail, the Canadian prime minister took to the stage 90 minutes late to deliver his speech to about 2,000 supporters ahead of the 21 October vote.
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| HK leader ditches meeting Ted Cruz, says the U.S. senator Posted: 12 Oct 2019 03:53 AM PDT ![HK leader ditches meeting Ted Cruz, says the U.S. senator]( "HK leader ditches meeting Ted Cruz, says the U.S. senator") Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam scrapped a scheduled meeting with U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, the highest profile U.S. politician to visit the city since anti-government protests broke out more than four months ago, the senator said on Saturday. Lam had requested that the afternoon meeting be completely confidential and Cruz refrain from speaking with the media about it, Cruz told journalists in Hong Kong. "She seems to misunderstand how free speech operates, and also how freedom of the press operates," said Cruz, a Republican senator from Texas.
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| Water Finds Its Level as Fox News Hires Dictator-Loving, Deep State-Loathing John Solomon Posted: 13 Oct 2019 09:45 AM PDT  Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyOver the weekend, Fox News announced that it had made a new hire: John Solomon, the self-proclaimed journalist at the heart of the unfolding scandal involving Ukraine, Rudy Giuliani, and the impending impeachment of Donald Trump. It's not hard to see why Fox executives may have wanted to bring him aboard. Solomon's work has underpinned the entire cascade of lies the White House and Trump in particular have pushed over the past few weeks. Solomon's writings—including those most recently at The Hill, where he worked until last month—are drenched in innuendo and mischaracterizations, all in service of attacking Trump's political opponents. Solomon is already a regular Fox News fixture. He appeared on Fox News's The Story show last week to claim that he was being victimized by "McCarthy-like" attacks. As Mother Jones noted on Solomon's hiring—which coincided with Giuliani claiming that the man deserves a Pulitzer—Solomon's "alliance with pro-Trump forces" is now "official."Leaked Memo: Colleagues Unload on John Solomon, the Journo Who Kicked Off Trump's Ukraine ConspiracyFor many, Solomon remains far from a household name: a relatively obscure journalist who worked until recently at a relatively obscure outlet pushing relatively obscure stories about relatively obscure countries. But for those who've followed his work (which includes a long-ago stint at Newsweek and The Daily Beast), his role in the entire unfolding national nightmare—and the fact that he provided a willing platform to lies and half-truths coming out of Ukraine—wasn't a surprise. This is a man, after all, about whom the Columbia Journalism Review wrote not one, not two, but three separate takedowns. (One headline: "John Solomon Gives Us Less Than Meets the Eye — Again"). The most recent topped out at nearly 5,000 words, highlighting Solomon's "history of bending the truth to his storyline," as well as his "hyping [of] petty stories" and his outsized habit of "massaging facts to conjure phantom scandals." Complaints from colleagues tailed Solomon wherever he went; as one former co-worker said about Solomon's work, "Facts be damned." Small wonder that, as The Daily Beast reported last week, staffers at The Hill were "enraged" by his presence at the publication. But there was one kind of friend on whom Solomon could always count, and who could always count on Solomon's support in return: post-Soviet officials, oligarchs, and lobbyists looking to launder their image and spin their narrative. We've seen this most clearly over the past few months, as Solomon's coverage of Ukraine has gained a national audience—and completely fallen apart under the most basic scrutiny. To take one example, Solomon's writing lent credence to the notion that the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, had given a Ukrainian prosecutor a "do-not-prosecute" list. One problem: there's no evidence the list ever existed, and the prosecutor himself eventually walked back the claim entirely.But the damage was already done: The White House this year canned the ambassador, who's since been personally targeted by Trump as some kind of henchman in former Vice President Joe Biden's machinations. (For good measure, Solomon this weekend described Ukraine's successful 2014 revolution to oust corrupt strongman Viktor Yanukovych as a "coup.") But Ukraine was far from the only post-Soviet state where crooked actors and dirty money looked for, and found, help from Solomon. A couple years ago, while I was a graduate student at Columbia University's Harriman Institute, focusing on post-Soviet affairs, I patched together a Master's thesis on how post-Soviet kleptocrats whitewash their reputations for American audiences. And there, in the middle of a lobbyist-led campaign to clean up the image of Azerbaijan—one of the most heinous, most kleptocratic governments in the world—sat none other than John Solomon. In 2015, Solomon was an editor at The Washington Times. His tenure there just so happened to coincide with the paper becoming one of the go-to outlets for Azerbaijan's lobbyists to lie about the brutal Azeri regime's supposed graces—including pieces that failed to disclose that the authors were on the Azeri dole, like one column by former GOP Congressman Dan Burton, written while he was lobbying for Azerbaijan. Solomon took some responsibility in that case when contacted by The Washington Post, claiming the lack of disclosure was just an oversight. And when I spoke with Solomon in the context of my research, telling him that one of the pieces—which claimed that "few places in the world… are as welcoming to Americans as Azerbaijan"—still didn't note it was written by a pro-Azeri lobbyist, he told me that he'd add the disclaimer in. But four years later, the article remains unchanged—and anyone reading it would think the author was simply interested in the pleasures and pastimes of Azerbaijan, and not that he was a paid-off hack. In the years since, I—like many familiar with his work—have looked askance at anything that Solomon has published, never taking it at face value. And rightfully so, as we've recently seen out of Ukraine. Solomon is still massaging facts, and he's still conjuring phantom scandals. And now he's been hired by Fox News for his efforts. And federal filings may provide a hint of who Solomon might help whitewash next. According to documents filed with the Department of Justice's Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) database, Solomon's 2015 push to include a raft of pro-Azeri material in The Washington Times just so happened to coincide with his meetings with Azeri lobbyists. (The subject of those 2015 meetings: "Azerbaijan public relations.") Fast-forward to 2019, and as FARA further outlines, Solomon was also in contact with Lanny Davis—a man who, until recently, was working on behalf of Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash. Accused by American authorities of massive bribery and described by the DOJ as an alleged "upper-echelon [associate] of Russian organized crime," Firtash is currently fighting extradition from Austria to the United States. For help, Firtash recently hired conspiratorial pro-Trump lawyers Victoria Toensing and Joe diGenova – both of whom have joined Rudy Giuliani in working to dig up Ukrainian dirt on Biden. (Firtash also just so happens to publicly loathe Biden.)There are no FARA filings yet listed on any communications between Toensing, diGenova, and Solomon. But we already know that Solomon was emailing at least some of his stories before publication at The Hill to Toensing and diGenova—as well as to Lev Parnas, the now-arrested bagman and associate of Giuliani, who also happens to be working for Firtash. So if you see Solomon, whom Politico recently described as an "all[y]" of the two lawyers, beginning to spin Firtash as some kind of wronged businessman—someone unfairly targeted by the Obama administration, perhaps—don't be surprised. After all, something like that would fit squarely within Solomon's track record as a kleptocrat's favorite spin-man, no matter the cost—and no matter the consequences. 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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| Bangladesh indicts 8 for 2015 killing of publisher Posted: 13 Oct 2019 06:05 AM PDT ![Bangladesh indicts 8 for 2015 killing of publisher]( "Bangladesh indicts 8 for 2015 killing of publisher") A court in Bangladesh's capital on Sunday indicted eight suspected Islamist militants tied to a banned group over the 2015 killing of a man who published books on secularism and atheism. Anti-Terrorism Special Tribunal Judge Majibur Rahman read out the charges to six of the suspects, who pleaded not guilty. Another two, including a sacked military official, remained fugitives, but the judge issued arrest warrants for them.
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| BEHOLD: Is China's DF-26 Missile a Real Threat to U.S. Navy Aircraft Carriers? Posted: 12 Oct 2019 09:00 AM PDT  Will Beijing's strategy work?
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| Portland antifa activist killed in hit and run, police say Posted: 13 Oct 2019 08:40 AM PDT  City's antifascist group says death of Sean D Kealiher, 23, was not 'related to fascist activity' and police did not specify a motiveThe Multnomah county medical examiner determined the cause of death to be homicide, caused by blunt force trauma. Photograph: Jonathan Bachman/ReutersA Portland antifascist activist was killed in the early hours of Saturday in an apparent hit-and-run near Cider Riot, a cidery and taproom popular with the city's anarchist left that has been the scene of conflict with rightwing groups. According to the Portland Police Bureau, the car involved was fired upon and crashed into a nearby building. Its occupants fled the scene. Police said in a statement that the 23-year-old victim, Sean D Kealiher, was taken to a local hospital by associates. The Multnomah county medical examiner determined the cause of death to be homicide, caused by blunt force trauma. Police said homicide squad detectives would investigate and called on witnesses to come forward. Kealiher was a prominent participant in antifascist and anti-Trump protests in Portland, speaking and marching in opposition to events held by rightwing groups. His activities occasionally attracted the attention of rightwing bloggers and social media personalities. Rose City Antifa, the city's longest-standing antifascist group, said in a tweet addressing Kealiher's death that it "was not related to fascist activity". Police did not specify a motive. Portland mayor Ted Wheeler and the Oregon Democratic party, outside whose building the incident happened, expressed condolences on Twitter. Memorial tributes were laid at the site. Six men, including Patriot Prayer leader Joey Gibson, are awaiting trial on charges arising from a violent incident at Cider Riot on 1 May. In an affidavit in support of Gibson's arrest warrant, police officer Brad Kalbaugh described the group approaching Cider Riot "in an effort clearly designed to provoke a physical confrontation". Multiple videos of that incident show punches, thrown drinks and pepper spray being exchanged. One of the men awaiting trial, Ian Kramer, is alleged to have struck a woman with a baton, fracturing her vertebra. More video appears to show members of the group planning violence ahead of the brawl. Gibson and the other men are charged with riot. Some face felony assault charges.Cider Riot's owner, Abram Goldman-Armstrong, has commenced a $1m lawsuit against Gibson and several others. Goldman-Armstrong's lawyer, Juan Chavez, says his client has been subject to "homophobic and antisemitic" harassment since the suit was filed.
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| Kamala Harris to Donald Trump Jr: 'You wouldn’t know a joke if one raised you' Posted: 11 Oct 2019 07:43 PM PDT  The 2020 democratic hopeful was responding to the President's son calling her "The most disingenuous person in politics, after Hillary" for laughing at her own jokes
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| Harry Dunn: US woman allegedly involved in crash does not have diplomatic immunity, says Foreign Office Posted: 12 Oct 2019 07:54 AM PDT  The US diplomat's wife allegedly involved in a crash which killed a teenager does not have diplomatic immunity, the Foreign Office has said.A letter, that appears to have been sent by foreign secretary Dominic Raab to Harry Dunn's parents, Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn, says: "The question remains when such immunity comes to an end, regardless of any waiver.
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| Hong Kong protesters and police clash, metro and shops targeted Posted: 12 Oct 2019 07:56 PM PDT  Rallies in shopping malls on Hong Kong island and across the harbor in the Kowloon district began peacefully around midday with a few hundred people at each chanting "Free Hong Kong" and other slogans. Police said protesters threw bricks and petrol bombs at police, with one setting a police van alight in Kowloon's Sha Tin district. Police made several arrests and used tear gas to disperse protesters, saying they used "minimum force".
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| Pelosi calls Trump 'potty-mouth' after his remarks on Biden Posted: 11 Oct 2019 05:03 PM PDT  Speaker Nancy Pelosi says President Donald Trump has become a "potty-mouth," but that's not why House Democrats are pursuing impeachment. In a conference call Friday, Pelosi told her House Democratic colleagues to stay focused on their "just the facts, ma'am," impeachment probe. Trump "has become a potty-mouth and children are listening," she said.
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| Beto Proposes to Oppress Church with State Posted: 11 Oct 2019 03:32 PM PDT  Beto O'Rourke's presidential campaign is within the margin of error of non-existence, but in his failure he has found a purpose: expressing the Democratic id. His latest bid for left-wing love came at a CNN forum on gay rights, where he said that churches that oppose same-sex marriage should have to pay taxes.Religious organizations, like secular non-profits, are exempt from taxes because we do not want government to inhibit a thriving civil society. Abolishing the exemption only for religious groups that do not toe the progressive line would be an outrageous oppression of church by state.Other candidates have not yet echoed O'Rourke. But the crowd applauded. And his position has not come out of nowhere. President Obama's solicitor general suggested to the Supreme Court that the tax exemption of religious colleges that oppose same-sex marriage might have to be revisited. Six of the presidential candidates, including leading contender Elizabeth Warren, have co-sponsored the "Equality Act," which specifically states that religious believers could not invoke the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to ask to escape its new restrictions on private conduct. It would be the first congressional limitation of the religious-freedom law since it was enacted, nearly by acclamation, in 1993. Several of the candidates have also endorsed another piece of legislation that is specifically directed at shrinking the reach of that law.If other Democrats are refraining from adopting O'Rourke's stance, then, it is for contingent reasons of prudence rather than lasting ones of principle. The contemporary Democratic party is a threat to the first freedom mentioned in the Constitution.
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| A Real Threat: Why Russia's Air Force Should Be Taken Seriously Posted: 13 Oct 2019 05:00 AM PDT  And why countries love to buy them.
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| Bill Gates Praised Pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s Lifestyle: ‘Kind of Intriguing’ Posted: 12 Oct 2019 12:11 PM PDT  Billionaire Bill Gates, who has repeatedly minimized his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, visited the convicted sex offender multiple times in the years after Epstein was released from prison, according to a New York Times investigation published Saturday.Gates, the Microsoft co-founder, and Epstein met repeatedly starting in 2011, including at least three times at Epstein's Manhattan townhouse, according a Times report compiled from interviews with more than a dozen people familiar with the relationship, photographs, emails and other documents.In one e-mail reviewed by the Times, Gates told colleagues in 2011 following his first meeting with Epstein, "His lifestyle is very different and kind of intriguing although it would not work for me."A Gates spokeswoman told the Times that the email "was referring only to the unique décor of the Epstein residence," and his "habit of spontaneously bringing acquaintances in to meet Mr. Gates."Epstein, who was indicted in July on federal sex trafficking charges and denied bail, committed suicide in August in a federal prison.The Man Who Could Inherit Jeffrey Epstein's MillionsSteven Mnuchin's Mysterious Link to Creepy Epstein Model ScoutIn September, Gates admitted to the Wall Street Journal that he did meet with Epstein after the financier pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution."I met him. I didn't have any business relationship or friendship with him. I didn't go to New Mexico or Florida or Palm Beach or any of that," Gates told the Journal. "There were people around him who were saying, hey, if you want to raise money for global health and get more philanthropy, he knows a lot of rich people. "Every meeting where I was with him were meetings with men. I was never at any parties or anything like that. He never donated any money to anything that I know about," Gates added.Epstein and Gates first met in person, according to the Times, on Jan. 31, 2011, at Epstein's Upper East Side townhouse. Eva Andersson-Dubin, a former Miss Sweden who had once dated Epstein, was also in attendance with her 15-year-old daughter for the gathering, which lasted several hours. (Andersson-Dubin and her husband, Glenn Dubin—a friend and business partner of Epstein's—declined to comment on the Times story.) Afterwards, Epstein boasted to his friends and associates: "Bill's great." Gates also praised Epstein the next day in an email of his own, according to the report. "A very attractive Swedish woman and her daughter dropped by and I ended up staying there quite late," he told colleagues.Jeffrey Epstein Accuser Names Powerful Men in Alleged Sex RingAccording to the Times, Epstein also spoke with the Gates Foundation and JPMorgan on a possible multibillion-dollar global health charitable fund that would have generated enormous fees for Epstein. The fund never came to fruition and Gates' representative said the tech titan and the foundation were unaware that Epstein would have received fees from the project.Bridgitt Arnold, Gates's spokeswoman, told the New York Times that Gates "regrets" every meeting he had with Epstein. "Bill Gates regrets ever meeting with Epstein and recognizes it was an error in judgment to do so," Arnold told the newspaper. "Gates recognizes that entertaining Epstein's ideas related to philanthropy gave Epstein an undeserved platform that was at odds with Gates's personal values and the values of his foundation."However, Ronan Farrow's New Yorker investigation found that Epstein "directed" a $2 million donation from Gates to the MIT Media Lab in October 2014 (along with another $5.5 million from investor Leon Black).Epstein was listed as "disqualified" in MIT's donor database, the New Yorker revealed, yet the Media Lab continued to take his money, marking the donor as anonymous, and even "consulted him about the use of the funds.""Gates would like a write up on our one science program for tues next week," Epstein allegedly wrote in an email to Joi Ito, the lab's director.In an internal email, Ito wrote, "This is a $2M gift from Bill Gates directed by Jeffrey Epstein." Peter Cohen, the lab's former Director of Development and Strategy, replied, "For gift recording purposes, we will not be mentioning Jeffrey's name as the impetus for this gift." CNBC reported that Epstein allegedly scored a meeting with Gates after aggressively lobbying his business allies to put in a good word for him.According to the report, the Microsoft mogul met with Epstein in New York in 2013 with other wealthy patrons to discuss "growing philanthropy." After this meeting, Gates reportedly took a ride on Epstein's plane to meet his family in Florida. The Times also reported that Epstein and Gates were seen in private conversation at a California TED conference in 2011.After Gates' $2 million donation to MIT in October 2014, the Internet billionaire apparently stopped talking to Epstein, a snub the financier complained about to an acquaintance at the end of that year. However, the Times also reported that at least two senior Gates Foundation officials maintained contact with Epstein until late 2017.And Gates was not Epstein's only Microsoft connection.When Epstein's last will and testament was filed in August—just two days before his jail-cell suicide—the document named Boris Nikolic, a former adviser to Gates and his foundation, as the backup executor to his $577 million estate. Nikolic, a biotech venture capitalist who worked at Harvard, said he was "shocked" to learn he was listed in the will. "I was not consulted in these matters and I have no intent to fulfill these duties, whatsoever," he said in a statement obtained by Bloomberg.Last month, the New York Post reported Nikolic formally declined taking on the role.According to the Times, Nikolic was apparently brought into Epstein's orbit through Melanie Walker, a colleague at the Gates Foundation. Walker told the Times she had met Epstein in 1992 just after she graduated from college; he told her he could get her a modeling job at Victoria's Secret, the company owned by his only known client, Lex Wexner. Walker later stayed in a Manhattan apartment building owned by Epstein and remained close to him over the years. Nathan Myhrvold, the former Chief Technology Officer at Microsoft, also reportedly palled around with Epstein. Vanity Fair reported this summer that "Myhrvold has been close with Epstein for years" and that the financier visited Myhrvold's investment firm, Intellectual Ventures, with some "young girls" who looked like "Russian models." Myhrvold openly discussed using Epstein's private jet and staying at his Palm Beach and New York mansions, a source told the magazine.Myhrvold's spokesperson denied such claims, telling Vanity Fair that "Nathan has no knowledge of or any involvement in the various crimes that Mr. Epstein is accused of committing.""He was never a client of his money management business, and he's never done business with him of any sort," the spokesperson added. "Back in the day Epstein was a regular at TED conferences and he was a large donor to basic scientific research, so while Nathan knew him and has socialized with him, that's exactly where their association ends."Epstein's friend and onetime attorney Alan Dershowitz, however, has attempted to throw Myhrvold under the bus for years.Virginia Roberts Giuffre has accused Epstein of keeping her as his "slave" and forcing her to have sex with Dershowitz, Prince Andrew and a host of other high-profile men. (The royal and the Harvard law professor have each denied her claims.)As part of his defense, Dershowitz claims Giuffre had sex with Myhrvold—not himself. Indeed, Giuffre's defamation lawsuit against Dershowitz mentions this accusation."In May 2015 Dershowitz requested confidential settlement negotiations with Ms. Roberts' lawyers in which Dershowitz sought to convince Ms. Roberts lawyer that Ms. Roberts was mistaken, and that the person to whom Epstein had lent Ms. Roberts was Nathan Myhrvold, not Dershowitz," the complaint alleges.Giuffre's legal team denies Dershowitz's allegation."Dershowitz's claim that Ms. Roberts confused him with Nathan Myhrvold was tested by showing Ms. Roberts pictures of both. She was, and is, clear that it was Dershowitz, not Myhrvold, with whom she had sex," the lawsuit alleges.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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| Iowa teacher who posted 'sniper rifle' comment about Greta Thunberg visit resigns Posted: 11 Oct 2019 07:46 PM PDT  Science teacher Matt Baish had been placed on administrative leave after posting "Dont have my sniper rifle" on an article about Greta Thunberg.
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| UAW boosts strike pay as GM walkout continues Posted: 12 Oct 2019 02:48 PM PDT  The United Auto Workers union said Saturday it will boost strike pay for 48,000 hourly workers at General Motors Co by $25 a week to $275 as a strike against the largest U.S. automaker nears the end of its fourth week. Talks were continuing late Saturday afternoon to try to resolve the longest nationwide strike at GM since 1970, both sides said. The UAW also said it would allow members striking to take on part-time jobs without reducing their strike pay – as long as they perform picket-line duties.
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| The Latest: Powerful typhoon reaches greater Tokyo area Posted: 12 Oct 2019 06:26 PM PDT  Helicopters are plucking people from their flooded homes as rescue efforts went into full force in wide areas of Japan, including Tokyo, after a powerful typhoon unleashed heavy rainfall, leaving at least four dead and 17 missing. Typhoon Hagibis made landfall south of Tokyo Saturday and moved northward. Several train service in the Tokyo area resumed early morning.
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| Ocasio-Cortez tells world's mayors drastic action needed on climate crisis Posted: 11 Oct 2019 11:15 AM PDT  In a passionate address to leaders of 94 cities in Copenhagen, the congresswoman called 'runaway' pursuit of profit unsustainableUS congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez warned that tackling the climate crisis will involve making dramatic economic changes in a passionate closing speech at the C40 World Mayors summit in Copenhagen on Friday.In her first overseas appearance as an elected politician, the 29-year-old was invited to speak after the C40, which represents the mayors of 94 cities worldwide, and which this week pledged support for a global version of her flagship Green New Deal policy."It is unsustainable to continue to believe [in] our system of runaway, unaccountable, lawbreaking pursuit of profit," she told the conference.Instead, she said, the world needed to adopt "a cooperative, collaborative" system, "whose economy … benefits the middle and lower classes and marginalised people"."Our current logic created this mess and operating in the same way will not get us out."This uncompromising message won her a powerful round of applause. But it was when she came to the impact climate change had had on her own life, and on her family in Puerto Rico, that she became emotional. "I speak to you as a human being, a woman whose dreams of motherhood now taste bittersweet because of what I know about our children's future," she said, her voice breaking as if she was struggling to hold back tears. "That our actions are responsible for bringing their most dire possibilities into focus." From the moment she began speaking, the main hall at the summit became completely still, and when she finished, the ovation she received far exceeded that received by the veteran climate campaigner and former vice-president Al Gore, Denmark's prime minister, Mette Frederiksen; or the UN secretary general, António Guterres. "She got a rockstar welcome in that audience," Nicholas Reece, a city councillor from Melbourne, Australia, said. "There's just something about her which is really mobilising and electrifying people around the world, particularly young people." After her speech, Ocasio-Cortez joined the weekly Fridays for Future rally outside Copenhagen city hall, where she called on the gathered activists to "make sure the politicians sweat a little bit".A substantial crowd, combining local activists with mayors and youth delegates from the summit, had turned out to meet her. "We have to face the oil and coal industry, the CO2-emitting industry, Wall Street, Bolsonaro, Donald Trump," she said to cheers from the crowd. "We can't and won't win by staying home."Emilie Baliozian, a youth delegate who had come to the summit from Paris, watched Ocasio-Cortez's speech despite the pounding rain. "It was so empowering. It was clearly directed to us. I know it, she's going to be president one day, because we're going to be the voters of tomorrow," she said. "It's super cool that she came all this way," said Selma White, 14, a regular at Copenhagen's Fridays for Future protests. "It's really inspiring." Ocasio-Cortez arrived in Copenhagen on Wednesday morning and immediately began posting images of the city to her 4 million followers on Instagram. She was invited to attend a royal dinner hosted by Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark, and his wife, Princess Mary, at the city's Christiansborg Palace on Thursday evening. But she stayed away from the summit itself until the moment she delivered her speech.• This article was amended on 12 October 2019 to correct the spelling of Emilie Baliozian's name.
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| Mother to sue over 'wrongful removal' of children by Dutch social services Posted: 12 Oct 2019 09:28 AM PDT  A mother who says her two children were wrongfully taken into care shortly after their ninth birthday by Dutch social services intends to launch legal action against the authorities who handled the case. On March 23, 2012, Nikolai and Anastasia Antonova were removed from their mother's care. Among the reasons cited for their removal was that the children spoke their mother Jelena's native language Russian at home, not Dutch. Social workers also claimed their mother might flee with them to Latvia to escape the children's estranged father. The children had "severely conflicting loyalties" to their parents, social workers who were working closely with their father said. The children had previously said they were frightened of their father and did not want to see him again. The original care order was instituted for a year but was subsequently extended on several occasions. Ms Antonova alleges that the children were held without the right legal permission. The Dutch Court of Appeal made repeated rulings that the children should be reunited with their mother but these were overturned when the child protection board, part of the justice ministry, sought the extension of the care order in a lower family court. The family's case was first highlighted by the late Christopher Booker in a series of columns for The Sunday Telegraph. The case was also raised in the European parliament in March 2014. MEPs were shown a video of the children being taken away from their home, captured by their brother Ilja Antonovs. The children were eventually permanently reunited with their mother in November 2014 after two years and eight months when a judge ruled that they should never have been removed from their mother's care. The order followed a report from a family psychologist Dr De Jong who concluded that Ms Antonova was not guilty of neglect. Jelena Antonova was subsequently granted permission to question, under oath, social workers who handled the case and officials from two different authorities connected to the children's care. On June 18 and September 2 Ms Antonova questioned social workers and is now preparing to sue three parties linked to the ordeal; Salvation Army Youth Protection, the Ministry of Justice and Security and the youth protection service of Gelderland province. During the questioning, a number of flaws in the conduct of youth care emerged, the family claims. They are now suing the three parties for the "unlawful and careless removal of the children", claiming they are liable "for the damage suffered and to be suffered" by the family. Youth Protection said it is prohibited from commenting on individual cases. The Netherlands Salvation Army said it does not respond to individual cases but pointed out that Salvation Army Youth Protection always acts under the instruction of the Dutch legal authorities. The Ministry of Justice and Security and Gelderland youth protection did not respond to repeated requests for comment this week.
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| Trump appears to do bizarre impression of FBI agent having sex Posted: 11 Oct 2019 12:25 PM PDT  Donald Trump appeared to perform an impression of former FBI agent Peter Strzok and attorney Lisa Page having sex while the president was in the middle of a speech during a rally in Minnesota on Thursday.Mr Trump slammed his hand on the podium and shouted "I love you, Lisa," and "I love you too, Peter" before moaning "Lisa, I love you, Lisa! Lisa! Oh, God, I love you Lisa!"
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| Canada vote pitches Trudeau into fight of his political life Posted: 12 Oct 2019 06:37 PM PDT  The gloves have come off as Justin Trudeau struggles to hold onto his parliamentary majority heading into the last week of a tight campaign before Canada's October 21 general election. The latest polls put his Liberals in a dead heat with the Conservatives, led by Andrew Scheer. Barring a trip-up over the coming days, whoever wins the most votes may have to seek the backing of one or more minor parties to form the next government.
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| UPDATE 1-Russia says exploring settlement in euros, roubles for energy exports Posted: 12 Oct 2019 11:02 PM PDT |
| 100,000 displaced, death toll rises, hospital closes as Turkish forces push into Kurdish-held Syria Posted: 11 Oct 2019 06:23 PM PDT  Since Turkish forces launched a military offensive into Kurdish-controlled parts of Syria, border towns have been subject to heavy shelling.
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| Dog lost since 2007 found over 1K miles away in Pittsburgh Posted: 11 Oct 2019 01:24 PM PDT  A toy fox terrier that disappeared from its family's south Florida home in 2007 was found this week over a thousand miles away in Pittsburgh and reunited with its owner on Friday. The 14-year-old named Dutchess was found hungry, shivering and in serious need of a nail trim under a shed on Monday, according to Humane Animal Rescue. The property owner took the dog to a Humane Animal Rescue location, where staffers were able to locate a microchip and trace the dog back to its owners in Boca Raton, Florida.
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| Denver experiences 70-degree temperature drop Posted: 12 Oct 2019 05:20 AM PDT  The 70-degree difference in temperatures was one of the largest drops in history
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| Girl scales replica of Trump’s 'un-climbable' border wall Posted: 12 Oct 2019 11:35 AM PDT  An 18-foot replica of President Trump's border wall has been climbed in a matter of seconds by an 8-year-old girl and a man who returned for another attempt while juggling with one hand.
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| A week inside the Fox News bubble: From daytime sanity to prime-time Hannity Posted: 11 Oct 2019 12:09 PM PDT  One of the most startling things about Fox News is just how quickly it managed to embed itself in American culture.Despite being younger than, say, Logan Paul, it has an outsized level of clout which has only increased with the election of Donald Trump.
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| Deadly protests set stage for Iran, US tug-of-war over Iraq Posted: 11 Oct 2019 09:06 PM PDT  Iraq's deadliest wave of protests since the 2003 ouster of dictator Saddam Hussein has made the country vulnerable to a battle for influence between its two main competing allies, the United States and Iran, analysts say. The anti-government protests that erupted on October 1 echoed the demands that young Iraqis have made over recent years. "Without this context, Iran would not have intervened," Iraqi political analyst Munqith Dagher said.
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| The USS Enterprise: How One Aircraft Carrier Changed Naval History Posted: 12 Oct 2019 09:00 PM PDT  What was really remarkable about the Enterprise was that it marked the debut of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, which are the backbone of U.S. naval power.
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